Just so everyone knows, I've been in classes since late August, so I've been a lot more busy as of late. Also my motivation to write has dropped, so updates on this story won't be as frequent as they were during the summer. At least I managed to get this story past its first two chapters and into some real action during the break, I'm glad for that much. Now to respond to my wonderful reviewers.

Review Responses:

Pandamonium - Wow. I don't think I've had anyone say that about a story of mine before. Thanks.

Plasmicstorm - I do want Waluigi to make it further, but even I don't know how far he'll get. We'll find out together.

AwesomeDragonGirl1601 - I'm sorry, but no thanks on your offer to let me use your OC to help Mr. L. I don't think Mr. L needs your character's help. First I don't know about your character, second I don't know if she'd really fit or not. Third, if I did want an OC helping Mr. L out, I have no shortage of my own that I could use. Even then, I'd probably use an existing Mario character instead. I'm flattered by the offer, though.

Luigified531 - Glad you're enjoying this. But Dry Bones's boss game isn't luck-based, but more based on keeping careful watch. And it was copied straight out of the game, so I'd like to contend that this one wasn't entirely my fault. As for Blooper, I will miss him too, but someone had to go. Other than Birdo and Koopa Kid, I like all the players, so each time has been a pretty tough choice.

One last word to everyone, I don't normally make music recommendations, but I'm gonna do it right now. Without spoiling much, there will be train-riding sequences in this chapter. During those, I'd recommend listening to "Ice Hot Lobster" from the Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance soundtrack. But only if you want to. Oh, and listening to an extended version makes it easier.

Episode 11: Best Western Ever
Location: Western Land
Game: Mario Party 2
Team Royal Green: Daisy, Koopa, Rosalina, Petey Piranha
Team W-Shell: Yoshi, Boom-Boom, Toadette
Team Zero: Waluigi, Dry Bowser
K. Kids Remaining: 3/3

"No… I got rid of you… no… NOOOO!" Bowser woke up from a nightmare. He found himself sitting in his chair aboard the Koopa Kruiser.

"Bwaa! Huh? What's going on? Why am I here? Where's Blooper?" the monster king asked. He seemed tense.

A Boomerang Bro. decided to answer him. "Well sir, you fell asleep on the way to the next challenge for your party. You have to be here, of course, and didn't you throw Blooper in the dungeon?"

Bowser started catching his breath. "Yes, that's right. I imprisoned him. He's gone. Forever. Err, so what else happened last time?"

"Well other than Blooper getting the boot, you had everyone look for stars in Boo's Horror Castle. You even brought in Dry Bones to guard one. In the end, Team W-Shell won, and you introduced Team K. Kid. Or Team Koopa Kid. Either name is acceptable."

"Right. If those three win a game, all three teams will compete for Bonus Stars. If the Koopa Kids lose, the other two losing teams have to compete with them in a mini game and the worst performance is the losing team. Okay."

"You seem out of it, sir. That must have been a horrific dream you were having."

"It's all behind me now, soldier. Now let's hurry up."

Bowser, Toad, Daisy, Koopa, Rosalina, Petey, Yoshi, Boom-Boom, Toadette, Waluigi, Dry Bowser, Red K. Kid, Blue K. Kid, and Green K. Kid were in Western Land. The wide open ranges of stereotypical cowboy motifs greeted everyone with warm breezes.

"All right, here's what you have to do! Here are four small trains with 100 bars each. They were leftovers that weren't smelted into coins for that recent kidnapping attempt I made, now available for Nintendo 3DS."

"What's with the advertising?" Petey asked.

"Never you mind! Toad, explain the rules!"

"These small trains aren't much bigger than the one Mario took to Dry, Dry Desert in his first papery adventure. You all race to the end of the tracks. Now, you don't have to go by train, but it's better for you if you do. The team with the most gold at the end wins. It's not a race.

"Most gold?" Boom-Boom asked. "How that a thing?"

"Because it could be stolen my Bandits, various other things, or even other teams! That's right, you can steal gold from each other! Now everyone head to their trains!

Team Royal Green got onto the train with a green crown on top, Team W-Shell got onto a train with a W painted on the front, Team Zero got onto the train with Xs painted on the front, and Team Koopa Kid hopped onto the Bowser-themed train. And they all shoved off with 100 gold bars each.

Team Royal Green/Team K. Kid:

Team Royal Green was off to a good start, a little bit ahead of the other trains. Daisy and Koopa were shoveling coal into the furnace, which was all that was necessary for Bowser's specially-made trains to move. As they did this, Rosalina watched the gold in the back. The gold all the trains had were stacked in bars. Lastly, Petey merely pulled the rope.

CHOO-CHOOO

"Petey, quit messing around and help us!"

"Heh-heh-heh!" all three K. Kids laughed. Their train caught up beside Team Royal Green's.

"This is a robbery!" Red K. Kid announced. "Hand over your gold or we'll fireball ya!"

"Oh?" Petey tilted his head. "Kind of like this?" He spewed brown gunk all over the K. Kids as Daisy shoveled faster, putting their train ahead of the K. Kids.

"Nice!" Daisy congratulated. "Now help us already! Koopa can only barely lift the shovel!"

"… You didn't have to say it like that…" lamented Koopa.

In the back, Rosalina was still watching the gold.

"Oh dear, it appears Team Koopa Kid hasn't given up yet." She waved her wand and created a small shield to protect the rear of their train from the red, blue, and green fireballs.

"Curse you!" cried Blue K. Kid.

"Are you done trying to rob us, now?" the watcher of the cosmos asked in a scolding tone.

"As if!" Green laughed. "C'mon guys, we just gotta go faster!"

"Yeah!" agreed Blue K. Kid. He pressed the button, causing his team's train to move a bit faster than before, which Daisy noticed.

"Tch! Figures Bowser would give his inserts an easier train to use! That has to be illegal!"

"Which is probably exactly why he did it." Koopa noted.

Team W-Shell/Team Zero:

"Waa! Waa! Waa! Waa! Why am I the only one shoveling?" Waluigi demanded an answer from Dry Bowser.

"Because I'm doing stuff! Now pipe down!" Dry Bowser said, then he threw a bone, knocking some gold bars off of Team W-Shell's train.

"Waah!" Yoshi whined, alerting Toadette and Boom-Boom from their shoveling.

Boom-Boom was mad. "Hey! Stop throwing bones!"

"Wahaha! What are you gonna a-do about it?" Waluigi got hit with one of Yoshi's eggs. Then another egg knocked some gold off of Team Zero's train. "Waaaaa!"

"How dare you! You'll pay for that!"

Three Shy Guys wearing cowboy hats came between the two trains and were riding on Ostros. Each Shy Guy started reaching out for some gold bars.

"Oh no you don't!" Dry Bowser and Toadette said at once. Yoshi threw some eggs at the Shy Guys while Dry Bowser spat a blue fireball, and the would-be thieves were taken down.

"Wahaha! We showed-a them!"

"Now back to business! Give us some gold to replace the gold that you knocked off our train!" Dry Bowser demanded.

"We could ask you the same!" countered Toadette.

"Get away from Boom-Boom's team!" Boom-Boom yelled, as he threw his shovel at Dry Bowser, knocking his skull off its body and onto the floor.

Yoshi sighed.

"Waaah! Hup! Hrrrrrrrm! Yoshi!"

"Oh… My bad. Boom-Boom have solution!" Boom-Boom then picked up some coal and chucked it into the furnace. With his big hands, it was as good as two shovels.

"Hmm. We should've done that from the start." Toadette commented, as she kept shoveling. Soon Team W-Shell's train was beginning to pass Team Zero's and catch up to some of the others.

Team Royal Green:

The train came to a stop at a cliff, and Bowser Jr. lowered down in his specialized clown copter.

"Hee-hee-hee! If you want to get past, you'll have to play a special mini game!"

Petey would roll his eyes if he had any. "Ugh, fine, just give us the boss fight already."

"I never said it was a boss, you dumb plant! Now then, pick one player and go for it!"

"It can't be me, the Koopa Kids may catch up to us, and I can keep a shield going."

"I'll do it." Koopa volunteered. He hopped off the train and followed Bowser Jr. away.

Game: Shy Guy Showdown
Players: Koopa, Bandit
Instructions: Cowboy Guy will hold up a sign. Press the correct button, and press it before your opponent to shoot him with an ink gun. You only get one shot, so make it count.
Controls: A/B/L/R/X/Y/Z (shoot)
Tips: "Watch out, Cowboy Guy may use a fake sign to throw you off!"

"Remember me?" Bandit asked threateningly.

"Um… No."

"What? Pyramid Park! All that time ago! I messed with that other group!"

"I… don't recall."

A Shy Guy with a cowboy hat walked up, forcing the opponents to get into position. The three men stood there under the boiling sun. Tumbleweeds bounced past.

"… So are you gonna-" Koopa was interrupted when Cowboy Guy raised an M sign. "Oh!" Koopa looked for the M trigger on his gun, but he had actually fallen for one of the fake buttons. Cowboy Guy held up an L sign, and Bandit shot Koopa.

BANDIT WINS!

Koopa was back by his team's train and Bowser Jr. was laughing.

"Hahaha! That was horrible! You wouldn't last two minutes in the wild west! Looks like your team's stuck here until another team passes! That Bandit was just to take the place of an opposing team, anyway. Later, losers!"

Bowser Jr. floated away, but came back briefly.

"That reminds me, you lose one gold bar for losing that game." He snapped his fingers and one gold bar disappeared.

"Oh good going!" Petey scolded. Koopa looked down, defeated.

Team W-Shell/Team K. Kid:

Team W-Shell's train had caught up to Team K. Kid's train. Yoshi made use of his tongue and grabbed a few gold bars off of the enemy train.

"Hey! Give those back!" Blue K. Kid roared. "Or you'll be sorry!"

Yoshi did a little jump-wave towards the K. Kids. "Yoshi!"

"We'll see how you like it when your train's blown to smithereens!" said Red. He pressed a button and a cannon appeared atop their train and fired a bullet bill.

"Ack! Boom-Boom, we gotta move faster!"

But instead of doing that, Yoshi merely grabbed the Bullet Bill with his tongue and spit it out behind their train, in the direction of Team Zero.

"Clever little sneak!" said Green. "Take this!"

He started spitting green fireballs. But unfortunately for him, Yoshi had once decided that fireballs were yummy, so he swallowed them and spit them towards Team Zero as well. Red pressed the button again to fire another Bullet Bill, but this time Yoshi merely spit it out back at Team K. Kid's train, knocking a lot of gold bars off in the ensuing explosion.

"Take that!" Toadette taunted. "Now let's get past these jerks!" She and Boom-Boom started burning coal even faster, getting the train further down the tracks.

Team Zero:

"WAAA!"

"NO!"

Team Zero's train got hit with the bullet bill and fireballs that were intended for Team W-Shell. Before it hit, Dry Bowser leaped onto the pile of gold bars to keep it safe, and thankfully only a few were knocked off the train. As a matter of fact, the duo did not come out of that much worse than they already were.

"Phew, that was close. All right Waluigi, keep shoveling! We're in last place!"

"I can't do this all by myself!"

"Ugh!" Dry Bowser started looking around. "… I have an idea, just keep shoveling for a while longer, then I'll help out, you big pansy!"

Team Royal Green/Team W-Shell:

Team W-Shell's train stopped at the cliff as well, and Bowser Jr. returned.

"Okay, if you want to get past, you'll have to beat Team Royal Green in a game! But if they win, they get to go on while you stay behind! Pick your player!"

Toadette looked to Boom-Boom and Yoshi. They nodded.

"I'll do it!"

"Let me go for it!" said Koopa. "I gotta make up for last time!"

"Good, because the rules say it has to be the same person as before, anyway!"

"… Dang." Petey rubbed the back of his head. Koopa and Toadette ran off to follow Bowser Jr.

Koopa stood across from Toadette. Cowboy Guy was back. They all stood around for a while again, when suddenly he held up a B sign. Koopa pressed the B trigger and inked Toadette.

"Ha! In your face!"

A bridge covered in tracks extended from the cliff, specifically the tracks that Team Royal Green's train was on. With this, they could move on. Koopa hopped aboard and they were off.

"Good job, Koopa. You've made up for your mistake." Rosalina told him.

"Thanks!"

This, unfortunately, left Team W-Shell in the dust and with one less gold bar than before.

"Yoshi?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking Bowser Jr. won't let us through until we beat someone else at this. … Hey who's that?"

Toadette pointed out Bandit, who was going across the new bridge on a pulley-operated cart.

Team Zero/Team K. Kid:

"All right, step over!" Dry Bowser said. Waluigi looked behind him and noticed that all the gold bars were gone. Or more specifically, they were all shoved into Dry Bowser's shell/ribcage.

"WAAA! Are you sure about this?"

"Give me a stupid shovel already!"

Waluigi handed Dry Bowser the spare shovel. The two kept going and going until they caught up with Team K. Kid.

"Oh so you like throwing Bullet Bills at us, huh? Well here's what I think of your Bullet Bills!" Dry Bowser threw a few bones at the K. Kids' gold pile, knocking some more loose.

"You really shouldn't have betrayed us!" warned Green.

Red was furious. "And if you liked that, we've got more where that came from!"

He pressed a button to make the train go faster. Then Blue pressed a button.

"Say hello to the Banzai Missile Bill!"

A giant, red Banzai Bill came out of the cannon. Dry Bowser tapped where his chin would be, thinking of a plan.

"What are you doing? We gotta find out how to get out of the wa-"

Dry Bowser spit a blue fireball at the projectile, causing it to blow up.

"… That-a works too…"

Team Royal Green:

The quartet kept on their way, miles ahead of any competition. Of course, that's when Bandit came from behind on his cart.

"I've come for your gold!" Bandit declared. Suddenly a green fireball flew into him from behind. "Aaah! My buns!" Bandit jumped off the cart and started rolling around in the sand.

"Was that Green K. Kid?" Daisy asked. "No wait… Luigi!"

Mr. L was riding atop an Ostro, giving a thumbs up.

Team Zero/Team W-Shell/Team K. Kid:

Team Zero was in third place now, having crossed the cliff by beating Team W-Shell, who had also lost to Team K. Kid and costing them another gold bar. But now Team W-Shell had caught up.

"Wait, how'd you guys get across?"

"Bowser Jr. pity us…" Boom-Boom said, full of shame. Nevertheless, he kept throwing more coal into the furnace.

"Waah!"

"Waa!"

A Banzai Bill had hid the sand in front of both trains, but missed both.

"Your aim's horrible, Red!" said Blue K. Kid.

"Shut up!"

Toadette gulped. "Yoshi, you can swallow Banzai Bills, right?" But the dinosaur could only shake his head.

Team K. Kid fired again, but Mr. L dropped from the sky and jumped onto the Banzai Bill, defeating it.

"Mr. L!" the K. Kids shouted in unison.

"It's-a me! Mr. L!" Then the Green Thunder hopped onto the evil team's train. He jumped onto each K. Kid's head and grabbed the control panel. "Thunderrr!"

With that, he short-circuited the controls, making the cannon inoperable.

"L-ater, Team Koopa Kid!" An Ostro ran up, and Mr. L hopped onto it, but not before pocketing a few gold bars. "Hope you don't mind me a-taking some of these!"

Into the sunset, Mr. L rode, as Team W-Shell then passed Team K. Kid, who were still recovering. Team W-Shell taunted the colorful clones all the while.

"Nyah-nyah!" Toadette made a funny face. Yoshi made sure to throw an egg at their gold pile and knock a few more loose.

Finish Line:

Team Royal Green pulled up to the station first, followed shortly by Team W-Shell, Team Zero, and then Team K. Kid. Bowser and Toad were waiting.

"Good gravy, Team Koopa Kid came in last? Well it doesn't matter, just as long as they have enough gold! Everyone out of the trains!"

All players left their trains as Kamek lowered down on his broom and started counting gold.

"Hmm… Here are the totals. Each team started with 100 bars."

Team Royal Green: 79/100
Team W-Shell: 56/100
Team Zero: 0/100
Team K. Kid: 41/100

"Wait!" Dry Bowser said. He somehow opened up his ribcage and a bunch of gold bars spilled out.

"Oh. Let's see… carry the one… You have 76 out of the original 100. You are still behind Team Royal Green."

"I can't believe Team K. Kid lost! Well yeah whatever, Team Royal Green wins, whoop-de-doo! Now get to your airship!"

Team Royal Green ran off, leaving the three losing teams behind. Toad gave everyone a refresher on the rules.

"Since Team Koopa Kid did not win, we will not divide Bonus Stars among the three losing teams. Because Team Koopa Kid is among the losing teams, all three teams have to play a mini game. The losing team in this game will then stay behind until one of its members is thrown in the dungeon."

Bowser was getting impatient.

"So yeah, just pick your dumb players and let's go! I didn't want to give you guys a boss, but I am so mad after seeing Team K. Kid lose!"

Dry Bowser turned to Waluigi. "Look, you're a horrible player, but I'd rather have you than be all alone, so I am not risking us losing this game! I'll play for us!"

"Fine by Waluigi."

Boom-Boom stepped forth, as did Red K. Kid. A gray warp pipe appeared for all the players to jump into.

Boom-Boom
Vs.
Dry Bowser
Vs.
Red K. Kid
Vs.
Reznor

Game: Reznor Rampage
Players: Boom-Boom, Dry Bowser, Red K. Kid
Instructions: The Reznor dinosaurs are firing at you from the safety of their wheel! Avoid their fireballs and use your best cowboy aim to shoot at them! Just don't lose points by getting hit!
Controls: Joystick (move), A (jump) Swing Wiimote (hover crosshair), B (shoot)
Tips: "You can't shoot while you're in the middle of a jump, or while the wheel spins!"

The three players stood on a train track in the open wilderness, each holding ink guns. The four triceratopses collectively known as Reznor descended while standing on platforms sticking out of their giant wheel. Then the dinosaurs roared.

START!

The wheel started spinning at a normal pace and the dinosaurs kept spitting fireballs at the three players. They all ran around and jumped, including jumping on top of each other to successfully put them in the line of fire.

The wheel eventually stopped, but the fireballs did not. Red K. Kid and Dry Bowser got a lot of good shots in at two different dinosaurs. Boom-Boom started a bit late, but got a few shots in.

Then the wheel started again. With fireballs not only close to the ground, courtesy of the lowest dinosaur, but also high in the air. Jumping too high was a bad idea, as Dry Bowser learned the hard way. Red K. Kid was the only one not to get hit with at least one fireball before the wheel stopped again. Boom-Boom got a few more shots earlier on, and Dry Bowser did as well. Red K. Kid's luck caught up to him, and he got hit with a few fireballs. Then the dinosaurs all got mad.

Team W-Shell: 12 points
Team Zero: 16 points
Team K. Kid: 17 points

The Reznor dinosaurs roared in unison, causing their wheel to move faster. Their fireballs came faster, and then there was a noise.

Choo-choo!

"Uh-oh." Dry Bowser said under his breath.

The Bowser train started running on the tracks. Dry Bowser and Boom-Boom managed to jump over it in time, but Boom-Boom accidentally jumped into a higher fireball. Red K. Kid got run over by the train.

Reznor stopped, and Dry Bowser took to more shooting. Boom-Boom did as well, and finally Red K. Kid got over his injuries and got a shot or two in.

Choo-choo!

Reznor started up again as the train once again whizzed past. Boom-Boom got hit, while Dry Bowser and Red K. Kid jumped over it. The players had hit-and-miss luck with the remaining fireballs, and then Reznor stopped again. At last, Red K. Kid got the finishing blow.

FINISH!

Team W-Shell: 17 points
Team Zero: 19 points
Team K. Kid: 21 points

All Teams:

The three players jumped out of the gray pipe, causing it to disappear.

"So Team W-Shell lost. K. Kids! Zeroes! Out of my sight!"

With that, the two teams scrambled to their ships and left Yoshi, Toadette, and Boom-Boom behind.

"Okay, who do you think should go?" Bowser asked Yoshi. Yoshi shrugged. As did Toadette.

"Well we all tried our best, Bowser! I can't think of anyone who we'd want gone at this point."

Yoshi nodded. Boom-Boom did not speak.

"Boom-Boom vote for self. He lose mini game."

"Waah!"

"No, you don't have to-"

"Bwahaha! All right, Boom-Boom is out! Back to your ships, you two!"

Boom-Boom smiled. "Boom-Boom not sad. He happy Toadette and Yoshi make him nicer. Go win and make Bowser lose."

"A-all right. We'll win for you!"

"Yoshi!"

A warp pipe opened under Boom-Boom, sending him to the dungeon and disappearing. Toadette sighed.

"Sis, are you okay?" asked Toad.

"Yeah… I'll be fine…"

"All right enough talk, back to the ship! I heard reports of Mr. L being involved in the game today, and I'm not letting him mess with Team K. Kid!"

"Looks like it's just us now, Yoshi."

Yoshi lowered his head.

Mr. L watched the airships sail away from atop his Ostro. He hopped off and pet it.

"You did a-good today. Now I must leave and find out what their next a-plans are." With that, Mr. L ate a Raccoon Leaf and flew off into the distance. Bandit peeked out from behind a saloon.

"Looks like if I ever want revenge on those twerps, I'm gonna have to keep track of Mr. L. So be it!"

Team Zero:

"I still lost. But at least I still have Waluigi to push around. Once Bowser decides to make this contest every man for himself, I won't have Waluigi holding me back. As much as having another teammate is good, he's a terrible player. Of course, I'll need him on my good side for a while longer…"

Waluigi walked out of the bathroom on Team Zero's ship.

"Waa-t were you saying?"

"N-nothing! Shut up!"

Winners' Thoughts:

"Glad Luigi's still around to help us. I just hope Team K. Kid doesn't ruin our streak of not losing any players." - Daisy

"I'm just glad I redeemed myself. Luigi was a popular target to vote for at Peach's Cake, and Bowser picked King Boo himself. If we lost today, I feel like they'd pick me…" - Koopa

"I have a feeling things will only be tougher from here." - Rosalina

"Longest lasting team! Whooooooooooooa!" - Petey

Losers' Thoughts:

"Hrrrrrrm!" - Yoshi

"I'm gonna miss Boom-Boom. At first he was just this brute working for Bowser. But then he became a real friend. On top of all that, now it's just me and Yoshi competing against a bunch of others." - Toadette

To be continued.

Remaining Players: Daisy, Koopa, Rosalina, Petey, Yoshi, Toadette, Waluigi, Dry Bowser, Red K. Kid, Blue K. Kid, Green K. Kid
Losers: Wario, Luigi, Birdo, King Boo, Shy Guy, Dry Bones, Hammer Bro., Koopa Kid, Blooper, Boom-Boom

Author's Notes:
New author's notes format. Anyway, yeah classes are gonna be keeping me from working on this as much as I'd like to, so I apologize in advance.

When Bowser said he didn't want to give the players a boss fight, that was sort of leaning on the forth wall. I didn't plan on including one in this chapter, but I ended up doing it anyway. And yes, I chose Reznor specifically because of his return appearance in the Mario canon.

Also, it appears the Bandit from Pyramid Park has returned to cause trouble again. Now that there are fewer characters to juggle than at the start of the story, he's gonna be reappearing to stir some trouble for his own profit. Almost like a negative counterpart to Mr. L.

You may not have noticed, but Green K. Kid is more or less Xigbar. I like Xigbar, plus he doesn't appear much in my other story (Kingdumb Hearts II), so I thought this was a good way to incorporate him. Also the Shy Guys on Ostros are based on this western episode of the Mario Super Show.

(Want to leave a review? Great. Don't want to? Great. I'll field any comments, questions, concerns, and criticisms and take them into account. I'm open to improving on any faults in this story, if you spot any, for your reading pleasure. Just be polite.)