Mario, Luigi, the Princess, Toad, Franky, and Puffball followed Koopa's trail up the stairs of the mansion, mostly thanks to Puffball's sense of smell. Unfortunately, when they reached the attic, they found themselves at a dead end.
"Oh great," Toad groaned. "We've lost Koopa."
"We couldn't have!" the Princess shouted. "We saw him come up the stairs this way, and Puffball sniffed him out all the way up here."
"Maybe Puffball's got a pulverized proboscis," Mario said.
"What?!" the others shouted, giving Mario a weird look.
"A busted sniffer," Mario said, shrugging. "I'm with Toad on this one, gang. We must have made a wrong turn somewhere. Koopa couldn't have come up here. There's no where to go to!"
"Not unless he jumped out the window," Luigi said.
"Hmmm . . . ." Franky said, thoughtfully. He kept staring at the wall. Then he snapped his fingers. "I got it!"
"What have you got?" Mario asked.
"Koopa went up to the roof!" Franky shouted.
"The roof?!" the others shouted.
"You off your rocker?" Toad asked. "How'd he get to the roof from here? Climb out a window and scale the outside wall?"
"Nope," Franky said, walking over to a light fixture on the wall. He pulled on it, and suddenly, the wall slid open, revealing a set of stairs.
"Holy macaroni!" Luigi shouted. "A secret passage!"
"And these stairs lead directly up to the roof," Franky said.
"How do you know that?" the Princess asked.
"I found this thing when I was ten," Franky said. "Dad and Phyllis don't even know about it. Well, at least Dad doesn't. I think Phyllis might now, come to think of it."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Mario asked. "We've got some Koopa to kick!"
With Mario leading the way, our heroes dashed up the staircase, and opened a doorway. Just as Franky had predicted, there was Koopa, standing by the edge of the roof, holding both of Phyllis's wrists in his hands. Phyllis was struggling to pull away, but Koopa had a grip like a vice.
"What took you so long?" Koopa asked.
"Luigi!" Phyllis shouted. "Luigi, help me!"
"You . . . . you scaly slime sucker!" Luigi shouted, as he came forward. "I oughta . . . ."
"Watch it, buster," Koopa warned. "After all, we wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to your little girlfriend here, now would you?"
"Let her go, Koopa!" Luigi shouted.
"Oh, I'll let her go all right," Koopa said, as he lifted Phyllis slightly off the floor, and held her over the edge of the roof. "I'll let her go like this if any of you make any false moves!"
"You wouldn't dare!" Luigi shouted.
"Do you really want to take the chance that I won't?" Koopa asked, sneakily.
"Oh boy, are we really up the creek this time," Luigi said, nervously.
"All right, Koopa," Mario said. "You've got the upper hand for now. What's it gonna take for you to let Phyllis go?"
"Not much," Koopa said. "All I want is Princess Toadstool to sign over the Mushroom Kingdom to me, that's all."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Toad said.
"Never!" the Princess shouted. "I'll never sign over my kingdom to the likes of an evil, depraved villain like you, Koopa!"
"I'd think about it if I were you," Koopa said. "After all, it's a pretty long way down to the ground from here."
Koopa then pretended to loosen his grip, and nearly allowed Phyllis to fall, just to scare the Princess and the others.
"Whoopsie," he said, in a mock sing-song tone.
"What are we going to do?" Toad asked. "You can't sign over the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess!"
"And we can't let him just drop Phyllis off the roof, either," the Princess said.
"What I wouldn't give for a Bob-omb right about now," Mario said.
"Well, my fine, feathered, fiends," Koopa said. "What's it going to be? Are you gonna sign over your kingdom, Princess, or does Blondie get a flying lesson?"
"I really don't like those choices," Mario said.
"Well, too bad, because those are the only ones you get!" Koopa shouted. "You've got five seconds to decide!"
Mario and the others looked at each other nervously. They didn't have the slightest idea what they were going to do. Puffball, on the other hand, had an idea of her own. Quietly, she snuck up on Koopa from behind, crouched, wiggled her rear, and pounced on Koopa, latching onto his neck with her back claws, and raking her front claws across the top of his head.
"YEEEEOOOOOOUCH!" Koopa shouted at the top of his lungs.
Koopa ultimately let go of Phyllis, but he was so surprised by the sudden attack, he wound up accidentally throwing her to the side, causing her to land on the opposite side of roof. Immediately, Luigi ran over, and helped her up.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yes," Phyllis said. "I think so."
"You won't be for long, Blondie!" Koopa shouted, as he managed to rip Puffball off of him, and tossed her to the side. Luckily, she landed on her feet.
"And after I deal with all of you," Koopa continued, pulling a sword out of his shell, "I'll deal with that albino fleabag!"
Koopa raised his sword, and brought it down quickly, but Luigi pulled out a pipe wrench and blocked the attack. Koopa growled, and continued to try to strike, but Luigi kept blocking the blows with the wrench. He also tried hitting Koopa with it, but the large reptile was easily blocking the plumber's attacks.
"Yo, Mario!" Luigi called. "I could use a little help, here!"
"Right, bro!" Mario shouted, taking a plunger out of his overalls. He aimed, and threw it as hard as he could. It landed directly on Koopa's snout, causing the royal reptile to drop his sword, as the plunger became stuck.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Get this thing off me!"
"Sure thing," Mario said. He grabbed his plunger, and yanked. Koopa's nose was pulled forward quite a bit before the plunger came loose.
POP!
Koopa's nose then snapped back into place, and vibrated a little bit. He grabbed it to stop the movement, but the minute his guard was down, Franky jumped up, and gave the repulsive reptile a karate kick right in the stomach.
"Hiyah!" he shouted.
"Ow!" Koopa shouted, as he hit the ground.
"Take that, Koopa Stoopa!" Toad shouted.
"Wait'll I get my hands on you, you little fungus!" Koopa shouted, getting up.
"Not if I can help it, Lizard Lips!" Franky shouted. He grabbed Koopa by the tail, and managed to flip him over his shoulder, karate style.
"Hah!" he shouted.
"Yaaahhhh!" Koopa shouted as he flew, and then crash landed on the floor.
WHAM!
"Franky!" Phyllis shouted, sounded a bit exasperated. "Why in the world didn't you use your karate skills when Koopa attacked the first time?!"
"Because he had his Stoopa Troopas with him the first time," Franky said. "I was outnumbered! I'm only a blue belt, sis, cut me a break!"
"I'll cut you a break all right!" Koopa shouted, swinging his tail at our heroes. Everyone jumped in different directions to avoid it. Koopa swung his tail again, and managed to smack Franky in the side of the head with it, knocking him to the floor.
"Ack!" he shouted, once he landed, hitting the other side of his head. He wasn't knocked out, but he was too dazed to move.
"All right, you little brat!" Koopa shouted. "I'm gonna take care of you first! I'm gonna squash you like the little bug you are!"
Koopa gently placed his foot against Franky's head, and smiled wickedly, preparing to slowly, and painfully crush the teenager's skull. Phyllis ran up to him, grabbed his arm, and tried to pull him away.
"Don't you dare!" she shouted. Koopa glared at her, and shoved her aside, as hard as he could, causing her to fall to the floor.
"Back off, Blondie!" Koopa shouted. "Your bratty brother has been a thorn in my side the minute I got here! I'm gonna take care of him once and for all!"
"No!" Phyllis cried.
"Shame on you, Koopa!" the Princess shouted.
"Yeah, picking on a kid like that!" Toad shouted. "Why dontcha pick on someone your own size?!"
"That would be difficult, mush mouth," Koopa said. "There's nobody here my size! Say bye-bye to your baby brother, Blondie! 'Cause when I'm through with him, you're next!"
Koopa laughed evilly, and applied a little pressure to his foot. Franky groaned, and tried to get up, but he couldn't. Mario was about to rush forward, when Koopa held up his hand to stop him.
"Anybody tries being a hero," he warned, "and I stomp his head in one fell swoop! And you know I'll do it, Mario!"
Mario immediately skid to a halt. Koopa smirked, and continued to add the pressure slowly, and painfully. Phyllis let out a scream, and covered her eyes with her hands. Luigi put his arm around her shoulders.
"You won't get away with this, Koopa!" he shouted.
"That's where you're wrong, Greenie!" Koopa shouted. "I already have!"
Koopa laughed, and was about to apply the final crushing blow to Franky's skull. Puffball could stand this no more. She arched her back, flattened her ears, bared both teeth and claws, hissed, and jumped on Koopa, absolutely furious. She let out a deafening screech, and began clawing the reptile king's head in such rage, she actually began drawing blood! Nobody messed with her Franky and got away with it!
"Ow! Ouch! Ow! Hey!" Koopa shouted, stumbling backwards. "Get offa me, you overgrown drain clog!"
"Atta way to go, Puffball!" Mario shouted.
"Go get 'em, kitty!" Luigi shouted. "You show that overgrown turtle who's boss!"
"Yay, Puffball!" the Princess shouted.
"Puffball! Puffball! She's our cat!" Toad cheered. "She's gonna stomp that Koopa flat!"
Koopa tried to swat at her, but she was clawing at biting at him so hard, all he could do was stumble around. He managed to stumble toward the edge of the roof, and when Puffball noticed this, she jumped off, kicking Koopa in the head as she did, which threw off his balance.
"Oh noooooo!" Koopa shouted, and he fell, but managed to grab the edge of the roof, and dig his fingers in.
"Ha, ha!" Franky laughed, as he and the others ran to Koopa, hanging on for dear life. "Who's got the last laugh now, Lizard Lips?"
And with that, Franky stomped on one of Koopa's hands, and twisted his foot back and forth, as if he were putting out a cigarette.
"Yeow!" Koopa shouted, pulling his hand out from under Franky's shoe, but that turned out to be a mistake, since he was now only hanging by one hand.
"Hmmmm . . . . ." Franky said, thoughtfully, and lifted his foot, ready to stomp on Koopa's other hand. "I wonder what Koopa pancakes would taste like?"
"Franklin Portobello, you are disgusting!" Phyllis scolded.
"Just a thought," Franky said, shrugging. "What do you guys think?"
"Yeah!" Toad shouted. "Let's make a pancake outta this dude!"
"Y-y-you wouldn't just let me fall, would you?!" Koopa shouted. "You're the heroes! You just can't let me fall to my death like this! Save me!"
"After everything you've put us through?" Toad asked. "And not just here at Portobello Port, either! Not a chance, Koopa! I say let him fall!"
"Nah," Mario said. "I can't do it. Not even to Koopa. Come on, Luigi. Let's give him a hand."
"You'll be sorry!" Toad warned.
Mario and Luigi ignored Toad, grabbed Koopa by the wrists, and pulled him back up to the roof. Koopa was so winded from Puffball's attack, all he could do was lie flat on his stomach, and kiss the floor of the roof, happy to be on solid ground again. While Koopa was occupied, Luigi ran over to Phyllis.
"I think everything's going to be fine now," he said.
"I think so, too," Phyllis said, smiling.
Luigi and Phyllis smiled at each other for a few moments, and then leaned in closer, ready to kiss, but before they could, Koopa suddenly appeared before them with a fierce growl.
"I'm gonna rip the lot of you to shreds!" he yelled.
"Oh no you don't!" Luigi shouted, putting himself between Phyllis and Koopa. He pulled out his pipe wrench and hit Koopa in the head with it as hard as he could.
BONK!
While Koopa was stumbling around in a daze, Puffball suddenly jumped him, and kicked him in the stomach with all four of her legs as hard as she could.
"Me-yah!" she shouted, mimicking a stereotypical karate yell.
Koopa lost his footing completely, and fell over the edge of the roof, not having a chance to grab the edge this time. He wound up crash landing into a wheelbarrow full of hay. But the minute he landed, he felt a stinging sensation in his rear end, and jolted upwards. He ended up landing on a needle that was buried in the haystack.
"YEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWWW!" he screamed. This time, his landing wasn't so soft. He wound up doing a belly flop right on the ground.
CRASH!
"I hate those plumbers," he said, dazedly.
"Come on," Mario said. "Let's go round him up once and for all!"
The others agreed, and followed Mario to the secret passage in order to get down to the ground floor without killing themselves. They figured Koopa would be dazed long enough for them to get there. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Koopa had gotten his wits back by this time, and he had one more trick up his sleeve. He pulled a Bob-omb out of his shell, and lit it.
"This oughta take care of them," he said, as he threw it at the front porch, just as our heroes opened the door.
"Uh oh!" Mario shouted. "A Bob-omb!"
"Meow!" Puffball shouted. She turned around, and kicked the Bob-omb like a mule, which sent it flying.
"Bob-ombs away!" Franky called out, as the Bob-omb exploded.
"Way to go, Puffball!" the Princess shouted, picking up the white cat, and giving her a cuddle. Puffball rubbed against the Princess and purred.
"Come on!" Mario shouted. "Koopa's getting away!"
"We'll be sure to catch him this time!" the Princess shouted.