In this chapter, Mario and Lincoln are going to go to Koopa Village, but unfortunately, it appears that they're having trouble with Fuzzies. Can you guess whose responsible?
It looks like Mario and Lincoln aren't going to get their new partners just yet.
Chapter 8: Get Fuzzy
Contrary to what the Koopa Bros had said to them previously, it turned out Pleasant Path was exactly that, pleasant. Incidentally, it also had a rather easy name to remember, since both the first and the second word started with the letter P.
Unsurprisingly, Pleasant Path was a rather sunny place, without a cloud in the sky. Apparently, the forces of darkness hadn't paid it a visit, unlike Peach's unfortunate castle.
Now that Lincoln thought of it...didn't all his sisters's names start with the letter L with their last name all being Loud? It did make their names a bit hard to distinguish but he was able to figure it out. Apparently, Pleasant Path was just as alliterative as his sisters.
However, though Pleasant Path was much more pleasant than the Koopa Bros. had said, that wasn't to say that Pleasant Path wasn't all pleasant. It turned out there were Koopa Troopas, like Merlon had warned them about. They wouldn't be quite as easy to deal with as the regular Goombas that they had encountered right outside Goomba Village, since they were naturally better equipped for fighting Mario.
But since they were still low-level soldiers for the Koopa Troop, maybe it wasn't such a big deal.
Nonetheless, it appeared that their shells were going to give the Koopas some defense. They wouldn't be able to strike them down using weak attacks.
As usual, Goombario had information that they could use to fight efficiently.
"Careful Lincoln, they can use their shells to protect themselves from attacks. However, there's nothing stopping you from flipping them over...that ought to deal with their defense." warned and advised Goombario.
At that very moment, they were spotted by the Koopa Troopas.
"Hey, it's Lincoln and Mario! Let's get 'em!" exclaimed one of the Koopas.
Lincoln decided to do just that, using his strength to tip over one of the Koopas with his finger.
"Aah! Help me up!" screamed the unfortunate Koopa.
Lily followed by hitting the Koopa with her rattle.
"Ow!" bellowed the fallen Koopa.
Goombario then headbonked the Koopa Troopa, causing him to release the Star Points.
"Fine, you win...but you still have my buddies to contend with!" exclaimed the defeated Koopa.
Sure enough, the Koopa Troopas were rapidly approaching the four with their shells. Typically, they attacked their opponents by spinning around in their shells and launching themselves at their enemy. Sometimes they would find a big Koopa so that they could use that particular Koopa's shell to bounce off of, such as their very own Koopa King, Bowser.
One of them hit Goombario, causing him to fall down.
"Ow!" exclaimed Goombario.
Fortunately, Lily spilled milk on the ground, causing the Koopa Troopas to spin around and eventually fall on their shells. Apparently, they couldn't spin through Lily's favorite beverage.
"Where's Lifecare when you need it?!" bellowed one of the unfortunate Koopa Troopas. Even Bowser Koopa has had this happen to him before...though of course he would never admit it to anyone else, not even his own son.
"Good job, Lily!" cheered Lincoln. He was always glad that he could count on Lily to back him up...though it was only a matter of time before he would have to change her diaper again.
"Woohoo!" exclaimed Lily.
Deciding to fly above so that he could serve as a lookout, Lincoln noticed the Koopa Bros. Fortress out in the distance.
However, he realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to go there just yet. It looked to be guarded by many different Koopa Troopas.
They also had Bullet Bill cannons, so Lincoln couldn't simply fly to the top of the fortress and battle the Koopa Bros. either. Besides, he didn't want to face them without his teammates. He'd be outnumbered four to one.
In addition to the Koopa Troopas, there seemed to be one with a blue mohawk. Immediately, Lincoln was able to recognize him.
"Wait, now the Koopalings have gotten involved?" questioned Lincoln. This game was getting more and more challenging than the original.
Suddenly, a Golden Goomba showed up. He was hiding inside some bushes. Apparently he thought that the coast was clear.
Goombario gasped in surprise. He never thought that he would find one of those here.
"What's the matter, Goombario?" asked Lincoln.
Mario noted that he didn't typically see a Goomba that was of that particular color very often...though he had seen Goombas that were blue and green before. He had even seen red Goombas a few times.
"That's a golden Goomba...if you take one down, you'll get a fair amount of Star Points...not as much as you would if you beat an Amazee Dayzee though..." remarked Goombario.
"That seems reasonable." nodded Lincoln. He doubted that he could take on an Amazee Dayzee when it could do a whopping 20 damage. That would KO both him and Mario.
Immediately, the golden Goomba spotted them, and he attempted to run away.
However, Mario leapt on top of him in the nick of time. Having fast reflexes could come in handy.
The Goomba got squished, and Mario got his share of Star Points.
He happily leapt in the air.
"Way to go, Mario!" exclaimed Lincoln. No wonder he was one of the most popular video game characters of all time. Thank goodness he was able to save them all from the video game crash. He didn't know what he would without video games.
However, it seemed doubtful that they would encounter another Golden Goomba anytime soon. Maybe they would encounter a Golden Paragoomba or a Golden Spiked Goomba?
Apparently, they were just going to have to resume their journey. They couldn't spend all day looking for treasure.
Fortunately, it appeared that Koopa Village wasn't far from them.
In fact, they could read a sign saying "This way to Koopa Village!"
They followed the sign, and they managed to make their way to the village.
However, as soon as they entered the village, they quickly realized that they had a problem.
The entire village was filled with Fuzzies!
"Whoa! What's going on?" questioned Lincoln.
"Help us! The Fuzzies are stealing our shells!" bellowed a Koopa Troopa.
Sure enough, one of the Fuzzies did just that.
"Aah! It's happened to me too!" screamed the unfortunate Koopa.
Lily frowned. Just the other day some Goombas had tried to take her lollipop...of course, she had successfully defended herself.
Unfortunately, it appeared that everyone in Koopa Village was going without a shell, thanks to those mischevious Fuzzies that simply wouldn't leave them around. They simply had no respect for other people's property.
"It appears that they're having some trouble with kleptomaniacs..." remarked Goombario.
At that very moment, they spotted Lisa, who was bumping into things.
"Lisa, there you are!" exclaimed Lincoln. It looks like he had managed to find another one of his sisters...and she wasn't far from where Lily was either. It was rather convenient for him.
Lisa turned around.
"Lincoln, is that you?" questioned Lisa. She unfortunately couldn't see too well without her glasses. In fact, neither could Lincoln's friend, Clyde. His two fathers had to make sure that he didn't lose them.
"Lisa!" cheered Lily. She was glad to see her roommate again, even if she did like to experiment on her sometimes. Perhaps that was why she was smart for a baby...because she had such a smart roommate.
"There you are...wait, don't you typically wear glasses? Of course, so does Leni but I've never seen her wear those on her eyes..." noted the boy.
"Somebody stole them! How am I supposed to concoct experiments if I can't see what I'm doing?" asked Lisa.
"Well, sometimes I do get worried that you can't see what you're doing when you experiment on us sometimes..." answered Lincoln.
"Do you have any idea what happened to them?" questioned Goombario.
"Are you some sort of talking mushroom? My eyes are blurry..." inquired Lisa.
"Oh, about that...your machine swallowed us up into a video game...so one of our friends here is a Goomba. Yu've got to be more careful!" exclaimed Lincoln.
"Sorry, Lincoln. I'll try to figure a way out if you can simply find my glasses..." answered the genius.
"Thanks, Lisa...we already figured out a way to get us back home though...we're looking for the Seven Star Spirits..." explained Lincoln.
"Seven Star Spirits? Fascinating..." remarked Lisa.
"Mm-hmm...do you have any idea who stole them?" questioned the boy.
"I'm not sure...it looked like a fuzzball." explained the genius.
"A fuzzball? I think I know who did that..." said Lincoln.
"Bad Fuzzies!" exclaimed Lily.
Mario pulled out his hammer. it looked like he was going to have to track the Fuzzies down.
Suddenly, Lincoln remembered something.
"Aren't we supposed to look for a Koopa with a blue shell, too?" questioned Lincoln.
Mario nodded. Fortunately, his house was nearby.
However, as soon as they entered, they realized that his shell had been stolen too.
"I can't believe that those mean Fuzzies stole my shell!" bellowed Kooper.
"Sorry to hear that." sympathized Goombario.
"Can you help me get it back?" questioned the shelless Koopa. His shell was quite precious to him...especially considering that it was rather unique. All his friends had green shells, not blue ones.
Mario nodded. He wouldn't want anyone in Koopa Village to have to wander around in their underwear.
"Wait, why are the Fuzzies stealing people's shells, anyway?" inquired Lincoln.
Larry was standing right outside Koopa Village, along with several Fuzzies.
"Alright team...I want you to go out there and get all the Koopa Shells that you can find! But remember...if you find a Koopa with a blue shell, bring his shell directly to me!" exclaimed Larry Koopa.
"What should we do with the shells once we have them?" questioned one of the Fuzzies.
"Tell the Koopas that if they want their shells back, they have to enlist in Bowser's army!" shouted the mohawked Koopa. He was so devious.
"Sounds good!" exclaimed a Fuzzy.
"Wait, didn't Merlon's prophecy detail a girl with glasses too?" inquired Larry Koopa. It wouldn't be a bad idea to deal with that girl as well.
At that very moment, a Fuzzy wearing glasses appeared.
"I just love my new glasses!" exclaimed the Fuzzy as he bounced away.
"Oh wait, I guess I already have that covered...let's see Mario try to get to Koopa Bros. Fortress now! Hahahahahaha!" laughed Larry Koopa.
"Huh. Why do I get the feeling that the author retconned this moment in Paper Mario?" questioned Lincoln.
Mario shrugged. Well, it looks like they were going to have to save the Koopa Troopas in this village from prancing around in their underpants.
Curious, he noticed that there was a forest nearby.
Perhaps that was where the Fuzzies were hiding.
Immediately, he spotted a Fuzzy heading directly into the forest.
Perhaps he and his friends should follow them.
Quickly, Mario leapt into the air to get their destination.
"Huh? You saw a Fuzzy heading into the forest? We should follow them..." noted Goombario.
"Yeah...they might take us to where they've stored their stash..." remarked Lincoln.
"Here we go!" exclaimed Lily.
Immediately, they followed the Fuzzy out of the village. Fortunately, he didn't notice that there were people following him.
They eventually found themselves in a forest.
They decided to look around for the Fuzzies.
As it turned out, the Fuzzies were hiding in the trees.
"What's this? Hmm...you're not Koopa Troopas...what are you doing here?" questioned a nearby Fuzzy. He was wearing Lisa's glasses.
"You've been pilfering Koopa Troopa shells...give them back! And while you're at it, give me back my sister's glasses! She's as blind as a bat without them!" exclaimed Lincoln.
At that very moment, a nearby Swooper flew away from a tree.
"You want them back? Well then, how about we play a game?" questioned the Fuzzy.
"What kind of game?" questioned the boy.
Immediately, the Fuzzies began to shuffle around.
"Try to guess which one of us has the blue shell!" exclaimed the bespectacled Fuzzy.
Lily hit a nearby tree.
"Darn it! You got me! Let's try this again, shall we?" asked the Fuzzy with glasses.
The Fuzzies moved around again. Lily was starting to get dizzy.
Goombario was observant and hit the correct tree.
"Dang it! You got me again! Now it's time for me to move as fast as I can..." noted the Fuzzy that robbed Lisa.
Immediately, the Fuzzies moved as fast as they could, making it difficult to keep an eye on them.
However, this an unintended side effect.
Lily walked up to a nearby tree...and threw up on it.
"Yuck! That's disgusting!" bellowed the Fuzzy with glasses.
Lily, Mario, Goombario, and Lincoln looked at him.
"Darn it! I exposed myself! Fine, you win. You can have the blue shell...and you can have the glasses. Try not to break the latter...they're actually quite valuable." said the Fuzzy thief.
Mario and Lincoln jumped in the air. They had gotten what they wanted.
"Also, you can have back the Koopa Shells..." stated the Fuzzy bandit.
Lily and Goombario picked up the bag full of Koopa Shells. The citizens of Koopa Village would be happy to have them back.
"I guess we should head back to Koopa Village now..." suggested Lincoln.
Mario nodded.
However, as they were heading back to the village, Kooper suddenly approached them.
"Kooper, is that you?" questioned Goombario.
"I decided that if I don't stand up to the Fuzzies, I'll be allowing them to do whatever they want...even if that means stealing from my friends...I figured I should go out and get my shell back myself..." explained Kooper.
"Funny you should mention that...we just got your shell back." answered Lincoln.
"You did? Thank you so much!" exclaimed the Koopa Troopa.
Immediately, he put his shell back on.
Meanwhile, the Fuzzies were upset that they lost what they had stolen from Koopa Village. That had been a waste of time.
At that very moment, Larry Koopa showed up.
"Where is the loot I told you to plunder from Koopa Village?" questioned Larry.
"Mario and his friends came and took it back from us..." explained the Fuzzy.
"What? Don't just stand there and let Mario be the hero! Why don't you simply fight him and teach him a lesson about messing with Bowser's minions?" suggested the youngest of the Koopalings.
"You've got it, boss!" exclaimed the Fuzzies.
At that very moment, Mario, Kooper, Goombario, Lincoln and Lily heard a loud noise.
"What was that?" questioned Goombario.
"It's the Fuzzies! They're after us!" exclaimed Lincoln.
Mario shook his hands back and forth.
"Uh-oh!" shouted Lily.
"Hey Mario! We're going to beat you up and take back the stuff you took from us!" bellowed the Fuzzy that was wearing glasses eariler.
"I guess we're just going to have to fight them..." noted Lincoln.
"Alright then, I'll help!" exclaimed Kooper.
Immediately, he put himself into his shell and launched them at the Fuzzies.
They were scattered all over the forest floor.
If the Fuzzies had known that the Koopas would be efficient at fighting them, perhaps they would have thought up a better plan before they went to pillage their precious village.
One of the Fuzzies went up to Lily and began sucking HP from her cheek.
"Get off!" bellowed Lily.
However, she hit the Fuzzy with her rattle, causing him to let go.
"Is that all you got?" questioned Lincoln.
At that very moment, more Fuzzies appeared.
"Huh. I guess you've got more than that..." noted the boy.
"Give it up! We have you surrounded! Just give us back what you took from us and you'll be safe!" exclaimed the Fuzzy.
"I don't know, we went through a lot of hard work to get them..." countered the Goomba.
At that very moment, Lisa showed up. Apparently she had stumbled her way out of the village on account of her current lack of sight.
She was currently carrying a vial full of liquid...a liquid that looked rather volatile.
"Hey, I managed to make a formula out of the Mushrooms and Fire Flowers that I found in the village...wait, since when were flowers so fiery?" questioned Lisa.
At that very moment, the vial slipped out of Lisa's hands.
Lily gasped. Whenever Lisa dropped one of the chemicals from her laboratory, it never ended well. She knew from experience since she was Lisa's roommate.
Lincoln quickly realized that they were in trouble as well.
"Everyone, we've got to run for cover!" bellowed Lincoln.
Mario, Lily, and Goombario nodded, and they quickly hid behind the trees.
Lisa hid behind a tree as well.
"This is some interesting soil..." noted Lisa. Of course, she couldn't see it too well without her glasses.
"Huh? Why is everyone hiding?" questioned the leader of the Fuzzies.
Suddenly, the formula exploded, sending the various Fuzzies flying.
"Well, it looks like we took care of all the Fuzzies..." noted Lincoln.
"Boom boom!" exclaimed Lily. That was one big explosion.
Suddenly, Lincoln noticed Lisa.
"Hey, Lisa! We've got a present for you!" bellowed Lincoln.
Immediately, Lincoln put Lisa's glasses back on her face.
"Thanks, Lincoln. Now I can see..wait, why is there a mushroom walking around? And why is there a turtle walking around wearing boots?" questioned Lisa.
"You're in a video game that you sucked us into..." answered Lincoln.
"Ah, that makes sense..." nodded the girl.
"Can you help us out?" questioned the boy.
"I'm the one who got you into this...so I figure I should make it up to you by helping you out of it..." answered Lisa.
"Thanks, Lisa." smiled Lincoln.
"Can I come too? I figure I owe you after you gave me that blue shell.." asked Kooper.
Mario nodded. He was part of the prophecy that Merlon had told them about, anyway.
"Thanks!" exclaimed the blue Koopa. Apparently, Goombario wasn't the only one looking for adventure.
Together, they made their way back to Koopa Village.
And Lisa and Kooper have both joined the party! They should be able to get inside Koopa Bros. Fortress now...will they be able to retrieve the first Star Spirit? As I mentioned earlier, the fortress is guarded...and not just by the Koopa Bros.