As our heroes drew closer to the headquarters of the Ruff Ruffians, the hideout appeared to consist of a central building completely surrounded by a green fence. Eventually, they drew close enough to find that the green fence was actually made of the sharp branches of cacti, wrapped around each other in a way that made them impossible to climb.

CHAPTER 2-2

Finding the Ruffians

"How are we supposed to get over this wall?" asked Tippi.

"How do the Ruff Ruffians get over it?" asked Luigi.

"That's a good question." Tippi scanned the cactus wall for any possible way over it, but it appeared to have no openings or anything else that would allow one to get into the central area. "I don't see any way in..."

"Oh, come on!" griped Bowser. "You forget that I can destroy any obstacle!" He released his firey breath on the wall, which soon burned and crumbled. "You better not forget again!"

Our heroes walked into the central area of the hideout. Aside from the central building, there appeared to be nothing here besides a stable. Mario crept up to one of the glassless windows of the building and peeked inside.

"But what was that thing anyway?" asked a man who was undoubtedly one of the Ruff Ruffians.

"Who knows?" replied another. "We just had to trust that guy."

"Speaking of trust..." began yet another. The conversation was about something unrelated to the Pure Heart.

Mario turned to his fellow heroes. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Yes," replied Peach. "That was probably the Pure Heart they were talking about."

"Who was 'that guy' they were trusting, though?" asked Tippi. "You didn't see the Pure Heart, did you, Mario?"

"Nope."

"Should we ask those guys about it?" suggested Luigi.

"They are called the Ruff Ruffians," pointed out Tippi. "They probably won't let go of it without a fight."

"Well, fight or not, we've got to get the Pure Heart," announced Mario. "Come on, let's find the door." Our heroes walked around the perimeter until they found a door. They opened it, and were met with angry stares.

"HEY!" shouted one of them. "Whaddya want, evildoers?"

"Evildoers?" asked Tippi. "We're just looking for something called a Pure Heart. It's glowing-"

"THAT'S THEM!" shouted another. "LET'S GET 'EM!" He immediately jumped up and started beating Mario over the head with his fist.

"Mamma Mia! What's this all about?"

"What's going on!?" exclaimed Tippi. "Stop fighting Mario!"

"We ain't letting you get the Pure Heart, you weaklings!" shouted a another Ruffian. He started fistfighting with Luigi.

"QUIET, ALL OF YOU!" bellowed Bowser. He expelled a warning blast of fire, and the Ruffians backed away in a corner. "Mommy!" one of them uttered.

"OK, all of you troublemakers," started Bowser. "Give us the Pure Heart, and I won't roast you all."

"Never!" said one of them weakly. "It ain't here, anyway!"

"Then where is it?"

"We're not telling ya! Come out and fight us on horses, and we'll see who'll roast!" All nine of them jumped out the window.

"On horses?" asked Bowser. "This'll be fun! He walked outside where the Ruffians were saddling their horses. "All right, you guys wanna fight? I'll give you a fight!"

MINIBOSS

The Ruff Ruffians

"C'mon! C'mon! I can take you all!" dared Bowser.

"Giddyap!" the Ruffians shouted. Their horses charged at Bowser. He once again blew his trademark ray of fire, but all of the horses jumped the attack. "Whoa. You guys are smarter than I thought. All right, here's where you feel the wrath of Bowser!" He charged toward one of the horses, knocking it and its Ruffian clear out of the headquarters.

"Are you sure you can take this by yourself?" asked Tippi. This is animal cruelty!

"I'm fine!" replied Bowser. "Just leave it to-"

At that moment, one of the horses rammed straight into Bowser, causing him to fall over. "Ow! Fine, you want to play dirty?" He ducked into his shell and spun aroud, knocking out several more Ruffians. Only four remained.

"Jump on 'im, boys!" shouted one who appeared to be the leader. The others ordered their horses to jump, and Bowser was crushed under the weight of four horses.

"We've got to help him," announced Tippi.

Mario walked over to where Bowser was, but before he could do anything, the leader ordered for the assault to be repeated. Mario began slowly pushing Bowser away, and when they attacked, Bowser was narrowly missed.

"Wha?" uttered Bowser. "Why, uh, thanks. Now..." When they charged him again, he performed another shell spin in place, and put the rest of the Ruffians out of commission.

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Bowser. "I knew I could do it! Oh yeah! Go me! Who da man? Who da man?"

Mario walked over to the leader. "Now tell us where the Pure Heart is."

"Never! We must protect it!"

"We've, well, he's defeated you fair and square. Tell us where it is."

"We don't have it!"

"Then where is it?"

"Our leader has it. He's over on Mt. Maim. If you wanna find it, tough luck! We ain't telling ya!"

"I can kick your butts again!" warned Bowser.

"Um...err...uh...it's the largest mountain over there." He pointed.

"You're not the leader?" asked Mario. "Fine, I'll find this leader of yours. We need that Pure Heart to save the world."

"Oh, shut your mouth with your dang lies! We know you want it for evil!"

"No, we don't. Come on, guys."

Once more, our heroes walked through the desert, in search of Mt. Maim.

"Why did the Ruff Ruffians think we wanted to use the Pure Heart for evil?" asked Tippi. "Come to think of it, aren't they evil?"

"They're just troublemakers, they're not evil," answered Peach. "But I do wonder. Did someone tell them we were coming?"

"It's possible...we'll just have to press on."

"And I was the one who got us through!" beamed Bowser.

"You were rather violent," complained Mario.

"So what? You're the one who interrogated that guy. You were more of a villain than I was!"

"We had to learn where the Pure Heart was! It's on Mt. Maim!"

"If its name is any indication, it's probably dangerous," remarked Luigi.

As they walked, the landscape begame more rugged and craggy. Just like at the beach, they needed to weave in and out of random rock formations. When they reached a place of flat ground again, they realized they were at the top of a huge cliff. The landscape had changed from a flat, cactus-filled, tumbleweed-ridden desert into a series of large rocky mountains. "This looks like an easy place to get hurt," observed Tippi. "It's no wonder it's called Mt. Maim. He said it was the largest mountain here..."

"It's that one!" exclaimed Luigi. He pointed at the tallest mountain.

"Then let's go there," agreed Tippi.

As they continued walking, they passed through hills and valleys. Just when they were about to reach Mt. Maim, our heroes heard a faint rumbling sound. "What's that rumbling?" asked Tippi.

Luigi looked up, and was instantly terrified. "Look up, everyone!" he shouted.

They all did, and were startled by what they saw.

"ROCKSLIDE!" yelled Bowser.

-END OF CHAPTER-