In this chapter, the Louds are going to talk to Moustafa. He just so happens to have a present for them...and not just any present. With his help they should be able to find the Dry Dry Ruins.
However, due to the added difficulty, they're going to have to get the Pulse Stone back from the enemy first. And yes, I'm aware that the Koopa Kids were replaced by Bowser Jr even though Bowser Jr is actually in this fanfic. Sorry if you're confused.
Chapter 18: The Pulse Stone
As soon as they arrived in Dry Dry Outpost, the heroes encountered a familiar face.
"Chuck Quizmo, is that you?" asked Lincoln. Lincoln wondered how Chuck Quizmo had managed to traverse the desert on foot.
"Yes, it is I! Ready for another trivia challenge? I have more questions to ask you now that you rescued the first Star Spirit..." noted Chuck Quizmo.
"I bet you do." nodded the boy. Of course, they were rhetorical questions since Chuck Quizmo always seemed to know all the answers.
Still, the audience was likely looking forward to seeing how much they know about Paper Mario and the Loud House.
Chuck Quizmo was ready to ask some questions.
"So...what do we do here?" asked Lucy.
"Chuck Quizmo asks us questions and we can answer them...if we answer correctly, we get prizes!" exclaimed Lincoln. Fortunately, Lisa and Goombario were experts at it so it looked like they would be getting some nice things.
"Here's your first question...who was guarding the first Star Spirit?" questioned Chuck Quizmo.
"It was the Koopa Bros!" exclaimed Bombette.
"Thanks. You get some coins." answered the worm.
Bombette got some coins.
"Now then...do you remember where the second Star Spirit is being held?" asked the top hat wearer.
He figured he would be a pal and remind them if they didn't remember already.
"The Dry Dry Ruins!" shouted Goombario.
Chuck Quizmo nodded. That was correct.
As a reward, Goombario got a plushie of a Pokey. It was rather ironic considering that Goombario faced Pokeys earlier. Too bad he couldn't bonk them.
"Now for some Loud House trivia...who's the youngest out of all the Loud family members?" inquired Chuck Quizmo.
There was eleven of them in total, so the question was a bit tricky.
Lily buzzed in.
"Me! Me!" shouted Lily.
"Yes, it's you Lily. You get some milk." shouted the worm.
Lily got some delicious milk. She was glad to have it after her trek to the desert. Exploring the Dry Dry Desert may be fun but that doesn't mean it didn't make her thirsty. Fortunately, there was water for sale at the outpost for those that needed it. They had their own well.
"Now for another trivia question...what is the first name of Lincoln and his sisters' mother?" asked Chuck Quizmo.
"It's Rita...wait, Rita Loud. How ironic." said Lincoln. Strangely enough he hadn't seen her face up until the time that the Loud House family had decided to celebrate Christmas.
"Here is a Star Piece." said the worm.
Lincoln got a star piece.
"Now for the next question...who was Lynn named after?" inquired Chuck.
"It's her father as well as mine, isn't it?" questioned Lucy. She was under the impression that he would name Lincoln after him instead of Lynn but at the time they weren't sure if they were going to be having a boy.
Lincoln noted that she of all people would know that. They were roommates...even if Lynn was far more energetic than Lucy was. Of course, it would make sense for Lucy and Luan to be roommates too. Luan was far more cheerful than Lucy was.
"Correct...I'll give you something spooky..." said the worm.
Lucy received a spellbook.
"Awesome!" cheered Lucy. She was going to have fun on this show.
However, she wondered just how many people were watching the show. She would have to be careful not to do anything that would embarrass herself on television. If that happened to Lola she would go to her room and she would never come out.
Of course, she was probably scaring the audience already...but she couldn't be someone that she wasn't, right?
Chuck Quizmo began to look for more questions.
He came up with another question.
"Who created Mario?" inquired Chuck Quizmo.
Mario buzzed in.
"Yes, Mario?" questioned the worm.
Mario pulled out a piece of paper, wrote a name down, and handed it to Chuck Quizmo.
"Shigeru Miyamoto! That is correct!" exclaimed the worm.
Mario received lots of spaghetti.
"Mmm!" cheered Mario. He just loved Italian food, though technically speaking he was born in the Mushroom Kingdom instead of Italy.
"We're breaking Paper Mario's fourth wall now?" asked Lincoln.
"Apparently." nodded Goombario.
Then again, he heard that there was a professor in Rogueport that could break the fourth wall too. He was a Goomba like he was.
"Now that I think of it...I think he created all of us too." answered Kooper.
"He's probably not as involved in these games as he used to be...there's a lot of developers now." pointed out Goombario.
Kooper nodded. That was true though he was heavily involved in Sticker Star. Not everyone liked the game because of it. Why only baddies from Super Mario World?
At least Color Splash was better if not for every Mario fan.
Chuck Quizmo decided to ask another question.
"Which family member of his does Lincoln look like?" asked Quizmo.
Lincoln buzzed in. He of all people would know the answer to that one.
"I think that's my grandpa." answered Lincoln.
Quizmo nodded. It looked like Lincoln had inherited his looks from his grandfather.
Lincoln received another star piece.
"Alright, that's all that we have time for today. By the way, you should check out the shop here. There's something that might interest you." remarked Chuck Quizmo.
Chuck Quizmo disappeared.
Mario nodded.
They decided to check out the shop to see if there was anything that they should get.
As it turned out, there was a merchant.
"If you want some information about the ruins, I would suggest buying a Dusty Hammer. You should buy a Dried Shroom too..." said the merchant.
Curious, Lincoln decided to do just that.
Shortly afterwards, a Nomadimouse appeared.
"Ahh, I see that the merchant told you where you can get information...my name is Moustafa. Pleased to meet you." greeted Moustafa.
"Pleased to meet you too." nodded Lincoln.
Mario shook Moustafa's hand.
"So...are you here to ask about the Dry Dry Ruins?" asked Moustafa.
He heard that Bowser's minions hid something there.
Lincoln nodded.
"Well then, you're going to need this!" exclaimed the Nomadimouse.
Moustafa pulled out a Pulse Stone.
"Oh? What's this?" questioned Kooper. Something about the stone was rather...strange. It reminded him of a compass.
"It's a Pulse Stone...you can use it to locate the ruins. Mind you, there's a Koopa pharaoh that's taken residence in there lately...I would be careful if I were you. I also heard that he was guarding one of the seven Star Spirits that were abducted from Star Haven..." noted Moustafa. Ever since Bowser stole the Star Rod he had assembled a large army for himself.
"We've already rescued one..." noted Lisa.
"Yes...but one Star Spirit is not going to be nearly enough for you to defeat Bowser...from what I know about the Star Rod, you're going to need all seven to counter its power..." remarked the Nomadimouse.
"That's why we're trying to find the second one..." answered Parakarry. While he was at it, maybe he should look for some more letters that he might have dropped.
Moustafa handed the Pulse Stone to Mario.
"There! Why don't you go and search for the ruins? You seem determined to return Star Haven back to the way it was...I would like to wish for some cheese right about now..." remarked Moustafa.
Lincoln nodded.
Immediately, the party left Dry Dry Outpost to search for the ruins.
"So...do you think that the Pulse Stone would glow when we're nearby?" asked Lana.
"I think it's rather pretty..." noted Lola.
Suddenly, the Koopa Kids showed up.
"What the-who are you guys?" asked Lincoln.
"Probably some kids that have too much time on their hands." remarked Lucy.
The Koopa Kids swiped the Pulse Stone.
"Mamamia!" shouted Mario. The Koopa Kids were good at mugging others.
The Koopa Kids laughed.
"Oh no! They've got the Pulse Stone!" exclaimed Lincoln.
They could hear Roy Koopa's laughter out in the distance.
"We're going to have to get it back." noted Goombario. They wouldn't stand much of a chance obtaining the second Star Spirit otherwise.
"Where do you think that they have gone?" asked Kooper. Hopefully they hadn't gone too far.
Suddenly, Lana picked up a scent, her nose twitching.
"Hmm...it seems that due to all the animals I have I'm starting to develop animal-like characteristics..." remarked Lana.
"What does that mean?" asked Lola.
"I managed to pick up the Koopa Kids' scent..." explained the plumber girl. Evil sure had a peculiar scent.
"Perfect! We can use it to find the Koopa Kids...I'm not so sure about the Star Spirits though. I don't know what they smell like..." stated Lincoln.
"Yeah...I think my nose has limits like that..." noted Lana.
Immediately, she used her nose to search for the Koopa Kids.
As it turned out, they had gathered in a camp.
However, the camp happened to be guarded. They were going to have to fight their way inside of it.
Fortunately, they were ready for a fight.
It was a good thing, since they noticed that the sand seemed to be rumbling underneath them. What was going on?
As it turned out, it was a Sandmaargh.
The Sandmaargh roared at the party.
"This thing is huge...do you think we can beat it?" asked Lincoln.
"Well, we DID beat the Koopa Bros." noted Lisa. However, their enemies had gotten stronger since then, though the Sandmaargh didn't seem to be as strong as they were when together.
The Sandmaargh dove into the sand, and bit Parakarry.
"Ow!" exclaimed Parakarry.
"It's a shame we haven't unlocked Sushi yet." thought Lincoln.
However, he then remembered that they might have an alternative.
"Lily, try splashing it with milk!" exclaimed the boy.
Lily nodded. That wouldn't be a bad idea.
She did just that, and the Sandmaargh was injured...not to mention soaking wet.
Mario then hammered it and it gave up some Star Points.
Some Bandits popped out from the sand.
"These guys again? We better watch our purses..." remarked Lincoln.
One of the Bandits attempted to take Mario's money.
However, Lucy zapped him with a blast of magic.
"Ouch!" exclaimed one of the Bandits.
Unfortunately for Lucy, another Bandit was attempting to steal her wand.
However, Lana whacked him with her wrench.
"Ow!" shouted the Bandit.
Some Monty Moles popped out from the sand and started throwing rocks at Lana.
"Ow!" exclaimed the Monty Mole.
This did not amuse Lola.
"Leave my sister alone!" shouted Lola.
In retaliation, she hit the Monty Moles with her car, knocking them out.
"We sure are getting a lot of Star Points..." remarked Lincoln as he punched a Bandit away.
At that very moment, the Koopa Kids revealed themselves.
"After them!" shouted the boy.
Fortunately for the party, they were eventually able to corner the Koopa Kids, who tucked into their shells and charged towards the party.
However, Kooper knocked the shells away with a shell of his very own.
The Koopa Kids spat out some fireballs, setting Mario's overalls on fire.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario as he began to ran around.
"Mario, you should stop, drop, and roll instead of running around. That spreads the flames." warned Lisa.
Mario proceeded to stop, drop, and roll to put out the flames.
However, one of the Koopa Kids punched Goombario in the face.
"Ow!" exclaimed Goombario.
Another Koopa Kid tossed sand in Parakarry's eyes.
"My eyes!" shouted Parakarry.
"It seems that they're fighting dirty..." noted Lisa.
"Indeed..." nodded Bombette.
However, they were ready to fight back with dirty tricks of their own.
In retaliation, Lincoln picked up Bombette and tossed her at the Koopa Kids.
She exploded and the Koopa Kids were knocked on their shells.
Mario then leapt on all three Koopa Kids, injuring them further.
The Koopa Kids got back up and clawed Mario in the face.
"Owoowowowow!" shouted Mario, who now had scratch marks on his cheek. At least their hands weren't as big as those of the Koopa King.
However, Kooper proceeded to ram into them with his shell.
At this point, the Koopa Kids decided to surrender. Mario had proven himself to be too tough.
"Alright, we'll be good! You can have the Pulse Stone!" shouted one of the Koopa Kids.
"I haven't seen you guys since Mario Party 7..." noted Lisa.
The Koopa Bros handed the Pulse Stone to the party.
"It looks like we'll be able to get to the pyramid now..." remarked Lucy.
"Kolorado will be so proud of me!" cheered Kooper.
"I bet he will...I know that Mario is proud of me." noted Goombario.
Lily smiled. Being in the desert was fun but she was getting sand in her diaper. They were getting close to obtaining the second Star Spirit.
Well, that's it for this chapter. The Pulse Stone was stolen but our heroes managed to recover it. Now all that's left is to find the Dry Dry Ruins so that they can rescue the Star Spirit. However, the ruins won't be guarded...they'll have to fight their way towards Tutankoopa.
He's stronger than the Koopa Bros…though there's only one of them compared to the four Koopa Bros.