Chapter 9: Pure Heart Problems
The group of heroes found themselves back on the path right outside of the Koopa Bros' Dojo.
"Hopefully the Koopa Bros can help shelter anybody who is trying to escape Corrupted Troops," thought Meta Knight as the group walked.
"They seem like such nice turtles," smiled Timpani, "I wonder why they would have worked for Bowser."
"Promises of power from the Star Rod," explained Parakarry.
"The want for power seems to be the source of most problems," sighed Blumiere.
"Hey! Don't frown Count!" chuckled Kirby, "Sure, Dimentio may have corrupted most of our friends and dispersed the Star Spirits and Pure Hearts throughout several worlds, but he doesn't know that Mario and the rest of us are here. If we keep quiet, we can sneak attack that clown when we save the Star Spirits and Pure Hearts!"
"Don't you think he'll notice that he lost contact with Sir MK?" asked Blumiere. Kirby stopped and stared blankly for a minute.
"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it," giggled Kirby. Mario laughed to himself as he noticed that Blumiere was once again confused by the Pink Puffball.
"Don't you mean... Ah never mind, it's probably what you mean anyways," groaned Blumiere, "I guess we do have one Pure Heart."
"That means we have to go back to Flipside to put it back in the Heart Pillar," stated Meta Knight. Timpani smiled at the sound of Flipside, but then stopped walking.
"Oh no," gulped Timpani.
"What is it dear?" asked Blumiere.
"According to Mario," choked Timpani, "Dimentio wished away the Pure Hearts. For some reason they weren't destroyed, but instead spread out throughout a whole bunch of worlds. If Sir MK wanted to find the Pure Heart to have it permanently destroyed we have an issue."
"Why?" pondered Kirby, "It's not like that heartless fool has enough love in his heart to find the Pure Hearts by himself."
"He's the Master of Dimensions," explained Timpani, "If we put the Yellow Pure Heart back in the Heart Pillar, he's going to notice the Dimensional Door reappearing. He'll know where it is and wish that it came to him. Then he'll be able to destroy it permanently." The rest of the group gasped as Timpani finished speaking.
"I'm not sure what a Dimensional Door is, but it sounds like we can't put the Pure Heart in whatever a Heart Pillar is," sighed Parakarry.
"That does seem like quite the dilemma," groaned Meta Knight. Mario put his finger to his chin.
"What about Merlon?" asked Blumiere, "He probably has a way to protect the Pure Heart from the Chaos Rod."
"That may be our only hope," peeped Timpani.
"Toad Town is not too far guys!" exclaimed Kirby, "Let's go ask this Council of Merlons I've been hearing so much about."
"I'll race you!" cheered Parakarry. Kirby and Parakarry took off down the path.
"They'll never see me coming," chuckled Meta Knight as he spread his wings and took off.
"I think I'll join Kirby's shenanigans," laughed Blumiere as he spread his cloak and flew after the others. Mario smiled, but Timpani could tell that something was on the plumber's mind.
"Is everything okay Mario," comforted Timpani. Mario took a deep breath and sighed. Mario expressed his concerns after facing Sir MK. The man in red couldn't help but worry about his brother. Dimentio used his brother to almost destroy everything. He felt like Luigi was already being used by that demented clown. "Mario," smiled Timpani, "We will find your brother. We are going to find everyone. Remember, if you ever need someone to talk too, I'll always be here to lend a hand." Mario smiled back at Timpani. "Now," grinned Timpani, "Let's beat everyone in this race." Mario nodded. He and Timpani sprinted down the path. Eventually the group reached Toad Town.
"I won!" exclaimed Meta Knight.
"It's not fair that you can disappear into the shadows and teleport further ahead," complained Kirby.
"Guys," shushed Blumiere, "We don't want to alert any Corrupted Toads."
"Even the Toads have been corrupted!" gasped Parakarry, "Man, Dimentio sucks."
"Okay!" cheered Timpani, "Let's go ask the Merlons what we should do about the Pure Heart."
"Where do you think you're going?" growled a voice that was entering the area with MK Merlon's house. It was a Black and White Toad, wearing a white cloak of some sort. It was also holding a spear. The Corrupted Toad was also being followed by a black and white mustached boo.
"Fiece T.!" screeched Parakarry.
"Bootler!" cried Kirby.
"Master Dimentio will reward us for corrupting such powerful heroes," wheezed Bootler. Once again a battle began. Mario swapped the couple to the front.
"This is Corrupted Fiece T." explained Timpani, "He seems to be a stronger Corrupted Toad. He has 3 HP, 4 Attack Power, and no defense. We should take him out before he does too much damage." Mario nodded and used a Power Jump to defeat Fiece T. in one fell swoop.
"I'm sorry Bootler!" wailed Kirby before performing a Final Cutter attack, doing three damage. Parakarry finished off the ghostly butler with a Shell Shot. The team gained some Star Points as the Toad and Bootler began regaining color.
"...Mario?" groaned Fiece T. as he rubbed his eyes. "What's going on."Mario was able to explain the situation to both the Toad and the Boo relatively quickly. The guard noticed Kirby and screamed in horror.
"No please! Leave me alone," yelled Fiece T. as he hid behind his spear.
"Huh?" asked Kirby, "Oh, I must have attacked you when I was corrupted. Bootler is everything okay back at the mansion? Is Lady Bow alright?"
"Master Kirby," coughed Bootler as he floated off the ground, "I was doing my daily scare of Fiece T. when he actually fought back. He was black and white. I remember blacking out, then waking up here. Lady Bow is fine, she went to Poshley Heights the day after Master Mario's wedding."
"Thank goodness," sighed Kirby.
"So," stated Blumiere, "You two better find some place to hide."
"I'll be heading back to the mansion," sputtered Bootler, "I've got see what damage this corruption has caused in the forest." Bootler flew towards the entrance to the Forever Forest after giving his best wishes to Mario and Kirby.
"Where do I go?" teared up Fiece T.
"The Toad brothers Barry and Steve are okay," comforted Timpani, "I believe you can go hide with them."
"Thanks butterfly lady," blubbered Fiece T. as he wiped the tears from his eyes. The guard sprinted away from the group.
"Who made him the forest guard?" pondered Blumiere, "He doesn't seem like the guard type."
"His whole family tree has guarded that entrance for generation," told Parakarry.
"Normally I would love a Toad Town family history lesson, but we need to talk to the Merlons," grumbled Meta Knight.
"I almost forgot about that," chuckled Kirby. Blumiere let out a hardy sigh. The count knew there was no point in trying to reason with Kirby's logic.
"How?" muttered Blumiere.
"I don't know," shrugged Kirby as the group walked towards MK Merlon's house. The group entered the house.
"It's best not to question his antics," added Meta Knight.
"I just want to know how he forgot after five minutes!" complained Blumiere as Mario turned the crystal ball, revealing the secret staircase.
"Dear," smiled Timpani, "It's Kirby, that's all you need to know."
"She's absolutely right!" agreed Kirby. Mario and Parakarry led the way down the staircase.
"Somebody is going to have to fill me in on what a Flipside is," announced Parakarry. Timpani began telling Parakarry about the strange yet beautiful land that is Flipside.
"Instead of being a dimension," explained Timpani, "Flipside is between dimensions, so it is easy to open portals to other dimensions."
"Interesting," thought Parakarry. The light from the Council Room got brighter as the team traversed down the staircase.
"There is no way that the information in that book is real!" argued RP Merlon as Mario and company walked into the room.
"Oh good!" cheered FS Merlon as he noticed the gang, "You're back, and it seems you've found some of your friends!"
"Hi Merlons and Merle!" waved Kirby enthusiastically.
"Did you all succeed in finding the Yellow Pure Heart?" questioned Merle. Mario nodded as he held out the Yellow Pure Heart.
"Magnificent!" gasped MK Merlon.
"It's really not," sighed Meta Knight.
"Ah Meta Knight," noticed FS Merlon, "Whatever do you mean?"
"It's a long story," coughed Blumiere, "But long story short, Sir MK, or a corrupted version of Meta Knight, was looking for the Pure Heart. He was also corrupting and teleporting away the students of the Koopa Bros and residents of Koopa Village."
"Oh dear," frowned MK Merlon, "That doesn't sound good."
"That's not all," continued Timpani, "When we were watching Sir MK interrogating the Koopa Brothers, he said something about having the Pure Heart being permanently destroyed. But that's not possible... right?" FS Merlon looked saddened at this news from Timpani.
"Right?" asked a panicked Kirby.
"I was hoping that book was lying," choked RP Merlon.
"I assume you heard us talking as you entered the room," sighed Merle.
"Yeah," stated Parakarry, "Something about a book with false information."
"Unfortunately," sighed FS Merlon, "The book we are referring too is written by Merloo."
"Who now?" asked Meta Knight.
"One of the Four Sages of Flipside," explained Timpani, "He's is rumored to have written the Light Prognostics."
"He did help write the prophecy," corrected FS Merlon, "After he helped write the Light Prognostics, he spent most of his time researching oracles. He wrote several books and this so happens to be one of them."
"I'm not exactly following," stated Kirby.
"This book," sighed FS Merlon, "Is full of predictions for if and when the Star Rod is falls into darkness. The passage is a bit vague, but I believe it tells of the only way to destroy a Pure Heart."
"How easy is it?" peeped Blumiere.
"According to Sage Merloo," recited the Council in unison, "Pure Hearts, while love shines bright, true and fair. Darkness lurks bringing despair. Pure Hearts, with compassion so bright, will always burn as long as love burns bright. Except for when..."
"Except for when what?" cried Kirby.
"The text is a language not familiar to any of us," frowned MK Merlon.
"We've tried every language we could think of, but it all leads to gibberish!" grumbled Merle.
"Dimentio must have realized that his initial wish failed to destroy the Pure Hearts," realized RP Merlon.
"This the only text that even mentions a possibility for destroying a Pure Heart," added FS Merlon, "How would that evil clown know what to do?"
"Let me take a look at the passage," offered Blumiere.
"Certainly," nodded FS Merlon as he handed the count the old book. Blumiere read the passage. His eyes lit up.
"What is it dear?" wondered Timpani as she put a hand on her husband's shoulder."
"I know who can read this," chuckled Blumiere.
"Who?" the group asked in unison.
"Nastasia!" answered Blumiere.
"I'm still in dark here!" complained Parakarry as the rest of the group cheered a Blumiere's news.
"How?" asked Kirby.
"Her glasses can translate any text ever created," explained Blumiere, "They were a relic created by the Tribe of Darkness, so it's no wonder they're so powerful."
"This is fantastic!" cheered MK Merlon.
"Why? It sounds like terrible news to me," groaned Meta Knight.
"If we find out the only way to destroy a Pure Heart," explained Merle, "We can find a way to counter it!"
"Since Nastasia is located in Flopside, you all need to get back to Flipside," noted FS Merlon.
"Ohhhhh," realized Kirby, "But what about the Heart Pillar Problem."
"What Heart Pillar problem?" asked RP Merlon.
"If Dimentio is the Master of Dimensions," thought Timpani, "Wouldn't he just sense the Dimensional Door open in Flipside. Once he realizes it is in the Heart Pillar, he can teleport and steal it."
"That is no problem, my dear Timpani!" smiled FS Merlon, "We already thought of that scenario. We have been in contact with FS Merlee. She has prepared a charm that can prevent a Pure Heart from being stolen and destroyed!"
"Great!" cheered Blumiere as he pocketed the book from FS Merlon.
"Now the only question remains, is how to get you all back to Flipside without Dimentio noticing," thought MK Merlon.
"Sage Merlimbis told us that if we concentrate the love in our hearts that links with a certain place, we can teleport without Dimentio noticing us," told Timpani.
"You met Sage Merlimbis!" gasped FS Merlon, "Okay Timpani, do what you did with Sage Merlimbis and concentrate on Flipside." Timpani put her hands on her heart and started repeating the words Sage Merlimbis had said back in her home dimension. The group started to glow as Timpani got close to the end of the incantation.
"Good luck!" waved the Council of Merlons as Timpani snapped her fingers.
"Oh boy," gulped Parakarry as the group was surrounded by a small black box.