Mario Party: Tiny Troubles

by SquishyXVerySquishy

Princess Peach and the Mario Bros are invited to a festival on the island nation of Terrao. This isn't just a celebration however; Bowser has been taking part in the festivities, and has become famous on the island, leaving The Princess no choice, but to investigate. With Princess Daisy, a rookie Toad, and unfortunately Wario and Waluigi, the gang attempt to uncover the scheme!

3. Chapter 2: Creepy Crawler Comes Crawlin!

Chapter 2: Creepy Crawler Comes a Crawlin'!

"Ughhhh…." Everyone groaned.

The sun was shining intensely on all of their faces, and their heads were throbbing in pain.

Mario was the first to get up, and when he opened his eyes to peer around, he was shocked. He stood up and observed his surroundings.

"Ughh man, I think I fell on my keys." Daisy groaned. She got up and began massaging her sides, but when she looked around, she stopped and stared in amazement.

"Woah…" Daisy said.

Toad stood up and looked around. "Aw man…" He said in despair.

Everyone else got up and all were just as equally stunned at their surroundings.

They were shrunken and transported to a suburban neighborhood of sorts. Their small size created an incredible sight. Dandelions peering out of the sidewalk cracks were as tall as light poles. The lawns that stood at attention in the yards of the nearby homes were tall enough to replicate forests. The white fences that blocked off the yards from the sidewalk were as tall as skyscrapers. The houses themselves were even taller and stood at incredible heights, almost as if they could reach into the heavens.

It was a marvel of a sight.

VROOM!

A car raced by on the street, and the resulting whiplash flung Toad into the air.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!"

He shouted. Mario and Luigi managed to grab onto him and pull him back down to the ground.

"Wahh! You have got to be kidding me! What are we supposed to do now!? I can't stay the size of an ant!" Wario cried out.

"Wehhhh! There's no way I can stay the "Prince of Dance" like this!" Waluigi bemoaned.

"How did Bowser manage to do this? What was that thing he had with him? I mean he called it the Minimizer, but I've never heard or seen anything like it." Daisy wondered.

"Must be some new weapon he and that evil Kamek made!" Toad replied.

"Yo-Yoshi!" Yoshi pointed to an object nearby.

It was a gold watch that was normal size, which made it look as tall as a house.

"Hooray! My watch survived!" Waluigi cheered. He ran over to it and embraced it.

Daisy looked down the street and saw another car speeding towards them.

"Everyone! Get behind the watch! Quick!"

Everyone heard her and ran behind the watch. As the car sped by, another powerful gust of wind flew by, which everyone was able to avoid.

Toad grabbed onto his coat and held onto it as the car sped by and in doing so, he felt something in his pocket.

"That was a close one." Daisy said.

"We need to find some cover and fast." Peach responded.

Toad wasn't listening. He was digging into his pocket for the unknown object. He pulled it out and took a look at it. His mouth dropped.

"Princess!" Toad shouted.

Princess Peach turned her head and looked at what Toad was holding. Her mouth dropped as well, which attracted the attention of everyone else.

"No way…is that?" Daisy asked.

It was indeed.

It was the Yellow Sky Crystal.

Yoshi launched his tongue and brought it into his mouth. He spit it back out onto his hand. It still shined brightly despite just being nearly swallowed. It was legitimately the sky crystal.

"Yoshi!" Yoshi said triumphantly.

Peach looked at Toad in shock.

"Toad, how did you get your hands on that!? We saw Bowser holding it!" Peach said in disbelief.

"I-I don't know! I found it in a safe near all these toys and glowing paint. T-then I made a mess and tried to clean it up. I wasn't thinking and I stuffed some of the toys in my pockets, but then Kamek found me and-"

"And he took the wrong piece!" Daisy finished Toad's sentence and began to laugh. "Toad, you genius!"

"Wahahaha! The fungus conned the turtle! I gotta say little guy, I'm impressed!" Wario laughed.

"What a devious trick! What elegance, and what a perfect rotten slap in the face to that turtle who ruined my suit!" Waluigi exclaimed.

Mario smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"Oh yeah!"

Luigi said proudly, giving a thumbs up as well.

Toad felt a little star-struck, his earlier fear replaced with happiness.

Peach got on one knee and placed a hand on Toad's shoulder.

"You did a great thing for us, Toad. We have an advantage now, and it's all thanks to you."

Toad was relieved. He thought he had failed his mission. Instead, he unknowingly just gave everyone a fighting chance.

"Wah so what now then?" Wario asked.

Peach stood up. "Thanks to Toad, we have a chance to reverse this. First things first, we need to head to the embassy as fast as possible. We need to alert the Toad Guard and tell Toadsworth."

Peach looked up when she realized something. She never told Toadsworth where she was going. He must be worried sick, and she'll probably never hear the end of this for a long time.

"Well where should we go then? Does anyone even know what this place is?"

Daisy asked, breaking the silence.

Toad rubbed his chin, trying to remember. He had read a map of Terrao yesterday before they got ready for the party.

"Hmm I don't know for sure, but it looks like we are in a suburb. Which doesn't help because there are many towns on Terrao that look like this."

Toad explained.

"Worst case scenario is we could be in the west of the island. "

"Why is that the worst case scenario?"

Wario asked.

"We were in Terrao City, Wario. That's on the eastern beach."

Waluigi responded.

Wario stared at Waluigi for a few seconds, then he sat down and laid back onto the Gold Watch.

"Wahhhh welp, I live here now. This is where I'm staying."

Daisy crossed her arms.

"Really? Cmon get up."She said.

"It was nice knowing you all, but there's no hope. We're all-"

Thump thump

Wario was interrupted by the ground shaking. The vibrations caused the whole gang to shake.

"Uhhh." Toad chattered out. "Is that an earthquake?"

The ground then stopped shaking and a giant shadow looked over the gang. It was a giant figure, and it menacingly bent down and-

"Aw sweet! A watch!" A voice said.

Suddenly, the watch was scooped up with the help of a bandana scarf, and Wario fell on his back.

The shadow was a Goomba.

A child to be specific. This Goomba wore red shoes and wore a blue scarf that was positioned in such a way that it acted like a scooper for items, which certainly seemed useful considering Goombas do not have arms or hands. The child also had a blue satchel and using his scarf, he picked the watch up and placed it inside.

Waluigi was horrified.

"Wehhh!? Hey! Let go of my watch!" He shouted up to the Goomba.

The child froze and looked around. Not a soul in sight.

"Huh? Who said that?" He asked.

"Down here you little brat!" Waluigi responded.

The child looked down to the sidewalk. He blinked a few times.

"Ah sorry! I didn't know it belonged to you-"

The little Goomba's eyes suddenly bulged open and his mouth dropped to the floor, as the weight of what he was seeing with his own eyes finally dawned on him.

"S-s-s-s-sweet gravy!" The child yelped out, slipping in the process and falling over.

"Waluigi! Be polite!"

Peach demanded.

"Wehh! Not when my watch is about to be taken I won't!" Waluigi yelled back.

The kid was staring down at the gang of tiny people, still dumbfounded by what he had found.

"I've totally lost my mind. I'm not seeing this right now. A gas leak nearby is making me hallucinate, there is no way I'm seeing the freaking Princesses and the Mario Bros right now." The Goomba reasoned with himself out loud.

"We mean you no harm, and you're not going crazy. It's really us!" Peach responded.

The kid stood back up and squinted his eyes.

"Are you sure? I know some people say you guys were shorter than they thought, but this is just ridiculous! This isn't some kind of trick Bowser is trying to pull right? I know he can't be trusted!" The kid questioned.

"Hm. Well good to know he's on our side."

Daisy whispered to Peach before stepping forward herself.

"Kid, you can believe us, we're telling the truth. It's kind of a long story, but we've been shrunken and we need help getting to the embassy."

The kid looked around briefly to see if anyone was approaching them on the sidewalk before crouching down to get a closer look at the gang.

"Yea? Can you prove it's really you guys?" He asked.

Daisy looked at both Mario and Luigi.

"You guys are up." She said.

Mario and Luigi looked at one another. They wondered what to do before lightbulbs appeared over both of their heads.

"High?" Luigi asked.

Mario smiled and fixed his hat. "Mmhm!"

Mario proceeded to jump on Luigi's shoulders, and together they both jumped, allowing themselves to be launched into the air and briefly reaching the little Goomba's eyesight despite their small size. They landed safely on the ground.

"Holy Moly!" The kid shouted in excitement. That impressive jump? That easily coordinated move? There was no doubt about it.

"So it's true! You guys are really the Mario Bros!"

Mario and Luigi both bowed. The kid then looked at the two Princesses, as well as Yoshi and Toad.

"And you guys are real too! You're all from the mushroom kingdom! You're all real!"

"That's right." Peach responded with a smile.

The kid then looked at Wario and Waluigi.

"And so is the fat, smelly guy and the tall, purple guy with good fashion sense!"

Waluigi smiled and fixed his mustache.

"Wehehe p-perhaps 'brat' was too strong a word. Why don't you tell us your name, kid?"

"Oh right!" The kid shouted.

"My name is Gyumba. I live here in Whispy Park."

"Whispy Park?" Toad asked.

He thought about it for a few seconds, then a despairing look on his face followed.

"Aw man that's on the west coast! We're on the far end of the island!"

The entire gang groaned. Daisy fell to the ground on her back in exasperation.

"It's gonna take us forever to get back. Why couldn't that stupid magician at least land us in the center?" Daisy whined.

Gyumba stood back up. "Oh oh! I can help!"

Peach looked up at the Goomba. "Huh? You want to help us Gyumba?"

Gyumba smiled and hopped a few times.

"Are you kidding me? This is a dream come true! I mean besides, there's no way you can make it to the west on foot. I can take you there! Plus, I'd love to stick it to Bowser too!"

Toad smiled and placed his hands on his hips.

"I say we follow him! Of course, only if you agree, Princess."

Peach nodded. "Thank you Gyumba. We would love your help."

Gyumba hopped around excitedly once more. "Oh man oh man! This is awesome!" He shouted.

His hopping was then interrupted by a loud growling. Everyone, by habit, turned to look at Wario.

"Wahhh that wasn't me!"

Wario responded, offended.

The growling perked up again and this time, everyone found the source: Peach's stomach.

She blushed in embarrassment, and Daisy slapped her forehead.

"Aw crud that's right cuz! You haven't eaten anything since before the party!"

Daisy said.

Toad saluted with despair.

"I'm so sorry your highness! I'd give you some snacks from my satchel but Kamek stole it from me!"

Gyumba huffed with pride, realizing he could help out right away.

"Don't worry guys, I'm a great cook!"

He then crouched low to the ground, allowing the opening of his satchel to reach the sidewalk.

"Climb in. I can take you home and whip something up."

Wario smiled and fixed his pants. "Wahaha! Don't need to tell me twice!"

"Wehhh me too! And bring the watch!" Waluigi added in.

The two of them jumped inside of the satchel.

Yoshi followed, and then Toad.

"You're awesome Gyumba! I'll make sure the Toad Guard rewards you handsomely for this!" Toad exclaimed before jumping in himself.

Both of the Princesses followed and so did Mario and Luigi; Daisy jumped in and pulled Luigi in with her, and Mario helped Peach climb in, after her dress almost got caught in the satchel's zipper.

"You're too kind Gyumba. Thank you."

Peach said.

Gyumba was so excited. His mind was racing, and it felt like his heart was about to explode out of his chest from excitement.

"Hoo boy I think I'm gonna throw up."

Gyumba remarked.

"Been there before."

Toad responded.

———————————-

Bowser angrily crushed the toy block in his hand. The paint's glow had dimmed and it became clear that the Sky Crystal was a fake.

Kamek gulped in fear as the block turned to dust, as he was the one who gave the block to Bowser thinking it was the real deal.

"F-forgive me for the mistake, Your Fearlessness." Kamek squeaked out, breaking the silence.

Bowser looked out the window. "How you could have screwed this up!? I had Junior hide it in his room for a reason. It was the perfect hiding spot! Even if they're small, the last thing we need is them finding all of the Sky Crystals and ruining my plan. Send out our troops discreetly and survey the island. Make sure the Sky Crystals are located and obtained before anyone else gets their hands on it. Now move!"

Bowser ordered.

"Of course sire!" Kamek responded, disappearing into a puff of smoke.

Bowser continued to stare out the window. "I'll admit, I never expected this to happen. Bravo Princess. However, the crystals will be mine in the end, and this island will bow down to me." He smirked.

DING DONG

Bowser looked at the front door confusedly.

He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hi, Mr. Koopa!"

Three uniformed girls were at the door, hauling a wagon filled with boxes of assorted brownies, cookies, and desserts.

It was the Girl Scouts again.

Bowser groaned.

"Girls listen, I've already bought from you three. A king can only carry so many boxes of cookies." Bowser responded.

"Would you like to buy a box of double stuffed fudge Mr. Koopa? I think little Koopa would be happy if you did." The youngest of the girls asked.

She was referring to a large plush of Bowser, who was sitting down in the middle of the wagon. It had two button eyes, and had an open mouth with red fabric resembling fire sticking out.

Bowser laughed.

"Grahaha! Well I suppose, a few more boxes wouldn't hurt. Just keep making sure to send me more fan mail and Bowser toys as well!"

Bowser spun around. "Kamek! Hurry back and get me my wallet!"

—————————————

Gyumba stood on top of his kitchen counter. He was stirring a pot using a wooden spoon which he was biting on to control.

The gang was sitting down on the table. The plate they were sitting around seemed wide and long, but it was just a normal plate.

This tiny business was gonna take some time getting used to.

Peach was looking around and some pictures of Gyumba, as well as a few pictures of a Goomba couple, most likely his parents. She thought up a question to ask, but also wanted to come off as casual and not prying so a worse-case scenario wouldn't make things awkward.

"Gyumba, are you here by yourself?" Peach carefully asked.

"For now I am. My parents are off the island on a business trip. I'm holding up the fort here." Gyumba replied with a huff of pride.

"Seriously dude? All by yourself?" Daisy asked in amazement.

"Wahaha! A real bachelor's pad if I do say so myself." Wario exclaimed.

Gyumba brought the spoon out of the pot and turned the dial controlling the heat with his foot, which turned off the stove. He then stomped the handle of the pot, which launched the contents - a large serving of Macaroni N' Cheese - onto a large bowl. Gyumba then climbed down and brought the bowl over to the table.

"I don't have the fancy food you guys have, but you can't beat classic food like this! Imported straight from the City of Victoria!" Gyumba exclaimed.

Wario rubbed his hands together. "Well well, don't mind if I do!"

He leaped into the bowl and began eating the food. Yoshi climbed in and did the same. Mario and Luigi grabbed a few pieces and passed them around to Toad, the Princesses, and to Waluigi, who took off his gloves to keep them clean.

The food was cooked perfectly, and the cheese was hardened just enough to both not make a mess, but remained perfectly edible.

While everyone was eating-

POP

A firework went off outside. Gyumba ran to the window to get a better look.

People outside were setting off branded fireworks. Not just any fireworks though, they were Bowser branded. One person lit another one of the fireworks, and it launched into the air with a whoosh before-

POP

Popping in the air and revealing colors that recreated Bowser's face.

Gyumba groaned.

"Ugh, for real? Bowser fireworks? Can't they just buy regular sparklers?"

"I know right? It weirds me out too, people need to find better things to do than worship that turtle." Daisy responded.

"If you don't mind me asking Gyumba, why are you against Bowser so much? Not that I don't understand, but it seems as though many people here on Terrao, and especially children, are idolizing him."

Peach asked.

Gyumba walked back to the table and sat down with an angry look on his face.

"It's his fault my parents are gone."

Gyumba mumbled.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion while Gyumba continued.

"It...it was all my fault. My parents worked for Bowser before, but last year they lost their jobs. I remember it being because they took so many days to take care of me. It happened in the middle of the week and had to move from place to place, and through it all, I never saw my parents happy. I mean, they smile and say everything is alright, but it doesn't feel like it is. The only reason they were able to move here is because they finally found jobs, but only off the island. If I was just able to take care of myself, they wouldn't have to be gone for so long…"

Gyumba said with his head hung low.

"Gyumba…" Peach tried to consol.

Wario climbed out of the bowl, and looked at him.

"Wahh kid, it IS your fault."

Daisy punched him in response.

"Ow!" He yelped.

"Shut it Wario!" Daisy scolded.

Peach walked up to Gyumba to meet him at eye level and smiled at him. "Don't listen to Wario, Gyumba. I'm sure your parents are working hard to feed and clothe you and make you happy. I have no doubt they would be so proud to see you be so responsible!"

Gyumba looked up at her, and smiled to himself.

"Well, whatever the case, we gotta stop Bowser and make you guys big again. If we beat Bowser, I just know my parents would be happy again!" Gyumba exclaimed.

"Wahh, we're expecting a lot from you kid! You better answer our beck and call when we need it!" Wario responded.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Gyumba's mind and the realization dawned on him.

"Call! Oh crud! I was supposed to call my neighbors!"

Gyumba jumped out of the chair he was sitting in.

"Your neighbors?" Peach asked.

"I was supposed to call my neighbors an hour ago for a check up!" Gyumba explained.

He ran off into the nearby decorated living room and grabbed a phone off the table. He pushed a button on it and the phone came to life, ringing in his scarf.

"Hi Mr. Hoskins!" Gyumba said, talking into the phone.

"N-no I'm sorry I know I was just busy, I was-no I'm ok." Gyumba walked off into another room, continuing his conversation.

Peach grabbed a nearby napkin and cleaned her face before standing up. "Is everyone finished? I say we make a plan now and prepare for the next few days."

Daisy burped and stood up as well. "Heck yeah. Maybe we can catch a ride and get back to Terrao City. We'd be back at the embassy in no time flat!"

Toad jumped up and saluted. "Oh oh! Your highnesses! Might I suggest the Bus?"

Peach furrowed an eyebrow. "The Bus?" She asked.

Toad nodded.

"I studied a map of Terrao while on the plane and in the hotel!

There are plenty of bus lines that run across the entire island from west to east; we could hitch a ride on one and head all the way to the embassy!"

"Great! We should head out soon then!"

Daisy replied, getting ready to move again.

"It sounds like a good idea, but how could we pay for it? How would we even be able to get on the bus with our small size?" Peach asked, which stopped Daisy dead in her tracks.

Mario and Luigi both pulled out their wallets from their back pockets. They both pulled out a few coins.

"Wehhh you idiots! We're the size of bugs! No one's gonna take our money, unless a currency exchange has been established for tiny coins!" Waluigi mocked.

Mario and Luigi looked at each other and slipped their money back into their wallets.

Toad perked up when an idea crossed his mind. "Oh! Maybe we can ask Gyumba to help us!"

Wario climbed out of the bowl covered in cheese.

"Wahh good idea! Let's get the kid to foot the bill!" He exclaimed.

Conveniently, Gyumba happened to walk back in at that very moment, still on the call with his neighbors.

"Foot the bill for what?" He asked.

"Huh, who am I talking to?"

Gyumba answered his neighbor on the other side of the phone. "Oh Mr. Hoskins you won't believe it! But I have-"

Peach ran over to the other side of the table to get closer to Gyumba before speaking.

"W-wait Gyumba! Don't!" She pleaded.

Gyumba looked at her with a confused look but nevertheless, silenced himself at her command.

"Sorry Gyumba, but please you can't tell anyone about us. If rumors were to get out of us being small, Bowser might make a move, or my friends would get into huge problems."

Peach explained, referring to Toadette and Toadsworth.

Gyumba nodded before returning to the call. Now, he had to find a way to finish his sentence. "S-sorry Mr. Hoskins, I just uh…I found a great deal on Macaroni N' Cheese at the market! They have a deal going on now with the Festival being nearby."

He improvised.

It seemed to work, and Gyumba continued with the call.

"Uh huh. Ok I can do that! Okay Mr. Hoskins. Bye."

Gyumba replied before hanging up the phone.

"Phew, that was a close one! Now, you said something about footing a bill?"

"Yes Gyumba, you wouldn't happen to have any money for the bus would you?"

Peach asked.

Gyumba's eyes lit up and he ran over to a kitchen cabinet.

"Finally, I can do this!" He exclaimed.

Using his scarf, he brought up a porcelain piggy bank and placed it on the table. It was colored and shaped in the form of Mario, with a painted-on mustache and red cap. Gyumba then backed up and ran towards the table, jumping up and head bonking the small piggy bank, reducing it to pieces. Three coins that seemed giant to the small gang came rolling out of the piggy debris. Gyumba stared at the coins with slight dismay.

"Rats! This isn't enough!"

Gyumba whined.

"Well look on the bright side kid, now you can get a better looking piggy bank."

Wario laughed.

Gyumba looked back at a clock that was in the kitchen and began putting the money that fell out into his satchel.

"Arghh sorry guys I gotta get to my neighbor's house. I promised I would help clean up the house today. "

Gyumba explained.

Wario looked down for a second. Then, a lightbulb appeared over his head.

"Wahhht a brilliant idea kid!"

Wario exclaimed.

Gyumba raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Wario jumped into Gyumba's satchel head first and quickly fixed himself before continuing.

"Take us with, and convince them to give you some money!" He shouted.

"I can't ask them for money!"

Gyumba retorted.

"Wahh then work for it! You said it yourself, you're gonna help clean their place up. Demand pay! That's the beauty of the economy we live in, you ask for money or no work! Then you keep the money all to yourself! The joys of capitalism…ahhhhh."

Wario sighed in happiness.

"He's got a point, unfortunately. I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping out a little bit."

Daisy said.

"Well, I guess we could give it a shot."

Gyumba replied, slightly hesitant.

"We have no business with you soldier, so just buzz off already!"

The Toad wrote down some notes in his notepad. He had stopped at the door of this home in order to gain information about the surroundings, but the Stingby who answered the door - one Mrs. Hoskins - refused to answer any questions. It was a plain refusal to work with the soldier at her door.

"Ma'am we just ask for your cooperation in any case of suspicious activity being conducted around the island. Too many people have disappeared and we just want to be on the lookout and be ready for anything." The soldier responded.

"Be ready for what? To throw me in jail too? I've answered this same question four times already; and like I said four times now, I haven't seen anything." Mrs. Hoskins replied frustratedly.

Another Stingby flew behind the woman and spoke with a quieter tone.

"Sir, we can confidently say we have witnessed nothing. Should something arise, we will be the first to alert the Guard." The man asserted.

The Toad looked at the two of them for a few moments and noticed Gyumba walking down the street. He then stored away his notepad.

"Very well. Have a great day you two."

He replied.

"Yeah yeah whatever."

Mrs. Hoskins shrugged off, finished with the conversation.

The Toad began to walk off the lawn and back onto the street, where he and Gyumba locked eyes for a split second before he began walking off in the opposite direction, allowing Gyumba to enter the property.

The couple noticed him enter and both smiled.

"Ah Gyumba sweetheart, good to see you."

Mrs Hoskins welcomed.

"How are you doin son?"

The man asked.

"Hi Mr and Mrs. Hoskins, I'm doing fine. Who was that guy by the way?"

Gyumba asked, looking back where the Toad was.

"Just a coot from the Toad Guard being nosy about the neighborhood; it's nothing to worry about dear."

Mrs. Hoskins answered.

"Come on in son, if we work quick, we can bang this all out in an hour."

Mr. Hoskins remarked.

Gyumba walked into the house, which was much older than his home and filled with older decorations as well as a chandelier in the living room. As he walked in, everyone, including the small gang inside of Gyumba's satchel, heard creaking and banging inside the wall of the living room.

"Honey, the mice are back!"

Mrs. Hoskins despaired.

Mr. Hoskins sighed.

"I'll get the broom and traps again. Gyumba, would you be able to help sweep up and get the cobwebs? I'll clean the basement and see if we can get to this mice problem."

Gyumba smiled and nodded.

"You can count on me!"

Gyumba exclaimed, running up the nearby staircase that led upwards.

"If I finish first I'll help out up there Gyumba!" Mr. Hoskins shouted before flying down a separate staircase himself.

Mrs. Hoskins smiled. "My my, two dependable men cleaning my house for me? What a lucky lady I am."

Gyumba used the broom to sweep, which he did by biting onto it from one end. He left his satchel on the bed, which still had the normal sized watch, and most importantly, it's where Peach left the Sky Crystal.

The tiny gang, for their part, were trying to clean up wherever they could as a result of Peach's insistence to help. Mario and Luigi tag teamed dust clumps underneath the dressers, Peach and Toad were helping Gyumba reach spots above the furniture, Daisy was jumping up and down on the cushions trying to force dust out to be later picked up by the vacuum, Yoshi fluttered to the top of the curtains on the room's window to clean up there, and Wario and Waluigi-

"Wahhhh this is the life."

Wario sighed in content.

Wario and Waluigi were in the sink inside the bathroom. They were supposed to be cleaning what they could in the bathroom, but after a short 2 minutes they decided to instead plug the drain and fill the sink with hot water, creating a small, makeshift hot tub. The water was steaming and they went in with their clothes still on which caused the water to become slightly tinted yellow from the cheese that was still caked onto Wario's shirt.

"Wehhhhh I'll admit Wario, being this small can have its benefits." Waluigi sighed.

"I could fall asleep here…"

Waluigi slowly floated away in the water as he became drowsy, and Wario noticed the door to the bathroom slowly opening and closing. He sighed, believing someone from the gang came to check up on them, to ensure they were indeed cleaning the sink.

He tried coming up with an excuse.

"Wahhh don't mind us. We're just…cleaning the sink right now." Wario cheekily said.

He waited a few seconds, but weirdly, he didn't get an answer back. Wario raised an eyebrow and got out of the water, dripping water onto the counter as he got to the edge of the sink.

There wasn't anybody there.

Wario was confused.

"Wah? Hey, is anybody here?"

He asked around the bathroom.

No answer.

Wario looked around however and noticed something. At the end of the small bathroom was an older bathtub. Beside the bathtub on the bathroom floor however, was a small crack in the wall that made an opening. Inside this opening, although faint, Wario saw it as he squinted his eyes.

It was a faint yellow glow.

However, it only appeared for a short few seconds, before disappearing and leaving nothing but darkness in the opening.

"Wario?"

Wario turned around to the voice of Peach, who opened the door to check on them.

"I heard you call for someone. Is everything alright?"

Peach asked.

"Yeah yeah it's nothing. I'm just seeing things. The hot water must be getting to me." Wario responded.

"We should be almost done. Just a couple more minutes and…wait, the hot water?"

Peach curiously asked.

"Wahh yeah we were cleaning the sink and the hot water was splashing us, making us overheat y'know?" Wario bluffed.

Peach raised an eyebrow, but ultimately she just shrugged and closed the door.

"Wahh alright cmon Waluigi, we gotta get out of here."

Wario ordered.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Waluigi was asleep in the water, drifting like a buoyant corpse. Wario scratched his chin, thinking for a few minutes, then smiled.

"Wahh well a few more minutes couldn't hurt."

—--

Donkey Kong and Diddy were lost. There's no way around it, they got themselves lost, which in retrospect, was bound to happen since they ran off haphazardly into another nation without so much of an idea of where to go. They were climbing up a hill, their stomachs still hurting from the banana causing stomach-aches, but Donkey Kong was determined to make it to Bowser's place for free grub. Diddy was struggling to keep up, but managed to climb up to the top of the hill where Donkey Kong was. He was staring at something, and as Diddy got to the top he saw what it was. It was a suburban town with karts driving on the streets. They finally got out of the thick and into the thin!

Then, Donkey Kong looked up and spotted it. Bowser's castle sitting oh so nicely at the far end of the island. DK and Diddy both cheered when they saw it, and they both continued running down the hill.

—--

"Finished!" Gyumba said triumphantly.

The entire room was spotless! With the help of the vacuum, Gyumba suctioned up the dust bunnies and with the help of Mario and Yoshi, reached the top of the curtains and got the remaining dust. The dust was officially vanquished and the job was done.

"Good job everyone!" Peach congratulated.

Waluigi stretched and yawn. "Wehh if this don't get us the money, I say we revolt."

"Yeah right." Gyumba laughed.

"Let's go ask your neighbors if they can spot us some money now." Daisy said.

Gyumba grew a little shy; he was still hesitant on asking for money help from his neighbors, but nodded and pushed aside his discomfort knowing it was to help the gang, and he walked over to grab his satchel.

Gyumba looked at his satchel and froze. His eyes bulged in shock. Which Peach noticed and was confused by.

"Gyumba? Is everything alright? She asked, concerned.

Gyumba ran over to the bed and picked up the satchel and emptied it out. Only the watch he was ordered to pack by Waluigi fell out, bouncing on the bed.

The Sky Crystal was gone.

"Peach, did you grab the Sky Crystal?!" Gyumba asked, panicking.

Peach's concern grew exponentially.

"N-no I didn't. Why?"She asked, dreading the answer.

He quickly swooped up the gang and brought them onto the bed.

Everyone ran over to the satchel, realizing what Gyumba meant. They looked around, searching across the bed, but it wasn't anywhere.

"T-the Sky Crystal! It's gone!" Toad shouted in horror.

Gyumba ran around the room, and went under the bed for a brief moment, but it was no use. It was just gone.

Daisy angrily grabbed Wario and Waluigi by the back of their shirts, slightly raising them in the air.

"Alright you two, what's the big idea!?" She asked, tightening her grip.

"Wehhh! You think we did this?!" Waluigi whined.

"Yeah! News flash sister, we have nothing to gain from taking it in the first place!" Wario sternly responded.

"That is true Daisy." Peach pointed out to Daisy, who dropped both of them in response.

Gyumba was panicking the most. His golden chance to help out the Princess and the Mario Bros. was in jeopardy if he couldn't find it.

"Well there's no way it could have just disappeared!"

Toad shouted.

Waluigi looked down and started thinking, then he looked back up with an idea.

"Wehh everyone! Empty your pockets! We'll know for sure who took it." Waluigi ordered.

Before anyone could argue, Waluigi held up a finger and waggled it, anticipating the arguments.

"Not a word. I've been on TV and the internet for long enough and what I learned is that everyone is guilty until proven innocent. So empty the pockets!" He explained and ordered again.

Seeing no choice, everyone emptied their pockets, including Waluigi himself. Wario dropped a few business cards. Peach dropped her ID card and some garbage she held onto so she could throw it away properly. Daisy dropped a few coins. Mario and Luigi dropped their wallets, Toad dropped another toy block he didn't realize he had, and Yoshi didn't have pockets, so he just dropped his shell instead. As expected, nobody had possession of the Crystal.

"Wehh I guess it DID disappear into thin air! Maybe it was a magic thing." Waluigi concluded.

Peach shook her head as her and everyone else picked their belongings back up.

"I read all about the Crystals before arriving and none of them mention anything about them suddenly disappearing."

Peach got lost in thought, trying to come up with a conclusion.

"As long as the Crystal is around, it will continue to glow a bright yellow light. We just have to find it that way!" She continued.

"A yellow light?"

Wario thought.

Suddenly, a lightbulb appeared over Wario's head.

"Wahh! I figured it out! Someone took it." Wario shouted.

Everyone looked at each other confused.

"Dude we just emptied out all of our pockets. What? You want us to "check" our wallets too?" Daisy mockingly asked.

Wario shook his head.

"Wahh that would be great, but no that's not what I mean. Follow me!" Wario ordered before jumping off the bed and running towards the bathroom.

With no other ideas in mind, the gang ran into the bathroom. Gyumba wiggled himself free from the bottom of the bed and followed.

Wario ran over to the opening and stood by it. Everyone looked at it, ready and more willing to listen now that Wario had shown an actual hypothesis.

"Wahh ok so when me and Waluigi were relaxing…er uh wahh I mean 'cleaning the sink' I saw a small yellow light in here. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but I also remember someone or something coming into the bathroom. The door opened and shut but when I checked, nada! Nothing!" Wario explained.

Years of being around Wario against their wills made the Mario Bros. and the Princesses capable of spotting when he was bluffing or lying. This wasn't one of those times, they realized.

"No way. Did Bowser find us? Send one of his goons after us?" Daisy asked.

"Oh no! Maybe he did! Maybe he shrunk some more of his bad guys and they followed us!" Toad worried.

Peach thought about it for a few minutes, but she didn't think that was true.

"If he did shrink some smaller enemies down, there still shouldn't be any reason he knows where we are, and even if he did, there isn't a way into this home without anybody, or ANY one of us spotting them."

Peach reasoned.

"Wait guys! Remember we heard those sounds in the wall when we walked in? Mrs. Hoskins said the mice were back. Maybe a mouse took it! If they're already in the walls, they could sneak into any room with no issue!" Gyumba added in. He was crouching down to look inside the opening.

"Well whatever took it, we can't let it go too far." Daisy said, peering into the opening.

"The problem is, it's too dark, I can't even see if there's an end to it."

Just as Daisy said that, the gang spotted far into the end of the opening, a faint yellow light.

The Sky Crystal!

"There it is!"

Gyumba shouted.

Mario didn't hesitate to run in after it, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

"Mario, wait!" Peach shouted.

"Quick! Don't let it escape!" Daisy shouted, losing herself to the adrenaline and running in after him.

"Daisy!" Peach shouted again.

"Wahhh! Let me at him, I'll put that mouse in his place!" Wario shouted.

"Wehh! After that rodent!" Waluigi shouted.

The two of them ran off into the opening. Yoshi swiftly followed.

"Guys! Stop! What if you get lost!?" Peach shouted, running into the opening herself.

"Your highness! Don't! Argh!" Toad yelled in vain.

"Luigi come on!" Toad ordered, before running in himself.

Luigi was worried, frightened even, by having to run into a potentially dark and cramped area. He cowardly shook in his boots, but composed himself just enough to get closer to the opening. He peered inside, then he covered his eyes with his hands and ran inside.

"G-guys wait what about-!" Gyumba shouted, but it was too late. Everyone ran inside.

Mario was running at full speed and the yellow light appeared to be getting brighter and closer, but then it began to flicker. Mario squinted his eyes as the light appeared closer and closer, but then suddenly it disappeared, trapping Mario in almost complete darkness. He stopped in his tracks.

"Mario! Did you see him?! Where'd he-AUGH!"

Daisy ran up and collided into Mario, sending them tumbling. However, when they fell, they didn't hit the ground.

They just kept falling!

"WOAH WOAH HEY!" Daisy shouted in vain.

"Wahh! What happened you-ACK!" Wario fell down with Waluigi as the two collided with each other and began to fall.

"WEHHH!"

"WAHHH!"

They both shouted.

Yoshi managed to stop himself from falling down. In the hole that wasn't visible whatsoever.

"Everyone! Where did you al-UUF" Peach fell down and brought down Yoshi with her by accident!

"AHHH!"

"YOSHI!!"

They both shouted as they fell.

Toad stopped himself and looked down in horror.

"Oh no! Princess!" He shouted.

"Mamma mia!" Luigi was still running from behind with his eyes closed. Toad dodged him, but then tried to stop him.

"Luigi wait! Don't-!" Toad yelled out.

It was too late, Luigi fell down the hole.

"UWAHHH!" Luigi shrieked.

"NO!"

Toad yelled out in vain. Everyone had fallen in, leaving Toad alone in the dark. He began to shake in fear, and uncertainty. He tried to regain his composure, but the adrenaline was keeping him breathless. He looked down at the hole.

"W-well here goes nothing!"

Toad jumped into the hole.

"CANNONBALL!"

He yelled out loud.

Toad fell for a few seconds before landing hard onto another surface. The surface was sloped, creating a slide like tunnel which launched everyone further and further down. It felt like an eternity before Mario reached the ground. He was launched onto a non-sloped surface, and everyone slowly followed suit. Toad was the last, landing with a thud after everyone had collected their bearings.

"Toad are you alright?!" Peach shouted.

She tried feeling around for him since they were in an even darker area, the previous dim light from the bathroom disappearing. She found him and helped him stand up.

"I'm just glad you're okay, your highness. Is everyone else okay too?" Toad asked the gang.

"Wahh better than ok! This floor is softer than I thought! I didn't even bruise!" Wario huffed with content.

"Wehh me too! We're pretty lucky we got a soft landing!" Waluigi remarked.

"That's because I broke your FALLS!" Daisy shouted in exasperation.

The floor wasn't soft. Wario and Waluigi both landed on Daisy's back!

"Both of you get off now before you snap my spine!" She yelled out of desperation, and out of breath.

They both got off her and she spent a few moments trying to breathe.

"W-where?" Luigi weakly asked, still recovering from his fall.

"We seemed to have fallen deep into Mr and Mrs. Hoskins home. Are we underground?" Peach asked worryingly.

"Aw man! If only we had some kind of light or something!" Toad whined.

Suddenly, a lightbulb appeared over his head. The light from the bulb illuminated the dark area.

"Wait! That's it!" Toad shouted.

He grabbed the lightbulb from the top of his head and pointed it around. The bulb acted as a flashlight and allowed everyone to scan the surroundings. The "hall" they were in was wider than the opening where the bathroom was, and was lined with bricks.

Waluigi began to stand up. "Wehh, this place is disgusting, I can't believe we-"

BONK

"OW!" Waluigi yelped in pain. In his attempt to stand up, he hit his head on a pipe that lined the ceiling. Toad took the bulb and shined it on the ceiling. Five green mini-pipes lined the ceiling. Some of them dripped water and some of them were incredibly rusty.

"Let's follow the pipes! Maybe we can find a way out where they lead!" Peach suggested.

She led the march towards the pipes' endings, and everyone followed her.

They walked for what seemed like hours, the pipes and the hall never ending, but the surfaces getting even more wet. Daisy was walking behind everyone, and she was the first to feel it. She kept walking but she felt something grab her shoulder. It was soft, but slimy. She couldn't see all too well because Toad was in the middle of the group, shining the lightbulb forward. She immediately thought the worst and became grossed out.

"Ugh! Wario, quit touching me! Your hand feels gross!" Daisy said, disgusted.

Everyone stopped and Toad shined the light on Wario.

"Wahh! I'm always blamed for everything! I'm not doing it!" He whined.

Everyone froze. He was right. He couldn't have been grabbing Daisy's shoulder.

He was standing on the left of the hall, away from Daisy.

Toad turned around and shined the light behind them. Everyone looked up slowly in fear. Toad turning the light around allowed Daisy to see that no one was behind her. Her eyes widened, and she slowly looked at her shoulder.

A long white tentacle.

She spun around and saw the creature, peering down at everyone.

"WHAT THE HECK!?" Daisy yelled out, pushing the tentacle off her and moving away. The creature moved its ten tentacles back towards its body.

"AHH!"

"UWAHH!"

"WEHHHH!"

"WAHHH!"

Everyone shrieked out in horror and in the confusion, Toad dropped the lightbulb, which shattered on the ground and caused the light to vanish, and the darkness to return.

"Aw man! If only we had some kind of light or something!" Toad whined.

"Are you guys okay!?" Gyumba yelled into the hole.

No response.

Gyumba slowly stood up in horror as he realized that everyone was gone and out of range. He was unsure of what to do next. He tried to think, but his mind was racing. The only thing he could think of was to leave the room, but as he did he bumped into Mrs. Hoskins.

"Gyumba? Is everything alright? I heard you shouting." She asked.

Caught off guard, Gyumba quickly thought of an answer.

"Er uhh I was uhm…I saw the mice! There was a hole near the bathtub and I thought I saw them scurry inside." He bluffed.

"Oh dear, I'll tell Mr. Hoskins and we'll get that hole blocked." She replied.

Not knowing how long the gang would be stuck in there, Gyumba began panicking again, and decided to change the conversation, hoping that Mrs. Hoskins will forget about the hole.

"S-so uhh…how has dish-cleaning been coming along?" Gyumba squeaked out, attempting to cover his panicky voice.

"Unfortunately I couldn't even get a few dishes done… Something is seriously wrong with this house, and I believe the mice are the main issue!" Mrs. Hoskins explained.

"What do you mean?" Gyumba asked, genuinely curious.

"The mice must be messing with our water pipes; I can barely get a couple drops of water out from the faucet!"

Toad couldn't remember what happened exactly after he dropped the lightbulb. What he did remember was him having an idea he forgot, and being pushed and thrown around. As he slowly woke up, he realized he was in a forced fetal position. He felt around but all he could feel was cloth.

Someone had thrown him in a sack!

"Hey! What's going on here!?" Toad yelled, demanding an answer.

"Toad! Are you okay?" Peach shouted out.

Toad couldn't see her through the sack, but the sound of her voice clued him in that she was very close to him.

"Y-your highness! What's happening!?" Toad shouted.

"Wahh, we got snatched fungus! Obviously!"

Wario shouted, sounding like he was also close by.

"Wehhhh mommy dance practice is at 5 not 6. I'm lateeeeeee…" Waluigi cried out, slightly delusional from being knocked out the hardest.

"Waluigi! Wake up already!" Daisy shouted.

Toad tried shuffling himself around, struggling to free himself, but he only ended up laying his weight on his neck.

"Hey! You kidnapping scum! You better free us right now or I'll-"

Toad tried to threaten, but ultimately failed as he and everyone else was thrown to the ground on top of each other, revealing that the sacks they were stuffed in were not tied, allowing them to be freed easily.

Everyone got up and looked around.

They were clearly behind the walls, as the entire location was blocked off with drywall. Pipes stretched out and connected with mechanisms and valves all around the area, which were themselves connected into the walls. The area itself was relatively huge; for the tiny-sized gang of course. Some pipes were leaking water, creating huge puddles on some parts of the floor. Light was shining in from several cracks around the area, some of it being daylight, and some of it being from the house lights. The ground wasn't entirely whole, as there were two huge ditches nearby that weren't too deep; one filled with water and the other could be used to trap those who couldn't climb. Mario looked around, slightly dazed, but ready to fight. Their kidnapper was nowhere to be seen, but suddenly, white tentacles began to pour out of one of the openings of the pipes!

The gang spun around to face the creature who fully revealed itself within the light.

It was a blooper.

The squid-like creature stared down at the gang, to which Wario responded by throwing a small pebble into its head. The Blooper recoiled in pain and fell down covering its eyes and shaking.

"Wahahaha! That's what you get you stupid sushi!" Wario laughed.

"Wario!"

Peach shouted, trying to quiet him.

"Oh yah've gawtta be jokin!" A voice suddenly yelled out and made everyone scan the area to search for its source.

In the blink of an eye, a creature sped around the pipes and landed in front of the gang, finally revealing itself.

"We've gawt a bunch of hoons heah ey? Yah ooll don't look loike any bugs oy hahve evah sayn!"

The creature was a scutlet. A scutlet is a creature with six limbs and a body as flat as paper, and normally they crawl on the ground. This scutlet was different however. He stared down at the gang with a threatening aura. He wore a black top hat that seemed to have a cowboy shape, and held what seemed to be metal on four of his limbs that acted as his arms.

"U-uh hello sir. My name is Princess Peach and I'm from the mushroom kingdom. Who might you be?" Peach hesitantly replied.

She was weirded out from the situation unraveling.

"The nyme is Terrence C. Crawlah. Who moigh' the rest of yah hoons be?" Terrence asked.

"Mario!"

"Luigi!"

Mario and Luigi both responded with their names and their signature jumps.

"I'm Daisy. This is Toad and this is Yoshi" Daisy added in, as well as pointing to Toad and Yoshi respectively.

"Wahhh and I'm Wario!"

"Wehhh I'm Waluigi!"

Wario and waluigi both chipped in.

"So why did you kidnap us jerk-face? I oughta give you a good smack for that!" Wario threatened, waving his fist.

Terrence stepped back, mildly offended.

"The bettah question is, whoy were yah hoons in moy home to begin weeth? Yah weah actin up and mykin noise, and worse of ooll, yah scared moy poor Bloopie!"

He said, motioning to the Blooper who was still shaking in fear.

Peach held her hands up to prevent another argument from Wario and stepped forward.

"Mr. Crawler please forgive us. We didn't mean to intrude in your home or scare Bloopie. You see, something very valuable of ours was stolen and we chased the thief into this place to get it back." She explained.

Terrence rubbed his chin and reached for something behind him. "Would it hahppen t' be thiis shiny, glaowin rawck?"

Terrence brough his hand forward and presented the Sky Crystal, glowing its eternally yellow light!

"Yes that one! We'll just taking it and leaving here no-" Peach reached out for the crystal, but Terrence stepped back.

"Waowh waowh waowh! Who si'de oy was gawnna give it back? Thiis rawck is a beauty faw shooah. Oy'm thinkin of kaypin it!" Terrence rebutted.

Peach blinked a few times in surprise.

"E-excuse me!?" She blurted out in surprise.

Daisy walked up and pounded her fists. "Listen dude, you're not keeping that, and we can either talk this out, or fight."

Terrence frowned.

"Oy sa'y how it is. Yah come into moy home uneenvoited, yah scare the kneeckahs off moy little Bloopie, and now yah wahnna rawb me of thiis here beauty oy found and recovuhd fair and square? Yah suhfyce hoons hahve no respect. None!" He angrily shouted.

He looked behind him in the ditch nearby, then looked back at the gang and smiled.

"Mybee oy should let moy old sheila, Big Bertha, taych yah ooll some mannahs about respect."

The water in the ditch, which was practically overflowing and leaking onto the ground, began to vibrate. A giant Porcupuffer jumped out of the water and roared.

"B-b-b-b-big Bertha!"

Luigi shrieked.

The fish was humongous. It was twice the size of Bloopie, and had spikes lining it back. When it roared, a huge vortex nearly pulled in everything around it. It could swallow the entire gang whole and still have room for dessert.

"Yaep! Thiis is Big Bertha. Me and her hahve bayn pahtnahs forevah, and we bawth have had ahh stuff stolen and tyken frawm us, even when it was fair and square. Weeth thiis rawck we cahn myke it big and nawt live in thiis crowded place! So bayt it, aw be eaten!"

Terrence yelled, which Big Bertha roared in compliance.

The gang froze, unable to move and tried thinking of a plan, but nothing came to mind. Just when Mario was gonna step up, prepared for a fight, Toad spoke up.

"I get it Terrence! I know what it's like to have stuff taken from you!"

Toad said. He walked towards the tall scutlet and the small Toad tried to stare him down. Toad wasn't bluffing however. The same situation happened while he was training for the Toad Guard. He felt wronged, like he was not given the chance again to prove himself. He remembered how it was like when he had to train. He passed the written test and decision-making test, but struggled in the physical test. He ended up failing and, just like that, he was no longer qualified to be in the Toad Guard. He was demoted to a simple assistant. He remembered when he overheard the two Toads' conversation. He saw the opportunity and took it, and even though he stresses about what will happen later when they grow again, or if Peach finds out the truth he doesn't regret taking that chance.

All these memories flooded his mind in a mere 5 seconds, but he composed himself again and looked back up at Terrence.

"But we're not gonna be afraid. We're gonna get back what's rightfully ours - that stone - no matter what!" He confidently shouted.

Terrence looked at him and then grabbed his vest and lifted him up by it to meet him at eye level.

"Haow about oy thraow yah in the wottah and myke yah feesh food? Yah scared of that yah little runt?" He asked.

Toad stared back unblinking.

"Terrified." He responded.

Peach held her breath in anticipation, and she was ready to fight if need be, along with Mario who was already in a charging position.

Terrence blinked at Toad a few times. Then he smiled and began to laugh heartily.

"Huyha! Oy loike the cut of your jib little fungus. In fahct, yah have cawnveenced me. Oy'll give bahck the rawck on one cawndeetion: Yah ooll face me in a gyme of pahty!" Terrence exclaimed.

"Party? That's the game Terraons play in competition…" Peach thought aloud.

"Wehh what the heck is Party?" Waluigi asked.

"Yah don't know pahty? Whaht ahh yah, foreigners?" Terrence asked.

"Wahh we are! Remember when we were talking to that bug guy and we walked that blue circle path Waluigi? That's Party!" Wario explained.

"Wehhh I get it now ok ok lets do it already!"

Waluigi shouted impatiently.

Terrence held up his hands.

"Huyng on. Before we staht, oy need t' myke shooah yah ooll won't troy anythin funny." He then brought one of his hands to his mouth and let out a loud whistle.

"Big Bertha! Smoke the hoons on the fah end!" Terrence ordered.

Big Bertha surfaced from the water and blasted a water stream towards Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, and Luigi, who were on the far end of the gang.

"YOSHI!"

"WAHHHH!"

"WEHHH!"

"UWAHH!"

All four of them were launched into a ditch parallel to Big Bertha's. This ditch was empty however. The remaining members were Mario, Peach, Daisy, and Toad, who were shocked at what happened.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Daisy yelled out.

"Loik I si'de. Nothin funny. Besoides, Pahty only nayds four playahs." Terrence explained.

Mario ran over to check on Luigi and the others, who were all fine, but had stars swirling their heads.

"Wahhhhhhh I'm gonna…gonna…get that buggggg." Wario dizzily squeaked out.

Terrence walked to the southernmost part of the area. He still had the Sky Crystal in his hand.

"Thiis heah weell be the stahtin point. Now normahlly a gyme of pahty goes faw five rounds, weeth five minigymes and the weennah is the one weeth the most Stahs. We use Coins to buy Stahs and the one weeth the most Stahs wins. However, because the shiny rawck is the proize, oy'm changing the gaowl: Geh' me two Stahs in four rounds and the gyme is ovah. Trust me though, oy'm gawnna win yah hoons." He smiled and winked.

Daisy curled up her fists and so did Mario and Toad. "Fat chance. We're gonna win, and you'll pay big time, cockroach!"

Before anything else could happen, the Sky Crystal began to glow even brighter and a blinding light emitted from the Crystal.

"Ack!" Terrence yelped out in pain.

The light blinded and filled the area for only a few seconds, for which afterwards, the light dimmed slightly. It wasn't as bright but it was now spinning in the air and glowing a more magnificent yellow. Everyone looked around and were shocked at what happened. Blue, Red, and Green circles now littered the small area, making a looped path back to where Terrence was standing. The path was also cut by blank spots, one of which had a simple sign pointing down, and one other spot had a desk with cards on it. A star also appeared at the end of the loop, and a cup with four dies appeared at the beginning. Terrence ran over to all of these new additions. He knocked on the sign and suddenly, a green pipe appeared. He looked inside for a split second, and then ran over to the table where the desk was.

"No why! Did the rawck do ooll of thiis? It creeuyted a shawp, and haexes, and Stahs, Coins, and doice! Oy was just gawnna use pypah and plahstic faw everything buh' now oy don't nayd it! No wawndah yah hoons wahnt thiis bahck, thiis rawck is muygicul!" Terrence said in amazement.

Daisy huddled Peach, Toad, and Mario together in a way that Terrence couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Cuz, what the heck just happened?" Daisy asked in astonishment.

Peach thought for a few seconds, trying to come up with an explanation.

"I'm…not sure. I read about Terrao before arriving, and I heard about how engraved the game of Party is in Terraon culture, but I've never seen anything like this!"

"It's weird. It's almost as if the Sky Crystal WANTS us to play Party. Do you think it knows what's happening right now?" Toad asked.

"Like it's alive or something?" Daisy asked Toad.

"I've never heard of anything like that. When we get back to Gyumba we should-"

Peach stopped and the realization crashed into her.

"Oh no! Gyumba is still in the house! He must be worried sick about us!" Peach added.

"And we didn't tell him what to do or to wait for us or anything…"Daisy realized.

"We messed up. Big time."

Mario nodded. He rushed into the hole with no plan and led everyone down here. He felt awful. Peach realized the mood that was being created and tried to defuse it.

"Let's not get hung up on that now. We'll focus instead on getting the crystal back."

Peach reminded them. She then broke off the huddle.

"We're ready Terrence!" She shouted.

"About toime! Oy even came up weeth a great nyme for thiis boahd! Oy cohl it."

Creepy Crawler's Hideout

"Hey! Thaht isn't how yah say it! Geh' it roight yah reenk!" Terrence angrily shouted.

Craypy Crawlah's Hideout

"Bettah!" Terrence huffed and ran over to the starting point with a cup in hands and 4 dice in it. He gave the 4 players one die each.

"Alroight, first yah ooll ahh gawnna rawll your doice and say whaht numbah yah get. The beeggest numbah goes first, and the smohlest numbah goes last. Now rawll!" Terrence ordered.

Everyone did as they were told. They all rolled their dice and each got a number.

Mario got a 4.

Peach got a 3.

Daisy got a 7.

And Toad got a 1.

"Aw what!? A one?!" Toad despaired.

"Tuff luck fungus! Yah gawtta myke do weeth whaht yah get. Now everyone gets tayen coins." Terrence explained.

Without a warning, the crystal glowed brighter and brighter, and ten coins materialized in front of the players. They were small enough to store and glowed a dim golden light.

Everyone stared in amazement and Terrence grinned.

"Thiis shiny rawck is a blaydin goldmine!"

He exclaimed as he jumped on top of a pipe over seeing the entire hideout now turned play-board.

"Ahem, now yah say thaht Stah ovah there? Yah ooll gawtta tyke turns rawllin the die and myke it to the stah. Let me wahn yah though; Stahs nayd 20 coins to be puhchuysed. Soo myke shooah to struytegoize, hoons! Orange gurl, yah go first. Then the raed guy, then the pink gurl, then the fungus. Beygin!"

Terrence ordered.

"Well, here goes nothing." Daisy whispered.

She grabbed the die block. The numbers on the die go from 1-10. She tightly gripped the die and then threw it to the ground.

An 8.

Daisy's eyes lit up and she pumped a fist.

"Aw yeah baby!"

She moved 8 spaces and was soon confronted with a three way path. The left path led up to a separate area with pipes. The middle path went around a few trenches with water in them and green spaces. The right path went down towards a path with several green spaces, but it was also the shortest path towards the star. Daisy went with the right path, landing on a blue space before the green space area and another table with cards on it. Three coins suddenly materialized in front of her.

"Blue spyces geeve yah coins, and raed spyces tyke coins away. Ooll in thrays!"

Terrence said, putting up three hands.

It was Mario's turn next.

He took the die and rolled it on the ground.

He got a 6.

He ran down the path and took the left path. He ran down a few more spaces but stopped at another table. Terrence jumped down from the pipe and landed near the table with impressive speed.

"Waelcome to the haex tyble mustache! Thaese cahds are the haexes, and they cahn cause effects faw other plaoyrs or yoursself! Just plyce them daown on a spyce and any plaoyr thaht lands on thaem gets struck!"

Terrence explained, before jumping back up to his viewing post.

Mario nodded and grabbed a card. A Twenty Coin Hex. It had a minus sign next to the twenty which meant that should someone step on the hex, it would make them lose twenty coins. Mario pocketed the card and ran the last two spaces, landing on a blue space and being awarded three more coins.

Peach was next.

She gently rolled the die onto the ground.

A 7.

She decided to take the middle path when she got to the intersection. She landed on a green space, near three valves. Terrence jumped down once again and knocked on the pipe. He then placed one of his feelers on the pipe.

"Yah landed on an event spyce, pink gurhl! Troy tuhnin one of thaese vahlves and say whaht yah get."

Terrence explained before hopping away again.

Peach stared at the three valves and decided to turn the left valve.

After she did this, a pipe above began to shake heavily, and just as it looked like it was about to burst, eight coins fell out of it, landing neatly in front of her.

She sighed in relief.

"Huh. So thaht's whaht it does."

Terrence said.

It was now Toad's turn. He rolled the die on the floor slightly haphazardly.

A 4.

Toad groaned as he once again got a lower number than everyone else once again.

He marched down the path and landed on a space before the three way split path. This space was different however. It was an orange space. As Toad stepped on it, it began to glow orange.

"Huh? What is this thing doing?" Toad asked out loud.

The Sky Crystal began to glow again, and Toad suddenly felt a strange feeling filling every part of his body.

He felt so happy!

"Ahhhh~ Isn't today such a lovely day?" Toad sighed happily.

"Huh? Is Toad alright?" Peach asked.

"Err, well...thaht is the Friendship Space. It's wheah a plaoyr gets foive coins and gets to choose another plaoyr to gift foive coins to. Don't ask me whoy he's actin ooll geeddy." Terrence commented.

Five coins materialized in front of Toad and he grabbed them. He then stared at Mario with a huge smile on his face.

"Mario buddy. I'm so sorry for being 4 months late to your birthday. Here, let me make it up to you."

Toad raised a hand in the air and pointed his palm in the direction of Mario. The space underneath Mario glowed a bright orange and five coins materialized in front of Mario for him to collect. He waved back thanks to Toad.

"Thank you~" Mario replied, feeling himself become cheery for a moment.

"Man, Party is a pretty weird game."

Daisy remarked as she turned back to face the path.

"Now it's my turn. I just gotta roll the die and-"

Terrence dropped down and interrupted her.

"Waowh waowh waowh orange gurl. It's nawt your tuhn just yet, we gawtta play a minigyme."

The Sky Crystal once again began to emit a bright yellow light that enveloped the entire area. The light finally dissipated and everyone found themselves disoriented. Everyone's eyes adjusted and after looking around they saw very clearly that they were now seated at a table with rectangular and squared cards on it. Terrence was on the other side of the table and he too was disoriented. Once his eyes adjusted, he grabbed all of the cards and looked at them. He grinned after seeing all of them.

"The shiny rawck mykes minigymes too? Bloody swayt! Alroight yah hoons, the shiny rawck gave us the puhfect minigyme faw us to play!"

Terrence placed down the cards facing upwards for everyone to see. The rectangle cards had everyone's faces on it! Mario's, Toad's, and the Princesses's heads were on these cards in perfect detail! The square cards had their bodies on them in perfect detail. Well, not exactly perfect detail. Some of these cards had small changes to their clothing. One card had an extra button on Mario's overalls. Another card had the sleeves on Peach's arms much longer than they should be. Only a select few of these cards were accurate. The rest had minor imperfections on the clothing. Terrence saw all of his players view all of these cards, so he brought them all onto his hands and began doing card tricks with them, including shuffling all of them. He kept the rectangle cards in one hand, and the square cards in another.

"Thiis minigyme is called Dress for Success. I used to play it weeth moy brothahs bahck in Rohguepoht! Here's whahtcha need to do: Foind the body cahd thaht mahtches the head cahd. Look famoiliar eh? Choose the roight one, yah earn a point! First one to three points, weens!" Terrence explained.

"Sounds easy enough. Let's play!" Toad shouted in anticipation.

Terrence smiled and brought out the first head card. It was Mario's head.

He then brought out four body cards using his extra hands.

The first body card had Mario's overalls in perfect detail.

The second card had Peach's dress.

The third card had Toad's vest with no buttons.

The fourth card was Mario's overalls with three buttons on it.

Terrence then flipped the cards over and shuffled all of them in the blink of an eye. Everyone stared in shock for a few seconds, then they all looked up at Terrence. He smiled back in response.

"Whaht was thaht about thiis bein easy, fungus? Oy shore do hope yah were wahtchin the cahds." Terrence mocked.

Daisy had only the faintest clue what card was the right one, but something in her gut told her to choose the second one.

"This one!" She shouted with confidence.

Peach pondered her decision, then decided to take the first card. Mario swiftly took the fourth and Toad took the third. They all flipped their cards together.

Daisy's card matched.

"Freakin sweet!" Daisy cheered.

Toad grunted and stood up on his chair. He was ready for round 2.

Terrence took all the cards except for Daisy's card, which she kept as proof of her point.

The next head card was Peach's.

The first body card had Mario's overalls with a single button.

The second card had Toad's vest with four buttons.

The third card had Daisy's dress in perfect detail.

The fourth card was Peach's dress in perfect detail.

Terrence shuffled the cards again and laid them out for the players to choose.

Toad paid much more attention during the shuffling, but lost his eye on the card at the last minute. He decided on the 2nd card, while everyone else chose theirs.

Everyone flipped their cards.

Both Mario and Daisy's were correct!

"Oh yeah baby! Two for two!" Daisy cheered.

"H-huh?! Hey, there weren't two correct cards before!"

Toad whined, which was met only with a smirk and a shrug by Terrence.

Mario and Daisy kept their cards while Toad stared down at the table. This time readying himself for round 3.

The next head card was Toad's own head.

The first body card had Mario's overalls with no buttons.

The second card had Toad's vest with eight buttons.

The third card had Peach's dress in with a longer skirt..

The fourth card was Toad's vest in perfect detail.

Terrence shuffled the cards again and laid them out for the players to choose.

Toad paid even more attention during the shuffling, never losing sight of the card he wanted. He snatched the first card on the left while everyone else chose theirs. This was it! No doubt about it! Toad grinned as he knew he had the right card. Everyone flipped their cards and Toad - full of confidence and knowing this was an easy point for himself- flipped his last!

Daisy's card was correct!

"Rats!" Toad shouted.

"Haehehe bettah luck next toime fungus. Thiis gurl is the supuhstah!" Terrence mocked.

A bright light once again filled the area, and everyone suddenly reappeared where they were previously on the board. Ten coins materialized in front of Daisy, leaving her enough for the star. The Crystal also began emitting more yellow light.

"You totally got those coins unfairly!" Toad shouted at Daisy.

"Hey man, a game is a game. You play and you win or lose. If you want more, you gotta play better!" Daisy teased.

"You'll see Daisy! I'm gonna win and get the star!" Toad shouted back.

"No way! I'm gonna win the stars!" Daisy replied.

"Toad! Daisy! May I remind you we are in this together?" Peach remarked.

Daisy and Toad then blinked at each other a few times, both of them simultaneously feeling a strange feeling in their heads.

"Ah right. Ehehe…" Daisy chuckled.

"Please forgive me your highness, I don't know what came over me." Toad apologized.

"Nah, it's ok. I felt weird for a second there." Daisy responded.

Her head felt dizzy for a second, but she still remembered how in that little moment of banter, she felt a strange sense of fight and competition in her. Granted, she always had a fighting spirit when it came to games and sports, but for whatever reason, this time felt… different. As if, she couldn't control what she felt.

"Hey, no moah gettin lawst in thawt! It is toime faw the second tuhn!" Terrence ordered.

Daisy rolled the die she had in her hands onto the floor.

A 5. Way too low to get to the star.

She moved 5 spaces and landed on an event space.

"Ok…what happens now?" Daisy asked.

Suddenly, one of the pipes that inhabited the right path began shaking. The cover to it popped off and a vortex pulled Daisy inside! Daisy traveled through the dark pipes, crossing through all of the pipes on the ceiling of the hideout before being launched to the start of the board. She fell on her back and five coins were knocked off of her, disappearing after they fell onto the ground.

"Daisy! Are you okay!?" Peach shouted worryingly.

Daisy slowly stood up and began rubbing her head. "It feels like I just got hit by a kart…" She whined.

"Whaht a show, gurl! You bettah troy and myke your way bahck!" Terrence laughed.

"Wahh what's happening up there? Are you guys winning or what?" Wario shouted. He was the first to regain consciousness.

"Poipe down paynut gallery! The Mario guy is up next!" Terrence ordered.

Mario rolled his die onto the floor.

A 6.

Mario began running and ran into another split path. Both led to the star, but the right path was longer than the left, so Mario took the left path. He stopped at a sign with an arrow that pointed down, and above the arrow was written 'Enter the Item Shop?' in white paint. Not knowing what to do next, Mario simply nodded. Apparently, that was the correct way to answer, because a pipe came up and transported Mario downward. He fell onto a floor in what seemed to be a dark room.

"Well well well! Hello Mario! Welcome to the Item Shop!"

Mario stood up and was greeted with a Monty Mole who was in charge of a stand. This Monty Mole was normal size, so behind the stand was just his face. Mario looked onto the stand. There were four separate boxes on the table flanked by an oil lamp on both sides.

The first box was a pair of red dice, which cost 3 coins. The second box had a turquoise bag with a curved arrow pointed southeast, which cost 8 coins and was the most expensive out of the four item boxes. The third box had white blocks with what seemed to be different paint colors on it with tempered glass. These cost 2 coins. The fourth box had the cheapest item in the shop, single die blocks that only had 1-5 on them. They were purple, green, and frankly unappealing, but they only cost a single coin each. Mario thought for a minute and decided to take the red dice pair, so he pointed at it.

"That's what you rocking with baby? So be it! Double Dice for you!" The Mole shouted enthusiastically.

His brown, curved eyes glowed yellow, and three coins materialized in front of Mario and floated away behind the stand. In return, a single pair of the Double Dice floated to Mario and reappeared in his pocket.

"Yeah yeah that's how we roll big man! Anything else?" The mole asked.

Mario only had 15 coins now, so he shook his head, deciding to save his money for now.

"Thank you!"

The Mole shouted.

A pipe appeared again and brought Mario back to the surface, where he traveled one more space before landing on another blue space.

"What was that?" Daisy asked.

"The shawp! Yah can buy items weeth your coins to use faw yourself, aw aguynst other plaoyrs." Terrence explained.

Peach was next. She rolled her die on the floor.

A 5.

She moved five spaces and landed on another green space, one that was extremely close to the star. Terrence looked down and saw that she was next to Big Bertha's water hole, and grinned.

"Tuff luck gurl. Big Bertha! Blahst her!" Terrence ordered.

Big Bertha heard the order from under the water and flopped onto land. She opened her mouth and created a large vortex to try and swallow Peach. Before Peach could be swallowed though, she tried running away which forced Big Bertha to continually sucking in the air, and everyone else watched intensely in both horror and anticipation. Just as it looked like Peach was finished, Big Bertha began coughing, which stopped the vortex and allowed Peach to get away from her mouth. Creating the vortex apparently cost Big Bertha tons of energy, because she attempted in vain to create another vortex. Eventually she gave up and began thrashing about, upset that she failed, before descending back into her water. Peach breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Big Bertha, it's ok! Ain't no shyme in it!" Terrence shouted, attempting to console the giant fish. He then turned to look at Peach and frowned.

"Cawnsidah yourself lucky preencess! Next toime she wawn't maess up." Terence threatened, which was met by a similar frown by Peach.

It was finally Toad's turn. He rolled his die on the ground, hoping his luck would finally turn around.

A 10.

"Aw yeah!" Toad shouted with excitement. He pumped his fist before running down the path. He chose the right path as Daisy had and continued down it, landing on the same blue space Daisy had. Three coins materialized in front of him, and in total, he now had 18 coins. One more blue space would give him enough for the star.

"Oolroight hoons! Toime faw another minigyme!" Terrence shouted.

The Sky Crystal once began to emit more bright yellow light that enveloped the entire area. After a few seconds the light finally dissipated and everyone looked around. This time they were in a smaller cramped area. Noises rang out from everywhere, and everyone simultaneously looked up. Now they were in some sort of mechanism. Gears were turning, machine parts clicked in and out of the walls, wheels spun, and many metal pieces stood dormant as platforms. The mechanism was tall, and the last platform was a bright gold color, which was big enough for the four of them, and very clearly represented the goal. A clock hand was on the wall near the top.

"Are we inside of a clock?" Peach asked out loud.

"Shooah are gurl!" Terrence jumped up from one of the platforms onto the ground.

"Welcome to All Geared Up. Faw thiis minigyme, yah gawtta jump up ooll the why to the tawp before anyone else. First one to the tawp plahtfohm weens!" Terrence explained. Everyone nodded and prepared to jump. Toad and both of the princesses knew they were going to have to work overtime to win against Mario, who was famous FOR his jumping abilities. The four of them were in a much more competitive mood, and did not prepare any argument or complaints, which Terrence was grateful for. He readied himself to shout.

"Raydy? Set... go!" He shouted.

Everyone began jumping on the dormant platforms immediately. Mario had the least issue, and already had a huge start before everyone else. On the other end, Toad was struggling the most, and at times had to climb up certain platforms and catch his breath. Once everyone got past a third of the way, they began jumping onto moving platforms that entered and exited the walls. Everyone struggled here; even Mario was caught off guard by a few of these platforms, and fell down a few times. Toad tried picking up the pace, and actually succeeded well enough. He managed to climb and traverse a few of the gears and some nails in the wall, allowing him to pass Peach and Daisy and ending up just behind Mario. Both took tumbles on some of the disappearing platforms, and both ended up in front of the other at times. On the last gear before the goal however, Toad was tricked by a moving platform, and fell on a rotating piece. Without paying attention or thinking, he got back up with a fervor and managed to get to the goal platform.

Where Mario already was.

"OOLRIGHT! Thaht's a wrap! Mario is the supahstah!" Terrence shouted. Everyone groaned in response, besides Mario, who pumped his fist in the air.

The yellow light appeared again and everyone found themselves where they were on board. Toad was still exhausted, and upset that he lost. He felt terrible, but refused to accept this defeat. He didn't really understand why - it wasn't like they were fighting against each other - but he still felt a fire in his belly. He swore to himself he wasn't going to lose anymore. No more pleasantries; it was time for action!

The Sky Crystal glowed in response.

Daisy was up again. She rolled her die on the ground hard to try and get a good number to move back up again.

She got a 6.

"Cmonnnn." Daisy whined. She moved six spaces, and instead took the left path Mario went on, not wanting to go through the pipe path again and try her luck. She landed on a blue space and three coins materialized for her; she now had 21.

Mario was next. He decided to use the Double Dice he bought since he now had enough for the star. He rolled the dice on the ground.

He got a 6 and a 3.

A total of 9.

It was enough for the star, and Mario soon found himself at the star's base. He looked up and grabbed the star. 20 coins floated out of his pockets and disappeared. The star entered his body and a golden light shone in it for a few seconds before disappearing.

"Wahoo!" Mario cheered, to everyone else's jealousy. Why were they jealous though? Should Mario get another star, the crystal would be theirs again. This strange feeling overtook Toad and Daisy, and even Peach was beginning to feel the effects. All four of them wanted to be the one to win.

The Sky Crystal glowed in response.

"Congratulations Mario! Yah ooll bettah work hardah now, the gyme is hahfway ovah!" Terrence pointed out. He then jumped onto one of the walls of the hideout. The star was originally at the top of the board, and the path afterwards split into two paths once more. Both paths lead back to the beginning of the board, where the three paths split again, and the board looped. Bloopie was on the wall parallel to this split path, seemingly watching the players.

"Theah!" Terrence pointed to the space before the three path split, where another Star suddenly materialized. Mario moved a few more spaces and traveled to the right path which had fewer spaces between it and the main path.

It was Peach's turn now. She gripped the die and rolled it onto the ground.

A 5.

She ran only enough spaces to get onto the space before the split. She landed on a blue space and three coins materialized for her. She now had 21 coins and enough for the star.

Toad was next. He rolled the die, a little miffed as he now had to make his way back to the main path, and he hoped for a big number to help it.

A 3. Which meant he was about to land on the green space.

"Aw gravy…" Toad dreaded. He landed on the green space where the pipe was. The pipe began to shake and the cap opened. A vortex then pulled him in and he began traveling through the pipes, just as Daisy had. Unlike Daisy however, he didn't travel to the beginning of the board. The pipe launched him out to the right path that looped back to the beginning, meaning he had gotten much closer to the star. He fell on his back and had stars circling his head.

Daisy's mouth dropped.

"Hey! What gives! Why did he get put there and I lost money and got sent back!?" She shouted.

"Tuff luck, gurl. It is whaht it is." Terrence shrugged.

"Woo…hoo…ugh." Toad squeaked out in pain.

"Toime faw another minigyme!" Terrence shouted.

The Sky Crystal once began to emit more bright yellow light that enveloped the entire area. After a few seconds the light finally dissipated and everyone looked around. It was still incredibly bright, but it soon became clear where they were. They were outside! Not just outside either, they were in some kind of kiddie sand pit, with toy blocks, toy cars and trucks, and shovels littered across the pit, which was long but not wide. At the end of the pit was presumably the goal: a large sand castle looming in the distance. In front of them were 4 colored balls, which were normal size as they were practically as tall as the players. Terrence stood atop of these toy balls and cleared his throat.

"Oolroight hoons, thiis one is gawnna be a bit trickier. Thiis minigyme is called Roller Coasters. Real seemple; get to the end of the sahnd piit. However, the tricky paht is thaht yah gawtta trahvel there and bylahnce on these orbs whoile yah do it. Wahtch faw road blawcks too. Unduhstood?" Terrence asked.

Everyone nodded and jumped onto the balls. Although they all struggled to balance at first, everyone stayed on and readied themselves; once again with no resistance or complaints. Terrence again readied himself to shout.

"Raydy? Set... go!" He shouted.

Mind you, no one in the gang knows any tricks with balancing, so everyone was equally shocked when they were all individually able to balance and travel with these balls with no problem whatsoever. No one stayed and pondered on this revelation however; they immediately went back to trying to race each other across the sand pit. Even with the new ability to travel and balance however, everyone struggled to actually move. Mario had the least amount of trouble, but he still ricocheted off the blocks uncontrollably, and got stuck behind a moving toy truck. Peach was in the same situation; despite better balancing she still had trouble actually moving. Toad fared even worse. He tried sprinting on the ball to get moving faster but all it did was dig him a hole in which the ball got stuck. He managed to free it by applying pressure forward onto the ball to push it loose. Once he was freed he kept trying the same technique, but he would only move a slight bit. Daisy had the most trouble. At first she tried just running but that didn't work. Then she tried shaking the ball around to move, but all she did was move around in place. Then she tried kicking the ball forward, which made her go backwards.

This minigame wasn't easy at all. It was like trying to get an elephant to move with nothing more than a stylus pencil, and your own hopes and dreams.

Toad stopped at the first quarter of the pit. He was sweating profusely and out of breath. Nobody else was faring any better, Mario wasn't even at the halfway point.

"No…I can't do it" Toad thought to himself. He felt like giving up. He was behind in Party, and he was behind in the Minigame. It didn't matter anyways right? Whoever won would still get the Crystal back from Terrence, so what did it matter if he lost? He would still technically 'win' in the end right? So why didn't it feel that way? Why did he feel like he was failing? Maybe it was because he had failed a lot over the years. He clenched his fist.

No. He didn't want to just fail again. He wanted to win. He wanted to prove he could. He wanted to prove to anyone that ever doubted him that he was a fighter too!

He no longer felt like giving up. He wanted to win this. Even if the outcome would be the same if he lost.

He wanted to win! He was practically glowing with determination!

He looked down at his feet. There had to be a way to move the ball easily. He got it to move, even if it was a little, but how did he do it? He tried shuffling his feet, and slowly but surely he was moving again. Then he realized!

He had to move back for every forward step!

As soon as he shuffled his right foot towards the front of the ball which propelled him forward, he brought it to the back and shuffled his left foot. He started to gain speed and momentum! He got excited and began moving even faster. He got the hang on the movement and zipped past Peach and Mario. He kept running around the blocks then made a beeline for the sand castle. In his excitement however, he realized that he was moving too fast.

"Woah woah woah!" Toad shouted out loud. He tried to jump off, but perhaps the same force that was keeping him on the ball was the same one preventing him from jumping off. He made it to the goal line, and whatever force was keeping him on the ball disappeared as he did, as he flung off the ball, and landed face first into the sand castle.

He got first.

"Oy don't believe moy oeyes! The fungus is the supuhstah!" Terrence yelled.

"Woohoo! Superstar baby!" Toad cheered, his voice muffled from being in sand.

The yellow light appeared again and everyone found themselves where they were on board. Ten coins materialized in front of Toad and landed in his pocket. He now had 28 coins in total. Enough for the star. He also had sand in his mouth.

"Yuk!" He gagged. Toad never liked sand. It was coarse, rough, irritating, and it would always get everywhere. That didn't matter to him now though.

He had just won a Minigame!

"Thiis is gyettin good! But yah hoons are steell gawnna lose! Preencess, your tuhn now!" Terrence shouted to Daisy.

Daisy rolled her die on the ground.

A 7.

She moved through the left path, and decided to enter the item shop.

She dropped onto the ground and looked around, the small, cave-like area.

The Monty Mole running the stand gave her a smile.

"Princess Daisy of the Hot and Beautiful Sarasaland! What can I get for you baby?" He shouted enthusiastically.

"Who are you dude?" Daisy asked.

"No one important, baby! Just a guy who wants to help you! For the right price of course." He answered.

"Well alright then. Let's see…"

Daisy scanned the items on the table deciding what to buy. She pointed at the glassy block with different colors.

"Hey uh, what is that thing?" Daisy asked.

"That there is the Warp Dice Block baby! It's cheap, but unpredictable. It'll warp you to a random spot on the board."

The Monty Mole explained.

"Ehh…no thanks. What about that? Is that two die blocks?" Daisy asked, referring to the Double Dice item in one of the boxes.

"That there is the Double Dice pair item. It's err…self explanatory. 3 coins only baby!" The Mole explained.

"I'll take it!" Daisy exclaimed.

The Mole's brown, curved eyes glowed yellow, and three coins materialized in front of Daisy which then floated away behind the stand. In return, a single pair of the Double Dice floated to Daisy and reappeared in her pocket.

"Yeah yeah that's how we roll baby! Anything else?" The mole asked.

"Nah I'm good. I just need an ace in the hole." Daisy responded.

"Ok! Thank you!"

The Mole shouted. A pipe appeared again and brought Daisy back to the surface, where she traveled a few more spaces before landing on another blue space that was just before the split path at the end.

Peach's turn was next. She grabbed her die and rolled it on the ground.

A 9.

She made her way to the split path at the end of the board. Since both paths led to the main path at the beginning anyway, she decided to go left, as she noticed she would land on a red space and lose coins if she took the right path. She landed on another blue space, earning three coins and having 24 in total.

Toad was next. He breathed on the die for good luck, a Mushroom Kingdom superstition, and rolled the die onto the ground.

Who says superstitions aren't real? He rolled a 10; enough for the star!

"Oh yeah! Who's the man!?" Toad cheered. He made his way to the end of the path and landed back on the main path. He got to the base of the star and grabbed it. 20 coins floated out of his vest pockets and disappeared. The star entered his body and a golden light shone in it for a few seconds before disappearing.

"Congratulations fungus! Who would hahve thawt?" Terrence shouted.

Terrence once again jumped onto one of the walls of the hideout.

"Theah!" Terrence pointed to a space on the split right path before the main path, where another Star suddenly materialized. Daisy and Mario both now had a huge advantage, and Toad ran a few more spaces before landing on the space before the three way split path. Unfortunately, this was also a red space. He lost three coins, bringing his total to only 5 coins.

"Alroight, toime faw the lahst minigyme!" Terrence shouted.

The Sky Crystal once began to emit more bright yellow light that enveloped the entire area. After a few seconds the light finally dissipated and everyone looked around. It was still incredibly bright, but it soon became clear where they were. They were underground! Toad opened his eyes and looked around. He was in some sort of dirt mound, and he was holding a spoon! Not just that, but Daisy was right next to him with a spoon as well. Terrence suddenly popped up inside the dirt mound, with the Sky Crystal in hand.

"Oolroight yah two, it's toime faw somethin deefferent. Thiis is gawnna be a taym effort! Yah two weell face off aguynst the peenk preencess and Mario in thiis minigyme: Mole Thrillers. Oy used to play thiis weeth moy bruhthahs when oy was a smohl bug. Yah two nayd to work tohgethah to escuype the mole comin through thiis here dirt." As Terrence explained, both Toad and Daisy looked down at their spoons, but they also noticed that their legs were tied together with a rope! Terrence laughed.

"Diid Oy mention yah two ahh tied tohgethah? Myke it to the end of dirt befoah the mole gets yah, and yah two both wiien. Raydy? Set… Go!"

Terrence shouted before disappearing.

Daisy and Toad booth looked at each other, before hearing noise behind them. The sound got closer and the dirt wall behind them began to fall apart.

Daisy spun around.

"Okay just go go go go go!" Daisy ordered.

The two of them began thrashing their spoons about, digging as fast as thbey could. They had no idea how far the exit was, only that they didn't want to know what happened if they stopped. Eventually however, they hit a rock.

"Here let me just…"Daisy tried to dig her way, but Toad tried to dig his way.

"No no this way!" Toad shouted.

They both tried digging their own way. The result? They went nowhere, and both just kept hitting their spoons and heads on the rock. They stopped anbd glared at each other, but only for a few minutes before the digging sounds of the mole got closer, and they broke off their stare and faced back from where they came. Toad gritted his teeth, before sighing.

"We have to work together, princess. I…trust you. You need to move us out of the way!" Toad shouted.

"Right… you're right!" Daisy responded.

Toad stopped his movements and let Daisy take control. She continued digging and eventually, they both were able to go around the rock, to which Toad stepped up his digging. They continued forward, but noticed they were heading into another rock. Daisy stopped digging.

"This one is yours, buddy!" She shouted.

Toad nodded and continued digging as fast as he could. This became the new pattern. Whatever rock they went into they allowed the other to continue digging, and then when they were cleared of the rock, they both would start digging again. They continued together and tried to dig faster, not knowing whether or not they were behind or ahead. They kept digging and digging until they began digging into sand! White sand, which increased in area and soon, that's all they were digging through. Sunlight began to appear and they were temporarily blinded before their eyes adjusted and they fell onto solid ground again. They both looked up, and they were out! Mario and Peach then appeared next to them, both having just escaped themselves. Terrence appeared and grinned.

"Congratulations to the orange preencess and the fungus! Yah ahh both supahstahs!" He cheered.

"Aw yeah!"

"Woohoo!"

Daisy and Toad high-fived each other.

The yellow light appeared again and everyone found themselves where they were on board. Toad and Daisy both received ten coins, and both had enough for the star.

"Leesten up hoons, thiis is the lahst round! If none of yah get two Stahs, the gyme is ovah, and oy get the rawck! Bettah myke thiis round count!" terrence shouted.

Daisy was up next. Since this was the last round, she brought out her Double Dice, and rolled them on the ground.

A 7 and a 5.

A 12.

She moved 12 spaces and easily made it to the star.

"Well at least I get one too." She said, accepting that she probably wasn't going to get two stars."

She got to the base of the star and grabbed it. 20 coins floated out of her pockets and disappeared. The star entered her body and a golden light shone in it for a few seconds before disappearing. She then landed on another blue space, earning three coins.

"Everyone except the peenk preencess naow has a Stah. It's anyone's gyme, and let me tell yah ooll now; yaw ooll gawnna need a mirahcle to wiin huyhahhuyha!" Terrence laughed.

Terrence again jumped onto one of the walls of the hideout.

"Theah!" Terrence pointed to the first space on the end split left path, where another Star suddenly materialized. Terrence smiled. This was untenable and he knew it. Nobody was anywhere near the star, with the exception of Toad, but he would need to roll a 9 or higher to get to it. Low, low odds.

Mario's turn was next. He rolled the die.

A 7.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do much without the right amount or coins. So he simply landed back on the main path, and on a blue space, earning three more coins.

Peach's turn was next. She rolled her die on the ground.

A 3.

Peach sighed and moved three spaces. She landed on an entirely different space however.

She landed on a purple space.

"Hmm? What space is this?" She asked.

Terrence got excited and rubbed his fellers and hands together.

"Now thiis is gawnna be a show!" Terrence exclaimed.

Suddenly, a purple fire surrounded the space. Peach froze at first, unsure of what was going on. She suddenly got hit with a massive headache.

"Urghh…" Peach struggled to speak.

"Cuz! Are you ok!?" Daisy worryingly shouted out.

"Am I okay…?" Peach asked with a warbly voice.

She stood up tall and opened her eyes. Her eyes were filled with a glowing purple fire.

"I FEEL INCREDIBLE!" Peach roared with such severity that the hideout suffered a shockwave. Bloopie fell on the ground, and the vibrations shook the pipes. Everyone stood in awe, and Terrence began laughing. Peach then pointed at Toad, who looked behind him, believing that Peach was pointing to something behind him at first.

"TOAD. I DEMAND WE SPAR!" Peach roared out.

"Wha-what!? S-spar?! With y-you?!" Toad sputtered out.

The same purple fire that surrounded Peach's space, now began surrounding Toad's space, and he too felt a headache. He messaged his head, trying to quell it, and it seemed he did, as he stood back up and stood tall.

"You may be the princess that I swore to protect, but if you are so keen on dueling…" Toad opened his eyes. Purple fire filled them and he continued.

"THEN I WON'T BACK DOWN!" Toad roared.

"Mamma mia!" Mario shouted.

"Terrence! What's going on!?" Daisy shouted.

"Whaht's going on is thaht the peenk preencess lahnded on a Duel Space! She and the fungus ahh gawnna duke it out!" Terrence cheered.

"FOR 20 COINS WE DUEL. HOW ABOUT IT TOAD?" Peach roared.

"I ACCEPT! I'LL HIT YOU WITH EVERYTHING I GOT PRINCESS, SO DON'T HOLD BACK!" Toad roared back.

Terrence jumped on the board.

"And oy hahve just the minigyme faw it!" He exclaimed.

The Sky Crystal once began to emit more bright yellow light that enveloped the entire area. After a few seconds the light finally dissipated. Peach and Toad looked around. It was still incredibly bright, but it soon became clear where they were. They were in some sort of garage or shed. The walls were adorned with power tools and equipment for house renovation or lawn care. There were even parts for cars like an engine, a license plate, tires, and more. In the middle of this area were several buckets, fluid canisters, soda cans, and tool boxes, some of them were in the middle of what seemed to be a puddle of oil. The two of them were on a counter or tall table, and in front of them were 4 four pieces of rope that hung from the ceiling. Terrence suddenly appeared with the Sky Crystal in one of his hands.

"Thiis one is a great one faw a duel. It's called Trash Landing. Yah two ahh gawnna get ten seconds to desoide whaht rope yah wahnna go on, and yaw gawnna roide them to the end wheah thaht oil spill is. The goal is to' lahnd on one of the theengs down there and nawt fall into the oil. The ropes moight chuynge direction aw change course, so whuytevah one yah choose is the one yah hahve to work weeth." Terrence explained.

Although the fire in their eyes were gone, the fire in their bellies wasn't. Both Toad and Peach nodded and began scanning the ropes. Terrence noticed this and readied himself.

"Rayday? Set...Go!" He shouted and disappeared.

Toad and PEach both looked at the ropes and looked down at the spill. They noticed a tool in the middle of this makeshift zipline that was undoubtedly for changing course of the ropes. Peach decided on the third rope and got behind it, and Toad decided on the first for himself. The other ropes were hoisted up and both players jumped onto their choices, which allowed them to begin their descent down towards the spill. The mechanism in the middle of the line, as expected, changed their course. Both Toad and Peach strayed from their intended object. Toad had planned to get on the rope that went towards the soda can, believing he would make it towards the red toolbox, the safest option. Instead, he went towards a fluid canister. Peach thought of the same strategy, gunning towards a bucket in hopes of heading towards the toolbox. Instead she went towards the bucket. Toad felt his stomach drop and began panicking. Peach tried to focus, but began panicking too. Toad closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. He didn't if he could make it, but he was going to try. No more doubting himself. He was gonna win. They both got closer and closer.

Toad let go first.

Peach followed soon after.

They both flew towards their respective objects. Toad bounced on the canister, and Peach overshot the middle like she planned.

Toad had won.

Had he left a second earlier or later, he would have bounced right off the canister. He bounced, but stopped himself before he fell off. The princess wasn't so lucky, and she flew into the oil spill.

"Haahuyha whaht fun stuff! Fungus, yah wonn aguyn! The duel is yours!" Terrence cheered.

The yellow light appeared again, and Toad found himself where he was on the board. Twenty coins materialized in front of him and floated into his pockets. He stood in amazement that he did it. It was a thrilling ride, but he won against the princess.

Daisy and Mario opened their eyes. They didn't see the action. All they saw was the glow of the Crystal grow brighter and brighter until they coin\ldn't see, before it dissipated again and Toad got his coins.

"Peach you alright!?" Daisy shouted to Peach.

Toad spun around in horror.

"Your highness! Are you okay!?" Toad shouted worryingly.

Peach was laying on the ground. She slowly stood up and rubbed her head.

"I…don't know what came over me. I feel a little sick…" She commented.

"Tuff luck preencess, yah lost the duel, and the fungus won your coins!"

Terrence yelled out.

"I see…congratulations Toad." Peach smiled.

Toad felt awful for the win, but he knew he had to focus on getting the last star.

It was his turn now. He took his die and rolled it. Terrence grinned. This was it now. It didn't matter what number Toad got now because there was no way he would be able to get a 9 and reach the star. The rock was now his. HE began dreaming of what he would use it for. Maybe use the coins and stars to pay off or destroy some other bug and get a bigger place on the coast. Maybe he could even get-

A 10.

…Huh?

Terrence blinked a few times.

"Woohoo! Another 10! I did it!" Toad cheered.

He ran the ten spaces and grabbed the star. 20 coins floated out of his pockets and the star entered his body. It was official.

Toad Won!

The Crystal began glowing again and the board suddenly disappeared. The patterns, the paths, all vanished. Everything vanished. Any trace of the Party was gone, and the pipes returned to their rusticity.

"Woohoo! Way to go, Toad!" Daisy cheered.

Peach and Mario began clapping as well.

"Congratulations Toad." Peach smiled.

Toad's heart fluttered. He actually won! He felt so proud of himself!

Terrence jumped down from the pipe he was at. Still dumbfounded by the win, and Toad ran up to him.

"A deal is a deal Terrence. I won." Toad huffed with pride.

"Yah shooah diid fungus. Oy nevah saw it comin. The roight thing to do now, is to myke good on ahh deal and retuhn thiis rawck to yah." Terrence remarked. He then grabbed Toad by the vest.

"Buh oy ain't doin thaht." He growled. He launched Toad back towards a wall with a valve on it.

"Ack!" Toad yelped out in pain.

The Sky Crystal glowed brighter.

Mario, Daisy, and Peach glared at Terrence.

"We made a deal Terrence!" PEach shouted at him.

"That's it! I'm gonna put him in the ground!" Daisy said, gritting her teeth and beating her fists. Mario nodded and readied himself to fight.

The Sky Crystal glowed brighter.

"Wahh what's going on? Did we win?" Wario shouted out to ask.

"We did, but this stupid cockroach is trying to go back on the deal!" Daisy angrily shouted in response.

"Oh no!" Luigi cried out.

"Wehehe classic trick!" Waluigi snickered.

The Sky Crystal glowed brighter.

"Big Bertha!" Terrence shouted out, to which Big Bertha surfaced and glared back at Mario and the princesses, putting them into a defensive stance.

The Sky Crystal glowed brighter.

"Oy'm nawt givin thiis bahck. Thiis shiny rawck cahn myke stahs and coins and mygic treecks. Oy cahn myke billions with it, and hahve moy own mahnsion! No moah leeving behind the walls faw me, Bloopie, and Big Bertha. Yah hoons ahh just gawnna hahve to accept it, huyhahhuyha!Big Bertha, prepare to drown these hoo-"

The Sky Crystal glowed even brighter, and it began to violently shake. It was no longer avoidable, and now everyone noticed it, especially not when it started to flicker back and forth into the color red.

"Whaht the-?" Terrence shouted out.

Toad watched in amazement.

Creakkkk

Toad turned his head and saw the valve next to him turning all by itself. He watched in shock, as the valve glowed yellow and turned itself all the way to the left. Big Bertha looked down and watched in horror as her water began draining. Eventually, everyone noticed as Big Bertha was suddenly caught in the pipe.

"Urk! Big Bertha!" Terrence cried out. He spun around to face Toad, who was in much shock as he was.

"Don't just stahnd theah fungus! Tuhn thaht vahlve! Save moy gurl!"

Terrence ordered.

Toad, without thinking, tried to turn the valve, but he wasn't strong enough. In fact the valve was so rusty, it should have been impossible for anything at small size to be able to turn it, but Toad tried anyway. Suddenly, he made a breakthrough, and Toad spun the valve all the way to the right so fast that he was thrown onto the ground.

The problem was corrected. Overcorrected in fact! Big Bertha wasn't just pushed out of the pipe, she was launched out of the pipe! She was launched into the air at such velocity that she was blown out of the wall and into the sky! Big Bertha was gone!

Everyone saw it, including Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi, and Luigi who were in the ditch. Everyone stood shocked and dumbfounded. Terrence was so horrified that he attempted to yell, or scream or something, but all he could muster was a quiet shriek. Peach covered her mouth, Mario took off his cap in shock, all Daisy did was cross her arms. Her mouth was wide open too, but in more of a surprise of the luck.

"NOOOOOO!" Terrence shrieked in horror, finally breaking the silence.

"Big Bertha! No! She cahn't be gone! She was so prett'- okay she wahsn't raylly thaht pretty, but she was so plesahnt to hahve aroun- well no she koind of stunk up the pluyce, but but but...she was moy sheila!" Terrence cried out.

"Uhh…I'm…I'm sorry." Toad nervously said.

Terrence slowly turned to face him. A burning anger filled his eyes, and all of his hands were balled into fists.

"Bloopie!" He called out.

Bloopie quickly appeared behind Mario and the princesses and grabbed each of them with his tentacles.

"H-hey!" Daisy shouted out, but it fell on deaf ears.

Bloopie's demeanor had changed. No longer was it scared, or shaking, or frightened from the gang. It didn't cry out, it's eye wasn't hurting anymore. Instead, Bloopie sulked. He was looking down at the ground, in shame.

Terrence walked forward, the fire in his eyes, growing stronger.

"Yah come into moy home, hurt Bloopie, troy to tyke somethin thaht's roightfully moine and defoinitely not stolen, and yah kill Big Bertha!? Well no moah! Bloopie! We ah gawnna drown every seengle one of these hoons! Stahtin with the fungus!" Terrnece angrily ordered.

Bloopie nodded and threw Marioand the Princesses in the trench where everyone else was, and threw Toad into Big Bertha's now waterless trench.

"Wahh, way to go goody two shoes." Wario said, mocking Mario.

Peach tried to climb up, but failed.

"Toad! Are you okay!" She shouted.

Toad slowly got up and realized where he was. Bloopie proceeded to jump onto the pipes above Big Bertha's trench and stretch its tentacles into the pipe. The trench Toad was in began to fill with water.

"And if yah troy to escuype, we'll kayp yah down!" Terrence yelled out.

Toad began panicking looking for something to help him escape, but he couldn't find anything. All there were was three valves colored red, blue, and yellow. There was no way out, and Toad felt his heart beat faster in his chest.

And then, a glow from the sky.

Toad looked up. The Sky Crystal was now at the ceiling of the hideout. He began glowing a bright yellow, and from it two Stars appeared out of it. They floated down towards Toad and floated around him, before entering his body. Toad suddenly felt his body calm down. He didn't know what happened, but he felt himself moving faster. He felt stronger, and all his mind could focus on was defeating Bloopie and Terrence. He saw the valves where he was and saw them connect to the pipes where Bloopie had his tentacles in. A lighgtbulb appeared above Toad's head. He looked up and grinned at terrence, who had watch the Stars enter his body.

"Whuytevah! It chaynges nothin'! Bloopie! Finish hiiem off" Terrence ordered.

Toad took a deep breath, and readied himself.