CHAPTER 2-4
-Breaking the Bank-
There wasn't much around here. All they could see in this room was a door up ahead and a ? Block with a purple vase on it. Chopper wondered why there was a vase, but he decided to look up at it.
"Look at that vase," he gawked. "That thing must not be worth a lot. It's not the nicest-looking vase I've seen, honestly…" He wished that he could hit the block, but he wasn't too sure if that would be a wise decision on his part. Tippi wasn't even sure if that was a great idea either.
"Hmmmmmm… Yeah, I don't think we can do anything else around here. I WISH there was, but looking around here… Yeah." Chopper looked over at the door. "Well we could try that door."
"Poyo! (Wait! We can't leave this block!)" Kirby skipped underneath the ? Block.
"Wait! Kirby! No!" It was too late. Kirby already jumped under the ? Block, causing the vase to fall over and break.
"Well nice going, Kirby… You broke the vase!" Chopper face palmed until he suddenly heard a door open.
"NYAAAAH!" Mimi ran into the room, looking down at the broken vase pieces. "No… My vase! The thing I love more than anything in the world! It's… It's… It's broken!" she cried.
She immediately looked up at Chopper and Kirby in anger. "You broke it! You broke my most favoritest vase! And I only got that thing fixed three months ago!"
"Look! Listen, little girl! I'm pretty sure we can explain things around…" Chopper was cut off when Mimi screamed in their faces.
"DOOFUSES! I loved that vase more than ANYTHING! And you BROKE it! NYAAAAAARGH!"
"Poyo… (It was only an accident…)" Kirby chirped.
"Oh, don't think you're going to be getting out of here, you doofuses!" Mimi growled, stepping away from them. "When someone breaks something, they're forced to pay that thing! And don't think you're going to be leaving here… You're gonna pay for that, you know! I'll have you know that vase cost 1,000,000 Rubees…"
"1,000,000 Rubees? What the heck is that kind of currency?" Chopper questioned.
"So hand over that money! Now! Or else you're DONE FOR!"
"Rubees? Oh, I don't believe Chopper carries any of that particular currency with him…" Tippi trailed.
"Don't suppose that those things are like coins, aren't they?" Chopper asked.
"Poyo? (Or what about Deden?)" Kirby asked.
Mimi backed away in shock. "Coins? No one uses COINS anymore, you peasants! And I have no idea what that pink doofus behind you just said anyway, but I'm sure that it was HIS money, too! I SPIT on your coins and whatever he just said! …So what are you saying? Are you telling me you don't have any Rubees at all?"
"No Rubees here," Chopper showed his inventory, which had nothing but coins. "Sorry, but we can't pay off your Rubees. …But come to think of it, those things sort of remind me of those Rupees in Zelda…"
"Well, guess what? You two will just have to work it off, then!" Mimi declared. "Until you work off your debt, you naughty little things, I OWN YOU!"
"Wh-What? You can't own us?!" Chopper protested. "You don't even have PAPERS that say you do!"
"Poyo! (Yeah, Chopper's right! There's no way you can do this to us!)" Kirby growled.
"Too bad for you! In Merlee's Mansion, you have to work either you like it or not! There's no way out of here for you either! ENJOY LABOR!" Mimi was about to leave, but she stopped for a second and turned back to the two heroes.
"Yes, so, you can earn Rubees in the generator room on the top floor. Once you earn 1,000,000 Rubees, you come pay it off in the room at the bank. You can also check the balance of your debt there. So! Get to work, servants!"
Chopper and Kirby were left with a gaped look upon their faces as Mimi left the room. 1,000,000 Rubees?! How could they make that much money?!
Chopper and Kirby and now saddled with a 1,000,000-Rubee debt! OUCH! I wouldn't wanna be those two…
"Well, this is nice… Now we're forced to pay off a debt…" Tippi sighed.
"Yeah, I know how you feel, Tippi," Chopper replied, letting out a big sigh. "This sucks! I was hoping we would be able to do some fighting or running! Now we're forced to pay off a debt! Not fun at all!"
Chopper jumped up to the third floor thanks to the platforms and he noticed a couple of prisoners like the guy back at Gloam Valley. "Was that guy right? Is this place really some kind of trap?"
"Poyo? (Why don't we try this first room over here?)" Kirby suggested, pointing to the door they were closest to.
"We might as well go in," Chopper nodded, opening the door. That's where they could see some prisoners jumping under this electric block that seemed to have some sort of power in it. They were also trying to avoid this spark that was moving around the platform as well.
"JUMP, LITTLE FLEAS!" Chopper and Kirby noticed someone with a headdress called an Ackpow holding a whip. Although it wasn't long enough to hit the prisoners, the loud noise made them get to work.
Work those skinny little flea legs! Unh! Make it burn! Jump like you mean it! Ever since Boss Mimi came back, she wants you all WORKING now! She hates the dark like she hates brussels sprouts! So WORK IT! MOOOORE POWER!"
"Oh, god… This is almost like how the slaves had to work! This is…pretty bad!" Chopper gawked, seeing some of the prisoners get shocked by the sparks coming their way. "Why would Mimi do something like this?"
"Ugh… I hate that you both have to go through this…" Tippi trailed, glancing at the prisoners.
"Well, it's probably going to take a while, but we have to do it," Chopper took a deep breath before making a big leap over the prisoners and to the Ackpow. Kirby simply floated over to him.
"Yeah… We need to work here and all that. Is this the generator room?"
"Yeah, this is the generator room. Hit blocks, make energy, earn Rubees! Unh! Rubees make the world go up, down, 'round and 'round! You wanna work here too?" the Ackpow asked.
"Well, we just told you that we need to… So, yes." Chopper groaned.
"Unh! LOVE the energy, kid! Just find an unused block and jump like you mean it! Another day, another Rubee! Unh! Rubees are life! Unh! Jump! Rubee! Jump! Rubee! When you're done jumping, come talk to me. I'll tell you how many Rubees you earned. Oh! And watch out for our 'motivational sparks' that travel along the floor!"
"All right… Looks like we gotta hit some blocks, Kirby… Hopefully we can do it, 'cause I think that this could take a while." Chopper and Kirby jumped on the platform and they hit the block.
"You gotta do more than that, fleas! MORE!" the Ackpow used his whip to make a loud noise, making the two start hitting the block as fast as possible.
119 more jumps later-
"Gee... My fist is getting tired…" Chopper moaned, looking at his fist. "I wish I had some food..."
"Poyo… (How about we stop right now and go to that dude who told us to get to work…)" Kirby moaned as he jumped off the platform with Chopper. They wanted to sit down and relax, but they knew they had to get their Rubees from the Ackpow.
"Want your Rubees, do you, little flea? Well, fine. For your utterly average work, here's an average sum of Rubees." the Ackpow gave each of them 120 Rubees. "Come back here if you want to get more Rubees, fleas!"
"Yeah, we will…when we have the time." Chopper and Kirby left the room and went down to the second floor. They could see a huge gap that they could get across that leads to a door.
After bringing Chopper across, Kirby walked into a room with another Ackpow and a prisoner to their left. Chopper noticed a ? Block, which he immediately went after, making a Mushroom pop out of there and help him recover from punching the block.
"Ahhhhh… That's much better…" Chopper sighed in relief as he walked over to the door. "Let's go, Kirby. We gotta get back to work... Man, if only there was a way to speed things up."
"Psssssssst! Hey! You two!" the prisoner that was right next to the door whispered to them. "So, you two must be new gerbils here, right?"
"Gerbils?! But I'm not a gerbil!" Chopper retorted.
"Shhhhhhhh! Don't let that guy hear you, kid! Listen! I hear that you wanna make Rubees faster than before, don't ya?"
"How do we know that we can trust you? I was always told not to talk to strangers, you know…"
"Trust me, gerbils… This is a pretty darn good secret. It'll get you to make Rubees faster! I'm pretty sure you wanna know about it… Just slip me 100 Rubees. I'll tell ya somethin' good. Honest. It's prime info."
"Fine. I'll give up my 100 Rubees." Chopper handed 100 Rubees over to the prisoner, who grinned.
"Ahhh… Good choice there. Trust me. This REALLY is prime info." the prisoner grinned. "I'm gonna give you the VIP passcode. The secret code is…5963! What good is it? That's a secret! Duh! Just remember 5963, gerbil. Thank me later."
"Yeah, whatever," Chopper replied as he and Kirby walked out of the room, but Tippi stopped for a second before they jumped off the ledge.
"Hold on… I can feel something through this wall… Could it be the Pure Heart?" Tippi fluttered over to the wall to the left. "Chopper… I'm sensing some strange energy coming from this wall… It would be a wise decision to use your flipping ability…"
"Then we shall!" Chopper grabbed Kirby and they both went into 3-D. They noticed a red arrow pointing to the direction they had to go. A large chest was waiting before their very eyes.
"Holy… It's another chest! I hope we can get an upgrade this time!" Chopper smirked as he kicked the chest open. "And… It should be coming anytime soon!"
"Know the secret?"
"Poyo? (What secret?)" Kirby questioned.
"'CUZ I DOOOO!" an upside-down triangle-shaped Pixl came out of the chest. It had a pink outline, but with some orange as well. It sounded like it was speaking in some sort of cowboy accent.
"So, do ya know the secret, pard?" the Pixl asked. "Well? Do ya? Iffen you close yer peepers…and imagine real hard…that the world's gone… Why, it's just about the biggest dern thrill ever!"
"Poyo… (I can't understand a THING that this…Pixl is saying.)" groaned Kirby.
"WHUH-HUH?" the Pixl stopped and looked at Chopper and Kirby. "My senses are tellin' me that you're the heroes! Whoa… Hey, welcome, pards. Got some bad news, though. Looks to me like yer a bit lockin' in thrills. I can't give my power to anyone who's too skinny in the thrills department. So here's what we do, pard! I'll recharge yer thrill gauge over the next ten seconds!"
"Thrill Gauge? OK…"
"You ready? Here goes! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE! TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
At this moment, Chopper and Kirby began to fall asleep.
"FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUR! SEVENTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN! THREE-POINT-ONE-FOOOUR! ONE MARZIIIIIIIIIILION! TENNNNN!" Chopper and Kirby immediately snapped awake.
"Now yer all chargified, pards! Yepper, now you've got yer thrills! Now remember, we Pixls got loads of power, so you'd best be real careful with us! We had a little dustup with them Ancients 2,000 years ago…but we're pards now. So let's go have us some thrills, huh? C'mon!" the Pixl circled around both Chopper and Kirby, who held him up after he was above them.
The sideways-turning Pixl name Slim is now your pard! You can use Slim's power to turn sideways and avoid traps or enemies! And when you're sideways, you won't take any damage…as long as you're standing still!
"So now ya know the secret, huh, pard?" Slim asked. "Don't ya? Playin' hide-an-seek is the biggest thrill you can find! You oughta try it!"
"So, let's see here… We can both share Slim, since we both have a Pixl of our own." Chopper declared. "How does that sound. Kirby?"
"Poyo! (I'm fine with that! I'm pretty sure that won't be a bad thing either. Let's go find that VIP room and make some more Rubees.)"
They managed to make their way up to a door with a little code. This is when Chopper knew that they needed to put in the password. So, he put in the password 5963 and pressed enter.
To their surprise, the red light turned green, allowing them to walk in. They started to see these wheels attached to the ceiling. It looked like those wheels that the hamsters would be using.
"What a strange room… Does Mimi think that these people are HAMSTERS?! That's just wrong…" Tippi trailed before getting interrupted by a voice.
"RUN, GERBILS!" Chopper and Kirby gawked when they saw, yet again, another Ackpow with a whip.
"'Round and 'round and 'round she goes! When I'll retire, nobody knows! Big Boss Mimi hates the dark more than old ham! So move those gerbil legs! POOOOOOWERRRR UUUUUUUP!"
"Wow, what a jerk," Chopper grumbled before he and Kirby walked over to him to make some Rubees.
"This is the VIP generator room," the Ackpow began. "Run in a wheel, make volts, earn some cash! Yeah, major upgrade from that other room! You'll earn crazy Rubees in here! Unh! So, a new gerbils, huh… Hungry for Rubees, gerbil? You wanna work here?"
"Well, that's why we're here…" Chopper replied with an annoyed look on his face. Kirby gave him a nod.
"Great, great, just hang on for one second for me…" He turned to the prisoners. "MOOOOOVE, GERBILS! MOVE! Y'know, sometimes I wonder why I do this…but it's pretty much simple: work is just heck of a fun thing! You ready?"
"Sure, we're ready," they both replied (with Kirby saying "Poyo", though).
"Good answer! Now get in there, gerbil! MOVE!" Two wheels opened up for both of them and they immediately jumped in. They knew they were gonna have to run through those things for a while.
"Poyo. (You know, Chopper… You said you wanted a chance to run, right? Well… I think now's your chance to make a lot of Rubees by using a Speed Dash!)"
"Yeah, you're right… I might as well do this, then!" Chopper charged up a Speed Dash and he began to run like he was never able to in Gloam Valley with all of the water and platforms.
Some minutes later-
"Ugh… I think I'm done here…" Chopper panted as he began to slow down and collapse. Kirby felt a bit exhausted as well.
"Awwww, what's the matter? Tuckered out, little gerbils?" the Ackpow scoffed. "Hmmm… I wouldn't call you the star of all gerbil-kind, but that wasn't too shabby. C'mere. It's not exactly a gerbil banquet of Rubees, but it's nothing to sneeze at."
Both Chopper and Kirby were released from their wheels as they walked over to the Ackpow.
The Ackpow shouted "Here!" as he gave Chopper 13,689 Rubees and Kirby 8,753 Rubees. That was enough for now, so they went over to the room next to them, which was filled with prisoners.
"Hold on… I think there's someone in 3-D. Let me just check for a sec…" Chopper threw his arms up in the air and he flipped into 3-D to find a prisoner over by the corner of the wall. "I'm starting to question WHY he's standing here…"
But, aside from that, he walked over to him. ""Hmm? You found me? I never knew that someone would ever find me… Anyway, I have some nice info I can give ya. It's BIG. I'd charge you 10,001 Rubees for it, but I'll charge you 10,000 Rubees! Sound good?"
"I guess I have no other choice," Chopper ended up sacrificing some of his Rubees to the prisoner.
"Good choice, buddy of mine! Looks like someone told you to listen to strangers! Listen, and listen good. Mimi was napping, OK? And I heard her start sleep-talking… And then she whispered…41262816… Think it's her boyfriend's phone number or something?"
"Boyfriend's phone number? Hmmmmmm…" Chopper flipped back to 2-D and he walked out of the room with Kirby.
"Poyo? (Did you get any information?)" questioned Kirby.
"Yeah, I DID get some nice info… Some guy told me that Mimi was whispering 41262816. That sounds like some sort of code. Now that I think about it, we didn't look around here…"
Chopper grabbed Kirby and flipped into 3-D to find another secret pathway. They found a Brick Block that created a ladder for them to climb up. It turns out that it led them up to a secret room with electric fences moving around!
"Electric fences? Let's see what's through here…" Chopper took a couple of steps until he got shocked by the electricity. "…Bad idea."
"Say, pard! How about you start usin' my ability?" Slim poked him. "Yer probably gonna need to use it now!"
"Well, looks like we're both gonna have to make our way across this fence, Kirby," Chopper stated, getting ready to use Slim.
"Poyo, (I'm fine by that,)" Kirby replied, getting ready to use Slim's ability as well. They were surprised when they turned sideways. In fact, they couldn't see each other.
"Hey! Where'd you go, Kirby?" Chopper began to move around, looking for Kirby.
"As long as you're standing still, you won't be seen…" Tippi informed. "You'll see each other when you move…"
"Hey, this reminds me of that curse I once had! …But I don't think I have it anymore. Oh, well…" Chopper and Kirby made their way through the electric fences and to a safe.
"Poyo? (Hey, Chopper… Was a safe really meant to be here?)" Kirby questioned.
"No idea… But, I think that that guy might've told me the combo! Let's see if it's right!" Chopper put in the code 41262816, which ended up opening the lock, revealing a TON of Rubees.
"Poyo! (Holy… We just hit the jackpot on Rubees!)" Kirby gaped.
"I was going to say we hit the jackpot on fruit snacks, but Rubees are OK too!" Chopper noticed that after collecting them all, they had enough to pay back the debt. "Nice! There were a million Rubees in here!"
"Well that's a relief… Now we can pay off that debt…" Tippi trailed.
Down at the first floor-
"Hopefully this door's open, so I'm just going to open it," Chopper opened the door that was across from them at the beginning of this chapter to find themselves in a bank-like room. They noticed Mimi was in a different outfit this time.
"Oh, hi there!" Mimi greeted in a sweet voice. "Big welcome! So happy to have you here at Rubee Savings and Loan!"
Chopper and Kirby smirked as they walked up to the front desk. "First off, THANKS for taking out a special Rubee loan! Now, what can I do for you?"
"We're here to pay off our debt," Chopper and Kirby pulled out all the Rubees they had and they placed them on the front desk.
"Super! Let me just take all those Rubees off your hands! There you go!" Mimi grabbed all of the Rubees and she put them away in another safe. They noticed that the 1,000,000 on the wall turned to zeroes.
"Well, thank you SO much for paying off your Rubee loan in…full…?" Mimi started to freak out. "WHAAAAT?"
"Ha HA! Now we've got you!" Chopper gave Kirby a high five as Mimi began to freak out even more.
How did you earn enough Rubees to pay it off?! That's not supposed to happen! Noooo… You've broken my wonderful curse!"
"Wonderful? That didn't feel so wonderful..."
Mimi floated up angrily. "NYAAAAAAAH! I'LL GET YOU!"
She gaped as her eyes widened in shock.
"Aaaaaaaa…"
At that moment, she exploded into pieces.
"So, that young imp put a curse on this mansion, then… But who was she, really?" Tippi started to question. She still seemed to not remember about this place still. "I'm worried about Merlee… We must hurry to her aid…"
"We better do that. Let's go, Kirby!" Chopper grabbed Kirby to flip into 3-D, where they used Slim to go through the bars that led to a Star Block. At that moment, Chopper smashed the block and ended this chapter.
END OF CHAPTER
The mysterious Mimi disappeared in a bizarre explosion… What exactly was her plan, and why on earth did she try to enslave Chopper and Kirby? After the incident, Kirby noticed stairs going down. "Poyo, (We should check those stairs out,)" suggested Kirby. "Gee, I wonder if Merlee could be down here…" wondered Chopper as the two exchanged uncertain glances. The two solemnly made their way down, knowing there was no other path to follow.
This was definitely my least favorite part in Super Paper Mario, and also one of the only few issues I had with the game. But, at least we're finished with this part now! There will be plenty of action next part!