On Cloudy Climb, the gang was amazed to walk on the sturdy yellow clouds (which completely perplexed Double D). While there were giant clouds, there were some small to tiny clouds as well. When they looked ahead, they were surrounded by white clouds, showing off an ice cream cone, berries, a lollipop, an apple, and many more shapes.
"Cotton gravy!" Ed said, ignoring his acrophobia and began to devour the floor.
"Careful, Ed," Double-D said. "You don't know where it belongs."
"Oh! But it's right here, Double-D." Everyone began to enjoy themselves, jumping or lying down on the comfortable clouds. Nazz found a Super Jump Charged Badge on one of the floating clouds.
"All right, everyone!" Mario said. "Stop playing around! Remember: We're in Huff N. Puff's territory. He can attack us anytime."
"Life has many doors!" Rolf added.
Some people groaned, but Mario and Rolf were right. The team resumed to the next area where they had never seen so many big and little clouds close together. Some were scattered across, some were above, and some were below. After walking the cloud-like stairs, they saw a brown cloud halfway in the cloud. They decided to encompass, or surround, the mysterious enemy.
"Are you the ones who interfered with my plan?!" it asked. "Were you the ones who destroyed my Puff-Puff Machine?"
"To be honest...yes!" The others narrowed their eyes, waiting for any attack.
"You fools! You've all ruined my plans to cover Flower Fields in clouds for my paradise!"
"Flower Fields need the sun to survive!" Centaury said. "You can't understand how much Flower Fields was suffering!"
"You're the one who doesn't understand, too! I will devour you all!" Huff N. Puff, a giant version of a Ruff Puff with hands, roared and emerged out of the cloud, breaking everyone into small groups. Everyone else screamed or yelped as the team became separated everywhere.
"IT'S HIDEOUS!" Jimmy screamed as he readied his shield while Sarah grinned.
"Look at that! Poop-covered cotton candy! Let's smash it!"
Kevin got up and looked around, only to notice Huff N. Puff behind him.
"Yeow!"
Huff N. Puff narrowed his eyes in response. "I know you. You're the one who'd destroyed my Puff-Puff Machine! You dare interrupt me when I was in my moment of triumph?!"
Kevin just gave a cocky smirk. "It's what I do."
Huff N. Puff was about to punch the Jock until a Spiny Egg struck him. Lakilester and Lakilulu came in beside Kevin.
"You two! Spike! Lakilulu! How dare you betray me!"
"I'm fighting for good!" Lakilester said. "You can't control me anymore!"
"That's right!" Lakilulu agreed. "The way you caused all the suffering in Flower Fields was too much!"
"Then you will all perish!" Huff N. Puff said, slamming his fist down to the three. Lakilester grabbed Kevin, escaping the blow. Lakilulu threw a Spiny Egg to Huff N. Puff. When it came contact, a small Tuff Puff came out of him. A second one came behind from the first blow.
"Seriously?!" Kevin exclaimed in disbelief.
"These are my Tuff Puffs! Watch this!" Huff N. Puff sucked the Tuff Puffs, regenerating his form.
"I completely forgot!" Lakilester said, gasping as he slapped his forehead. "He can heal himself, even if we damage him!"
"Watch out!" Lakilulu said, dodging another fist from Huff N. Puff.
"Wait! I got it, Lakilester!" Kevin said. "Let's retreat for now. I'll explain my plan."
The Lakitus and Kevin floated away, disappearing into the clouds.
"Come back here, traitors!" Huff N. Puff said. He was suddenly hit from behind, which was a water attack from Sushie and Nazz. Mario, Double-D, and Goombario then rushed in.
"Take-a-this!" Mario said as he jumped off the high cloud; Goombario joined in. They knocked Huff N. Puff with decent damage, bringing out two Tuff Puffs, which Double-D slashed into vapor with his sword.
"My turn!" Eddy exclaimed, jumping in as he tapped his Multibounce Badge. He jumped on Huff N. Puff then landed on all the Tuff Puffs that came out.
"I'm the man!
"It won't do any good!" Huff N. Puff said as he began to suck up a Tuff Puff that survived Eddy's attack.
"I don't think so!" Goombario said, jumping and heading down on a Tuff Puff.
"You'll pay for that!" Huff N. Puff growled as he grabbed Goombario, which made Mario and Double-D gasp in horror.
"Agh! Help! Someone!" Goombario was thrown into the air, falling down to his doom.
"Goombario!" Mario and Sushie said. Out of nowhere, Goombario was saved by Parakarry.
"Gotcha!" Parakarry said, grinning a bit.
"You da man, Parakarry!" Johnny cheered as he watched his Soul Partner save the day.
Goombario hyperventilated a lot from the sudden throw. "Th-thanks...Parakarry,"
Huff N. Puff growled and decided to blow them both away. However, Parakarry zoomed out just in time. Huff N. Puff turned his direction to Mario, Double-D, and Eddy and tried to grab them, but the three quickly retreated back. He continued on the pursuit, but someone jumped out of the cloud in front of him. Sarah, with her Power Smash Badge glowing, slammed her Chomp Flail directly to Huff N. Puff. As always, a Tuff Puff popped out of him.
Huff N. Puff growled and groaned in anger and pain. "All of you are such a nuisance!"
"And you are...!" Ed said as he aimed his bow forward, but stopped and placed his left hand on his chin. "I don't know. Oh yeah! A dummy!"
"Good one, Ed..." Sarah said to her brother with a roll of her eyes.
Huff N. Puff threw a punch as Ed tried to run to Mario, Double-D, and Eddy. The three noticed Ed cannot escape the punch in time but luckily, he tripped and fell down through the cloud. Double-D saw the opportunity to slash Huff N. Puff's hand with his Star Sword. The Crooked Cloud pulled back his hand, still feeling the pain. Two Tuff Puffs came out of him as the result of the attack
"It's gonna take a lot more than that!" Huff N. Puff sucked in three Tuff Puffs to regain his stamina. Parakarry landed next to Mario, Double-D, and Eddy while Goombario jumped out of Parakarry's hands and Johnny ran in to join them. The six charged forward and attempted to strike down Huff N. Puff.
Underneath the main cloud platform were Minh T., Centaury, Rolf, and Merlow. They found Ed on the ground, who almost landed on top of them.
"Ed-Boy!" Rolf said, bending down to him. "Are you unharmed?"
"Never better!" Ed replied with a grin as he started to stand up, which made Rolf sigh in relief.
"That pleases Rolf. Let us make haste to the heavens above us!" The five found another set of cloud-like stairs to the next level above. When they reached the main platform, the others fought bravely against Huff N. Puff. A Water Block surrounded Parakarry, thanks to Sushie and Nazz joining the fray. Mario, Double-D, and Goombario assaulted Huff N. Puff in the front. Six Tuff Puffs appeared out of him from their blows.
"No matter what you do, I'll always heal my wounds!" Huff N. Puff said as he started to suck his Tuff Puffs.
"Not this time!" Parakarry said as Johnny snapped a Modify Card. The Paratroopa Mailman went inside his shell and flew everywhere like crazy, leaving a trail of white smoke. He slammed Huff N. Puff and all the Tuff Puffs.
"AERIAL ACE!"
"Way-to-go, Parakarry!" Mario said, grinning. "Excellent execution from you and Johnny!"
"You're the man!" Ed added.
Huff N. Puff retreated back, facing everyone. "The rumors are true...You guys are strong...but I'm unlike any enemy you'd encounter."
"We're only strong because of our teamwork!" Double-D said. "When we're together, we're unstoppable!"
"What he said!" Nazz said, punching her gauntlets together.
"Oh really? Then let's see if you can dodge this attack!" Huff N. Puff growled louder than ever, turning from brown to red. Electricity began to crackle out of his body.
"Let's attack while his guard is down!" Mario said.
Double-D, however, had second thoughts. He gasped horribly with his eyes wider than ever. He realized that everyone on the main cloud was in a serious predicament.
"Everyone!" He said to the others. "We have to get off this cloud immediately! Talk later!"
Everyone around hesitated, but they followed his order. Parakarry seized Double-D, Johnny, and Minh T. while the rest jumped off to another large cloud. Huff N. Puff unleashed a bolt of flashy spider-like lightning on the ground below him. He returned back to his normal form.
Mario sighed in relief. "That was a close one. "A zap like that would instantly kill us."
"That attack is an inter-cloud lightning," Double D said to Minh T. and Parakarry. "It occurs when lightning discharges between two separate clouds."
"We better be careful should he ever do that again," Minh T. said, feeling shivers.
Huff N. Puff moved to where Mario and the others are located. "Dodging lightning can be tough since it can travel over 60,000 miles a second. You were all considered lucky. This time I won't miss!"
"Wait a minute!" Minh T. took our her Water Flower. "Let's use our Water Flowers against him while he is in that form."
"Good idea!" Double-D said, grabbing his last Water Flower. "Take us closer to him so that we can be in range, Parakarry."
"You got it!" Parakarry answered, flying closer to Huff N. Puff's electric form.
"Now!" Minh T. said as she and Double-D both shot out a water blast to Huff N. Puff. He screamed out as water came in contact. Sparks flew everywhere around him, shocking him both physically and mentally. He shrunk slightly, but no Tuff Puffs came out.
"All right! Bet he had a... 'shocking' experience!" Goombario joked as everyone around laughed or groaned, but their laughter was cut short when Huff N. Puff tried to reach them in a ghostly manner that made everyone shiver. Suddenly, he managed to seize Mario, Ed, and Goombario.
"Oh no!" Double D said as Huff N. Puff slammed his other fist to Mario, Ed, and Goombario. Before he made contact, Sushie shot out three Water Blocks to the captives. The damage, however, was still great and very painful. Huff N. Puff threw each of them in a different direction. Parakarry, as quickly as possible, placed Double-D, Johnny, and Minh T. with the others and dashed to the closest one: Ed. After three seconds of rushing at top speed, Parakarry successfully saved Ed's life.
"Mario! Goombario!" everyone said as Mario and Goombario disappeared into the bottom clouds. Everyone else could not breathe. Their eyes and heads shook in disbelief, but it was too late. Mario and Goombario were gone.
"Don't you dare start crying, everyone!" a familiar voice said. Before anyone thought they were goners, they looked over Huff N. Puff. Kevin and Lakilester smirked proudly together as they have Mario on Lakilester's cloud. Lakilulu also rescued Goombario, too. Not only this surprised them, but everyone else who had not been found was standing next to Kevin.
"Everyone!" Sushie cheered. Her fins rapidly flipped up and down in joy.
"Alright! The cavalry is here!" Eddy said.
"They're safe at last!" Minh T. said, sighing. Huff N. Puff turned around, still in his monstrous and ghostly state. The remaining heroes took this as the sign to fight. Before they could engage, they set down Mario and Goombario down to a safe place.
"Well, gang..." Kevin said as they started to break off. "I think this one is in for the record books. Hit it, everyone!" Watt began to spark with bright electricity while circling around Kooper. When Kooper's body flashed rainbow colors, he went into his shell and thrust forward to Huff N. Puff. As he descended down to the enemy, Huff N. Puff was too slow to react because of the water attack. With the power surging inside of Kooper, he plunged through Huff N. Puff and landed next to the other group. Jimmy also dashed past and delivered a rising uppercut to Huff N. Puff's face with his shield.
"You wanna piece of me!"
"Let's do this!" Lakilester said.
"Here it is!" Kevin shouted as he swiped a Modify Card over his Star Caller. "SPINY SURGE!"
Both the Lakitus threw multiples of Spiny Eggs to Huff N. Puff. Some bounced off while others were stuck on his cloudy body. Those that were bounced back were sent back by Kevin's wrench. As his stead, Lakilester's speed proved to be valuable since Kevin returned the Spiny Eggs back again with more force. As a bonus, all the Tuff Puffs that came out were annihilated when a Spiny Egg came back to them. This was perhaps the key to win the battle.
"Go Shovelchin!" Eddy said, seeing an amazing display from his rival. Huff N. Puff, in great fury, tried to punch Kevin and Lakilester. They widened their eyes at this. Bow, however, zoomed in and veiled them away just in time. The Lakitus, Kevin, and Bow floated away from Huff N. Puff. He breathed in and out, seeing that his end was close. Bruce decided to finish the fight for Bombette. She noticed Bruce was about to fight, but she knew his explosion was not enough to finish Huff N. Puff's perilous state.
"Don't do it, Bruce!" Bombette said, stepping in front of him. "You're not strong enough!"
"I don't care!" Bruce said, already burning his fuse. "I'm doing this only for you, Bombette!"
"Stop blabbering, blabbermouth!" Eddy said. "Bombette, need a lift?"
Bombette was wrapped up in Eddy's Yo-Yos as he spun her around as fast as he could. He then tossed her towards Huff N. Puff before taking out a Modify Card and quickly swiping it across his Star Caller.
"SHOW THAT TURD-FLAVORED COTTON CANDY YOUR TRUE POWER!"
"You got it, Eddy!" Bombette replied as she lit up her fuse, but the color was red, instead. "Mega Bomb!"
She leaped gracefully and flew down to Huff N. Puff. He looked up and saw Bombette with her bright red fuse. He let out a quiet gasp as she dived inside his body. Within a second, a tremendous explosion completely disintegrated Huff N. Puff with striking bangs and booms. The whole scene was like watching fireworks with brimming colors. Some had to shield their eyes, though. The black smoke covered the area, but it eventually vaporized away. When the smoke cleared, Bombette held up the card of the sixth Star Spirit. Everyone, as usual, cheered for their fabulous victory.
"STAR SPIRIT GET!" Ed cheered.
"Flower Fields is saved!" Centaury said with joy.
"We finally did it!" Minh T. added as everyone regrouped with Bombette.
"That was so awesome, Kevin!" Nazz said, smiling.
"Heh!" Kevin replied with a smirk. "I thought up this plan right here in my head."
"Hey..." Lakilulu said, frowning. "We thought up that plan together! We all formed this strategy!"
Kevin folded his arms. "Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, princess!"
Kevin then yelped in pain when Lakilulu smacked his head. "Maybe that will jog your memory!"
"Now, now, Lakilulu," Lakilester said. "Someone as beautiful as you shouldn't be that angry. Uh! I mean..." He stammered for a second, but she hugged him with affection. Lakilester slowly returned the hug with the same affection. He took a peek at Kevin as he saw him giving a thumbs up.
"20 more respect points, my dude," With that equal to 37 respect points, Lakilester grinned in the same fashion as Kevin. Eddy then walked over to Bombette.
"Here ya go, Eddy," Bombette said, giving the card to Eddy. "I guess not even a cloud monster can surpass my Mega Bomb, huh?"
"Nope! It was the best thing I'd ever seen in my life! Better than the 4th of July." Eddy held up the card and released the sixth Star Spirit.
"Your parasol is cute, Princess Peach," Twink said.
Peach unfolded it and spun it around, smiling. "Thank you, Twink. You know, this parasol is really special."
"Really special?"
"Really special. This is called the Sneaky Parasol. I can change into anybody in front of me."
Twink "hopped" off the ground. "Wow! Now that is a really special parasol."
"We could use this to explore the castle more than before."
"Let's give it a try." Peach and Twink went through the secret passage as usual and entered a dark area. They saw two Koopatrols complaining about their shifts. While they were distracted, Peach took out her Sneaky Parasol and shot out a twinkle to one of the Koopatrol. Apparently, they did not notice the sparkles at all. Peach spun around with a shower of twinkles and transformed into a Koopatrol.
"Nice job, Peach," Twink whispered, hiding behind Peach. They both went upstairs and confronted a Koopatrol.
"Excuse me," Peach, in a Koopa's voice, asked, "But we would like to go through here."
"Are you switching swifts?" he asked, which Peach nodded. "All right. You can pass through."
The guard opened the door as Peach and Twink went through. They continued up the stairs until they found a Koopatrol resting on a red couch.
"Where is he? My shift has been over for ages now!" He noticed the Koopatrol, or Peach in disguise. "Hey, you! Can you find that slacker so that he can take my shift?"
"Uh..." Peach said. "What does he look like?"
"He's a Clubba. He should be outside the castle, so you'll need this." The Koopatrol gave a key to Peach. Since it would be unfair to go straight through, they had no choice but to find the Clubba. As they went down the stairs, Peach entered a room that had the mystic chest. She set down the Jammin' Jelly and exited then made it to the first floor and found the entrance of the castle. Peach used the key to enter outside the castle.
"I can't believe we made it here," Twink murmured, seeing the limited stars in the pitch-black night. Peach looked to her right and saw the Clubba sleeping on the ground.
"Wake up, please," Peach said to the Clubba. She tried to move him, but that did not even wake him up. She and Twink tried many things from imaginary foods to poking hard on his stomach. The Clubba continued to snore with a bubble out of his nose. "It's no use. He won't wake up. So...stubborn."
Twink widened his eyes. "Wait a minute... I think I have a better idea. Try to use you Sneaky Parasol on him, instead."
"You're a genius, Twink!" Peach used her Sneaky Parasol and transformed herself into the Clubba. Her Sneaky Parasol also changed into a spiked mace. Peach, in her new form, and Twink went back to the guard from before.
"About time, you oaf! Do you realize how long I've been waiting?! Make sure you stay here...unless you want Bowser to flatten you." He left the Clubba (and Twink) alone in the halls.
"Now that's out-of-the-way, we can continue on," Twink said.
When they entered the room, Peach cringed. It was the room where this whole incident started. It was when Bowser and Kammy crashed through the window while she and Mario had their alone time. It was when Bowser defeated Mario easily and sent Mario plummeting to his doom. The window was not fixed; the glass shards were not picked up.
"This brings back nightmares..." Peach murmured.
"Just let it go, Peach. Mario and the kids are coming to save you."
"You're right." They continued further down the wall and walked the staircase to the third floor. They found themselves outside, standing on the bridge to the other side of the tower. They stopped proceeding when Kammy came out of the door. The two Koopatrols saluted her.
"All right," Kammy said. "Our weapon is finally ready. I must admit that Mario and those kids managed to get this far. We can never be too cautious."
"Weapon?" Peach and Twink thought. Kammy walked down the bridge until she stopped in front of Peach. Peach and Twink began to sweat.
"Keep up the good work." Peach nodded quickly. She was relieved until Kammy began to sniff. "Hold on a second... You smell...too nice... Hi-yah!" Kammy unleashed a spell of blue lightning on Peach. Her Sneaky Parasol was destroyed, thus revealing Peach's existence.
"Uh-oh!" Peach said, gasping.
"Princess Peach?! You're out again?! That's it! You've drawn the last of my gray hair! I want Princess Peach to be secured tightly!" Two Koopatrols immediately kidnapped Princess Peach, as usual.
"Noooo!" They took her away, but not in her room this time. Twink managed to hide out of sight and fly back down to the Mushroom Kingdom. Kammy groaned and shook her head before shivering when she felt someone materialize behind her.
"Such a naughty girl, that one, eh?" Velhallen Beo said as Kammy gulped and nodded. The Demon grinned deviously as he began walking off.
"I'll see to it that she is locked away securely so she won't try any more tricks...After all, we don't want a repeat of yesterday's incident."
"You KILLED those poor henchmen, sir...Bowser still ain't proud with you, ya know that?" Kammy warned as Beo scoffed.
"When I'm done, Bowser won't be a problem..."
As Beo left, Kammy couldn't help but feel the need to warn Bowser that Beo was becoming more and more untrustworthy...
Next Time: Optimistic Sensation
[The Heroes rescued Klevar!]
Modify Technique: Aerial Ace!: Parakarry tucks into his shell and flies all over the place, hitting everybody in his way!
Modify Technique: Spiny Surge!: Lakilester sends out a massive barrage of Spiny Eggs to pelt the enemy with spikey pain!
Modify Technique: Mega Bomb!: Bombette unleashes her most powerful and most dangerous explosion yet, obliterating any poor sap in her way!
-Current Badge Collection-
Mario: Power Jump, Shrink Stomp, I Spy
Ed: Close Call, Mega Rush, Fire Shield, HP Drain
Double-D: Refund, Damage Dodge, Power Plus
Eddy: Feeling Fine, Money Money, Multibounce
Kevin: Smash Charge, Quake Hammer, Defend Plus, Mega Smash
Rolf: Dizzy Attack, Power Rush, Ice Power
Johnny: Hammer Throw, Spin Smash, Power Quake
Nazz: Power Bounce, D-Down Jump, Spike Shield, Super Jump Charge
Sarah: D-Down Pound, Power Smash, Happy Heart
Jimmy: Pretty Lucky, Zap Tap, Dizzy Stomp