Walking out of the Melty Molten Mountains, Yoshi felt relieved.
Yoshi: Finally, out of that heckhole! I don't know how I feel! Am I hot or cold? WHAT AM I?!
Toad: Must be horrible for a cold blooded to endure.
Yoshi: You have no idea…
Luigi: Wherever we're going next, I hope it's a more normal temperature.
Mario: Who knows what awaits us next?
Just then, Yoshi caught a whiff of something.
Yoshi: *sniff* *sniff* Is that…?
Mario: What is it, Yoshi?
Yoshi: I smell… honey!
Toad: Honey?
Luigi: What would honey be doing in a place like this?
Yoshi: I don't know, but I'm following it!
Yoshi runs in the direction of the smell, and the others follow.
Mario: Yoshi! Wait!
The others catch a whiff of the aroma as well.
Toad: Mmm!
Mario: Maybe this leads somewhere important.
And he was right. The honey whiff led them right into a giant beehive.
Luigi: Gee. This looks even more out of place in this village than that cupcake house.
Toad and Yoshi: HONEY!
The dinosaur and mushroom dashed inside. The two plumbers sweatdropped and rolled their eyes before going after them.
Harried Honey Hive
Harried Honey Hive was a bee's wildlife. One section showed the interior of the hive while the other showed a massive rocky area where the hive was built. It felt as if our heroes were shrunken down to the size of bees, but it didn't seem to bother them. It was actually pretty cool! They just hoped that the bees here were friendly.
Star #1: Bee Exploration (Note: I'm not including the bee powerup because Super Mario Galaxy hasn't happened yet.)
Toad: Wow! We're in a real beehive!
Yoshi: SO… MUCH… HONEY! Almost too much, actually. Normally I'd be able to track down the stars with my scent of smell, but all of this honey is messing it up!
Mario: Hmm… this may be more difficult, then. Why don't we ask around?
As they were looking around, they spotted a nearby bee worker looking sad. They decided to talk to him first.
Mario: Hey, are you okay?
Bee: The mood in our hive has been rather bad lately… The king went missing and we found those webs right next to our main room… Some think we've been invaded by spiders…
Luigi and Toad: Sp-Sp-Sp-SPIDERS?!
Mario: Oh no…
Bee: In fact, one bee claimed to have seen a few spiders carrying a glowing ball that was golden like honey with a "W" on it. They took it into their home.
Mario: (*sarcasm* Oh boy… I wonder who that could be.)
Yoshi: Don't worry. We'll help you!
Bee: Really?! Oh, thank you! Thank you! Oh, and one more thing: before you roam around this place, you should talk to our queen first. She's the only one who can allow permission for free exploring our hive. She's at the next room over there.
Mario: Okay, thanks!
The quartet went in the direction the bee pointed them and climbed their way up in the next room. They saw lots of hives and honeycombs carved in the walls, wooden logs and a huge mushroom. Once they made it to the top, the Honey Queen appeared before them. Mario gestured to the others, and they bowed down to the queen.
Honey Queen: Oh my…! Humans, a yoshi, and a toad! This is the first time I've met creatures like you. I want to find out more about you!
Mario: (Well, she seems nice. I guess this'll be easy.) What do you wish to know, your majesty?
Honey Queen: I notice you don't have wings yet. Are you still larva?
Mario: Um, no. Our species' don't naturally grow wings. And we use the term "baby" instead of "larvae" for our young.
Honey Queen: Oh, interesting… And what do you guys eat?
Mario: Spaghetti!
Luigi: Ravioli!
Toad: Cake!
Yoshi: Fruit!
Honey Queen: Hm… never heard of those… Do you prefer nectar or pollen?
The heroes had to think for a second before making an agreement.
Mario: Nectar, I guess?
Honey Queen: Oh, yeah, me too! And does your species' have a barbed or smooth stinger?
Mario: Neither, but if we did, I'd go with a smooth one.
Honey Queen: You seem like really nice guys! From now on, I will allow other species to walk freely in our hive.
One of her servants gave the heroes yellow and black costumes to show they're at peace with the bees.
Toad: Oooh! We look like bees!
Luigi: Awesome! Say, wouldn't it be cool if there was a bee powerup?
Mario: That's not a bad idea, bro. Maybe something like that does exist.
Yoshi: Well, this is the closest thing we've got for now. It does grant us an immunity to the honey aroma. Thank God, because I was getting tired of it! Now I can sniff out the Star!
Mario: Alright! Then you lead the way, Yoshi!
They went inside an opening where there was a water pond with lily pads. There was a long path to venture with jumps that looked to be too much for Mario, Luigi, and Toad.
Yoshi: I think I should handle this one on my own.
Mario: Okay, be careful, Yoshster.
Yoshi traveled across the lily pads in the pond, then he flutter jumped to a red mushroom, and passed through a wall made of web to land on a platform before finally making a long jump to claim the area's first star.
Star #2: Panic in the Hive
Yoshi reunited with the others.
Yoshi: Okay, I got our first star here. Where to next?
Before Mario could answer, a panicked bee flew over to them.
Bee: Hey you! Come help me fast! These spiders broke into the larvae room!
Mario: Oh no, that's right! The spiders!
Luigi: Mamma Mia!
Bee: We need to get rid of them, before they do any harm to our children!
Toad: NOT THE CHILDREN!
Mario: Don't worry! We'll take care of 'em for you! Come on, everybody!
The four hurried over to the larvae room, which was a bee's equivalent to a nursery, where they saw three spiders about to attack the bee larvae.
Toad: You get away from those children!
Toad takes out one of the spiders, forgetting about his fears while Mario and Yoshi take out the other two. Luigi was too scared to even touch one of them.
Bee: You guys are real lifesavers! Thanks for your help, I gotta make that up to you somehow. Oh, I know, how about you take this star?
The bee takes out a star.
Mario: We accept! Thank you!
They take the star.
Star #3: Throw Out the Intruder
Mario: In order to stop more like this from happening, we'd better put a stop to these spiders! And… believe me… I don't feel any less uncomfortable about it than the rest of you, but we don't have a choice.
Luigi: I guess you're right, bro. At least we have each other for comfort.
Toad: Yeah, and that's what matters most!
Yoshi: Not to mention, Wario's orb is in there. He's not exactly our friend, but he should still prove useful.
Mario: Exactly! Here we go!
The four heroes climbed up a rope of spider silk to get up to the spiders' territory. The area up there wasn't nearly as pleasant as the bees' territory. It was dark and mushy. It gave the four of them the creeps, but they knew they had to move forward. In front of them were four caps with a web symbol on them.
Toad: What kind of caps are these?
Mario: Hmm… never seen them before.
They each put on the caps and their clothes took on a new appearance. Mario and Luigi had a black helmet with the sides protruding spider-like arms, as well as black shirt with white overalls, and a spider's abdomen on their backs, remembling tails. Toad had on similar features, except his vest was now black with a red outline. Yoshi was now black, with his tail being replaced by a spider's abdomen. They were now in their Spider forms.
Spider Luigi: Woah! New powerup!
Spider Mario: I wonder what this one does.
Mario tried using his hand. He shot spider silk straight out of his hands toward the ceiling to form a rope.
Spider Toad: Woah ho ho! We're like Spiderman!
Spider Mario: I guess we are!
Spider Yoshi: In that case, let's SWING into action!
The four laughed for a bit before using their newly found spider powers to swing ropes across gaps before reaching their destination, in a circular area.
At the center was a giant spider with red fangs and eight legs like all spiders. There was also a Red Cross mark on the spider's thorax, in which the four assumed it was its weak spot. She was the spider queen, who was behind the spiders invasion. Toad and Luigi shiver in fear while Mario and Yoshi get in there battle stances.
The Spider Queen's fangs lift up and she roars at the quartet. She starts charging at them to bite them with her fangs. Luigi and Toad were frightened easily and used their powers to spawn ropes to climb away.
Spider Mario: The supposed weak spot is small, so we gotta be smart about this.
Spider Yoshi: I got it!
Yoshi stood on the Queen's abdomen, which caused her to back away while covering her fangs. This gave Mario the chance to pound ground the weak point on her thorax. The Spider Queen roared in pain from the impact and launches the two off her back, landing with a thud.
Spider Mario and Spider Yoshi: OOF!
Spider Luigi and Spider Toad: MARIO! YOSHI!
The Spider Queen was about to tackle Mario and Yoshi, but luckily, Luigi and Toad laid the finishing blow and the creature roared in pain before laying on her back and exploding, leaving behind Wario's orb and turning the heroes back to normal.
All: YAHOO!
Mario: Thank for stepping out of your comfort zones to save us, guys!
Yoshi: It really means a lot.
Luigi: Well, even our fears can't keep us from saving our family and friends.
Toad: True.
Yoshi: Hey, look!
Wario's orb was spinning rapidly and exploded in a flash before Wario came out of it, feeling dizzy.
Wario: Urgh... what did I eat last night?
Mario: Hey, Wario! Glad to have you free!
Wario: Well cousin, I suppose I should thank you. Especially given that I want to teach that loser who wants to destroy our planet a lesson.
Luigi: Well, at least he has a motivation. That's good enough for us.
Yoshi: Yeah, and he packs the brawn.
Wario: Wahahahaha! You bet I've got the brawn! And with it, I'm gonna punch… uh… do you guys know the name of this villain?
Mario: Rashay.
Wario: Rashay! I'mma gonna punch Rashay into next week! Now come on! Let's a go!
Wario runs ahead.
Toad: Sounds cringy when he says it.
Yoshi: I know, right?