And nooooow! I have! Two reviews! I'm so excited! A very special thanks to ShardiSeal for being my first reviewer~!
/Okay, be cool./
...You might think I'm overreacting, but since it is my first review, I shall answer it here! Any future reviews will likely be answered privately unless you want it to be in the chapter, I suppose. Or if there's something I feel is necessary to know about the story. Also, if I reply to anyone's review on here and you would prefer me to take down your name, just say so and I shall.
So, for ShardiSeal: Thank you! Paper Mario is indeed one of my favorite games and my absolute favorite on the N64! However did you guess? ;) I just hope I'll be able to portray most of, if not all, of my characterizations and theories for the game correctly without it being dull. I suppose that's every writer's fear, though?
Yeah~ As much as the story has changed over time, Geno being the one to grant the wishes has always been a constant. It just feels right for him to be the one, to set Paper Mario into motion since...that's technically what he did.
I'm super glad that you think that way too! I wanted more to the story than just "This is a Goomba with a hat. He'll talk for you." Goombario's an optimistic kid with a tight-knit family. He tries to get along with Goombaria to emulate Mario's big brother personality, but falls short due to his lack of patience. And Jr. Troopa...he's everyone's least favorite stalker boss, but he is just a kid with a short fuse and a tendency to hold a grudge. A huge grudge.
Lastly, yes, it will be a long fanfiction to complete, and there's even a few scenes I'm not looking forward to writing...but there's several more scenes I absolutely cannot wait to get to! That said, I hope you enjoy the newest chapter~!
A little over an hour later, they were still in the village, disappointingly enough.
Mario had gone to lay down for a bit in the Toad House to rest from the morning's venture of falling from a veranda and fighting his way through a forest.
In the meanwhile, Goombario decided to pack a few things for the trip from the house to Toad Town. So far, he had a Nutty Cake that Gooma made, a Mushroom, and his history book.
...What? History books were important! He was sure there would be a use for it at some point on the trip...honestly, though, he simply didn't trust Goombaria with it.
When Mario got up, he was ready to head out to Toad Town to get to Shooting Star Summit. He went to tell Goombario, and they were both ready to leave.
"Oh, my little baby! I can't believe you're going out into the world with Mario!"
As soon as Goombario's mom let up on being so overbearing.
It was like she read his thoughts, because she suddenly began to scold him. "Now listen! Behave yourself and don't cause Mario any trouble!"
Goombario reddened, "I know, Mom, geez. I'll be good." Really? In front of Mario, too...
"You mind your mother, Goombario! Dress appropriately! Don't be picky with your food! Be polite! Don't brag about everything Goompa taught you as if you already knew them!"
Goombario turned away red-faced. Upon seeing Mario's small, amused grin, his frown got bigger. "Urgh, Mom always nags me..."
"Now, hush." She said, then turned to the hero. "Mario, please take good care of my sweet little Goombario."
With a reassuring nod, Goomama was satisfied with the answer let the duo go, and they began to walk toward the gate.
Goombario sighed and muttered, "Man, I love her lots, but she sometimes gets on my nerves when she worries too much." The blue capped Goomba paused fearfully and glanced behind him. "But don't tell her what I just said!" He whispered frantically.
Mario stifled a laugh and gave an exaggerated shrug.
"Seriously, Mario! Promise me!"
Letting up on his joking, Mario promised with an amused smile. He wouldn't tell...maybe.
Making it to the gate, Goombario paused where his dad was standing next to Goombaria, and Mario walked toward the yellow block with the Hammer.
The young Goomba stared nervously. After that entire big deal made about him going along with Mario, he hoped that he was right after all. It would be so embarrassing otherwise...
Surprisingly, luckily, and easily enough, it did work. Goombario let out a very audible sigh of relief as the magic block broke and disappeared.
Goompapa gave a short laugh. "There we go! Problem solved. See, Goombario? You were right!"
Goombario smiled shyly. "Yeah, well..."
Mario gestured to the Goombas that they should start heading out soon.
"Oh, right!" Goombario nodded, "Yeah, let's go."
"Good luck, Goombario." Goombaria spoke up stiffly. She still believed that it was extremely unfair that Goombario could go, but not her, and her tone let that show.
"Ah, cheer up, Sis. Maybe next time you can go." Goombario said half-jokingly.
"I will!" She took that to heart. "Mario! I'll grow up extra fast for when you need help next time! And I'll be much better than Goombario!"
"Hey!" Goombario frowned as Mario chuckled a bit.
Honestly, he could listen to the sibling's back-and-forth all day, but they really had to get going now. Once again, the plumber cleared his throat and pointed to the path ahead. "We sho-"
"And, one more thing, Goombario." Goompapa started, not noticing Mario's gesture nor his attempt to speak, "I have a feeling that the road will be lined with difficulties, so don't overdo it. Be watchful, but stay cool. A calm mind is the wisest."
"Got it!" Goombario nodded. "And I'll make sure to bring back souvenirs and things for you all! Later!"
"Bye, son!" Goompapa called out.
"Bye!" Goombario replied excitedly.
"Bye." Goombaria said flatly.
Mario let out a quiet sigh and began walking away from the village, and the excited Goomba followed as he kept shouting bye to his family.
When they were out of earshot, he turned around happily as the realization of the matter came crashing down once more. He was going on an adventure with Mario! It was his long life wish, so he couldn't mess up!
"Hey, so Mario!" Goombario could barely keep the smile off his face as Mario looked straight at him. "Um..." He hadn't thought about what to say. "There are lots of bad Goombas around these parts."
Mario blinked, and seemed ready to respond with something encouragingly kind to the young Goomba when he was rudely interrupted by a Goomba who was very much indeed a bad one.
"Haha! Hey, Mario! We were warned about you!" The Goomba yelled as he landed from the head bonk. "Don't think you're going to get past us!"
The plumber turned, annoyed. He fixed his cap as he narrowed his eyes at the Goomba.
It was a very tense moment as the Goomba realized that he had attacked the Mario without anyone to back him up and that he should probably leave now-
Goombario jumped up out of nowhere and landed a head bonk of his own on the offending Goomba.
"Ow, what the-?" the foe managed to say before Mario hopped up and landed a trademark jump to knock the Goomba out.
Oh. That was easier than he thought. Mario was used to one jump putting Goombas out of commission, but with the Star Rod powering up Bowser, he would have thought that he would have at least powered up his troops more too. Maybe the Koopa King was still figuring out to use its power?
"Ahh! That was so cool!" Goombario exclaimed, getting his attention. "You really do jump high! I read that you did-and of course I never doubted it-but I always wondered how it would look like in real life!"
Smiling modestly, the plumber. It was no big deal, really.
"No big deal?! You took that bad Goomba out like it was nothing!"
Mario waved it off. After all, he pointed out, Goombario was the one who landed the first hit.
Goombario couldn't help but smile widely at that (the grin was practically his default expression now), "Yeah, well...I did train a lot to be as strong as you." Maybe his Mom did have a point with him boasting a little. "Uh...anyway! Toad Town is just east. It's kind of a long walk but we should be there around night or tomorrow."
Nodding, the plumber turned to the road ahead of them, as did the Goomba. Then, they both stopped short.
A Paragoomba flanked by two Goombas were a few yards away. They seemed to be talking among themselves and hadn't noticed the duo quite yet.
"Oh, a Goomba with wings! You can't hit them with a hammer, obviously." Goombario commented lowly. "So we should come up with some plan to either take them all at once or avoid them altogether."
Mario considered his options for a bit, and made up his mind soon enough. He walked straight toward the group.
No fear! No hesitance in going to defeat his foes! How cool! Goombario followed behind the plumber once again, confidence completely raised. Who wouldn't be when you have the Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom by your side?
One of the Goombas noticed the approaching red foe and jolted in fear. "M-M-Mario!" he shouted as a warning to his fellow Goombas. "He's here!"
"Stop joking around! It was funny the first time, but-" the second Goomba scolded before turning anyway. "O-oh no! He really is here!"
The Paragoomba seemed tense before bracing himself before turning around. "Ha! We've actually been expecting you Mario! Kammy Koopa warned us that you were still hopping around!"
"Oh. Word really gets around fast." Goombario stated blankly. "But a warning in advance won't help you against Mario~!" he went on to brag.
The Paragoomba, who seemed to be the leader, glanced at the blue-capped Goomba. "She didn't say anything about a small fry though."
Offended, Goombario was about to retort but was stopped by a pat on the head by Mario. A bit embarrassed, Goombario relented. It would be better to just ignore any bad guy's taunts. There would be countless, after all, and there was a Princess to be saved!
Mario warned the three foes to let them pass or they will fight.
"No way! You think that we'll let you by because you said so?!"
"I'd be willing," confessed the first Goomba.
"Shut up!" The Paragoomba yelled, "Kammy told us to do our best in beating this plumber!"
"Well," the second Goomba piped up, "All she can do is shout angrily..."
"Yeah, I'd rather have that than Mario beating us up easily." The first one said.
"You can at least try to show some enthusiasm..." the Paragoomba groaned.
"That's easy for you to say...you got wings."
"Because I actually do my job!" the Paragoomba exclaimed in exasperation. "Ugh, whatever."
Then, in an attempt to catch Mario off guard, the Paragoomba swooped down to try and get a hit on the plumber. Of course, it's nothing Mario wasn't expecting after several others have tried the that trick. He swiftly swung the hammer down as the Paragoomba was close enough.
The magic used to give the Goomba his wings was cancelled out, and the Paragoomba fell flat on his face.
With the plumber distracted, the Goomba who was slightly okay with attacking the duo jumped up and landed a kick on Mario, causing him to stumble back. Goombario hopped up and managed to hit the adversary.
The Goomba who had backed down stayed where he started, staring uncertainly at the fighting going on.
The former Paragoomba had just noticed his wings were gone and gave a yell of combine surprise and anger. "I worked hard for those wings! You-!"
While he had leapt up to attack, Mario hopped up and landed on his head, knocking him out.
The remaining fighting Goomba lunged forward and bit down on Mario, making him swing his arm up and down in an attempt to get him off.
"What kind of attack is that..." Goombario muttered, voicing both their thoughts. He shrugged it off quickly when Mario shoved the Goomba off of him. Jumping up and over, he got a solid hit on him for the final time.
Both were down, and the last Goomba stepped back a little more. "Uh..." he uttered in fear when he saw the plumber walking toward him-No, wait, he walked past him! He was safe...breathing a sigh of relief, he watched as the blue-capped Goomba trail after him like some over-excited Yoshi pup.
"What menaces." He said after the two were out of earshot.
While Goombario kind of understood the reasoning behind leaving that Goomba alone, he still had to ask. "Didn't that guy work for Bowser? He signed up and everything, so shouldn't he face the consequences?"
Mario thought over his words before replying that Bowser was the one who stole the Princess and the Star Rod, not the Goombas. If Mario had to fight one person, it would be the Koopa King.
"Oh, I get it," Goombario said. "Even if they signed up, they're not against you unless they fight you. Bowser is for sure all for getting rid of you."
Mario nodded. Then he paused, shrugged, and nodded again. It mostly depended on the day. Sometimes Bowser just wanted first place.
"That makes sense too...I think." Goombario said, but what was the point of being friendly if Bowser was going to attack anyway?
It was like Mario had a sixth sense for unasked questions. He told Goombario that it at least softened the attacks. Bowser was a power hungry tyrant with a crush, but he was a power hungry tyrant with a crush and friends.
"Oh! Right! I guess...I mean, I have plenty of friends in Toad Town, so that does keep me from being bored when I visit. It is really the same thing. Just on a larger scale, of course." Goombario was satisfied with that answer now, and they walked on for a few minutes in silence.
Goombario's mind roamed now, analyzing every word Mario had said and thinking back to the history book's passage. Nobody knew why the Mario Brothers stayed in the Mushroom Kingdom. They had wanted to leave, and it couldn't take so long to find the "special" Warp Pipe to go back, could it? If Bowser really was less violent with friends around, then would they stay for the sake of the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom? Honestly, even without that reasoning, Goombario wouldn't be surprised if the Mario Brothers stayed just to protect them! They were such cool heroes and-!
The blue-capped fan was stopped short by Mario's arm. "What-? Oh."
A Spiked Goomba was sneering at the two, and the Goomba behind him was practically hiding in his shadow, completely frightened.
Goombario spoke up, "Mario, that's a Spiked Goomba. Other than the obvious 'no jumping' rule, the spike is enchanted with a weak electric charge so it has a chance of paralyzing you if it manages to even touch you."
The plumber nodded, hammer at the ready then. The Spiked Goomba wasted no time in going to attack Mario. It was obvious that this particular Goomba has been a soldier for a while. Brave, confident and clever in dodging. However, he wasn't quite good enough to land a hit.
Meanwhile Goombario casually walked over to the more fearful Goomba. "You don't have to fight, you know. You can just let us pass~" He said, proud to be the one to let the poor Goomba who didn't want to fight off free.
For his troubles, he was given a swift head bonk and he fell back, stunned.
"I am not going to let some goody-goody Goomba patronize me when I worked hard to get here!"
"I-I wasn't..." Goombario muttered, dizzy. "I was just..." He blinked in surprise when Mario jumped over him easily and landed on the suddenly violent Goomba. Using the momentum to jump back toward the Spiked Goomba, Mario quickly realized his mistake and only just grazed the Spike Goomba's helmet. It dug into his arm a little and stung badly for such a small cut.
The Spiked Goomba snickered in delight. "Weren't you just warned about the 'obvious no jumping rule?' How stupid can you get!"
Ignoring the boastful insult, Mario glanced at the hammer. He wasn't paralyzed as far as he knew so he quickly threw it at the Spiked Goomba. It hit with a satisfying thwack and managed to knock the Spike off. The helmet slowly rolled to the other Goomba, and lightly tapped her foot, where it promptly paralyzed her and put her out of commission.
"Ugh." the now former Spiked Goomba groaned as he sat up. Then he realized that he didn't have the armor anymore. He wasn't so confident now and tried to slink away.
Mario jumped and the Goomba was down within seconds. Catching his breath, the plumber knelt down to grab the Hammer. He hasn't done this in a while. Noticing the lack of cheers from the Goomba, he looked over inquiringly.
Goombario noticed Mario look over and hastily scrambled to his feet. "Uh, sorry, I was just, well I was kind of caught off guard by that Goomba, and, uh," Then he seemed to realize just how amazing that last move was and rambled on that excitedly, "Oh my gosh, the way you used that bad guy to jump back towards your opponent was amazing and just genius! So do you think a lot about ways to be able to counter your opponent or just make things up on the spot?"
He was just fine. Mario patted the Goomba on the head before continuing to walk along. Sometimes, when fans would talk a lot without breathing, it'd worry him, but Goombario was capable enough to remember breathing...he hoped.
"Oh, Mario!" Goombario called out once more.
Thinking it was another excuse to just have the hero pay attention to him, Mario humored the Goomba and turned to him.
The blue capped Goomba gestured to a floating block. "Look! I guess the guys we just fought were after this!"
A Red Block. It was certainly different than any he's seen before...Unless it was the rare Wing Cap he's come across before!
"It kinda looks like the Block you got your Winged Cap Power from!" Goombario exclaimed, "Though it looks a bit different, so I don't know..."
Mario nodded, and hoping for the best, jumped up to strike the block with his fist. It was a bit anti-climatic when it was only a Badge, but...
"Oh, cool! Badges are pretty rare! Being Magic-infused and all!"
Oh. Maybe he could sell them.
"Although, I'm not sure if they cost very much, since not very many people can use Magic without any problems."
Oh. Slipping the pin with the fiery pinwheel logo into the pack the Goomba Family had kindly provided him with, he walked forward.
"Uh...? Aren't you going to put it on? It could help. I think that's the Close Call Badge, if I remember right. When you're down on your luck, it'll grant you some good!"
A bit reluctantly, Mario agreed with that logic, and but on the Badge. It wouldn't hurt to see if it would work...but a Wing Cap would have been preferable over something that might work. He looked ahead with a slight frown until seeing a Mushroom on the side of the road, ripe for the taking. Much better! He swooped down to claim it.
Goombario blinked, watching as Mario put the Mushroom in the bag with more excitement than the Badge. "You know...there's more than one kind of Mushroom here that is even better than the ones you usually get."
Of course, Mario's interest was piqued, and he told Goombario to continue as they walked.
"Well, after normal 'Shrooms, there's Super Shrooms, and..." The Goomba was more than happy enough to follow along while talking, and the disappointing realization that he had done nothing in the last battle except get hurt was mostly forgotten.
Perhaps it was because it was so late in the day and they walked so far, or more than likely it was Goombario's in-depth description of the many dishes one can make with Mushrooms and its variants, but either way, Mario came to an extremely important decision after a slipping past a trio of Paragoombas.
It was time for lunch!
He stopped and stretched, informing Goombario.
Wow! Goombario thought, lunch with Mario! It's all I ever dreamed! Then, aloud, he asked, "Like a picnic then?"
Mario nodded. Outside will have to do, unless he saw a five star restaurant around?
"Nah!" Goombario said, missing the joke, "Here's great! Toughing it out! Like on a real adventure!"
Even while thinking that this was, in fact, a 'real adventure,' Mario let the matter drop and sat down, looking inside the pack. A Fire Flower, a Goomnut, and two Mushrooms. Not the best meal, but they were near Toad Town anyway. He set the Flower aside and decided to taste the Goomnut.
Goombario had started munching on the Nutty Cake and stared at the Fire Flower with high hopes. "Can you turn into Fire Mario with that? I tried before but-" He stopped short, suddenly flustered that he had just admitted to trying out Magic.
Mario didn't seem to notice, and took a look at the red plant. After musing for a little bit, he shook his head. This Fire Flower was too young. It usually took quite a bit of time and care for a Fire Flower to bloom like it did in the wild. Unless you ate it but it was extremely spicy.
"That makes sense." After hesitating a bit, Goombario admitted, "Goombaria and I put our money together to buy one at Toad Town so I could try it out, but it didn't work, so we just hid it up near the Forest by our house. Up on a ledge so it won't catch fire. I haven't been there in some time though...I wonder if that one has bloomed?"
Mario paused to consider where he had obtained this Fire Flower before deciding to let the subject drop, with an aversion of eyes and an awkward cough.
"...Anyway, should we get going?" Goombario asked.
Mario nodded and scarfed down the Goomnut before putting the Mushroom and Fire Flower back in the pack. It was a nice rest but Princess Peach wouldn't wait forever!
The Hero and the Fanboy continued down the road...
...And they didn't get more than a few yards when they came across the Spring the Goomba Family used to travel to Toad Town, and another interruption.
"Hey, hey! Hold it right there!"
Mario and Goombario looked at each other and then around for the voice.
"Yeah, you two! Don't move!"
Finally, a Red and Blue Goomba appeared over the ledge.
"Aha! You're Mario!" The Red one spoke up. "You can't go past here, Mr. Big Shot."
"Yeah! It's a direct order from the King himself!"
"Bows-?" Mario began, but the Red Goomba continued.
"That's right! The Goomba King!"
It was Goombario's turn to be confused. "Goomba King? Who's that?"
"Someone who's greater than you!" Blue bragged, "We're head of his Army!"
"...All nine of them?" Goombario asked flatly, thinking back to the Goombas they fought.
Mario couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey!" Red growled, "Stop laughing! The only way through is through the Goomba Bros.!"
Mario stopped, and couldn't decide if he wanted to be annoyed or laugh even harder at the name steal.
"Let's get this washed-up plumber and the wanna-be hero, Blue!"
"Yeah! Let's do it, Bro!"
The two jumped from the ledge in a rather impressive leap and the battle begun.
Immediately, the Brothers went after Mario, but he was ready. As they landed, the overall-clad hero had already jumped towards them and landed on Red's head, bouncing off him safely.
It didn't look like it hurt him much, but it was more damage than that fight with Bowser. Maybe the Koopa King had planned ahead a bit more than Mario initially thought.
"Hmn, they seem to be more durable than a normal Goomba, but I'm sure we can take them with no problem, Mario!" Goombario said.
Mario considered this briefly. It'd probably be best to get rid of them at the same time...Ah, the Fire Flower!
Before he grabbed the plant, however, Red gave him a strong Headbonk and made him stumble. Finding the perfect opening, Blue followed suit and managed to knock the plumber down.
"Ha! Did you see that?" Blue bragged once again, "There's no way Mario can beat us! Much less the Goomba King!"
"Got that right, Bro!" Red encouraged him.
Goombario stepped forward to make them eat their words, but halted when he noticed Mario grab the Fire Flower from his bag while the duo was distracted. He just kind of stared as the Hero scooped up dirt to plant the Fire Flower. ...What was he doing? Didn't he just say that it took a long time to grow it? What was he planning?
Mario 'activated' the Fire Flower and scrambled back with a grin.
Red and Blue didn't notice the agitated Fire Flower until it was too late.
Goombario was shocked at the sudden spew of fireballs that shot out from the fiery plant. "Whoa..."
The quick thinker stood to his feet and hoped that it was enough to stop the brothers.
It wasn't.
Red growled, "Do you think a cheap shot like that will be able to defeat us, Mario?!" It was hard to take him seriously with the soot in his face. Also, Blue was coughing at the smoke, so the tough act was dropped when Red began to fret over him. "Feeling okay, Goomblue? You can still fight, right?"
"They get distracted so easily..." Goombario muttered, "But it looks like Blue is less healthy than Red, Mario..."
Mario got where Goombario was going at. Blue first, than Red. It shouldn't be too difficult.
"Hey, why don't you try out the Badge now?" Goombario managed to ask, right before the Goomba Brothers got back into the battle.
Red caught Mario off-guard and gave a hefty head bonk. This time, Mario anticipated Blue's second quick attack and swung his hammer blindly, still feeling the sharp pain on his head. Blue backed off momentarily, but charged forward with a kick. It hit, and honestly, it was annoying that it did hit. He brought his hammer once more, but it missed as Blue jumped back.
Goombario hopped up and landed a hit on Red.
"You little punk..." the angry Goomba snarled, about ready to attack the younger mushroom. However, he was cut off when Mario jumped and the Badge flashed, indicating its use. Even Mario was surprised at how it strong it felt when he landed and when he bounced off, he stumbled a bit.
Turning around after he landed next to Goombario, Mario was glad to see that Red Goomba collapsed on the ground, beaten. Well, Red and then Blue was still just as good.
"R-Red! My brother! You jerk, Mario!"
The plumber felt a little guilty until remembering it was them who started the battle, not him. But he only remembered after Blue Goomba gave him a nasty headbonk as retaliation.
Due to the Goomba's reliance on his brother for their battle strategy however, Goombario was able to jump forward and land on him.
Blue frowned, "Ow...you little punk..."
Mario gave him no time to recover, and went to jump on him. Blue swerved out of the way and attempted to headbonk the number one foe of the Koopa Kingdom. This time, without Red to distract him beforehand, Mario swung the hammer up to hit the Goomba away from him.
Triumphantly, Goombario jumped and gave the Goomba a nice headbonk. With a final groan, Blue fell...just as Red came to once more.
The Heroic Duo braced themselves to fight but Red only cared about his brother. "Ack! Goomblue! My younger brother! You'll pay for this Mario..." Red hesitated as he stood up, looking between the two. "...But I'll...I'll let you go for now! You won't get past our Goomba King anyway!" Helping Blue, or 'Goomblue' now, stand up, the two notorious brothers made their getaway.
Mario watched them go with a sigh and wiped his brow.
"Heh," Goombario laughed quietly, "They're some fighters, but it was obvious we were going to win from the start!"
Mario threw him a thumbs-up before getting a Mushroom and eating it in a few bites. He began to walk forward and nonchalantly jumped on the spring to the cliff. Hoping Toad Town wasn't that far to have a proper meal, he asked Goombario when they should get there.
"Well, we made good time. It usually takes a day to get there, but it might have just been because Mom took her time and Goombaria slowed us down purposely. I think we can get there by evening."
Sounded as good as it can get. As they walked towards wherever the 'Goomba King' was, there was a lone sleeping Goomba with a half eaten mushroom. Was this supposed to be their guard...? Rolling his eyes, Mario glanced at the sign that was placed snugly near a small hill.
"Goomba King's Fortress ahead?" Goombario read aloud in confusion. "This wasn't here before. This is the road to Toad Town."
Mario shrugged. They might as well just see who the so called 'Goomboss' is.
"Goomba King," Goombario corrected. "But sure, let's go."
"Uh..." Goombario looked at the giant building in front of them. "There was never a door blocking this building before...The bridge should be on the other side, Mario."
Mario was about to reply when the ground quaked violently, as if a giant was purposely stomping on the ground inside the fortress to try and scare the two heroes off...it didn't work.
The Goomba Bros jumped on top of the fortress, and were flanked by the grand Goomba King himself, who made the earth shake again when he landed heftily.
"So, Mario, it is true! You've made it this far! I respect you for that...But this is where your trip ends, Mario!" He hid it well, but there was a hint of nervousness to his voice. "I, the great and powerful King Goomba, will to see to it that's true!"
"Haha! You hear that, Mario! Not one step farther! You scared, now?" Red goaded.
"Bah ha! Yeah, you're scared all right! Wanna say you're sorry!?" It was Blue this time.
Mario wasn't really impressed.
"But wow..." Goombario said in awe, "That Goomba King is really huge! I mean, look at him! He looks very powerful!" Despite himself, he felt a bit intimidated.
"..."
"...Oh, but who cares about how strong he looks? You're much stronger!" Goombario smiled. He had almost forgotten who he was with! ...Almost.
"Beat him up, King Goomba! We've got your back!" Red piped up.
"Yeah! We'll teach him and that punk Goomba who thinks he's so high and might just for hanging around Mario a thing or two!" Blue added, quite bitterly.
Red and Blue's encouragement, along with Goombario's shocked outburst seemed to make the King more confident. "Ready to face my wrath, Mario? You'd better be!" He easily cleared the building and landed in front of the Plumber and the traitor Goomba. He easily dwarfed them and laughed as Mario braced himself for a battle. It felt great to be so much bigger than before! "Leave him to me!" He boomed out to Red and Blue.
...And wow. I didn't really expect to take so long on this chapter. :v Maybe it's justifiable, since a lot of things did happen in this one? Eh, either way, it's out now, and you can all enjoy it~ Toad Town is close, and there's plenty of places to visit and people to check up on...I wonder where they'll go first?
And just one last time in this chapter, thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites, guys! C: