In this chapter, our heroes are going to enter the desert. And yes, I figured I would feature a desert level since they're so common in the Mario franchise. I guess I might as well feature an ice level too. There's been loads of ice levels in the Mario series. Personally my favorite is Mount Brrr. In case you're wondering, it's from Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam. And yes, it's a crossover between Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi. Strangely enough Luigi hasn't been playable as Paper Mario though there's nothing stopping Mario from dressing up like him.

And yes, the guardian of the meteorite will be rather...sandy. You probably saw that coming, am I right?

Chapter 8: Rounded Up

Our heroes arrived in Wild East Village. It was currently sunny outside.

"I guess this is the place." noted Speedster T.

Of course, the sign that was at the entrance kind of tipped him off.

"It seems awfully quiet..." noted Peach. Was it a quiet village? Or was it something else?

That was what she would like to know.

Looking around, it didn't seem like that there were any civilians outside. Had they all decided to evacuate?

Upon closer inspection, there were civilians...but they didn't seem to want to have a chat with them.

It looked as if the Cosmic Army had struck again. The Toads had barricaded themselves inside their houses.

One of them opened up the window to take a look at them. He was surprised to see Mario was in this town. Perhaps he was there to help them? It seemed that helping people was what he did best.

Well, that and being a plumber.

He'd ask for an autograph, but he was worried that the Cosmic Army would discover him.

There was a tumbleweed rolling around in the wind. It always seemed to show up whenever things were quiet in town.

Currently, Alcoholic Koopa was at the saloon. There was a Toad there playing the piano. But that wasn't what Alcoholic Koopa was there for. Those who knew him would know why he was at the saloon.

Upon closer inspection, the mayor was inside his office.

The mayor was enthusiastic to see them.

"Thank goodness you're here! There are rascals causing trouble in my town!" exclaimed the mayor. And for some strange reason some of the hooligans were standing around the meteorite that had fallen from the sky earlier.

Earlier that day Wario had shown up and had started picking pockets. The sheriff had locked him away. Strangely enough rumor had it that Wario had performed heroic acts. He still wasn't as heroic as Mario did though. Mario did heroics for the good of others and wasn't greedy.

But unfortunately it seemed that he was only a sign of what was to come.

Personally Wario wondered what his brother was up to. Was he playing sports? That's what he always seemed to be doing when he wasn't helping Wario search for treasure.

The sheriff was currently panicking. Sweat was coming down his face.

"It seems like they came from outer space!" exclaimed the Toad. Up until now, he didn't think that life from outer space even existed.

"Are they blue?" inquired Mario.

"Yes, they are. How did you know?" inquired the sheriff.

"We've dealt-a with them before."noted Luigi. They even had a chance encounter with one of their commanders.

Fortunately, they had succeeded in making him retreat.

However, Luigi suspected that there was another commander leading this invasion. They weren't sure where there were, so it looked as if they would need to search for him.

"Good! Then perhaps you can help us!" exclaimed the Toad. Their best chance of repelling the invaders was to have someone who already had experience fighting them.

"What's going on here?" asked Wario.

Compared to the Goombas and Koopas they had faced earlier, these minions seemed faster. Perhaps they were a tad more experienced than the ones that they had fought in Yoshi's Island.

Even so, stomping on them worked well. Mario stomped on a Koopa Troopa and kicked his shell towards several Goombas, toppling them like dominoes.

There were also Toads, but they were riding horses. It seemed that they mastered the art of taming them.

"Yee-haw!" exclaimed one of the Cosmic Toads.

Luigi ended up being trampled.

"Mamamia!" shouted Luigi, who now had hoof marks on his face.

"Hahaha!" laughed the Toad jockey.

"You alright?" asked Peach.

Luigi nodded.

Mario tossed a fireball at a Toad jockey, but he moved out of the way.

Perhaps he should try using an Ice Flower to freeze them.

Fortunately, Speedster T was capable of keeping up with the Toad jockeys. To be honest, he was probably the one member of the group that didn't have a use for a horse.

Now that he thought of it...horses weren't frequent in the Mushroom Kingdom, but since the Cosmic Princesses could use the cosmic slime to form pretty much anything they wanted, perhaps they weren't scarce in Planet Cosmos.

The heroes had to be careful not to be trampled.

"Yeehaw!" exclaimed one of the Cosmic Toads.

"There are Toads in the world that are evil?" questioned the sheriff. All of them seemed benevolent to him.

"Not in this world, but in other planets." explained Rosalina.

The sheriff shrugged. There was something otherworldly about these crooks.

However, Speedster T could. It seemed that he was their best choice against these Toads.

Some Bandits appeared.

"Give us all your money!" shouted one of the Bandits.

"Eeek!" exclaimed an unfortunate Toad. Believe it or not, being filthy rich wasn't always a good thing. It seemed that it made him a target of the greedy.

Speedster T spin dashed into a Bandit, sending him flying.

"Thank you!" shouted the Toad.

Suddenly, they heard burrowing noises.

"Huh?" asked Luigi.

A Monty Mole suddenly attacked him, clawing his face.

"Wah!" exclaimed the plumber dressed in green.

Quickly, he hammered the Monty Mole away.

"Oof!" exclaimed the Monty Mole.

Another Monty Mole surfaced from the sand, but Peach whacked him with a frying pan.

"Ow!" shouted the mole.

It seemed that some of the Cosmic Army preferred sneak attacks.

This was especially bad for Speedster T, since it was a good counter for his speed. It didn't matter how fast you were if you didn't see the attack coming.

However, Rosalina didn't seem terribly vulnerable to this kind of attack. Perhaps she had some sort of cosmic sense?

Mario played a game of whack-a-mole with the Monty Moles. It seemed his hammer was a good weapon to use against them.

"So, these are the heroes that Cosmic Yoshi told me about..." noted Cosmic Speedster T. It seemed that they were here to prevent the invasion of the town as well.

They sure seemed like a pain.

Unfortunately, Bob-Ombs had joined the fray as well. They too were wearing cowboy hats.

"Boom!" exclaimed one of the Bob-Ombs.

"Uh-oh..." thought Luigi.

Carefully, the younger brother of Mario avoided their explosions. It would be best if they didn't get too close to them.

As soon as they saw one of the heroes, they lit their fuse.

Luigi frantically dove out of the way.

Fortunately, the Bob-Omb missed him.

"Whew!" shouted Luigi. That had been a close one.

However, the Bob-Omb ended up freeing Wario from his prison cell. The explosion had made one of the prison walls crumble.

"Yeah! Hahahaha!" laughed Wario. It looked like his jail sentence had been cut short.

"Huh?" asked Luigi.

The rival of Mario wasn't quite sure what had caused the explosion, but he decided not to ask too many questions. He was free!

Wario wondered what he would do with his newfound freedom.

Perhaps he could search for some cash?

He decided to do that.

"Where are you, money?" asked Wario.

However, when the plumber went to search for money, he discovered Bandits were making off with the town's loot. It seemed that he wasn't the only resident in the town that was greedy.

One of them attempted to swipe Wario's hat.

Well, he wouldn't allow that.

Wario punched a Bandit and it burst into blue goo.

"Hahaha!" laughed Wario. Served him right for trying to take away his prized possession...well, aside from his coins, of course.

However, this made the other Bandits angry.

"Get him!" exclaimed one of the Bandits, pointing in Wario's direction.

They began to attack him, pummeling them with their fists.

"Wah!" shouted Wario as he was used as a punching bag. It was a good thing that he was so durable.

One of the Bandits punching Wario smirked.

In retaliation, he bit into another Bandit. He was lucky he had strong jaws. He was kind of like a crocodile. Only he wasn't a reptile.

Alcoholic Koopa stepped out of the saloon. He had enjoyed his visit very much.

He had consumed a lot of alcoholic beverages. It was surprising that the bouncer hadn't kicked him out.

The Koopa Troopa let out a hiccup.

However, he realized that something was going on.

"Huh?" asked Alcoholic Koopa.

He noticed that the village was being invaded.

"Oh no! The pink monkeys are in danger!" shouted the Koopa.

One of the Bandits attempted to steal his wine.

However, this made him angry.

In retaliation, he punched the Bandit in the face.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Bandit, covering his face mask.

Wario ground pounded several Bandits, taking them all out in one go.

"Yeah!" shouted Wario.

The Bandits realized that they might not be able to take Wario down. He was simply too strong, though considering his weight he wasn't exactly Speedster T.

Perhaps it would be best if they let someone else take care of him.

"Thank you for your help you eight-legged chicken..." said Alcoholic Koopa.

Wario scratched his head.

Did he really look like a chicken?

If anyone was a chicken, it was Luigi. Then again, his brother Waluigi wasn't that much better. Perhaps it would be best if he didn't ask him to help him rob a haunted mansion. Although, haunted mansions seem to have ridiculous amounts of treasure.

Mario continued whacking the Monty Moles. Fortunately, he had gotten several of them. He was on a streak.

"You're not making a mountain out of my molehill!" shouted Mario.

Yoshi launched an egg at a Toad Jockey and knocked him off his horse.

"Wah!" shouted the unfortunate Cosmic Toad.

He then swallowed the Toad whole.

"Yum!" shouted Yoshi.

Peach kicked a Bob-Omb towards several Goombas, sending them flying. Perhaps the Bob-Ombs could actually be used to their advantage...so long as they were careful to direct them towards the Cosmic Army rather than themselves.

Yoshi helped himself to the Monty Moles that attempted to ambush him. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to be in close proximity to Yoshi.

A large Sandmaargh suddenly appeared.

It let out a roar.

"Whoa!" shouted Luigi.

Perhaps he was guarding the meteorite? He seemed to be larger than the other cosmic minions attacking the town.

They always seemed to be guarded by the toughest members of the Cosmic Army around. Well, relative to the current members they were facing anyway.

He attempted to bite Mario.

"Mamamia!" shouted Mario.

Fortunately, though he was made of sand, hammers and jump attacks still worked on him.

He did seem to be able to withstand those attacks better than other enemies though.

Nearby, Cosmic Speedster T noticed that the cosmic army were being attacked by Mario and his friends. It looked as if they were losing.

Earlier Cosmic Yoshi had failed to seize Yoshi's Island because of them.

No matter. He would succeed...unlike him.

The Sandmaargh spat out a twister.

It began to move towards them.

The heroes quickly scrambled out of the way.

Alcoholic Koopa was caught in it.

"I'm getting dizzy!" exclaimed Alcoholic Koopa as he spun around like a record.

Fortunately, Speedster T. rescued him.

"Whew!" shouted Alcoholic Koopa.

The Sandmaargh opened its mouth again, but Wario tossed a Bob-Omb into its mouth.

This made it dizzy.

Realizing that they had the opportunity to attack, the heroes did so.

However, the Sandmaargh came back to its senses.

It went underground, resurfacing every now and then to attack the heroes.

This made it much more difficult to hit.

However, a certain yellow plumber managed to catch the Sandmaargh by surprise.

The Sandmaargh gasped.

Wario dealt the final blow, making the sand beast burst into blue sand.

Speedster T shattered the meteorite, causing the cosmic minions to disappear.

The mayor was very happy to hear the news.

Shortly afterwards, everyone exited their houses. It seemed that it was safe to come out now. Would the Cosmic Army come back, though? Hopefully the heroes could make sure that didn't happen.

"Thanks for saving my village!" exclaimed the mayor. They didn't know what they would do without them. If it weren't for them, the Cosmic Army most likely would have taken over the town.

Hopefully now things would go back to the way they were.

The sheriff just wasn't used to dealing with this many outlaws. The crime rate was extremely low, until the Cosmic Army had chosen to reveal themselves.

"You might not want to thank us just yet. Chances are more meteorites are going to be sent." noted Rosalina. Several had been sent to Yoshi's Island to ensure that the invasion was a success...though of course, the heroes had managed to destroy them all.

"Oh no!" exclaimed the sheriff.

"Yeah...the Cosmic Army doesn't give up easily..." noted Peach. It had taken some time to drive them out of Yoshi's Island. No doubt it would take some time to drive them out of the Wild Desert as well.

"Well, good luck on your quest!" shouted the law enforcer.

"Actually, there's one favor that we wanted to ask..." asked Speedster T.

"Sure! Anything for you!" shouted the sheriff.

"We were hoping to bring Wario with us..." said Luigi.

"Wait, you want Wario to come with you?" asked the law enforcing Toad. Last time he checked, he happened to be an outlaw. To be honest, he wasn't sure if the heroes wanted him on their side.

"If we're going to stop the Cosmic Army, we're going to need lots of help." explained Rosalina. Even if that meant making an alliance with the greedy Wario.

"Alright. But you better keep an eye on him." stated the sheriff.

Nearby, Cosmic Speedster T noticed the siege on the village had failed.

It looked like he wouldn't be conquering it.

"They saved the village, huh? Why don't I step things up a bit?" asked Cosmic Speedster T.

It seemed that one meteorite was too easy for them.

This time, he sent two small meteorites into the desert.

They were close together (which would make finding both of them easier), but the combined meteorites would produce stronger enemies.

In the next chapter, our heroes will venture into the desert. And yes, there will be Pokeys. What better place can I put them that in a desert level? I might feature Skellokeys later because I like their spookiness. Then again, they were in only one game...but I might as well since I'm coming up with original ideas for enemies.

I figured I would make things more interesting for our heroes by having them have to deal with two small meteorites instead of one.

In the next chapter, our heroes are going to venture into the Wild Desert. Expect lots of sand.