9B - Seeking the Stolen Goods

It's now 8:22 AM. The toy train approached the Pink Station and slowed to a stop.

As soon as Mario, Luigi, Bow, and the Blue Station conductor exited the train; the Pink Station conductor standing near the toy box map said, "Welcome to Pink Station, Mario Bros. While you are free to explore this area, we unfortunately can't go forward because the tracks in front are broken."

The group walked to the right of the station and saw the broken tracks.

"That's not good," Mario said.

"Good luck finding the switch, guys," the Blue Station conductor said to Mario and Luigi. "I'll be waiting here for now."

Since the toy box's east section went only one way, Mario and friends could only go down the right pathway.

Two minutes earlier, Kammy approached two treasure chests on the far end and spawned two Hammer Bros.

"You two guard those chests, and make sure you hammer Mario and Luigi into the floor like you're nailing down a wood plank!" Kammy ordered the Hammer Bros.

"Yes, ma'am!" "We're on it!" the Hammer Bros responded respectively. Kammy then proceeded to fly off to another toy box section.

Unlike the Blue Station's east path, there were not as much jack-in-the-boxes or block walls, but there were several Sky Guys flying all over. On the left-hand side was a mezzanine that did not have a staircase or a lift to climb over the railing, and the pink switch that would fix the tracks was situated just next to the archway.

"Luigi, you and Bow see what's down there, and I'll go fix the tracks," Mario instructed Luigi. He handed the Cape Feather to Luigi before hopping onto the closest block wall and going over the railing. Eventually, Luigi and Bow made to the Hammer Bros guarding the chests.

"Well, Luigi. It's odd to see you by yourself," the first Hammer Bro said.

"What's the matter with Mario, huh? Is he too scared of us because that's his weak point?" the second Hammer Bro taunted. Before the Hammer Bros knew it, Luigi took out the Cape Feather and turned into Caped Luigi.

"We don't have weak points, you liars!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Yes, you do!" the second Hammer Bro returned. "How about giving these hammers a taste?"

As soon as the Hammer Bros began tossing their hammers at Luigi, he took off his cape and deflected the hammers back at the Hammer Bros, knocking them out almost instantly.

"Where did you learn to use that cape as a shield?" Bow asked. "I thought it was for flying only."

"It's a dual-purpose type," Luigi replied before putting his cape back on. "Anyway, I hope my diary is in one of these chests."

Unfortunately for Luigi, his diary wasn't in either chest. But he did find the corner store's water case, which had half of the bottles taken away, and the post office's mailbag. Luigi handed the mailbag to Bow before they walked back to Mario, who had just pulled the pink switch on the mezzanine and was waiting for them at the archway.

"Luigi..." Mario said with irritation while looking at the water case. "Don't tell me you drank out of that case."

"I swear I didn't touch it. It was like that when I took it out of that chest," Luigi answered. "Let's board the train before you start forcing me to believe I drank those bottles."

Without hesitation, the group went toward the train, but looked at the tracks for a brief second to make sure they were fixed up by the switch.

"The next station up ahead is the Green Station," the Blue Station conductor said after everyone was aboard the train. "You ready to move on?"

"Yes," Mario replied before the train started off to the Green Station located on the north end of the toy box. Again, the train couldn't go past the Green Station because a segment of tracks was gone, leaving a bottomless hole uncovered.

"How are we gonna fix the tracks this time?" Luigi asked the Blue Station conductor after the group exited the train.

"I have no idea. We might have to go back to the Blue Station after you find what you can in this area."

Just like the east section, the north end extended to the right only, and there were four colored boxes: yellow, green, red, and blue; with stars on all their faces. Mario examined the boxes for a minute but couldn't determine what their purpose was.

"Do these boxes have to do with the broken tracks?" Bow asked.

"We'll worry about them later," Mario replied before beckoning Bow and Luigi to follow him down the pathway. "Follow me."

Meanwhile, as soon as the train left the Pink Station, Kammy flew to the end of the pathway where another treasure chest was located. She then proceeded to spawn three Koopatrols.

"Remember you're the strongest minions we've ever recruited," Kammy said. "The last thing I'd want to see is all of you lying on your backs, crying for your mamas."

"Yes, ma'am!" the Koopatrols replied with enthusiasm before Kammy flew off.

Just past the archway were a bunch of conveyor belts and tall metal grates that made it impossible to maneuver to the other side.

Because Luigi promised himself not to lay a finger on a ghost, he used his high jumping abilities to climb over the grates while Mario and Bow both turned invisible to pass through the grates.

For a while, it looked as if there were no enemies standing in the way with a bunch of bushes scattered all over.

"Those aren't regular bushes," Mario pointed out. "I mean, why would this toy box have any vegetation at all?"

Before Luigi could answer, two stones hit the back of his head, but he didn't fall over. Luigi turned around and saw a Spy Guy with a slingshot.

"You mean that guy right there?" Luigi asked while pointing at the Spy Guy.

After Mario nodded, he and Luigi unleashed an attack Bow had never seen before: Luigi cupped his hands and charged a ball of electricity before jumping onto Mario's hands; Mario then threw Luigi in the air before jumping as well. Finally, Luigi threw the electric ball at the ground, knocking out all the Spy Guys.

"Holy moly," Bow said in awe. "What was that?"

"The Thunder Bros. attack," Mario answered. "Apparently, Luigi has the ability to charge up electricity and create a giant shockwave that literally electrocutes all enemies surrounding us."

"That's something you'd never see every day," Luigi chimed in.

After a couple more minutes, Mario and Luigi traversed several moving block platforms before spotting the Koopatrols in the distance.

"Luigi, take the Star Power Band," Mario said quietly while giving Luigi the Star Power Band. "You should lull them to sleep before taking whatever's in that chest."

"Okey-dokey." Luigi crept closer to the platform the Koopatrols were standing on and quickly flew above them. The Koopatrols didn't know Luigi was about to stealthily defeat them with the help of the Star Spirits. Luigi activated the "Lullaby" power and held his fist toward the chest; seconds later, an apparition of Mamar faded into view and sung a short lullaby before disappearing. The Koopatrols immediately fell asleep.

Luigi then used the last two Star Power units to unleash Skolar's "Star Storm" power; a barrage of shooting stars rained from above and took out all three Koopatrols.

"Guys, over here!" Luigi called out before taking off his cape and dropping to the floor. After Mario and Bow rejoined Luigi, Mario opened the treasure chest and found Daniel's cash register alongside a pink paper with red scribbles on it.

"What does that note say?" Luigi asked while picking up the cash register.

"I can't read it. It must be another language," Mario replied as Luigi gave the Star Power Band back to him. "Other than that, I think that's everything for now."

Because there were no more enemies roaming the pathway, it didn't take long for Mario and friends to get back to the Green Station.

"You going back to the Blue Station?" the Blue Station conductor asked.

"Please," Luigi replied before the train went back to the Blue Station. The group then hopped on the yellow trampoline to go back into the outside world. The first thing they did was take the water case back to the corner store.

Instead of thanking Mario and friends for giving the case back, the store owner demanded, "Did you help those Shy Guys drink my water?!"

"Whoa! Hold on there!" Mario butted in. "You're supposed to be grateful for us doing you a favor!"

"You didn't do me a favor! You disgraced me and my store!" the owner roared before the group left the store. "That's right! Get out for good!"

"God... That was just freaking rude..." Mario muttered.

"I know, bro. He's probably having a bad day anyway," Luigi reassured Mario. They proceeded to return the mailbag to the post office.

"How can I ever repay you, Mario and Luigi?" the post office owner thanked the Mario Bros. "Without these letters, we would've fallen behind in our mailing schedule."

"That's why we're here to help," Luigi said.

"Thanks for being nice to us," Mario added in. "The guy in the store accused us for taking his water even though it was the Shy Guys."

"Not a big deal. I know you have no intention of stealing anything."

After leaving the post office, the group made a beeline to the Information Center, where Daniel was waiting anxiously for his register.

"Finally! I can't thank you enough, Mario!" Daniel exclaimed. "You and Luigi are amazing!"

"Thanks, Daniel," Mario replied before taking out the note. "This may sound weird, but are you able to translate these scribbles?"

"Let me see..." Daniel took the note and looked it over for a minute or two. "Okay. It seems to be written in the language of the Shy Guys."

"Are you serious?" Mario asked. "How do you know that?"

"I honestly don't know, but I do," Daniel answered. "Now, this note says, 'Hit yellow, green, red, and then blue.' What an odd thing to write down."

"I know, right?" Luigi commented. "What do the colors mean?"

"Again, I don't-" Daniel started before Luigi remembered the colored boxes.

"Wait! It has to do with the colored boxes at the Green Station!"

"What Green Station?" Daniel asked.

"It's a train station in the Shy Guys' toy box," Mario explained. "I'd love to talk more about it, but we got to leave now. Buh-bye."

All that's left to do is find Luigi's diary and track down the leader of the Shy Guys before rescuing the fourth Star Spirit. How will it play out for Mario, Luigi, and Bow?