Chapter 5: Dragon of Petal Meadows
They ran from Petalburg almost instantly after that. They kept running until they reached a strange stone formation. A few stones one the ground had strange carved holes in them.
"Here." Mario gestured to the holes.
Nazz placed the two stones they found in the carvings, as a key to a door. When both were in place, a stone suddenly broke nearby, revealing a pipe underneath it.
"Let's go." Double D sounded unnaturally determined.
They jumped in the pipe, this time lead by Double D. They emerged at a large doorway. They ran inside and found a large chamber.
"What's that thing?" Nazz asked after spotting what looked like a trampoline.
"A springboard. Um… It can be used to reach higher areas." Koops told her.
"Good, up there." Double D pointed to a platform higher up in the chamber.
He jumped on the board and sent himself up to it. Mario followed with Koops and Goombella, with Nazz covering the rear of the group. They saw another door up there and walked through it. There where now in a castle courtyard. They stood on a balcony and below them was the moat for the castle.
"There appears to be another balcony on the opposing side of the castle. We can use this airplane panel to fly there." Double D told them.
"Pardon me for asking… but how will a floor panel send us across the courtyard?" Koops asked, trying not to sound stupid.
"Like so." Goombella ran onto it and turned into a paper airplane, which flew across the yard and landed on the balcony on the other side.
"How did you do that?" Koops asked, stunned to see Goombella fly like that.
"Long story." Nazz aid before running onto the platform and doing the same.
"But how will I get across?" Koops asked. "I can't fly."
"I'll-a see what I can do." Mario said. Double D nodded and followed the other girls to the other side.
Mario grabbed Koops's hand and pulled him onto the platform. Mario began to transform, and Koops who was still holding on started to transform as well, until they could no longer hold hands, then flew over to the side and transformed back.
"I've never experienced anything like that." Koops stated.
"Right, now that the flying lesson is adjourned, may we resume or mission?" Double D asked. The other four nodded in agreement.
Hooktail landed in its room after a long flight. As it did, it saw its prisoner again, in chains and shackled to the floor.
"Release me!" The boy shouted.
"Why should I release my dinner?" Hooktail asked with a dangerous tone in its voice.
The boy gasped. Then, however, he sounded opposing and clutched his hands to fists.
"You do not know who I am!" He shouted.
"No and I don't care who you are. Hm… It's pleasing to hear you squirm like so. Please go on."
"How dare you call me dinner, she-who-flies! You dare capture Rolf, son of a Shepard!" The boy shouted.
"Yes, continue to beg. I will not release you until you are ready for a meal." Hooktail said again, smiling down at its dinner.
"Foul beast!" Rolf shouted. "In honor of my ancestors and my family, I shall never become your meal!"
"You're pathetic, you worm." Hooktail was having quite a lot of fun toying with this one's mind. "You act as if a brave knight to slay me but look at yourself. You're chained to the floor just waiting hopelessly to be devoured."
Rolf's annoyance turned to raging hate, for he quickly shouted a curse in his foreign language. "You shall merely wait until I am released from this prison. Then I will show you the true meaning of begging!"
Double D and his new friends had gotten farther into the castle. They reached a chamber with many cells in it.
"What!" Koops suddenly shouted. He ran up to a pile of bones on the floor, which made Nazz and Goombella scream.
"There's no doubt about it. This is what remains of my father." Koops said.
Everyone one else looked down in a respectful silence.
"No." Koops said. He reached down and touched the skeleton. "Wait… what's this?" He asked, taking an old paper from the skeleton's hand.
"It's a note." Koops said. "Should I read this?"
"Go ahead." Double D said.
"Very well…" Koops said. "This letter is for anyone and all who have the same situation as I. I, once a proud man have now been forced to his knees. I have been attacked by Hooktail, especially after finding out a secret of here's. There is a badge within the confines of the place that makes the noise of something that starts with a 'C' and ends with a 'T.' Now, on death's door, I have only the last words to write, which go to my... beloved... son."
Koops stopped, because he was crying. Double D help him up for support and took the letter into his own hands to finish.
"To my son, Kolorado. I love you and I am very proud of who you've become." Double D finished reading the letter.
"Wow, that- what the? You're Koops, not Kolorado!" Goombella pointed out.
"What?" Koops asked, getting up. Then this isn't my… EEK!" Koops shouted, releasing the skeleton.
"Well, now that this has ended, can we best get to the situation at hand? Now, there's a dragon, a crystal star, and a friend of mine in this dreadful place. I feel finding one of those three will lead to the other two. Now, let's focus on the crucial clue left behind by this man here." Double D looked to the skeleton. "A badge in here makes a sound that begins with a C and ends with a T. I feel it's essential that we find this badge first."
They continued down the hallways of the castle, seeing more and more skeletons of the unfortunate souls who became a part of Hooktail's menu.
"Hey, you guys' mind giving me a hand?" A voice asked.
They turned and saw a black chest, one looking identical to the one they found back in Rougeport.
"If you don't mind me asking, then what is this thing?" Koops asked.
"Hey, I'm locked in here, can you help me out?" The chest asked.
"No way." Mario said. "The last time we opened a chest like this, we got cursed."
"What? That's ridiculous." the chest said at Mario. "Let's leave this to be."
"Wait." Double D said. "The last curse gave us the ability to fly. I say we accept it's so-called curse and perhaps gain a new ability."
"Ok." Mario said.
"Well come back for you. We just have to find the key." Nazz said.
With that, they walked into the next room.
"Are you done yet?" Hooktail evilly asked the still shouting Rolf.
Rolf's cloths had rips and dirt marks. Sweat ran down his face as he continued to scream and threat.
"And I am to guess you have done some horrid things to my friends, yes?"
"Friends? You mean there is even more of you people for dinner? Splendid, I shall seek them out right now." Hooktail said with an eager smile.
"No!" Rolf shouted at himself for his own mistake. "You will not hurt them! Do you hear me, she-who-flies!"
That was followed by another curse in his native language. In rage, he started pulling and pulling on the chains. When to his surprise and especially Hooktail's, the chains snapped, and he was on his feet.
"What do you think you are doing?" The dragon asked.
"You kidnapped me and threatened to kill my friends! For this you must perish!" Rolf shouted, running head-first at the beast.
He jumped and hit the monster right in its face. It was surprised to see Rolf put up a fight at all.
Hooktail responded with a blow of her tail, sending Rolf clear across the room and nearly out of the large windows, though he luckily caught onto its frame and swung himself back into the chamber before he could fall out of the tower.
'Rolf knows she can't fight like this.' Rolf thought in his mind. 'But for how long can Rolf keep this up?'
"Good, you have returned with the key." The chest said in glee as the team returned with the key.
"Do you have any idea what we went through for you?!" Goombella asked, looking rather miffed.
"No, just unlock me already!" The chest said impatiently.
"We were all nearly crushed to death in a shower of spikes!" Double D said.
"And for that, I thank you. But please unlock me!" The chest said.
"Yes, yes." Mario took the key and opened it.
"FOOLS!" The chest shouted, just like the one before it.
The area turned dark again.
"What's going on?" Koops asked, trying not to sound scared.
"You fools have opened the cured chest, and for that I will curse you. BE CURSED!"
Koops let out a shout, because he hadn't experienced anything like that before. When it ended, Mario walked towards it.
"What's-a-happened to us?"
"I have given you the curse of Paper!" The chest said. "Now, all you have to do is think of paper, and you will become flat as paper! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
Everyone starred at it strangely.
"I shall leave now and leave you to your curse!" With that, the room became properly lit again and the chest vanished.
"Okay…" Koops said to himself.
"How's being paper going to help us?" Nazz asked.
"Well, let's see if there's anything we can do…" Mario asked.
They walked into another room and saw some cells. Behind the barred doors of one was a badge, though they couldn't reach it.
"Man, that could be the badge we require!" Goombella said. "How will we…
But Double D was ahead of them. They looked and saw he had turned flat as paper and was walking right through the bars of the prison. He grabbed the badge and walked back to the rest of the group and turned back to normal.
"So, becoming paper does have its advantages." Double D said in a marveling tone.
He put his new badge on himself. Nothing appeared to happen.
"So?" Goombella asked.
Double D tried to speak, but when he opened his mouth, instead came the sound of a chirping. In surprise, he clamped both hands over it.
"What on earth? Double D, you sound like a cricket." Nazz commented.
"That's it. The badge we would find, making a noise of something that begins with a C and ends with a T. That since this badge Double D found sounds like a cricket, I think we found the one we need to defeat Hooktail!" Koops said with a smile forming.
Double D smiled, though didn't speak because he still was wearing the badge.
"Are we there yet?" Nazz asked.
Hours passed and she was growing impatient.
"I know we are getting very close." Double D told them.
They entered a new room.
"Hey, who are you?" Goombella asked when she noticed someone in the room.
The person turned around. It was a mouse, with white fur and a red mask to conceal her face. Her tail was shaped like a heart.
"My, my, I see there are thieves in here like me." The mouse laughed a bit.
"Thieves? We're not thieves!" Double D protested. "We are here to find something called a Crystal Star."
"Well pardon me." The mouse said, not sounding the least bit sorry. "By the way, I'm Ms. Mowz. And you people are?"
"Edward."
"Goombella."
"Nazz."
"Um, Koops."
"Mario!"
"Mario? The hero, Mario?" The mouse asked. "Well, if you're here, then I will let you keep this Crystal Star you are looking for. After all, you came here for it. I'll be off."
Ms. Mowz then jumped on a crate, then out onto a windowsill, then out of the castle.
"Guys, there's a few things she didn't take in this room." Nazz said, looking around the room.
They noticed three floating boxes with sun-looking items in theme. There was also a treasure chest. Mario jumped unto the boxes and broke them, causing the three sun-shaped stones to fall out. They also glowed like the sun.
"Shine sprites." Mario said, holding them in his hands.
"What are those?" Nazz asked.
"Before this quest, I was once on another one. On an Island far away from here, I had to find them and save it. I wonder why there are some here." Mario seemed lost in his own thoughts, when Double D opened the chest nearby containing a key.
"I found a key, let's keep going." Double D told them.
Mario put the shine sprites in his pocket, then led the group out of the room and deeper into the castle.
"Now where are we?" Nazz asked. They had traveled far now, on the roof of the castle. Nearby, the entrance to a turret on the high most tower stood.
"This must be the place we have to go to find the star." Mario said, starring at the huge door.
"And Hooktail's probably in here." Koops said, wanting to avenge his lost dad.
They pushed the door open due to its size.
The first sound they were greeted to was a scream. They saw Rolf battling with Hooktail, a failing one. Rolf looked weakened, with his cloths ripping apart, and a few scratches and scrapes on himself. He was panting hard.
"ROLF!" Nazz screamed when she saw him in that condition.
His face turned to a smile. "Friends." He never looked so happy.
"HA!" Hooktail shouted, grabbing Rolf suddenly with her tail and holding him down.
"Leave him alone!" Mario shouted.
Hooktail completely ignored him, and opened its mouth wide.
"Rolf bids you farwell, friends." Rolf said calmly.
Helplessly Nazz and Double D with their new friends watched Hooktail lower its head and clamp it's jaws. When it opened them it again, Rolf was gone. Swallowed whole by Hooktail itself.
"NO!" Double D screamed as he readied his rod and ran at it at full speed.
Hooktail was caught off guard and struck right in the head. Double D was forced back to the floor, though he had enough time to escape Rolf's fate and run back to his friends.
"You must be Rolf's friends. He said they would save him. A pity they all failed." Hooktail laughed evilly.
"You have devoured our friend, along with other innocent souls, you monster!" Double D said, willing to kill it.
"And my father…" Koops said to himself, anger also building within him. He looked to Double D and Nazz. "We got to take this beast down now!"
The dragon without warning clawed them, sending them all against the wall behind them.
"Listen, I have a plan." Double D said.
"As always." Nazz commented.
"I need Mario and Goombella to distract it. Koops and Nazz, follow my lead." Double D instructed. Goombella and Mario nodded.
Mario took out his hammer and ran to the dragon, slamming it hard against its claw, and Goombella quickly landed herself onto the dragon's head. Double D placed the cricket sounded badge on himself, then ran unnoticed by Hooktail behind it. He signaled Nazz and Koops over to his side, who also ran by unnoticed. Double D pointed at the walls and began to climb one of them with difficulty.
Koops and Nazz followed him, but Koops accidentally knocked a brick off the wall.
The dragon's eyes looked in the direction on the noise.
"Uh oh." Mario said.
"Hey ugly!" Goombella shouted, trying to regain the attention of the dragon. "Fresh food right here? What'cha waiting for, chicken!" Goombella shouted at it. The dragon looked back at her and Mario.
"Goombella, are you out of your mind!" Double D thought.
Nonetheless, Nazz and Koops climbed on the wall until they reached the rafters.
Double D pointed at the fighting dragon and Mario with Goombella. By now, the dragon was trying to bite them.
"We have to act fast." Nazz shouted.
Double D nodded.
Without any warning at all, Double D dived right off the rafters.
"DOUBLE D!" Nazz shouted in panic.
Double D's determination blocked out any fears he had. He took out his rod and slashed it as he landed on Hooktail's head.
"ARG!" She screeched in pain.
She could not see what was on her head. Double D screamed at it, only since he had the badge on, he sounded like a cricket.
"No!" Hooktail shouted while falling down. "I hate that accursed sound!"
"We got her now!" Koops shouted eagerly and hopefully.
"I'll follow Double D! Koops, stay here for another surprise attack later!" Nazz instructed, burning with rage to avenge Rolf.
Koops nodded, and Nazz dove off the rafters. She screamed and landed a drop kick on the dragon. It screamed again in surprise. Mario and Goombella by now stopped fighting all together and observed.
"Enough!" Hooktail shouted.
With a spin of her body, she threw Nazz and Double D off her back. Double D released his rod which flew into a place unknown as he flew in the air. He collided with a wall, though Nazz landed safely on her feet.
Double D quietly chirped in his cricket voice, only too quiet to hear by the dragon.
"He's too weak to fight anymore." Goombella told Mario.
Mario had enough. He held up his map, and it flashed. Icons of themselves and flowers started to fall from nowhere, and Mario once more was left throwing them. The results where 4 Mario icons, 1 Goombella icon, 0 Koops Icons, 6 Double D icons, 3 Nazz icons, and 2 flower icons.
"He's still too weak to fight back, Mario." Goombella pointed out.
It was in this distraction that the dragon took one of her claws and pinned Nazz, Double D, Mario and Goombella down. They gasped when they saw her face and where close enough to smell the beast's grotesque breath.
"Any last words?" Hooktail asked, smiling victoriously.
A determined battle cry shouted from above. They looked and saw Koops diving right at Hooktail's head with Double D's rod. This time the rod seemed to pierce right through the dragon's head. She screeched and lost her grip on the rest of the team. They ran just in time to avoid being crushed by the falling dragon. She gave one more moan before completely dying.