"How'd you even do that?" Mallow asked Mario as they walked back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"It's no problem at all; you just have to focus your power-up energy, until the only place left for it to go is out." As Mario explained, he started holding a red flame. "For me, it happens to be fire power."

"Cool! Do you think I have some special ability?" Mallow asked hopefully.

"Well, you can make it rain. That's kinda cool!"

"Yeah, but I meant, a useful ability! Maybe I could read people's minds! Or, I could make a hurricanes and twisters! Or, I could make stars rain down from the…"

"Let's not get too carried away." Mario asked as they approached town.

"Okay, then just run that errand, and go back to my grandpa's place. You should meet him! He knows EVERYTHING!"

"Well, I guess I could do that. Maybe I'll ask him where the Princess is. Then, all I've got to do is find her, beat Bowser again, and it's back to home sweet…" Mario stopped abrubtly.

Mallow stopped too. They were at the Mushroom Kingdom, but something wasn't right. "Woah, it looks like a twister already came through here!" Mario ran ahead into the town. "Mario! Wait up!" Inside, the town was devastated. Running all around the town were panicked Toads, and they were being chased by Shy Guys, except these were bouncing up and down on top of strange sword-looking pogo sticks. The Shy Guys were causing trouble everywhere.

"Come play! Come play!" One said.

"Go away! Leave me alone!" An Toad yelled as he ran away.

"Friends! BFF's!"

"I don't even know you! Help!"

"Please! Take my wallet! My house! My wife!" Another unlucky Toad cried.

"We already did!"Mallow caught up. "Woah, what's going on here? Looks like a dump here."

Mario tried to silence him. "Shhh, don't make any sudden movements. If we sneak by them, we can get to the castle."

"But why do you want to get to the castle so badly?" Mallow still talked in the same tone.

"There's way too many of them." Mario still whispered. "We'll have an easier time if they aren't all coming for us at once."

"What are you talking about! You took out all those dog-things back at the pass. I'd bet you could take them with your bare hands! No, with only one hand! No, you could beat them all with both hands tied behind your back…"

"Look, everybody!" A Shy Guy shouted. "A marshmallow, and a sausage!"

"Yeah, that'll be awesome! You'll just be like 'It's a-me! Mario!' and they'll be like, 'Oh please, don't hurt us!' and you'll be like…"

"Just be quiet! If you don't stop, I'll be deaf, so just…" With a heavy crunch noise, Mario stepped on his foot. Mallow was on the verge of tears. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see it there! It was an accident I swear!"

"How could you not see them?" Mallow cried. "I wear hot pink shoes! I don't think I'll be able to walk like this!"

"Just calm down, I'm sure you'll be…"

"I'm a cripple!" A thunder clap sounded, and a heavy downpour came upon the town. The Shy Guys' contraptions started rusting, and they fell over like dominos.

"Oh no! It's raining!"

"Please don't hurt us, Mr. Raincloud!"

"Quick, inside the castle!"

"Yeah, Mack'll give us new toys!"

All the Shy guys ran indoors. The Toads that were being terrorized then started mobbing Mario, shouting praises!"

"You saved us, Mario!"

"You knew it'd rain if he cried! So ingenious!"

"The kingdom is safe with you around!"

"Sign my sweater-vest!"

"Have my kids!"

"Oh, it's okay. It was no problem! Yes, I'm a natural. Signing babies in pen probably isn't good for them! It's a been a real…" Mallow was pouting right next to the croud. "All right, um, we've got to go now. A hero's work is never done!"

"The castle is still taken!"

"Help the chancellor and the Princess!"

"Right." Mario said under his breath. "Because the Princess is definitely in the castle and not stars know where." Mario jumped up and said, "Wait here. I'll save the Princess." He walked up to Mallow and said. "All right, come on Mallow! We've got a job to do!"

Mallow stared at him with contempt and said, "Oh, no. You've got this Mario. I don't need to help. I'll just sit tight right here."

Mario said quieter, "I don't have time for this. Come on!" He grabbed Mallow by the arm and dragged him to the front gates of the castle. He grabbed his hammer, and pounded in the castle doors. "Luckily, the castle isn't known for its defenses."

Upon walking in, the door shut tightly. There was no one to be found. "Well, should we start looking around?" Mallow kept ignoring him.

"Psst." A Toad was peeking in from a corridor, and beckoning Mario to follow him. "Over here!" Mario started going while Mallow pouted behind him. "Thank goodness you're here Mario! All the people who couldn't escape the castle in time are in Princess Toadstool's room. There are two guards outside the door, and I'm too scared to pass by them!"

"No problem, I'll…" Mallow shot him a mean-looking glance. Mario sighed. "We'll take care of them." Mario ran up to the door when two Shy Guys on the contraptions from earlier shouted, "Not so fast, pal! Who do you think you are? Don't you know who we are?"

"We're the Shysters!" The other one said. "We're the best bouncers around!"

"If bouncing were an Olympic sport, we'd win all the medals!"

"Look at him! He can't even bounce! Maybe we should bounce on your head!" The Shy Guys bounced up, and they came short. Mario jumped up and landed on their own heads.

"Bounce on your head? That's a great idea!" Mario beckoned to Toad and Mallow.

"Saved by Mario again! How can I ever thank you enough?" Toad snatched the keys to the bedroom, and unlocked the door. "Hey, everyone! Mario's here!" The Toads started running to the door and embracing Mario and the lone Toad.

"You're in one piece!"

"Yeah, thanks to Mario!"

"Mario? How can we ever thank you?"

"Is everyone all right?"

"Well, not everyone. The chancellor is still in the throne room! And their boss is in there too!"

"Oh, no! That's terrible! But… with Mario… we're safe… right?" Mario nodded. "There we go! Oh, before you go, take this." The Toad went through the closet and took out a small box. "It helps with your power-up powers. Princess Toadstool would be glad that you have something of hers."

"Thank you. You'd all better stay here. There are still some guards out there."

"Good luck, Mario! And your cauliflower friend, too!"

Mario ran back to the main corridor, and then ran at full speed to the throne room door. He jumped up and kicked the doors open. Slouching on the throne was someone Mario didn't recognize. He was wearing a facemask and beside him was an even bigger version of the devices the Shy Guys were using. It looked more like a huge knife than a sword. Of course, no one noticed Mario big entrance. "Where do ya think everyone went?" One of them said.

"Who cares? We can bounce all the day long! And there's no one here to ruin our day!"

"Well gang," The guy on the throne said, "looks like we've found a new home!"

"Yahoo!" The rest said. "Let's bounce the night away!"

Mario walked up to the throne, and they finally noticed him. "Not so fast, pal!"

"Who do you think you are? Don't you know who we are?"

"We're the Shysters! We're the best bouncers around!"

"If bouncing were an Olympic sport, we'd win all the medals!"

"Look at him! He can't even bounce! Maybe we should bounce…" Mario interrupted the last one by hitting him through the window with his hammer.

"I've heard this already. Just leave this place if you don't want to get hurt."

"No way!" The figure stood up. "You're a bully. We don't like bullies." The boss got on his own device and yelled, "Listen up gang! This jerk is going to put a stop to OUR party! Are we happy about this?"

"You're asking for it!"

"You're gonna get it!"

"How about a fat lip to go with that ugly mustache?"

"You picked the wrong people to not bounce with, bub!"

"All right gang, attack!"

They all tried jumping on Mario at the same time, but they landed on nothing. Once again, Mario landed on their heads. "The others tried that too!" He exclaimed.

"You meanie! You're gonna pay for doing that to my friends!" The boss jumped to where Mario was, but he dodged at the last second. "That hammer won't reach me while I'm bouncing!" He bounced several more times, but Mario kept running. "And I can bounce higher than you! What do you say to that?"

Mario then stopped, and said. "Then, let's turn up the heat!" He threw several fireballs at the boss. It torched everything around it, but barely scratched the boss.

"You call that fire? Ha! My grandma could make better fireballs than you!" To prove his point, he conjured a massive wall of fire between Mario and himself. "Get up, everyone!" The Shy Guys got back on their devices. "Let's teach this jerk a lesson!" Mario started running again, throwing fireballs to slow them down. As he was doing that, Mallow walked in the door.

"There you are, Mallow! I could use some help!" Mallow crossed his arms. "There's a lot of them, and they all resist my fire power! Come on, help me out!" Mallow sat down. "Mallow, please, just do something! Anything!"

Mallow stood up. "You know, ever since we got here, you've been treating me like a sidekick, and like a little kid. Well, I'm tired of it, so just buzz off!" As Mallow yelled those words, a blast of lightning came down and hit the Shysters.

"Ack! I can't move!" Mario took this time to jump on top of the boss, and after he bounced off his head, he brought down his hammer onto its head. The boss steamed and exploded. Mallow was amazed by that. "Did I do that lightning bolt?"

Mario patted him on the back. "You sure did. Thanks." Mallow pouted again as if he remembered to be upset with him.

"Oh no! They beat Mack!" the other Shysters said.

"Run away! Run away!"

"The mustachioed one is strong! Really strong!"

"We have to tell the boss!"

"Come on, let's get 'em!" Mallow said.

"No, they won't do much trouble now that their leader is gone. But what's this?" Mario noticed a brilliant blue star-shaped object. It seemed to radiate a strong energy. "My plot-sensitive item senses are tingling." When Mario got close to it, the star spun around him and then Mario grabbed it and raised it above his head.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know, I always do this when I get something important on my travels." Mario said. He then noticed a Toad hiding behind the pillars. "Look, it's the chancellor!"

"Mario? Is that really you? I knew you'd come to our rescue again. But who were they? They said that their name was Mack, and he expressed some kind of boredom from guarding that star. Hmm…"

The Toads that were holed up in Peach's bedroom ran into the throne room, and shouted, "Chancellor! Thank goodness you're alright!"

The chancellor nodded. "These past events were much too taxing on my heart. First the Princess, and now this! It's just too much to bear!"

Mallow spoke up. "Maybe I could ask my grandpa for help. He knows everything!"

"I'm sorry, little cauliflower, but who are you?"

"My name's Mallow. I'm from Tadpole Pond."

"Oh, very well. Any friend of Mario's is welcome here." He turned back to Mario. "As I was saying, Mario, you are our only hope. You simply must rescue the princess, now! I just can't take it anymore…"

"But, no pressure." Mallow added.

"Right, so let's go, partner." Mallow crossed his arms. "We can get you that thing that you were going to get him on the way out." Mallow jumped up and ran off with him.