9C - Vs. General Guy

Back in Shy Guy's Toy Box, Mario repeated the translated note over and over in his head to remember what blocks to hit in the right order. There was one instance in which he accidentally said it out loud and apologized to Luigi for it.

"Don't worry about it, Mario," Luigi said. "I understand how you want to remember the order."

"All right! Back to Green Station, folks!" the Blue Station conductor declared after everyone boarded the train. Immediately after the train stopped at the Green Station, Mario ran out of the train and hit the yellow, green, red, and blue boxes with his hammer. As a result, four boards with their respective colors fell onto the tracks, filling the entire gap. Within seconds, the train was off again to the Red Station at the west side of the toy box.

"I'll be waiting to take you back to the Blue Station when you're done here," the conductor said.

"No, thank you. We'll find a way out ourselves," Mario replied.

"Are you sure? This is the safest route, Mario."

"We'll be teleported out of here after we save the Star Spirit," Luigi added in. "Wish us luck."

"Okay. Don't hurt yourselves, Mario Bros. Goodbye for now," the conductor bid the group goodbye before taking the train back to the Blue Station. He did have to fix the tracks prior to pulling up at the station.

Just like the south side, the west side had two pathways for Mario and friends to explore.

"Could my diary be down that way?" Luigi asked while pointing down the left pathway.

"Let's find out," Mario said before walking ahead with Luigi and Bow following behind.

What differed from the Blue Station's west path was that there were block towers everywhere with a Ferris wheel and multiple elevator-like platforms. On top of that, there were Pyro Guys walking around and lighting up their surroundings, given they were made of fire.

"Unless there's a water powerup over here, I'm not dealing with those fireheads," Mario commented before pressing on. To get over the block towers, Luigi and Mario used their High Jump technique. Eventually, they found themselves inside a room lit up with a couple torches on the walls. There was a treasure chest in the very middle that caught the group's eyes.

"I don't like this, Mario..." Luigi said in an unsure tone of voice while approaching the chest.

"It's okay, Luigi," Mario replied. "Remember what happened at Tubba Blubba's Castle when we found one of the keys? There's nothing to worry about."

Upon opening the chest which contained Luigi's diary, he immediately became excited and held the diary in the air.

"Yes! After all this time-"

Suddenly, numerous rows of spikes rose quickly from the floor and the room shook violently. The group looked up to see a spiked ceiling caving in on them. Mario had a flashback of when a similar spiked ceiling nearly crushed him at Wendy's Castle and hurriedly vaulted over the spikes toward the doorway.

"I'M NOT PLAYING THE MAZE GAME! I AM NOT!" Mario screamed at the top of his lungs.

"But Mario-" Bow started while she and Luigi followed Mario out of the room, barely escaping the spiked ceiling.

"SHUT UP! NOT AGAIN!" Mario stormed toward one of the block towers and pounded it so hard that it fell over and crushed two Pyro Guys in the process.

"Okay... That was too quick to throw a tantrum..." Bow murmured with confusion. Luigi walked up to Mario and tried to put his hand on his shoulder, but Mario slapped it away.

"Mario! Come on! I'm trying to calm you down," Luigi protested. "You can't just destroy a tower because of a bad memory."

"For the tenth time, Luigi, I do not give a shtick," Mario said with clenched teeth. "Do you even realize how scared I was?"

"Yes, I do. But that was a long time ago. You should-"

"Stop it. I'm not gonna put up with you saying, 'It's in the past.' 'It's all ov-" NO! JUST NO! DON'T GO THERE ANYMORE!" Mario yelled.

"Okay. I'm sorry I told you 'It's over.'" Luigi apologized.

"Don't apologize. Just please understand me," Mario said calmly.

"Bro. It's okay. Just take it slow." Luigi hugged Mario briefly before he led Mario and Bow back to the Red Station.

"Are you good?" Luigi asked Mario, who took a deep breath.

"I think so. I don't know why, but it's just one of those scary moments that gets me agitated," Mario said.

"I understand. You ready to save the next Star Spirit?"

"Let's-a go." Without further ado, Mario and friends pressed on down the right path. It wasn't long before they came across a red Shy Guy in front of a stack of triangular blocks.

"Can you let us through?" Mario asked the Shy Guy.

"Get away!" the Shy Guy cried while backing up against the blocks. "Please! You're scaring me!" Luigi slowly approached the Shy Guy and kneeled in front.

"Look, I'm gonna reason with you. We're nice people. No one's here to hurt you," Luigi said softly. The Shy Guy teared up, seeing Mario reach for his Red Timebomb in his pocket.

"What is he doing?!" the Shy Guy exclaimed. "Tell him to stop!"

"Calm down, my friend. My brother's probably getting out a stress ball because he tends to get angry at the little things." Luigi patted the Shy Guy's head, calming it down slightly. "Now, is there any way to-"

Before Luigi could finish his question, the blocks exploded into hundreds of pieces, causing the Shy Guy to run away with nine others, screaming like little girls.

"No! Wait! Come back!" Luigi pleaded. "I thought we had a moment!" It turned out that Mario threw the Red Timebomb at the blocks and scared the Shy Guys in the process.

"Mario... What did you do...?" Luigi asked while glaring at Mario.

"I did you a favor," Mario answered. "Now can we-" Luigi immediately charged Mario, who retaliated by tackling him.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Bow ordered the Mario Bros.

"You're flipping insane!" Luigi groaned while Mario held his arms down. "Get off me!"

"How many times did I tell you I don't care?!" Mario argued.

"How many times have I told you that violence is not-"

"I SAID, 'KNOCK IT OFF!'" Bow screamed while growing big for a few seconds, startling Mario and Luigi. "This is no time to argue and fight each other!"

Mario slowly stood back up before Luigi did the same.

"Don't charge me again," Mario said while pointing his finger at Luigi. "Ever."

"Mario, I was trying to be friendly with that Shy Guy," Luigi responded. "You can't show impatience like this."

"Can we discuss this later?" Bow asked. "Let's keep going." Mario proceeded to lead Luigi and Bow down the path again.

"I'm sorry, Luigi. I wasn't thinking."

"I know you weren't thinking," Luigi said before Mario took another deep breath. "Next time, you need to think it through. Violence is never the answer. Please remember that."

"I'll try."

The room ahead was where the Shy Guys ran into. It turned out to be the end of the road as they were standing in front of a block fort with a middle-aged Shy Guy wearing a white military outfit.

"So, you came, did you?" the white cladded Shy Guy announced. "I'm General Guy. We're following the orders of King Bowser by guarding a Star Spirit. As long as we keep it secure, we have permission to do whatever we want. You hear me?!"

"The only thing we'll hear from you is your girly screams, sir," Mario said.

"Oh! How dare you speak to me like that?!" General Guy retorted. "You are rude, and furthermore, you three are trespassing in here! Our toy box is off limits to the likes of you! The treasures inside this box are for Shy Guys only! And that Star Spirit's fate is none of your business!"

"We'll see about that, sir!" Luigi threatened General Guy.

"Very well! Prepare to fight me and taste defeat!" General Guy declared. "Charge them!"

Right on cue, the Shy Guys ran toward the group while General Guy went behind the fort for now.

"Okay, guys! All together now! Let's rush those meanies!" one of the Shy Guys shouted. They began to swarm Mario and Luigi, who immediately hammered and punched them away, respectively.

"I wish I had that bomb with me!" Mario yelled. "Things would've been easier!"

"I know! You should've listened back then!" Luigi answered. He and Mario struggled for a half-minute, but managed to fend off all the Shy Guys, who screamed and ran away out of the room.

As soon as the Shy Guys were gone, a toy tank with a big lightbulb rolled in front of Mario and Luigi.

"Mario! Luigi! You shall pay!" General Guy stated after poking his head out. "You beat my infantry, but that's all you'll do! Nobody embarrasses the brave Shy Guys of my army! Nobody!"

"Oh yeah? Well, nobody messes with me or Luigi!" Mario replied. General Guy went back inside his tank and charged up the lightbulb, causing a shield of electricity to surround it.

"I got this, bro! Step back!" Luigi ordered Mario. The lightbulb shot a bolt of lightning at Luigi, who held out his left palm and shot his own bolt simultaneously. Luigi winced as he tried his hardest to push the lightbulb's bolt back to the tank.

"It's...too...strong...!"

"Mercy! Why is Luigi's attack fighting against mine?!" General Guy shouted from inside the tank, which was shaking due to the bolt struggle. "I got to do Plan B!"

General Guy pushed a red button on his control pad and a cannon stuck out the front of the tank. "Prepare to die!"

He pressed the red button again and shot a bomb at Luigi. At the last second, Mario ran in front of Luigi and batted the bomb back at the tank. At the same time, Luigi managed to fight back the lightbulb's bolt and destroyed it.

Both attacks combined blew up the rest of the tank, which flew back into the fort, causing it to collapse in a heap.

Mario and Luigi fell on their knees and panted profusely for a minute.

"You okay, bro?" Mario asked Luigi.

"Yeah. Thanks for saving me." Mario and Luigi stood back up before they walked up to the collapsed fort and lifted the blocks off the ground to see General Guy laying his back.

Mario took his glove off and pressed his fingers against General Guy's neck. There was no heartbeat; General Guy was crushed to death.

"He's dead, Luigi," Mario said while putting his glove back on. "We killed General Guy."

"Wow. I thought he was gonna run away too, but I guess not," Luigi commented.

"Hi, misters!" a young girl's voice called from above.

"Who said that?" Mario asked while he and Luigi looked around the room. Seconds later, a baby Li'l Sparky with a blue pacifier floated in front of the Mario Bros.

"You just saved me like heroes! Yay for me!"

"You're welcome," Mario responded. "What's your name?"

"I'm Watt. You two are heroes, aren't ya?" While Watt introduced herself, Mario pressed the #3 button on his Partner Companion Band, sending Bow into the band.

"Isn't it obvious?" Luigi said. "We're the Super Mario Bros."

"Oh my gosh! You're the coolest! Yay!" Watt squealed. "Are you Luigi, Mario's brother?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Thank you and Mario so much. How about I make it up to you?" Watt offered.

"Sure. You want to join us?" Mario asked.

"I'd love to! You're super great!" Watt said. "While the Shy Guys held me captive, they said something about you two trying to save Princess Peach from Bowser. And I know you can't do it alone, so that's why I want to help you out. I'll be good! I promise!"

"I know, Watt. You're really sweet," Mario said with a smile.

"Oh, thank you! You just made my day even happier!" Watt cheered. "I'm ready to go!"

"Brilliant! Welcome to our team, Watt!"

Suddenly, a glowing white orb rose from the blocks and stopped in front of the group.

"We're so out of here," Mario stated. "Only three more, guys."

After four seconds, the orb blew up and imploded to reveal Muskular trapped in a playing card. Mario immediately grabbed the card, prompting a bright white light to shine from the ceiling. Mario and friends then flew up with the card before fading away.