Chapter 1-5: Underdogs, Underground!
When Mario emerged from the pipe, he found himself in an underground-like location. Jumping out of the pipe, he was followed by Luigi who landed on his feet.
"Hey! I actually landed without-" Luigi started but Marshall popped out of the pipe and landed on Luigi making him collapse to the ground.
"Heh, rough landing…" Marshall giggled nervously, "Oh and sorry Luigi."
He walked off Luigi and Luigi got up. Chase followed after Marshall and so did Starlow.
"Where are we?" Chase asked, surveying the rocky land around them.
"We're underground." Mario told him.
"Underground?!" Marshall said in disbelief, "How is this underground? The space is so open!"
"Well this is what it looks like more or less, in the Mushroom Kingdom." Starlow reminded him.
Chase's ear twitched as he saw Shy Guy getting away with the Pup Pack.
"There he is!" he shouted, pointing at him. The Shy Guy jumped in fear and ran into a corridor of the cave, "Hey!" Chase then said running after him.
"Don't let that Guy out of your sight!" Mario shouted running after Starlow.
"Wait for me!" Both Luigi and Marshall shouted.
The Shy Guy was fast. Chase was using all that he could to keep up with it. The Shy Guy turned around to see he was being tailed. He scurried away faster and ran up some strange stairs. At the top was a lever. He looked back at Chase who was nearly about to catch him. He pulled the lever and the stairs retracted into the walls. With the stair giving away Chase got the ground pulled out from underneath him causing him to fall onto the hard cave floor. The Shy Guy looked back and laughed,
"You'll never catch me now Copper!" He taunted, "I'm outta here, and leaving you and the Marios behind!"
The Shy Guy then made haste and went back to trying to find the rest of his thieving buddies. Chase stamped his paw on the ground.
"Darn it!" He cursed himself. Mario and the rest came from behind.
"Chase! You okay?" Mario asked.
"I'm fine," Chase answered, "But that Guy got away! The stairs disappeared from under me."
Mario looked up to see the ledge where there once was stairs. Luigi got on his tippy toes and he could see the lever.
"There's a lever up there!" He pointed out.
"How are we going to get up there now?" Chase asked.
"Couldn't you just use your grappling hook?" Marshall suggested.
"The ledge is too smooth. It wouldn't grip. Besides, I can't see the lever to pull it." Chase pointed out, "What about you Starlow?"
"Me?! Don't be ridiculous!" Starlow shouted, "I can't do that!"
"Why not?! You're the only one out of us who can fly!" Chase argued.
"Well for starters, I'm not strong enough to pull a lever, and even if I tried I couldn't, I don't have hands!" Starlow argued back.
"Stop Guys!" Mario shouted, ending their squabble, "Don't worry, I'll handle this."
Mario could see that the ceiling went higher than the corridor they entered. The wall above the walkway was vertical. So he was about to do a very athletic move. Mario backflipped and landed on the wall and kicked off it and the dive rolled onto the high ledge. He rolled for a bit before untucking. Chase and Marshall were amazed at Mario's agility, Marshall even more since he saw him jump over a moving car. Mario saw the lever and pulled it. The stairs that were in the wall began to slide out again. Luigi, Chase, Marshall and Starlow backed up as their last stair was put into place. The then ran up the stairs and to Mario.
"Great job bro!" Luigi complimented his brother.
"That was more amazing than when you jumped over that car!" Marshall said.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Mario said. He was more of the humble type but when a lot of people cheer him on he kind of lets his ego slip.
"That was amazing." Chase said. He couldn't help but have a bit of admiration for Mario's talents. It makes him wonder what else Mario can do?
"Now that we're up here," Mario started, "Let's get after those thieves. They must've been going down here."
Everyone nodded in agreement and followed Mario down the caves. They pass by a lot of multicolored pipes that occasionally had a Piranha Plant in them waiting to chomp at them. Of course they took care of those ambushing posies and kept going. Whenever Mario went on an adventure, he always liked to look around his surroundings. He could see so many beautiful or cool things, or spot something useful. He did, as the group found many Question Marked Blocks bearing coins and sometimes a useful item. It wasn't long before they found themselves faced with another problem. Mario stopped as he saw the path split into two.
"Uh oh." Luigi said, "A fork in the road. Which way could they have gone?"
"It's a 50/50 chance they went left or right." Mario said to himself.
"Well whatever we do, it can't be wrong," Starlow pointed out, "If we go the wrong way we might never find them."
"Or worse, never find our way out again!" Luigi said worryingly.
Marshall shivered at that thought, but then remembered something,
"We won't get lost! Chase!" He called his friend. Chase looked over to Marshal with a curious look.
"You remember what that Shy Guy smelled like?" Marshall asked. Chase thought for a second,
"Yes, how could I forget?" Chase answered, "But…"
"You have the best nose out of all of us. If you can pick up on that Shy Guy's scent, we can find out which way they went." Marshall explained his thinking. Then Chase's eyes lit up,
"Of course!" Chase said, "With my sense of smell, we can get back on track!"
"Oh yeah!" Mario said doing a little jump, "Lead the way Chase!"
"With pleasure." Chase said, putting his nose to the ground. It took him about 5 seconds before he picked up on the scent coming from the right tunnel.
"They went this way!" He said pointing,
"So this way it is." Mario said, "Let's-a-go!"
They continued down the caves, even running into Monty Moles that suddenly popped out of the walls and ground. Whenever they came across another fork, Chase sniffed out the right path. They were blowing through the cave sections at high speeds. It came to an end when Mario stopped suddenly. Luigi kept running,
"Weege! Wait!" Mario said. Luigi realized too late that he was walking off a ledge into a black pit.
"YIKES!" Luigi shouted as he fumbled forward, but was grabbed by Mario just in time before he fell to his demise.
"I gotcha!" Mario said, pulling his brother back. Luigi was breathing heavily on his knees.
"Thanks Mario," Luigi gasped, "I nearly fell like a Thwomp!"
"That's what happens when you're in a hurry." Starlow said.
"Whoa, that is a long way down…" Marshall said peeking over the ledge, he wasn't the type to be afraid of heights but this drop definitely made his skin crawl.
"The scent keeps going past this," Chase said, "But how?"
"I think I see why. Look." Mario said pointing to the other side. It looked like a rope bridge that had recently collapsed. 'I feel like this was payback…' Mario thought to himself since he knew a lot about collapsing rope bridges.
"How are we going to get across?" Marshall asked. Mario looked in front of him. The jump wasn't that far.
"We jump!" Mario said getting a running start and long jump across the gap. He landed on the other side, "C'mon guys! I see light over here!" Mario pointed at a walkway which was an orange light. Marshall wasn't in any mood to jump across. Chase looked down, he got nervous. Then he remembered when he had to jump across a large drop when he was saving Ryder in Adventure City. He remembered the risky jump he made. It's the same situation. To save Ryder, he had to face the scariest outcome. He did it before, he can do it again. He readied up to make the jump.
"Chase? What are you-" Marshall nearly had a heart attack when he saw Chase running towards the gap, "CHASE!"
Chase ran and jumped. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. Luigi was holding his breath nearly about to pass out. Starlow was quite surprised too.
Everyone took a sigh of relief as Chase landed on the other side safely.
"Atta Boy Chase!" Mario congratulated him, "C'mon Weege and Marshall, you too!"
Marshall froze. He was afraid to jump. So was Luigi, but when he saw Marshall was scared he felt responsible. He wasn't the only one who was scared. He has been through scarier, and compared to his brother, he has a better and higher jump. Luigi got serious and picked up Marshall. He looked at Luigi curiously.
"L-Luigi?" Marshall asked, stuttering from hyperventilation, "What are you doing?"
"Taking the leap for you!" Luigi said, running towards the edge. Marshall freaked out after that but by the time he wanted to be put down on the ground, Luigi had jumped. He pumped his legs and he jumped very high and far. He then landed on the other side sliding a bit before falling on his rear. Luigi and Marshall both had their eyes shut. When they opened them, they were okay and safe on the other side.
"We're okay!" Marshall said, "Thanks Luigi!"
Luigi smiled, proud of himself for doing that, "No problem."
Starlow then followed by floating over the chasm. Chase gave her a depanned look.
"What? It's not my fault I can float." Starlow protested. Chase just rolled his eyes.
"C'mon guys." Mario encouraged them, "In here!"
The crew followed Mario again and what they saw next was shocking. They saw those thieves entering another pipe. Right next to it was a tower. There was that same Shy Guy they were after before.
"A tower?" Chase said aloud.
"Must be Bowser's." Mario assumed.
The Shy Guy was talking to a Monty Mole.
"Are you sure you lost them?" The Monty Mole asked the Guy.
"I am positive!" The Shy Guy said, "I pulled the stairs from under them and ran through different caves. I even broke the bridge leading here! They'll never find us!"
"I wouldn't be too sure!" Mario argued. They both looked and saw Mario standing there with his arms crossed.
"Mario!?" They both said.
"I thought you said you lost them!?" The Mole shouted at the Guy.
"I did! How did you find us!?" The guys shouted. Chase walked out from behind Mario,
"You can't hide from my nose!" Chase said as he was aiming his Net Cannon.
"Uh oh! Scram!" The two baddies said as they ran to the pipe.
"Freeze!" Chase said, running after them.
"Rrr! Big Montgomery!" The Mole shouted, "Keep them busy while we escape!"
The ground underneath Chase shook. He was then launched into the air.
"AHH!" Chase yelped as he started falling back down. Mario held his hands out and caught Chase,
"I gotcha!" He said. They both looked to see a huge Monty Mole poking out of the ground.
The Head Digger Mole: Big Montgomery!
"That's a big Monty Mole!" Luigi said. Montgomery looked at the heroes and readied for a fight. He dug himself back underground with a small dirt lump visible on the surface. The dirt lump started moving, indicating Montgomery was on the move.
"He's a big enemy Mario!" Starlow shouted to him, "You'll need to use a Ground Pound to take him down.
"Right!" Mario said. The dirt lump made its way to one of the holes in the ground. As the lump disappeared, Montgomery popped up. He tapped his arms on the ground and Monty Moles were summoned. They ran after the heroes. Luigi managed to take advantage of his high jumps and kept the moles at bay. Marshall used his water cannon to spray them away. Mario and Chase now focused on trying to get Montgomery. Chase tried to use his net but it didn't prove effective at all against him for it just bounced off his big body. Montgomery laughed at this but this left him open as Mario ground pounded on his noggin pushing him back underground.
However the next time Montgomry tried to dig, his dirt lump wasn't visible. Chase could hear him digging around but he couldn't tell where. Then, Montgomery jumped out of a hole and threw a dirt ball, creaming Luigi in the face.
"AHH!" Luigi shouted at the dirt ball that hit him causing him to fall backwards. Luigi's screaming didn't sit well with Montgomery as he covered his ears and dug back underground.
"Luigi Bro!" Mario called to his brother, "You okay?"
"Yes…" Luigi groaned, as he coughed up some dirt dust, "But now I'm covered in dirt…"
"I can help you! Arf Water Cannons!" Marshall called upon his water cannons. Luigi was then drenched in a steady stream of water.
"Bleugh! I'm fine now Marshall!" Luigi gurgled. Marshall barked again, stopping the cannons.
"H-heh… sorry Luigi…" He said to him,
Luigi just shrugged, "It's okay… It's better than being dirty…"
"We'll never know where he's coming from," Chase said.
"Yeah, but did you see the way he covered his ears when Luigi screamed?" Mario asked,
"I don't scream that badly Mario!" Luigi shouted, wringing out his soaked hat.
"No seriously Luigi, it might be that this big Monty Mole dislikes loud noises." Mario added on, "Maybe if we tailed that mole while he was digging making a ruckus, we could lead him to where we want him."
"Oh I see!" Luigi understood.
"But none of us have a loud noise maker, and I doubt Luigi wants to be screaming for that long." Mario said.
"I have a Megaphone!" Chase said.
"You do?" Everyone said except for Marshall.
"Yeah! Arf! Megaphone!" Chase called for his Megaphone which extended out of his pup pack, "See?!" He then said with his voice being enhanced by the Megaphone causing Mario to cover his ears. And since they were in a cave it was louder.
"Oops… Sorry…" Chase said not speaking into it.
"That was very loud! It's perfect!" Mario lightened up, "Okay Chase, the next time Montgomery pops up follow him and get him to go to that hole over there."
Mario then pulled out his hammer,
"When you get there, I'll hit him with my hammer."
"Chase is on the case!" Chase responded.
They waited for Montgomery to appear who had another dirt ball ready to throw. Once he threw it, then he dug back underground .
"Go go!" Mario called Chase. Chase heard the signal and followed Montgomery through the holes. He then used his megaphone.
"Hya hya!" He shouted. Montgomery cringed at the noise and crawled in a different direction. Chase kept being a bother to the Big Mole's hearing as he kept digging away. By mere luck they finally, Montgomery found a hole. He was about to jump out and run, but he was met with hard metal on his noggin. Montgomery now had a splitting headache and couldn't go on. He laid his head on the ground and slid back into the hole.
"Yes we-" Chase trailed off as he saw Montgomery slip back into the hole unconscious. Montgomery started glowing and then under the ground, there was a loud boom. Chase was then launched out of the hole and once more Mario caught him.
"Gotcha!" Mario said.
Chase, a bit dazed, shook it off as Mario put him back on the ground.
"We really did well." Luigi said,
"Yes, but during this fight, those thieves got away!" Starlow shouted,
"They went through the pipe!" Chase said,
"Okay I know how to use these now! Here I go!" Marshall said running into the pipe, Chase had tried to get the scent of the Shy Guy again but couldn't. He then suddenly realized why and shouted,
"Marshall, wait!" As the dally entered the pipe. There was silence then a dull thud in the pipe. Marshall then was thrown back out rubbing his head.
"Ow!" Marshall said.
"Are you alright?" Luigi asked.
"The pipe is blocked." He answered.
"Blocked?" Starlow repeated, "But- Ugh! They must've corked the pipe during our battle with the Mega Mole!"
"Now what Mario," Luigi asked his brother, "There's no way we can go through without a supersized plunger!"
Mario pondered on the situation for a while, he then remembered the tower they were outside of. He looked at it, maybe there was something or someone who could help. However, knowing from experience, it was very unlikely they were going to be nice people inside.
"Maybe that tower might have something inside," Mario suggested. The group looked at the tower.
"It's a tower underground, I've never seen one before." Marshall said.
"Yeah but I'm sure they guys inside won't take kindly to us just walking through the front door." Starlow pointed out, "We must proceed with caution-"
When Starlow looked back to the group, they were already running to the tower.
"Or you could just run up to it," Starlow groaned, "That works too I guess… Wait for me!"
Starlow then trailed behind the group as Mario opened the door and entered the tower.
"It's-a-go time!" Both he and his brother said as they walked in. Which was followed by Chase and Marshall giving a howl and the door shutting behind them.
Bowser was pacing in his new throne room. He was not only waiting for one of his squads to bring back his son, he was also waiting for Kamek to contact him from a new base. He had built his castle at the top of his mountain on his island with a road heading to a loading dock checkpoint. He had lots of supplies but no device to bring them up the mountain.
"What is taking that whimsical wizard so long to bring me a new idea for transport!?" He said out loud.
Kamek walked into the throne room quickly.
"Well, it's about time! Do you have my device?" Bowser asks, tapping his foot.
"Well, yes milord. It is. Just look outside." Kamek told him. Bowser then turned to his giant window and looked outside it. He now saw a long road and on it was a truck. However this was no ordinary truck, it looked like the Paw Patroller, but it was red and black.
"Ooh," Bowser said intrigued, "What is it?"
"Something our prisoner calls a Paw Patroller. While originally used for transport, we now repurposed the one he made for us into a delivery truck."
Bowser who was smiling wickedly turned into a frowning koopa. He turned back to Kamek,
"But there's only one. Not very convenient for our side."
"I know sir, which is why your mechanics crew worked with the boy we captured…"
Bowser looked out the window to see more of the same truck coming to the castle.
"...to make more of those Patrollers. Now we have a whole army of them."
"GAHAHAHA! You know exactly what I like. Now I can receive my ammunition and weapons without having to leave the comfort of my castle." Bowser said gleefully, "Now about that kid… don't tell me that's the only thing he can make?"
"No milord," Kamek answered, "In fact his home has many devices we're working on. They will make heavy lifting and destroying enemies quite simple."
"Can't wait to see 'em." Bowser hopefully said,
"RATTLE RATTLE!" Shouted a Dry Bones entering the room.
"What is it, soldier?!" Bowser asked. He then heard someone shouting profanities as he was carried in. They dropped him before Bowser as he landed on his face.
"Ow…." The man lifted his face, it was Ex-Mayor Humdinger. The first thing Bowser noticed about this guy was that he looked like a taller, blonde, version of Mario which annoyed him.
"That's no way to treat an Ex-Mayor- I mean Mayor!" He shouted getting up as he dusted his jail suit. Bowser stood in front of this newcomer then looked to his skeletal minions.
"Uh… who is this guy?" Bowser asked, pointing at him.
"Rattle Rattle!" The Dry Bones clattered.
"An intruder, ey?" Bowser said, squinting his eyes at him. When Humdinger looked up and was staring at he saw the behemoth that stood before him. He got nervous as the Bowser crossed his arms.
"Well intruder," Bowser started, "Who are you?! And what are you doing in my castle?!"
"Your castle?" Humdinger asked in disbelief.
"Yeah my castle! Didn't ya see the flag? And that's besides the point, I asked you a question! Who ARE YOU!" Bowser was wearing thin on his patience.
"I- My name is Humdinger, Mayor Humdinger!"
"Didn't you just say you were an Ex Mayor-" Kamek started,
"Hush! I didn't say that!" Humdinger silenced him.
"Hey! Only I get to hush Kamek! Who do you think you are?!" Bowser said with smoke coming out of his nostrils hitting Humdinger in the face and causing him to cough.
"How did you even get here? There's no way you could've gotten here." Bowser asked.
"Well, I fell through a gold pipe from my jail cell-"
"Jail Cell?" Bowser repeated,
Humdinger was now sweating profusely. He didn't know who this guy was and when he mentioned the jail cell he thought he was ka-put.
"Did I say jail cell, no I said… I said…"
His voice kept trailing as Bowser's amber eyes stared into his soul. He closed his eyes.
"This guy must be some kind of evil guy. I mean he doesn't look like he should be in jail. Even though he looks like my arch enemy Mario."
Humdinger opened his eyes.
"Mario?" Humdinger asked, "Who's that? And I look like him?"
"Yeah," Bowser answered, "He's a stumpy retired Italian plumber who always spoils my master plans. I hate having to listen to his "YAHOOS" and having to look at his mustache. I could tear it off if he would let me."
Taking a bit of offense to the mustache remark, Humdinger touched his stache but was then addressed by Bowser again,
"So, What did you do to get into the slammer?"
"Well…" Humdinger began, "I used to be Mayor of Foggy Bottom and Adventure City, but then was charged for public endangerment… and the dog-napping…"
"Dog-napping?" Bowser snorted.
"Well I had to!" Humdinger defended, "How else would I have to stop that annoying Paw Patrol-"
"The Paw Patrol?!" Bowser shouted, remembering his previous run-in.
"I take it they ruined your fun too?" Humdinger asked expecting an embarrassing story from the Koopa King, but didn't get it as Bowser let loose a hysteria laugh. Humdinger was left confused.
"The Paw Patrol!? More like the Flaw Patrol. Those bone eating idiots were nothing against me!" Bowser said, puffing his chest out.
"As a matter of fact we have them captured and in our possession." Kamek added.
"WHAT?!" Humdinger said in disbelief. He didn't think that was possible, "But how?! They-"
"One word," Bowser started, "Magic! Something this world seems to lack."
"This world?" Humdinger asked,
"Buddy, I ain't from your world. I come from a land where magic was everywhere…" Bowser said, looking out of his window and scowling, "But now I'm stuck here after some smart-aleck thought to give me a useless bracelet that turned out to be full of magic."
Bowser then reached behind his shell and pulled out one of those stones that were on the bracelet before.
"This thing was the only familiar thing I had left, aside from my army."
"Well I'll be…" Humdinger said, "I thought you weren't familiar."
"What are you insinuating?!" Bowser said, eyeing him.
"N-nothing nothing!" Humdinger quickly recovered.
"I know nothing of this world, the people here don't have any power, but that Mayor of that small town by this giant puddle of a Bay. She dared defy my orders." Bowser said frustratingly.
"Oh Adventure Bay. Yeah, not surprised. Mayor Goodway is not the kind to surrender. Nobody would expect her to-"
"You see!?" Bowser pointed at him, "That's precisely what I'm talking about. Had I known that I would've destroyed them nor would I have bothered to give her a choice to surrender. I looked like a complete moron! At some point I'm going to get trounced by something I didn't know existed here. I need someone that knows these fine details otherwise my master plan of ruling the universe and having everyone worship me may be at risk!"
The words worship and ruling the universe stuck with Humdinger. He figured if he helped him, well… you can probably tell what's on his mind.
"Well it certainly sounds like you need a sneaky and tricky ally." Humdinger said, looking at his hand waiting for his response.
"Yes I do…" Bowser started, "Where can I find one?"
Humdinger nearly fell backwards, "He's me!"
"You?" Bowser asked.
"Yes! I know every place here. I can tell you everything you need to know when moving around here."
"Why that's very nice of you- wait a minute…" Bowser trailed off, "You're gonna want something out of this right? I just know it…"
"Well…" Humdinger tried to think of a lie but Bowser cut him off,
"Fine, what do you want out of all of this?" Bowser asked unamused.
"I- I- I just want to be a well respected Mayor of all the places that worship my enemies."
Bowser sighed,
"Alright, you get a partial rule over my new kingdom to come."
"Really?" Humdinger said excitedly,
"YES! Just don't make me regret this…" Bowser warned him.
"Yes sir-"
"King…" Bowser corrected,
"Yes King- Uh… what is your name?"
"I am the most powerful king, Bowser!" He said introducing himself, "And this is my right-hand koopa, Kamek!"
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Kamek said bowing.
"Yeah yeah yeah…" Humdinger said, "So you said you have the Paw Patrol?"
"Yeah, I have them all locked away on my island and the kid working for me." Bowser gloated.
Humdinger was surprised at how diabolical this guy was. Capturing the pups yes, definitely something he'd do, but not Ryder.
"Our plans are on a roll, Kamek." Bowser said, "Things would be great if Junior was here…"
"Did ya call Papa?" A voice called. Bowser turned to see his son flying in on his Clown Car.
"Junior!" Bowser said running up to his son, "I thought you were lost for good like your mother. I couldn't bear losing my son!"
"Uh papa," Junior said, "I know you missed me and I missed you, but you're crushing me!"
"And me too!" An english accented voice called.
Bowser loosened his grip and saw that he was also hugging a dog too. Junior and Sweetie were both squashed together. Bowser Jr. realized this and giggled nervously.
"Heh heh… Papa put us down please?" He asked.
"Oh…" Bowser said
"So this is your castle?" Sweetie asked Bowser Jr., "It's quite dull…"
"EXCUSE ME?!" Bowser shouted at her, Sweetie flinched at Bowser.
"Wait…" Humdinger started, "Isn't that the royal pup of Barkingburg?" Sweetie looked at Humdinger.
"Oh, it's that mayor who got arrested by the Paw Patrol." Sweetie answered.
"Come on!" Humdinger
Bowser then stopped his foot, shaking the room, "SILENCE!"
Everyone flinched and the room went quiet, "Surely you all know how to rough some meddlers like the Mario Bros, right?" There was still silence.
"Who are the Mario Bros?" Sweetie asked. Bowser deadpanned.
"Alright," Bowser dreaded, "lemme tell you all about the meddlesome Marios. It all started one day when they appeared in my castle…"