Okay, readers. Here is the fifteenth chapter of this story!
Now, I don't have much to say about this chapter. This chapter is basically about Andrew, Goombella, and Koops fighting the Shadow Sirens and reclaiming Flurrie's Necklace from Beldam.
One thing I should point out though; the reason I had Punio stay at Flurrie's house was that he didn't add anything to the confrontation, other than saying that they got Flurrie's Necklace and that they should take it to her. So I'm having him sit this one out for this story. I hope you all understand.
Now that that's been said, how will things go for Andrew and his two partners when they fight the Shadow Sirens? Read and find out, now!
IN ANOTHER PART OF THE BOGGLY WOODS:
It was at this point that the Shadow Sirens had finally managed to find the sketch that they were looking for. As it turns out, the sketch was kept underneath Beldam's hat the whole time, and she had probably forgotten about it.
Vivian took note of this right away when she saw the sketch fall out from Beldam's hat. Despite knowing how Beldam would react when she said it, she felt the need to inform her about it after jumping a couple of times.
"Beldam! I TOLD you!" Vivian told her in a manner that said that she never had it. "Blaming me for losing the sketch...and YOU had it!"
It was then Beldam suddenly slapped Vivian across the face, not tolerating that comment from her. She was not going to acknowledge that she was wrong and Vivian was right. No way was that happening.
"Silence, you twit!" Beldam spat at her. "Now's not the time to get hung up on stupid details! We must study this sketch!"
"Guh!" Marilyn grunted in curiosity as she wondered what Andrew looked like on the sketch they were given. "Guhhhhh?"
From there, Beldam pulled out the sketch from her back and brought it forward for herself and her sisters to look at. They got a good look at Andrew in the picture and noticed how manly he looked.
They also took note of the muscles on his arms, chest, and legs, and the six-pack abs that were right where his stomach was. The Shadow Sirens were surprised to know that their target; Andrew, was quite the handsome man.
"Wow!" Beldam had to admit. "This Andrew guy looks so manly! Check out those muscles on his chest, arms, and legs. And LOOK at those six-pack abs! How handsome!"
"Yeah..." Vivian felt like commenting dreamily. "That Andrew guy looks pretty dreamy..."
"I didn't say you could comment, Vivian," Beldam scolded her. "So SHUT your trap!"
"S-Sorry sis," Vivian whimpered before frowning and keeping her mouth shut.
Beldam looked at Andrew again. There was something about him that looked so familiar. Why did she feel like she'd encountered this young man before?
"You know something, though, my lovelies? I swear I've seen this gentleman before..." Beldam trailed off before revelation took over. She immediately remembered who this guy looked like. "AAAAAAAAAAAACK! He's Mr. Muscles!"
"Guh! GUHHH!" Marilyn yelped and jumped, acting as if she knew that the man they saw earlier was Andrew the whole time.
After putting the sketch away, Beldam had to glower at Vivian. She had assumed that Vivian snuck the sketch under her hat. But more importantly, had Vivian not been distracting her about where the sketch went, they would've known that it was Andrew who passed by them earlier. But Beldam was going to make that clear to her youngest sister.
"Ack! I don't believe this!" Beldam then sneered at Vivian. "Vivian! This is, without a doubt, all your fault!"
Beldam then pointed at her in a scolding manner. "I'll be dealing out some strict punishment later, my dearie! Oh, yes! I promise you that!"
It was then Vivian jumped up and down and got all upset again. She couldn't believe it. Was her sister still blaming all of the mishaps that went wrong for them on her? What did she do to deserve this?
"What?!" Vivian yelped before saying in a begging tone. "That's not fair! You're the one who had the..."
Vivian's sentence was cut off when Beldam grabbed the tree branch she used before and swung it across Vivian's face before she glared at her.
"Silence, you squirrel-brain!" Beldam snarled, dropping the tree branch. "Don't you cop that insolent attitude with me!"
"Ugh!" Vivian felt like crying all over again as she whimpered. "This is NOT fair..."
"And about that necklace..." Beldam brought up as she showed the necklace she confiscated earlier, which was 'really' Flurrie's Necklace. "I was thinking of returning it to you, but NO MORE!"
"Awww..." Vivian cried at this as Beldam put the necklace under her hat.
"AND...since you caused this problem," Beldam pointed her accusation finger at Vivian. "You have to figure out how to find this Andrew chump!"
"Uhhhh-guh..." Marilyn had to moan at this as she turned away and looked off into the distance that Andrew had gone in earlier.
The Shadow Siren decided to wait in that one spot, with the hope that Andrew and his two partners would return and they could pull forth the plan of stealing his map and all...
By now, Andrew, Goombella, and Koops made their way through the Boggly Woods as they had left Flurrie's house some time ago, with Punio staying behind for his 'own' safety. They were hoping that those shadow women were still there and they could still get the necklace back.
Of course, Andrew had this sensation in his stomach that they'd have to fight the three shady women. So he had advised both of his partners to keep their guard up when they confronted them again.
After some more walking, Andrew and his two partners made it back to the area where the Shadow Sirens were and had the ambition to confront them. Once they were within a few feet away from them, however, Beldam sensed someone was behind her. Turning around, she came face to face with Andrew, the person she was looking for.
"Well! If it isn't Andrew!" Beldam proclaimed.
"Yeah, that's right," Andrew kept a stern look on his face. "I'm Andrew, the guy who came by here earlier."
"Well shiny muscles or not, you can't be too bright if you came here looking for us!" Beldam pretty much insulted Andrew's intelligence, which Andrew didn't appreciate at all with the glowering look he gave her before she continued. "Mmmmmwee hee hee hee... And you know why? 'Cause we were waiting for YOU!"
"Well, Goombella? Koops? What do you think?" Andrew asked his two partners, who both nodded.
"Ooh, that's them! They're the ones who had the..." Goombella cut her sentence off when she noticed what Beldam said. "Wait a minute... What? You've been waiting for Andrew? What's THAT supposed to mean, you weirdo?"
"Yeah!" Koops agreed with Goombella. "That sounds...suspicious!"
"Were you waiting to ambush me?" Andrew had to ask suspiciously as he raised an eyebrow.
"Mmmmmmwee hee hee hee!" Beldam cackled before making her plan clear with the three travelers. "I 'have' no quarrel with you...but I simply can't allow you to hunt for the Crystal Stars."
She then pointed towards Andrew. "And so, I'll be taking that little map of yours just as soon as I deal with you."
Now, Andrew had a shocked expression on his face. So it was true. These three were pretty much in alliance with the X-Nauts. The fact that Beldam is preventing them from getting the other Crystal Stars and wants to steal his Magical Map once she disposes of him says it all.
Meanwhile, Goombella and Koops were also quick to figure out what she was implying.
"Whoa, whoa, scary lady!" Koops spoke first. "How do you know about the map and the crystals?"
"Yeah! What's your deal?" Goombella agreed. "How do you know about the map and the Crystal Stars? Have you been talking to Princess Peach, or..."
Goombella had to stop herself as she had no idea who these three women were, and neither did Koops or Andrew. Feeling the need to want introductions, Goombella decided to ask first.
"Wait, what are we saying?" Goombella started. "The real question is, who the heck are you freaks?"
"Yeah, now that I think about it, who are you, anyway?" Koops asked them afterwards.
"I believe we ought to know who you guys are," Andrew pointed out. "So who are you guys supposed to be?"
Beldam couldn't help but snicker. These fools didn't know who they were dealing with. Well, she would be sure to fix that one up in a jiffy.
"Mmmmmmwee hee hee hee!" Beldam cackled again before saying. "Those who seek names are often disappointed."
She then saw their frowns, which showed that they wanted an answer now. So she decided to go along with their game.
"But if you insist, we'll tell you," Beldam started for her sisters. "We are..."
"The Three..." Marilyn said the only words that she could say that could be identified in the English language.
"Shadow Beauties!" Vivian finished for her sisters.
"The Three Shadow Beauties?" Andrew, Goombella, and Koops asked in unison at their rather odd name.
Beldam, meanwhile, couldn't believe what she heard from Vivian. She was getting rather irate about it, so she decided to lash out.
"Vivian! You nincompoop!" Beldam yelled at her, getting Vivian to frown again. "What are you babbling about? It's Shadow SIRENS!"
Shadow Sirens? They're called the Shadow Sirens... Andrew thought in his mind as he watched Vivian panic yet again as Beldam scolded her.
"I don't see three beauties!" Beldam snapped before insulting her youngest sister. "I see two, but then there's you, and you're PLUG-UGLY!"
Andrew deeply frowned at the insult that Beldam gave to Vivian.
At least she didn't call her a man... Andrew thought.
A chilling picture popped up in his head with the notion that Beldam was also a transphobe, which would've made her even worse. Unfortunately, it was clear that Beldam was a horrible person, even if she wasn't a transphobe. Vivian then started weeping again as she spoke up.
"Aw, right, Sis, I'm sorry..." Vivian apologized before explaining to her. "It's just, you always call us lovelies, and..."
"It's just a figure of speech!" Beldam cut her off with a howl. "Ooh, you've got some FIERCE punishment coming your way!"
Andrew had to furrow his eyebrows once he heard that. Beldam was planning to punish Vivian, for WHAT? Just because of a simple mistake? To him, that seemed pretty disproportionate.
It only got worse when he saw Vivian collapse onto the ground in shame and sadness, with some fear sprinkled into it.
"Aw, gee whiz..." Vivian murmured sadly. "I hate being punished..."
"You're gonna hate it more if you don't smarten up, you ugly twit..." Beldam sneered as she went over and grabbed Vivian by the neck, about to deck her again.
The anger that Andrew felt earlier had started to resurface again, tenfold. He just couldn't believe it. How could Beldam be so horrible and needlessly cruel to Vivian; her 'OWN' sister? It doesn't matter if Vivian was a villain. NOBODY deserves to be treated like THAT.
And this time, Andrew had the perfect excuse to lash out at Beldam. After all, the fate of Flurrie's necklace was in his hands. Additionally, Beldam was planning on stealing the Magical Map from him, which was something Andrew would never allow to happen. Not if he could help it.
Seeing Beldam's horrible treatment of Vivian was just the fuel he needed to take action. Not being able to keep his anger in any longer, Andrew felt steam blow right out of his ears as he voiced his thoughts on this.
"HEY YOU UGLY HAG!" Andrew bellowed in complete anger as he got out his baseball bat. "If you got a BEEF with someone, take it out on ME! And leave your sister Vivian alone!"
Goombella and Koops were shocked and startled by this. They had never seen Andrew get THIS angry. He was never this furious with ANYONE. Not even with Hooktail. So Beldam must've done something to finally set him off like that.
Beldam, by contrast, was completely unfazed and disinterested in Andrew's furious comment as she turned around to face him.
"Hmph!" Beldam huffed, throwing Vivian onto the ground. "I don't see how any of this is your business. But I'll gladly take you out of commission."
"BRING IT ON!" Andrew roared, still feeling some anger fueling throughout his body. "Goombella, Koops, and I are not afraid of you! We can take you on!"
"We shall see about that," Beldam then motioned for her sisters to join her. "Let's do it, my lovelies...or rather, my lovely and ugly! Marilyn! Vivian! The might of The Three Shadow Sirens will be more than enough to win the day!"
Andrew felt his teeth gritting at how Beldam referred to Vivian as ugly. The urge to pummel and beat up Beldam was growing stronger by the second.
Despite his anger, Goombella and Koops loyally went over to Andrew's side. Meanwhile, Vivian muttered 'Oh, okay...' while Marilyn did her usual 'guh' in obedience as they both floated towards Beldam's side.
The Shadow Sirens approached Andrew and his two partners as a battle was about to unravel. But Andrew was more than ready for it, as were Goombella and Koops.
"It's most unlucky that our sights are set on you. Well, unlucky for you, of course," Beldam told him hotly. "Marilyn! Vivian! Let's show them precisely what we can do!"
"Guh!" Marilyn nodded.
"Yes, Sis!" Vivian obliged, rather sadly as she frowned at this.
"The only unlucky one here is you, Beldam," Andrew told her sharply. "And we're gonna make sure of it."
Beldam could only growl as she held her hands out, and she shot out what appeared to be an Ice Beam attack. Andrew was quick enough to duck from this, as were Koops and Goombella.
"Hey Goombella? Do you have any information on these guys?" Andrew questioned curiously, seeing his Goomba partner take out her Tattle Log and looked for the Shadow Sirens.
"Hold on. I'm looking," Goombella then found the right page. "Ah, here they are! They are the Shadow Sirens, as they had said. Vivian is the maiden. Marilyn is the matron or mother. And Beldam is the crone, in case it wasn't obvious for ya."
Andrew had to snicker at that last part. "Nice reference there, Goombella. But seriously, what about them individually?"
"Well, each one of them can control a certain element based on the color of their witch hat," Goombella explained to him. "Beldam controls ice. Marilyn controls electricity. And finally, Vivian controls fire."
"That's nice to know," Andrew sighed. "Anything else?"
"Yes. Beldam has a variety of nasty spells she can pull that can make herself or her partners big and make us tiny, and attacks with weird magic," Goombella exclaimed. "And Marilyn can occasionally charge up extra power, and is supposedly the toughest of the sisters."
Goombella then had to move on to Vivian. "By contrast, Vivian doesn't seem all that noteworthy. So you don't need to worry about her too much."
Yeah. I don't think I have it in me to hurt Vivian anyway... Andrew thought in a rather bitter way before he focused on Beldam. "Well, Beldam, your weird magic spells and ice attacks don't phase me one bit!"
"I'll make sure that you think differently, fool," Beldam growled before firing another Ice Beam in his direction.
Andrew was able to dodge it in the nick of time, as he realized the severity of this fight. Looks like he and his partners will have to face each Siren individually.
"Looks like we'll have to split up and fight solo guys!" Andrew had to declare. "I'll take care of Beldam! Koops, take Vivian! And Goombella, go after Marilyn!"
"WHAAAAAT!?" Goombella yelled in shock at what Andrew told her to do. "D'you expect me to go after THAT giant behemoth!? Why don't I take Beldam?! You could take out Marilyn in an arm wrestling contest with your big muscles, don'tcha-"
She was then interrupted by Beldam firing yet another Ice Beam attack, which 'actually' got some frost on her helmet as it barely hit her.
"No time for debating! Let's go!" Andrew proclaimed.
"Right," Goombella sighed. "I guess 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' best fits the description of this situation..."
With that, Andrew, Goombella, and Koops scattered about and separated along with the Shadow Sirens, who were engaging in a fight with their respective target.
Andrew found himself in a standoff with Beldam. For some reason, he was going to get some enjoyment out of this.
"Hmph! Your muscles seem to be just for show if you're not outright attacking me," Beldam had to mock him. "It would be easier if you'd just hand over the map, and I'll make this quick and painful for you."
"I'm never giving you the map," Andrew told her. "And if you think you can underestimate me, then you are sorely mistaken."
Beldam scoffed it off as she approached him to land an Ice Punch on Andrew. He was able to jump out of the way before spinning around and aiming his left foot towards Beldam. Surprisingly, Andrew made direct contact with her head, and it sent her skidding back a few inches.
"Hmph! You're jumping attacks mean nothing to me," Beldam shook it off. "This battle is just getting started."
"I feel the same way," Andrew held up his bat and planned to strike Beldam with it.
She had blocked it with her Ice Punch attack with one of her hands while using her other hand to blast an Ice Beam onto Andrew.
It made contact with him, hitting his shoulders. But otherwise, he was still willing to fight.
"No need to give me the cold shoulder," Andrew retorted before spinning his bat. "I have tricks of my own!"
Andrew then tossed the spinning bat towards Beldam, where it made direct contact with her head. Andrew ran over and grabbed his bat, just as Beldam stood up and fired another Ice Beam at Andrew. Andrew managed to jump out of the way in time as he continued fighting with Beldam.
Goombella was having problems of her own. She was trying to land a decent attack on Marilyn, but most of them were deflected by her chubby belly. Goombella then jumped into the air and spun around in circles before colliding her head into Marilyn's head, and backflipping down onto the ground.
"Ha ha! How's that feel!" Goombella yelled. "How d'you like them apples?!"
Unfortunately, Marilyn felt only a minor amount of damage as she looked at Goombella in confusion.
"Guh?" Marilyn grunted, sounding confused.
"OH C'MON! THAT WAS A PERFECTLY EXECUTED ATTACK!" Goombella had to yell at her. "How could ya not feel-"
Her sentence was cut off when Marilyn used her Clap Attack on Goombella, who was barely able to get out of the way. Marilyn then used this as an opportunity to clap her hands and summon a Thunderbolt, which nearly struck Goombella and sent her back a few feet.
Goombella saw that her ponytail was on the frizzy side from the static electricity, no doubt from the Thunderbolt attack that Marilyn summoned that almost hit her.
"OK! I change my mind!" Goombella yelled in panic. "I wanna switch!"
Goombella then saw Andrew nearly getting decked by Beldam's Ice Punch before she summoned her Ice Beam attack, which hit a nearby tree and turned it into an iced-up tree, with the frozen leaves falling off and shattering upon landing on the ground.
"Okay...Okay..." Goombella took deep breaths as she faced Marilyn again. "You can do this. Andrew wouldn't have told you to face this behemoth if he didn't depend on you..."
With that, Goombella tried again to pull off a successful Headbonk attack on Marilyn, even though it barely did any damage. Still, she kept on going for it, as she decided to do this for Andrew.
Andrew was able to hold his own against Beldam, who was attempting to freeze Andrew into an ice sculpture, hoping that he'd get frostbite. But he was able to counter against most of them, and aside from some minor bruises, he was holding his own just find.
Naturally, he used his jumps, his bat, and his fists to attack Beldam. Nonetheless, the fight looked rather violent, and even borderline hostile between the muscular man and the crone witch.
Koops and Vivian, meanwhile, were having a rather awkward staredown, unsure of what they should do.
"Ummm... What should we do?" Koops decided to ask.
"Uh, I'm supposed to attack you," Vivian told him shyly. "Do you mind if I attack first?"
"Oh no. Go ahead," Koops pretty much insisted.
"Okay. Here I go," Vivian then floated over and prepared her Shade Fist attack.
Koops was able to get into his shell in time. Aside from a brief impact from the Shade Fist, Koops came out completely fine as he popped out of his shell.
"Okay. Ummm... Now it's my turn," Koops had to warn her. "You ready?"
"Uh, all right," Vivian said slowly as Koops got into his shell and performed a Shell Toss attack.
He made an impact, which pushed Vivian a few feet away. But otherwise, she was all right.
"Now what?" Vivian asked rather meekly as if she wondered if Koops would do more to hurt her.
Beldam, who was fighting Andrew, had witnessed what Vivian was doing and was fairly infuriated by it.
"What are you DOING, Vivian?" Beldam howled at her. "You twit, I'll never forgive you if you lose!"
"S-Sorry, Sis!" Vivian looked down and had the brim of her witch hat cover her upper face as she held out her index finger on her right hand.
At that moment, Vivian decided to perform her Fiery Jinx attack on Koops. Koops, of course, saw it coming, as he went into his shell. He then started spinning in place to deflect the flames that made an impact with his shell.
"Koops! Do what you enjoy doing most," Andrew decided to give him advice as he held Beldam back with his hand as she tried landing an Ice Punch toward the muscular man. "Breakdance in your shell!"
"Oh! Right!" Koops called out from his shell as he started breakdancing in his shell, which helped him avoid Vivian's Fiery Jinx attack before he launched himself forward and made contact with Vivian's gut.
Beldam was now getting furious with her younger sister, as she decided to motivate her further with threats.
"I swear if you don't destroy that Koopa Vivian," Beldam started to threaten her. "I'm gonna-"
Beldam was unable to finish her sentence when she felt a boot collide right into her face. It was revealed that Andrew landed his booted foot right into her hag-like nose and grin. Andrew did this while remaining stern and scowling, not saying a word until he was finished with the attack.
"That'll teach you to let your guard down when dealing with me," Andrew told her dryly.
"Grrr..." Beldam sneered at Andrew. "You're gonna pay for that!"
It was then Beldam cast a spell on Andrew, and it wasn't a good one either. At that moment, Andrew found himself shrinking down to size when he saw how small he got.
"What the...?" Andrew spoke with a higher-pitched voice. "I got small!"
"Mmmmmmwee hee hee hee! Not so tough now, are ya, Mr. Muscles?" Beldam taunted in a snide manner, as she was gonna enjoy pummeling him now.
"Hmph," Andrew only huffed as he said with that high-pitched voice. "So what if I'm small!? You may have shrunk me down to size, but I still have my wits to aid me!"
Andrew then bolted for a tree, which he grabbed onto and climbed up just in time to dodge an Ice Punch that Beldam landed on the tree. Andrew climbed up the tree until he got to the nearest branch and stood right on top of it. Because he was small, he was unable to cause the branch to snap apart, which he used to his advantage.
"Very well, Andrew. If you refuse to come down here, then I will make this fight fall into my favor," Beldam then cast another spell on herself.
In a matter of seconds, Beldam pretty much grew twice the size that she was originally, as she was now a giant and was planning on blasting Andrew with her Blizzard attack.
"I don't care if you are 10 times bigger than me," Andrew told her in a high-pitched voice. "But I still have the cure for my short problem."
Beldam could only watch as Andrew summoned the Magical Map, which performed the Sweet Treat move on himself. It would appear Andrew learned that it could also help with curing Poison Ailment and Shrinking Problems.
As soon as Sweet Treat was done, the map went back into Andrew's pocket, and Andrew grew back to normal size.
Naturally, this caused the branch to snap apart and for Andrew to fall. Andrew was ready for this as he spun around and prepared to aim a Power Jump attack on the giant Beldam. He made contact as he sent the giant Beldam back a few feet, who grunted with a low-pitched voice. She managed to fight back as a giant right before she shrank back to normal size.
Back with Goombella, the Goomba girl was having a hard time dealing with Marilyn, who had charged up some power into her to perform a rather powerful attack. Goombella landed another Headbonk on Marilyn, who was still willing to crush the Goomba with her hands.
Goombella felt the impact from her fists as she staggered backward while trying to avoid it. She didn't take damage, but she felt the tremor from how she slammed her fists into the ground like that.
"Oooooo..." Goombella shook her head. "I know I can do this. Andrew has faith in me. But...how?"
Beldam, who by now, had the effect of her spell worn off, saw that Marilyn had the Goomba girl cornered, and she wanted her to attack Goombella with her best electrical attack.
"Hit her, Marilyn! NOW!" Beldam commanded before being smacked on the head with Andrew's bat.
"Guh!" Marilyn nodded before unleashing a powerful Thunder attack on Goombella.
She almost felt the shock from the electrical attack, as she rolled out of the way in time. Goombella shook her head as she wondered what she could do.
"Hey Goombella!" Andrew decided to give her some advice too as Beldam tried charging for him, but Andrew punched her square in the face. "Use your new Multibonk move that Merlon taught you!"
"Oooooooh... Duuuuuuuuuuuuuh! How could I forget about that?" Goombella had to grunt at her mistake as if she had done a facepalm. "Thanks, Andrew! I'll be sure to do it!"
Goombella then looked up toward Marilyn and prepared to unleash her Multibonk attack. To her relief, she jumped through the air and managed to perform the Multibonk attack on the middle sister of the Shadow Sirens, hitting her at least 11 times before doing it again.
By now, Beldam ended up skidding a couple of feet from Andrew, having endured a powerful Power Swing attack from his bat, as she finally felt the impact of Andrew's strength and determination.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!" Beldam hacked in pain at how strong Andrew was. "You're tougher than I thought, Mr. Muscles."
"Now you know these muscles aren't for show," Andrew told her dryly. "And that you shouldn't underestimate me."
"I guess it's time to stop toying with you, hmmm?" Beldam glowered at Andrew.
"I stopped toying with you since this battle started," Andrew deadpanned in retaliation as he was ready to fight her some more.
Beldam disregarded that as she held her hands up and pointed toward Andrew to unleash a rather chilly Blizzard attack.
Andrew braced himself for the impact, as he felt how cold the attack was. However, despite being covered in frost, Andrew was still standing and was not going down without a fight.
"Nice chilly reception," Andrew told her sarcastically as he shook off the frost that covered his face and body. "But that's still not enough to stop me."
Andrew then went and jumped into the air, and did another kick towards Beldam's head, which sent her backwards another few feet with her hat flying off temporarily.
Because of that, Flurrie's necklace went flying through the air as it landed near a tree that was several feet away from Beldam's hat. Beldam didn't take notice of the necklace and ignored it entirely as she put her hat back on and continued fighting with Andrew.
As far as Koops was concerned, he had felt his shell get scorched several times by Vivian's Fiery Jinx as he kept avoiding her Shade Fists with his breakdancing moves in his shell. Koops was feeling a little tired from all of this, even though Vivian didn't seem as dangerous as her sisters.
In his shell, Koops bolted towards Andrew, who had spun around with his bat in his hand and decked Beldam with it several times, sending her in a daze. Andrew took notice of Koops nearby and decided to give him some more advice.
"Hey, Koops," Andrew uttered to him. "I know how you can deal with Vivian."
"You do?" Koops got out of his shell and got onto his feet. "How?"
"Listen. All you have to do is..." Andrew then whispered the rest into Koops' side which was where his ear was, as he seemed puzzled by what he said.
"Ummm...you sure this'll work Andrew?" Koops wondered.
"Yes. Just as long as you do it right," Andrew then had to send Koops on his way as Beldam recovered herself from that attack. "Now go!"
"Right!" Koops went into his shell again and went charging back towards where Vivian was.
As soon as he was behind Vivian, Koops got out of his shell, rushed over to her from behind, and wrapped his arms around her upper waist. This got her to squirm in fright that the Koopa was going to hurt her.
"Uhhh... Uhhhh..." Vivian moaned from this.
"You don't want to fight anymore," Koops uttered. "You can just give up and no one will hurt you."
"But... I can't," Vivian felt tears forming. "My sister...will punish me if I don't... I must..."
Koops sighed at this, as he figured that she would be frightened. So now he only had one option. With enough strength in his arms, Koops was able to flip Vivian over onto her back and made her lie in a position that made it look like she was out cold.
"Okay. Just play dead, and you won't get hurt," Koops advised her. "Play dead and we will both be just fine. Understood?"
Vivian was too frightened to say anything, but it looked like she wanted to decline this idea by the expression on her face. Koops decided to make it easier for her when he said the following.
"Andrew was the one who suggested I'd do this," Koops told her softly. "So just play dead, and you won't get hurt. OK?"
Vivian didn't say anything as she decided to accept her fate while playing dead. Koops then got back up and stepped away while facing her, making sure that she wasn't going to pull any tricks on him.
When he saw that Vivian was remaining in that position and didn't lash out at him, Koops was satisfied with his victory over her. He then rushed on over to Andrew's side to help him deal with Beldam.
"All right Andrew," Koops called out to Andrew, which got his attention. "I'm all set with Vivian. Now I'm ready to help you with Beldam."
"Oh, what? You're willing to help him out but not offering to help out me?" Goombella had to ask with a rather teasing tone of voice.
"Ohhhh... Ummmm... I'm sorry..." Koops slowly turned around to face where Goombella was talking to him. "I can help you out instead, if you..."
He then trailed off when he saw that Goombella was standing on top of an unconscious Marilyn, whom Goombella managed to defeat on her own with her Multibonks.
"Nah. I'm just teasing ya Koops," Goombella told him as she jumped down. "But I appreciate your offer. Really."
"Right," Koops nodded as he stayed by Andrew's side as Goombella ran over to join them.
"Well Beldam," Andrew said with confidence with Goombella and Koops on both sides of him. "Looks like your sisters are down for the count. And you almost seem to have had it too. Got anything else that you want to say to me?"
"Grrrr..." Beldam growled as she was planning on putting a stop to this. "I'll put an end to you fools quickly!"
She held her hands up and unleashed another Blizzard attack on them. Andrew, Goombella, and Koops got out of the way just in time before they regrouped together. Andrew had done some thinking, and he figured out what special weapon could give the three of them a victory over Beldam.
I just hope this works... Andrew thought as he took out the Magical Map and prepared to summon the one Crystal Star that he had collected; the Diamond Star.
It would appear that Andrew was planning on using Earth Tremor to finish off Beldam. The Diamond Star emerged right above Andrew as it had been summoned. The Diamond Star got onto the ground and Andrew had to guess as to how to activate it.
"Okay. Now, how can I do this," Andrew rubbed his chin before shrugging and getting on top of it. "Maybe this is how I do it."
"Hey Andrew," Goombella spoke up. "You'll need to give enough concentration to that Crystal Star to activate its Earth Tremor move. Don'tcha think you should do that?"
"OK, Goombella. I will. But I need you to get on the Diamond Star with me," Andrew advised her before looking at Koops. "You too, Koops."
Goombella and Koops obliged as they both got on top of the Diamond Star as Andrew worked his concentration into the Diamond Star.
It was then Andrew realized something; the more concentration that he put into it, the bigger it was getting. So he decided to put all the concentration he could into the Diamond Star, with the hopes that it'd be big enough to perform its Earth Tremor move.
Eventually, the Diamond Star was six times the size it was previously as it slammed into the ground multiple times, making several strong tremors that made contact with Beldam. It sent her upward several times before it did enough damage to keep her from fighting any further.
The Diamond Star disappeared as Andrew, Goombella, and Koops jumped back onto the ground, seeing Beldam was pretty much defeated. The Shadow Sirens had lost.
"Jeepers! I mean, wowsers!" Goombella had to beam. "That was AWESOME Andrew! I didn't know the Diamond Star could do that!"
"Neither could I," Andrew shrugged. "But I guess it was useful with helping us take care of Beldam."
"Yeah, Andrew. Didn't think that Crystal Stars had that kinda power," Koops proclaimed. "I'm more than certain that the other Crystal Stars have other abilities of their own..."
"I'm 'really' certain about that, Koops," Andrew had to agree as they saw Beldam slowly get up and stagger left and right, seeing that she couldn't fight anymore.
Seeing that Beldam was defeated, Marilyn and Vivian both got back up all of a sudden and floated back towards her; the latter more hesitant with it than the former.
Once the three Shadow Sirens were together, Beldam couldn't help but hack at how brutally strong Andrew was and that he was a force to be reckoned with. She wasn't going to let that be known as she finally spoke about their defeat.
"Mmmmwee hee haaaaaaaaack! Oooog," Beldam then contained herself and remarked. "Maybe we were just a touch overconfident..."
She then growled and turned to face her younger sisters.
"Marilyn! Vivian! You lumps! We would've won if you two pulled your weight!" Beldam yelled at them as she then told them what their fate would be, in a sinister manner. "Both of you, prepare for a world-class punishment session when we get home! Especially you, Vivian!"
With that, Beldam took off without looking back toward the three travelers. Marilyn let out her usual 'guh' before following right behind the eldest sister.
"Y-Y-Yes... S-S-Sis..." Vivian stuttered, sounding rather scared as she stumbled forward and saw the necklace nearby.
She had wanted to grab it, but she was too frightened that she had no choice but to leave the Boggly Woods empty-handed.
"Yeah! That's right! You better run, Beldam!" Andrew bellowed furiously towards the eldest Shadow Siren. "I swear, I'm gonna make sure to beat you TWICE AS HARD next time!"
Unfortunately, it was all for naught, since Beldam was already gone and out of earshot when he yelled that one out. With the Shadow Sirens gone, Andrew had to pant heavily as he was glad to have let out all that frustration he had with Beldam's terrible treatment of Vivian. And from what he heard, Beldam had more plans to hurt Vivian when they got home.
Still, there was nothing he could do, since they were gone. Beldam better hope that she doesn't cross Andrew's path again unless she wants to get another more serious whooping from him.
"Wow. That was something..." Goombella then felt like asking. "Seriously though, Andrew. You OK?"
"What?" Andrew slowly turned around and faced her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you were 'actually' angry when we were fighting the Shadow Sirens," Goombella had to explain. "You even seemed a little hostile when dealing with Beldam."
"Really?" Andrew huffed. "What gave it away?"
"Well, golly Andrew. I don't think I've ever seen you that furious when we were fighting Hooktail..." Koops admitted. "Ummm...remind me never to make you that mad."
"Same with me," Goombella nodded. "Jeepers Andrew, didja have some sort of beef with Beldam or something?"
"Oh... I'm sorry that you two HAD to see that," Andrew sighed shamefully. "I...I just couldn't stand how horrible Beldam was being towards Vivian. That got me outraged..."
"Yeah... I can see why," Koops had to confess. "Beldam was nasty and scary..."
"No duh! Beldam 'definitely' has some issues," Goombella snorted before asking Andrew a rather serious question. "But anyway Andrew, why did you get so upset when Beldam was bullying and mistreating Vivian? Did it remind you of anything that you recalled happening to you in the past?"
"OK. Look, that's not important anymore. They're gone," Andrew decided to change the subject, not feeling up to revealing a part of his past to ANYONE, let alone Goombella and Koops. "Uh, in fact, look what I found."
It was then Andrew found Flurrie's necklace near a tree. It must've fallen out of Beldam's hat when he stomped on her head a while ago, which caused her to skid backward, where the hat came off and the necklace went soaring towards that particular spot.
"Take a look," Andrew walked over, grabbed Flurrie's Necklace, and held it over his head. "It's Flurrie's Necklace. Just like she wanted."
"Very good, Andrew!" Goombella told him. "We got Flurrie's necklace."
"We better take it back to her. Right, Andrew?" Koops had to ask him.
"Yes, Koops. That's what we should do," Andrew told him calmly. "Now let's go back to Flurrie's House and give it to her."
"Gotcha Andrew," Goombella beamed. "C'mon! Let's go!"
"Right," Andrew nodded as he watched Goombella and Koops head back toward the direction that Flurrie's House was in.
Andrew started walking after them but then stopped to turn around and look behind him. His mind was going back to the fate that the youngest Shadow Siren would most likely have to suffer through. He was now sporting a concerned frown on his face as he started thinking to himself.
Who was that girl? And why do I feel so sorry for her? Andrew thought worriedly about Vivian. I wish I could help her. I wish...
"HEY ANDREW!" Goombella yelled, which got Andrew completely out of his thoughts as he saw her and Koops a good distance away. "YOU COMING OR WHAT?!"
"Oh, right," Andrew had to shake his head as he kept a firm grip on Flurrie's necklace in his right hand. "Coming Goombella!"
Without looking back, Andrew raced off to catch up with Goombella and Koops as they headed back to Flurrie's house to give her back the necklace, where she would then help them and Punio gain access to the Secret Entrance of the Great Tree. And they could finally drive out the X-Nauts that were in there.
When it comes to seeing what Flurrie looks like, the three travelers are gonna be in for a huge surprise, especially Andrew, who will end up remembering something important too...
END OF CHAPTER 15...
Yeah. That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it.
It took me a while to write out how the fight with the Shadow Sirens should go. So I decided that Andrew, Goombella, and Koops should face each Shadow Siren individually at the start. Still, I like how I wrote out the battle with the Shadow Sirens. And I hope you enjoyed it too.
That thought Andrew had about how concerned he was for Vivian should give some foreshadowing, aside from how Andrew was also a victim of bullying. Considering what happened in Chapter 4 of the game, this was inevitable.
But I'll get to Chapter 4 later on. For now, I should continue with Chapter 2.
Anyway, for the next chapter, Flurrie gets her necklace back, and she reveals herself to Andrew, Goombella, and Koops; with the former having some moment, Andrew gains his third partner as they and Punio head to the Great Tree, more hidden depth is revealed about Andrew, and they started touring through the Great Tree after dealing with a couple of X-Nauts. How will things go for them? Find out next time, everyone!
For now, only if you like, you can leave a review for this chapter. I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you look forward to the next chapter that I'll be writing.
Otherwise, that's all that I got! So until next time, I hope you all can take care of yourselves. And on that note, thanks for reading once again, guys!