breath20k
Yes. The Crystal Star will be there after Cortez has been dealt with.
LiamTheYoshi
Thank you! I decided to do the "evil speech" prank since I couldn't think of any more "curses" to be put upon Mario and Luigi. And it's always great to bring back old characters now and then.
mariobroultimate
Despite being in the black chest for a millennium, the Black Chest Demon can easily see through the keyhole. It's probably the only way he/she can view the outside world until someone opens the chest. Glad you're impressed about Bombette's return.
Nataly Guardado
Just wait and see what happens. You're gonna love it.
Shana Hager
I missed you too, Shana. I'm doing just fine as of now.
...
Chapter 39: Vs. Cortez
"I can't believe we got to see Bombette again!" Mario said as he and his friends entered the next grotto section. "She's grown up a lot!"
"Yeah. It's nice to see old friends like her," Luigi agreed.
"Hey now!" a British-accented voice called out from behind, startling everyone. It was Four-Eyes, who stood within the archway. "Did I startle you people?"
"Not at all, Privateer Four-Eyes," Bobbery replied. "What are you doing here?"
While Bobbery talked with Four-Eyes, Mario studied the latter carefully.
Four-Eyes looked like someone else Mario had seen before. Then again, there may be several more folks who are the same species as Four-Eyes. Or maybe it's a one-of-a-kind person. Who knows?
"See, I actually followed you in here, but I got lost along the way," Four-Eyes explained. "And, uh... Well, anyway, I followed this path, and I finally caught up with you, and then..."
"Then what?" Bobbery asked.
"Just forget it, okay? I'm sure the Crystal Star is inside that pirate ship!" Four-Eyes pointed toward a large pirate ship to his top-left. "And the pirate king Cortez is in there too, I'm pretty sure... Yeah, probably. No big deal, though, right? You can take him! We're counting on you!"
"Uh... Thanks, Four-Eyes..." Mario thanked Four-Eyes with hesitation. I swear he's not who he says he is...
Four-Eyes walked away, leaving Mario and Co. to move on.
On the outside, the pirate ship mentioned earlier was a little bit bigger than the SS Flavion, meaning it might hold a lot of other treasures besides the Crystal Star.
Upon boarding the deck, Mario gazed at the door leading into the main cabin. "Four against one. Shouldn't be too bad."
Mario held the door open, allowing everyone to go in first before he entered too.
Inside the cabin was a row of barrels on the left side, covered with cobwebs and binded by ropes. There were also some dusty crates here and there.
Suddenly, the ghostly voice bellowed out once more, "OoOoOoOoOooOooOoOoOoOoOoOo... You ignored my warning... Come inside the doooooor... And be lost in darkness..."
The lights turned off immediately.
"This is just as cheesy as the black chest," Luigi chuckled.
Even though nobody had a flashlight, Mario remembered how he lit up a passage in Creepy Steeple the previous night. He formed a fireball in his right palm, illuminating the room deep orange.
"Follow me," Mario said. He approached another door ahead and carefully opened it, making sure not to set it on fire by accident.
In the next room Mario and friends entered, the walls suddenly started glistening.
Mario moved his palm out of the way, seeing what was causing the shimmering: two large piles of Coins on either side were reflecting off the fireball's glow. There were also a couple chests filled with jewelry and necklaces as well as...
"Hey! I think that's it!" Vivian pointed at a blue star gem half-buried in the left Coin pile.
"OoOoOoOoOooOooOoOoOoOoOoOo..." The persistent oohing interrupted everyone from examining the star gem. "Come intooooooooo my-"
Suddenly, loud coughing replaced the oohing, making the group confused. The lights turned back on while Mario's fireball dissipated.
Then, a small tornado formulated in the back of the room, accompanied by white flashes. After the fifth flash, a giant skull with a pirate hat appeared.
"Enough! I grow tired of this spooky 'OoOoO' business!" the skull said with a thick Spanish accent. "I am a pirate, and pirates do not moan! ¡Tampoco son fantasmas llorando! (Nor are they crying ghosts!)"
"Sonabas como un fantasma, Cortez, (You sounded like a ghost, Cortez.)" Luigi retorted in Spanish, getting Cortez's attention.
"Ah, you speak Spanish too, Sr. Verde. (Ah, you speak Spanish too, Mr. Green.) I give you my respect."
Before Luigi could reply, Cortez butted in instantly, "NOT! You'll never get my respect, and you'll never take anything from my ship! ¡Especialmente! ¡Mi! ¡Tesoro! (Especially! My! Treasure!)"
"Not without a fight?" Mario asked.
"¡No! ¡Y convertiré tu bigote en un pulidor de huesos! (No! And I'll turn your mustache into a bone-polisher!)"
"What is he saying?" Vivian whispered to Mario, not understanding Cortez's Spanish fluency.
"I can't speak Cortez's language, but Luigi knows more than me."
"¡En guardia! (On guard!)" Cortez's battle exclamation echoed all around as his skull rose up and an amalgamation of bones formed a skeleton beneath him. Four arms emerged from the skeleton; each respectively wielding a bronze sword, a rusty hook, a cutlass, and a rapier.
Right as Cortez revealed his weapons, Mario took out his hammer and commenced the battle, striking the bronze sword first. Both traded swings for several seconds while Luigi planned his move.
Eventually, Luigi decided to gun it toward Cortez's cutlass while the latter was distracted.
Upon arriving underneath the cutlass, Luigi backflipped and kicked the cutlass out of Cortez's grasp.
For a split second, Cortez felt the cutlass being kicked away and turned only to notice Luigi chopping the empty arm off his body.
Cortez yelped and flinched backward, temporarily halting the "sword fight" between him and Mario. At that point, he saw the Mario Bros wielding their respective weapons.
"Not fair..." Cortez groaned. Nonetheless, he still had three weapons in his possession.
For good measure, Luigi electrified his cutlass while Mario lit up his hammer with a single fireball. Again, both swung at Cortez's rapier and sword repeatedly, hoping they'll eventually land a lucky shot.
It started to become clearer as Cortez's rapier glowed orange from Mario's fiery hammer and was on the verge of breaking in half. Meanwhile, Cortez's sword gradually cracked all around due to the electric shockwaves from Luigi's cutlass.
...
"We gotta help Mario and Luigi, Admiral!" Vivian exclaimed. "We can't stand and watch them fight by themselves!"
"Good point," Bobbery agreed. He went and lit up his fuse. "Throw me towards his hook."
Vivian didn't have time to ask why or how it would work, so she picked Bobbery up and threw him at Cortez's hook.
In simultaneous fashion, Mario finally broke the rapier with the sharp end melting into molten metal; Luigi shattered the bronze sword into miniscule fragments; and Bobbery blew himself up, destroying Cortez's hook.
The combined attack caused Cortez's ribcage to open up, exposing a green gem in the middle.
"That looks like his heart!" Mario said, pointing at the gem.
"¿Quieres saber cómo se siente un corazón roto? (You want to know what a broken heart feels like?)" Luigi asked Cortez in Spanish. But Cortez couldn't answer since he was stunned at this point. "Lo tomaré como un sí. (I'll take that as a yes.)"
In unison, the Mario Bros shouted, "Circdraw Plode!" Red and green crayons spawned in Mario and Luigi's hands, respectively. They threw the crayons right at the gem, creating a brown circle around it (red and green combined makes brown).
The brown circle compressed in on the gem, blowing it up into nothing. As a result, Cortez's skeleton and head fell on the floor.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MY TREASURE!" Cortez shrieked. His head started to fade away, only to reappear moments later in a white flash.
"What? He's not dead?" Mario wondered.
"Yohohohohohohohohoho! You are foolish, amigos! (You are foolish, friends!)" Cortez laughed. "I am not dead! Well, technically, I was already dead... But my spirit endures, tied to my treasure! So you cannot do anything to me! Still, guarding this treasure for hundreds of years is almost as boring as death!"
"We're not here for treasure, Mr. Cortez," Vivian said. "We want that Crystal Star." She pointed to the blue star gem.
"Huh? You want this?" Cortez hovered to the Crystal Star. "¿Esto es lo que llamas una Estrella de Cristal? (This is what you call a Crystal Star?)"
"Sí, (Yes.)" Luigi replied.
Cortez stared at the Crystal Star for a few seconds. "Well, that's no big deal... What do I need one or two extra gems for? I did not really like that one, anyway."
Right as Cortez finished his statement, the Crystal Star floated into Mario's hands and released giant sparks that exploded outward, engulfing him and Luigi briefly. Then, a faint blue dot appeared below the purple dot on their right arms.
"And that should do it!" Cortez declared. "If you don't need anything else, away with you!"
"Grazie, (Thank you.)" Mario thanked Cortez in Italian, knowing it's the only other language he can speak besides English.
With that, Mario and friends exited Cortez's ship.
...
"That was like an earthquake in there!" one of the Toads said, shaking with fear. "Are they all right?"
"I hope so!" another Toad replied.
"Don't worry anymore!"
Everyone turned to see Mario standing in the archway alongside Luigi, Vivian, and Bobbery.
"They beat Cortez!" Bombette shouted, prompting the crowd to cheer for the victorious heroes.
The Mario Bros and Vivian waved at the crowd while Bobbery winked.
After the short celebration, Buster approached Mario and Co. "Now that you've got some free time, why don't you get us out of here?"
"Umm..." Mario tried to think of how to get everyone out of the grotto.
"Hey!"
Another Toad got everyone's attention, standing next to a crack in the wall to the left of the archway.
"All that shaking caused this wall here to crack a bit... I feel a breeze... If we could break down this wall, I think we could escape... I guess that's not much help..."
"That's where I come in." Bobbery approached the cracked wall and blew it up. To everyone's surprise, the resultant hole led outside of the grotto back to the beach.
"It worked! Just as I thought!"
All the Toads hurried through the hole with Mario and friends following behind.
"Man, that damp cave air is just not good for us to breathe!" Bombette said, walking alongside Mario on the way out. "How long have we been in there for? Ages?"
"Looked like it," Mario answered.
The six caught up with the Toads at the shore. Also with the Toads were Flavio, Pa-Patch, and Felipe.
"Ah, Captain Luigi and first mate Mario! Welcome back to you and your friends!" Flavio greeted the Mario Bros.
"At your service," Luigi replied.
"So... Have you found the treasure? How is our little expedition faring, hm?"
"Long story short, Cortez was guarding the treasure, but we took him down for good," Mario explained.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! What were you THINKIN'?! Were you tryin' to be NICE?!" Flavio demanded with anger.
"It- It wasn't like that, Flavio. We-"
But Flavio interrupted Mario. "Aw, well... That's what I like about you guys, I guess..."
"Can you listen to us for a second? It's not about the treasure-"
Before Mario could try to explain more, a loud boom sounded from out of nowhere, startling everyone.
"What?! Hold on! Huh?! What was that?!" Felipe cried.
"AAAAACK! Look!" Pa-Patch said. He was eyeballing another ship in the distance that drew closer to the shore.
The ship was dark gray with light purple spikes surrounding the hull and a giant cannon stationed on the bow. The mainsails had red X-Naut symbols on them.
"Pardon me, guys... Buhhuh!" a familiar voice called out. "I mean... Buh! Buh! Buhhuhhuh! BUHHUHHUHHUHHUH!"
Right on cue, Four-Eyes leaped onto the cannon.
Mario's eyes widened, knowing who Four-Eyes really was. I knew it! From the start!
"So sorry to surprise you... No, wait... No need for that fake politeness anymore... Good job getting the Crystal Star! Oh, yeah! Seriously! Good job getting it for me!" Four-Eyes stated.
"Oy, now... Ain't that good ol' Privateer Four-Eyes?" Pa-Patch questioned.
"Yeah, that is Four-Eyes? What's he doing over there?" one of the Toads added in.
"Pffffft! What's with this lukewarm reception, huh?" Four-Eyes scoffed. "Dramatic entrance, here!"
Complete silence filled the air; with the exception of the sound of crickets chirping.
"Oh, whatever! I'll spell it out for you! You may have known me as Four-Eyes... But I'm actually..."
Four-Eyes ripped off his outfit, revealing himself as who else but Lord Crump!
"Buh! Buh! Buhhuhhuh! The great LORD CRUMP!"
Everyone but Mario gasped with disbelief. Mario was not surprised at all, given he had that hunch from the time the SS Flavion departed Rogueport.
"Oh, did I fool you!" Lord Crump exclaimed. "I was the mastermind in the shadows, running this voyage! It hurts to be this good!"
"You didn't know, Luigi?" Mario loudly whispered to his brother.
"Know what?"
"That Lord Crump was 'assisting' us all this time!"
"I thought he was someone else. Maybe a reformed X-Naut," Luigi said.
Mario pinched his nose bridge, annoyed at Luigi's excuse. You idiot...
"Hey! Mario and Luigi!" Lord Crump shouted, getting the Mario Bros' attention. "I'm on a schedule, here! Hand over the Crystal Star! ...Because you know what'll happen if you don't..."
Lord Crump's ship's cannon started firing at everyone on the shore.
"STARBOARD CANNONS! PORT CANNNONS! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! BUHHUHHUHHUHHUHHUH!"
Flavio, Pa-Patch, and the Toads screamed and ran all around the shore, not knowing what to do.
"Look, we're sailors!" Pa-Patch protested, dodging the cannonballs. "We're not much good for anythin' wifout a ship to sail!"
"Wait! I have it!" Flavio interjected, having realized something. "I am a genius! We have a ship at hand! And a fine one, I must say!" He gestured to Mario and Co. "Captain Luigi! You and your crewmates! Take me to Cortez!"
"Why?" Luigi asked.
"My brain remembered something! Cortez does have a ship! If the legend is true, then we should be unstoppable in that cursed ship!"
"Flavio, what are you talking about?!" Felipe questioned. "That's crazy! This is Cortez the pirate you're talking about, here! Even if the Mario Bros did defeat him, why would he lend you his ship, huh?! He'll kill you!"
"Hey! I may be a coward and a cad, but I still lead them!" Flavio argued. "I have a duty to protect! We will be cannon fodder if we sit and wag our tongues! We must at least try Cortez! I want to hear no complaints! I am the leader, and I will negotiate with this Cortez!"
"Are you sure?" Mario asked.
"Yes, I'm sure, Mario! Now take me to this pirate scum, this instant!"
Wasting no time, the Mario Bros, Vivian, and Bobbery went with Flavio back into the grotto toward Cortez's ship.
They entered the ship, arriving in the room where Cortez battled them.
"All right-y. Where are you, Cortez?" Mario said, looking around the room. "We want to have a word with you."
"OoOoOoOooOooOoOoOoOoOoOo..."
The ghostly voice made Flavio freeze in place and tremble with terror.
Just like before, five white flashes accompanied the tornado that Cortez's head emerged from.
"Oh, what? It is you again? Did you forget something?" Cortez asked.
"C-Cortez...!" Flavio blurted out. "I... I-I have to s-speak to y-you...!"
"¿Quién es usted, caballero de rojo? (Who are you, gentleman in red?)"
"He's asking who you are," Luigi whispered to Flavio.
"M-my name is F-Flavio...!" Flavio answered. "We're in b-big trouble, sir...! C-could you please l-lend us your sh-ship...?"
"What? What would possess me to lend you my ship?" Cortez calmly demanded.
"We m-must protect our c-crew from b-bad pirates that a-are blasting us t-to bits...! So w-we just need t-to borrow y-your ship for the t-teensiest little w-while..."
"I still cannot comprehend it. I do not rent this ship for pleasure cruises!" Cortez said. "And even if I would lend it to you...this ship is magical, and it cannot move now... The key to powering this ship is the mystical Skull Gem..."
"Th-the Skull Gem...?" Flavio reached into his pocket. "Y-you mean th-this...?" He extracted the Skull Gem and held it toward Cortez.
"YOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU!" Cortez bellowed. "You have the Skull Gem!"
"Uh... Y-yes, sir... I d-do..." Flavio confirmed in a shaky voice. "Wh-what do you say t-to this p-proposition, then...? Take the g-gem handed down th-through generations of m-my family, and l-lend us your sh-ship...!"
"Old friend? Your ancestors stole that gem from me, you strutting peacock! You must be very brave or very, very foolish to ask such a thing of me! I should turn you into a piñata and throw a party on the beach!"
"Wait just a moment!" Flavio snapped out of his scared mood, angered at Cortez's threat. "Do not make me have Mario and Luigi trounce you again! While they fight you, I will throw this stone into the sea where you will never find it! How would that be?"
"AARRRRGGGGH! ¡Me haces temblar los huesos! (You rattle my bones!)" Cortez retorted. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before making a decision. "Very well. I accept your bargain, peacock. Now, be very careful with that gem!"
Flavio handed the Skull Gem to Cortez, no longer afraid of him. "Ah! Check and mate, Flavio! I did not make my fortune by falling in negotiation, no! You can talk your way through any deal, I say!"
Mario smiled, glad that Flavio was starting to become less of a coward.
"Now my precious Black Skull will sail the seas again!" Cortez declared. "I was getting quite annoyed by the sound of cannons outside, anyway! Now I can really stretch my bones and wreak havoc on the seas like in the old days!"
Cortez disappeared into thin air without any special effects.
"You both can thank me anytime for saving us all!" Flavio told Mario and Luigi. "But for now...we sail!"
Right as everyone started toward the ship's deck, they heard faint chatters from outside.
"Did they just board the ship?" Vivian asked.
"Yeah. They were lucky enough to find it," Luigi replied.
Luigi was right. All the Toads, Bombette, Buster, and Pa-Patch were onboard the deck.
"Hey! We're coming too!" one of the Toads said.
"Let's take them! All for one, guys!" Bombette added in.
"Oy! I ain't lettin' ol' Flavio Fancy-Pants hog the glory!" Pa-Patch commented.
Suddenly, Cortez faded into view just above everyone's heads. "It's been a millennium since I gazed out upon the sea! Come! To the open waters!"
...
"Buh! Buh! Buhhuhhuh! I got ammo to spare! How's that for boom-bassa-boom?" Lord Crump stated. He was referring to being annoyed by Flavio's singing on the way from Rogueport to Keelhaul Key. That's the only thing I'll ever have in common with Mario.
Just then, the rock wall to the left of the beach exploded outward, sending debris flying toward Lord Crump's ship. Luckily, he wasn't hurt from the debris, but some of the ship's spikes broke off.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Lord Crump shouted with shock.
In front was the Black Skull with the Mario Bros and their crewmates (including Cortez). There were also a large number of Embers floating above everyone's heads.
"GRRRRGH! I'm going to sink this ratty old ghost ship to the bottom of the ocean!"
A group of X-Nauts ran onto the deck, ready to battle Team Cortez.
Both ships stationed themselves about 20 feet apart from each other.
"Hear my voice, spirits!" Cortez ordered his crew. "Take their ship and show them the meaning of fear!"
The next battle began with the Embers surrounding Lord Crump's ship's mainsails to burn them. Then, some of the Toads armed the Black Skull's cannons.
"FIRE!"
Cortez's battle cry signaled the Toads to fire the cannons. The X-Nauts also started firing, having overheard Cortez.
"Captain Luigi and first mate Mario!" Flavio called out amidst the loud noises. "It is now your turn again! Get over there and duel that cad!"
"We're on it!" Luigi said.
Vivian and Bobbery chose to stay behind and help Cortez's crew if needed.
Meanwhile, the Mario Bros used their Spin Jump technique to make it to Lord Crump's ship.
Lord Crump heard Mario and Luigi land on the deck and confronted them. "Buh! Buh! Buhhuhhuh! I'm gonna turn you guys into wee seeds-" He stopped himself, realizing he said the wrong thing. "Wait. That's not right. I'll turn you into SEAWEED! Buhhuh! Enjoy!"
Lord Crump summoned six of his fellow X-Nauts to help him.
"Dogpile them!" one of the X-Nauts shouted. The six X-Nauts sans Lord Crump charged the Mario Bros.
Mario held his hammer out and started spinning rapidly, sucking the X-Nauts into his makeshift cyclone. At the same time, Luigi used his Clock Out spell to freeze Lord Crump in place.
Then, Luigi grabbed Lord Crump's right leg and spun him around a few times before throwing him toward Mario.
Lord Crump got caught in Mario's "hammer cyclone" attack until Mario stopped spinning and pumped his arms outward. All six X-Nauts were flung into the sea while Lord Crump hit the giant cannon.
Lord Crump didn't get knocked out, but was too dazed to stand up. He finally stood up after a short time, holding his head.
"Dammit... This is no good..." Lord Crump groaned. "I thought I was almost aced for a second there...!"
"Not 'almost'," Mario butted in. "You're 'permanently' aced."
Before Lord Crump could take his next turn, his ship started rattling violently. He hurried to the edge, seeing Cortez's crew volleying cannonballs into the hull. He knew it was already over, knowing his ship was going to sink.
"MAN, THIS IS GETTING OLD! How could I lose... Again?!" Lord Crump angrily asked. "Now I gotta think of another excuse for Grodus!"
Then, blue flames rained down onto the deck; the mainsails had been burnt down by the Embers.
"Back to Cortez's ship!" Luigi said. He and Mario Long Jumped back to the Black Skull right as two more cannonballs effectively destroyed most of Lord Crump's ship.
Luckily, Lord Crump wore a jetpack that he used to fly away safely. His fellow X-Nauts? Not so lucky. They had no choice but to abandon the rapidly sinking ship.
Upon seeing the Mario Bros back on the Black Skull's deck, Cortez's crew applauded for them.
"We've done it, old boys!" Bobbery exclaimed. "I should say he won't be too keen on seeing us again, eh?"
"Uh, I don't know," Mario replied. "Lord Crump doesn't seem to give up."
"Well, let's just say he'll be given one last shot, and we'll ensure he's kicked out of the X-Naut army," Luigi reassured Mario.
...
Five minutes later, the Black Skull was parked at the shore, Cortez, Bobbery, and the Toads still aboard the ship. The rest (including Mario and Luigi) stood on the sand for now.
"You... You have distinguished yourself in battle, amigos! (You have distinguished yourself in battle, friends!) You are worthy in my eyes!" Cortez told Mario and friends.
"Ah, many thanks to you! This ship can get us back to Rogueport in no time! Let us get away from this coconut pit and back home!" Flavio said.
"I can't wait to get home... We've been looking forward to this for so long!" one of the Toads agreed.
"Returning home alive is all the treasure I need! For real!" another Toad added in.
"Well, what are we all waiting for?" Flavio asked. "To sea, everybody!"
"Actually, I'm going to stay here," Pa-Patch stated, stopping Mario and friends. "It's a right nice place to live wifout any ghosts, eh?"
"Exactly!" Felipe answered with a nod.
"So, we're leaving you two?" Mario questioned.
"Please do," Felipe insisted. "We'll be rather happy here."
"All right-y, then."
"Are you and your boyfriend coming, Bombette?" Luigi asked Bombette.
"Yes. I wanna go home too. I'm tired of this place, and so is Busty."
"Are you ready, amigos? (Are you ready, friends?)" Cortez called out from the Black Skull.
"We're coming!" Luigi said. With that, Mario and friends boarded the Black Skull, leaving Pa-Patch and Felipe to fend for themselves.
"Now, cast off!" Cortez's command signaled the Black Skull to start back to Rogueport. The ship actually went faster than the SS Flavion, meaning it could arrive at its destination in record time.