Coming to a stopping point, the plumber looked up to the building towering over him. It was made of stone and looked sturdy and well-built. Walking a bit to the side, he peered over to see a piece of land all the way at the other side of a gap. There was no hope in attempting to jump as he'd just descend down to his doom most likely. It seemed pretty dark as he cautiously stared down. Down and down it went to a point where he couldn't see anything anymore. Was there a ground to that one could wonder. Falling down there would just lead you to the point of no return. Perhaps you wouldn't even survive to see the end. He cringed at the thought of it. One death-like plummet was enough for him. He had to wonder if he truly even survived that. It all felt just so supernatural. Noticing he had been diving his head down perhaps a bit too low, he quickly raised his head back up and then felt around the top of his head, smiling when he felt that his hat was still there.

Returning to the front of the building he stood there puzzled. There was a door, so it didn't do too much harm to open him, right? Following this path of logic, he approached it and gave it a slight push. It didn't budge at all. Perhaps it was one of those pull doors. He tried the opposite but let go seeing it no use. He rammed into it to force it but it was as if it was super glued to the building, refusing to even let go a little bit. All the while it did indeed make noise- a low rattling sound. His efforts held no success whatsoever and he walked back a bit, sighing. He continued staring up, waiting for something to happen. It wasn't reliable to do so though. He needed to find a way over- somehow, someway. If only he had wings. A winged companion might be indeed helpful but he had to wonder if it would be the same. Perhaps they wouldn't even be able to carry him that far? Perhaps he'd need the aid of yet another person just like the adventure before. This time though was certainly different. There'd be no Princess with her frying pan and no Bowser out to have his back in his situation of need. No, the tables had turned back to their default position unfortunately and this was not lucky for him. Maybe he'd meet completely new people once more but would it still be just as comforting?

Perhaps it would be better to think on the positive side. Any company would be better than no company. While yes, he had been known to face through long, perilous quests alone it didn't hurt to have an assisting hand who could help raise his morale. While he may not speak too many words, he'd still be the best pal he could be in return. Maybe he had it all wrong though all along. That was one thing he feared. He'd be alone in the darkness. In all honesty though, that could all be fair. He did seem to cheat death after all if that was how he'd interpret those series of events before. How long had he been out? Attempting to remember the Toad's words, he was unsuccessful and it all remained cloudy. To think he had just been told this information earlier today. No matter, hopefully his mind would drift off or get occupied soon. Thinking deeply wasn't his strong suit and it just brought everything around to reflecting. These moments weren't always the happiest ones, no. The merry ones were more often than not the ones where he didn't have the need to think too much. Just to merely live out his life with a bright smile next to a trusted comrade. Ah, it was swell, those frames of time. The homely and warm feeling they gave off and he remembered. Those were the memories that were pleasant to think back on. It'd be a pity if those were to ever go off, but like all other things they need to leave to make room for others. That was the cycle of life and it would not be wise to break it. The balance was carefully sewn together and hopefully it would stay that way.

That brought his mind to yet another topic. Bowser, the turtle tyrant had reappeared as another thought. He had that star rod now. If the bed time tale was true, it was the rod that granted the wishes of those pure and kind-hearted down below. The rescue answer to those in their darkest hours. This dark hour would not be answered. The pleads will be heard, but the beam of hope would never arrive in return. It was upsetting, really. To think that one little object held so much importance to throw off all the balance of hope and doom and dreams. If it could make one greedy, selfish man powerful, could it make him live longer? No.. that was a dangerous idea to think. He had to do something else. The idea itself was preposterous and only brought corrupted and tormented consequences and replies. Though it was possible, the plumber dismissed it and went back to reality.

Suddenly it seemed as if someone had heard his prayer as there was a distinct rumbling. Up in the sky was a humongous man who had ascended and then landed onto the fortress with a loud boom announcing his entrance along with the two goombas from before. They were indeed weakened and it seemed as if the blue brother had a runny nose and was rather sick. The red one looked irritated but not in a strong state to do too much with the rage that would consume him. The man in the center was admittedly goofy looking what with his eyes constantly moving like a clock if it swung up and down rather than side to side. If he didn't know any better, he'd ask if the other was cross-eyed. His pants were ostentatious and screamed out as the red and white vertical stripes clashed with the neutral colors of the sky and the fortress. He had a white, ungroomed mustache and a massive crown to match his head. If he remembered correctly, this should be the Goomba King that had commanded the two before they had been swapped out for Goombario. The Goomba King began to speak in a booming voice,

"So, Mario, it's true! You've made it this far. I respect you for that. Unfortunately, this is as far as you'll ever get. Because I, the great and powerful King Goomba, will see to it that you advance no farther!" The red brother's mouth grew to a smirk as he stood up straight and tall as if to show phony strength and authority. His rough voice created all sorts of doubt to pop up as he followed his leader's statement with, "You hear that, Mario! No farther! Not one step! Are you scared, little man?" His finger pointing triumphantly towards him with regained confidence. The nasally voice of the blue brother pitched in, "Bah ha ha! Yeah, you're scared, all right. You wanna say you're sorry?" He sneered at the red-clad hero.

"Ready to meet my wrath, Mario? You'd better be!" King Goomba finished it off before hopping down along with his followers to the ground. Their arrival swept some dust to the side. Mario was prepared this time once more and he stepped back a bit as the dust cleared.

"Beat him up, King Goomba!" Red cheered on his side while his brother followed it with, "We've got your back!" The two's enthusiasm brought a grin to the King in the centre. "Leave him to me!"

It'd be better to jump, he knew. Mario gave himself an incredible jumping start and lifted off from the ground, stomping on the larger one's head. It'd be good to get rid of the King soon. Hopefully he wasn't that much stronger than the other two. While size may take into account, personal strength was a completely different topic all together. He took the hits of all three and depleted a good amount of his health. Hopefully he'd have enough mushrooms in case he'd have to regenerate health. It'd be a terrible fate to have this be the end of his game after all the faith and trust that star spirit had put in him. Preparing to make another running start, he started up once more but stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted something.

There was a blue blur before him and it seemed to puzzle his opponents as well as they stood there in awe and confusion, waiting to see what it was exactly. The blue blur did not go straight for either side though nor the fortress. The strange thing is that it aimed for the tree! It had hit the tree whether or not it was intentional and down a large goomnut fell. One hop! Two bounces! Three hits on the heads! Mario looked over to see who or what it was that caused this as it had finally stopped, walking a bit closer and standing on his toes attempting to get a good luck at the top. The other raised from it's crouching position and then it all hit him. The person standing in front of him was the blue-eyed, tan, and brunette boy before. He seemed to have freshened up though, a good amount of his dirt cleaned off the plumber assumed. He seemed to glow now and he showed off a gleaming smile with two round teeth at the sides. His outfit had been swapped out as well, the black switched out for a vibrant blue, short-sleeved, and baggy hoodie with regular beige knee-length pants. Most of all though was the blue, worn cap at the top of his head. "Glad to know you didn't travel that far ahead, Mario! Consider me an ally of yours from this day forward! I'm ready to help and engage!" he exclaimed. Mario chuckled and nodded, motioning the boy to stand next to him as the Goombas got out of their daze. This made the boy's grin fade away momentarily out of shock before it returned in a bigger form. It was almost as if that introduction was rehearsed in the little time he had.

The red brother seemed to catch on and pointed out the boy almost immediately with wide eyes. Pestering his superior, he shouted, "Oi! That's the guy who roughed us up!" "Yeah, that's him!" the familiar blue brother backed up. The Goomba king took a look at the partner and seemed to be making a conclusion before he finally settled on a statement. "That boy won't give us much trouble! Head for him, boys!" "You got it, boss!" the two shouted in agreement.

Goombario nudged Mario with a whisper, "Hey Mario! I think maybe we ought to take out the Goomba Bros. first, don't you think? They must be pretty weak since I just finished beating them up back there." Mario nodded and while the brothers went sprinted towards Goombario, Mario dashed forward with his hammer and jumped up to meet them, swinging it at them to make contact. This sent them both backwards. He couldn't quite hear what the two were mumbling, but it was clear it wasn't good.

"Looks like that did it! Now that they're out of the way, it shouldn't be that bad to try and take out the King anymore, right? I saw you take quite a hit back there!" As Mario smiled and nodded, Goombario's grin matched.

"Hey! You two! Enough chit-chat back there!" the king's voice suddenly erupted, grabbing both of their attention with just a single syllable. "You're gonna pay for knocking them out like that, you got that?!"

"They ought to pay some respect to the turn-based order if you ask me," the boy remarked in a low voice making sure it was quiet enough that only Mario could hear it. The routine continued of the three jumping until one fell. There was a drop before the loser collapsed defeated. It created a tremendous reaction from the ground once the king dropped, his crown popping off his head and giving itself a dent in its gold.

It seemed as if the two brothers were awoken from this as Mario could plainly see the red goomba get up on his knees and turning to his brother with a look he didn't expect to see. It was.. soft. Besides the bruises, there was something about the kid's face. The sharpness seemed to have left as there was a general sense of worry. Though that wasn't just it. There was still a fire inside the male as he aided his sibling. It was complicated to say the least on the topic. A weak, crooked smile was placed on the younger brother as his limp arm was placed around his brother's shoulders. His body being lifted up to his feet as the elder rose up and brought the other inside the fortress. Soon after, the commander stirred and retreated inside, locking the door behind him once more with a gigantic slam. Before he fled, he shrieked, "Wh...wh...what!? How could I lose?"

There was a silence between the two allies after that event before it was sharply broken by the younger one. "Yeah! I knew we could do it! Cooool! Victory!" he exclaimed, throwing up an arm in the air. There was something though, Mario could plainly see as he gave a hearty laugh and was about to greet it similarly. The boy's smile transformed quickly into a frown and the once cheerful glow had been darkened as he slowly reached back, covering his arm for a short while. He shifted about, gazing elsewhere and then gave a false cough after yet another brief silence- this one increased in awkwardness. "Hey, look, Mario! See that building over there?" he pointed over to the fortress. Mario nodded in response at the rather blatant answer. One would have to be blind to not spot it from a mile away! Nevertheless, Goombario continued, "I'm pretty sure there used to be a bridge on the other side." The way he said pretty made it seem as if it had a million or two e's inside of it rather than one. He raised a fist to his chin and started stroking it questioning with a raised eyebrow, his eyes darting around it as if there might be an answer hidden away around it. Mario looked around as well but took action while his partner followed him, muttering a few inaudible observations. "I wonder what happened to it..," he ended off with as Mario rummaged around in the bushes. He remembered the trip back at the forest behind the boy's house with Goompa. It felt as if it had happened years ago instead of just a few hours. Looking around in the greenery might be able to give him some answers. It was at least a little more information to go off of than to turn around and look elsewhere.

"Good idea, Mario! Could've thought of it myself, heh," Goombario spoke with a cocky attitude. His tone changed once more back to something more serious as he could instantly tell the boy was back onto brainstorming without even taking a quick peek at him. "Hm.. I'm pretty sure whatever they did there wasn't so solid. Those two are notorious for not thinking things through and I doubt a big loaf would make too much of a difference. I'd personally investigate it myself, but Bowser's clan don't teach you much on stealth if you're a goomba. Nor do I know how to pick a lock as of yet and breaking in seems impossible after that incredible display of yours... no offense or anything, but it did look rather ridiculous." There was rambling as luck did not seem to be on Mario's side as much. Though this seemingly unimportant babbling did seem to uncover some facts that might seem to be in handy later on. If only the plumber had brought along a note pad or something. Hopefully the kid would remember this for now. "..Anywho, I'm thinking...," Obviously. "..Do you think..? No, no, it seems a bit foolish, but..." The plumber made a noise to indicate the boy to continue on. Picking up on this, Goombario gulped. "Well, do you think that there are some other people that are going to tag along? I mean, I've heard many stories about how you managed to save the day with a party! One time even with Bowser of all people! Not really sure how that happened and it doesn't make much sense with the little information I was given on it.. but that's besides the point. I know you don't seem much of a talker, but I guess you could like, ..I don't know.. Give me a thumbs up or something?"

There indeed was a raise of the thumb.

Now this startled the goomba a little, his eyes widening and his back immediately straightening at the sight of it. He soon relaxed himself and his lips curled upward ever so slightly. "Hm, I wonder what they'll be like then. You think they'll be like me?" There was a hesitance of an answer before the thumb reached out again in his line of sight, shaking slightly but mostly stood crooked and downward. The child frowned at this answer. "Well, if you're thinkin' that way, whaddaya' think they will be like then, since you seem to got sort of a clue?" he queried, leaning forward a bit anxiously as if to aid himself in listening for the words that he expected never to come. It was quiet for a while and regret loomed over the boy. Perhaps he should've asked something a bit more specific and more of a yes or no question. Though that'd run off far too long and they'd be there all day. That very idea would be extremely counter productive he knew and he'd rather avoid that. While he may have given help, right now he wasn't doing much to help remedy the metaphorical block in their adventure- if he could call it that. Before it got much worse, Mario yelped. Taking this into account, Goombario hopped up briefly and rushed over, "Mario what's wrong?!"

The plumber shook his head and gave a big grin and stood up, backing away a bit. Goombario edged a little closer and looked below into the shrubbery to find what had caused such a commotion. In response, he gave a deep gasp and instinctively threw two hands over his mouth, his feet going up and standing only on the tip of his toes. "Could that be? Mario! You found something! You actually got something!" he exclaimed with excitement, practically jumping up and down at the mere sight of the discovery. He stopped himself though, calming done and his smile faded away as an eyebrow furrowed. "Woah, wait, what are we gonna do with this thing anyway?" It was a blue dome-shaped object with a golden rim and a white exclamation point on the inside. The top felt smooth like a polished globe and it seemed to shine and sparkle in the sunlight despite being slightly covered in the soil of the earth. "Hm, it's one of those switches, right? They seem to have some sort of film over it. Kinda like a simplistic snow globe except you just smash it in- Boink!"

As if summoning something, the very next thing that happened was something he should have admittedly expected but didn't- Mario dropped a hammer down with full force onto the switch, a slight gust of wind being blown towards Goombario as he stumbled backwards a bit as if by instinct and to make even more way for the other. Being quiet for a while, the entire place was silent as slowly- very slowly did Mario lift up the wooden hammer bestowed upon him with a careful stare at the object beneath it, waiting for something if anything to happen. Perhaps it would jump back up like a spring or a Jack-in-the-Box yet that action that startled many never came with each slight degree the male lifted the weapon above it. Intently the partner followed along, staring at the switch waiting. While the time slipped away the hero's actions became quicker by the second as if a sudden wave of relief was washing over him ever so slowly, rapidly increasing with sureness. Eventually when the hammer found itself far, far away from the switch, it was rested onto the plumber's sturdy shoulder with a content whistle on his face. Goombario slightly hurried up to the other's side to the point he was only a bit behind him to get both protection but be prominent in the field of future encounters. A few moments passed and then he began to open his mouth.

"Uh...Mario!" The preteen marginally jumped up and clasped his hands on instinct over his mouth, his eyes pratically bulging out and his eyebrows were raised as far up seemed physically possible evidently proving to bring quite the snicker up to the red-cladded hero's face very briefly. Picking up on this, Goombario dropped them and lurched forward with his eyebrows furrowed and his arms straight down to his side. A low growl could be heard from his voice when Mario paid the utmost attention to him and a look of surprise flashed onto his own face, replacing the previous. Beginning to form his defensive words, the same deep and booming voice returned, causing the two's heads to whip over to the source and completely drop the current topic. "Good fight and all that! I must warn you, however... If you happen to find a strange switch somewhere, you should definitely not press it. It's dangerous. Understand?" Moving to whisper something so that Mario would hear it, the young boy grinned, "It seems as if the 'King' doesn't feel so confident, if you ask me." Walking forward soon after, he put his hands around his mouth to help project it before shouting, "Hey! I hope you didn't mean this blue, round switch in the grass because it's already been done!" There was a cockiness returning and it seemed as if he knew it himself too as he added an extra flair to the end as if to exaggerate it. The older man had leaned over with his ear pointed towards them and quickly he jumped back, his face written with complete fear even from a great distance away. "...you what? You already pressed it?!"" he shrieked before the ground's rumbling became completely noticable and part by part the tower crumbled down. Escaping to the safety of the nearby chestnut tree, the two watched and listened to the enormous thuds and cracks as it all amounted to almost nothing- launching the old king off into the distance until he became but a twinkle in the gray sky. The remains of the upper part of the tower was the strangest part of it though- it bounced off and perfectly formed a bridge by itself as if it were bewitched right across the previous gap between Toad Town's entrance and the fortress before them. Goombario soon perked up and announced loudly, "Look! The bridge! Now we can cross it and continue our journey. All right!"

With a soft chuckle, the plumber started walking along ahead with Goombario following behind closely, whistling along the way.