Author's Note: Here's episode 3 of Ricco Harbor! Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites.

Super Mario Sunshine Adventure

Episode 3: The Caged Shine Sprite

"Heh, heh, I'm a Blooper-surfing legend!" Sonic boasted and gloated as he performed some pretty impressive dance moves in Bianco Square, receiving several stares and rude points. "I'm totally awesome!"

"And full of yourself…" added Mario.

Sonic glanced at him while getting down by portraying some breakdancing. "What was that?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Thought so…"

Pauline was sitting in a lawn chair while eating an apple. "I always thought that Sonic was afraid of water. I wonder what made him change his mind about Blooper-surfing," she talked out loud in between chews.

"Come on step it up!" cheered Sonic as he continued to do the breakdancing on the ground. The Piantas that gathered around him started cheering him on as he did.

"Sonic is weird sometimes," Mario remarked, arms folded over his chest.

"You think so?" asked Pauline.

"I know so…"

"I think we should head on back into Ricco Harbor. I sense that there might be more Shine Sprites to find in there," FLUDD input suddenly.

Mario was a little surprised that FLUDD spoke. FLUDD didn't talk much at all, really. "I think you're right, FLUDD. We'll go back to Ricco Harbor as soon as Sonic's done showing off and stuff," he said.

Anyway, when Sonikku za Hejjihoggu finished portraying his impressive breakdancing moves to all of the cheering Piantas, he performed one final act with a long speech about being the Blooper-surfing legend and then joined Mario and Pauline in Ricco Harbor again.

"I'm so awesome!" Sonic blared.

"I thought you were afraid of water!" Mario yapped, raising an eyebrow.

"That's what I was told…" Pauline softly input.

Sonic shrugged and waved a hand at them in a dismissive manner. He was about to remark on that, but noticed something different about Ricco Harbor. "Hey," he started, pointing up at a large yellow cage with a Shine Sprite inside of it. "Has that always been there like that?"

Looking to where he was pointing, Mario and Pauline could see the large cage in the air above the water and other difficult obstacles that they'd have to get through if they wanted to get to it.

"Hey!" the voice of a Pianta hollered out. "This is a dangerous place to be clambering around. And hanging off that hook? An accident in the making!"

"What is he talking about?" Sonic wondered, eyeing the Pianta who was staring at them.

"I don't know…"

"I have no idea."

The Pianta shook a fist at them before bounding off, growling and complaining about unnecessary things.

"The port is strangely quiet today, huh?" the blue Pianta queried as he walked over to them. "I guess I ought to appreciate the peace and solitude."

"You should!" Sonic totally agreed with the dude. "Peace and solitude is cool, but action is better!"

"But everyone loves peace!" Pauline pointed out, grinning from ear to ear.

Mario shook his head. "That's not true! Think of people like Bowser!"

"And Eggman!" added Sonic.

"And the imposter!"

"Don't forget about Shadow!"

"Huh? Shadow? What about him?"

"Uh…never mind!"

"Alright then…"

Pauline turned her attention away from Mario and Sonic and put it on the blue Pianta again who was now staring at her and continuing on with his words, "To be honest, though, I could do with a bit more excitement."

"Peace is nice, but I enjoy a little excitement as well," remarked Pauline as she smiled at the Pianta.

"I agree," said the Pianta.

Sonic was through chatting with Mario and noticed an arrow pointing towards a ship that they had to get on, obviously. He could see more arrows up ahead; they were there to lead the heroes to the Shine Sprite. The hedgehog wondered who put them there in the first place.

"Hey, Pauline, Mario!" the blue hedgehog called out to his friends. "Let's follow these arrows and see where it takes us! I'm sure it'll lead us to the caged Shine Sprite up there."

Mario noticed what he was talking about and nodded his head in total agreement, thoroughly convinced about what the speedy hedgehog was talking about. "Okay! Sounds like a good idea to me! Let's get this over with, shall we?"

"We shall," commented Pauline.

So, the trio marched up onto the ship and instantly found a moving hook. It moved back and forth to each side. On the other side, a little Blooper waited for them.

"Why don't you climb onto Mario's back and he'll get you over, Pauline?" Sonic suggested while snickering. "Besides, you are his girlfriend after all…"

Mario instantly became irked. "She is NOT my girlfriend!"

"Suuuuure…."

Pauline giggled at their antics before positioning herself on Mario's back. Mario made sure she was on tight, grumbling something about ignorant hedgehogs before jumping onto the moving hook, grabbing the top of it which was a red and white striped color. Sonic grabbed on right after, hanging on at the top of them. The hook moved on over to the other side and they all dropped down, Sonic almost landing on Mario's head.

"Watch it!" Mario rambled.

"Excuse me, Mario!" Sonic retorted, kicking the Blooper that attempted to bite into his leg. The little Blooper went soaring into the air before falling down into the water below. The blue hedgehog cringed at this, imagining if it was him falling into the water like that. It made him nervous.

Mario rolled his eyes at him before keeping Pauline on his back and jumping onto a moving crane, landing on it safely. Sonic quickly joined them, putting a grip on Mario's arm because of how close they were to the water.

"What's with you anyway, hedgehog?" the plumber grunted, yanking his arm out of his grasp. "First you say you're petrified of water, then you become the Blooper-surfing legend, which you're not, and then you become afraid of water again!"

Sonic pursed his lips. "I dunno!"

"Weird…"

"You're weird…"

"Take that back."

"…No."

Pauline frowned at the males. "Guys, can you stop arguing for once? I mean, it's all funny and whatnot, but it gets irritating hearing someone bicker about unnecessary things."

"She's right," Sonic sighed.

"Fine, fine," Mario remarked.

"May we proceed?" FLUDD questioned his companions. "I think Pauline feels rather uncomfortable being on your back while I am also on your back, Mario."

"Oh!" Mario let go of Pauline's legs and let her stand on her own now. "Sorry!"

Pauline waved a hand at him. "No worries."

Anyway, the crane that they were on, moved them over to a cage hanging in the air. The three jumped onto it and clung to it tightly. Below, a Klamber started crawling after them, hissing like the ugly spider it was. Sonic and Mario didn't mind one bit, but Pauline did.

"EEEEEK!" she screamed out in fright.

"What's the matter?!" Mario asked the female.

"There's a SPIDER coming right at us!" Pauline yowled, face twisted up into a look of disgust and pure horror.

"Relax, Pauline! I'll deal with this!" Aiming to impress the pretty lady, Sonic used his Sonic Wind attack to blow the Klamber right off of the cage and the Klamber squealed as it fell down into the water, dying.

Pauline relaxed, breathing out a sigh of relief.

So, the trio continued moving upwards towards the arrows that pointed ahead of them. They flipped through the cage and appeared on the other side of it, gripping it with both hands and not wanting to fall.

Next, the three very interesting characters hopped onto a moving hook that brought them over to another cage where they held on to. There was another Klamber waiting for them there and Sonic got rid of it with another Sonic Wind of his. They flipped through the cage and went on the other side, continuing their climbing journey and following the arrows that were mysteriously put there to guide them. The trio discovered another moving hook that brought them over to another cage that they did not have to climb this time, but actually walk on. Bloopers were there to try to hinder their progress.

"How did these guys get up here anyway?" Sonic questioned as he punched one of the Bloopers in the face, sending it sky high and into the water. "It's impossible if you ask me!"

"I know right?!" replied Mario as he used FLUDD to spray a Blooper in the face and then jump on its head, defeating it instantly.

Pauline watched the two boys fight off the mini Bloopers and then really had the sense to want to help out. Suddenly, without warning, the female raised a hand and a gust of wind blew across the whole cage, almost knocking everyone off.

"What was that?!" Sonic hollered, clutching onto Mario for dear life, eyes wide with fear.

"I don't know, but you better let go of me…" Mario muttered dangerously, eyes narrowing.

Sonic quickly released the plumber and chortled nervously, sweat-dropping. Mario huffed and then turned to Pauline who was looking truly fascinated.

"Did you do that just now, Pauline?" the red-capped hero queried.

Pauline nodded. "Yes, I did! I can somehow control the wind element around us!"

"Sweet, kind of like my Sonic Wind, but slightly different…" Sonic stated thoughtfully.

Mario contemplated on this fact for a moment, noticing that Sonic could control the water and Pauline could control the wind all because they touched a Shine Sprite. Why didn't he get any strange powers when he touched it? "Maybe it's because I have FLUDD…" he murmured.

"What was that?" Pauline asked Mario while blowing away a Blooper that attempted to jump her.

"Oh, nothing," Mario dismissed, shaking his head. "Let's continue!"

"Right."

They moved on and found another moving crane that brought them up higher and onto a large girdle. There was a dark blue Pianta standing up there dressed in a sailor's outfit and he was just gazing upwards.

"Wow, you three made it all the way here!" the Pianta gawked at them, shock written on his facial features.

"And I'm starting to wonder how you made it all the way up here…" Sonic murmured from between Mario and Pauline, giving the Pianta a skeptical expression.

"Hey, by the way…" the Pianta ignored the hedgehog's recent comment. "Have you spoken to that guy on the roof over there?"

The three of them immediately darted their eyes all around, but didn't see no guy. "We don't see anything!" Mario yapped, frowning.

The Pianta dude just shrugged.

The three interesting individuals decided to ignore the Pianta and trudged onwards along the girdle. Sonic, who was following Mario and Pauline from behind, noticed something odd about Pauline.

There was a giant Klamber on her back…

"Pauline…?" Sonic spoke very slowly, not wanting the girl to panic.

Pauline looked over her shoulder at the teenager and smiled. "Yes?"

"There's…there's…" Sonic lifted a finger and pointed at her back. "Look, don't freak out, but there is a giant spider on your back!"

Pauline stared at him for a very long moment before her eyes met with the Klamber's that was on her back. It screeched at her and then Pauline instantly flipped!

A loud and horrendous scream tore through the dark haired female's throat and ripped out of her mouth, piercing the ears of many across Isle Delfino. She screeched like an insane banshee and went running across the girdle at an alarming rate. Her arms were in the air and the wind around them began to blow fiercely. A giant tornado formed around Pauline because of her out of control power and her immense fear of spiders. The Klamber on her back got swept up by the humongous tornado and went flying elsewhere along with all of the mini Bloopers that had been occupying the girdle.

Sonic gripped onto the edge of the girdle as the wind blew into him hard. "Geez! Pauline, get a grip!" he managed to howl at her through the dangerous wind.

Mario, who had been talking to the guy that the Pianta had mentioned to them about and retrieving a Blue Coin, made it back to the girdle and his hat almost flew right off of his head! The plumber slapped a hand down onto his hat on his head and almost got knocked off the girdle from the strong wind that Pauline was creating.

When Pauline managed to calm down, she was breathing heavily and holding a hand near her chest, body trembling and tears almost spilling out of her eyes. Yes, she was that scared of spiders!

"Are you okay now?" Sonic questioned the female as he got up to his feet and approached her, a tad bit annoyed. "There's no more spiders around!"

Pauline gave him a long look before nodding hesitantly, trembling. "I-I'm fine…" she murmured softly, a little bit brokenly with a hint of fear.

Sonic's expression softened and he spoke, "Hey, don't worry. Mario and I will make sure no more spiders will get you, okay?" he promised.

"Okay…" Pauline sighed, believing him.

Mario trekked over to the two individuals and breathed out a huge sigh. "Okay, guys. We still have some ways to go. Let's continue and get this over with!"

Pauline and Sonic agreed.

So, the three adventurers carried on, finding another hook and moving onto another cage where they hung onto. They climbed the cage and reached another cage, getting on top of it and finding some little Bloopers up there that tried to rid them of this world. However, they were easily taken care of and the three characters moved on, getting closer and closer to the caged Shine Sprite.

Then they came across Wind Duppies…

"WHOA!" yelled Sonic as a Wind Duppy attempted to blow him right off of the cage that they were standing on. "THIS IS SO NOT COOL!"

"I'll take care of it!" Mario jumped into action and used FLUDD to spray the Wind Duppy that was trying to push Sonic the Hedgehog right off of the cage. The Wind Duppy silently dispersed after Mario did that. "Ha! That wasn't so hard! That was pure easiness!" the plumber gloated.

Sonic regained his balance and spread his arms out on either side of him, letting out a whoosh of air. "Yeah, yeah. What-evs, Mario!" he remarked.

"What-evs?" Pauline questioned, very intrigued by the words that came out of the hedgehog's mouth.

"Yeah, girly," responded Sonic as he found FLUDD's Rocket Nozzle. He kicked the box with his foot and the Rocket Nozzle popped out. He snatched it out of the air with his gloved hands and then tossed it to Mario who caught it easily. "I like to make up words that don't really…make any sense. Heh."

Pauline held a look of interest and she nodded. "I get it!" she commented.

"Exactly," Sonic flashed her a grin.

Mario attached the Rocket Nozzle to FLUDD and then sauntered over to a trampoline, spraying another Wind Duppy that tried to assault them. He jumped onto the trampoline and it sent him onto a girdle. Sonic and Pauline followed.

Once on the higher girdle, two Wind Duppies appeared and tried to push them off of the girdle. The three didn't have time to react and they were pushed off of the girdle, but there was a trampoline down there that their feet connected with. They bounced upwards and grasped each other's hands so they wouldn't get separated.

"Woo!" Sonic cheered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Mario yowled.

"This is amazing!" Pauline laughed.

Then they landed on another girdle, almost falling off from the sudden impact. They all kept a firm grip on each other's hands for a few minutes before looking up, noticing that they were getting closer to the caged Shine Sprite!

Suddenly, without warning, a Wind Duppy materialized before them and struck Pauline hard, sending her right off of the girdle. Pauline cried out in pain and shock as she lost two pieces of her Life. She began falling down into the murky water below, screaming the entire time.

"PAULINE!" Mario and Sonic simultaneously hollered, reaching hands out towards her.

But it was too late…

However, something miraculous happened!

Pauline was blasted back up to the girdle by using her extraordinary wind abilities. She stumbled back onto the girdle, eyes wide. "Wow…!" she yipped.

"Pauline, are you okay?" Sonic asked.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Mario questioned.

"I'm fine, guys. No worries," informed Pauline with a small smile. "Just a little fall. I don't know what I did, but it worked! It was amazing!"

Sonic shrugged. "Barely made it…"

After all of those sudden events, the trio left the girdle they were standing on and used FLUDD's Rocket Nozzle to make it to a higher level, finding two trampolines that led right into the cage that the Shine Sprite was being held in. As one, Mario, Sonic, and Pauline all jumped onto the trampolines until they were inside of the giant yellow cage. Reaching the bottom, they found the Shine Sprite floating in there.

"Finally," Pauline breathed.

Mario walked forward and grabbed the Shine Sprite, holding it up with a large smile glued to his facial features. "YAHOO!" he cheered happily.

"Too easy, piece of cake!" Sonic held a thumbs up, grinning in triumph.

"That wasn't too hard!" joined Pauline, striking a pretty pose and smiling.

Then they were encased in a bright light that sent them all the way back to Delfino Plaza.