CHAPTER 16-3
-The Hall of Smiles-
Mario took a deep breath as he stood in the long hallway that awaited him up ahead. From his perspective, it reminded him a bit of Castle Bleck (Tipral) three months back. But, now that he was making his way through the palace, he hoped to get a better look at what this place would be like. One thing for sure was that there was a lot of black and darkness. Some of the lanterns that were lit up had purple flames, but a black core in the flame.
All he could think was that this place was dark. Very dark.
"Well, Tipral sure loves to decorate this place with a bunch of darkness… But, I suppose that kind of fits him, considering his is a dark being." Mario thought as he took a couple of steps over to a small row of Brick Blocks. He could see a lot of enemies in this hallway, especially some Dark Goombas and Dark Koopa Troopas.
Mario: OK, so there are enemies I've seen before…
"Hey, Bro! How're you faring in your own area of the palace?" From what Mario heard, that was Luigi speaking through the communicator. He pulled it out and saw Luigi's nose, making Mario gasp.
Mario: Why's your nose so close?
"Wait, what? It is?" Luigi moved his head back, which let Mario see his own face. He sighed in relief. "OK, I think I got it now. I tried contacting Chopper, but apparently I just heard snoring."
Mario: If he's asleep, it's best to leave him be…
"Yeah, I know that, Bro. But, I was starting to wonder something… What if…neither of us end up finding Tipral through the doors we went in? Would that mean that none of these doors actually lead to him? That's something that's starting to worry me, and I know I can usually depend on you for some answers."
Mario wasn't too surprised with him depending on him for answers. Usually in the Mushroom Kingdom, when Luigi couldn't do something, he would always go to him for help, which made him feel kind of bad, considering that his brother gets less attention from people in the Mushroom Kingdom than in The Peaceness.
"Bro… I just hope the same thing doesn't happen to you just like with the other three… You wouldn't wanna know how devastated I would be if I lost my own brother!"
Mario: I'd feel the same way if it happened to you, Luigi…
"Well, if both of us end up in the same way as Kirby, Sonic, and Blade… Wouldn't that mean that we've failed? Chopper can't do anything now that he's stuck in a small room, and he's also sleeping too!" Luigi began to sweat. "Wait… No… I can't be scared. That's not right for me."
Mario: Look, I'm going to move on ahead. You should look around in your area and see what you can find.
"All right… You got it, Bro!"
With that, Mario put his communicator away, took a deep breath, and began to look around in this hallway.
What was most important for him was that he should try not to go outside of this palace. Remembering the last time he did, he didn't want to have to suffocate again. What he did first thing was check the windows and made sure that they weren't open. Chances are that it would suck him in.
A Dark Goomba seemed to notice him doing this and instantly charged at Mario and gave him a headbonk. The red plumber rubbed his head and knocked the Dark Goomba away with a simple kick.
Mario: Headbonks are usually annoying…
However, another Dark Goomba joined in and attempted to attack Mario. He brought his hammer up to defend himself against the headbonk and bashed both Dark Goombas by spinning his hammer, sending them flying back. To be traditional, he finished them off with a jump attack.
He smirked as they dropped an Ultra Shroom Shake for him to take. He put it away and continued on through the hallway. A Dark Koopa noticed Mario coming closer and got in its shell to attack him.
Mario: Whoa!
Mario jumped in order to avoid the Koopa shell flying at him. But then he realized something that he had: his Super Ground Pound.
He jumped and performed his Super Ground Pound when the Dark Koopa came flying back at him after hitting the wall. It got caught in the shockwave Mario created and caused it to flip over.
"Help me, mommy!" it cried.
He gave it another Super Ground Pound attack, but this time, he struck him right on its belly, dealing even more damage than usual. Still, it was able to defeat the Dark Koopa and allow him to hurry on ahead.
"Gee, I wonder if there are going to be more enemies related to the Mushroom Kingdom around here…" Mario thought as he saw a Dark Paratroopa flying around in the hallway. He prepared himself as he dodged its attack and stomped on it to make it a normal Dark Koopa Troopa.
"Aw, you gotta be kidding me!" it cried. "Don't tell me you just destroyed my wings?! Well, I guess I'm gonna have to teach ya a little lesson on not to get rid of my wings! YOU HEAR ME?!"
Mario face palmed as he used his hammer to fend off the Dark Koopa's shell. He also used Kickbrin to send it flying across the room. Two Dark Koopatrols noticed this and began to charge at the plumber.
"Well this is nice…" Mario sweat dropped as he began to use Piccolo's ability to make the two Dark Koopatrols fall asleep. This gave him the chance to strike one of the Koopatrols. However, it ended up waking it up upon hitting it, which wasn't necessarily the brightest idea.
"Oh, I'm gonna get you for waking me up like hat, punk!" the Dark Koopatrol began to charge at Mario with its spiky helmet, but he simply knocked the minion back with Kickbrin's kicking ability.
While it was knocked over, Mario jumped over the sleeping Dark Koopatrol and stomped on the Koopatrol on its back. With his Triple Jump attack, he was able to defeat it once and for all.
Mario: Not too hard, I suppose…
Unfortunately, he didn't see the Dark Koopa's shell flying back at him. It sent him flying back at the other Dark Koopatrol and made him get hurt from the spikes on the back of its shell.
Mario: YEOW!
The Dark Koopatrol woke up and noticed Mario right behind him. It punched him in the face and prepared to skewer him with the spike on its helmet. However, Mario managed to whip his hammer out and block the attack. He bashed it with his hammer and finished it off.
He simply gave a thumbs up as soon as he finished all of the enemies in the hallway, but he stopped when he heard some snoring coming from his communicator. Chopper, of course, was sleeping, and it was getting a little annoying.
Mario: Is there a mute button on here?
He checked for a mute button, which he ended up finding and used it to prevent himself from hearing Chopper's snoring. Sighing in relief, he walked on ahead while avoiding the Dark Koopa shell.
He sweat dropped and simply used his hammer to defeat the Dark Koopa so he wouldn't have to worry about nonstop. With that, he entered the door ahead into a room with a slope moving down and a couple of Dark Goombas walking up.
Mario: Well this should be easy!
He simply slid down the slope and knocked all the Dark Goombas walking up it off. When he reached the bottom, he noticed that there was a tall block in the way. A Dark Koopatrol was apparently guarding it from the other side.
"Sigh… I don't know why I always have to watch this thing…" the Dark Koopatrol sighed. "Sure, it could fall, but how am I supposed to prevent it from falling? It's so much bigger than me! There should've been a couple of other people with me to guard this!"
As much as Mario didn't want to do this, he had no other choice. He used Kickbrin to knock the block over and make it fall over the Dark Koopatrol. Mario jumped over it and sighed as he looked down at it.
But it also seemed to have an Ultimate Shroom Shake that it dropped.
Mario: How did the shake stay unharmed?
Well, aside from this, he grabbed the shake and put it away. He noticed that there were a couple of pictures on the walls of Tipral holding the Dark Star Scepter up. One even had one of him holding a Chaos Heart.
Mario: …Are we too late?
He seemed a bit surprised, but he clenched his fist and shook his head. That didn't look like the real Chaos Heart, that's for sure.
Mario readied his hammer, just in case if any enemy would ambush him. He DID happen to spot a couple of black Shy Guys called Dark Shy Guys scurrying around the room. He tried his best to sneak past them, but they spotted him and began to charge.
Mario: I don't think these are General Guy's Shy Guys…
Nevertheless, he used his Super Ground Pound to keep the Dark Shy Guys off guard. While stunned, he stomped on every one of them and left them to disintegrate into smoke. The door awaited him up ahead, so he simply entered it.
In the next room, he noticed a platform just above him and a ladder leading up to another platform. The door was apparently locked, but he saw a stump just up ahead that looked as if he could use his butt to hit it.
"All right, I think I see what I have to do," Mario thought as he walked over to the stump. With his Ground Pound, he was able to bring the stump into the ground and make a door get drawn.
Mario: Interesting…
He opened the door into a room with a couple of floating platforms that were over a large gap underneath. There didn't appear to be a bottomless pit down there, but there were Phantom Embers down there, that's for sure.
Mario: Oh, the joy of seeing familiar faces…
He tried his best not to fall off the platforms. When he landed on the first one, his eyes widened as he saw it descend slowly to the ground. He instantly jumped for the next one, but got hit by a Dark Paratroopa flying around. He brought his hammer out and defended the next attack.
Mario: If only I could get an easy hit on this…
Mario decided to jump when the Dark Paratroopa came swooping down. He ended up stomping on it and making it fall to the ground while flipped over. This gave Mario a chance to use his Super Ground Pound to finish it off.
With that, he jumped for the ledge up ahead and grabbed a hold of it. Using his strength, he was able to pull himself up. He noticed that there was a door up ahead, so he entered it into a room where he could see the outside part thanks to large windows.
"What a strange room…" Mario thought as he scratched the back of his head. He noticed that there was a picture of a large smile, which looked somewhat creepy. "That smile looks familiar…"
He tried his best to ignore it, but when he continued his way through the hallway, he saw a weird Dark Shy Guy with a mask that had a freaky grin. A grin that reminded him of…Fawful.
Mario: Fawful… I bet he's somewhere around here…
The Dark Fawful Guy noticed him making his way to the door up ahead and tried to stop him by charging at him. Mario simply stomped on its head a couple of times to defeat it while being stylish.
When he got to the door, he opened it, but it ended up bringing him outside, causing Mario's arms to flail around. That is, until he remembered something he had with him ever since he got taken out of Trinado's Castle.
The fish bowl.
He decided to put it on, allowing him to breathe in space somehow. What was also strange was that the gravity was the same as what it was like inside the palace. Nevertheless, he decided to jump on the moving platform leading over to a platform with a chest.
Mario: There's the chest! It must have the key!
He made one big leap over to the platform and then jumped over to the next one to open the chest. A Palace Key happened to be stored inside, much to his delight. He put it away and headed back inside while removing the fish bowl helmet.
However, he stopped when he saw a blue Mechawful called a Dark Mechawful roaming around in the room. When it spotted the red plumber, it instantly fired a purple ray straight at him.
Mario: Mama mia!
He ducked and allowed the ray to pass over him. The Dark Mechawful, frustrated, brought its metallic ball fist back and prepared to punch Mario. He tried to put it to sleep with Piccolo, but that didn't seem to do a thing.
So, he resorted to knocking it back with Kickbrin as soon as it charged at him. He sent it flying back across the room and almost caused one of the pictures to fall off. Mario sighed and readied his hammer as the Dark Mechawful got back up and began to wheel toward him.
Mario: I've only got one shot at this…
When the Dark Mechawful was close, Mario prepared for his attack and destroyed the Dark Mechawful's body with a powerful hammer attack. However, its head was able to detach itself from the exploding body and attempt to attack the plumber.
Luckily, Mario was able to avoid the lasers it fired and stomped on its head twice to destroy it.
Mario: Now to return to that one room.
Room with locked door-
With the Palace Key in his hands, Mario made his way over to the ladder and climbed up it onto the platform with the locked door. He inserted the Palace Key into the lock and unlocked the door.
When he entered the next room, he saw that there were red and blue platforms in the room. When he jumped, the platforms apparently flipped over and turned red while the blue ones disappeared.
Mario: What the…
He jumped again, and this time they changed to blue ones. He seemed rather confused about this, but he started to realize what was going on. If he jumped, the platforms would flip to another color. Nothing special.
"I'll try and see if I can get through this…" Mario thought as he jumped onto a red platform and then a blue one after the next jump. He simply did the same thing until he got off those platforms and reached a large block with something glowing on it. A Dark Fawful Guy was apparently guarding it.
Remembering something like this, Mario decided to play a tune from Piccolo and see what would happen. Not only did it make the Dark Fawful Guy fall asleep, but it also destroyed the block and revealed a door.
He decided to head through the door and see what lied ahead. Apparently he found a room with platforms going down to a path below him. Some Dark Fly Guys happened to be around this part, which could make things difficult for him.
Nevertheless, he jumped down the platforms and stomped on any Dark Fly Guy that was in his way. They dropped to the ground and were open for Mario to attack with a Super Ground Pound.
With that, he jumped to ground level and noticed that there was another Dark Mechawful in this room. Well that's just great, because these guys can be a huge pain for Mario to beat in a fight.
Mario: I wish I could put these guys to sleep…
Not only did he have that to deal with, but a Dark Fawful Guy was charging at him. He decided to knock it back with Kickbrin's ability and send it flying toward the Dark Mechawful to deal some damage.
However, the Dark Mechawful was able to charge at Mario and send him flying to the wall. The Dark Mechawful cackled in a robotic, Fawful-like voice as Mario slowly got up and gripped his hammer.
With his hammer ready, he ran straight at the Dark Mechawful and bashed it with his hammer. It took a couple of hits to destroy its body, but the head still remained. But, that one was pretty easy to take care of. With a couple of stomps, the Dark Mechawful's head was completely destroyed.
Mario: Well that takes care of that enemy.
He made his way over to the door ahead, but there was a Dark Koopatrol guarding the door. Readying his hammer, he bashed the Dark Koopatrol as soon as it began to charge straight for him.
"This would be a lot easier if I had something that could protect me from getting hurt by spikes," Mario thought as he used his special Ultra Hammer attack to send the Dark Koopatrol flying to the wall.
Mario tipped his hat as he walked over to the door and entered it. However, what shocked him was that the small hallway he was now in had a Metal Block in the way. A couple of Dark Bob-ombs with red eyes were also roaming around in the room.
Mario: Better not light those guys on fire…
He decided to stomp on them instead, which actually made their fuse light up. Using Kickbrin, he knocked one Dark Bob-omb into another, causing both of them to explode, to his delight.
Mario walked over to the Metal Block just up ahead and smashed it with his hammer, causing it to break into small pieces. What shocked, him, however, was that there was a large, purple Bob-omb called a Bob-ulk. When it noticed Mario, it instantly raised its defense by 3.
Mario: These guys were from Rogueport's Pit of 100 Trials!
Even though it was slow, it began to charge at the red plumber. He decided to jump on it a couple of times to take it out, but he noticed that its fuse was lit up, which could be deadly. What made it worse was that it raised its Attack by 9.
Mario gaped as he ran straight for the door. He instantly opened it and entered the next room, but he could hear a loud explosion from the other room. Breathing heavily, he stepped away from the door.
However, he was soon hit in the face by a hammer when he saw a staircase in front of him. He noticed that some of the pictures on the walls still had Fawful's freaky smile on them. The hammer he got hit by was thrown by a Dark Hammer Bro..
Mario: Well, looks like I have to climb some stairs now…
Mario began to climb up the stairs, but he also tried his best to avoid the hammers thrown by the Dark Hammer Bros.. When one stopped throwing hammers for a minute, Mario took this time to strike the Dark Hammer Bro. and even use a Super Ground Pound to keep it off guard.
"Annoying plumber! You should learn to never mess with the Hammer Bros.!" the Dark Hammer Bro. snapped as it tried to hit Mario with another hammer. However, Mario's Ultra Hammer did the trick and defeated it.
Now that left another Dark Hammer Bro. left on the steps.
"I gotta be a little quick here, or else I'm not going to get much of a chance to attack this guy," Mario thought as he walked a couple of more steps up to the next Dark Hammer Bro.. It continued to throw hammers, but then Mario realized something. He allowed his Pixl, Piccolo, to play a soothing melody that put the Dark Hammer Bro. to sleep.
Mario: Score!
He simply stomped on the Dark Hammer Bro., causing it to wake up. However, it didn't even have a chance to attack Mario when he bashed it a couple of times with his hammer. Afterward, he walked up to the midpoint of the staircase to find another Bob-ulk.
Mario: Uh oh…
What made it worse was that there was a Dark Fire Bro. spitting dark fireballs down the stairs. If one hit that Bob-ulk, then it would explode and deal some massive damage to Mario. So, he simply stomped on it, but that caused its fuse to light.
He decided to use Piccolo to play a soothing song again, which caused the Bob-ulk and Dark Fire Bro. to fall asleep. This allowed the plumber to climb up a couple of stairs and defeat the Fire Bro. before it could blow up the Bob-ulk. However, even then, the fuse on the Bob-ulk was still running.
Mario: This isn't good…
Mario moved as fast as he could up the stairs in order to avoid the upcoming explosion of the Bob-ulk. Luckily, he was able to escape the explosion and reach the top of the staircase, where a Dark Boomboxer awaited.
However, since these guys aren't too tough to hit, he simply stomped on the Dark Boomboxer a couple of times, considering that it has a lot of HP. But, after those stomps, the enemy was defeated and it allowed Mario to enter a small hallway with some weird Fawful statues and smiles on a couple of pictures.
Mario: This place gets weirder and weirder by the minute!
"Mario! Oh, Mario! Help me!" Mario instantly gaped as he heard that voice. One thing for sure was that it sounded familiar to him. But surprisingly, there was nobody else in this room.
Mario: Luigi, you there?
"Yeah, I can hear you loud and clear," Luigi responded. He suddenly heard the same voice that Mario heard. "Hey… Isn't that Princess Peach calling for you? That voice sounds familiar!"
Mario: Yeah! That does sound like Princess Peach!
"You better go find her right now! She might be in trouble!"
Mario gave him a determined nod and continued his way through the hallway. He didn't see any enemies, but when he reached the end of the hallway, he noticed a familiar face over by the door.
Princess Peach.
"Mario! You've finally come here to rescue me!" Peach swooned. However, Mario looked more confused than happy. "What's wrong, Mario? It looks like there's something bothering you."
Mario: How'd you get here?
"How did I get here? Well, Tipral teleported into the Mushroom Kingdom and brought me here as a hostage. I tried to get out, but I was somehow saved by some strange…magic."
Mario: Magic?
"Well, I'd rather not get into too much detail. I think we should go back home, where we belong. I hope there's some kind of portal in this palace that can help us get back home, don't you agree?"
However, Mario shook his head and explained to her that the whole universe is in danger if he doesn't keep moving now.
"Mario, I'm shocked! Usually you would come to my aid when I'm in danger! We need to go back immediately!"
"Bro, what's going on?" Luigi asked.
Mario: Peach wants me to take her back home!
"Really? Why would she make you do that? Wouldn't she know that the whole universe is in danger if you don't move immediately? I don't know… Do you remember something like this before?"
Mario: Two years ago…
"Well, Mario? Are we going to get going?" Peach asked, putting her hands on her hips. "You know I'm starting to get a little impatient now. I DEMAND that you lead me out of this palace right now!"
Mario: You're not the princess, aren't you?
"You… How dare you say that to me!" At this point, Peach's face started to turn red. "I can't believe you would do this to me! I swear when we get back, I'm going to make sure that you…"
She was interrupted when Mario bashed her in the head with his hammer.
"MARIO?! Why… Why would you hurt me like that?" Peach gaped. Mario cringed once again as he brought his hammer down on her again. But this time, a cloud of smoke surrounded the princess and turned her into a gray Duplighost.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me! I swear that you would probably stop here and turn back!" the Dark Duplighost growled. "No matter… I suppose I can try to take you down myself!"
The Dark Duplighost flew up in the air and attempted to hit Mario by diving down at him headfirst. The plumber simply jumped out of the way and bashed the Duplighost with his hammer as soon as it fell to the ground.
"Ow… Stupid plumber…" the Dark Duplighost grumbled as it got up and tried to transform into Mario. He took action by stomping on the Dark Duplighost and leaving it off guard with a Super Ground Pound.
Mario: This should help me too.
Mario began to play a song with Piccolo's ability, causing the Dark Duplighost to fall asleep. He took this time to knock the Duplighost back with Kickbrin's kicking attack to finish it off. A key was dropped from its inventory, which Mario took.
He smiled as he entered into a room where he saw a wide platform above him that he couldn't jump over. However, there was a ladder just up ahead that could help him get up to the platform.
But, he soon noticed a barrel coming his way from down the ladder. Mario instantly jumped over the barrel and climbed up the ladder to get to the next platform. He heard someone stomping from above.
"I hear jumping," Midbus held up a barrel at the top of the room and prepared to throw it. On a small platform near him was a blue ! Switch. "Now you'll be squashed! Taste barrel!"
Mario: Uh oh…
He did a Triple Jump over the next barrel that was coming at him from the left and tried to run over to the ladder as fast as he could. When he climbed up to the second-to-last platform, he saw two barrels coming his way.
"Wait, didn't I use my hammer to destroy these before?" Mario thought as he dodged one of the barrels. He pulled his hammer out and destroyed one of the barrels with it. With a smirk, he got to the ladder while smashing the others and climbed up to the next level, where he saw Midbus over to the left.
"What?! You made it?! Now I strike!" Midbus attempted to strike Mario, but he jumped out of the way and got onto the platform with the blue ! Switch. With a simple bash, the platforms below were destroyed and sent Midbus plummeting to the ground.
"Ow…"
Mario: Well that takes care of that!
He opened the door into a room where he saw a couple of tables with some enemies playing a game of cards. Notably, there were two Dark Koopatrols playing a game of not just cards…but Go Fish.
"So, ya have any twos on ya?" the first Dark Koopatrol asked.
"Go fish…jerk."
"Ummmmm… OK." the first Dark Koopatrol picked up a card from the deck before looking back at its opponent. "Wait, did you just call me a jerk before? I thought I heard you say something…"
"What? I didn't say anything! Honest!"
"OK then…" the first Koopatrol looked at its five cards and looked over back at the second Koopatrol. "So… May I ask you for a seven?"
"Nah."
"Oh, really?" the first Dark Koopatrol glared at its opponent before giving it a punch to the face.
"What the heck was that for?!" the second Dark Koopatrol screamed.
"Dude, you already cheated in a game of War. There's no way you're going to be cheating in this game. Do you REALLY want to have a reputation of cheating throughout the palace? Tipral wouldn't be pleased!"
"When's that guy ever pleased? He never smiles! Ever!" the second Dark Koopatrol retorted. "I mean, all I hear from this guy is him wanting to destroy Chopper and the universe! Plus, I once heard him saying some person's name. I can't put my finger to it…"
"Yeah, I know that already. However, we're not really trying to talk about Tipral. We're playing a game of Go Fish, idiot. So, stop being such a jerk and give me the seven that you lied to not having!"
"Whoa, strong language you're usin' there!" the first Dark Koopatrol got its seven from the other Koopatrol, but it still gave the second Dark Koopatrol a glare. "Whoa! No need to get like that!"
Mario looked rather confused at the two Dark Koopatrols, but he decided to look over at the windows. Apparently they too had creepy smiles. The floor had Tipral's head on it, but the eyes were replaced by Fawful's spiral glasses and his creepy grin.
Mario: I don't think Tipral would like something like that…
Nevertheless, he tried to get past the two Dark Koopatrols, but it ended up failing when they spotted Mario and attempted to skewer him with the spikes on their helmet. Luckily, Piccolo was able to play a song and put them to sleep.
Mario: Phew, that was too close.
Mario bashed the first one with his hammer and knocked it straight at the other with Kickbrin. That only left the second Dark Koopatrol remaining.
"Dang it! …Well, at least I didn't lose the game!" the second Koopatrol charged at Mario, but soon met its demise when Mario bashed it with his hammer, leaving an Ultimate Shroom Shake as well.
Jumping over the table, he decided to check out what the two Dark Mechawfuls were doing at another table. They seemed to be carrying a large metal ball that they were throwing to one another.
Mario: Two Dark Mechawfuls… Not good.
The two Dark Mechawfuls noticed Mario's presence and fired a dark ray from their mouths at him. The red plumber ducked and noticed one of the Mechawfuls attempted to punch him.
He countered it by using Kickbrin to send it flying back to the other Dark Mechawful. Mario also pulled a Shooting Star out, since it would come in handy. He let some stars rain down on the two Dark Mechawfuls and destroy their bodies.
Mario: That reminds me of Starbow for some reason!
With their heads remaining, they attempted to charge at Mario. He simply jumped and stomped on their heads to destroy them. With that, he walked over to the door and made his way into a room with a ladder going down to a platform below.
Despite being confused, he climbed the ladder down to the platform to find a pink spinning enemy with spikes called a Spunia making its way straight for Mario. Even though he fought these things before, he wasn't expecting it to hit him that fast.
Mario: Mama mia!
With his hammer ready, Mario bashed the Spunia that was preparing to hit him once again. It wasn't fully finished, but when Mario struck it one last time, it disintegrated into smoke.
"Hey, Bro! How's it going with the palace so far?" Luigi asked as Mario pulled his communicator out.
Mario: It's going well, I suppose.
"Chopper's been sleeping for a long time. I think it's driving me nuts!"
Mario: There's a little mute button you can use so you won't be able to hear him.
"Oh, yeah," Luigi put Chopper on mute and was now sighing in relief. "Whew… Well, I guess that's better. Say… Do you ever wonder why Chopper and Tipral look so alike?"
Mario: I wish I knew, but I don't.
"Oh, well that's a little disappointing… Well, I didn't really expect you to know that anyway!" This caused Mario to face palm, making Luigi sweat drop. "Well, if you find anything important, go ahead and let me know, OK?"
Mario gave him a nod and put his communicator away. He walked over to another ladder leading down to the ground this time. He noticed another Spunia that looked as if it was ready to attack Mario.
With his hammer ready, he bashed the Spunia that made a dash for him. While it was stunned, Mario allowed Piccolo to play a soothing song that put the Spunia to sleep, allowing him to defeat the enemy.
Up ahead he saw a door, so he used that to enter the next room. Once again, he saw a staircase, but there was a door at the midpoint, unlike the other room.
Even if this was a similar room, Mario started to climb up, even if there were Dark Fawful Guys on the steps.
Unfortunately, one of the Dark Fawful Guys took notice of Mario and attempted to attack him. The red plumber tried to dodge, but the Dark Fawful Guy was able to knock him down the stairs and back to the door.
Mario: Great… This might get annoying…
He got back on the steps and used Piccolo to put the Dark Fawful Guys to sleep before they could even attack. Mario then stomped on them and used a Super Ground Pound to finish them off.
He made his way up to the midpoint of the staircase, where he put on the fish bowl and entered a door that led him outside. He saw that there were a couple of Spunias, but what caught him off guard was three Dark Mechawfuls.
Mario: That's a lot of Dark Mechawfuls!
One of the Spunias noticed Mario and immediately charged at him. The plumber brought his hammer up and bashed the Spunia with ease. One of the Dark Mechawfuls tried to attack him, but he was able to knock it back to the other Dark Mechawfuls.
Mario: I wonder if I just did that.
He decided to continuously attack the Dark Mechawful with Kickbrin until it and the other two Dark Mechawfuls lost their bodies and had only a head remaining. Mario defeated the Spunia near him and finished off the heads with a stomp.
With them gone, he noticed that a door appeared right in front of him. However, this door was like the red door that he's seen before, but it was a darker version of it. Opening the door, he noticed that there was a bridge of Brick Blocks leading over to a platform made of stars ahead.
Mario: This is strange…
He stepped on the Brick Blocks and began to make his way over to the platform made of stars. Although he wondered why there was even a platform made of them, he jumped over to it and found a chest next to him.
"Bro! Why am I suddenly getting a weird connection from you?" Luigi asked as Mario pulled his communicator out. "Did you go somewhere that's somewhat far out in the palace?"
Mario: I don't think so…
"Well, where are you then?"
Mario: Near a chest with a key.
When Mario opened the chest, a Palace Key was revealed to be inside. He scooped it up and put it away for now. "Well, I guess this should solve any problems with locked doors around here!"
"All right, I guess that's fine. Just try and be safe, OK, Bro?"
Mario: Same goes to you!
With the key in his hands, Mario took the time to return to the palace.
Inside-
Mario sighed in relief as he walked back inside the palace. He grabbed his fish bowl helmet and took it off and put it away for now. He looked up the stairs and saw a Dark Koopatrol up by the door.
Mario: Well, that's not too bad…
He decided to drink a Super Shroom Shake to recover some HP and made his way over to the Dark Koopatrol guarding the door. When it noticed Mario, it charged at him, but he used his hammer to counter it and finish it with a simple bash.
With it defeated, Mario unlocked the door right beside him and entered a hallway with two Dark Boomboxers and a Mechawful guarding the door up ahead. Mario simply stomped on one of the Dark Boomboxers to deal damage, but it ended up paralyzing him with a sound wave.
Mario: Ack! Not good!
Luckily, Piccolo was able to play a little song that got rid of the paralysis on him, allowing him to finish off the Dark Boomboxer with Kickbrin. The other Dark Boomboxer, however, wasn't finished yet.
The red plumber made a dash for the next one as it tried to hit him with its sound waves. Mario, on the other hand, did a heroic jump and stomped on the Dark Boomboxer. He quickly finished it off with a Ground Pound afterward.
Mario: That only leaves the Dark Mechawful…
He noticed that this one was a little different. Its dark blue body had a silver plating instead, showing that this is a superior version of the Dark Mechawful. From what he saw, it was a Dark Mechawful.5.
It wasn't any different to the normal Dark Mechawful. However, this one seemed to fire lasers like missiles down at our red plumber. He took action by skidding and bashing its body with his hammer.
Mario: It doesn't do too much…
The Dark Mechawful.5 cackled as it knocked Mario back with its powerful cannon-shaped fist. A timer appeared on its body, starting from the number three. It fired a dark ray straight for him, but he was able to duck under it.
"Come here, robot!" Mario thought as he had his hammer ready to strike. When the Dark Mechawful.5 got close enough, he bashed it with his hammer, jumped on it, and finished it with a Super Ground Pound.
With that out of the way, he hit the Save Block next to him and entered the door into a room with a bridge with a blue ! Switch at the end. However, he noticed someone else standing on the bridge.
"You. Leave. Now." Midbus was blocking Mario's way, ready to throw something at him. "So, you made it this far. Now this is where it ends!"
Mario: I don't think so!
"Then take this!" Midbus picked up a large amount of trash and threw it at Mario. He countered it by using Kickbrin to send it back at him and leave him off guard for a couple of seconds.
Mario attempted to run past Midbus, but he managed to get out of dizziness and punch him. But, due to him being smaller than the boar, he was able to jump and stomp on his head.
"Stop!" Midbus growled before noticing that Mario just hit the blue ! Switch. "This…isn't good."
The bridge got demolished and Midbus was sent plummeting to his doom. Mario smirked and entered the door into a small room with a Fawful statue and a ? Block right beside the door.
Mario: How convenient!
He punched the ? Block and attained an Ultimate Shroom. With his HP recovered by 100, he immediately entered the room through the door.
Next room-
When Mario entered the next room, he noticed that there was no door at the end. In fact, it seemed if this was a dead end!
Mario: Uh oh… Is this a dead end?
"I HAVE FURY!" boomed a loud, yet childish voice that Mario seemed to hear in the middle of the room. Fawful was standing there, giving him his same creepy grin, despite sounding angry.
Mario instantly got in a fighting stance, while Fawful continued to boast.
"How did Midbus have the failing? The crushing of the red mustache was supposed to occur! Fawful hates you so much that my fury has had doubled!"
Mario turned around, but the door he just came out of was barred.
"You are not having the leaving!" Fawful cackled as Mario's eyes widened. "So you have shock, do you not? You have been lured into Fawful's trap like a horse who wants its cheese!"
Mario: What?
"Grrrrgh! Fawful had thought you would be thrown out of here like a monkey who can't stand tacos! However, Fawful is not unhappy for luring you into my trap!"
Mario was still confused with the bean.
"Nyeah heh heh heh! Fawful is telling you that Tipral's plans are having the smoothness! And soon, with you out of the way, mustache… We shall have succeeding! The Void will swallow all dimensions like a person drinking from a straw!"
Mario: I'm not going to let that happen!
"Bro, who's that I'm hearing through the communicator?" Luigi asked.
Mario: Fawful…
"Oh, boy…"
"Come at me, mustache! I will show you the fury of Fawful!" Fawful grinned as he took his blaster out and aimed it at him. "My fury has doubled since the last time we had the meeting!"
Fawful fired a laser straight at Mario, but he was able to jump out of the way and look back at the laser that hit the wall. There was smoke coming straight out of the wall, which wasn't too surprising.
When Mario turned around, he saw Fawful put on his Vacuum Helmet and fired a blast from the mouth part at him. Mario, however, was able to throw it back at him by whacking at it with his hammer.
Fawful attempted to attack the plumber again, but when he got hit in the face by Mario's hammer, he changed his blaster to his laser sword and attempted to strike Mario. But, his Ultra Hammer attack was able to keep him off guard.
Mario: Take this!
With his boot in Fawful's face, the psychotic bean was thrown to the wall and left dazed. Mario rushed at him once again and stomped on his head to deal a little more damage. However, even then, Fawful was able to grab a hold of his foot and pull him to the ground, allowing him to strike Mario with his laser sword.
"You may have the better jump, but I have more fury!" Fawful spat as he flew in the air with his Vacuum Helmet and attempted to suck Mario in with its ability to inhale like a vacuum. However, Mario stood his ground and managed to get away from the Vacuum Helmet's ability.
"You are not having the getting away, fink-rat!"
Fawful fired a red blast from his Vacuum Helmet straight at Mario. It hit him, but it didn't stop the plumber from getting back up and used Kickbrin to send Fawful flying back to the wall.
However, the beanish child got himself up (yet again) and flew up in the air again. This time, he began to fire rapid shots down at Mario with his blaster and even fired a red beam down at him too.
"I HAVE FURY!" Fawful cackled as Mario ran over to the corner of the room. Luckily, the beam was unable to hit him from there, which got on Fawful's nerves a bit. When he retreated to the ground, Mario ran up to him and attacked him with his Triple Jump.
Mario: Well this seems to be working!
Fawful managed to make Mario trip as soon as he landed on the ground and struck him with a red beam from his Vacuum Helmet, leaving Mario's clothes battered up. However, that didn't stop him from striking Fawful with his hammer.
"I wonder… Would Piccolo work against Fawful?" Mario thought as he tried to play a song with Piccolo. However, Fawful got to him first and struck him with a green blast from his Vacuum Helmet.
"Time to relinquish your fury!" Fawful shouted as he prepared to charge up a laser. But, since this left him open, Mario jumped over to him and attacked him with a Super Ground Pound.
As Fawful fell to the ground, Mario smirked and walked over to him, knowing that he was defeated already. But, Fawful gave him a freaky grin and managed to ram into him headfirst and knock him to the ground.
Mario: I expected that…
He quickly got up and tried to use Piccolo again on Fawful. Piccolo's soothing song got to Fawful's ears (if he even has any), but the song didn't seem to have an effect on him. It just left Mario open to get hit.
"I have chortles! The soothing song of napping will not have the working on Fawful!" Fawful cackled as he struck Mario with a blast from his Vacuum Helmet. Mario quickly got up and brought his hammer in front of him to defend against another blast coming from Fawful.
Mario: This isn't working…
"Have some of this, fink-rat!" Fawful's Vacuum Helmet fired multiple pellets at Mario, who proceeded to block the projectiles with his hammer. After they were gone, he gripped his hammer and bashed Fawful in the head yet again.
"Ouch! I have pain!"
Fawful shot more lasers from his blaster at Mario, who ended up getting hit by at least two of them. Despite this, he tried to fight back by using one of his own items, like a Thunder Rage that he had in his inventory.
"A Thunder Rage? Something like that is as worthless as your mustache!" Fawful scoffed before getting struck by lightning from above. It still did enough damage, but it wasn't enough to defeat him.
Mario: It's going to take a lot, I see…
From what Mario noticed, Fawful had about 280 HP from the start of this fight and an Attack of 15. Luckily, he doesn't have that much HP anymore, but what Fawful did that baffled him was that the mouth of the device connected to the chandelier on the ceiling and allowed him to swing straight at Mario.
In retaliation, however, Mario managed to counter Fawful by swing his hammer at him, sending him flying back. Fawful simply swung back at him again, with Mario doing the same thing.
Giggling like a psycho, Fawful swung right behind Mario and knocked him to the ground. His Vacuum Helmet detached from the chandelier and proceeded to charge up an attack to hit Mario.
Mario: Oh no you don't!
Mario got himself up and punched Fawful in the stomach, preventing him from even making another move on him. He also stomped on his head to keep Fawful dazed for a little bit.
Mario: I guess this is my chance.
However, Fawful giggled and flew above Mario while dropping his own bombs down on him. They had Fawful's face on them, and when one hit Mario, he was instantly put to sleep.
"I have chortles!" Fawful laughed as his Vacuum Helmet aimed at Mario. "Fawful's bombs are succeeding!
Fawful, in the meantime, attacked Mario by letting his Vacuum Helmet attach to the chandelier and swung at Mario, waking him up and also making him fall over. The plumber quickly got up and readied his hammer.
Mario: I gotta be careful next time!
When Fawful swung himself at Mario again, he got hit by his hammer, sending him flying to the wall. Mario proceeded to run over to him and land a Triple Jump on his head.
"Guh… Not bad! However, Fawful still has the bombing!" Fawful flew up again and dropped a couple of bombs. Mario grabbed one of the Fawful Bombs and threw it back at Fawful before it could explode. It put the bean to sleep and also made him crash to the floor.
Mario: Well that was pretty easy!
He ran over to him and attacked with a Super Ground Pound, waking up the psychotic bean child. But, it didn't stop Mario from striking him with his hammer afterward, giving him more of an advantage.
"How are you having the advantage?!" Fawful gawked as he tried to strike him with his laser sword, but failed because of Mario's stomp attack. "Fawful wanted to have victory, not defeat!"
Mario: Well I'm not letting myself down!
Mario attempted to stomp on Fawful again, but Fawful was faster and managed to strike him with his laser sword. This left Mario's HP rather low, so he used his hammer to knock him back.
He pulled an Ultimate Shroom Shake out and drank it to recover 100 HP. He also threw it at Fawful to leave him dazed. With a Super Ground Pound, Mario was able to deal some massive damage.
"You will not have victory, fink-rat!" Fawful spat as his Vacuum Helmet charged up a beam that engulfed Mario and left him flying to the wall. Fawful also flew over to him and managed to kick him in the face too.
"Ever since you had part of the murdering of Cackletta, Fawful has had rage! Now I will have vengeance!"
Mario: Then why do you attack the others if you want me?
"You all have had the thwarting of Fawful's plans. Cackletta's soul was diminished like a feast in five seconds by the antennae! Now Fawful will have the paybacking now!"
Mario: You still don't make sense…
Even still, Fawful flew up in the air and threw Fawful Bombs down at Mario. He noticed when they exploded, ice seemed to come out. He barely escaped one of them, but he managed to throw one back at Fawful.
"I have intelligence!" Fawful shouted as he whacked the bomb away from him, making it explode in between the two.
Mario: Well, nothing happened there…
"Fawful suggests that we duke it out without the bombing," Fawful took off his Vacuum Helmet and gave a large grin as he fired lasers from his blaster. "Now the battle for the mustard of your doom begins!"
Mario tried to get a hold of Fawful, but without the Vacuum Helmet, he was able to move a lot faster than before, which got Mario annoyed a bit, but he was able to get one attack on him with his Ultra Hammer attack.
He also was able to use his Super Ground Pound to send Fawful flying up with the massive shockwave when he landed on the ground. This gave him the opportunity to stomp on Fawful and perform some stylish moves.
"Don't think Fawful has had giving up yet!" Fawful said as he changed his blaster to his laser sword and proceeded to charge at the plumber, who ducked from one of the swings, but got hurt by the next.
"I gotta use some more items in this fight…" Mario thought as he looked at what items he had. He did have a Thwomp item that he and the others got while traveling, so he decided to use that.
The Thwomp instantly appeared over Fawful and fell on top of him, squishing him. When it disappeared, Mario looked down at Fawful's battered up cloaked and cracked glasses.
"This fight…is far from over, mustache," Fawful wheezed as he got up and fired a charge laser at Mario, making him cringe in pain. "Nyeah heh heh heh! So, how does it feel, Mario?! The fury within you must be diminishing and transforming into death!"
Mario: Never…
Mario gripped his hammer and used it to block one of Fawful's lasers. He ran up to him and bashed him in the head yet again, but he began to spin his hammer around this time to leave a couple of bruises on his face.
He was about to swing again, but Fawful managed to jump out of the way and appear on top of Mario. He proceeded to punch his head repeatedly until Mario tried to whack him with his hammer. The beanish child jumped up and allowed Mario to hit himself with his hammer instead.
"Nyeah heh heh heh!" Fawful taunted as he struck him with his laser sword. "You seem to underestimate Fawful!"
Mario: That may be true…
But even then, Mario still had the upper hand in this fight. Not only did he have higher HP than Fawful right now, but his attacks were capable of leaving him off guard for a couple of seconds.
When he used his Super Ground Pound, the shockwave sent Fawful flying up, allowing Mario to attack him with Kickbrin. When Fawful hit the wall, he pushed himself away and tackled Mario as soon as he got close.
"I HAVE INSANITY!" Fawful aimed his blaster at Mario and prepared to fire a charged attack on him. Mario tried punching him, but it wasn't stopping him from attempting to finish him. "Have the trying, but you'll have the failing in the end!"
Mario: I don't think so!
Mario grabbed Fawful's shoulders and threw him over to his right, getting up in the process. He only had one shot at finishing him off with this move, so he charged at him and prepared to jump.
But Fawful fired a charged laser in the process…
However, even then, Mario was able to jump over it and land one final stomp on Fawful's head, knocking him to the ground.
"NYAAAARGH!"
Mario: And that's a wrap!
When he walked over to Fawful, he noticed that he was raising his head up to Mario, yet he was still grinning. "You may…have had the defeating of…Fawful… But, whether you had victory or not…didn't matter."
Mario: And why is that?
Before Fawful could answer, the whole room began to shake violently.
Mario: Wait, didn't this happen to Sonic, Blade, and Kirby?!
"What is happening?!" Fawful gaped as he noticed the bars on the door broke off and opened. However, instead of the previous room, they saw space itself trying to suck them in.
Mario: Mama mia! This isn't good!
"Since when did the room before have the looking of this?"
Both Fawful and Mario were being sucked out of the palace, with Mario trying to hold on for his lift to the floor. But, with Fawful coming close, he lost his grip and was now being sucked out of the palace.
Just then, everything went blank.
Luigi-
"Bro? BRO?! Can you hear me, Bro?!" Luigi cried as he heard a tremor from the communicator. "Come on, Bro… Don't go off like the others!"
Luigi continued to try to get a hold of him, but it was no use. He ended up losing his signal. He sighed and left his head to hang low in sadness.
"Oh, man… I can't believe it… I lost my bro. The one who's always been out there to help me…"
"Luigi, are you still there?" Luigi's head rose and noticed that Chopper was talking to him on the communicator.
"Wait… How are you communicating with me when I had you on mute?"
"You had me on mute?"
"Uhh… Never mind that!"
"Ummmmm… OK…" Chopper frowned while pondering. "When I just woke up, I somehow lost my signal to Mario. Did you lose it too?"
Luigi slowly nodded.
"So I wake up to find out that another one of our friends are gone?! This… This has to be some kind of joke! That means it's only us two!"
"I know…" Luigi agreed. "Look, as much as I don't want to do this, I'm going to continue my way through here. That's what my bro would want me to do…"
"Yeah, I don't think there's much of a choice now… Since I'm trapped here, I think it's all up to you to find Tipral. I bet you found the right door that should lead to the room where he's at."
"All right… I guess I better do this." Luigi ran over to the Star Block at the end hallway and gave it a good whack. "I won't fail you, Bro! I promise!"
END OF CHAPTER
With only two heroes remaining, Luigi took action by making his way through the palace himself, hoping to find Tipral and stop him from bringing back the Chaos Heart and The Void. Chopper, on the other hand, felt worried about his other friends that were no longer around. However, even still, he denied the fact that they were dead and tried his best to stay positive…barely. "Don't worry, Chopper, I'll try to end this once and for all," assured Luigi as he entered the darker halls of Tipral's Palace. He knew that he was going to be in some tough territory.
Dear me, it looks like we're losing more heroes each chapter! That leaves...two (if you didn't read the paragraph above, that is).
Now that we're more than halfway done with Chapter 16, I believe we're actually going to be getting to some of the harder stuff of the palace. If you thought this and the other two parts weren't enough, then these next two should.
And why Mario and not Luigi here? It's not really done, and I wanted to make it a little interesting. It doesn't have to do with me preferring Luigi over Mario (I like both of them equally).