It's time for the first star spirit battle! And yes, this is a milestone for my fanfic. Of course, so was the prologue, even if no Star Spirits were actually earned in the prologue. Bowser was smart enough not to entrust the Goomba King with a Star Spirit since he wasn't strong enough to guard one, though he was strong enough to keep Mario out of Toad Town apparently. Besides, he already made him king, what else could he want?
Chapter 11: Way Of The Ninja
"What? Bowser's here?" asked Lincoln. What exactly was he doing outside his castle? Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that he left his keep...which, ironically enough, was where he keeped the princess.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario. It didn't take him too long to have a rematch for the Koopa King. He didn't think that it would happen so soon. Hopefully he would at least do better than he did in the initial fight. They seemed evenly matched up until he pulled out the Star Rod.
"I thought you were in that castle up in the sky...it doesn't make any sense." stated Lisa. Why would he come down there if they didn't even have a single Star Spirit?
Lily went into a troubled fetal position. It looked like she was going to meet the Koopa King himself, and so soon too. He was scarier than she had imagined him to be, though she was willing to stand up to him for her brother's sake as well as her older sisters.
However, Goombario, attentive to details as always, noticed something odd. Didn't Bowser still have the power of the stars?
"Hold on a minute...if you're Bowser, why don't you have the Star Rod?" asked Goombario. That was what allowed Bowser to seal his victory over Mario the first time.
"I don't need the Star Rod to pummel you!" bellowed Bowser. Bowser was a rather arrogant type of guy, in addition to being an evil one, naturally.
"OK..." answered the Goomba. He did have a point. Even if Bowser had lost to Mario many times, that was not to say that Bowser was a weak opponent. Most of his minions admired his power though he typically ruled through respect instead of fear.
"Wait, if you're not at the castle, then who's guarding the princess?" asked Lincoln. Surely Bowser would keep a better eye on her on that. He had guards throughout Peach's Castle.
"Oh, I put her in the dungeon along with all those stupid Toads..." remarked Bowser.
"Don't you usually have the princess nearby at all times?" inquired Kooper.
"Not today?" asked the Koopa King.
"Hmm..." remarked Lisa. This was getting rather strange.
"Enough talk! I'm going to trounce you...like I've been wishing for for ages!" exclaimed Bowser.
"Uh-oh!" exclaimed Lily.
Immediately, Bowser clawed Mario.
"Oof!" bellowed Mario.
Fortunately, it didn't hurt much.
Bowser then followed by breathing fire on Lincoln.
However, instead of it doing a whopping amount of damage, it didn't hurt him much.
"Huh?" asked Lincoln. He was expecting that to be a lot more dangerous. During Bowser's battle with Mario in Peach's Castle, that packed enough firepower (literally) to take him down in one shot.
Bowser attempted to breathe fire again, but this time Lily squirted milk in his mouth when he attempted to do so.
Oddly, this caused some sparks to come out of Bowser. Did he somehow manage to absorb some of the Star Rod's power for himself?
"Oh no...not t-I mean, curse you, Mario!" exclaimed Bowser. Mario made Bowser so angry.
Lincoln noted that pouring milk on Bowser was rather effective, especially when Lily aimed the milk at his mouth while he was spewing flames.
But...why the sparks?
In retaliation, Bowser grabbed the closest person to him, Lola.
Lola gasped.
"Gotcha!" exclaimed Bowser, a wide grin forming on his face.
"Put me down! I'm a princess! I deserve more respect than this!" shouted Lola.
Immediately, she threw a temper tantrum.
"This isn't the first time that he's grabbed a princess." remarked Lisa.
And it probably wouldn't be the last.
"I'm coming, sis!" exclaimed Lana.
Immediately, Lana came to her sister's rescue. She may be her polar opposite, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't come to her sister's aid if she needed it.
After all, she did fill in for Lola in a beauty pageant...though that had technically been Lincoln's idea instead of hers. Somehow, she had managed to win by being herself. Apparently, the judges thought that her act was quite creative.
Bowser launched several fireballs at Lana, but Lana leapt right over them. She had taken a page out of Mario's book, it seemed...though despite the fact that Mario was a plumber, he was a lot cleaner than Lana was.
"Ah yes...Lana would probably be a good choice for this battle..." noted Lisa. Of course, so would Mario, but since he was made of paper in this game fire was dangerous to him.
She then whacked Bowser with a wrench, causing him to drop Lola.
"Stupid overgrown turtle...thanks, Lana." murmured Lola. Apparently, she could count on her family...though dressing up along with her siblings as each other felt rather weird.
"Alright! I got him! But...why did screws pop out?" asked Lana. She had no idea where they had come from.
"Um..." answered Bowser.
"I'm starting to suspect that this isn't the real Bowser..." said Goombario.
"Not the real Bowser? Don't be silly!" exclaimed the Koopa King. Everyone knew that he was the real deal...right?
"Bombette, try exploding on him!" shouted Lincoln.
Immediately, Bombette marched towards Bowser.
"Huh?" asked Bowser.
Bombette then exploded.
"Aargh!" exclaimed the Koopa King.
Bowser exploded, leaving behind mechanical parts everywhere.
Also, for some strange reason, there was a portrait of Princess Peach inside. Were the Koopa Bros fond of the princess?
"We did it?! Wait, Bowser is a robot?" asked Kooper. He thought that he was a Koopa much like he was. Of course, there was such a thing as Mechakoopas, though they were more like wind-up toys than proper Koopas.
"I don't think that this was the actual Bowser..." answered Lisa. It was more like the mecha that King Boo had used to combat Luigi. Speaking of Luigi, he was probably at home writing his diary. Maybe he would get to go on an adventure someday...that didn't involve catching ghosts.
At that very moment, the Koopa Bros showed up. They had been inside the Bowser robot the whole time. It seemed natural that since they were ninjas they would be playing tricks on them, such as the trap that they had built earlier.
"Darn it! You blew up our awesome robot!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa. He figured that they would be able to use the robot to scare Mario and his friends away, but apparently they were braver than that. Not only that, but it seemed that Goombario and Lisa had seen through their disguise.
"We worked really hard on that!" shouted Black Ninjakoopa. Not as hard as they had worked the Bob-Ombs though.
"Bowser was so proud..." murmured Yellow Ninjakoopa. He had also been proud of their collaboration technique. It was surprising what they could do when they worked together as a team...which was like Mario and his friends now that he thought of it.
"Of course, if Larry hadn't helped us, it probably wouldn't have been convincing." stated Green Ninjakoopa. He was glad that Bowser had sent him.
Immediately, Green Ninjakoopa pulled out a picture of what the robot would have looked like in its early stages. It didn't look too much like the actual Bowser.
"This looks like the mecha that was used in the original Paper Mario..." noted Lincoln. The added difficulty had taken effect once again...and had also made their foes more intimidating this time as well.
At least they had managed to get past it regardless. It was rather impressive that they managed to make it breathe fire much like the actual Bowser. That actually wasn't in the Paper Mario game.
"Too bad that you managed to blow it up...but we can always build another robot. Let's handle this ourselves!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.
"Wait, where's Larry?" asked Goombario.
"He went to go get his airship. He likes flying around it." stated Black Ninjakoopa. Maybe they should get an airship of their very own...on the other hand, they did like the fortress that they had discovered.
"That does sound fun." nodded Kooper. He had dreams about being a Parakoopa before.
"Are you ready to try out the technique we've been working on?" asked Yellow Ninjakoopa. He had been waiting for the opportunity to use it...so why not now?
"You bet!" exclaimed Green Ninjakoopa.
Immediately, the Ninjakoopas stacked on top of each other and tucked into their shells.
They then started to spin around.
"I wonder if we could do that in my village if we were up for it." questioned Kooper. It would help them defend themselves against the Fuzzies.
Shortly afterwards, they shot themselves at Mario at an astonishing speed.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.
The attack sent him flying.
"You alright, Mario?" asked Lincoln.
Mario nodded. That attack DID knock the breath out of him though. It was actually stronger than being hit by a Bob-Omb.
"How are we going to knock them down?" inquired Kooper. It was only a matter of time before they would begin another assault.
"If we jump on them, they might lose their balance..." suggested Lisa.
"Maybe...but I think we should try using something more powerful..." contradicted Goombario.
"Allow me..." answered Bombette.
"Ready for another assault?" asked Red Ninjakoopa.
"You bet!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa.
At that very moment, Bombette exploded, sending the four Ninjakoopas flying.
"Aargh!" shouted the four of them.
All four of them landed on their shells, rending them vulnerable.
"I hate it when that happens." remarked Kooper.
"Tell me about it!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa. At least they were rather agile so they could get back up faster than other Koopas.
Since Kooper had an opportunity, he decided to slam into all four of them with his shell.
"Ow!" exclaimed the four Ninjakoopas in unison.
However, the Ninjakoopas managed to get up after the attack.
"I think maybe we should switch tactics." remarked Red Ninjakoopa. They were vulnerable to Bombette's explosions while they were stacked together like that.
Perhaps they should switch tactics and choose something that was, while less awesome, more practical.
Once again, the four of them spun in their shells...but this time, they didn't stack themselves together.
"Huh? This is new." remarked Kooper.
After spinning around in their shells, the four Ninjakoopas scattered themselves in different directions.
Yellow Ninjakoopa hit Lily.
"Owie!" exclaimed Lily. Good thing she had some bandages for her booboos.
Green Ninjakoopa hit Kooper.
"Ow!" exclaimed Kooper. He nearly fell over, but he managed to keep balance.
Black Ninjakoopa hit Goombario.
"Ouch!" shouted Goombario. At least he wasn't a big target.
Red Ninjakoopa hit Lincoln.
"Agh!" shouted Lincoln. He may have powers similar to Ace Savvy...but he probably wasn't as resilient as Superman.
"It seems that they've altered their tactics to counter Bombette's explosion power." noted Lisa.
"Now the added difficulty is making our opponents smarter too..." added Lincoln.
"That's unfortunate..." remarked Bombette. She was hoping that she could use her explosion power to send the Koopa Bros packing. But at least she managed to explode on them.
Immediately, the four Ninjakoopas prepared to use the team attack again.
However, Lola spilled hot tea on them before they could do so.
"Ouch! Hot hot hot hot!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa. At least a cup of Koopa Tea would be good right now.
They attempted to resume spinning in their shells, but the spilled tea causing them to spin around uncontrollably and hit each other instead.
"Oh man..." murmured Green Ninjakoopa.
Black Ninjakoopa pulled out a cannon.
"What are they up to now?" asked Lincoln. Were they loading more Bullet Bills?
But as it turned out, they weren't loading Bullet Bills...
...they were loading themselves.
"Bob-Ombs away!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.
"This can't be good." said Goombario.
Immediately, the four Ninjakoopas landed on top of Lincoln, Mario, Bombette, and Kooper.
"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln.
"Oof!" bellowed Mario.
"Grr..." murmured Bombette. Once again, the Koopa Bros were making her angry. At least her friends were safe now. They were probably heading to Koopa Village. The locals there were nice and wouldn't ask much from them.
"Agh! I fell down!" screamed Kooper, who was now on his back. It looked like he was temporarily out of the fight.
"That was fun!" exclaimed Green Ninjakoopa.
"Let's do it again!" agreed Yellow Ninjakoopa.
Once again, the four of them launched themselves from a cannon.
However, Lola and Lana had a trick up their sleeve that was similar to what Paper Mario did in Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam.
Immediately, they pulled out a trampoline.
When the four Ninjakoopas landed, they found themselves bouncing.
"What's going on?" asked Black Ninjakoopa.
"I'm not sure..." answered Red Ninjakoopa.
Eventually, they found themselves back inside the cannon.
"How'd we get back here?" inquired Green Ninjakoopa.
Lana then tipped the cannon so that instead of it being directed towards the party, it was directed towards a nearby wall instead.
All four Ninjakoopas crashed into the wall, leaving a crack in it.
"That was...clever..." remarked Yellow Ninjakoopa.
"I'm getting tired..." noted Green Ninjakoopa.
"I think we could use some help here..." said Red Ninjakoopa.
At that very moment, some Koopa Troopas came in.
"There you are! Help us out!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa. They couldn't beat Mario and Lincoln alone.
The Koopa Troopas nodded, and spun towards Mario and his friends.
However, at that very moment, Kooper got back up from his shell.
"That's better!" exclaimed Kooper.
He proceeded to slam into the Koopa Troopas with his shell, knocking them all over.
Mario leapt on the Koopas, allowing him to obtain Star Points.
Two Paragoombas flew in, but Lisa used her gun to shoot them down.
"No!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.
"Hey, Red Ninjakoopa! Hey!" shouted Bombette.
Red Ninjakoopa turned around...
...just in time for Bombette to explode on the four Ninjakoopas.
All four Ninjakoopas were sent flying into the dungeon below.
"Aah!" exclaimed Red Ninjakoopa.
"Whoa!" shouted Black Ninjakoopa.
"How could this happen?" asked Yellow Ninjakoopa.
"How long are we going to keep falling?" inquired Green Ninjakoopa.
Immediately, the four Ninjakoopas realized that they were in trapped in prison...along with the remnants of their robot.
"How are we going to get out of here?" asked Red Ninjakoopa.
"I don't know! We never built a secret escape tunnel!" exclaimed Black Ninjakoopa.
Unfortunately, the head of the Bowser mecha that they had built had blocked the hole in the wall that Bombette had made earlier. They wouldn't be able to get out that way.
"What should we do now?" inquired Yellow Ninjakoopa.
"Help!" demanded Green Ninjakoopa.
"Serves the four right." said Bombette.
"You think that they'll get out of there?" inquired Goombario.
"Possibly...but at least now we should be able to get the first Star Spirit..." stated Lisa.
As soon as Lisa saw that, a card containing the first Star Spirit appeared. This one happened to be Eldstar.
"Yahoo!" exclaimed Mario.
"Looks like we got the first Star Spirit...but why do I get the feeling that we're forgetting something?" asked Lincoln.
At that very moment, Lincoln spotted something lurking in the shadows.
"What? Who's there?" asked the boy.
Shortly afterward, Larry grabbed onto the Star Spirit card.
"Trying to take the first Star Spirit, are you? I don't think so! I guess I'll just have to take this to a more secure location." remarked Larry.
Lincoln noted that this actually wasn't in the game. Apparently, the added difficulty was making it so that they would have to fight a Koopaling for each of the Star Spirits as well.
"Get back here!" demanded Lola.
Immediately, Larry fled onto his battleship.
"I guess we're going to have to follow him..." noted Lincoln.
Mario nodded.
Fortunately, there was an anchor that they could use to get onto the airship. Of course, Lincoln didn't need it since he was capable of flight.
However, that was the easy part.
Quickly, the party boarded the ship so that they could get back the first Star Spirit.
Would they be able to defeat the first Koopaling?
The Koopa Bros have been defeated...but what's this? It seems that there's another obstacle in their path. If they want Eldstar to return to Shooting Star Summit, they must defeat Larry Koopa as well.
Can they get past his airship and make it to the youngest of the Koopalings? Mind you, just because he's the youngest doesn't mean that he's a weak opponent...take a look at Lily for example. She has superpowers in Paper Mario just like Lincoln does.
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter though it's technically not the end of the first chapter of Paper Mario.