In this chapter, our heroes will fight the heir to the throne of the Koopas, Bowser Jr himself.

Can they defeat him? The kid did single-handedly ruin Isle Delfino. Who could have thought one paintbrush could do so much? I'm sure that incident made it to the headlines of the newspapers.

He even managed to frame Mario by becoming Shadow Mario. Though Mario might have stood a better chance of being acquitted if their legal system wasn't so faulty. Where was Mario's attorney when he needed him?

Chapter 34: A Heiry Situation

While the heroes had a long climb ahead, it would not stop them.

Inside the tower were Spikes.

They of course could pull out spike balls from their mouths.

So our heroes had to be careful. Healing mushrooms didn't grow on trees.

"Ow." remarked Lucy when she was hit by one of those spiked balls. Maybe she should have ducked.

Our heroes were reminded a bit of Tap Tap the Red Nose...who they had fought recently.

Lisa tossed a formula at one, causing him to drop the ball on himself.

"Oww!" exclaimed the Spike.

Maybe he should be more careful with those.

What if he hit a buddy next time?

That wasn't something he liked to think about.

Watt zapped another Spike.

"Oww!" exclaimed the Spike as he was shocked.

That baby was tougher than she looked.

In the tower were also Broozers.

"These guys look tough." remarked Lana.

Watt nodded. And scary too.

They always seemed to have that glare on their faces. Just as Boos always seemed to have smiles on their faces.

"I didn't know that ghosts liked to box." noted Lynn. Up until now, she thought all they did was rest in their graves.

Perhaps she should consider studying ghosts along with Lucy. She was her roommate after all.

"Some of them do." admitted Lucy.

"You think they'll get the punchline of my jokes? Get it?" asked Luan.

"Yes, we all get it." nodded Lincoln.

Why did his sister always make so many puns? Then again, it wasn't uncommon for puns to be in the Mushroom Kingdom. There was the professor E. Gadd for example.

Unfortunately, it was risky to get too close to them.

Otherwise they might end up being down for the count.

But there wasn't anything stopping them from attacking from a distance.

And of course, Lynn was strong enough to box them.

"This girl's good." remarked one of the Broozers, who now had Starmen swirling around his head.

And to make matters worse for the ghosts, they couldn't punch Watt without being zapped.

"We just can't win here." remarked one of the Broozers that had been zapped.

Next up were Chain Chomps.

The dog-like creatures barked at them.

They didn't exactly look friendly.

"This is one dog I would not like as a pet." remarked Lincoln.

Besides, white was more his color. He knew that Lucy liked the color black though.

"Even I think they're a bit wild for my tastes." noted Lana.

They had to be careful, because they had sharp teeth and they weren't afraid to use them.

Additionally, they had good defense.

However, though they did not have visible ears, they were vulnerable to loud noises.

Something Lucy was able to exploit with her bat screeching.

Watt was also able to pierce their defenses surprisingly well.

At the top of the tower was Bowser Jr.

He seemed eager to fight them.

"I'm going to beat you, and make my daddy proud!" exclaimed the son of the Koopa King.

"I know I would like to make my dad proud." noted Lincoln.

"Doesn't loud rhyme with proud?" asked Lynn.

"It does. I'm impressed you've been studying in English class." remarked Lisa. She didn't think she was interested in that particular school subject up until now.

"I can't pass school with just a passing grade in gym." answered the female jock.

Bowser Jr was riding his Clown Copter, so ground attacks were a no-go. Lincoln wondered if it used to belong to a circus.

To be honest, him wielding the Clown Copter in the fight didn't surprise him.

The copter was nothing to laugh at despite its appearance. The cannonballs it could drop would make sure Bowser Jr got the last laugh.

The Clown Copter in question resembled Bowser's, though it was smaller to compensate for Bowser Jr's small size.

The heir to the throne started off by firing Bob-Ombs.

"More Bob-Ombs? Really?" questioned Lucy.

To be honest, she was finding it kind of repetitive.

"Aaaahh!" exclaimed Parakarry.

Unfortunately, one of those Bob-Ombs managed to hit him.

Seems he needs to be a bit more careful.

However, Lincoln punched the Clown Copter in retaliation.

The Copter's mouth opened for a brief moment.

"Hey! Hands off the copter!" demanded Bowser Jr, who was becoming angry.

Repairing it cost a lot of coins.

And it would probably come out of his allowance.

In retaliation, he spat a fireball out at Lincoln.

"You may be a superhero, but you won't beat me!" exclaimed Bowser Jr.

He was going to win, or so he thought.

Narrowly, Lincoln ducked underneath it.

He then spat out more fireballs at the heroes.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Lynn.

That reminded of her of the times she was on the field…on a hot summer day.

Lana used one of the fireballs to roast a marshmallow on a stick.

"Yum…" remarked Lana.

"How can you roast marshmallows in a time like this?" asked Lola. They were in the middle of the fight with Bowser's very own son.

"Sometimes I need to take my mind off from the fact that I'm stranded away from home." explained Lana.

"Taste my fiery wrath!" bellowed Bowser Jr, who spat out even more fireballs.

However, one of the fireballs ended up igniting Bombette's fuse.

"You guys might want to step back." warned the pink Bob-Omb.

"Duly nodded." nodded Kooper.

She exploded, causing Bowser Jr's Clown Copter to shake.

Swirls appeared on its eyes.

"Uh-oh." remarked the heir to the Koopa Throne.

This left him vulnerable to an attack by Parakarry.

"Ow! You're awfully tough for a mailman." noted Bowser Jr.

Perhaps the Chain Chomps would be better off leaving him alone.

The Clown Copter dropped a cannonball.

"Incoming!" warned Lisa.

It hit Lola and Lana.

"Yikes!" exclaimed the twins.

Mechanical arms emerged from the Clown Copter.

At the end were boxing gloves.

He prepared to punch the heroes.

"Heeheeheehee!" laughed the heir to the Koopa Throne.

"Ow!" exclaimed Luan.

She liked fruit punch, but not being punched.

"Quit it!" demanded Kooper.

"Hahahahaha!" exclaimed Bowser Jr, pointing at Kooper.

However, Lynn kicked a soccer ball at him.

"Ouch!" shouted the small Koopa.

At this point, he was very angry.

This time, he began tossing Mechakoopas.

"These are not toys that I want to play with." remarked Lincoln.

Not least due to their ability to spew fire. Who was making them anyway?

Lily nodded in agreement.

Though admittedly she did play with a lot of toys.

It made her feel so happy.

However, Mario found that if he leapt on one of the mechanical Koopas, he could use it as a projectile.

So he decided to try that.

"Owww!" exclaimed Bowser Junior when one of the Mechakoopas hit him. The irony of his own ammunition being used against him was not lost on him.

Perhaps he should have listened to his father's warnings about tossing those while flying a Clown Copter.

He ended up falling off the Clown Copter.

At this point, the Koopa Prince decided that he shouldn't fight the heroes anymore.

He was feeling worn out, and needed to go back to Peach's Castle to take a rest. He was sure his dad would understand.

Still, losing to the heroes made him feel upset.

"No fair! My dad was counting on me to stop you!" pouted Bowser Jr.

Who was going to do that now?

He began to pout.

"You can't always have what you want." answered Lana.

Lola wondered if Lana was speaking to her or Bowser Jr.

"I'll get you next time. But for now, you can have your Star Spirit." spoke the son of Bowser Koopa.

He couldn't think of anything to wish for any. Except for maybe shaving off Mario's mustache. That would be funny to watch.

"Thanks?" answered Lincoln.

He gave them the Star Spirit and flew away.

Hopefully his father would forgive him for his failure. Mario was formidable.

"Until we meet again!" exclaimed Bowser Jr.

"I guess we'll be seeing him again." noted Goombario.

"That guy is a pain." remarked Lynn. She couldn't help but be reminded of his dad. Bowser the Koopa King.

It might be a good idea to prepare for a rematch with him. He'll probably be stronger the next time that they encounter him. Jr Troopa was getting tougher, after all. Why not Bowser Jr?

Muskular was happy that our heroes had helped him out. Perhaps they should grant Mario a lifetime supply of spaghetti. Though he didn't seem to be in short supply of it given he was a bit chubby.

It had sure taken a while. He had gone from Shy Guy to Koopa to heir of the Koopa Kingdom.

"My appreciations. I'd say you're about halfway done getting the Star Rod back. But be warned, your foes will only get stronger from here." noted the teal star.

Lily shared a milk bottle with Watt.

Seemed the two were kindred spirits.

They were both pretty young, after all.

Shortly afterward, Twink showed up to tell them where the next Star Spirit was.

There might be another reason why Lincoln wanted to go there.

He handed them a map giving them directions.

"Perhaps you'll find one of your sisters on the island." said Twink to Lincoln. To his knowledge, there were three of them left.

Now that Lincoln thought of it, he hadn't searched there yet.

So it probably wasn't a bad idea.

It looked as if they were going across the sea towards Lavaland Island.

It reminded them a bit of when they went to Scotland. Though it probably wouldn't be such a long trip. It didn't typically take long for RPG video game heroes to get from one location to another. And Mario was no exception.

Perhaps someone could help them get there.

It seemed like a good idea.

The only question was...who could get them to Lavalava Island?

None of the residents of Toad Town were sailors, though the residents of Toad Town were a diverse lot.

At Peach's Castle, Bowser realized what had happened.

It made him angry that Mario continued to defy him. Had he forgotten about the beating that he had given him?

"So, my own son has failed to defeat those heroes. This burns me up! Speaking of which, I heard that Gourmet Guy has spilled the beans as to where the fifth Star Spirit was, which I know is inside Mt. Lavalava! I guess I'll be sending another Koopaling." remarked Bowser.

Perhaps he shouldn't have allowed Gourmet Guy up here. He left a mess anyways.

He contacted the three remaining guardians.

"Things are getting kind of quiet, wouldn't you say?" asked Lava Piranha.

And yes, it was weird that there was a plant in the middle of a volcano.

"Yeah...there used to be more of us." noted Huff N' Puff.

"Where have they all gone?" questioned the Crystal King.

"Mario's collected four of the Star Spirits. I expect you to make extra sure he doesn't get any more." noted Bowser.

Having four Star Spirits made Mario formidable.

Having seven would make things even worse.

Iggy Koopa volunteered to go this time.

As a side note, other Koopas commented on how skinny he was.

"A tropical island sounds like fun!" exclaimed Iggy.

Especially one that had an active volcano. Made people wonder how the citizens slept at night.

He let out an evil cackle as he left Bowser's Castle,

Mario and Lincoln weren't getting past him.

At this point, Wendy and Ludwig were the only ones left.

They were getting kind of lonely.

There were only three Star Spirits left, so Bowser needed to take extra precautions.

Luckily, he heard that Lavalava Island was a dangerous place, filled with man-eating plants that could very well hurt Mario.

There were also Shy Guys on the island...which was kind of weird since he was expecting them to be in the toybox in Toad Town.

He got his hands full this time.

Hopefully Lava Piranha could handle things. After all, how was Mario going to jump on something that was on fire?

And to his knowledge, none of his allies were fireproof. Even if they were resilient.

So things looked good.

Still, it might be worthwhile to come up with a contingency plan in case Mario and his friends got all the Star Spirits.

Fortunately, Kammy was working on that.

Mario would not know what he was getting into.

Bowser Jr was currently in his room.

He figured he would have his revenge on Mario and Lincoln one way another. They has gotten lucky before but it wouldn't happen again.

It would serve them right for messing with his dad.

The idea of revenge made him happy.

He would need to repair the Clown Copter first though.

To the repair shop!

I think our heroes are about halfway done with their journey. But the harder half begins in the next chapter.

And yes, they will be fighting Bowser Jr again.

I figured that might be interesting.

In the next chapter, Mario is temporarily going to be Doctor Mario.

There's a whale that needs his help.