Toad: D'oh...)
(...Where did that come from?)
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Goombario told his family about what the veggies had talked about, and both his father and Goompa agreed to go with him to Toad Town. First, they'd go tell Mario and Luigi, then the other two would warn the princess.
Princess Peach heard them out. "That's what Goombario heard?" she asked. "This is quite dire indeed"
"Wart, Wart where have I heard that name before?" Mario was trying to think. "It's like something out of a bad dream"
"I think it was," Luigi told him, "Remember, Sub-Con? Veggie-hating Wart?"
"Oh, yeah, him," Mario finally remembered, "I've been on so many adventures they all kind of run together"
Luigi rolled his eyes. "At least ONE of us has," he muttered.
"So do you think I should call some of our old friends together?" she asked. "Since this has to do with the Star Rod, maybe I should call on our friends who helped with
that last time, and maybe" she paused. "Do you think I should call Mallow and Geno? I mean, they helped us with the Star Road several years ago"
"Yeah, that's right," Mario agreed. "Call on them. But, ah How do you get through to Geno?"
Peach shrugged. "I dunno. TOAD! GET YOUR BIG MUSHROOM HEAD OVER HERE!"
Toad ran in, panting. "Geez, princess, you don't have to be so mean when you call me"
"Send a message to Mallow and, if possible, Geno. And, I'd also like you to send messages to" she thought a moment, "Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lady Bow, Watt, Sushie, and Lakilester I got them all, didn't I?" Mario nodded, and she continued, "Tell them we need their help!"
Toad nodded. "Understood. I'll write those and tell Parakarry to deliver them!"
"OK, good. Well, get going, you piece of fungus!"
"Yes, your highness!" Toad ran off.
"Well" Mario faltered, "Now all we can do is wait"
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Parakarry managed to get the notes to everyone without major mishap this time, and they all gathered at Princess Peach's castle for instructions.
"We need to search this place thoroughly and find the Star Spirits and the Star Kid before Wart does," Peach explained. "So, we're setting up territories. I just want each person to set up a search party in his/her own home territory. Two exceptions: Kooper, you take the Shiver Region and Parakarry, you have the Dry Dry Desert."
"Got it," the two of them answered.
"Is it OK if I try to get some Shy Guys help?" Watt asked.
"Um, sure" Peach answered, "Any help at all Just get out there and find those stars!"
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Over at the Boo Mansion, Wario and Waluigi were trying once again to set things up.
"Nailing things shut is so fun," Wario chuckled to Hen, "Let's see the Boos get through this time!"
Hen was paying no attention, simply pecking at the floor. "Bock bock bock"
Kaphooey had more sense. "Come on, you spindly stick," she chided Waluigi, "Hurry up! I could have that done already!"
"Shut up, shut up," Waluigi muttered, "Or we won't get done!"
"I thought that lady ghost told you two not to come back," Kaphooey pointed out.
"Yeah, but when did we follow directions?!"
"Oh, I see your point"
Just then, the door to the mansion opened, and the dreaded lady ghost came in again. "OK, so right now, I want Stanley and Franky and" seeing the intruders, "OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!" She scowled. "I told you two to never come back!! GET OUT! NOW!! What in the world do you think you're doing?!"
"We're Wario and Waluigi," Wario answered, "We LIVE for
trouble!"
"That's right," Waluigi agreed. "Live with it, sister! We love pestering people! Nya ha ha!"
"Especially those of you low enough to build a mansion in a haunted forest and let it fall into such disrepair!" Kaphooey added.
Lady Bow sighed and shook her head. "Guys I want you other Boos to go ahead and begin patrolling Gusty Gulch without me. This might take awhile"
The Boos left, and Bow commenced trying to scold the intruders. "Why are you doing this?! Stop it, right now! This place is very important to me; in fact, it's important to all us Boos! Stop trying to trash it! It's fine the way it is," she added, knowing that they would say it was already seemingly trashed anyway.
"Well, sorry," Wario muttered. "But trashing stuff is what we do!!"
"Yeah," Waluigi added, "We're slobs!"
Bow frowned. "Well, we're in a dire situation now, so I would suggest you clean up your act or you might ruin things for everyone!"
Wario and Waluigi looked at each other. "How so?" they asked.
"You know of the Star Haven, right?" They nodded, so she continued. "Well, a couple of stars turned evil and took it upon themselves to rule it. He banished the Star Spirits with the intention on having a friend of his, Wart, dispose of them. However, it seems as though not all went quite as planned and the Star Spirits and a Star Kid are now loose somewhere on our planet. We have to find them before Wart does."
"Really? Then we'll go! We'll be good, we mean it!" Wario and Waluigi raced out.
"Hear that?!" Waluigi exclaimed, "If we find a Star Spirit, we'll be REALLY famous!"
"Yeah, that's right!" Wario agreed. "So we have to find one ourselves and stop these Boos"
Waluigi thought a minute. "Ooh! Ooh! I know one thing these Boos are afraid of, I heard of it before"
Wario got it right away. "Ooh! I know! I know! Let's try it!"
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Over at Wart's fortress, Wart was planning things very carefully Really, he was!
"I want you each to take an army," he said, "Of fifty evil turnips, and behold THIRTY EVIL PUMPKINS!!!!! I DID IT!!!! I GOT IT TO WORK WITH PUMPKINS!!!"
Carroboscis, Cucumbersome, and Potatocide managed a three-way glance. Clearly insane, Carroboscis thought, But, he has some good ideas "Is an army of eighty really going to cut it?" he asked.
"Well" Wart mused, "DARN! You're right! OK, I'll make a few more. Will one hundred and eighty each do?"
"Yep."
Wart took time out to make more evil veggies, then gave them each one hundred turnips and eighty pumpkins. "There! Is that better?"
"Yep," Carroboscis answered. "But where do you want us to go?"
"All over Mushlandia; I did get a message from that hick Deceptar saying that they all landed around there. And once you catch one, bring it here!"
"OK, got it."
"And of course, AMBUSH places! That'll make it harder for a Star to hide, or for a person to not tell you everything they know, heh heh"
"Ok, we understand."
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He had no idea where he was and he was alone
The last thing Eldstar remembered was that that evil star, Betrayar, had cast him, as well as the other Star Spirits and Twink, out of the Star Haven. He had mentioned there being a nasty surprise waiting at the other end, but, Eldstar didn't see anything particularily horrible
Actually, this place was rather nice. It seemed to be a forest, full of mushrooms, worms, and the like. Everything seemed carpeted in a nice, healthy green. What is this place? Eldstar wondered. Where are the other Star Spirits? Is there any kind of town nearby? Am I in the middle of nowhere?
Eldstar began searching for some sort of path that might lead to a town, and finally found one, with a sign. "Rose Town, 3 miles."
Rose Town? Eldstar thought for a moment. That sounds familiar
He remembered about a little boy who had always been wishing that his doll would come to life, but, suddenly, those wishes had stopped. Had the boy outgrown the wish? Or had the guardians of the Star Road granted the wish?
The Star Spirits and the Star Guardians did almost the exact same thing: grant people's wishes, using either the Star Rod or the Star Road. They didn't formally view each other as rivals, but Eldstar knew, deep down, that they were always challenging each other to see who could grant more wishes. It was a good thing, actually, as it encouraged everyone to do their best.
Both places had been brutally attacked, too. In fact, a few years ago, the entire Star Road had been destroyed by this creep named Smithy!! Even so, Mario, with the help of four others, had managed to bring everything back together again. THEN King Bowser had stolen the Star Rod from Star Haven and kidnapped all the Star Spirits. Once again, Mario and eight others had made things right again.
Mario would make things right again this time too Wouldn't he?
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Still in Toad Town, Mario was actually very worried.
"No one knows where the Star Spirits are?" he asked Peach. "Or who the Star Kid is? Do you know?"
"As I said five minutes ago, I don't know anything," Peach answered. "If we knew, why would we have set up search parties?"
"Oh, good point. Were we ever able to get a hold of Geno?"
"No, Parakarry said he couldn't deliver one that high. Some junk about being afraid of heights or something."
"But he's a Parakoopa"
"Exactly. I think he's just scared he'd get lost trying to find the Star Road or something."
"Oh."
Mario thought for a moment. "Well, Luigi's already out looking, why don't we go too?"
"OK," Peach agreed. "But where?"
"Toad Town, Shooting Star Summit, other places that no one's assigned to, etc"
"Ah, OK." They left for Shooting Star Summit. On the way, they ran into Toad and his girlfriend.
"It's weird," Toad was saying, "I could have sworn I saw a BIG shooting star near the summit, but when we checked on it"
"I know, it was gone," his girlfriend, Truffles, finished for him. "Like it was a living creature."
"Living creature?" Peach and Mario looked at each other. "TOAD!" Peach exclaimed, "You worthless piece of fungus, why didn't you check it sooner?! It might have been a Star Spirit, you idiot!!"
Toad thought for a moment. "Hey, you're right," he agreed. "Darn! I knew I shouldn't have stopped to throw rocks at Merluvee's house!"
"Throw rocks?" Mario asked, a little scared.
"Her darn little brother was out teasing me again," Toad told him. (NOTE: I can never remember what Merluvee's brother's name is.)
"Ok"
"It doesn't matter," Peach concluded after a few minutes, "What matters is that a star might have landed around here and we have to find it, now!!"
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Now, let's switch views. Way out the heck. Mayuri was out running an errand for Little Mouser. They were expecting a parcel to arrive from the train, and Mayuri went to Mt. Rugged to go pick it up. On her way back to Dry Dry Outpost, though, she ran into a Bandit, who stole it!
"GET BACK HERE!!!" Mayuri shouted. "I need that package!!"
The Bandit stuck out its tongue at her, which just made her even angrier. She picked up a rock. "If you don't give that back to me," she threatened, "I'll throw this at you!"
The Bandit stared for a moment, then took off. Great, Mayuri thought, Now I know how Parakarry feels!
Mayuri chased the Bandit all the way to the Dry Dry Ruins, hesitating when the Bandit ran in the ruins. I'm not allowed to go in there, she thought, Moustafa and Little Mouser have warned me not to. But, the package I have to get it! Have to!
Mayuri ran in after the Bandit, finally cornering it against a wall. "Aha! You're trapped!" Mayuri picked up another loose rock. "Give that back to me right now, or I'll throw this!"
The Bandit seemed to think about it, and finally decided to put the package down. It then hurried away, probably looking for its next target.
"That's better!" Mayuri picked up the package and tried to re-trace her steps back out of the ruins. However, she quickly got lost. "Argh," she muttered, "I HATE that Bandit"
Before long, she came to a rather large room with a staircase underneath it. In the room were five chomp statues, three of them decorated with a triangular, crescent, or diamond-shaped stones. Strange, Mayuri thought, What's this? Was this some thing that Tutankoopa set up when he was here?
Mayuri followed the stairs down, into another room. This room had a ledge in one corner, and just below that, a gate that appeared to at one time a have held some sort of creature. On one wall in the room was a plaque:
Dedicated to the great and brave Mario, and his friends Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, and Parakarry, who very unselfishly and fearlessly challenged the "King" Tutankoopa in this very room, fighting both him and his chomps in order to rescue the Star Spirit Mamar. Their feat will always be remembered by all the residents of Dry Dry Outpost and also by many others throughout the Mushroom World.
Mayuri looked around the room for several minutes more. Wow, she thought, I wonder what the battle was like?! I'd love to be an adventuerer someday, and see a plaque with my name on it But more than anything, I want to help people! Mayuri peeked into the room where the chomps had been, sticking her head through the bars. Can you go in here? she wondered.
"Hey, you! Mayuri! What are you doing in here?!"
Mayuri took her head out of the bars so fast she bumped her head on them. "Puh-Parakarry!" she gasped when she saw him, "Wha-what are you doing here?!"
"Me?" the mail-carrying Parakoopa answered, "What are you doing here?! Dry Dry Ruins is strictly off limits to any who don't have a guide!"
Mayuri told him about the Bandit. "I got lost in here," she concluded, "I was just trying to find my way out!"
Parakarry frowned. "It's dangerous," he said, "but I'm glad to see you're OK"
"How did you know I was in the ruins, anyway?" she asked.
Parakarry smiled. "I saw you go in," he said. "You see I was also chasing a Bandit who stole a package"
Mayuri chuckled. "So we're even then. One thing" she motioned to the grate over where the chomps had been, "What's in there?"
"In there? Well, I don't know"
"You've been here before! You fought Tutankoopa, you know!"
"I know, but I've never been into the Chompy Chambers', as Tutankoopa called it."
"Oh, darn, I just wonder if there might still be a chomp in there or something."
"It would have either attacked you the moment you stuck your head in the bars, or, more likely, would have died of starvation long ago."
"True" Mayuri trailed off.
"Now, let's get out of these ruins, shall we?" Parakarry suggested.
"Under one condition! Tell me the sort of how you guys defeated Tutankoopa!!" Mayuri demanded.
Parakarry rolled his eyes. "Mayuri, I've told you that one a billion times Why not one about outsmarting another one of Bowser's underlings, eh?"
Mayuri thought a moment. "OK, tell me about your adventure in the Forever Forest and Boo Mansion and how you exploited Tubba Blubba's weakness!"
"Ah, that one. Well, it started when we were invited to the Boo Mansion by a Boo named Bootler Actually, he pretty much delivered a come-or-else' threat from Lady Bow. We spent hours in the forest, and all almost suffered a nervous breakdown, but finally managed to find" Parakarry rattled on as the two of them found their way out of the ruins and back into town.
Once they were back to Dry Dry Outpost, Moustafa had a message waiting for Parakarry. "It's very urgent," he said, "There were reports from some people about a shooting star landing on the desert, near the oasis. You're needed to check it out."
"Me?" Parakarry was a little shocked. "I still have work to do, but, OK"
"I want to go with you!" Mayuri exclaimed. "I want to be an adventurer, too, and this would be a good start. Right, Little Mouser?"
Little Mouser and Parakarry looked at each other. "Do you mind?" the mouse asked Parakarry.
"Well, no, not really"
"Then you may go, Mayuri."
"YES! Thank you, Little Mouser!"
Parakarry and Mayuri left the shop and Dry Dry Outpost, little knowing they would not be back for a LONG time In fact, one of them would never come back
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(Preview to Chapter 4 (a.k.a. "All I Have Written So Far")
Chapter 4 tentative title: NEVER Mess With a Duplighost Army
"
Potatocide had led his group to a very cold place. Very cold. Nothing but snow and ice for miles to see. There were a few towns, but they had decided not to stop there; they were going for bigger treasure!
Like the Crystal Palace
However, they ran into one little obsical: a HUGE pile of rocks sitting on the road to the palace. There were high cliffs all around, giving them three choices: to climb over the rocks; move the rocks; or, the most likely one, to turn back.
Potatocide wouldn't go for plan 3, wasn't sure about plan 2, and didn't even think of plan 1. "Veggies can't move rocks," he mused, "Unless they are super-powered ultra veggies but who am I kidding. They're not."
Potatocide thought it over some more. "Hmm, this one is truly a toughie"
"We can try to climb it," a pumpkin suggested.
"Climb it?" Potatocide thought about that. "OH! DUH! OK, I'm glad I thought of that. Come on, my army, let's go!"
Cloner was the first one to notice something suspicious. What? What's this? Turnips? Pumpkins? A potato? He stared at the intruders. This is like something out of a weird horror movie Better go warn the boss! Cloner raced to Pararera's "throne", practically throwing himself at the icy king.
"PARARERA!!! I THINK WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! BY A TEAM OF EVIL VEGGIES!!" he exclaimed. "I saw them coming, and they didn't look like nice veggies, the kind you find in the grocery store. These looked like killer plants!"
Pararera just stared. He's insane. Very very VERY insane.
Cloner did so, turning into the potato. "See Boss? I'm an evil potato, come to take over the Crystal Palace! Grrrowwwlll!"
"Potatoes don't growl," Pararera reminded him. "Not half bad, Cloner; you just need to work on your sound effects."
"But, but," Cloner protested, "Argh!" turning back into his normal self, "They might attack!"
"Sure, Cloner Why don't you keep watch? And tell me if you see any evil evergreen trees as well." He snickered the last bit.
"But, but OK! I will then! I'll lead the Duplighosts in an army and get rid of those intruders!"
"Sure, why don't you"
Pararera watched Cloner leave, deep in thought. He's dead serious this time. Maybe we do have evil intruders? But, veggies? I think someone has a screw loose there, and it certainly isn't me!