Chapter 15
15A - Crystal Palace
It's 4:45 PM, and Mario, Luigi, and Bombette have just entered the Crystal Palace. The group took a minute to look around the first room, whose walls had blue wallpaper with white stars, the floor being made of clear crystal, and four whitish blue pillars at each corner. There was also a large glass wall in the middle separating the room into two halves.
"Wow. This looks like a castle foyer," Luigi remarked. Suddenly, he saw Mario tearing up while looking at the walls. "Mario? Are you all right-y?"
"Umm... I-I..." Mario trembled.
"Is it because of the layout of this room? I can tell you love it."
"N-no... I s-still f-feel...b-bad about...B-Bombette..." Mario lowered his head to the ground, making Bombette feel sorry for him.
"Don't cry, Mario," Bombette coaxed Mario. "I know you would never intentionally harm a friend like me." Mario kneeled and lightly hugged Bombette.
"I-I'm...s-sorry..." Mario whimpered. "I w-want to f-forget about...it n-now... B-but..."
"Here. Let's sit down for a second." Luigi led Mario to the bottom-right pillar and sat down with him; Bombette stood to Mario's left. They took a five-minute break before Mario had calmed down completely and was ready to move on.
"Which door do we go through first?" Mario asked. He saw two white doors on the north and south ends as well as two red doors on the east side. The red doors were locked, meaning the group had to find the keys to unlock them. In addition, there were two red switches in front of the doors. But the glass wall forced the group to start with the bottom half of the room. What Mario, Luigi, and Bombette didn't know was that there were duplicates of each of them on the other side of the wall.
The south door led an empty hall with a red X near the door in front. Mario became perplexed and didn't know what the X meant but decided to press on into the next room. There were a couple Swoopulas flying around that tend to suck their prey's blood like bats; Mario and friends obviously took the Swoopulas out before they could attack.
In the next room was a tall block of ice with a blue key encased inside.
"Why is there a blue key?" Luigi asked. "I thought the door was red." Nonetheless, Luigi took out his Flame Flower and melted the ice to retrieve the blue key.
"Maybe if I pound that red switch, would the red door turn blue?" Mario wondered out loud.
"Let's-a go see," Luigi answered. After going back to the foyer, Mario hit the bottom switch, turning both red doors and the switches blue in a split second. Mario immediately unlocked the bottom blue door and led Luigi and Bombette into the next room.
The glass wall extended through the middle again, separating the real group from the duplicates. Before noticing a crack on the wall in front, Mario saw the duplicates out the corner of his eye.
"Guys?" Mario asked with confusion. "What are those?"
"They're us, bro," Luigi answered. "It's probably a mirror."
"I don't know... They might be something else..." Mario decided to forget it for now and had Bombette blow up the cracked wall before moving on. In the next room, Mario looked around with knowing it and saw the wall on the top-left end was intact with its cracks.
"Wait... Why is...?" Mario started to say. "I don't know...if..."
"Me neither, bro," Luigi responded. At the end of the bottom half was a Brick Block with a Hammer Suit powerup, which Mario took for himself. The other Brick Block on the other side was untouched. Luckily, there was an opening near the middle of the glass wall. The other Brick Block contained 10 Coins, which Luigi collected. Next, Bombette blew up the other cracked wall and beckoned the Mario Bros. to follow her.
Suddenly, the group came across the duplicates standing in front, shocking the first Mario.
"Mamma mia! Mario's here!" the second Mario shouted.
"Not good! We better fight them!" the second Luigi declared. A couple seconds later, the duplicates turned into three Duplighosts and fought Mario, Luigi, and Bombette. The Duplighosts were kind of easy to beat, but they managed to turn into the group's individual duplicates. But the real ones knew who they were battling and won against the Duplighosts.
Mario and friends arrived back in the foyer on the other side of the glass wall. The good news was there were no duplicates on the south side. The north door led to an empty room with a wooden board on the far end. Mario ground pounded the board, falling into a small room with a yellow trampoline. Mario went back up to the next floor and went with Luigi and Bombette back into the foyer and through the top blue door again.
The group then made their way to the glass wall with the opening in the middle and walked back to the foyer before going through the south door again. This time, the red X was gone, revealing a hole leading to a lower floor.
"How did this happen?" Mario asked himself. He knew Luigi and Bombette wouldn't know the answer, so the group went down into a room with another trampoline and made their way through the next section to a cracked wall.
"So far, so good," Luigi remarked. "Nothing to worry about, Mario." Bombette then blew up the wall in front, but before the group could go any further, five Bombettes appeared from behind, shocking Mario even more than earlier.
"No!" Mario cried, remembering what happened with the real Bombette before meeting Madam Merlar. "This can't be happening!"
"What? Who are all of you?" the first Bombette asked. "You're all trying to look like me!" She turned to Mario and Luigi. "Mario and Luigi, don't tell me you can't tell which one is the real Bombette. You can tell, right?" Luigi shook his head while Mario stood still.
"Hey, I heard that! You're spreading lies, you impostor! I'm the real Bombette!" the second Bombette announced. Mario's heart started pounding fast.
"Oh, absolutely not!" the third Bombette disagreed. "Guys, look carefully at me and you'll know. I'm the real Bombette. It can only be me. These others are all liars." Luigi started thinking which Bombette was real, but Mario still didn't move and was shaking.
"I'm the one! Mario! Luigi! Me! Don't fall for these tricks! I'll blow you up if you do!" the fourth Bombette shouted. Mario's breath shallowed and he started to tear up again.
"Look... I'm the real Bombette..." the fifth Bombette said. "Please... Trust your eyes and look at me... I'm not lying..."
Finally, Mario broke and sobbed really hard. "I CAN'T DO IT! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS PUZZLE! I'LL MAKE YOU CRY!"
"You have no choice, Mario," Luigi told Mario. "It's the only way."
Even though he was still crying, Mario walked up to the five Bombettes and took his hammer out. "I-I...d-don't w-want...to..." Mario stuttered. "I-I'm s-sorry..." After ten seconds, Mario threw his hammer at the third Bombette, which happened to be the real one.
"AAGGHH!" Bombette cried with pain; the other four Bombettes turned into Duplighosts and cackled briefly before disappearing. Luigi cupped his hands over his mouth while Mario ran up to the hurt Bombette. She was crying just as hard as Mario.
"Why?!" Bombette sobbed. "Why did you hurt me?!"
"I-I d-didn't...m-mean to...!" Mario replied before hugging Bombette. "T-this is...s-so morbid...!"
"What is going on...?" Luigi whispered to himself. "Who is setting us up...?" While Mario comforted Bombette, Luigi went into the next room and found a red key encased in an ice block. He used the Flame Flower again, but it only melted three quarters of the ice because all the flames were used up. Luigi threw the flower at the ice, melting it even more before disappearing. Luigi pounded the remaining ice with both fists to release the key, which he took for himself.
By the time Luigi rejoined Mario, he saw Watt floating next to him. Mario swapped both partners to allow Bombette to chill out.
"How is he, Watt?" Luigi asked.
"Still upset," Watt answered. "I don't know if he'll feel better." She turned to Mario. "Please get up. We need to keep going."
Mario reluctantly got up and led Luigi and Watt back into the foyer. Knowing Mario needed to calm down more, Luigi hit the bottom switch with Mario's hammer, turning the blue switches and doors red again. Luigi unlocked the bottom door, which also unlocked the top door. The group proceeded through two rooms, stopping in front of three White Clubba guarding one of two small bridges above a bottomless pit. Three Clubba statues blocked the bridge on the top half.
Luigi and Watt worked together to fight the Clubbas; doing so made the Clubba statues disappear, allowing access to the top door; there was no bottom door in this room. The glass wall in the previous section had a big opening in the middle, which the group went through to go across the top bridge and into the next room. By now, Mario had nearly composed himself completely.
"Okay. I'd like to lead you guys now," Mario said before Luigi went behind Mario. The next room had a revolving door that can be activated using one of two red switches on the top and bottom half. Mario hammered the top switch before moving to the bottom half with Luigi and Watt. There were several cracks on the top half's right wall and a door at end of the bottom half, but the group decided to go through the door first.
After defeating a white Clubba in the center, a Duplighost appeared on the top half, but Mario and friends didn't see it yet. Even though there was a door in front, Mario stopped to think for a bit.
"It might sound stupid, but I want to see what's at the top half first," Mario said.
"Go right ahead," Luigi responded. Mario went back to the room with the revolving door and hammer the bottom switch to go back to the top half. Mario swapped Watt with Bombette but stopped to examine her head for a second.
"How hurt are you?" Mario asked Bombette.
"I'm okay now," Bombette replied. "The pain went away pretty quick, which is weird." Mario then had Bombette blow up the cracked wall and swapped her with Watt again before leading Watt and Luigi into the top half of the room in front. The group took care of the Duplighost before it could start its disguising technique. As there was nothing ahead, Mario and friends went back to the bottom half through the revolving door and went through two rooms before stopping.
"How long is this palace?" Mario asked.
"I don't know. But I DO know we've spent more time than I originally thought of," Luigi answered. Then, Mario noticed himself, Luigi, and Watt on the top half standing still.
The real group walked slowly with Mario paying attention to the duplicates, who walked in unison. Surprisingly, the duplicate Mario stared back at the real Mario, causing him to jump back a bit.
"I seriously don't like this place..." Mario murmured. "This is getting scarier for me..."
"Mario, it's not a haunted house," Luigi reassured Mario. On the other end, the duplicate Mario and Luigi talked with each simultaneously. "You're doing fine."
At the end of the room was a small hole that even Mario or Luigi couldn't crawl through. Mario decided to swap Watt with Goombario for this small task.
"Goombario, see if there's a way to break this wall open," Mario instructed Goombario. "You think you can fit under there?"
Goombario gazed through the hole briefly. "I think so. Let me try." Unbeknownst to the real group, the duplicate Goombario went inside the hole at the same time the real one did. However, the duplicate walked back to the duplicate Mario and back through the hole again and again while the real Goombario didn't come back.
Mario couldn't feel anything as he was getting creeped out more and more. Meanwhile, Luigi simply became confused at what was going on.
Suddenly, the wall blew open and what appeared to be Goompa, Dr. Kolorado, Yellow Yoshi, Goombario, and Daniel T. ran toward Mario and Luigi. At the same time, the duplicate Goombario came running in and out of the hole on the top end with the duplicate Mario and Luigi doing nothing.
Mario clasped his hands on his head, beginning to go through another headache episode.
"Hey, Mario and Luigi! I'm the real Goombario. But of course, you know that, don't you, old boys?" Dr. Kolorado asked.
"Mario and Luigi! Look at me! I'm the real deal! Nobody else looks like Goombario," Goompa declared.
"What is...? How are...?" Luigi started to ask. Mario, on the other hand, began feeling nauseous and held his stomach with his right hand.
"Hey, come on! I'm Goombario! This is so ridiculous!" Yellow Yoshi said. Mario's hands started tingling and he took his gloves off before clutching his stomach again. He was going through a panic attack similar to what Luigi went through at Boo's Mansion.
"I'm the real Goombario, guys. You believe me, don't you?" Goombario questioned. Then, Mario's chest started hurting and Mario held it with his left hand. He was also beginning to sweat and breathe way too fast.
"I'm the real Goombario," Daniel T. stated. "There isn't any doubt in your mind, is there? Hello?"
"Well... What do I-" Luigi started before everyone but Mario interrupted him by speaking one over another.
"Hey, old bean. You'd best take out these impostors." "Yeah, do that." "Guys, would you hurt them all except me?" "Come on! Fight the impostors!" "Listen to me!"
Finally, Mario loudly retched and vomited all over the floor, silencing everybody. Luigi turned to see Mario fall on his knees and nearly slipped on the vomit before keeping himself upright. He then turned back to the others with an angry look on his face after taking Mario's hammer.
"If you all just shut up for ten freaking seconds, let me pick who's the real Goombario!" Luigi yelled. "You're literally killing my brother!"
"I'm sorry." "Can we just end this?" "Please forgive me." "Enough whining!" "Make a move now!" Goompa, Yellow Yoshi, Goombario, Daniel T., and Dr. Kolorado said before they resumed shouting one over another. Luigi took five seconds to think it through before throwing the hammer at Goompa, Goombario, Yellow Yoshi, and Dr. Kolorado in rapid succession, turning them all into Duplighosts; Daniel T. then turned into the real Goombario.
"Well, this sucks." "I don't know how you did it, but you found me out!" "Gosh dang it to heck!" "Remember me because I will return!" the Duplighosts said simultaneously before disappearing. Suddenly, Mario collapsed to his left side and his cap fell off his head.
"NO! MARIO!" Luigi cried before he and Goombario approached Mario.
"What do we do?!" Goombario demanded.
"Don't talk! Let me handle him!" Luigi grabbed Mario's cap and gloves and hung him over his left shoulder before hurrying into the next room with two doors on the north and south end and two east doors on either side of the glass wall. Luigi carefully laid Mario on his back next to the glass wall; his head and palms were drenched in sweat.
"Goombario, go see what's in the right and front rooms," Luigi ordered Goombario, who immediately ran though the south door. Meanwhile, Luigi tended to Mario and cradled his head for a couple minutes before Mario slowly woke up.
"Ugh... Wh- Where... What..." Mario groaned.
"Shh. It's okay, bro," Luigi shushed Mario. "Relax."
While Luigi comforted Mario, Goombario discovered a giant Albino Dino statue in the south room and looked at it for a couple seconds before going back out and through the east door and through two rooms before he stopped at an opening through the glass wall's middle. He went to the top half and made his way to the north door where he saw a smaller Albino Dino statue.
"What do I do?" Goombario asked himself. Finally, he decided to push the statue to the end of the room and ran back the way he came toward the room with the other statue. A hole leading to a lower level was revealed, complete with a yellow trampoline. The next hall had a couple Swoopulas that Goombario defeated easily before finding a gray key with a red stone in the center. He took the key and went back up to where Mario and Luigi were sitting.
"Luigi, I found a key," Goombario said while taking out the key.
"Not now, Goombario," Luigi whispered. "Let Mario relax for a while. I don't know how long but bear with me."
Goombario walked next to the bottom east door and sat in the corner while Luigi gently held Mario head; Mario took deep breaths while looking at the ceiling. He couldn't say anything due to being exhausted from his panic attack.
What will happen after Mario recovers completely? Will he and his partners be able to defeat the Crystal King and rescue the last Star Spirit?
