OK, fellow readers. This is the 37th chapter of this story!
Now, this is where things get interesting. With this chapter, Andrew and his four partners end up battling against the Chapter 4 boss, supposedly, realizing that he isn't as scary as they had assumed, and are appalled by his reason for turning the villagers into pigs.
Additionally, the Chapter 4 boss pulls out a terrible trick on Andrew, changes shape to match Andrew's shadow, and even though the five travelers beat him, the most shocking plot twist occurs, leaving the real Andrew without his partners. And some other stuff will occur.
How will things go for Andrew after this? Read and find out, now!
IN THE CREEPY STEEPLE:
As soon as they unlocked the door with the Steeple Key, the five of them went through the door and were now in a very tall room. Andrew was satisfied with the Golden Leaves that he collected from that gold tree near the courtyard, with Flurrie's help. He could use these leaves for something important later on.
For now, his focus was entirely on what was in front of him in this room. There was a spiral stairway that probably led up to the highest floor in the Creepy Steeple. Where that dark creature was supposedly hiding out.
"Well," Andrew started to say. "Some room huh? Think that these stairs will lead up to the highest floor in the steeple?"
"I would think so, Andrew. The winding stair leads up to the belfry," Goombella exclaimed. "Talk about a doozy of a climb!"
"No kidding," Andrew had to smirk at this as he allowed Goombella to continue.
"I mean, it's almost like the staircase is saying... 'Go away. I 'totally' hate [you]'." Goombella had to retort playfully.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it did, Goombella," Andrew had to laugh at what she said. "And more importantly, the toll bell that was ringing in this steeple has to be at the top."
"Uh, not to mention this dark horrifying creature that we're dealing with," Koops had to utter. "Gee whiz. He must have the Crystal Star too, right?"
"Yeah. This creature probably does, Koops," Andrew nodded. "And he's been turning the villagers of Twilight Town into pigs. We have to put a stop to that, as well."
"Why, I do believe we shall, Andrew," Flurrie agreed. "We mustn't fail these poor souls that live in Twilight Town! That's why we must show this dark creature what for!"
"Exactly, Flurrie," Andrew nodded as he instructed his four partners. "Well, let's go. These stairs aren't gonna climb themselves. And we have quite a bit of climbing to do before we can reach the top and see this dark creature for ourselves."
"You got it, Presto," Yoshiam had to give him a thumbs up. "We better get cracking and whoop this monster's butt before he turns us into pigs!"
"You said it, Yoshiam," Andrew started walking up the spiral stairway. "We better get going."
Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshiam nodded as they went up the stairway, following right behind Andrew. There was quite a bit of stairs here, but it's to be expected from a steeple that's as tall as this one.
Eventually, they got to the top of the stairs, and they found a jump pad, that led them through the hole above them. Andrew looked at the hole and then the jump pad, and he knew exactly what they needed to do now.
"Well guys," Andrew pointed to the hole. "We better take this jump pad to reach the top floor. You guys ready?"
"Sure, Andrew. I'm...I'm 'totally' ready for this," Goombella kept her cool while trying to beam at this. "Let's go kick this monster's butt."
"Ummm...sure Andrew. I guess I'm ready," Koops had to say reluctantly while some fear crawled into his voice. "Let's get this done and over with."
"Why, 'absolutely', Andrew! I've come prepared as well," Flurrie told him with a worried tone in her voice. "But if anything happens, let's attempt to come to aid each other, Should we get into a drastic situation."
"Yeah. Sure. I'm ready too, Presto," Yoshiam told him, trying to sound confident. "Let's go and kick this monster's butt to the curb... Before we get turned into pigs!"
"Very good," Andrew walked over to the jump pad. "Let's do this."
With that, Andrew jumped on the jump pad which propelled him up through the hole and into the highest floor in the steeple. Goombella followed as she hopped onto the jump pad and was sent up to join Andrew, followed by Koops doing the same. Flurrie simply floated up since she was a Wind Spirit, as she joined them. Lastly, Yoshiam just bounced onto the jump pad as he went through the hole to regroup with the others.
Once his feet were settled onto the floor, Andrew took notice of some things. There was a green curtain standing right in front of a bathtub, with a lamp with a yellow lampshade on it, a table, a fridge, and a blue TV.
Above him was the toll bell which was probably being used to turn those Twilighters into pigs.
Ah, so that's the toll bell that was used to turn those villagers into pigs... Andrew thought as he saw the red and orange rug in the center.
There was also a massive opening that showed the full moon shining right in front of them, with some clouds covering parts of it in the pink and purple colored sky. As Andrew was observing the beautiful full moon up close, a voice caught his attention that was nearby.
"Hey, hang on, there, Slick!" This voice caught the attention of the five travelers as their eyes turned to face the character who was in the green rocking chair.
Said character was revealed to be a Duplighost; a bedsheet ghost of some kind that transforms into people. This Duplighost had a bright white bedsheet covering his inside, as he was wearing red-orange shoes. This Duplighost was also wearing a blue bow tie and a blue cone-shaped hat with red stars.
His mouth was shown to resemble the letter 'W', and his eyes were big circles that were entirely black, except for the pupils, which were bright red. As Andrew was observing this Duplighost along with his four partners, the Duplighost decided to ask them all of a sudden.
"What are you doing, interrupting my 'ME' time?" The Duplighost asked rather rudely.
Andrew had to wipe his eyes to see if he was dreaming or not. He couldn't believe it. This Duplighost was 'actually' the dark creature that the Twilighters were panicking about, and he was the nasty monster that resulted in that gatekeeper keeping people from seeing him.
The same monster that Mayor Dour had claimed to be very dangerous. The same one 'who' had been causing mayhem in Twilight Town by turning the villagers into pigs. Surely this had to be some kind of a joke, right?
His partners were also quick to catch onto this. Were they deathly afraid for their lives just to deal with this guy, who was a bedsheet ghost at most? It was fortunate that Koops was the first one to speak about this.
"Ummm... 'THIS' is the monster the mayor talked about?!" Koops had to ask, not believing his eyes.
"Wait, hold on a moment," Andrew decided to speak his slight irritation. "This Duplighost happens to be the same horrible monster that Mayor Dour was making such a big deal out of, and was the same monster that he was frightened by?! You can't be serious right now!"
"Yeah! You gotta be kidding me!" Goombella had to retort.
"You simply must be joking," Flurrie had to admit in a huff.
"Whoa, come on!" Yoshiam had to snap. "Is this some kind of joke or something!?"
"Who're you calling a monster?" The Duplighost had to retort. "What's your problem? Why do you need to pick a fight?"
"Well, we wouldn't be picking a fight with you if you'd stop turning those villagers into pigs," Andrew pointed toward him. "And if you'd give us the Crystal Star!"
"Well, too bad! I'm busy thinking up new pranks and stuff!" The Duplighost yelled.
"Of course," Andrew had to pinch the bridge of his nose at this.
"It's not easy, either! Now get lost!" The Duplighost demanded.
"I don't think we're going anywhere," Andrew uttered coolly.
"...Of course, you guys WON'T," the Duplighost was quick to pick up on this. "No way you ninnies go away quietly, am I right?"
"Gee, I wonder what gave it away," Andrew snorted as he rolled his eyes. "We figured out that it was YOU who turned those villagers into pigs."
At that, the Duplighost jumped off his rocking chair and walked over to approach them.
"Well, all right, then, Slick. Fine," the Duplighost decided to confess. "Yes. I turned the villagers into pigs. Big deal."
The five travelers looked rather infuriated by how he didn't care about what he was doing. Surely he had a reason for doing so, right?
"Big deal?!" All five of them shouted simultaneously.
"You big jerk!" Goombella sneered at this.
"Yeah! That's not nice!" Koops had to say angrily while glaring at him.
"You foul boor!" Flurrie huffed at the bedsheet ghost's callousness.
"You stink, Mister!" Yoshiam shook his fist threateningly at the Duplighost.
"What 'ever' would possess you to do something that 'mean'?" Flurrie had to demand with a bellow.
"Yeah. I suppose you have a good reason for doing this," Andrew said coldly in his direction. "So let's hear it. Why were you turning those villagers into pigs?"
"Well..." The Duplighost paused, reluctant to go into further details about it until he saw five angry and impatient glares cast in his direction. This forced him to continue.
"You know, they're all so depressing and boring and dimwitted all the time..." The Duplighost said, clearly enjoying his little sadistic stunt. "So instead of wallowing in gloom, I figured they might as well wallow in mud! HA!"
He then snorted and said insensibly while making fun of them. "Now they're pigs, get it? Isn't that just sooo perfect? It's like irony or something."
"All right! Hold it! So, let me get this straight," Andrew groaned before looking at the Duplighost. "You're saying that you've been turning those villagers into pigs just because you were BORED, and because you felt like it?!"
"Well, yeah," the Duplighost said without shame in his actions. "So...what? You got a problem with that?"
"What do YOU think?" Andrew questioned dryly, putting his hands on his hips.
"I guess you do," the bedsheet ghost concluded.
"What was your first clue?" Andrew asked in a deadpan manner with a hint of sarcasm.
"So let's play, Slick!" The Duplighost declared, preparing to battle these five travelers.
"Fine by me," Andrew then looked at his Goomba partner. "Goombella, do you have the information that we need on this guy?"
"I'm already on it, Andrew," Goombella got out her Tattle Log and started flipping the pages to find out who this Duplighost was supposed to be.
Andrew waited a few minutes while staring at the Duplighost, wondering why he hadn't moved first. Was he expecting them to defeat him or something? Was he seriously throwing the towel?
Andrew was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Goombella scream.
"OMIGOSH! WHAT THE HECK!?" Goombella yelled.
"What's wrong, Goombella?" Andrew had to ask.
"Wow, how 'totally' bizarre..." Goombella had to admit as soon as she caught her breath. "This thing isn't listed in here."
"You're kidding," Andrew was curious about this.
"Well, if it helps Andrew, there's a monster in here that looks like this thing..." Goombella had to tell him. "But it doesn't list a name."
"Wait, his name isn't listed in there?" Andrew had to raise an eyebrow as Goombella nodded to confirm it. "I wonder why his name isn't in there..."
"Beats me," Goombella then continued. "But what it does say about this monster is that it's 'apparently' really good at transforming itself and other things."
"Transforming is something that ALL Duplighosts are good at doing, right?" Andrew had to make sure of this.
"Right," Goombella nodded. "Maybe it used that power to turn the villagers into pigs!"
"Either that or he's used the power of the Ruby Star to turn those villagers into pigs," Andrew took a guess. "Or it could be BOTH."
"Well, regardless of what it could be, one thing is for certain," Goombella came straight out while saying it. "This thing is a real jerk!"
"Can't argue with that," Andrew turned around to face the nameless Duplighost. "Well, we better get started since this thing hasn't tried to attack us yet."
Andrew then got started by performing a Power Jump on the Duplighost. Goombella followed by dishing out a painful Headbonk to his head.
"OK, Koops," Andrew instructed his Koopa partner. "It's your turn."
"Right," Koops nodded and got into his shell before pulling off a successful Shell Toss on the Duplighost.
The Duplighost was starting to feel pain from the damage that he's been enduring. But to him, this fight was just getting started.
"Yuk yuk yuk!" The Duplighost retorted. "I guess I'll get down and dirty if you're gonna play like that, Slick!"
"I don't expect anything less from you," Andrew remarked coldly in response.
At that moment, the Duplighost decided to attack Andrew with his Head Missile attack. Just as he was about to make contact with the muscular man in the head, Andrew had already gotten out his bat and swung it right in front of the Duplighost.
This caused him to be sent skidding backward in pain as if he were a baseball.
"That's not going to persuade me to give up," Andrew put his bat to the side as he then looked towards his Wind Spirit partner and his Yoshi partner. "OK, Flurrie? Yoshiam? Have at it with this creep."
"Well, I would be honored," Flurrie told him proudly before she soared through the air and landed a successful Body Slam on the Duplighost.
"Yeah! Let me whack this chump!" Yoshiam got ready to flutter-jump right after Flurrie floated out of the way. "I'll show him a thing or two for trying to scare us so easily!"
With that, Yoshiam spun through the air right as he was above the Duplighost and struck him on the head five times before doing a back flip to the side.
"Well sheesh, Slick! Pick up the pace, why don't ya," the Duplighost snorted. "This battle's just getting started, after all!"
"I already have," Andrew took out his Super Bat and made a successful Power Swing to the Duplighost, skidding him back a foot away.
"Yahoo! All right, Andrew! Way to show this creep what we're made of!" Goombella couldn't help but beam in a preppy manner.
"It was nothing. Really," Andrew said modestly. "But feel free to dish out more pain on this bedsheet ghost."
"With pleasure," Goombella smirked as she went over and performed a Multibonk on the Duplighost, striking him at least 9 times or so.
At that moment, the Duplighost tried landing another Head Missile on Andrew's head, but Andrew readied his right fist and punched the Duplighost square in the face before he made contact.
Koops stepped up and got into his shell to perform a Power Shell on the monster. Once he plowed right into him, knocking him over for the moment, Koops got in the center and did a breakdancing move for the gang to witness.
"That is still pretty cool every time you do it, Koops," Andrew complimented him with a thumbs up. "We'll never get sick of seeing that!"
"Gee whiz. Thanks, Andrew," Koops got up and shook the back of his head. "Really. Never get sick of hearing everyone liking my breakdancing moves."
Flurrie then floated over until she was in front of the Duplighost. From there, she performed her Lip Lock move by smooching him and draining out some of his energy which she added to her own.
Yoshiam then walked over and used his Gulp move when he launched his tongue out and brought the Duplighost into his mouth.
"Good thinking, Yoshiam," Andrew took out his Super Bat and held it correctly. "Let 'ER RIP!"
Yoshiam nodded while muffling as he spat out the Duplighost towards Andrew, who then swung his bat and struck the Duplighost through the air upon making contact.
No sooner after the Duplighost landed did he get met with another Headbonk on the head, courtesy of Goombella. Koops rammed into him with another Shell Toss, before he got crushed by another Body Slam from Flurrie.
Yoshiam then managed to perform his Mini-Egg attack by laying three small Yoshi eggs before he tossed them at the Duplighost and he got struck by all three of them.
"Attaboy, Yoshiam!" Andrew praised him. "Let's keep up the good work guys, and we'll have this guy on the ropes for sure!"
"Now you're talking my language, Presto!" Yoshiam couldn't help but throw the goat with both hands thrown upward. "That Crystal Star will be ours in no time!"
Andrew nodded and smirked at that as he delivered a Power Bounce attack, striking the Duplighost 8 times in a row.
Time went on, and the Duplighost looked like he was worn out. Andrew had to raise his eyebrow at this. Why was this Duplighost not putting up a fight against them? He managed to land a Head Missile on Goombella, but she managed to shake it off and use her Multibonk as retaliation, but he wasn't even a challenge.
Compared to Hooktail, Magnus von Grapple, and Macho Grubba, this creep was going down too easily. There was no way that this Duplighost would let them beat him this easily. Not without a perfectly formulated plan that was up his sleeves.
Why is this guy too easy to beat? Is he doing this on purpose? Andrew had to think about this as he wearily looked at him. Or does he have some kind of plan up his sleeve? Regardless, we better remain on guard...
His partners were also wondering why this bedsheet ghost was easy street and why he was a pushover. All four of them were easily whipping the behind of this ghost, and in Yoshiam's case, it didn't matter how easy it was as long as they got that Crystal Star.
The Duplighost, for his part, had realized that these guys were strong and that he wasn't putting in any effort in attacking them at all. Not without retaliation, as demonstrated by Goombella and Yoshiam. And even from Andrew, for that matter.
But the Duplighost wasn't worried. He did have a dirty horrible trick up his sleeve. And it involved the fate of their leader Andrew. Seeing that he has endured enough damage, the Duplighost decided to pull forth his horrifying plan.
"Well, you creep. It doesn't feel good being on the receiving end of a whooping from us," Andrew had to grip his bat as he and his four partners glowered at him. "What do you have to say to that, huh?"
After wiping his mouth with his sleeved arm, the Duplighost then started talking again. "Hmm... Time to regroup, here. So, you think you're a couple of heavies, huh?"
"Well it wouldn't have happened if you had stopped turning those people into pigs for your sick enjoyment," Andrew told him sharply.
"Well then, my dear friends..." The Duplighost started to proclaim. "If you thought changing folks into pigs was impressive..."
"It wasn't impressive in the first place," Andrew and Goombella deadpanned in annoyance.
"Then you're gonna love this!" The Duplighost shouted.
"Huh?" Andrew tilted his head in confusion.
"I've got something very special for you here..." The Duplighost declared in a dark tone of voice.
At that moment, the Duplighost started letting out a weird screech and moved up and down as his red pupils started glowing bright red. This was enough to get Andrew to be on alert against whatever it was he was planning to do.
"Careful guys! Be on guard!" Andrew warned them as he got into a fighting position. "He's up to something!"
"Right!" All four of them yelled in unison as they also got into battle position along with the muscular man.
In a matter of seconds, the Duplighost vanished with a bunch of thick purple smoke poofing right where he was standing, as the five travelers remained in their fighting position.
Suddenly, Andrew felt himself stiffen up as he flinched, stood up straight and his pupils shrank to the size of peas as he felt a neon green laser light scanning his entire body. Once the light was done scanning him, it disappeared. His partners were looking at him with concern.
"Andrew? You OK?" Goombella had to ask as she gave him a worried look along with Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshiam.
"Yes. I'm fine," Andrew said simply. "I don't know what he just did."
As soon as he said that, a shadow that looked exactly like Andrew appeared right in front of them.
It would appear that he used a modified version of his Transform move with the power of the Ruby Star, as the Duplighost was now taking the shape of Andrew's shadow, completely purple in the body, while also looking slightly hunched over in the back.
"How do you like them apples? Now that's MAGIC, people!" Shadow Andrew snorted in pride. "Now you're fighting yourself! Ha! I'm a dang genius!"
"Seriously?" Andrew shook his head. "That's the best you can come up with? We can still beat you even if you look like my shadow!"
"We'll see about that, sucker," Shadow Andrew huffed before he tried to jump on Andrew.
Andrew managed to block his jump, twirl him around, and drop him. Shadow Andrew fell onto the ground as a result. Andrew figured that this creep had no idea how to fight him, so he decided to whack him on the head with his bat.
Shadow Andrew got up and attempted to smack Andrew with his shadow bat. Goombella intersected as she Headbonked Andrew's shadow. Needless to say, Andrew was impressed by this.
"Thanks, Goombella," Andrew gave her a thumbs up. "I can always count on you."
"It's my pleasure, Andrew," Goombella smirked.
"Shucks. This guy doesn't know how to fight like you. Even though he's your shadow and all," Koops had to admit as he got into his shell and slammed into Shadow Andrew with his Shell Toss.
"No kidding," Andrew rolled his eyes as Flurrie floated over and pulled off another Body Slam move.
"Fret no longer, dearie! We shall be done soon!" Flurrie declared proudly. "And then Twilight Town will be freed of its pig curse, and the Crystal Star shall be ours!"
"You said it, Flurrie," Andrew then went and pulled off his Bat Throw move by throwing his bat at Shadow Andrew, creaming him square in the face.
"You rock, Presto! Way to show this creep who's boss!" Yoshiam got ready to flutter-jump again as he was about to perform his Ground Pound attack.
Yoshiam then collided with Shadow Andrew's head, striking him five times in a row.
"All right," Andrew sighed as he got ready to attack. "Time to finish this!"
Andrew then raced over and landed one last successful Power Jump to Shadow Andrew, who looked like he was just about down for the count. But Andrew was unaware of the other horrible trick that Shadow Andrew was about to pull.
"Yuk yuk yuk yuk yuk yuk! Hold on..." Shadow Andrew trailed off before pulling the second part of his horrible scheme on Andrew. "Wha... Wha... Huh? You beat me?"
From the looks of it, Shadow Andrew was just about to topple over and fall flat on his stomach. This seemed to please Andrew as he then decided to say to his four partners who were standing right behind him.
"All right guys! We did it," Andrew declared before looking at his shadow. "Now let's...huh?"
It was then Andrew felt his pupils shrink yet again as he was overcome by a mysterious supernatural force.
It's as if the spirit that was in the shadow of Andrew that they had just beaten up had launched himself out of his shadow body, and went along and entered Andrew's body. The spirit then forced Andrew's spirit to be ejected from his 'own' body, where he had no choice but to be sent into the body of Shadow Andrew.
Once that phenomenon was finished, the shadow of Andrew was shown spinning in circles several times before falling flat onto his stomach, moaning as soon as he fell over. The shadow of Andrew had dropped the Ruby Star, and it ended up landing right in front of 'Andrew'.
'Andrew' was now shown with a blank stare on his face, as his back was hunched over slightly and he was shown panting in and out. 'Andrew' grabbed the Ruby Star and held it right over his head. He didn't bother telling Goombella that he got the fourth Crystal Star as he remained quiet while holding it overhead.
From the looks of it, it seemed that 'Andrew' had just finished the fourth chapter of his adventure already. And it didn't take long at all.
"Andrew defeated the scourge of Creepy Steeple and found the fourth Crystal Star. The people of Twilight Town have surely recovered from their awful curse by now. At this rate, Andrew's quest to collect all seven Crystal Stars will be done in no time! With his back to Creepy Steeple, Andrew sets out toward his bright future..."
As soon as that was said, 'Andrew' put the Ruby Star away in his bag and he turned to face his partners.
Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshiam had to look at the shadow of Andrew and were all thinking the same thing. Why was that guy so easy for them to beat? To them, that wasn't even a challenge.
"Wow, are you kidding me?" Goombella snorted at this.
"Gee whiz, was that it?" Koops had to scratch his head in confusion. "Sort of easy for a boss battle...as it were."
"I was rather expecting more," Flurrie had to proclaim dramatically.
"Well, who cares, right?" Yoshiam shrugged as he pointed towards the hole. "We got the Crystal Star, so let's get out of here."
'Andrew' didn't say anything. He simply nodded as he walked towards the hole and jumped down through it. Goombella followed him into jumping through the hole, and Koops did the same thing while dropping down the hole.
Flurrie went ahead and floated down the hole instead of jumping. Yoshiam was the last to leave as he hopped down through the hole. The five of them left the Creepy Steeple, leaving the shadow of Andrew all alone, unaware of what had 'really' happened between Andrew and Shadow Andrew...
A few minutes after they had left, the shadow of Andrew started waking up and regaining consciousness as he was heard moaning and he spoke with the voice of Andrew coming out of his mouth.
"Uhhh...Wuh...What happened," the shadow of Andrew, who'll be temporarily known as Shadow Andy, moaned, placing his shadow hand on his head. "I feel like a ton of bricks hit me in the head..."
As soon as Shadow Andy shook his head, he then realized something. His partners were gone, along with the Duplighost who was disguised as his shadow.
"Huh? What the...? Where did my team go?" It only got worse when Shadow Andy looked at his hands and realized that he was a purple shadow. "Huh?!"
It was then Shadow Andy ran over to the mirror to look at himself. He saw the body of the Shadow Andrew that he fought a few seconds before passing out. He could see some of his outlines and features, such as his eyes, nose, mouth, clothes, cap, muscles, and six-pack abs. But otherwise, he was completely purple.
"Huh? What am I doing in the body of that shadow?" Shadow Andy was getting anxious as he looked at his shadowy hands. "Did...did that creep somehow manage to swap bodies with me?! Could he have possibly used the power of the Crystal Star just to perform this sudden body swap?"
It was then Shadow Andy remembered something crucial. He then took off his shadow backpack and opened it up. He was surprised to see that all of the items he collected along the way up here were still in there.
The three Shine Sprites that he found were still in there, as was the badge kit that Goombella gave to him, filled up with the badges that he'd been collecting since his journey started. He still had all of his Star Pieces that he'd been collecting, and all of his coins were still with him too. He even still had possession of that Cookbook that he found earlier in the Creepy Steeple.
Shadow Andy had to admit that this was odd. Why didn't his imposter gain possession of all of his belongings aside from his body and his four partners? He then felt something papery in his pocket as he took it out.
It was the Magical Map. He still had possession of it. He then managed to summon the Diamond Star, the Emerald Star, and the Gold Star, which were all circling him with those beautiful sparkles accompanying them.
This officially confirmed that he still had possession of the Magical Map, and the three Crystal Stars that he's collected so far. This came off as strange for the shadow. Wouldn't Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshiam have realized that the 'Andrew' they were with did not have possession of the map and the first three Crystal Stars? He didn't know for sure.
Whoa. This is bizarre... Shadow Andy thought about this as he crossed his arms. Is it possible that the power of the Ruby Star couldn't allow that Duplighost to steal my belongings? Just my body and my partners?
The predicament that Shadow Andy had gotten into made him more stressed out by the second. Now he felt alone. Truly alone. Sure, he was a loner, but he has had at least one person traveling with him this whole time since he started hunting for the Crystal Stars.
This was the first time since he first arrived in Rogueport, that he's been alone with no one accompanying him. Wait, why was he still thinking of them as his partners? Were they more than his partners? Were they 'actually'...his friends?
"Wait a minute, why am I still here?!" Shadow Andy had to ask himself as he pocketed the map; the three Crystal Stars vanishing shortly after. "I gotta find this scumbag and demand answers from him as to why he swapped bodies with me and made off with my friends like this!? I bet he must've made his way back to Twilight Town! That's where I must go!"
Upon shaking his head, Shadow Andy jumped down the hole and made his way down the stairs as he was planning on heading back to Twilight Town. After getting to the bottom of the spiral stairway, Shadow Andy pried open the door and jumped back down onto the floor below as he went out the front door.
Once he was outside of the Creepy Steeple, Shadow Andy managed to pry the gate open, essentially breaking the lock off. With that, Shadow Andy scurried his way back into the forest of Twilight Trail, intending to make it back to Twilight Town and demand answers from his imposter.
He had 'exactly' no idea at all that his nightmare was just beginning for him. He would find that out for himself soon enough. That was a guarantee...
END OF CHAPTER 37...
Bam! Now wasn't that a plot twist ending, or what!? Then again, plenty of you who've played the game should've expected this chain of events to take place as Andrew had his body swapped and his name stolen from him. This chapter is also shorter, as I wanted to dedicate this chapter to the boss fight and the unexpected body swap. Still, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even with the plot twist ending.
Now, I'm not gonna be subtle at all here when I show that the shadow of Andrew is 'in fact', the real Andrew, considering how he talks and recalls what he's been through so far.
And because his name was stolen, he's going to be referred to as Shadow Andy until a certain point in Chapter 4 takes place. No one refers to him as that. It's just a name that I'm using for him so I don't just refer to him as a shadow.
Anyway, this is where the story 'really' starts to get interesting. Beginning in the next chapter, Andrew will undergo a massive amount of character development, and he will learn what TRUE loneliness feels like now that he's a friendless lonely shadow living in the darkness.
He will learn a lot of things about how he's been living before he came to Rogueport, and it'll be shown in the next chapter, which I'm also eager to write out.
Also, the Duplighost will call Andrew 'Slick' just like he calls Mario in the game. That's one of the only nicknames for Andrew that will be left unchanged here.
Another thing I should share; I'll be taking a break from using Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshiam for a bit until we get near the end of Chapter 4. So don't expect to see them for a bit since Andrew is now a shadow.
Lastly, I know I had the Chapter 4 boss be shown as a pushover here and was too easy of a boss for Andrew and his four pals. But there's a good reason for this, and it's all a part of the Duplighost's plan. What he does to Andrew is far WORSE than any attack that he could've landed on him.
Anyway, the next chapter is going to be equally a treat for you all as this chapter was. In the next chapter, Andrew finds out from his doppelganger that his name and body were stolen, he has to guess his name while noticing that the letter 'p' is missing, and he experiences what true loneliness is like since he can't leave and is brushed off by the villagers of Twilight Town.
In addition to that, Andrew forms an alliance with his fifth partner who happens to be a member of a shady trio and he befriends her after helping her find an item, she helps him push forward into finding out that ghost's real name and the duo move forward from there. And some other stuff will occur. How will Andrew manage to get through all of this? Find out next time, readers!
For now, only if you like, you can leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter.
Otherwise, I have nothing else to say for now. So until next time, I hope you look forward to the next chapter. And on that note, thanks again for reading, everyone!