"Wow." Red marveled at the sight that lay before him. "That's a pretty big house for some small Boo's. Well, maybe I can buy something to survive a bit longer." He entered the mansion. "Gee, this place is as big as it looks!" Red looked around. "Excuse me." He confronted a Boo. "Is there a shop here I can buy some stuff from?"
"Down the stairs in that room back there." He pointed.
"Thank you." Red nodded. He headed down the stairs to the shop. "Inkopolis needs a place like this for Turf Wars, that's for sure." He approached the shopkeeper. "Hey, I was wondering if I could-"
"We're close-" the shopkeeper Boo began, until he turned to see Red. "WOW! What a remarkable ghost! I've never seen one quite like you before!" He marveled at Red. "What a marvelous purple shade! Such a colour would strike fear into all!" He complimented. "Come, I must take you to see our princess, Lady Bow, Mr.… What's your name?"
'WOW!' Red thought, 'this could be my chance get some help with getting my body back!' He turned the Boo. "That's just it. I don't have a name. I'm not even a ghost!" Red explained. "Some guy who cursed Twilight Town took my name and body, and has tricked Twilight Town into thinking he has cured them! And on top of that, he tricked my team into thinking he's me!"
"Whoa, that's quite a predicament." the shopkeeper Boo summarized. "Normally, we don't help an outsider, but once a ghost ALWAYS a ghost!" he declared. "You are a ghost of your former self, correct? Then we help you. Come, we must bring you to Lady Bow! Swiftly!"
"My, oh MY!" a Boo butler looked Red over. "Where did you find this lad?"
"Don't worry, Bootler!" the shopkeeper assured. "He's one of us. He needs some help only Lady Bow can offer!"
"I see." Bootler nodded. "My lady, the shopkeeper has someone you need to meet."
"Yes, Bootler." Lady Bow motioned. She was a green Boo, who wore pink and red bows and carried a fan. "Who is this here, shopkeeper?"
"That's just it, my lady. He has no name!" the shopkeeper explained.
"Come, come." Bow frowned. "Everyone has a name."
"Not this poor lad, I'm afraid." the shopkeeper convinced.
"I'll take it from here, shopkeeper." Red nodded. "You have my eternal gratitude." He approached Lady Bow and bowed. "Hail, Lady Bow, princess of Boos. I come to you with a most troubling case."
"Well, speak friend!" Bow demanded.
"Thank you. My team and I had gone to Twilight Town looking for a treasure to help with the saving of the world from a group who wants to rule it. We discovered the town was cursed, and we went to find the foul magician." Red explained. "We arrived at the Creepy Steeple to claim the treasure and defeat the evil-doer. I battled him for the Ruby Star, the treasure we sought. He swapped bodies with me halfway through the battle, leaving me identity less. On top of that, he has convinced Twilight Town he saved them, and has tricked my team. I must get my body and name back. The future of the world depends on it! I beg, my lady! Have mercy!"
Lady Bow stood deep in thought. "I would love to help you, but this is a tall order on short notice. We are faced with trouble here, too. A large boo-eating force, who is also in search of the Ruby Star, has attacked us. His name is Octo Grubba."
"OCTO GRUBBA!" Red rose to his feet. "He's one of the members of the group aiming for world domination!" Red explained.
"This is troubling indeed, my lady." Bootler nodded.
"I'll tell you what." Lady Bow smiled. "I would be happy to help you. I will help you with the reclaiming of your identity if you help us defeat and repel Octo Grubba from Gusty Gulch, a small Boo village not to far from here. My Boos and I will help prepare you for this battle. We will ready the warriors test to help you defeat him. It includes the boosting of one's ability to take hits, one's defense power, offensive power, ability to use more powerful moves with less energy and one's movement speed. On top of that, we will be in your eternal debt. Have we a deal?" She asked.
"Yes!" Red seemingly smiled. "YES! My Lady Bow, you have a deal!"
"Awesome!" the shopkeeper cheered. "Hey, everyone!" He yelled to the Boos. "This guy's gonna help us repel Octo Grubba!" The mansion erupted in cheers.
"Boofessor!" Lady Bow clapped. A Boo with a white coat and swirly glasses emerged.
"You called, my lady?" Boofessor asked.
"Yes. Give this traveller the warrior's test." Lady Bow ordered.
"Yes, my lady." Boofessor nodded. He approached Red. He adjusted his glasses. "I see your true identity though my glasses. Yes, I see a young Inkling boy of the famed metropolis of Inkopolis. He is on a quest to save the world from the cursed X-Nauts. He wears the shell of the Paratroopa, which I can fix to improve his mobility. He holds many honours of cities he has saved from these wretched X-Nauts. His name…though it is unknown to him…is Red Yoshi." Boofessor introduced Red.
"Thank you for your help, Red." Lady Bow nodded.
"Thank you, my lady." Red nodded. "Boofessor! Can I get a warrior's test or what?"
"Yes, sir!" Boofessor smiled. "My lady, bring this boy to my basement lab. There we will turn him into a warrior."
Lady Boo warped to the basement with Red. "Here, Red. You will undergo the five-hour warrior's test. Your first challenge is to bathe in the melted shell of the Iron Koopa, hardening your skin. You will bathe for an hour here, and dunk your head under for one minute every twenty minutes. Good luck."
Red nodded. "May I take your shell, Red?" Boofessor asked.
"Sure." Red took it off for him.
"I'm going to turn it into a forearm brace that can activate shields as hard as this shell." Boofessor explained.
"Wait!" Red called. "How will I be able to fly after this?"
"Don't worry, boy!" Boofessor laughed. "The Iron Koopa was in fact an Iron Paratroopa!"
"Sweet!" Red nodded. "Let's get this on!"
"Congratulations, Red. You have finished the first hour of the test." Lady Bow summarized.
"Thank the Great Zapfish for that." Red gasped. "I thought I was gonna melt! Anyway, what did this 'lava-therapy' do for me?"
"Your skin is now as hard as iron, and you have grown wings from your back. Your new wings are as hard as iron, too and can be activated through any shirt." Lady Bow explained.
"Awesome!" Red gave a thumps-up. "What's the next test?"
"Next is the test of speed and the first part of the endurance test." Boofessor took notes on an interactive clipboard. "You will spend an hour on this treadmill. In front of you will be a video of a race. You are running this race. As you keep running, you will level up. As you complete more levels, the treadmill will speed up. The highest level has you running 50 kilometres per hour. The fastest we've ever seen is 45 km. You will run the 50 km's for ten minutes. If you survive this, you complete the challenge. As long as you can complete in an hour, you complete the challenge." Boofessor explained. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be!" Red nodded. He stepped onto the treadmill.
"We start easy, at five kph." Boofessor explained. Red began to jog. "You level up in a minute." A minute passed and Red was still running, as expected. "Next level: 10 kph. You will run this for a minute."
"That was easy!" Red nodded after a minute. "Next levels!" Red burned through the levels. He reached level 10 with 16 minutes to spare.
"Want to keep going, Red?" Boofessor asked Red. Red, who was running 45 still nodded quickly.
"These Inklings can run fast." Lady Bow observed. "I hear the fast ones can run 63."
"Here we go!" Boofessor floated to the control pad. "Don't strain yourself, you have 16 minutes still. Here we go!" He turned it to 50, and Red dropped back noticeably. He may have been a shadow, but he was still sweating pretty badly. He fell off after three.
"WHEW!" Red was out of breath. He sprayed water in his face. "Glitzville wasn't as intense as at all!"
"Get back on, Red!" the shopkeeper realized. Red attempted again, for only two minutes. "You have only 9 minutes left!" he turned to Lady Bow, who watched with a focused expression.
Red ran back on. He poured it on now.
"You can do it, Red!" the shopkeeper yelled.
"Only another minute, Red!" Boofessor called. Suddenly, Red tripped, and fell off.
"You okay?" asked a Boo who had been checking Red's energy output.
"Only 5 minutes, 10 seconds, Red!" Boofessor called. "If you're gonna make a move, do it NOW!"
"Red?" the shopkeeper asked. Lady Bow raised an eyebrow.
Red threw his water bottle on the ground and darted onto the treadmill. "All right!" Boofessor clapped. "That's the warrior we know! Five minutes, let's go!" Red ran like he'd never run before. The minutes flew past, as Red was sweating like the rain of a hurricane. 'One more minute, Red! Home stretch, baby!" Red glanced up to see that a large crowd of Boos had gathered. Red kept pouring it on and managed to complete in the designated time. The Boos let out a loud cheer as he finished.
"No one's ever done that before!" Boofessor checked his clipboard, "Well done, Red! You've got the skills for the warrior test, that's for sure!"
Red sat down as he finished. "How'd I do?"
"That was amazing!" the shopkeeper recalled. "No one's ever finished this challenge before!"
"Wow." Red was out of breath. "That was a challenge! What's next?"
"Next is the challenge of strength. You will take on the one-boo destroyer. You will take on 10-season Glitz Pit champion, Boohemoth in a fight of survival. This test will boost your offensive power, as only powerful attacks will even make a mark on Boohemoth."
"Sounds good!" Red stood up. "Let's do it!"
