Now we're headed to the third secret level. And you know what that means?
Luigi: FLUDD's gonna get taken again.
Oh come on Luigi! You ruined it!
Luigi: It's obvious!
Well, I've got something not so obvious coming up! So get ready!
nintendoscript15
They collected 5 at once since they have a LOT of Shine Sprites to grab. And I mean A WHOLE LOT. I came up with a whole bunch of powerup ideas out of nowhere and decided to put them in the story. So I hope you enjoy my crazy, but awesome ideas. I came up with a made up character, so why not made up powerups?
Delfino Plaza
Mario and Aqua were visiting Luigi and Daisy in jail, talking about their adventures in Ricco Harbor.
Mario: …and then I won not one, but TWO Shine Sprites! I was crowned a Blooper Surfing legend! You guys should've seen me out there. It was awesome!
Luigi: Wow, Mario. In all the years we've spent together, I never knew you loved surfing that much.
Mario: I know, right? By the way, Aqua. Why didn't you go with me? Were you scared?
Aqua: *sigh* Yes I was. I heard the daddy guy mention accidents and I didn't wanna do it. I'm too young to die!
Daisy: Hey, don't cry sis. You're too young for that stuff anyways. But you'll become a legend like Mario one day.
Luigi: Yeah, and we can't be completely brave. Not even Mario. Believe it or not, he's actually afraid of pianos.
Mario: LUIGI! DON'T TELL THEM THAT!
Daisy: Wh-Wh-WHAT?!
Aqua: Pianos?
Mario: *sigh* Yes, surprisingly enough. You see, I went into this ghost house once and came across a piano. I decided to take a break and try to play it, only for it to come to life and try to eat me alive! I wouldn't go near a piano ever since.
Daisy: Well, you should've thought for a second before playing in a HAUNTED HOUSE of all places! You can't trust anything in there.
Luigi: I can speak from experience bro.
Mario: Yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way, but I'm still sensitive about it. Now can we get off the topic?
Luigi: Fine. So what are you doing next?
Mario: We're headed back to Ricco Harbor. More Shine Sprites are waiting for us.
FLUDD: And the perpetrators are still out there.
Mario: That too.
Daisy: Alright, good luck!
As they left, Luigi grew sad.
Daisy: You okay, Luigi?
Luigi: *sigh* Well, I'm glad those two are becoming great friends, but I have a feeling that Aqua is slowly replacing me.
Daisy: Replace?! Don't be ridiculous! You've been Mario's bro for many years, and nothing can replace that! Like Toadsworth said, you're still his sidekick, and if you hadn't have freed him from that mansion he would've been gone forever. Could you imagine how much of a loss the Mushroom Kingdom would've had if Mario was gone? That goes to show that you can't be replaced no matter how many good friends Mario makes.
Luigi: Yo-you're right. I guess when I get free, I'll try to get to know Aqua too.
Daisy: Sounds great Luigi!
Ricco Harbor
Aqua: I still can't believe you're actually afraid of something. I thought you weren't afraid of anything.
Mario: Aqua, we wouldn't exactly be human if we didn't have something to fear.
Aqua: What other things are you afraid of?
Mario: Spiders, Ghosts, Eels. There are no eels in your kingdom, are there?
Aqua: No. There were once. But my daddy captured them and relocated them to the Seaside Kingdom.
Mario: Thank goodness! The eel I encountered in Jolly Roger Bay was terrifying! I hope there are none around here either.
Aqua: If there are, I don't think they'll come near us. I read that eels prefer deep and dark waters. And we're not gonna swim that deep. So don't worry!
Mario: Wow! You know a lot about the sea for someone your age.
Aqua: Well, I am a water princess.
Mario: Good point.
Aqua: Hey, I forgot to tell you. This may sound crazy, but while you were surfing, I grabbed this weird metal mushroom I found, and it made me turn into metal! It was scary, but at least I could flip gates with it.
Mario: Hmm… sounds like you came across a power up.
Aqua: A what?
Mario: You've never heard of powerups?!
Aqua: Nope!
Mario: I guess they're not in your kingdom or something. Alright, I'll explain. Powerups are essentially these special objects that can grant the user powers beyond their normal skills. No one knows how they came to be, or why they even exist. They're just there to help those in need of powers. There are many different types of powerups. I've used a fair number of them in my past adventures
Aqua: That sounds really cool! I wonder what other powerups are on this island.
Mario: Well, this is a new place. So I think there's gonna be a lot of ones I haven't seen before.
Aqua: I can't wait!
The two Piantas that were always at the beginning of the area were now staring at a large tower just to the left of the boat. It was surrounded by large fans and platforms.
Mario: Hey, what are you two looking at?
Pianta #1: Take a look! The ocean is now all dirty around that tower!
Pianta #2: Looks like trouble's a-brewing!
FLUDD: There is an opening at the top of the tower. I suggest you go check it out.
Mario: Agreed. Let's a go!
They went up the ship and climbed the gate as done before. Mario felt something weird crawl into him, but he shrugged it off, thinking it was his imagination. Aqua then used the hover nozzle to bring Mario to the tower.
At the tower, Mario washed off a weird graffiti symbol that was an L turned 45 degrees with eyes above it to look like a smiling face.
Mario: Huh. This is quite a tall tower. How are we gonna get up there?
Aqua: M-M-M-Mario?!
He turned his head over his shoulder to see Aqua with a fearful expression on her face.
Mario: What's wrong?
Aqua: Sp-Sp-Sp-Sp-!
Mario: Are you okay?
FLUDD: I can speak for Aqua in this scenario. There's a klamber crawling on your back.
Mario: A what?!
He looked over his other shoulder to see a huge yellow with black striped spider on his back.
Klamber: Well howdy do!
Mario let out a horrified shriek that blasted all over Ricco Harbor. Disrupting the Piantas working. It could even be heard in nearby areas like Bianco Hills, Gelato Beach, and Pinna Park.
The plumber ran around the tower like crazy with Aqua watching in horror.
Mario: SPIDER! SPIDER! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!
FLUDD: Don't just stand there, Aqua! Do something! I feel fright!
She began to look around for something to use to get the klamber off without accidentally hitting FLUDD.
A crate that was glowing caught her eye and she ground pounded it to reveal a large pink bubble wand with two eyes similar to those seen on mushrooms and fire flowers. Without hesitation she grabbed it.
Her short blue dress turned pink with bubble like spots all over it. She was now Bubble Aqua.
Bubble Aqua: Ooh!
After a quick moment of being impressed, she decided to test it out. Bubble Aqua swung her wand to shoot a bubble straight at the klamber attacking the poor plumber. It got trapped in the bubble, and when it popped, it turned into a coin.
Mario: Whew! Thanks! I see you found a new powerup.
Bubble Aqua: Yeah! I really like it!
FLUDD: That is the bubble powerup. It allows the user to trap enemies into bubbles, and convert them into items. You can also put yourself into a bubble and can ride wind currents.
Mario: We can use this to get to the top of the tower! Excellent!
Bubble Aqua summoned a bubble, and the two walk inside it. Mario pushes it towards the fan, and they both relaxing as the fans push the bubble up towards the tower's entrance, where it popped. The two high five and walk in.
?
Aqua immediately lost her powerup the moment they entered. The two were once again surrounded by the white void everywhere. But suddenly, a yellow blur zoomed past them and took both FLUDD nozzles.
Mario: Huh?!
Aqua: Oh come on! This again?!
The thief revealed himself to be an orangish yellow man who looks like Luigi. He nods at them and then disappears with the FLUDD nozzles.
Mario and Aqua wake up in their third secret area. Though this one had a different background than the last two. It appeared to be a blue screen with jumping 8-bit Mario sprites. As for the course itself, what lied ahead was these rotating beams with colored blocks protruding from them. There were some other things up ahead, but the duo couldn't see that far.
Mario: This doesn't look too bad. We just gotta keep jumping.
Aqua: Yeah. I won't go on your back this time.
The first part was a breeze. There were a couple of slips, but the two were able to get through it relatively easy. Mario grabbed a 1up mushroom at the end of the first section.
Mario: This is a 1up mushroom. It'll be helpful just in case we die.
Mario pointed to the top of the screen to show an image of Mario and Aqua's heads multiplied by 3. The 3 turned into a four.
Aqua: So wait, does this mean we get revived after dying.
Mario: Yeah. We'll get sent back to the beginning of the stage. If we lose all our lives, though. It's GAME OVER! So be careful!
Aqua: Got it!
The next obstacle was three rotating gears and more beams facing different directions. The gears were a bit nerve wracking but were no problem. The beams were pretty easy. The heroes even got another 1up mushroom, increasing their life counter to 5. After that, the Shine Sprite appeared before them.
SHINE!
Mario: WHA-HA!
Aqua: YAY!
Fun Fact! This secret level would later be remastered in Super Mario Galaxy 2 8 years later as Twisty Trials Galaxy. Though it's scaled up in size and is a bit harder since Galaxy 2's physics make it easier to slip off. It even has a double time Prankster Comet to make it even harder!
Aqua: Really?! That's awesome!
Mario: I would've chosen an actual area from the game rather than a secret course to represent Sunshine, but I'll take it.
