Chapter IV

The Pigs of the Town

"Here we are, gang! Twilight T-" Red began to say.

"This is kinda scary." Aimee shuddered.

"KINDA!?" Paul jumped. "This is terrifying!"

"Calm down, Paul." Gyanna smacked him. "You'll live."

"I hope." Paul muttered.

"Here's a local." Red pointed. "C'mon, Robbie, ask him where we are."

"Eeeeeeeeh, Ma'an!" Robbie protested. "Why do I gotta do this?"

"Because!" Abbie agreed. "You're…You!" She struggled to find a reason.

"Fine" Robbie approached him. "Eeeeeeeeh, Ma'an!" he greeted.

"Ay, man to you, too." The citizen greeted. "Welcome to Twilight Town. Good that you're here, we don't get many visitors from…outside."

"Ooooooooooookay." Abbie agreed.

"Your clothes… you must be fighters from Glitzville, correct?" He asked.

"What? Oh, no. We just wore these to get through the pipe." Red piped up. "We used to be fighters." Red and the team took off their jackets.

"Oh. Let me try again…" The citizen suggested. "You must be adventurers!" he guessed.

"Correct!" Red winked.

"This may be the perfect time you could have came. We have a little dilemma here." He pointed.

"I'll say." Aimee agreed. "These buildings could use a new coat of paint."

"That, too." The citizen agreed. Suddenly, a bell rang in the distance. "OH, NO!" The citizen cried. "The bell rang! Which means…" He disappeared in a pink puff and reappeared as a pig.

"What the hell!?" Erick asked.

"I'm gone! I'M GONE!" Paul ran to the pipe, but Gyanna caught him.

"Stop your whining!" She ordered. "You'll be fine. You're not dead yet."

"YET!" Paul passed out. Gyanna just shook her head in disbelief.

"What's going on here?" Robbie asked in disbelief. "The bell tolls and people turn into pigs!?"

"Maybe someone around here can tell us what this is all about." Red thought as the group began to roam the town. An old man approached them, as they roamed.

"Hello, travelers. I am the mayor of this miserable town. Some call me Dour." He introduced.

"I'm Red, Red Yoshi. These our my friends, Aimee, Paul, Gyanna, Robbie, Abbie and Erick."

"Nice to meet you, Dour!" Erick greeted. "Tell ya, this isn't the ice-est place around to live."

"I agree with you fully. Come to my house, this isn't the place to tell stories." Dour explained, as he led the group to his house.

"Nice." Aimee commented. "Cozy."

"Please sit. It's not much, but I call it home." Dour welcomed. "I would like to formally welcome you and your friends to Twilight Town. Or at least I would like to. Tea, anyone?"

"I'll have some." Red requested. "Thank you."

"Things have been nothing but bad here lately. It may be fate that we've come to meet you, but then again maybe not. Anyway, thank you for coming. Are you folks familiar with the metropolis revolution?"

"No, can't say we are." Red answered.

"I am." Abbie answered. "It's where all these cities in Rogueport's surrounding area begin to expand to massive size. Petalburg and Glitzville for example."

"Yes, that's it. Except we're the last place to go through this stage." Dour continued. "Mainly because of our little problem we have here."

"It's got something to do with the pigs, right?" Gyanna asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Our town has been cursed." Dour began. "Beyond this town his a forest, a forest that has expanded vastly to link to a forest known as Forever Forest, but the path has never been found there. They say the path reveals itself to you if you are of good intention. Anyway, that's another story. In the Twilight Town branch of the forest, there is an ancient building in the heart of the forest, known as Creepy Steeple. A dark creature lives there, the one who cursed us. Whenever the bell rings, a citizen of Twilight Town is turned into a pig. We wake up every day, wondering if it will be us who becomes a pig next. If this continues, our town will be nothing but a giant pigpen, which would be bad. It's nice of you to come this way, but leave now! We would not want one of you to become swine like us."

"Sorry, but we can't do that." Red accepted. "We're here on a mission of a great importance. We're here in search of a Crystal Star known as the Ruby Star."

"Hmm." Dour thought. "Never heard of such a thing before. But in Creepy Steeple, there is a glittery red star-shaped stone."

"That must be it!" Robbie figured. "That fits the Ruby Star's description perfectly, Ma'an!"

"Robbie's right." Abbie agreed. "How do we get to Creepy Steeple?"

"You folks want to go to Creepy Steeple?" Dour asked. "Brrrrrrrr…. Unthinkable!"

"Well, we'll have a look around for a bit." Red explained. "We'll be sure to notify you if we find anything suspicious." The group proceeded out.

"Hey, Fred." Erick began. "I'm starving. I'm gonna swing by a shop to get something."

"We'll go with you." Red explained. "Better we don't get split up here." They walked into the store, but there was nothing for sale. "Excuse me," Red approached a woman in the store.

"Oh, a customer." She responded. She was crying.

"What seems to be the problem?" Red asked.

"My husband! He's been turned into a pig." She explained. "He went into the forest to collect some herbs yesterday, but only a pig returned!"

"Egad!" Paul gasped. "Ominous."

"If there was only some way to restore him, I could sell you something. But everything for sale is locked in back, and the key is missing. Oh, I don't know what I'll do."

Red and the team walked out. "Well, we'd better head to Twilight Trail and get looking for the Ruby Star."

"You guys headed out of town?" A gatekeeper asked.

"Yeah!" Erick responded. "We're gonna defeat that monster and claim the Ruby Star!"

"What!?" The gatekeeper was shocked. "You guys are going to defeat the monster?"

"That's the plan, Stan!" Erick confirmed.

"Well, I guess I can let you guys out. With the mayor's permission, though."

"Let's go ask." Red commanded. "He'll understand."


"Hey, the bell just rang again!" Abbie heard.

"Uh oh." Red realized. "Someone just got turned into a pig. Poor soul." He opened the door to the Mayor's house, only to be greeted by a pig!"

"The MAYOR!" Paul caught a glimpse. "HE'S A PIG!" The citizens of the town gasped.

"Well, guess that means we can go through, now." Aimee figured. They returned to the gate.

"The Mayor!" Red explained. "He's been turned into a pig!"

"The gatekeeper's a pig too, Red!" Robbie pointed out.

"Well, guess that means we can go." Red assumed. "Let's go, team."


"This is a pretty creepy path, Red." Aimee agreed.

"Yeah, it is." Red agreed. "Let's keep moving. Maybe we can find a key or something to help solve this case."

"Found some sort of key, Red!" Abbie held up a black key. "Maybe it's for something in town."

"Well, let's keep going until we get stuck." Red figured. The team nodded, as they traversed the Twilight Trail. They ran into powered-up Goombas that were stronger and more resilient. They still were not able to pose much of a challenge to the team. They walked forward until they found a large tree that had toppled. They found a key near it, but could go no further. "Guess we'd better head back to town." Red figured.


"I think this goes in the storeroom in the store!" Robbie figured.

"Go check." Red ordered. "We'll wait outside." Robbie walked in.

"Miss? I think we found the key for the storeroom." Robbie showed.

"Oh, yes. That's it. Help yourself to whatever's inside." She dismissed. Robbie opened the room to find a large black chest, a Defend Plus badge, a Life Shroom, a Boo's Sheet and a Jammin' Jelly. "Wonder what's inside this big, black chest?" Robbie opened the chest. "Nothing?" He wondered.

"Not nothing!" The chest cackled. "I'm gonna put a curse on you for opening me! You will be humiliated by being able to fold up like a paper and ROLL! HA! I'm so evil. BE CUUUUUUURSED!" He zapped Robbie, 'cursing' him.

"Uggh!" Robbie groaned. "Riveting. Let's see if I can roll up now." He focused on being paper thin, and then rolled himself up. "Sweet, Ma'an!" Robbie realized. "Now I can fit under that tree!"


"Hey, Robbie. Find anything cool in the room?" Erick asked.

"Yeah, Ma'an!" Robbie winked. "I got zapped by some chest now, and I can roll under the fallen tree like paper now!"

"Great." Aimee agreed. "But what about the rest of us?"

"Well, if I ink the ground as I go under the tree, you guys should be able to squid underneath."

"It's worth a try!" Red agreed. "Let's go find out!"


"Okay, we're back." Paul checked the surroundings. "Yep, same fallen tree."

"Okay, Robbie." Red nodded. "Give it a try."

"All right." Robbie concentrated, and turned paper-thin and rolled himself into a roll. "Ink me!" He yelled in his tubed state. Paul gave him some ink from his roller. Robbie inked it as he rolled under the tree. "It worked, Ma'an! Come on through!" The group travelled underneath.

"Let's head into the forest!" Erick led. "It's through this pipe, I think."

"But first, let's take this tree down." Red ordered. "Paul! I need Splat Bombs. With enough of these guys under the tree, it should generate enough force to move the thing off the road!"

"It's worth a try." Paul agreed. He set a large quantity of Splat Bombs underneath the fallen tree. He set them off, successfully blowing the tree to bits. "Won't have to worry about that anymore."

"Let's head into the woods, team. We don't what lurks inside." Red warned.


"Golly, this is a scary forest!" Paul shuddered. "I'd sure be scared of being lost forever here!"

"Don't worry, we won't get lost in this large a group." Red assured. A few mad flowers, better known as Crazee Daisee, attacked the group, but they were able to fend off the picky plants.

"What's this weird box here?" Red busted it open.

"Looks like a badge, Red!" Aimee suggested.

"Yeah, says it's called. Hammer Throw. Guess I can now throw my hammer without fear of losing it." Red laughed as he pinned it on. "Let's keep moving!" More Crazee Daisees and a Hyper Cleft, a more powerful version of the Cleft, confronted them, but they were able to fight them off. They kept walking until they reached the gate of a large abandoned structure.

"There it is:" Red announced. "Creepy Steeple."