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Chapter 13

13A - Vs. Huff N. Puff

It's now 11:38 AM. Mario, Luigi, and Spike were already on their way back to the central section of Flower Fields, which had just been restored to its old self thanks to the three of them.

"I'm still at a loss for words right now," Mario said. His eyes were red and puffy from his breakdown immediately when the sky cleared up. "Nothing else can describe what I was going though."

As the group neared Wise Wisterwood, they heard all the Bub-ulbs and flowers cheering for them, mainly chanting Mario and Luigi's names. Spike became concerned for a moment.

"I knew they weren't gonna cheer for me," Spike said softly. "They'll never trust me whether I've done good or not."

"Don't say that, Spike," Mario replied. "You know the Bub-ulbs will love you."

"Mario and Luigi! Come over in front!" Wise Wisterwood exclaimed, having heard the group come in from the northeast. They promptly stood in front of him while the cheering died down.

"First of all, you fellows did a tree-mendous job. I've never been more impressed in my whole life. You cleared off those clouds so the sun could rise once more. It's so nice seeing my dear Flower Fields full of light again after such a long time. There's nothing like sunlight!"

"What about me?" Spike asked. "I should be recognized too!" Suddenly, the Bub-ulbs and flowers booed Spike, causing him to tear up again.

"Listen, all of you!" Wise Wisterwood ordered everyone but Mario and friends. "Show some respect for Mario and Luigi's new companion! Yes, I know the Lakitus were half the cause of the sky being dark and cloudy, but this young fellow here-"

"It's Spike," Spike corrected Wise Wisterwood.

"Spike just showed how he can help save the world from Bowser's evil ways," Wise Wisterwood went on. "If you all keep up your hatred for him, even after everything returns to normal, my future will be more miserable than the countless dark days we've been put through."

Nobody responded verbally, having been silenced by Wise Wisterwood, and went back to their own businesses.

"Sorry about that," Wise Wisterwood apologized to Mario, Luigi, and Spike. "I felt the need to teach them a lesson."

"Well, they sure listened to you," Luigi commented.

"What about the Magical Bean and the soil and water we picked up?" Mario asked.

"Oh, yes of course! You should plant that Magical Bean, don't you think? It should grow well now. I'd say the best place for you to plant it would be over there where you can see the soil."

The group turned to their left and saw a circular soil patch the size of a dinner tabletop. Mario took the Fertile Soil from Luigi, walked over to the soil patch, and buried the Magical Bean before applying the Fertile Soil and Miracle Water to the bean. After 9 seconds, a green beanstalk emerged from the soil and extended itself 7,000 feet in the air within 50 seconds, poking through a yellowish white cumulus cloud deck.

"Hohoho! Success!" Wise Wisterwood declared after the beanstalk grew to its fullest. "Look at that sprout! Now you can go up to Cloudy Climb," But Wise Wisterwood thought of something else. "Hmm... My spot seems to be getting less and less sunny. How disappointing,"

"It's okay, Mr. Wisterwood," Mario reassured Wise Wisterwood. "Your canopy will spread out a bit after Huff N. Puff is taken care of."

"You're right, son. Well, best of luck to you and your companions. I'm sure you'll make it out victorious."

Luigi grabbed the beanstalk first before climbing up a small bit. "Come on, bro!"

"Are you sure you have the guts to climb the whole thing?" Spike asked the Mario Bros.

"Spike, we've climbed beanstalks as tall as this one," Mario replied. "We'll be fine." Without further ado, Mario grabbed the beanstalk as well, prompting Luigi to lead the way with Mario and Spike following him.

Within one hour, the group had already reached the 4,000-foot mark, having climbed as fast as they could. Suddenly, Mario eyeballed a distant cloud with multiple small buildings topped with green leaves and a pink and white palace in the center.

"Guys! There it is! Nimbus Land!" Mario announced, having recognized the small village. The group stopped to look at the village. "I remember that place!"

"What do you mean?" Spike asked.

"Four years ago, me and four other partners including Princess Peach and Bowser climbed to Nimbus Land in order to find Prince Mallow's parents; Mallow was another partner who traveled with us," Mario explained.

"He was found as a baby in Tadpole Pond and assumed he was a tadpole from the start," Luigi added in, having been told the story by Mario. "But he learned that he was not a tadpole at all, and they searched really hard until they reached the village and came across the palace's king and queen."

"I think I can see the colored beanstalks too." Mario squinted his eyes and made out the multi-colored beanstalks originating from Bean Valley at ground level. "That was a challenge because we had to jump from beanstalk to beanstalk so many times. I almost fell off one of them just short of the village." Mario let out a sigh. "Oh, so many memories."

"All right-y. Back to the climbing," Luigi said, beckoning Mario and Spike to resume climbing the beanstalk to the yellowish white cloud deck known as Cloudy Climb. Mario and Luigi had to headbutt the bottom of the deck to pass through it. They panted heavily after setting foot on the deck. From start to finish, the climbing took an hour and a half.

"My arms are tired," Luigi said. "I need a break."

"Now's not the time, bro." Mario activated the "Refresh" power on his Star Power Band before handing it to Luigi, who also used "Refresh". Both calmed down immediately.

"Thanks, Mario," Luigi thanked Mario before pressing the "Focus" button and handing the band back to him.

"Where do we walk?" Spike asked.

"Straight ahead," Mario replied. He led Luigi and Spike straight down the middle for four minutes before noticing a Yellow Question Mark Block and a Brick Block to his right. He immediately approached the blocks and hit them from underneath. The Brick Block held ten Coins while the Yellow Question Mark Block let out a Carrot.

"The Carrot!" Mario exclaimed. "I haven't seen this in forever!" He was referring to the adventure he undertook in 1992, collecting six Golden Coins to evict Wario from his second home in Mario Land.

"I don't need it because I can jump really high," Luigi said as Mario took the Carrot and stowed it in his overalls pocket.

"When those bunny ears appear on my cap, I'll jump just as high as Luigi." The group resumed walking down Cloudy Climb until they reached a dead end.

"Where's Huff N. Puff?" Luigi asked. Before Mario could answer, a loud rumble shook the deck. Shortly thereafter, a giant brown cloud quickly emerged from the deck. It had red eyes and a red mouth.

"Are you two men Mario and Luigi?" the cloud demanded. "And did you or did you not break the Puff-Puff Machine?"

"You deserved it, Huff N. Puff," Mario replied.

"I deserved it? What possessed you to do that? You completely ruined my plan to cover Flower Fields in clouds. You see, I was going to turn this sunlight-blasted place into a cloud-covered paradise," Huff N. Puff explained. "But I can't expect two men of your intellect to understand..."

Suddenly, Huff N. Puff noticed Spike floating next to the Mario Bros. "What?! Is that you, Spike?! So! You have betrayed me!"

"Yes, I did by deliberation," Spike responded. "Those dark clouds you and your Lakitus created, they were killing the flowers on the ground. They wanted to bask in the sunlight and grow up to be pretty living things. You should know that flowers are human like Mario and Luigi; they're not just ordinary plants. They wished to be happy and enjoy life. Not to be sad and dread the worst." Mario and Luigi nodded in agreement.

"Well, you deserve to be punished just like Mario and Luigi!" Huff N. Puff retorted with irritation. "I was given this Star Spirit by King Bowser. I'll never give it to the likes of you. Prepare to be paid dearly for your crimes!"

To kick off the battle, Mario threw his hammer at Huff N. Puff, releasing two Tuff Puffs. The hammer flew back into Mario's hands after hitting Huff N. Puff, and he threw it four more times, releasing eight more Tuff Puffs.

"How is he doing that?" Luigi asked.

"I don't know," Mario responded.

One of the Tuff Puffs turned to Huff N. Puff. "Master Huff N. Puff! I wish to pummel the Mario Bros. too! Permission to attack?"

While the Tuff Puff asked Huff N. Puff to attack them, Mario and Luigi giggled for a couple seconds.

"All of a sudden, those small clouds call him their master?" Luigi questioned. "Jeezums."

"Yes, take them both!" Huff N. Puff answered the Tuff Puff. Mario and Luigi rushed toward Huff N. Puff to make their next attack, but the Tuff Puffs charged them quickly. Mario was able to dodge the Tuff Puffs, but Luigi was caught, and they started compressing in on him multiple times.

"Ohohohoho! St-stop that! It... It t-tickles!" Luigi cried with pained laughter. Apparently, the Tuff Puffs' attack was tickling Luigi to the point where he couldn't move.

Meanwhile, Mario jumped on Huff N. Puff a couple more times, inadvertently releasing more Tuff Puffs. At the same time Mario landed back at his starting point, the remaining Tuff Puffs surrounded Mario and compressed in on him too.

"Nohohohoho! C-cut...it o-out! No!" Mario chortled desperately.

"Oh, yes! The tickle torture is working!" Huff N. Puff announced with glee. "Keep going, my minions!"

Spike immediately threw a large barrage of Spiny Eggs at the Tuff Puffs, not wanting Mario and Luigi to die from the excessive laughter. The Tuff Puffs dissipated, leaving the Mario Bros sitting on the deck, panting profusely with sweat dripping from their faces.

"You okay, guys?" Spike asked the Mario Bros.

"Not...yet..." Mario said with exhaustion. Having noticed his Star Energy at the max on his Star Power Band, Mario activated the "Full Recovery" power, giving him a rush of adrenaline in addition to calming down. He quickly threw the band to Luigi, who used the "Refresh" power on himself.

Mario used his Spin Jump attack on Huff N. Puff, releasing more Tuff Puffs. This time, however, Huff N. Puff grew smaller and smaller by each jump.

"Urgh! You asked for it, Mario and Luigi!" Huff N. Puff growled with a slightly high-pitched voice, which was a result of him shrinking. "Now you'll witness the full power of my storm!"

"Master Huff N. Puff! Leave those men to me!" one of the Tuff Puffs said. Huff N. Puff charged his next attack, turning red in the process. Mario acted quickly and took his Carrot out before crushing it with his fist. As expected, Mario turned into Bunny Mario with two bunny ears forming on his cap.

"Now's your chance!" Spike ordered Mario and Luigi. Right on cue, Mario held his palms toward the sky and Luigi leaped onto Mario before jumping again. At the same time the Tuff Puffs charged Mario again, he jumped up high, outrunning the Tuff Puffs. He was within inches of Luigi's shoes.

At the apex of their jumps, Mario grabbed Luigi's ankles before both fell head-first, spinning rapidly. Sensing Mario and Luigi's final attack, Spike braced himself. Huff N. Puff was milliseconds away from releasing a lightning shockwave to immobilize everyone but the Tuff Puffs when Mario and Luigi pummeled through him. As a result, Huff N. Puff exploded into a lightning-filled brown cloud of smoke that vaporized the Tuff Puffs. Luckily, Spike didn't get electrocuted by the cloud.

It took fifteen seconds for the smoke to clear before Spike saw Mario's legs dangling from above the deck; he landed head-first and buried half his body. Mario pulled himself out of the clouds, his Bunny form having worn off.

Mario immediately realized that Luigi was buried under the clouds and dove inside to pull Luigi back to the surface, which took five seconds.

"That was more powerful than I thought," Mario panted.

"Mario! Luigi! That was incredible!" Spike exclaimed. "What did you just do?"

After the Mario Bros. stood back up, Mario explained, "That was the Bounce Bros. attack. Luigi leaped onto my palms before jumping as high as he could. Given that I used the Carrot to turn into Bunny Mario, I was able to catch up with Luigi before grabbing his ankles."

"We then dove head-first, spinning round and round until we blew up Huff N. Puff," Luigi chimed in. "But you saw we buried ourselves by accident, which was not supposed to happen."

"You still did great, either way," Spike responded. "I couldn't have done better myself."

"Thanks for stopping those brown clouds from tickling us," Mario thanked Spike. "I was literally almost out of breath."

"Me too," Luigi added in. Suddenly, a glowing white orb rose from the clouds behind Mario and Luigi's backs.

"Guys! Look behind you!" Spike pointed out, having noticed the orb. Right when Mario and Luigi turned around, the orb blew up and imploded to reveal Klevar trapped in a playing card.

"Yes!" Mario shouted with joy. "I can't believe we're this close! There's just one more left!" Mario wasted no time and grabbed the card prompting a bright white light to shine from above. Mario and friends then flew up with the card before fading away.