Has this website been glitching out for anyone else lately? When I uploaded the previous chapter, it updated to the front page of the Mario section...but you couldn't actually read the new chapter. It either brought you to Chapter 106, or you got an error message. I hope it's fixed by now!
Adventuring Group: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, DK, Dixie, Goombella, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lakilester, Koops, Koopie, Flurrie, Spike/Paper-Yoshi, Vivian, Boshi, Bowser, Larry, Wario, Pauline, Mona, Jojora, Starlow, Luvbi, Kody
Hospital group: Toadette, Bleck/Blumiere, Tippi/Timpani, Toadsworth, Fly Guy, Toadessa, Toado, Dr. Nokano, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Bowser Jr., Tadano, E. Gadd, Clawdia, Katia, Kenneth, Toodles
Mushroom Corps.: Arfur, Toadari (Arfur's boss)
Island group: Tatanga, Beldam, Roy, Doopliss, Dimentio, Mimi, Diddy, Fire Bro/Konnor
Moon: TEC
Blackstone Tower: Grodus
Fort Koopington: Rosalina, Monty Mole
Merle approached the entrance of the village, where a group of Bumpty 'police' were waiting with pissed off expressions.
"Hello guys, how can I help you?" Merle asked, playing it cool.
"We're on the search for Mario and his group of friends. Mayor Penguin has been found murdered, and we searched the premises of his house for Mario's group as that's where they were last seen, but nothing was found. Have you seen them?" asked the Bumpty in the front, wearing a police cap.
"Oh my goodness! N-no, I haven't seen them, officer. Wow...do you really think Mario and his friends had anything to do with it, though?" Merle asked, playing dumb.
"Not quite sure on that yet, but it's the only lead we got considering they conveniently disappeared after the body was discovered," said the Bumpty.
"I see...what about the Mayor's wife? Was she there?" Merle questioned, curious how they'd answer that one.
"She…" the Bumpty paused, clearly trying to come up with an answer. "...uhh, is also nowhere to be found. I presume she's with Mario's group, but I'm not positive on that one."
"Mmmhmm," Merle tried not to smirk at his weak response. "Well, like I said, they haven't come through here. Good luck on your search!"
"Hmm! Quite a lot of footprints in the snow there…" said the Bumpty, pointing to a trail from the area before the village leading into the village itself. "Also weird how the footprints just stop right here at the entrance. What's up with that exactly?"
Merle put on his best poker face. The Ninjis of the village cleared up the snow footprints of the group in the village, but forgot that they came from the Shiver Snowfield area, and thus forgot to cover those tracks.
"Oh...the Ninjis were playing with the star kids earlier. I think a game of tag. Looks like it got a big rough, but y'know...that's how kids like to be!" Merle came up with an excuse on the fly, but the main Bumpty clearly didn't buy it.
"...Right. Well, mind if we have a look around then? We won't be long," he asked with a conniving smile.
"Sure, go ahead. Not sure what you're expecting to find though!" Merle said, annoyed and a little worried now.
The gang reached the entrance of Shiver Mountain.
"Alright, guys! This is it. Just follow the mountain straight up and you'll reach the Crystal Palace. I have to go back to the village now, to help out Merle and make sure the village is protected," Jr. Troopa spoke.
"Awesome, thanks so much, Troopa! When we're done, we gotta catch up on what we've missed with you. You've clearly changed a lot," Kooper praised with others nodded.
"Yeah, you've changed for sure...except for the fact that you look exactly the same as you did years ago! What gives? Share us your anti-aging secrets!" Lakilester prodded, really wanting to know how Troopa still looks exactly like the little kid that used to mess with Mario and the partners from long ago.
Troopa smiled a little, then got out a wand that looked all too familiar to Mario and the original partners. He waved it in a circular motion in front of him, then suddenly, Troopa 'transformed' into what looked like an older teenager. He grew up a few feet, his face had matured, but still had that 'mean look' a little bit, the kind of look that someone can't help but have on their face when their expressions are neutral.
"WOAH! Uhh, explain please!?" Spike shrieked.
"I used magic to disguise myself as my younger self. The bad guys are less likely to mess with a little kid, plus, I can sneak around and hide more easily to spy on the area," Troopa explained, his voice now a lot deeper.
"Damn! Magic can do THAT!? Shit, I better get myself a wand and spellbook then!" Boshi exclaimed.
Troopa chuckled at him. "It takes a loooong time to perform spells of this caliber. But yeah, I've been practicing magic ever since I got my hand on this wand when we fought here all those years ago, Mario. Don't know if I'd consider myself a master, but I'd say I'm a pretty damn good expert!"
"Nice. Glad to see that you've come so far, Troopa. You've been a real help with, not just us, but the whole region!" Mario praised.
"If you don't mind me asking though, dearie, how come you don't use that magic to fend off these jerks that are taking over the region?" Flurrie questioned.
"Because it's too risky. The 'takeover' they're doing is subtle, and Merle even warned me to lay off on doing too much magic for right now. If I decide to attack instead, there's a great chance that all hell will break loose and this place will turn into a death zone. Plus, it's hard to tell who is a Duplighost and who isn't...I haven't found or come up with a spell to distinguish people who are real and people who are Duplighosts without…y'know, attacking them," Troopa explained.
"Yeah, that makes sense. If you attack, someone will notify the big boss and more people will be killed. Smart thinking!" Mona complimented.
"Yeah! But, another question, what made you, like, wanna stay here in the Shiver Region? I mean, I assume that's why you're here in the first place, right?" Goombella asked.
"Oh, I just grew really fond of this area when I first visited here to fight off Mario and his gang. I liked the isolation and chillier weather. Ended up staying here with a foster agency, grew up with an amazing family that really put my ass in check, and...here I am now," Troopa summarized. Others in the group were proud of him maturing.
"Good! I'm glad everything worked out for you. I don't think we'll ever forget you trying to ambush us like 30 times, but I suppose we'll let it slide considering you were just an angsty little kid back then," Bombette humorously recalled, making some of the others laugh, including Troopa himself.
"Gee, thanks," Troopa playfully replied. "Alright, guys, now I REALLY gotta get back. I won't wish you good luck because I know you won't need it, since you'll win anyways. See ya on the flipside!" He then ran back to the village through the backway.
"Damn, man. He's like a whole other person now. Glad he didn't turn into some wannabe mega-villain unlike some of the morons we're dealing with," Lakilester commented, happy for the guy.
"Alright everyone, there's no more time to waste! Straight up the mountain is the Crystal Palace. We try to find the gem, then we'll try to seal this entrance leading to the Mirror World. I hope we don't have to go in there to deal with this Crystal Queen or whoever's causing all this crap, but if we must, then we will," Mario instructed. Everyone nodded in understanding and proceeded forward.
The gang came across a short chasm with a platform below with a green switch on it. Memories came flooding back of the trek through Shiver Mountain for Mario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, and Lakilester.
"Huh. I see someone decided to put an extra obstacle in our way...delaying us only by 30 seconds. Wow. So cruel. So wicked!" Bombette sarcastically spoke as Mario did a ground pound move on the green switch below, raising the platform to close the chasm.
"Man, but if that obstacle is reset, I wonder if we'll have to deal with all those Duplighosts and their dumb magic tricks of impersonating us like last time!?" Lakilester recalled while cringing.
"I hope not...oh god, I REALLY hope not! That would slow us down even more and annoy the hell out of us," Parakarry also cringed on those memories of dealing with the idiotic Duplighosts.
"Hey, since you guys have been here before and not the rest of us, it's probably for the best that you go to the front of the group...you know, cause you know the way?" Boshi suggested with a weird wink.
"Why, so we can get killed first!? Fuck, man, why do you gotta be so annoying!?" Kooper irritatedly groaned.
"It was just a damn suggestion, yellow face! I mean, it only makes sense that the people who have been here before lead the way!" Boshi retorted.
"What difference does it make if they take the lead or not? It's all a straightway to the palace anyways! It's not gonna take experienced explorers to figure that out!" Luvbi pointed out.
"GUYS...come on! The fighting has gotten so old now. This isn't the Pokemon World where we were at each other's throats every 5 seconds. Let's just keep going forward and focus on the objective and nothing more," Vivian yelled, settling down the tension a little.
"I still can't believe you guys were in a world of Pokemon! I'm surprised you guys didn't try to keep some of them to bring back home too!" Kody exclaimed.
"I think it would've been too much to keep an eye on both the Pokemon and doing our mission...although, I'll admit, I kinda miss having Krabby as my Pokemon. He was pretty cool and seemed loyal to me from the start," Pauline reminisced with a faint chuckle.
"Woah! What's that enemy up ahead!?" Starlow shouted in sudden fear. They all looked at a tall, bulky, indigo creature that caught notice of the group and started heading towards them.
Goombella immediately wanted to bring up the stats and info on this guy "Oh! That guy's called a Gulpit. He sometimes attacks with his large tongue, or he'll find rocks to throw at us, causing a great deal of dama-"
DK interrupted her spiel by body slamming the Gulpit with Bowser clawing its stomach, letting it bleed to death in the snow.
"...Okay...guess you didn't need all that explanation. I don't know why I forgot that we could just go up to an enemy and pound the crap out of it!" Goombella said with a playful shrug.
"Yeah, it's easier to just kill the sucker on sight rather than doing the roundabout way of turn-based style beatdowns," DK added.
"Dad, can I get the next enemy? Remember, I still have DK's strength copied into me!" Larry eagerly reminded the Koopa King.
"Hmm...I suppose. Just don't overthink it when it comes. Target the enemy, kill the bastard by any means necessary, and move on! Doesn't matter how violent the method, just get it done!" Bowser instructed, but shocked some of the other people by how he described it.
"Wow! Feels like we're a team full of unstoppable enemy slayers now! LOVE IT!" Spike excitedly squealed.
The group marched forward and suddenly, a Frost Piranha popped up from the ground and bit Wario in the arm, sinking its frosty teeth into his skin.
"OWWWWW! MOTHERFUCKING BITCH!" Wario roared in pure pain and anger. Daisy kicked the Piranha, making it let go of Wario's arm, then Larry grabbed the Piranha from behind, tore it from the ground, and smashed it against a nearby large rock, spewing out blue blood and guts everywhere.
"Damn, I forgot those Frost Piranhas were in this place! You okay, Wario!?" Bombette shrieked.
"AGGGGHHH! DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M OKAY!? FUCK, THIS SHIT HURTS LIKE MOTHERFUCKING STINGS FROM A HUNDRED WASPS!" Wario roared again, as his left forearm was bleeding out a little from the bite.
Bowser ripped off a part of Wario's shirt sleeve from his left arm and pressed it against the bite wound.
"Keep it pressed down...hopefully that bite wasn't poisonous!" Bowser said.
"Ohhh don't put that in my head, please! That's the last thing I wanna think about!" Wario pleaded.
"That was just a Frost Piranha, though! I know those things can freeze things with its bite sometimes, but that's all it can do...right!?" Mona worriedly asked.
"You never know anymore with how things are now. But, you're right, let's not put that into ANY of our heads! You okay to continue, Wario?" Daisy asked.
"Y-Yeah...hurts like hell...but I'll be fine. Not the worst wound ever," Wario assured, with Mona putting her hand on his shoulder to comfort him a little. But, the wound felt icy. Wario felt like there was literal ice creeping into his blood.
They carried onward.
The group encountered another chasm with a blue switch on the other side. Memories immediately came back for Mario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, and Lakilester.
"OH HELL NO! I gotta do this shit again!? WHY!?" Kooper cried.
"Why, what's the problem?" Peach asked.
"The last time we were here, I used Kooper to hit the switch on the other side. But, when Kooper came back, there was another Kooper that came back with him somehow. It was, of course, a Duplighost, but it was pretty hard to figure out which one was the real Kooper because the Duplighost was pretty convincing!" Mario explained the situation.
"Really, Mario!? You thought that douchebag was convincing!? That bastard was lucky I didn't slit his throat at the time!" Kooper scowled.
"So...you think the same thing is gonna happen again this time around then?" Luvbi questioned.
"Uhh, hello? You guys do realize that there are some of us who can, ya know...FLOAT over there and hit the switch?" Lakilester pointed out.
"Yeah guys, don't make this more complicated than it needs to be!" Jojora exclaimed and was about to float over and hit the switch, but Flurrie beat her to it.
"Done! Let's get a move on!" the wind spirit heartily cheered.
"Oh! Thanks, Flurrie. Wait a second...why couldn't any of the 'floaters' in our original group just have done THAT instead of using me to hit the switch!?" Kooper pointed out.
"Because...uhh...your shell move was awesome to look at?" Parakarry guessed with a cheeky smile. Kooper snarled at him, while Bombette and Lakilester snickered.
"I wonder if any of the other puzzles in the palace are reset too...WOAH, FLURRIE!" Mario suddenly shrieked as he led the group forward but then suddenly saw a second Flurrie behind the first one.
"What? Why are you...OH MY GOODNESS!" Flurrie screamed when she saw another Flurrie behind her.
"WHAT ON EARTH!? How could this have happened!? There aren't any Duplighosts nearby, and there's nowhere for them to hide for them to just sneakily do this!" the other Flurrie shrieked, seeming just as surprised.
"DAMN! We really gotta go through this again, huh? Those Duplighosts are VERY sneaky...I don't know how they manage to pop out of nowhere like that!" Bombette groaned.
"So now we have to decide which one is the real Flurrie then? Great...sounds fun…" Koopie sighed in annoyance.
"Does this mean we get to shoot the fake one!?" Boshi excitedly said, getting out his handgun.
"NO! Well...actually, yes, but we have to be sure of which one is the fake Flurrie!" Daisy corrected.
"Well well, I'M clearly the real Flurrie here! Come on now, you all MUST see that this impostor over here is, well, an impostor!" one of the Flurries yelled.
"I beg your pardon!? I'm the real one! I'm the one that adventured with my friends to collect the Crystal Stars so many years ago to save the world from the Shadow Queen! I'm the one who had poor Mario, Goombella, and Koops go fetch my necklace in the Boggly Woods when I first met them, because I was so self-conscious to show myself to the world without it! I have history with these people, and you don't!" the other Flurrie cried in defense.
"My my, you do a very good job at convincing everyone that you're the real deal...but sorry to tell you, sunshine, I'm the legitimate Madame Flurrie! I starred in 'The Thousand Year Door' play after the world was saved from the Shadow Queen, but then I retired officially to live a quiet life after that because the showbiz world just wasn't for me anymore! Now, I demand that you shoot this filthy and deceitful wench, because this is just slowing us down even more now!" the previous Flurrie demanded.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING WENCH!? The only wench I see here is you, you foul-smelling wannabe! Just take one quick whiff of me and you'll know that I'm the legitimate Madame Flurrie because I always overdo my perfume almost everyday! Whereas for you...you smell like you came from Toad Town Sewers and then had a mud bath with a group of pigs!" the other Flurrie raised her voice and became livid.
"Why, you old cow! Why on earth would I put on perfume when I KNOW that I'm going to be adventuring and getting myself dirty anyways!? Last time I checked, we are in the apocalypse, not on some exquisite vacation!" the previous Flurrie spat, almost becoming livid and red in the face.
"It's a bad habit of mine to put on a lot of perfume each day! But, of course, you wouldn't know that because you're the FAKE!" the other Flurrie retorted, pointing right at her.
"God...you both are convincing! How the hell are we gonna do this then?" Dixie asked.
"Maybe ask them a question that only the real Flurrie would know?" Starlow suggested.
"I got one. Do you remember back at the Mayor's house I came into one of the bedrooms to lay down for a little bit, but I found out you were in it? Wanna tell me what happened after that?" Boshi questioned with a growing smirk. One of the Flurries widened her eyes and dropped her mouth a little, whereas the other one looked confused.
"Uhh...did something bad happen, Boshi?" Peach asked, perplexed at that odd question, with curious and confused looks coming from everyone else now.
"I wouldn't consider it 'bad,' but it's something that I know the real Flurrie will respond to! Come on then...tell me!" Boshi said, clearly enjoying this.
The Flurrie that widened her eyes sighed and crossed her arms, then chuckled slightly. "You were craving cocaine and I was trying to get you to see that you don't need it."
Some of the people gasped or made sounds of disgust. Yoshi huffed and spoke, "Seriously Boshi, again!? Don't tell me you have more coke on you!"
"Man, come on, I don't! I'm trying to be better! Have you guys ever tried to get off a drug addiction? It's not as easy as it looks!" Boshi yelled, annoyed at all the judgy expressions some of the people were giving him.
"He's right. It isn't easy. I should know that because I've been there before. I used to be addicted to coke when I was in showbiz," Flurrie revealed, surprising the others again. "I related to Boshi on that when we were in the bedroom and I was trying to get him to see that it isn't worth needing it, and that the desire will eventually fade away."
"Wow, Flurrie...that's really courageous of you to do that!" Spike praised.
"Yeah. And it's also courageous for Boshi. We shouldn't forget about him, guys. It's NOT easy getting off drugs. I've never done it before, but I imagine it's one of the hardest things ever to let go of," Mario added, making sure Boshi wasn't left out. Boshi smiled at him and nodded his head, happy that he was being treated fairly. Some of the group nodded in agreement too.
"Oh...well...looks like I'm screwed, aren't I?" the other Flurrie shrieked.
"Yep. Sayonara!" Spike cheerfully spoke, then shot the fake Flurrie with his blindness gun. The fake Flurrie turned back into its regular Duplighost form and he cried out in horror as he stumbled around, not able to see a thing, and eventually fell off the edge of the chasm, down below to the far away ground, smashing into a tree and then landing on the snow, dead.
"Hehe. That was pretty fun to watch! Hope I can blast some more with this!" Spike snickered in excitement.
"Now that that's outta the way, time to keep going forward. Let's-a go!" Luigi commanded and the group proceeded onward. Flurrie went over to Boshi.
"Hey you. Uhh...thank you for not mentioning any of that...err…'sexual stuff' that we 'almost' did. That would've made things even more awkward for everyone, and we're all already tense as it is," Flurrie whispered to him.
"Don't mention it, Flur. I knew it would've been the hot topic everyone would gossip about endlessly, so that's why I didn't say a word. Plus...what you did back in that room was pretty crazy, not gonna lie...but also pretty bold. I kinda needed that kick, so...thank you too," Boshi quietly replied. Flurrie smiled at him and nodded, knowing that he was definitely being genuine.
The gang continued into a straightforward path section of the mountain. On the left hand side there were three tall rocks with a square hole in each of them, each containing an item.
"OH! I remember this! Each of those rocks has an item, if we take an item out, then a wall of ice will fall down onto the path, blocking our way forward. But, we can put another item in its place, and the wall will remain up," Bombette recalled and explained to everyone.
"Well, let's see what they got! The first one has...a Mistake?" Peach said, looking disgusted now.
"Eh? Mistake as in the awful meal item 'Mistake'? Why the hell would that be there, and who would even wanna take it!?" Luvbi asked in equal disgust.
"Who knows, probably some dumb prank thing. Let's keep going guys," DK gestured.
"Does a Mistake really taste as awful as people say it does? I mean...it doesn't physically LOOK that bad!" Koops naively asked, noting the very green salad-looking food and nice looking purple-ish berries on the plate.
"Well...why don't you try it and find out for yourself then?" Larry snickered.
"DON'T. Please don't. I don't wanna see vomit everywhere. Let's go to the next one now…" Goombella grunted.
They went to the second rock and found another item. This one was the Stone Cap.
"Ooh! The infamous Stone Cap item. Haven't seen one of those in ages!" Parakarry excitedly yelled.
"What does it do? Or is it just a fashion trend to have a Stone Cap on your head?" Kody asked. Some giggles were heard at that odd question.
"It temporarily transforms you into a statue, making you invulnerable to all attacks," Vivian informed.
"Oh wow. That, umm, doesn't really sound too comfortable…" Kody responded with a look of fear.
"Eh. Good for avoiding the big attacks if you're out of other defensive options," Mario said with a shrug and took the Stone Cap. A big wall of ice fell from the ceiling to the ground, blocking the path.
Jojora shrieked. "MARIO! Just put that thing back, because th-"
BAM!
Bowser easily broke the ice wall by punching through it.
"You were saying, fairy lady?" Bowser teased. Jojora scoffed at him.
They went to the final rock and in it was a Mystery Box item.
"Uhh...please don't tell me we're gonna take that!" Spike protested.
"Why? You don't like those items?" Pauline asked.
"Not really. I remember using them quite often on our Crystal Star quest, and half the time, the 'random item' ended up being a Dried Shroom!" Spike explained with a disgusted expression.
"Wow! Do Dried Shrooms taste worse than Mistakes?" Kody asked.
"Mistakes are worse. At least with Dried Shrooms, you can still taste some semblance of a Mushroom...nothing even remotely good about a Mistake!" Kooper answered with a shiver.
"Well, let's just take the Mystery Box! Something good might be inside, you never know!" Peach optimistically spoke and snatched the item. Another ice wall fell to the ground, but Bowser immediately punched through it like the last one. The group proceeded onward.
The next section they came to was an area with a tall, ice staircase that led even higher up.
"I remember this part. This was where we met Madam Merlar in that hidden room with the Star Stone item that activated this ice staircase. Shame we can't visit her right now, because the staircase is blocking her room. I wonder if she knows anything more about what's going on…" Mario said.
"Who's Madam Merlar? Sounds like another 'Merlon' family member," Daisy asked.
"Yeah, she is. She's an ancestor of Merlon. Makes me also wonder if she was alive during the time the Crystal King and Queen were here…" Mario pondered.
"Well, didn't she tell us a story about her origins? I thought I remember her saying that she was alive centuries ago and told us a little about the Palace's history, but I'm not too sure because it was so long ago that we came here!" Parakarry reminisced.
"Yyyyeah...something like that," Mario awkwardly responded, not wanting to reveal that he remembers falling asleep to that story.
"Alright everyone, be very careful going up these! They look super slippery! And don't look down!" Starlow shouted.
"How can we NOT look down!? This is giving me some pretty bad anxiety right now!" Koopie shrieked, looking down to the snowy land far below.
"Y-yeah, me too. I don't think I've ever been this high up before…except maybe that one time in Hooktail Castle..." Koops nervously added.
"Guys, it'll be okay. Just breathe, take it easy, and walk these stairs. We'll be at the top before you know it!" Yoshi said in encouragement and led the way up with everyone slowly following behind.
The gang made their way up the first set of the ice stairs, with Yoshi still leading. As the dino made his way onto the first landing, which had the second set of stairs leading up, a White Clubba immediately came charging for him with his spiked club aimed at him. Yoshi screamed in surprise, having barely any time to properly react, and fell backwards with the White Clubba smashing into him. The two knocked into Luigi, then Starlow. The White Clubba's club spike weapon fell from the enemy's hands onto Peach's ankle, making a couple of cuts from the spikes and ripped the bottom part of her dress a little. Starlow and the White Clubba slipped off the ice staircase with the White Clubba holding onto the edge of the stairs, and Starlow holding onto the Clubba's feet, dangling above the snowy land far below.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH! OH MY GOD, SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE DO SOMETHING!" Starlow screamed, fearing for her life, looking down at the very long drop to the earth.
The White Clubba saw this situation and smirked, knowing that if he goes down, so will she. He released his hands from the stairs, making them fall...but only for a split second as Parakarry swooped in and grabbed the Clubba's hands before he could fall any further down. Parakarry struggled to get them back onto the stairs because of the heavy weight, so Jojora helped by floating over and tugging him back towards the stairs, with DK now tugging onto Jojora to ensure they all got on safely. The rescue was a success as they all got back on the stairs. Wario stepped in and shot the Clubba with his yellow gun, stunning the enemy momentarily. Luvbi held tight to the now hyperventilating Starlow, having almost fallen to her death. Peach grabbed the mace and stood over the stunned Clubba.
"Look what you did to my dress! Agh…" Peach grumbled in pain from her now bleeding ankle. "Well...if you really thought you could kill even one of us, you were DEAD WRONG!" she then swung the spiked club unto the Clubba's head once...twice...thrice. Blood splattered everywhere, staining the ice staircase, making it red in some parts. Peach then kicked the body off of the ice staircase, down into the snowy abyss.
"Whew. Good job, honey. Does it hurt really bad?" Mario said, looking at her wounds.
"A little...but not enough to slow me down. I'll be alright, the cuts don't look that deep!" Peach declared.
"Damn, that was badass! Our very own princess just mangled a white furball bastard!" Boshi congratulated and laughed.
"Starlow, breathe! It's okay, you're safe now!" Goombella assured.
"G-god...that was TOO close! Thank you guys for saving me...but man, he came out of nowhere! I could've easily fallen and…" Starlow calmed down her hyperventilating and started to shiver from that godawful scare.
"I think it's safe to say we're gonna have to expect enemies like that in the palace. We gotta be on our toes in there even more than we are now," Daisy warned, feeling for the shooken Star Sprite.
"Yeah, I don't doubt that the palace has changed for the worse, now knowing what we know with what's been happening. God...I'm already getting bad vibes and we're not even inside yet!" Kooper said in a scared tone.
"Ugh...ow...damn ice sticking to my skin! You okay, Luigi?" Yoshi grumbled, helping him up.
"Yeah. I've had worse happen to me. Let's keep it going," Luigi demanded and led the way this time. Daisy sighed, really wanting to reach out however she can, but she had to keep her cool for the sake of progressing forward and not cause any distractions for the group.
"Hmm...I think I'm gonna keep this...uhh...mace? Yeah, looks like a useful weapon," Peach excitedly said, gripping the Clubba's weapon tightly.
"I believe those are called spiked clubs. Yeah, those stupid Clubbas liked to hit us with those all the time when we were adventuring to save the Star Spirits. What I would've done to take one of those things and ram it up their asses!" Bombette angrily reminisced.
"God, Bombette! I would've paid major coins to see you do that!" Lakilester laughed at her.
The gang continued up the stairs, trying to shake off the incident that just occurred. They made it up the third set of stairs and walked forward into a short cave to reach the outside entrance area of the Crystal Palace. The blue and purple-ish building loomed over them as they stared at the tall and very old building. A feeling of dread and discomfort washed over everybody, which was the same 'feeling' that Pauline and Bowser had when they looked into the mirrors at the Mayor's house.
"God...I don't understand how I'm more nervous now than when we were at Luigi's mansion!" Dixie yelped.
"Yeah, something feels WAY different now than the last time we were here to save Kalmar. I got goosebumps all over my body, and I'm positive it's not from the cold!" Parakarry exclaimed. Jojora held onto him to make him a little less scared.
"So, uhh, what's the plan now? Go in, find the gem, AND find this Mirror World to kill the Crystal Queen?" Larry asked.
"Sounds about right. However...err, last time I was here, there was no 'upstairs' part with three rooms in a corridor, so...we may have to destroy some parts of the building to get to where we gotta go," Mario explained.
"Well, let's make this as quick as we can then. We don't have much time to lose at this point!" Bowser declared.
"Hey, wait a second! Is this a giant mirror wall right here?" Kody asked, pointing to a mirror wall that extended from the building to the cave. Everyone looked to where he was pointing and indeed saw their own reflections.
"Uhh, it kind of is. There's actually a way around it, though. There's a way inside the palace that leads back out 'behind' this mirror into a cave, but not the same cave we were just in," Bombette informed.
"Am I the only one that's creeped out by seeing our reflections right now? Like, I've obviously stared into mirrors before, but man...this just feels different this time!" Lakilester pointed out the clear tension.
"Well, remember what Merle said about the mirrors? That there's something 'off about our reflection? Yeah...that's what's happening right now. It's just weird that we can't put it into words how bizarre this feels! I mean, it's just a mirror and our reflections! How could it be so different this time compared to any other time?" Flurrie yelled, trying to rationalize the discomforting feeling of just staring into a giant mirror.
Bowser stepped forward, looking closer at his reflection. He noted that his movements in the mirror were just slightly off compared to his realtime movements, as if there was a 'delay' in the mirror by a second.
Bowser peered closely to his reflection and put his left hand up to touch the mirror, and pressed his whole hand against it. He jumped back a little, scaring everyone else.
"What, dad? Why'd you jump like that!?" Larry asked in fright.
"I...it felt like I was touching my own hand! Like there was no mirror there...what in the fuck is all this…" Bowser said in horror, bewildered by the uncanniness of what's going on. He still stared into the mirror and put his hand up again, but this time put it on his left face cheek. Bowser made a gasp of horror and then dug his claws into his cheek, creating cuts before he forced his hand away. Everyone shrieked again.
"BOWSER! Why'd you do that for!?" Vivian yelped.
"I-I didn't! It felt like someone was moving my hand and-and...I don't understand what the fuck's going on!" Bowser screeched, holding his cheek to prevent blood from drizzling down his face and looked back in the mirror. His heart was racing and his whole body became on edge.
"Okay, enough of this stupid mirror, and let's get inside already!" Koopie demanded and the gang ran on into the palace.
They reached the center of the entry room. To Mario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, and Lakilester, everything looked exactly as they remembered it. But, the atmosphere was different. It was heavy, and even more discomforting than it was outside. The giant mirror wall was in here too with two doors on the right hand wall, another door at the end of the room, with a red switch in front of it.
"Fuck! I take it this place is gonna be full of mirrors!?" Boshi groaned.
"Pretty much. Look, all we really need to do is find the gem, and I guess find the way through to the end to find this Mirror World," Parakarry said, trying to ease the nervousness everyone was feeling.
"You know...I don't understand something," Kooper spoke with some frustration in his voice. "I remember being in here and remember discovering that the 'mirrors' were actually just illusions. They were Duplighosts on the other side of the 'mirror wall' mimicking our every move. I don't think it's actually a mirror, guys. We're being tricked by more Duplighosts!"
"Really? You sure about that? Well...I mean, I guess it explains our 'reflections' not being completely in sync," Pauline added.
"Well, how do you explain me scratching myself then!? I sure as hell didn't do that by my own doing!" Bowser exclaimed.
"No idea, Bowser. All I'm saying is, is that the mirrors in this palace aren't actually mirrors. Especially since, like Bombette said earlier, we can go into the 'other side' of the mirror in this palace," Kooper added with a shrug.
"Yeah, I remember that as well...but I don't know, Kooper. Something just seems so different this time!" Mario said, looking back at the mirror wall. The same feeling of dread was there, and that feeling didn't come over him when he was here the previous time.
"Uhh, well, I have another question...where the hell do we even go to find the gem!? Merle said in his story that it was sealed in the master bedroom on a second floor...but last time we were here, there WERE no bedrooms or even staircases! The whole layout is completely different from his story!" Lakilester dramatically pointed out.
"Just because it's different, doesn't mean we won't be able to find it. Merle said the stairs were on the right hand side, so...about here?" Mario said, walking to the midpoint between the two doors on the right wall.
"So...should I start tearing these walls down then?" Bowser asked as he cracked his knuckles.
Mario felt the wall and knocked on it a few times. He made a surprised expression. "This wall is hollow! Try it!"
Bowser walked up to the wall and punched it as hard as he could. His hand went through, surprising everyone else.
"Shit, you're right! There's something back here!" the Koopa King yelled in excitement. He continued punching the wall to break it down, with DK and Larry joining in on the destruction of the wall.
"Aaaggh...god, my arm feels like it's being hit by spikes," Wario cried, holding tight onto his arm that he was bitten on.
"Deep breaths, Wario. Deep breaths. The pain will go away soon, okay? Just gotta keep it bandaged," Mona tried to assure him, but it didn't seem like it was working.
"Ugh, Mona...it feels like my arm is frozen...god, I didn't think a bite from a fuckng Piranha Plant would hurt so much!" Wario cried further. Mona didn't know how to help him and was secretly thinking that the bite may have been a lot more lethal than everyone thought.
The three finished destroying the wall and it revealed a staircase!
"YES! Let's go get this gem, guys!" Larry cheered and the group quickly went up the stairs, feeling victorious. The group quickly ran upstairs where everything then became dark.
"I can't see a thing! Anyone got a lighter or something of the sort?" Luvbi cried.
"I'll use my fire to light the way!" Bowser said and breathed his flames, lighting up the vicinity. The area was dirty and dilapidated, and his flames showed, on the right wall, two small bedroom doors, spread apart, with a layer of ice in the middle of the doors, covering what was presumably the master bedroom.
"That's it right there! Bowser, use your flames again to melt the ice!" Daisy commanded.
Bowser walked to where he remembered seeing the ice and used his fire breath again on it. The ice melted very slowly so he had to do it a few times until the ice eventually melted into water. Everyone briefly cheered at this success and entered the master bedroom.
"Wait!" Mario shouted, stopping everyone from going into the room. "Bowser...use your fire again. We don't know what's in here exactly."
Bowser nodded and breathed his flames again, lighting up the vicinity. They saw an old, rotted bed in the back-center of the room, along with heaps of dust and dirt all over the floor and broken pieces of various objects.
"Ugh, it's so gross in here. But, where is the gem then? Did anyone see it?" Pauline asked.
"I saw a chest in front of the bed, it might be in there!" Daisy said and walked forward, reaching out for it. Bowser breathed his flames again, and Daisy was able to accurately grab the chest and open it. She gasped loudly.
"Daisy!? What do you see in there!?" Peach shrieked.
Everyone suddenly saw a glowing, blue-ish object by her. Everyone gazed in excitement, knowing immediately what it was.
"That's it! That's the gem, we found it, you guys!" Starlow cheered.
"Wow! That was...TOO easy if you ask me!" Koopie pointed out.
"Yeah...too easy...way too easy. No!" Mario suddenly yelled, catching everyone's attention. "No no. There's gotta be a catch here. This is almost like the time in Freezeflame Galaxy where the gem was just sitting out in the open for us to grab, only for us to get caught in a trap by that interdimensional guy."
"Yeah, something's gotta be up! But what, though? No 'trap' has been activated, and no one is coming out of the woodworks to attack us!" Yoshi added.
"Well...not YET at least. We still have, like, the rest of the palace to go through to find the Mirror World," Goombella said with a hint of fear.
"Well, just because it was a trap last time, doesn't mean it is this time! Maybe we're finally given some good luck for once!?" Boshi tried to change their attitudes around.
"Yeeaahh...not chancing it. The minute we think everything's going right, everything ends up going to hell. It's very hard to think positive in these dark times!" Dixie addressed that matter.
"Yeah, clearly! I had no idea this was all going to be THIS miserable and depressing!" Luvbi exclaimed.
The gang went back down the stairs, still on edge about something bad potentially happening since the gem was indeed pretty easy to obtain. Some of them looked back at the mirror wall, and there were shrieks again.
"What the hell!? Do you guys see this!?" Daisy yelled as she walked towards the mirror wall. Everyone looked closely and widened their eyes in horror when they saw something even more out of the ordinary.
Daisy was holding the gem in her right hand. In the reflection, the 'Daisy' that was supposed to be holding the gem in her left hand (from the perspective of looking at the mirror), wasn't holding anything. The Daisy in the mirror was holding out her hand as if she was holding the gem already, but nothing was there!"
"What the fuck!? How does THAT work!?" Lakilester yelped.
"Uhh, what are we supposed to do about this now!? Anyone!? HELLO!?" Koops yelled out for some ideas, already getting into panic mode, but no one knew what to say.
"There is definitely some weird crap going on with these mirrors! Should we try to break them!?" Bowser yelled.
"I told you, these aren't actual mirrors! Those are just Duplighosts behind some window type of thing fucking with us, guys! Let's just keep moving along, because they're succeeding in distracting us and slowing us down!" Kooper frustratedly urged, but this didn't work as Daisy walked forward closer to the 'mirror.'
"Daisy, what are you doing? Come on, just forget about it and let's get a move on!" DK also urged.
"I-I can't! I don't know how I'm walking forward, it's like I'm being forced!" Daisy cried, now only inches away from the 'mirror.'
"Forced? What the- that doesn't make any...wait. Dad! The same thing happened to you!" Larry connected the dots and realized what was happening.
Daisy started speaking in an odd language no one could ever understand.
"Daisy? What are you saying? What's happening!?" Peach cried, becoming incredibly scared now.
"Otni em uoy ees, gnirb eht meg hguorht ot em. Nehw eht sdlrow edilloc, ylno su lliw evivrus," Daisy spoke as if she was in a trance. The gem suddenly lifted from her hands, glowed brightly, and moved 'into the mirror' and was then placed into the hand of the 'Mirror Daisy.' Everyone shrieked and gasped at this phenomenon. Daisy screamed and fell backwards on the floor, as did the reflection. The gem in the mirror fell onto her stomach, then suddenly disappeared in a flash.
"WHERE'D IT GO!? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!" Bombette screamed.
"Daisy, what happened!? What were you saying!?" Peach asked as she helped her up off the floor.
"I-I don't know! It's like something was forcing me to speak that weird language! I couldn't control it!" Daisy cried.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa!" laughed a distant, feminine voice.
"Woah! Tell me you guys heard that!?" Kody shrieked.
"Yeah...is that...the Crystal Queen!?" Spike gasped.
Mario hyperventilated a little bit as he stared into the mirror, thinking of what the hell to do next. The gem was gone. Someone, presumably the Crystal Queen, was taunting them. So many things weren't making sense.
He then dashed to the end of the room and ground pounded the red switch, making the floor move up.
"WOAH! Mario, what do you think you're doing!?" Wario yelled, almost losing his balance.
"I need to see something! Follow me!" Mario angrily replied and ran to the blue double doors, which had a giant lock on it. "BOWSER! Destroy the lock!"
Bowser hesitantly nodded, confused as to what Mario had got up his sleeve, but followed his commands anyways. He ran up to the door and punched the lock off, breaking it, and unlocking the door. Mario led the way into the next room, which was a hallway with a glass-like floor, showing another of everyone's reflections. At the end of the hallway was a wall with a large crack in it. Mario recognized this, thinking it weird that the wall was repaired because the last time he was here, he used Bombette to blow it up. But, he quickly shrugged that thought away and proceeded to quickly grab Bombette and threw her at the crack in the wall, blowing her up and making a path through to the next room. Everyone looked shocked at the sudden action the plumber took.
"Damn, Mario! Do you always throw your friends like that!?" Boshi nervously chuckled.
"MARIO! NEXT TIME GIVE ME A WARNING IF YOU'RE GONNA THROW ME! THAT WAS TOTALLY OUT OF NOWHERE!" Bombette angrily screamed.
"I'm sorry, I just need to see something! It's urgent!" Mario quickly apologized and headed into the next room. Everyone was becoming more worried and scared now. They followed him into another room with the same pillars that were in the entry room against the 'mirror wall'...and nothing else. The whole room was just that.
"Uhh...what's supposed to be in here, Mario?" Koops asked, noting the emptiness of it.
Mario approached the middle section of the mirror, between the two pillars. He noted that he saw his reflection, which wasn't there when he visited previously. He approached the mirror with his hand reaching forward. The second he touched the mirror, he yelped and jumped backwards, scaring everyone else.
"What's the problem here!? Why did that freak you out!?" Jojora asked.
"This wasn't here before! In this room, you could go behind the glass wall, meaning that it wasn't a mirror. There was a path right in the middle here that led to it...but it's gone now. And I see our reflections as clear as day! They put fucking mirrors in here!" Mario revealed, provoking another stroke of shock and horror to the group.
"Crap, that's right! Whoever did this completely changed how the Crystal Palace was! Before, it was just glass, now it's a bunch of mirrors!" Parakarry added.
"But why, though!? What would be the purpose of adding in actual mirrors to this place!?" Koopie asked.
"Remember what Merle said? About the Crystal Queen and the Mirror World? My guess is, like, she's using the mirrors to her control and advantage somehow. She had to have been the one to take the gem! It's the only explanation!" Goombella theorized.
"GRAH! I'm getting so tired of this mirror nonsense! FUCK OFF ALREADY!" Bowser roared and proceeded to punch the mirror, but it made zero effect. He punched it again. Nothing. And again...nothing. Bombette tried to explode next to the mirror, but still...nothing.
"Dare me to waste a bullet on this?" Boshi asked.
"No, don't. If Bowser's punches and Bombette's explosions don't work...then that definitely won't. God...just when I think we've experienced the most impossible and bizarre things, this here takes it to a whole new level!" Daisy exclaimed.
"AGGHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Luvbi screamed in horror, pointing to Spike, who was aiming his blindness gun right at her.
"I-I-I DON'T KNOW! My arm just raised itself up and pointed the gun! I can't put it down!" Spike cried, using his other arm to lower his arm and weapon, but it wasn't working. Luigi swiped his gun before anything bad could happen.
"Okay, it's time to get the hell out of this place! Mario, where do we go next to get out of here!?" Luigi demanded.
"We gotta go back down to the ground floor, then through the red doors, then I think it's just a straight path forward!" Mario answered.
Everyone nodded and ran back out the way they came. Mario ground pounded the blue switch again and the ground lowered itself to the first floor. Bowser then bashed open the lock on the double red doors and the gang went through. They ran through the first room, which was just a small room with another mirror wall in it, that originally had a path in the middle to go to the other side of the 'glass wall.' Mario decided not to dwell on this and headed into the next room.
The gang came to a long room with another mirror wall where there was a slightly thin walkway leading over an abyss that led to a space on the other side. On the walkway were two White Clubbas, standing spaced a few feet apart from each other, and at the end where the walkway became a large space stood a third Clubba.
"Aw hell! We gotta fight through these douchebags now!? AND avoid falling into the pit of death!?" Wario groaned.
"Don't sweat it, this will be easy! I'll take the lead from here!" Larry assured.
"You sure you don't want me to use my gun instead? That'll make things easier!" Boshi asked.
"Wait. Check and see how many bullets you have. You too, Bowser!" DK instructed, and the two did so.
"I have 7 bullets!" Boshi answered.
"I also have 7," Bowser said.
"Orrrr, you know, we can just use the guns that have unlimited power that E. Gadd gave us? I know they don't kill exactly, but all we gotta do is stun them and kick them off the walkway!" Bombette reminded, waving her ice gun about.
"That's true! But, Bombette, your ice gun might not have any effect on the Clubbas, because they're acclimated to an icy climate. Think of it as, like, an Ice-type Pokemon," Goombella informed.
"So, it's up to Wario and I then, huh? Fine by me!" Spike excitedly spoke, getting out his blindness gun and ran over to the first Clubba.
"Wait, don't jump into that too fast!" Luigi warned.
The White Clubba pounded his spiked club on the floor twice and spoke, "The great and honorable Crystal Queen said that I can't let anyone pass!"
"Well, that just confirms it! The Crystal Queen is definitely here and definitely messed with us!" Starlow yelled.
"Well...yeah, I mean, I thought that was pretty obvious from the get go!" Kooper commented snarkily.
"Does it look like I give a flying fuck what that Crystal Bitch has ordered you to do?" Spike pouted, prompting some snickers from the others.
"YOU'RE UP TO NO GOOD! I'M GOING TO HAVE TO HURT YOU!" the White Clubba suddenly screamed.
"Oh, screw off, you white tub of lard!" Spike yelled then shot the Clubba with his gun. The White Clubba screamed, stumbled backwards, and accidentally fell off the walkway into the abyss below.
"Damn...I wonder how deep that is?" Dixie asked.
"Must be very, VERY deep. I haven't heard a thud yet from that Clubba…" Yoshi added, listening closely...but nothing was heard.
"Well, let's keep going forward, no time to waste!" Peach commanded, pushing onward.
"Alright! Wario, you wanna get the next one?" Spike cheerily asked.
"Sure. I think it'll help blow some steam off anyways!" Wario replied, feeling legitimately a little excited about this. He got on the walkway and went forward to the second White Clubba.
The White Clubba pounded his spiked club like the first one and looked a little panicked. "I won't let you! I won't and I won't and I won't! You'll have to get through me if you wanna pass!"
"Yeeaahhh...look at how well that ended up for your buddy!" Wario taunted, then shot him with his zap gun, stunning the Clubba. Wario then ran up to him and shoved him off the walkway into the abyss.
"Hahaha! Woah, what a rush! Too easy!" Wario laughed a little hysterically.
"Cool! Let's take the last one on together!" Spike hollered and the pair approached the final Clubba.
"Do you have any idea how mad the Crystal Queen will be if I let you pass here!? I don't want her mad at me, so I will teach you a lesson!" the Clubba yelled, pounding his spiked club twice on the floor.
"Do you have any idea how much we don't care? Seriously now! I don't know why you baddies think we give a damn about getting you in trouble with your boss, you're not THAT important!" Spike scolded.
"Yeah! Your big, bad boss won't care if you're dead! You're expendable! BUH BYE!" Wario added to the savage insults and zapped him with his gun.
"Haha, nice! Hey, Wario, bring him over by the edge, but don't push him down. I wanna try something!" Spike instructed as he grabbed the spiked club.
Wario dragged the stunned Clubba towards the edge and asked, "Okay...what are you gonna do?"
"Check this out. SWING BATTER BATTER SWING!" Spike hollered as loud as he could and swung the club as if it was a baseball bat at the back of the Clubba's head, spewing out some blood as he and the club fell into the abyss.
"Oh crap! That was awesome! Haha, oh no, the big bad Crystal Queen of Trashy Palaces is going to be REAL mad now!" Wario mocked while laughing heartily.
"HAHAHAHA! Your so-called 'Queen' is gonna haunt your ass in the afterlife, Polar Clubba! HAHAHAHAHA- oh shit, I didn't even mean to throw that club down with him! Oh well...hahahaha!" Spike laughed along, getting some entertainment out of this drudgery.
"Wow...you guys sure are having a little TOO much fun over there!" Pauline scoffed playfully as the group went forward, carefully crossing the walkway.
"Hey, we're trying not to make things TOO miserable here! It's okay to lighten the mood every now and then!" Spike insisted. Wario calmed himself down from laughing, but then winced in pain as his arm hurt again, now feeling like it's in the process of freezing.
"True. Takes our minds off the horrible things for just a little bit!" Koopie co-signed to that.
The gang slid up against the mirror wall to proceed on the walkway. Starlow was the most nervous, after that experience of almost falling down the mountain. All she saw down below was pure darkness. She tried not to imagine what horrible things could be down there, but it was hard not to.
She kept sliding leftward, until she felt someone breathing on her left shoulder. She slowly looked back to find her reflection wickedly smirking at her. Starlow screamed and fell forward.
Luckily, DK caught her in time and pushed her back against the mirror.
"What's wrong!? Why did you scream!?" DK asked.
"The-the mirror! J-Just get me off this path! I saw my reflection a-and that wasn't me!" Starlow cried and hurried behind the others to get onto the larger space. She fell to the floor and hyperventilated with Luvbi and Koops coming to her side to calm her down.
"Shit...what the hell is the Crystal Queen doing to these mirrors!? Is she making our reflections 'alive' and trying to kill us that way?" Mona guessed.
"Probably...but she's also doing a crappy job at it considering we're all still alive!" Lakilester pointed out.
"Don't jinx us like that. That's the last thing we need!" Koopie said with a shiver.
"Sweetie, it's okay now. You're safe. You're not gonna die," Luvbi said softly to calm her friend's nerves, but the sprite wasn't having it.
"It sure feels like I will! That's the second time I've almost fallen to my death! I don't know how you guys handle this! You make it look so easy!" Starlow shrilled.
"We've just gotten used to it, Starlow. That's pretty much it. We're still scared and hurt and paranoid...but we're just better at not showing it now," Luigi explained with a sympathetic frown.
"Bombette!" Mario shouted, wanting to change the subject. "If you use your mega bomb move, could you destroy this wall? If I'm remembering right...the way forward is actually behind the mirror, but, as we can all see, there is no way behind it anymore."
"Y...Yeah. I can try. Just don't throw me again! I'll set myself off. Stand back everyone," Bombette hesitantly agreed and lit her fuse as she got up against the wall. It took a while for her fuse to go off because it was a more powerful move than her regular Bomb move, but it eventually went off and she exploded, making everyone almost fall back. The Mega Bomb created a hole in the wall that led forward to the next room.
"YES! Way to go, Bombette!" Parakarry cheered along with the others. "Alright, now we can get out of this creepy room and...uhh...where's Bombette?"
Everyone looked all around for Bombette, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"What the hell!? Wasn't she supposed to land on the ground by now?" Mona asked.
"Well, yes, but unless she...landed in the abyss!?" Flurrie shrieked, now making everyone scared.
"WAIT!" Peach screamed, pointing upwards towards the wall.
Down came five Bombettes, who all landed perfectly. The second Bombette that landed immediately looked freaked out.
"WHAT THE FUCK!? AW GODDAMNIT, I'M NOT GOING THROUGH THIS AGAIN!" she angrily screamed.
"Again!? What do you mean!? Why are there five of her!? I'm the most confused I have ever been in my entire life!" Kody exclaimed, tugging at his hair.
"The last time we were here, when Bombette blew up a wall, five of her came down instead of one. The other four were, of course, Duplighosts, so...looks like we're doing the same crap again!" Kooper groaned.
"Woah! There are totally, like, four others of me! How super duper amazing yet super duper spooky! You better get rid of these impostors or else I'll be super duper mad!" yelled the first Bombette enthusiastically.
"Ahem...who are you calling an impostor? Heehee!" said the third Bombette flirtatiously. "Mario, you handsome hunk of a man...please do away with these atrocious and obviously fake copies of me, and we'll ride off into the sunset, happily ever after!"
"UGH! You better get rid of that bitch first, Mario!" Peach yelled in disgust.
"YOU SON OF A MOTHERFUCKING BITCHES BETTER FUCKING KILL THE FUCK OUT OF THESE FUCKING FAKES! I'M THE REAL FUCKING BOMBETTE AND IF YOU TRY TO KILL ME, I WILL BLOW YOU THE FUCK UP INTO FUCKING SMITHEREENS!" angrily roared the fourth Bombette.
"I...uhhh...WOW. No comment!" Lakilester stammered, blown away from the excessive swearing.
"Uhh...I'm for sure the real Bombette...so...please pick me...please...or don't...I guess it doesn't matter in the end...sigh...I'm so lonely…" said the fifth Bombette in misery.
"Wow. So hard! How will we ever figure this out!?" Luvbi sarcastically said.
"Mario, or whoever, just hit one of us to eliminate the fake ones! But, you know, don't hit me because I'm clearly the real one!" the second Bombette suggested.
"That's a super duper splendid idea! Yes, go on and hit the fakes, and we'll be on our way!" cheered the first Bombette.
"YEAH, HIT THESE FUCKING BITCHES SO WE CAN GET A FUCKING MOVE ON TO THE FUCKING END YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!" screamed the fourth Bombette.
"BITCH, YOU BETTER QUIT SCREAMING IN MY EAR OTHERWISE I'LL RIP YOUR GODDAMN THROAT OUT!" Boshi screamed in her face.
"Or, you know, you could just bash her and make her go away instead of screaming back?" Larry suggested.
"Good point! HIYA!" Boshi yelled and kicked the fourth Bombette, making it explode into a puff of smoke. A Duplighost appeared in its place.
"OW! YOU MOTHERFUCKING BITCH! THAT HURT! FUCK YOU ALL! I HATE WORKING FOR THE FUCKING QUEEN ANYWAYS!" the Duplighost roared then jumped into the abyss.
"Sounds like a real charmer!" Kooper commented.
Mario then kicked the third Bombette, revealing it to be another Duplighost.
"Ooh! My my...I feel like I should be in such pain right now, but no...I've been kicked by the one and only Mario! Could I ask you to choke me next? Please!?" the Duplighost suggestively pleaded. Everyone was creeped out by this.
"Uhhh...WHAT!?" Mario yelled, having no idea how to respond to that. Peach rolled her eyes and bashed the Duplighost in the head with the spiked club and then threw him into the abyss.
"Sorry, but he was really irritating me!" Peach stated as she wiped the blood off her upper dress.
"Dearie, you shouldn't apologize for killing an enemy!" Flurrie said.
Parakarry kicked the first Bombette, revealing it to be yet another Duplighost.
"Oh no! This is super duper not good! I'm going to be positively punished for this!" the Duplighost cheered.
"Well, throw yourself into the abyss then before the Queen shows up and shoves an icicle up your ass!" Bowser warned.
"That's a super duper spectacular idea! Thanks for that! Good luck everyone!" cheered the Duplighost and did a double front flip into the abyss.
"Uhhh, did that freak in a sheet just wish us good luck!?" Goombella shouted, freaked out by the super upbeatness from that one.
Koops kicked the fifth Bombette, turning it into the final Duplighost.
"Oh...I should've seen this one coming...man, I'm horrible at my job...I'm such a loser...no wonder why I have no friends…" sighed the Duplighost.
"Holy shit you are depressing! Off into the black hole with you!" Wario yelled then pulled the Duplighost, throwing him into the abyss.
Bombette jumped for joy. "YES! Thanks guys for not hitting me! I knew you could see right through them. Now what?
"We go forward! Come on!" Mario answered and led the group into the next room.
The next room was a small one with the mirror wall still continuing. This was originally a room where you could use a rotating glass platform to switch to the other side...but this was removed, along with the red switches to operate it. Mario ignored this and continued to the next room.
This room contained another White Clubba patrolling the room with the floor being of a reflective surface this time around. Everyone did their best to ignore this and prepared to beatdown the Clubba.
The White Clubba spotted them and yelped, hitting his spiked club on the ground twice. "INTRUDERS! Prepare for a fierce battle, because I-"
He was cut off by Wario shooting him with his zap gun, stunning him. DK then ran to him and punched his face, throwing him into the mirror. Spike joined in by grabbing the spiked club and bashing the Clubba in the head with it.
"Yuck! I think I see his brains oozing out! Here, someone take my blinding gun, I'm gonna kick some ass with this thing!" Spike cheered with Kooper grabbing the gun now.
Starlow looked down to the reflective floor and saw herself with blood all over her face. She screamed again and fell backwards.
"STARLOW! What's wrong? Did you see something else!?" Luvbi cried.
"My face! On the floor! Do you guys see the blood!?" Starlow pointed to the reflective floor.
"I don't see anything! You saw blood on your face in your reflection? Is that what you're saying?" Koopie asked.
"YES! I swear, I thought…" Starlow was about to say more, but then she saw Bombette's reflection on the floor. Well...actually, there was no reflection on the floor for Bombette. There was one in the mirror wall, but not on the reflective floor.
"Starlow? What is it? Hey! Talk to us, it's okay!" Daisy urged.
"N...nothing. Nevermind. Just get me out of here! This place is making me go crazy!" Starlow demanded. Everyone helped her up and quickly got out of there and into the next room.
The next room was the same mirror wall and reflective floor, but at the end of the room, there was a tiny crawl space, big enough to fit someone the size of Starlow or Spike...or a shell.
"MAN! This thing is back!? Ugghh...for those that don't know, when we were here last time, Mario used my shell move to go in there and see what's in there...only for a bunch of horrible copycats of me to come out! They weren't even duplicates of ME, they were duplicates of other people!" Kooper recalled in annoyance.
"Wow! Wait, can't Bombette just use her Mega Bomb to blow up this wall instead of doing that then?" Vivian asked.
"Mega Bomb move? Uhhh…" Bombette spoke as if she was confused. "What do you mean exactly by 'Mega Bomb'?"
"Huh!? What do you mean by THAT!? You literally just did the Mega Bomb move back there!" Koopie exclaimed.
"The...oh yeah! Right! Sorry, that crap back there with the Duplighosts got me all turned around! I can definitely Mega Bomb this wall, but I kind of don't want to go through that dumb Duplighost nonsense again!" Bombette cried.
"Um, I can just do it if no one else wants to," Koops said.
"You sure? I mean, we can just get Bombette to bomb the wall, or even Bowser to break down the wall!" Mona suggested.
"Well...if the only bad thing that'll happen is a bunch of awfully fake Duplighost copies of me, then it'll be fine. I don't wanna waste any more time anyways! I'll go!" Koops declared then shot himself into the crawlspace.
"Wow! I mean, I WAS gonna actually do it! I know I was complaining a lot...but I promise I'm not a coward!" Kooper grunted in jealousy.
The gang waited for almost a minute for him to come back. Nerves were rising once again.
"Uh oh, it's happening again! KOOPS! YOU OKAY!?" Parakarry called out.
The wall where the crawlspace was bashed open, and out came five characters. The first one to come out was the Raging Bull from outside Luigi's Mansion, a Yellow Koopa Brother, Princess Zelda, Koops, and a Dark Koopatrol.
"WOAH! Wow...you're right, these ARE horrible copies! How dumb are these guys?" Koops exclaimed.
"OH HELL NO! NOT YOU AGAIN!" Yoshi screeched at the Angry Bull.
"GRAH! I SEE PINK! I HATE PINK, MUST OBLITERATE! ANNIHILATE! ERADICATE! KIIIIIIIIILLLL!" he roared.
"Uhhhh, I take it you faced this guy before!?" Pauline asked in discomfort.
"Yeah...we did...I'd rather not talk about that…" Daisy cringed at that memory of her and the other 12 fighting off the raging bull who was tossing all kinds of insults at them left and right.
"Hello guys! I'm, of course, the real Koops! I'm a Koopa, therefore, it must be true! We all look the same anyways!" the Yellow Koopa Brother shouted.
"WOW. Way to generalize the entire Koopa race, you asshole!" Larry spat.
"Man, you're just as annoying as you were when we beat your ass back in the Pokemon world! I know it's not exactly the same person...but I'm still counting it!" Mona said.
"Guys, look at me. I'm the real deal. I'm Koops! My undeniably gorgeous and luscious hair proves it! These other bitches don't compare to me," Zelda egotistically spoke, flipping her hair back.
"A-Are you serious!? I don't even have hair! How did you even manage to copy Princess Zelda anyways? She's in a whole different world!" Koops asked.
"Pick me. I'm Koops. Everyone else is fake and belongs in the deepest pit of Hell. Along with cats. Can't stand those furry fuckers," the Dark Koopatrol spoke menacingly.
"...God! Some of you Duplighosts have major issues! There's this tool called therapy, USE IT!" Goombella yelled and headbonked the Raging Bull, with Luigi kicking the Yellow Koopa Brother, Jojora smacking Zelda, and Wario punching the Dark Koopatrol.
The Ragiing Bull-turned-Duplighost yelled out, "Man, roleplaying that bull was so fun! He has such a hilarious temper during those rodeo shows at Mushroom Ranch! He cusses EVERYONE out, which is why the views always skyrocket when he shows up!" He then scurried off.
"...Okay? We didn't need to know that, although I'll admit, it WOULD be kind of funny seeing him mouth off other bulls and riders," Dixie said.
The Yellow Koopa Brother-turned Duplighost shouted, "ALL HAIL THE INFAMOUS KOOPA BROTHERS! THEIR RETURN WILL BE THE BIGGEST MOMENT IN HISTORY AND WILL CRUSH THE ANNOYING TATANGA!" He then also scurried off.
"Someone's a big fan of the Koopa Brothers. Too bad they suck and are pathetically weak!" Kooper laughed.
The Zelda-turned-Duplighost cried out, "Okay, fine, I'll admit it, I just wanted an excuse to be Princess Zelda! She has gorgeous, flowing hair and amazing, bright skin! You'd do it too if you had my ability!" That one also scurried off.
"Uhh...right...so, like Koops said...HOW did he turn into Zelda!?" Yoshi asked.
The Dark Koopatrol-turned-Duplighost sighed, "I tried my best. I hope the Crystal Queen makes you all perish in a cocoon of ice." He also scurried off.
"Their threats aren't even remotely intimidating. I really can't imagine the Crystal Queen being that much worse than anything we've faced so far, especially if she's gonna be anything like the Crystal King!" Parakarry said.
"How was fighting the Crystal King, anyway?" Jojora asked.
"He was a little hard, but manageable. His attacks became predictable shortly after the battle started. That's why I'm not that scared for this chick, either," Kooper answered cockily.
"Well, I'm glad that's overwith! These guys just love to waste our time! Come on...let's go," Koops urged. Starlow noticed that Koops' reflection was also missing on the reflective floor. It was another bad feeling she couldn't shake off.
Mario led the way to the next room. There was a door on the right and a door straight ahead, but Mario went to the one straight ahead, since he knew the room on the right didn't lead forward. They pressed on to the next room, which was a room with a bridge crossing over a chasm to the other side where the door was. The gang quickly yet carefully crossed this bridge and into the next room. The door on the opposite wall had a lock on it along with yet another mirror wall. Bowser punched this lock off like the previous one and the gang went in.
The room they came into was originally filled with statues of Albino Dinos and stoic Albino Dinos themselves...but they were all gone, and the exit door was there at the opposite end. Mario brushed this off as well and led everyone to the door, which led to a tiny hallway, which then led to outside.
This is where Mario and his partners fought the Crystal King many years ago. On a small, snowy platform high above the lands.
"Yikes! Memories are flooding back with that fight with the Crystal King now...man, he was more annoying than Huff N. Puff! What about you, Bombette?" Kooper asked. Bombette jumped a little.
"Huh!? Oh...uhh, yeah, sure! Very much annoying!" she yelled. Kooper raised a brow at her.
"So...through there? I see a cave opening. That must lead to the Mirror World," Luigi pointed ahead.
"Yep. This is it! Alright guys, take it easy and careful in here...but we also gotta try to be quick," Mario instructed. Everyone nodded, but some looked more nervous than others. They went on in.
Everyone remembered the story Merle told them, the part where Kooprik traversed the cave in a straight-forward path and still ended up behind what he thought was his palace. The same straight-forward path was happening here. Mario was at the front, now reaching a hole that led downward. He eventually made it to the bottom of the hole and saw the door that's been opened to access the Mirror World. He tried to close it shut as hard as he could, but it was no use. When DK came down, he had DK close it shut too, but it was also a fail. The plumber gave up and decided to continue on, not wanting to waste more time on that door.
Mario climbed up the narrow hole and got up onto the cave floor and went forward to the cave exit. He saw the Crystal Palace again...but this time, it was snowing pretty hard and was very windy. The feeling of dread that everyone had with the mirrors a while back was present again. They were officially in The Mirror World. It hadn't hit them yet that this was a whole different world, a different dimension...but it was coming.
"Well...here we are, guys. This is what Merle calls the Mirror World. I can only imagine what we're gonna encounter in there. Are we all accounted for?" Daisy asked, looking around to make sure everyone was there. No one was missing.
"Alright. Let's go in there and see what we can find," Mario stated, then continued leading the way into the harsh snow. They all crossed another bridge to get to the door that led inside and they all went in easily. They entered a tiny, dirty hallway that was clearly rotting away. They then entered the next room, which was also just as dirty and rotted as the tiny hallway. This room was also empty, but the 'on edge' feeling grew more and more within everyone. Something was in this place. Something sinister.
"Guys, don't be looking so scared! Nothing bad has happened yet!" Koops said, noticing the frightened looks on their faces.
"Uhh, how can we not be!? We're in a different dimension that's probably more fucked up than the one we were just in!" Dixie yelled.
"Huh...weird. I expected you of all people to be very scared too…" Parakarry pointed out. Koops just rolled his eyes at him and went into the next room ahead of everyone.
"Hey, Koops! Don't go so fast! We gotta stick together!" Mario called out, running after him into the next room. As Mario entered the room, Koops entered the following room in a rush. Everyone else chased after him, with Starlow and Lakilester noticing something weird about the mirror wall that was on their left-hand side now.
"Uhh, hey! Where are our reflections? We're not tripping out, are we!?" Lakilester shrieked at this oddity.
"No...there's something even more off here...that mirror isn't showing our reflections! I don't understand any of this!" Starlow cried and ran forward into the next room.
Everyone went into the room where Koops was in, which was where the bridge over the chasm was and with the mirror wall on the left-hand side. They all saw him peering over the chasm.
"Koops, what are you doing!? Stay away from the edge!" Luigi called out.
"Do you guys see that down there!? LOOK! What the hell is that!?" Koops yelled in fright, causing everyone else to peer down there now.
"What what!? I don't see anything! All I see is blackness!" Larry said.
"Good," Koops whispered, and then pushed Larry down the abyss, his screams echoing throughout the room.
"KOOPS, WHAT THE FUCK!? WHY DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?" Bowser roared, quickly getting into his face.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Mona screamed, also being pushed into the abyss, but by Bombette this time.
"GET INTO THE HOLE NOW! ALL OF YOU!" she demanded.
"What on earth!? What is this!? What are you two doing!?" Flurrie cried.
"YOU HEARD HER! Don't make this hard on yourselves...get into there...or else!" Koops hissed, standing by Bombette, facing everyone.
Mario widened his eyes in horror. "O-Oh my god...you're not Koops and Bombette! You're Duplighosts! And...wh-where are our reflections!?" Mario pointed to the mirror wall. It was the same mirror in the world they were just in...but no reflections of anyone was seen.
"Took you long enough! NOW GET IN! Or else we'll have to REALLY do this the hard way!" Koops hissed once more and got out long pocket knives from both his shorts pockets.
"No fucking way! We'll take you on right here, right now!" DK declared.
"He said...GET IIIIIIIIIIN!" a female voice screamed, blowing fierce winds in the room, and blowing everyone into the dark hole.
'Koops' and 'Bombette' laughed at them as a pink Duplighost wearing a crystal crown appeared beside them.
"Excellent job, you two. You brought them right to me, right where I want them. Now...the REAL fun shall begin!"
EoC.
Next chapter, the search for E. Gadd and Dr. Nokano goes cold...until a horrifying surprise throws the group at the hospital completely off their game, the gang come face to face with the Crystal Queen and demand to know the whereabouts of the real Koops and Bombette, Roy gets himself into deep trouble that may cost him everything, and as always, much more! Next chapter will be uploaded on or before Thursday, December 31. Thanks for reading!
