General Guy has an idea to get rid of the Lil' Sparky. Putting Shy Gurl in charge of that,
he can finally finish training the Shy Squad... or at least try to...)
Chapter 2 – The Big Bad Lantern Ghost
"Shy Squad! We have a new mission this time!"
The Shy Squad answered that by well, you know
"AAHHHH!! AHHH! New mission?! EEEEEE!!!!"
"QUIET!" I roared. "This one is not at all like our mission to beat Mario! It's to find out how to lure a Lil' Sparky into a frightening room!!"
The entire Shy Squad stopped and turned to me. Well There was one Fly Guy smashing into the wall for some reason I had no idea until the Lil' Sparky came in
"Wow! A secret spy meeting!" she exclaimed. "Can I be a spy too?? I wanna be a spy!"
"What?! WE'RE NOT SPIES, sweetheart!" I yelled. "Get OUT of here!!! This place is for Shy Guys only!"
"Shy Guy?" she looked confused. "What's a Shy Guy?"
"Grr!" I clenched my fists. "US!!! WE'RE SHY GUYS!!!"
"Oh I'm a Lil' Sparky! My name is"
"I know you're Lil' Sparky, AND I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR NAME!!"
"You're mean! M-E-E-N! Mean!"
Shy Gurl blinked. "General Guy, sir, this little thing apparently has no idea how to spell, sir."
"She's a toddler Lil' Sparky," I explained. "Remember? You were with me when I met her!"
"Oh, yes Sorry, sir, I was too busy cowering in the corner most of the time, sir."
"I know," I muttered. "So, sweetheart," talking to the little Lil' Sparky, "What can we do to convince you to keep us away, eh?"
The Lil' Sparky stared for a moment, then answered. "I wanna be Agent Watt and work at this Toy Box!" she exclaimed. "Before Mommy finds out where I am!"
"Agent Watt? NO!!! NOTHING BUT SHY GUYS IN THIS ARMY!!"
"Yeah! My name's Watt! Can I be a Lil' Sparky Guy?"
"NO!!!" Then I got an idea. "There's one thing you can do though"
"What?"
"Go back to the surface world and tell us if that bad Mario's near," I answered.
"Mario's a good guy!" Watt corrected, "And I don't want Mommy to find me!"
"Then why don't you" Shy Gurl whispered something to me, one of the best things I'd heard in a while. "Why don't you go into that dark room and defeat the Lantern Ghost? We need it defeated and you could probably light up the room, right?"
"But, but" Watt stuttered, "That big bad ghost tried to trap me in his lantern!"
"Just be careful, make sure he doesn't do that," I told her. "Is that OK, sweetheart?"
"Um, OK, I guess, but but"
"Now what?!"
"I don't wanna go alone! Someone has to go with me! Mommy wouldn't like it," she added.
"Then Shy Gurl should go with you," I concluded.
"GENERAL, SIR!" Shy Gurl gasped, "But, I'm I'm"
"Afraid of the dark, yes," I sighed, "But this little Watt can light things up. DON'T TURN BACK, troopette! Be brave! You must face your fears to conquer them!"
"Y-y-yes, sir"
"Yeah! Let's go beat Lantern Ghost!" Watt bounced up and down. "Yippee! Well, come on, Shy Gurl!"
Watt and Shy Gurl left, and I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
I don't know how they'll do, I thought, but, even if they get kidnapped or something no big loss
"
"The secret weapon is going very well; the Shy Squad is a mess but I think we can handle. Right, troops?!"
That was answered by the usual screaming.
I shook my head and sighed. "Well Tell him we'd better just hope Mario doesn't come around"
"Sir Word has come that Mario has beaten the Invincible' Tubba Blubba of Gusty Gulch. Who knows if he will find his way here, sir."
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "How could he beat someone who's invincible?!"
"He managed, general, sir"
I frowned, thinking, then came up with a GREAT idea. "We are near the Red train station, the entrance is near Blue"
"Yes, sir?"
"Take the train off the track and out of the Toy Box! And break the track in places so that if the train DOES somehow get back on track, it can't go anywhere!"
"Great idea, sir!!"
"
Now, let's switch views for a moment. Watt and the Shy Gurl are looking in the dark for the Lantern Ghost. How goes their search?
"Dark" Shy Gurl moaned, "Dark will eat me"
"No it won't," Watt assured her. "You can see if you stick close to me."
Shy Gurl did so. "Dark scared of dark"
"Hee hee, I like the dark!" Watt chuckled. "I can light things up in the dark!"
"Who goes there? Who dares face the Lantern Ghost?!"
"
The Lantern Ghost faced the two of them, holding up its lantern. "See this lantern? There is no light in it. I need a source of light."
"But you like it dark," Watt reminded it, "Why do you need light?"
"Oh, uh" the Lantern Ghost stuttered, "Um, because because I need to see when I want to get food! Yeah, that's it."
Watt looked confused. "Ghosts have to eat?"
"No, no, that's not it, because I want to scare Shy Guys! Yeah, that's why. They hate light."
"No, no we d-don't," Shy Gurl stuttered. "W-we hate d-d-d-dark"
"Grr, well, the real reason is THIS Yoink!" The Lantern Ghost grabbed Watt and shoved her into the lantern. "Ha ha! You're a good little source of light, you Lil' Sparky!"
"NO NO NOOOOO!!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" She began bawling. "Shy Gurl! Go tell General Guy on this meanie!"
"
"
This time only two Shy Guys went insane. The rest attacked an inflatable dummy of Mario.
"Take that, plumber!"
"Yeah! You scare us too much!"
"You're too fat! You'll get stuck in a pipe! Hee hee!"
"I'll let you go if you tell me the name of a good Italian food place!" Gourmet Guy stuck his fork into the dummy, popped it, and ate it. "Hmm, tastes OK"
"GOURMET GUY!"
"What, general?"
"STOP EATING THE DUMMIES! Good thing I bought 50 of them"
"I've eaten 43, sir."
"I know. That's why I bought 50."
"I see Will the next one taste better?"
"No! OK, troops, that was good. Try again. Gourmet Guy, please don't eat it this time."
"I'll try to remember, sir."
"GENERAL GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYY!" Shy Gurl ran in screaming then.
"What?!"
Shy Gurl ran to me and clung with all her little strength. "G-g-g-general Guy," she gasped. "T-t-the L-l-l-lantern Ghost It got, it got, it got"
"Who?" I asked, pushing her away.
"WATT!!!! It trapped her in its lantern! IT MADE THE ROOM DARK!!!!"
"Mission accomplished," I chuckled, "Yes, good, we're rid of that Lil' Sparky."
"But the Lantern Ghost"
"I don't care about that! Maybe it'll stop Mario for us!"
"Um, OK, sir"
Gourmet Guy was chewing on another dummy. "Blech, doesn't taste any better uninflated.. Oops, sorry, General Guy, I forgot"
"Make that 44 that you've eaten. OK, blow up the 45th!"
A Shy Guy took an air compressor and used it to blow up the next one. "CHAAAAAAARGE!" I commanded.
They ganged up on it, and managed to pop it before Gourmet Guy could. "Good, troops! That's the kind of spirit I want when Mario attacks! On the next one, I only want the Stilt Shys to attack."
The 46th one was blown up, and the Stilt Guys quickly popped it with their stilts. We had to stop then Since Gourmet Guy had taken the remaining inflatable Marios and eaten all of them.
"Hmm. Not bad"
"GOURMET GUY!!!!!!!"
"Oops, sorry again, General"
"Well, nevermind Think you're ready to face fighting Mario?" I asked the Shy Squad.
They looked at each other and shrugged.
I sighed. "Well, we'll try"
"GENERAL GUY!!!" a Sky Guy flew up to me then. "MARIO'S HERE!!!!!"
Gasps and shouts of surprise were heard from the other Shy Guys. "How long?!"
"Just a little while ago, sir. He hasn't found the train yet"
"YES HE HAS!!!!!" a fire-covered Fry Guy ran in. "HE FOUND THE TRAIN! And gotten to Pink Station!"
"How does he manage?" I muttered. "Is he alone?"
"No sir We found out from some Spy Guys who is in his team."
"Report on that?"
"He's with a little kid Goomba with a blue hat who talks too much and who seems to be named Goombario. There's also this blue-shelled Koopa Troopa with a red bandana who uses his shell to reach hard to get things named Kooper. And a pink Bob-omb who likes to blow things up named Bombette, a mail-carrier Paratroopa who can fly named Parakarry, and a lady Boo who can turn Mario invisible named Bow!"
"Oh, no! That's a big team! A ghost? Well, troops, we will probably have to fight him! Remember the battle plan?"
An affirmative by most, insane screaming by the rest.
"Gee I'll just take that as a general yes"