In this chapter, we're going to learn what Mario and Lincoln's mission is, though you probably know it already. Also, they're going to take a stop at Toad Town.
Chapter 6: Mario And Lincoln's Quest
As soon as Mario and Lincoln arrived in Toad Town, they immediately noticed that the town was in disarray. It seemed that various Toads were worried about what had befallen Princess Peach and her castle after it had risen into the sky. All that was left of the castle now was an enormous crater.
In addition, there had been many Toads inside the castle attending Princess Peach's party when the castle was lifted as well. They were most likely under lock and key inside Bowser's Castle.
They even heard that Mario had lost to Bowser...as unbelievable as that sounded. Apparently, there was a first time for everything...but they had never expected that Mario would lose to Bowser. They were counting on him to prevent Bowser from causing trouble throughout the kingdoms.
Fortunately, as soon as Mario and Lincoln returned, the Toads stopped panicking.
"Thank goodness! Mario, you're back!" exclaimed the Toads. It looks like one of their wishes had finally been granted, even after what had happened to the seven Star Spirits.
Immediately, the Toads began to cheer. Now that Mario has returned to them, maybe things will start to get better. Of course, their princess and her castle still hadn't returned to them...but at least Mario was at their side once more.
"Um, I wouldn't quite celebrate just yet. We haven't rescued the princess." pointed out Lincoln.
The Toads settled down. He did have a point...but as long as Mario was around there was still hope, right?
"So...are you going to Bowser's Castle so that you can fight Bowser?" asked one of the Toads.
Mario shook his head. He decided that it would be best to save that for later when he was ready.
"I don't think we're ready to take him on yet...he's managed to obtain the Star Rod from Star Haven..." explained Lincoln.
"The Star Rod from Star Haven?" questioned a Toadette.
"Wait...if Bowser has the Star Rod, who's going to grant our wishes?" asked a Toad. He was hoping for a SUV.
"That's a problem..." nodded Lincoln.
"We can't have our wishes granted if the Star Spirits don't have the Star Rod!" bellowed a Toad.
"Yeah...I think we need to get it back..." noted the boy.
"Go see the Star Spirits! They'll know what to do!" advised a scholarly Toad.
"Good advice." nodded Lincoln. They would most likely know how to help them.
Suddenly, Mario remembered something. Shouldn't he go visit his brother Luigi?
Immediately, he went down a warp pipe.
"Where are you going?" asked Lincoln.
He decided to follow him.
Curious, he discovered that he was now at what appeared to be Mario's house. Apparently this was where Mario hanged out when he wasn't going across the Mushroom Kingdom collecting coins or hitting blocks with his head. Wait, wouldn't hitting blocks with his head hurt?
"Funny, didn't I see that house in the intro of the game? Well, it looks like there's nothing stopping me from paying a visit." noted the boy.
Sure enough, Luigi noticed his brother Mario.
He jumped in surprise.
"There you are! I heard that Bowser beat you up..." said Luigi.
Mario drooped his head sadly.
"How'd he manage to pull it off? You always seem to beat Bowser, Mario." remarked the plumber who typically dressed in green.
"He had access to the Star Rod..." explained Lincoln.
"Hey, who's your friend? Wait, you're saying that he had access to THE Star Rod? Well, that's a shame! I was hoping that the Star Spirits would let ME go on an adventure for a change." questioned Luigi. Maybe if Mario successfully managed to recover the Star Rod from Bowser, he would finally get his chance. Or maybe they would simply make another Mario game, like Super Mario Sunshine. Mario loved basking in the sun.
"You'll get to go on an adventure in due time...at a haunted mansion." answered the boy. Maybe he would play that game if he wasn't worried about being sucked in. On the other hand, he got the feeling that Lucy would LOVE playing that game. Where was Lucy anyway? He hadn't found her yet.
"A h-h-h-h-h-haunted mansion?" questioned Luigi. That seemed like the last place that he would go to. Lots of spooky ghosts that were out to give him nightmares.
"Yeah...it's haunted." nodded Lincoln. On the lighter side, there were a LOT of valuables inside the mansion. Lincoln wondered how he would spend all that money. Professor E. Gadd wasn't interested since he already had the technology to make himself live a wonderful life.
"Mamamia..." murmured the green plumber.
Mario explained who his friend was.
"Pleased to meet you, Lincoln." said Luigi.
Mario also introduced Goombario to Luigi as well. He wasn't sure if Goombario was a fan of Luigi like he was of him though. Goombario may have a sister, but he didn't have a brother.
"You didn't tell me that you had a brother..." questioned Goombario.
"You don't know who I am? Awww..." complained Luigi. He was hoping that he would get to be popular like his brother. Of course, he didn't leave his house too much, unlike his brother Mario.
Suddenly, Lily approached Luigi.
"You brought a baby with you on your adventure? Well, I heard that even Baby Mario is going on adventures nowadays..." remarked Luigi.
"I figured I would leave her at Goomba Village at first since I knew that she was safe...but she insisted on coming along with me." answered Lincoln.
Lily pulled on Luigi's mustache.
"Ow!" exclaimed Luigi.
Mario waved goodbye to Luigi. Once again, it looked like like he was going on an adventure while Luigi looked at the house.
"It was nice seeing you Luigi...but we need to get to Shooting Star Summit." explained Lincoln.
"Bye!" exclaimed Luigi.
Immediately, Mario and Lincoln went down the warp pipe and headed back to Toad Town.
They then began to head to Shooting Star Summit.
As they did so, they noticed that it was suddenly turning night. It was quite unusual.
"Why is is turning night so fast?" questioned Lincoln. He could have sworn that it was daytime just a few minutes ago. Of course, Toad Town always seemed bright and cheery.
Mario shrugged.
"Maybe it's always night here..." noted Goombario.
Immediately, they began climbing up the mountain. Fortunately, it actually wasn't a long climb, even if they were technically heading to the summit.
Eventually, they reached the top.
"So, what do we do now?" questioned Lincoln.
At the top of the mountain was the Seven Star Spirits...or rather projections of them. They were still locked up.
"I'm glad that you managed to make it. As you may know, Bowser and his minions have kidnapped us...they've sent us all across the Mushroom Kingdom. He must not want us to get back together again. There are a lot of things that we can do with our combined power, especially when we still have our sacred Star Rod." said Eldstar.
"You probably know this already, but we're in charge of granting wishes throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. It was only a matter of time before Bowser decided to make wishes involving causing Mario personal harm (such as making him get run over by a team of Charging Chucks) or marrying Princess Peach. We decided to place him on our "no wish granting" list." continued Mamar.
"Unfortunately, Bowser realized that we weren't granting his wishes. He proceeded to take action and head towards Shooting Star Summit along with his troops. He swooped in and snagged the Star Rod. Basically, he decided that if we weren't going to grant his wishes, he would grant them himself instead. " explained Skolar.
"Without the Star Rod, there's no way that we'll be able to grant wishes throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, no matter how hard we try. That's why we need you to get it back. Besides, you probably don't want Bowser to have that kind of power. He is YOUR nemesis after all." warned Muskular. Maybe he was lucky that he didn't have a nemesis.
"Once you've managed to rescue us all, we'll be able to take you to Bowser's Castle so that you can battle Bowser in a final showdown for the Star Rod. But as it is, he's too powerful for you to fight right now. If you try fighting him, he'll simply turn invincible again and send you right back outside the window. And I doubt you want that to happen to you again." informed Misstar.
"Be careful Mario. Bowser has each of us guarded by his strongest minions. If you wish to get all of us back, you're going to have to defeat each and every single one of them. It's a big task, I know...but you're Super Mario, right? You can do anything! Just look at how many adventures you have had in the past!" shouted Klevar.
"As for you, Lincoln...if you manage to rescue us and reobtain the Star Rod, we'll be nice and send you back home. It seems like a good deal since you're going through all this trouble for us. Consider it to be a token of our appreciation." remarked Kalmar.
Suddenly, the seven Star Spirit avatars began to disappear. It looked like they weren't going to be talking with them for much longer.
"Oh dear...it seems that we've used up our power. Well, you already know what to do. Go out there and save us so that you can save Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom!" exclaimed Eldstar.
Immediately, the seven Star Spirit avatars disappeared.
"I guess it's up to us now." noted Lincoln. At least now he had a way to get back home, even if it would likely take him throughout the Mushroom Kingdom before he had an opportunity to do so.
Mario nodded. It looked like he was going on another adventure.
Of course, he lived the adventuring lifestyle. He went on adventures even before Bowser started kidnapping Princess Peach.
Immediately, he and Lincoln decided to head back to Toad Town. Perhaps someone might know where the first Star Spirit was.
On the way there, someone crashed into Mario.
"You alright, Mario?" questioned Lincoln.
Mario nodded. Fortunately, whatever had crashed into him was rather light. But just what had crashed into him? Was it a small asteroid?
He wasn't far off.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there!" exclaimed Twink. Apparently he was too excited.
Mario scratched his head. He looked a bit like the Star Spirits...but he was a lot smaller.
"Who are you?" asked Goombario.
"I'm Twink! Princess Peach asked me to send you these...as well as a boy named Clyde, I believe." stated the Star Kid.
Apparently, he was named after a popular nursery rhyme.
Immediately, Twink pulled out two Lucky Star Pendants.
"A boy named Clyde?" questioned Lincoln. Something told him that his friend was out there somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom as well.
"Yeah...Bowser Jr decided to make him his slave..." explained Twink.
"Poor Clyde..." said Lincoln. Apparently, he was also being held prisoner in Peach's Castle along with the princess herself.
Immediately, Mario and Lincoln put them on. Somehow, they felt stronger.
"So...what do these do?" asked Lincoln. Surely there was a reason that Clyde and Princess Peach wanted them to receive this other than for fashion accessories. Of course, Princess Peach was all about fashion.
"You can use them to boost your attacks...so long as you press the right button at the right time..." explained Twink.
Lincoln didn't know what that meant, but he decided that maybe they would be useful.
Suddenly, they heard an evil laugh.
"What the-" exclaimed Goombario.
"There you are! Bowser and his minions were looking for you! Kamek and Kammy promised me 1000 coins if I took you two down!" shouted the Magikoopa.
"I guess they figured that we would be coming here sooner or later..." suggested the Goomba with a blue hat.
"Get ready to enter a jail cell, Mario and Lincoln!" exclaimed the magical Koopa.
"I guess he knows my name..." noted Lincoln.
Immediately, the Magikoopa attacked, tossing a magical blast at them. For some strange reason it reminded him of geometry class at his school.
Lincoln decided to grab his broomstick and hit him with it in retaliation.
"Ouch! Feisty one, are you? Let's see how feisty you are when you're only six inches tall!" exclaimed the Magikoopa.
Immediatrly, he used his wand to shrink Lincoln, who was now way smaller than before. He was about the same size as Twink.
"I'm tiny!" exclaimed Lincoln in a very squeaky voice.
"Lincoln?" questioned Lily. It looked like Lincoln wasn't her big brother anymore.
"Don't eat me, Lily!" bellowed the unfortunate boy. This reminded him of the daydream that he had where Lily grew huge from being exposed to Lisa's chemicals.
"Huh?" asked the baby. Why would she do that?
Lincoln sighed in relief. It looked like his nightmares weren't going to become real after all.
"Be careful! Magikoopa know all sorts of nasty spells! Fortunately you can typically tell what type of magic they use by their color..."
Unhappy that her older brother had been shrunk, Lily hit the Magikoopa with her rattle.
"Ouch! You little brat! Why don't you get some too?" questioned the mage.
Immediately, he cast the spell on Lily.
However, much to his surprise, nothing happened.
"Huh?" questioned the baby.
"Why isn't this working?" asked the Magikoopa.
Lincoln returned to his normal size a few seconds later. Fortunately, it appeared that the spell was only temporary, though it did make him feel weakened during the duration of the shrinkage.
"Maybe it doesn't work because Lily's already small?" questioned Lincoln.
"Darn it!" bellowed the bespectacled Koopa.
Goombario wrote down "Lily is immune to shrinking."
Since Lily was immune to the Magikoopa's shrinking spells, she decided to whack the Magikoopa with a rattle once again. This time, she seemed to whack harder. Perhaps the Shooting Star Pendants were starting to have their effect on Lily as well, even if she technically wasn't wearing them.
"Would you cut that out?" asked the Magikoopa.
"You should know Mario's a cut above the rest!" bellowed Goombario.
Immediately, he started headbonking the Magikoopa. Like Mario and Lincoln, his strength seemed to have increased from the Lucky Star Pendants.
"Darn it! I will not lose!" exclaimed the Magikoopa. He was hoping to use the 1000 coins to go on retirement.
Waving his wand, he sent four blasts of magic at the four of them.
The first hit Lily, causing her to drop her rattle.
"Poo-poo!" exclaimed Lily. That blast made her soil her diaper.
Lincoln sighed.
The next blast hit Goombario, causing him to feel dizzy.
"Look at all the shooting stars...oh wait, that's right. I'm at Shooting Star Valley..." remarked Goombario.
The next blast hit Lincoln, who was knocked to the ground.
But the last blast Mario leapt over.
Immediately, he used a Power Jump on the Magikoopa.
"There goes my 1000 coins..." said the Magikoopa as he gave them Star Points.
"Is everyone alright?" asked Lincoln as he began changing Lily's diaper.
"Okey dokey!" exclaimed Lily.
"Yeah, I think so." nodded Goombario.
Mario gave Lincoln the thumbs up.
"I'm glad you four managed to defeat the Magikoopa...well, if you need me, I'll be at Princess Peach's Castle. I'll let you know if Princess Peach or Clyde manage to find anything that could be useful, like perhaps where the Star Spirits are being held." explained Twink. Perhaps he could join the Star Spirits one day...then again, the Star Spirits never seemed to be more than seven, or less.
"Well, I guess it's time for us to go look for some answers." suggested Lincoln.
Mario nodded. If they were lucky one of the Star Spirits was close to them. They should try rescuing that Star Spirit first.
Together, they headed back to Toad Town.
It was time for them to begin the hunt for the seven Star Spirits.
Now that Mario and Lincoln know their mission, it's time for them to set out throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. In Lincoln's case, he was probably going to do that anyway so that he could find his sisters, ironically.
But first, they're going to take a look around Toad Town. That wouldn't be a good idea since they can get items and badges there.