Chapter 10: A Chip off of Whomp's Block
"Alright, Toadette, let's where we'll go next." Toad said.
"I only have one star, so our choices might be limited." Toadette said.
"Hey, look! There's another door with a 1. Looks like the next level might be ahead." Toad said, looking at the number 1 door.
"Yup." Toadette said.
The two Toads walked over to the door and took out their star. It's magic swirled upon the door and opened it right up. Toad and Toadette walked in and saw another painting. This one was a huge fortress in the sky.
"Oh...it's another one of the paintings. Like the one I went through earlier when I got captured." Toad looked at the painting.
"Hey, you've got me to protect you, buddy. Remember, we're Shroommates, and we've got each other's back." Toadette said.
"Yeah, you're right! Let's go!" Toad said.
The two Toads immediately went into the Whomp's Fortress painting, ready for whatever could hold them back.
They then landed in an area next to a patch of flowers.
"This place looks like one of Bowser's old fortresses, so we'd better be careful." Toad said.
They started walking up the ramp where the moving bars tried to push them off. Then they went up a large staircase, dodging the Thwomps that tried to smash them. Then they ran into some sleeping Piranha plants.
"Good thing it's sleeping, Toad." Toadette whispered.
"Let's sneak past it and move on." Toad whispered.
The two quietly snuck past the Piranha plant. Toad felt so scared that he hallucinated his footsteps to be loud noises and he checked every few steps to see if it woke up. They made it past in 30 seconds and sighed in relief.
Toadette started running across the bridge, not knowing that the bridge was collapsing behind her, leaving Toad behind.
"C'mon, Toad!" Toadette said to Toad. Then she realized that the bridge collapsed behind her and she didn't bring Toad with her.
Toadette chuckled a little. "Sorry, bro."
"It's okay, I can just walk across that ledge from here." Toad said. Toad clinged to the wall to get across the ledge. Unfortunately at the end, he met another Piranha plant that was also sleeping. But he was a bit impatient.
"Oh, forget the Piranha plant!" Toad said, as he punched the Piranha plant and it died. He then long jumped to where Toadette was. "I didn't have time for going slow. Our princess can't be stuck within the castle walls all day."
"Good point." Toadette said.
The two had moved on to surprisingly see a brand new enemy. It appeared to be a giant walking stepping square stone with a crack that was covered with an X bandage.
"What is that?" Toadette was scared.
"Don't know. I've never seen that enemy before. Maybe it's some sort of sub-species of the Thwomps." Toad said.
The stepping stone turned around to reveal its ugly face.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing trespassing around the Whomp's Fortress?" The Whomp said.
"Whomp? Is that what you guys are called? Sorry, we just never saw anything like you before." Toad said.
"What do you want from us?" The Whomp asked.
"Uh, we were just wondering if you have seen any stars here. We need them to save the Toads." Toadette said.
"The Whomp King has a star. King Bowser entrusted it to him. But he wouldn't give it to any fungus weirdos like you two! So SCRAM before I make you do it!" The Whomp said.
"No, we're here for the star and that's that!" Toad said.
"Alright! You asked for it!" The Whomp then toppled itself like a domino over Toad. But not before he pushed Toadette out of the way.
"No, Toad!" Toadette shrieked. Then she looked for a weak spot. She spotted the crack covered with the bandage and ground pounded it, destroying the Whomp. Toad was seen flattened like a pancake. "Toad, are you okay?"
Toad reformed himself and tiredly spoke.
"Yep, that was definitely related to a Thwomp. How'd you beat it though?" Toad said.
"I ground pounded its back." Toadette said.
"Alright! Good job! Let's keep going! We're almost at the top." Toad said.
Toad and Toadette took an elevator to reach the top. Suddenly, they saw an even larger Whomp with a crown on his head.
"This must be the Whomp King that the Whomp mentioned. Hey, big guy! Give us our star!" Toad told the big Whomp.
The Whomp King then turned around to see the two and angrily growled.
"It makes me so mad! We built your houses, your castles, pave your roads, save your Toads, and still you walk over us. Do you ever say thanks to us? No, sir!" The Whomp King said his speech.
"Sorry. But you guys were inanimate objects before Bowser brought you to life and talking to you would be creepy." Toad said.
"Inanimate?! Well, you're not gonna wipe my feet on me, so I'm just going to crush you for fun?" The Whomp King said. "You got any problem with that? Just try to ground pound the Whomp King! Ha!"
The Whomp King then attempted to crush them. But Toad and Toadette successfully dodged it and ground pounded it with their combined strength.
"Just face it, Whomp King! You and your kind were made for building!" Toad said.
"And not for crushing!" Toadette added.
"No! Crushed again!" The Whomp King sighed. "You're right, I'm just a stepping stone after all, I won't grovel." The Whomp King said. "I guess you win, just take this with you!"
The Whomp King exploded, leaving behind his star.
Toad and Toadette finally grabbed the star. "Yippee!"