breath20k
Well, it only happens if you choose the wrong time to set sail.
James Birdsong
Thank you.
LiamTheYoshi
Since the SS Flavion is destroyed, there has to be another ship somewhere to make the trip back to Rogueport.
mariobroultimate
Yeah. It's a miracle everyone washed up on Keelhaul Key unharmed. You wouldn't want to know the outcome of this shipwreck happening in the middle of nowhere.
Nataly Guardado
These blue fireballs are called Embers. They debuted in the first Paper Mario video game, guarding Star Way (Star Path in my fanfic Mario & Luigi: The Seven Star Spirits).
...
Chapter 37: I Need Something
The time is now 1:30 AM. For the last six minutes, the Mario Bros and Vivian trudged their way through Keelhaul Key's jungle.
Despite there being Putrid Piranhas and Flower Fuzzies in the way, Mario and Luigi were able to defeat them using the Art Attack spell. By shouting, "Circdraw Plode!", a red crayon spawns in Mario's hand (or green in Luigi's case). The crayon is thrown at any enemy during a battle, which quickly draws a circle around it; that circle compresses in on the enemy, inflicting damage or defeating it instantly.
Eventually, the group came across a wood bridge when a familiar voice called out, "These cursed ghosts... Blast it all!"
On the other end of the bridge, Admiral Bobbery, Four-Eyes, and a Toad crewmate were being surrounded by three Embers.
Bobbery noticed the Mario Bros and Vivian out of the corner of his eye. "By Blubbery's blotches! Is that Mario and Luigi over there?" He proceeded to shout to the Mario Bros, "Hey! Mario! Luigi! Over here!"
Mario, Luigi, and Vivian immediately ran up to Bobbery, Four-Eyes, and the Toad crewmate.
"Oh, thank the seas you're still alive, old boys!" Bobbery exclaimed. "You came just in the nick of time!"
"Wh-what do we do...?" Luigi asked with confusion. "If we-"
"That doesn't matter! Get Felipe and Four-Eyes outta here!"
"But what about you, Admiral?!" Felipe cried. "You gotta get outta here too!"
"Please, sir!" Mario begged.
"Just leave it to me!" Bobbery retorted. "I'll keep these ghouls busy while you get out of here! That's an order! NOW GO!"
Before anyone else could complain, Bobbery pushed Felipe and Four-Eyes toward the Mario Bros, knocking them over. Vivian backed away in time.
Mario propped his head up to see Bobbery getting tossed around by the Embers. Do something, sir!
"Well, Bobbery here thinks it's the right thing to do! So what are we waiting for?" Four-Eyes stated. He picked up Mario and Luigi with both arms.
"Hey! Put us down!" "Where are you taking us?!" Mario and Luigi demanded.
Felipe and Vivian ran alongside Four-Eyes away from the bridge.
...
Everyone stopped midway between the camping area and the bridge.
Four-Eyes set Mario and Luigi on the ground. "Before you ask, I was trying to get you to safety," he said.
"Yeah. The wrong way," Mario replied. "You should've let us run."
"Oh, Bobbery... Please forgive our cowardice..." Felipe murmured. He started to run back to the camping area.
Four-Eyes saw Felipe running away. "Hm. Gone, eh? Excuse me, but I'd better be going also..." He also ran back to the camping area, leaving the Mario Bros and Vivian by themselves.
"I guess we should follow them," Luigi said. "There's nothing else to do."
Mario sighed, feeling bad for Bobbery. The group made their way back to the camping area; all four campfires stayed lit.
At this point, Felipe and Four-Eyes were speaking to Flavio about what happened.
"Ah! You are still alive!" Flavio exclaimed. "Well, we have some fortune left! Such relief for Flavio! I thought some jungle beast was snacking on you! Well, everyone is accounted for..." Just then, Flavio realized something else. "Now, wait one moment! Am I wrong, or...are we still one man short?"
"Th-that's right...!" Felipe stammered. "B-Bobbery sacrificed himself to save us from the ghosts! Please! We've got to go back and help him!"
While Felipe told Flavio about Bobbery's whereabouts, the Mario Bros and Vivian walked up to Flavio too.
"What lunacy bursts forth from your mouth? The admiral lives?! What fortitude!" Flavio noticed Mario, Luigi, and Vivian and gestured for them to come forward. "First mate Mario! Captain Luigi! Vivian! Front and center!"
"Yes, Flavio?" Luigi responded.
"I entrust you with the mission to save our dear admiral!" Flavio stated.
"But what if he's dead already?" Mario asked.
"Well, dead or alive, bring Bobbery back!" Flavio said.
Mario and friends immediately ran back toward the bridge where Bobbery was fighting the Embers, but he was nowhere in sight.
"Where did Admiral Bobbery go?" Vivian questioned. "Did the fireballs push him off the bridge?"
Before Mario could answer, he saw the three Embers circling a tree on the other side. As the group ran up to the tree, they heard a voice groan from the canopy, "Urggh... Ugghh... Yuuurghh... So this is how a legend of the sea meets his end, eh?"
"Don't worry, Admiral! We'll get you down from there!" Luigi said. He took out the Ice Flower he found back in Twilight Town and turned into Ice Luigi.
The Embers were no match as they were obliterated by Luigi's ice balls. Then, Mario hit the tree with his hammer, dropping Bobbery to the ground. Luigi's Ice form wore off right when Bobbery was freed.
"Ooh, the pain of it all...!" Bobbery moaned. Mario kneeled next to him.
"You'll be fine, sir. I know it hurts," Mario coaxed Bobbery.
"I guess those blokes got me a bit better than I thought..." Bobbery coughed. "Mario... Luigi... Please hear my last request... I must thank you for taking me out to sea one last time... But there is one thing I need before I go to my rest..."
"What do you need?" Luigi asked.
"Vintage Red wine..." Bobbery answered in a weak voice. "I was saving that one bottle, my last memory of Scarlette...to celebrate reaching here... I saw it among the flotsam drifting toward the island, so it must be somewhere... If I might just have one sip before my final voyage..." He let out a loud cough.
"Bro, stay with Admiral Bobbery," Mario told Luigi. "I'll get the wine."
Mario got up and ran back to the camping area, leaving Luigi and Vivian to tend to Bobbery.
"You'll choke if you try drinking the wine," Luigi warned Bobbery.
"Doesn't matter... I want it..."
...
Five minutes later, Mario arrived at the camping area and approached Flavio once more.
"Flavio! We have an emergency!" Mario panted.
"What is the matter?" Flavio asked.
"Admiral Bobbery is dying from fighting the blue fireballs! He needs this Vintage Red wine now! Do you have it?"
"Ah... Yes. I found it on the beach, but for this noble cause...I yield. However-"
"Oh, here we go with the 'If you give me this...' 'But I'll make you a deal...'!" Mario interrupted Flavio with irritation. "I don't have time for your trading sidequest!"
"Please hear me out, first mate Mario," Flavio pleaded calmly. "The Vintage Red is part of our supplies which we need to survive. So, I will need you to find something to eat to replace this! On this, I do not budge! So make it good!"
Mario let out an angry sigh and decided to run toward the beach, hoping there was some sort of snack still washed up on the shore.
...
Meanwhile, Bobbery laid on his back, fearing the end of his life. "Besides that Vintage Red...I have nothing left in this world now..."
"Don't say that, Admiral," Luigi replied. "You had a great life. I mean it."
"Really...? I don't know if that's true..." Bobbery gazed at the night sky. "Either way...thank you for granting my last wish... I shall be reunited with my dear Scarlette..."
Bobbery lapsed in and out of consciousness, worrying Luigi more than when he found him in the tree.
"No! Not this early!" Luigi pleaded. "Mario will be back soon! I promise!"
...
Upon arriving at the beach, Mario murmured over and over, "What do I do?!" He didn't want Bobbery to be dead by the time he came back to him.
Suddenly, Mario saw a small bag propped against the left rock wall. It appeared to be a bag of cheese puffs.
I hope this is enough...
Mario hurried back to Flavio and showed him the cheese puffs bag.
"This is all I could find," Mario said.
"Well, that is island fare, but somewhat cliched..." Flavio stated. He took the cheese puffs bag and ate two puffs. "Ah, well, perhaps I had set my hopes too high for a foraging non-gourmand such as you..."
"Can you give me the wine, please?" Mario requested.
"Of course! Here you go!" Flavio took out a small red wine bottle from a wool sack and gave it to Mario. "Give my regards to the admiral!"
Mario didn't thank Flavio and ran back to where Bobbery lay dying.
"I found it, guys!" Mario called out as he started to cross the bridge. "He better-"
"It's t-too late, Mario!" Vivian cried. Several tears rolled down her cheeks. "Admiral B-Bobbery died w-while you were gone!"
Mario approached Bobbery, who had fallen limp with his eyes closed.
"Goddammit!" Mario shouted. He was tempted to smash the Vintage Red on the ground, but decided not to.
"Should we try to save him?" Luigi asked. Mario didn't respond and kneeled next to Bobbery, gently placing the wine bottle on the ground.
Mario thought about doing chest compressions, but realized Bobbery's body was made of metal. There was only one other option left.
I don't want to do it...
But Mario had no choice. He opened his mouth and leaned toward Bobbery to apply mouth-to-mouth breaths.
Mario had gotten one rescue breath in, but felt something pucker against his lips. In an instant, he opened his eyes, seeing Bobbery apparently kissing him.
Mario screamed so loud and fell on his back, gagging from what Bobbery did to him.
"Oh my goodness!" Vivian yelled. "Are you okay, Mario?"
"Scarlette... Did I scare you...?" Bobbery's voice groggily asked. Mario slowly sat up to see him waking up. Bobbery had actually fallen asleep instead of dying.
"He's alive..." Mario hacked.
Even though Luigi was grossed out from Bobbery accidentally kissing Mario, he was relieved that Bobbery was alive again. "You're not dead, Admiral. You were sleeping the whole time."
"Huh...? Then who kissed-"
"It wasn't a kiss!" Mario retorted while standing up. "I thought you died, so I tried CPR!"
"What?! How disgraceful!" Bobbery scolded Mario as he stood up too. "Nobody does mouth-to-mouth on an admiral!"
"I didn't know what else to do! I'm sorry!"
"Well, you could've-"
"Please stop yelling, Admiral!" Vivian interrupted Bobbery. "It was a misunderstanding, okay?"
Bobbery let out a sigh. "Very well. I guess I must've been tougher than I thought. Either way, this isn't a tropical paradise for fallen sailors."
"Can we go back to the campsite? Flavio's worried about you," Mario requested.
"Yes! You'd better take me with you, I should say!" Bobbery said as he picked up the Vintage Red. "We can't risk fighting more ghosts!"
Again, Mario and friends made their way back to the camping area and went up to Flavio once more. Flavio became relieved seeing Bobbery in good shape.
"Ah! It is Bobbery! Welcome back to you! Do you know how worried we were?! My stomach has been most upset!" Flavio exclaimed. "I must worry about everyone here, but who worries for Flavio? No one! Do you know how hard that is for me, to sit here in safety and worry so much? I do not know what is out there, waiting to lurch in and snack upon me! We do not even know how to get home, for the sake of the blue, briny sea!"
"Flavio, old boy. You're getting yourself stressed," Bobbery said.
"Such insolence!" Flavio scolded Bobbery. "I ought to-"
"That's enough! Both of you!" Mario butted in. "We just came to bring back Admiral Bobbery! That's it!"
"He's right," Bobbery agreed. "Fighting won't do any good."
"If you say so," Flavio gave in.
"In any case, about that Crystal Star you spoke of earlier... I've heard of a rather odd rock in the far east of the jungle with a skull carved into it," Bobbery told Mario and Luigi.
"What about the rock?" Mario asked.
"Call it an old sea bomb's intuition, but that skull rock smells...suspicious."
"Oy!" Pa-Patch called out from the bottom-left campfire. "You may be onto somefin' wif that skull rock! I say that's where the treasure is!"
"Well, anyone could figure that out, you mutinous joker!" Flavio replied. "I mean, how obvious! I was already saying in my head that the treasure is certainly behind that rock! And as such, I will continue the noble duty of protecting this camp from invasion."
"But don't you want to find the treasure too?" Luigi asked. "We're all here for the same reason."
"Oh, well... Yes, uh, Captain... You see, I..." Flavio hesitated. He thought it over before speaking up again. "Well, yes, you have a point. Let us decide this fair and square, shall we? Listen to me, everyone! Who thinks I should go along to investigate the skull rock?"
Mario, Luigi, and Vivian raised their hands while Bobbery nodded.
"There you have it, Flavio! Fair and square, eh wot?" Bobbery questioned.
"Um, no. Not fair. Flavio hates you all," Flavio disagreed. Everyone chuckled at Flavio's remark. "Hey! Not funny!"
"Sorry," Mario apologized. "I thought you were joking."
"What are we waiting for, old boys? To the skull rock!" Bobbery declared.
Within minutes, the group went past the bridge and entered a grotto filled with ankle-deep water. There was a skull-shaped rock attached to the rock wall in front.
"Ah! Now what is all this? A dead end, taunting Flavio with its dead end-ness!" Flavio said, but he noticed the skull rock before he could turn back. "Hmm... Is this...?" He approached the skull rock and examined it, peering through the hollow eyes.
"What do you see?" Mario asked.
"I think this is the skull rock Bobbery blabbered about..." Flavio answered. "Well, it positively reeks of ancient secrets, yes? Let us plunge into this puzzle!"
"A puzzle? What does that mean?" Vivian wondered.
"Wait a second..." Mario remembered a familiar gem that Flavio had with him and looked at the skull rock's eyes. "What if we use that ruby to unlock a hidden passage in the wall?"
"You mean Flavio's skull-shaped ruby?" Luigi asked.
"Yeah. I'll ask him for it." Mario walked up to Flavio standing at the grotto's entrance. "Flavio?"
"What is it, first mate Mario?" Flavio said.
"Do you still have that skull ruby with you?"
"What?! You really, really need it? This is the heirloom of the House of Flavio, you know..." Flavio stated. "But I suppose it is all right... Because I am Flavio! He of such ludicrous wealth! I'm just lending it, though! Do not dare run off with it! Do not make me dock pay!"
"We'll give it back. I promise," Mario said. He received the skull ruby and looked at the skull rock's eyes. He decided to put the ruby in the right eye.
Flavio suddenly started singing the same sea shanty he sang on the ride to Keelhaul Key.
"Not again..." Mario groaned, covering his ears.
"Bro, wait!" Luigi said. "Listen to what he's singing."
Mario reluctantly uncovered his ears and heard Flavio mention, "...Three times Red 'Stache lands on his end! Blue Stache's belly four times is whacked..."
"I also saw those pillars next to the rock."
Luigi pointed to two pillars sandwiching the skull rock. The left pillar had blue eyes and a blue mustache while the right one had a similar face except both the eyes and mustache were red. The right pillar was also shorter than the blue pillar.
"That's what Flavio's song was about?" Vivian asked.
"I guess so," Luigi replied.
Mario immediately walked up to the left pillar and whacked it with his hammer four times. He then ground pounded the right pillar three times. A small door above the skull rock opened, revealing a narrow tunnel.
"I have an idea," Bobbery said. He hopped into the tunnel and shouted, "Fire in the hole!"
The skull rock blew up into a bunch of fragments, stopping Flavio from singing.
Bobbery emerged from the newly-formed doorway, revealing he blew himself up inside the tunnel.
"OH, SUCH EXCITEMENT!" Flavio exclaimed upon seeing the doorway. "The cave entrance!" Suddenly, he remembered something else. "Hm? Huh? What? Ah! My Skull Gem! First mate Mario!"
"I don't have it. Last I saw, it was in the skull's right-"
Before Mario could talk more, the skull ruby fell in front of Flavio.
"Whew! Oh, what a happy day!" Flavio said with relief. "My jolliness has no end!"
After picking up the ruby, Flavio started to go back to the camping area, but stopped to give some parting words.
"Now, then... I'm sure you're all disappointed, but Flavio must be heading back now. I cannot let those back at camp worry about me further."
"Good idea. We don't want anything bad to happen to you either," Mario said.
"Let me know when you find that glittery treasure, all right?" Flavio finally ran off toward the camping area.
"Lead the way, Captain Luigi!" Bobbery said before drinking his Vintage Red bottle. Luigi went through the doorway first with Mario, Vivian, and Bobbery following him.