Paper Andrew & The Thousand-Year Door

by Parent12D

AU. What if someone else went to Rogueport instead of Mario? What if someone explored the region in his place? What if someone else collected the Crystal Stars just to find Princess Peach? This story has the answers as an original character goes on the exact same journey that Mario went on in the Rogueport region in the tale of the Thousand-Year Door.

67. Fahr Outpost Negotiations and Backtrack

OK, readers. This is the 67th chapter of this story!

Now, this is the official start of Chapter 7, and it starts with the most infamous part of the game. For this chapter, Andrew and his friends make it to Fahr Outpost, collect the remaining two Shine Sprites, and mention to the Mayor about the cannon being in Fahr Outpost.

Also, Bobbery will step in and make sure that all negotiations will come to pass between Andrew and his group, and the residents of Fahr Outpost.

Additionally, Andrew and his group will go see Goldbob in Fahr Outpost to get permission to use the cannon while taking a test to see if he'd give up his money to save the world. And that'll happen after Andrew Ultra Ranks all seven of his traveling friends.

And then theirs the most infamous part, hunting for General White and the heroes go to all the other places they've been to previously, Andrew has his patients tested to the limit in regards to how he is constantly on the move and won't stay in one place.

Other things that'll take place include General White being found at his house in Fahr Outpost where he's sleeping, and Andrew will try every single obnoxiously loud gimmick in the book, down to performing loud thrash metal.

And a few other things will occur. How will this go for the eight of them? Read and find out, now!

---

ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF FAHR OUTPOST:

It took no time for the eight traveling heroes to make it through the pipe, where they ended up on the outskirts of Fahr Outpost. To put it simply, the area they were in was what could be best described as a typical Winter wonderland, be it that it was freezing outside.

There was plenty of snow on the ground, as the sky looked gray while it was snowing. There were also plenty of frosty-looking pine trees in the snowy region too. There were even some snowy mountains in the background to complete the scenery around them.

Needless to say, Andrew and his seven friends immediately felt the burst of coldness strike them the moment that they emerged from that pipe.

"Holy cow!" Andrew yelped while zipping up his hoodie and pulling the hoodie over his head as he was freezing. "It feels like we just stepped into a winter wonderland of some sort! It's 'freezing' cold out here!"

"Can't argue with you there, Andrew!" Goombella agreed as her teeth were chattering from the cold. "Seriously, it's SO cold!"

"Ummm..." Koops pulled his hood over his head as she shivered. "Yeah, TH-THIS is cold!"

"How 'absolutely' bone-chilling!" Flurrie wrapped her arms around her body as she was shivering too, and she huddled close to Andrew for warmth.

"It is STUPID cold out here!" Yoshiam yelled as he felt his whole body shaking from the 'freezing' cold.

"Brrrrrrr! I'm freezing!" Vivian frowned while wrapping her arms around her shadowy body. "I wish I had a scarf right about now!"

"A touch nippy, I should say!" Bobbery tried to tolerate the 'freezing' cold, but it was getting to him too, as some frost covered the right side of his mustache. "Just the way I had seen of it last!"

"Mmmm, this IS chilly, isn't it?" Ms. Mowz rubbed her hands together in an attempt to stay warm.

"G-Guys! I know how you feel. I'm feeling cold too!" Andrew advised them. "But as long as we stay together, we'll be OK! We can keep each other warm!"

"That's 'totally' sweet of you," Goombella chittered. "But let's hurry up before we become popsicles! Fahr Outpost must be just ahead."

"Let's hurry ahead, Andrew!" Koops advised with a shiver. "Fahr Outpost should be just up here a little way."

"Let's press onward, Andrew," Flurrie remarked. "Fahr Outpost should be just ahead, wouldn't you say?"

"C'mon, Presto! Let's move!" Yoshiam breathed some frosty air from his mouth. "Fahr Outpost should be just up ahead, I think."

"Let's keep moving, Andrew," Vivian huddled closer to Andrew. "Fahr Outpost shouldn't be too far, now."

"Let's do make haste, Andrew," Bobbery advised him. "As I do recall from my last visit to this frigid wasteland, Fahr Outpost can't be far now, old boy!"

"Let's hurry now, dearie," Ms. Mowz remarked. "Fahr Outpost can't be too terribly far now."

"Got it! The sooner we can find Fahr Outpost, the sooner we can work on being able to use the cannon," Andrew advised him. "Let's go!"

"It's too bad! This slowly falling snow is totally beautiful, but it's super-SUPER-cold out here!" Goombella had to say as they started moving. "If I lived here long enough, I'd probably turn into an abominable Goomba!"

"I don't think ANY of us could adjust to living here," Andrew stated.

"Hmmm... Hang on sweetie! I smell something nearby," Ms. Mowz pointed to the last tree before the next part of the snowy wasteland. "There's a hidden block in front of that tree right there!"

"Oh? I'll go check it out!" Andrew did just that as he walked over to that tree jumped up and punched the hidden block that was supposedly there.

It was a red ?-block that appeared. And that meant that it contained a badge. The badge that was in there was the Double Dip P badge, which fell into a nearby snowbank. Andrew then went over and picked it up.

"That's funny," Andrew observed it. "I've never seen a badge like this one before. I guess I should save it for when I'll need it."

With that, Andrew put the badge into his badge kit, and then he put that back into his backpack. After he did that, he motioned his group to follow, as the eight traveling heroes continued through the snowy wasteland.

There were two Ice Puffs that ambushed the eight of them, along with a single Frost Piranha. Andrew was able to dispatch them with Vivian's help.

They weren't a match for Andrew's Fire Strike badge where he struck a fireball with his bat, scorching the frosty enemies, with some aid from Vivian's Fiery Jinx. None of them stood a chance as they were able to continue onward.

"Yeah. There's no doubt about it," Andrew commented as he found a Star Piece among the grass to the left of the south-side tree in the middle. "This 'really' does feel like a winter wonderland the longer I take in its atmosphere."

"Yeah. Say, Andrew, did you know..." Goombella felt like sharing with him. "Walking in the snow leaves 'really' cool footprints!"

"I started to notice that, Goombella," Andrew tugged on the front of his handkerchief. "All of us have left a trail of footprints behind, except for Flurrie and Vivian."

"Duh! It's like, so hard to not notice it," Goombella proclaimed in a playful sassy manner. "Thing is, the snow's falling so hard, they 'totally' disappear pretty quickly."

"Yeah. The snow is falling rather rapidly," Andrew noticed something behind the first south-side tree from the left. "Huh? What's this?"

Andrew walked over to check on it and was astounded by what he had found. It was another Shine Sprite, in that typical block. By this point, Andrew wasn't surprised since he had been collecting these things ever since he found his first one at Hooktail Castle.

With one jump and punch, Andrew plowed into the block and claimed the Shine Sprite for himself, which fell into his right hand shortly afterwards.

"Well guys, I just found another Shine Sprite," Andrew put the Shine Sprite into his backpack. "I guess I have 20 Shine Sprites right now."

"Good eye there, Andrew," Koops remarked. "Sure am glad that you started finding those in the first place."

"Me too," Andrew smiled. "Now let's keep moving. We should be getting closer to Fahr Outpost by now."

"By the stars! I do believe you're right, Andrew," Flurrie agreed with him. "We must pick up the pace and shove off for Fahr Outpost!"

"Exactly what I had in mind, Flurrie," Andrew nodded with a smirk. "Let's go."

And that's what they did. The muscular man was leading the group to Fahr Outpost. And his Goomba, Koopa, Wind Spirit, Yoshiam, Shadow Siren, Bob-omb, and Little Mouser friends were trailing close behind him in an attempt to keep warm. They could only hope to make it to their destination shortly.

After a few moments of walking, they noticed that an Ice Puff and two Frost Piranhas were picking a fight with them. Andrew and Vivian, once again, dispatched them quickly with Fire Strike and Fiery Jinx, respectively.

They then saw a stone wall on both sides of the path, which indicated that they were on the Fahr Outpost grounds since the walls looked like they were the property of Fahr Outpost. Andrew managed to find another Star Piece behind the south-side stone wall, and he then saw a red ?-block on the ground nearby.

"Whew. It is frosty here," Andrew took out his Ultra Bat and struck the red ?-block to reveal an HP Plus P badge that popped out of it. "This is the perfect weather for snowball fights, making snow angels, and whatnot."

"Yeah! Hey, Andrew, check it out!" Goombella was breathing as she saw her frosty breath in front of her. "I can 'totally' see my breath!"

"I've noticed that, Goombella. And it is pretty cool," Yoshiam agreed while shivering. "Too bad I'm not cool with it being this friggin' cold! I wouldn't mind some snowball fights if I was wearing a sweater!"

"No duh!" Goombella proclaimed before looking at Andrew again. "Must be 'really' cold, huh? That is just SO awesome!"

"Yeah," Andrew agreed as he picked up the HP Plus P badge and put it into his badge kit. "This is the typical weather that we'd see during the winter months."

"Can't argue with you there," Goombella agreed. "Though I grew up in a warm place, so this is 'totally' new to me!"

"Yeah. Also, have you guys noticed these stone walls," Andrew directed them to the stone walls. "These must be a part of Fahr Outpost. I think we're currently on the Fahr Outpost grounds since these walls are a part of Fahr Outpost."

"Hmm mmm, I believe you're right, Andrew," Ms. Mowz nodded. "And that means we should be one step closer to getting to use that cannon."

"Yeah," Vivian looked at them. "We must be getting closer to Fahr Outpost, for sure!"

"Exactly," Andrew said simply with a nod.

"Indeed. These walls are the property of Fahr Outpost, indicating that we must be close to it by now, old boy," Bobbery declared. "Come now, Andrew! Fahr Outpost should be just ahead of us! Let's shove off!"

"Got it," Andrew gave him a thumbs up as the eight of them pressed forward.

Needless to say, the eight of them would have one heck of a sidequest that they'll have to go on to get to the moon, provided that Bobbery is successful with forming a bridge between the Fahr Outpost Bob-ombs, and Andrew and the rest of his friends. That was a guarantee...

---

IN FAHR OUTPOST:

Moments later, the eight traveling heroes had made it to Fahr Outpost. The place was just as snowy as the area that they just got through, except there was more brown ground in front. There were several poles with horizontal thin rotors near the top of them. There was also a building in the top center that looked like an igloo of some kind, but with a lamp above the gray door, and two circular windows on both sides.

Stone walls like the ones that they just passed by were present, along with some barbed-wired fences near that building. Most of the Bob-ombs residing here had dull blue skin and wore orange shoes, and winter headwear that looked similar to the ones worn by the Russians.

Andrew had been taking in this scenery along with his friends, as he was a little astounded by what he was witnessing right in front of them.

"Well guys, I guess this is Fahr Outpost," Andrew rubbed his chin.

"Harumph! Indeed. This is Fahr Outpost, all right," Bobbery recognized the place.

"I wonder where the cannon that shoots to the moon is?" Goombella had to wonder.

"They're probably hiding it from plain sight," Andrew exclaimed. "Preferably to keep all non-Bob-ombs from gaining access to it."

"Well, let's get started by talking to the villagers." Koops made the suggestion.

"Yes. I believe speaking with the villagers may be helpful, darling," Flurrie nodded as she proclaimed to the muscular man.

"Let's chat up some of these locals and see what they have to say, OK?" Yoshiam declared while snapping his fingers.

"Let's get started by talking to the villagers," Vivian suggested shyly.

"I guess we should start by chatting with the villagers, don't you think?" Ms. Mowz wondered.

"That's probably what we should do," Andrew sighed. "What do you think, Bobbery?"

"I believe that it is mandatory to do so," Bobbery exclaimed. "Let's begin by speaking with some of the locals, eh?"

"Got it," Andrew then started walking ahead. "Let's check this place out."

"Yeah. Someone ought to know about it. It's a village full of Bob-ombs," Goombella shared. "How do they survive out in this cold anyway? Don't their fuses freeze off? You'd think these people would be bitter, living here... But they all look just fine!"

"The Bob-ombs that live here have likely become well adjusted with living in this brutal cold wasteland, that they must've adapted to the frigid temperatures," Andrew gave his possible guess as to its possibility. "Either way, one of these guys must know something about it, so our best bet is to ask around and see if any of them know about the cannon."

All seven of them agreed as the eight of them strolled through the village, finding and claiming some Star Pieces while Andrew tried asking the residents about the cannon.

---

Sadly, it was easier said than done, for all of the residents have either denied bringing up the fact that there is a cannon or merely ignored mentioning a cannon altogether. Their search led them into the other part of town. Andrew took notice of a couple of houses here that looked like bunkers. There was even an Inn and a store that they could go to as well. Then there was the huge cannon-like monument that was in the center of this part of Fahr Outpost.

"Wow," Andrew blinked at this. "The Bob-ombs here must 'really' know how to live in Fahr Outpost."

"No kidding. There's a shop and an inn here, so that's something..." Goombella felt like sharing before directing him to that cannon-like monument. "They have a huge, cannon-like monument over there, too. Very Bob-ombish!"

"Do you guys think that that could be a replica of the Big Bomb Cannon that's supposed to be here?" Andrew had to ask.

"That's precisely what it is, old boy," Bobbery told him. "You can take it from me when I say that I have seen it with my own two eyes. I am most fairly certain of that, Andrew."

"Right," Andrew nodded before sighing. "Well, the Bob-ombs that reside here aren't telling us anything. So let's...huh?"

Andrew then noticed something nearby on the ground to the right of the northeasternmost house ahead of him. It was another Shine Sprite, and it was in that clear yellow block.

"Wow. There's another Shine Sprite," Andrew walked over, took out his Ultra Bat, and bashed the block with it, causing the Shrine Sprite to be shot out where it landed in his hands. "I guess I got 21 Shine Sprites."

"Hey Andrew? Don'tcha think that maybe ya finally collected all of the Shine Sprites that are found in the Rogueport region?" Goombella queried.

"It's likely," Andrew shrugged after he put the Shine Sprite in the backpack with his other 20 Shine Sprites. "I'll ultra-rank you guys in a bit. I promise."

"Hey ummm... Andrew?!" Koops got his attention. "Look at the Bob-omb over there!"

Andrew looked and saw a Bob-omb that was a different color from the rest of the Bob-ombs here. He was standing a few feet away from the monument. For starters, this Bob-omb was green in color.

Also, he had a thick tan mustache, wore brown shoes, and his headwear was darker brown compared to the ones that the other Bob-ombs were wearing. There was also what appeared to be a tanooki tail in the back of it.

"My, my! Mercy me!" Flurrie gasped at the sight of him. "Andrew, hon? I do believe that could be the mayor, is he not?"

"I believe so," Andrew rubbed his chin. "He looks different from the other Bob-ombs, so he could be the mayor."

"Aye! That is the mayor all right," Bobbery nodded. "He's certainly aged since I saw him last. And I bet the old blowhard has been keeping his word of making sure the very existence of the Big Bomb Cannon is a secret, if I may add."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Yoshiam snapped his fingers. "C'mon, Presto! Let's go ask him about the cannon!"

"Yeah, Andrew," Vivian beamed brightly. "We can see if he'll let us use the cannon to get us to the moon!"

"Hmm mmm mmm mmm, it's worth a shot," Ms. Mowz smirked slyly. "After all, what's the worse that we got to lose anyway?"

"Yeah. He's the only one we haven't asked about the cannon yet," Andrew shrugged. "Let's give it a shot."

All seven of his friends nodded as they approached the Fahr Outpost Mayor, where Andrew then went and got his attention.

"Excuse me, sir?" Andrew started meekly, getting the mayor to look at him.

He didn't seem all that impressed to see him in Fahr Outpost. Then again, it could be the fact that Andrew wasn't a Bob-omb that tipped him off. Still, it's been a long time since any outsiders have come to Fahr Outpost for a visit. Nonetheless, he remained cautious with this muscular stranger.

"Da... What business do you have here?" The Mayor asked him in a strong Russian accent of some kind.

"OK. I'm gonna get to the point," Andrew sighed and came out with it. "We're wondering if you know where the cannon in this village is located, since we can't find it. And nobody seems to know anything about it."

"What? Cannon, you say?" The Mayor blinked and looked shocked.

"That's what I said," Andrew nodded.

The Mayor was quiet for a second, as he concluded that this muscular man wanted to use the Big Bomb Cannon for his 'own' vile purposes. He mustn't know about its existence in the slightest. Therefore, it was obvious as to what his answer was going to be.

"...No such thing is here," the Mayor eventually said, denying the fact that there is a cannon in Fahr Outpost.

At that moment, Andrew couldn't help but jump in shock about that. All of his friends (except for Bobbery) were also surprised and shocked by how he abruptly denied there being a cannon.

"Huh?" Andrew tilted his head.

"WHAT?" Goombella gawked in shock at this.

"What?" Koops scratched the right side of his head.

"I beg your pardon?!" Flurrie gasped while placing her right hand over her mouth.

"What?!" Yoshiam felt his eyes bulge out.

"What?!" Vivian frowned as she twirled her pink hair around.

"Excuse me?" Ms. Mowz felt her tail twitch as she knew something smelled off.

"Mr. Mayor, you can't be serious," Andrew decided to speak up for his friends. "We have heard the rumors that a cannon was here. There has to be a cannon in Fahr Outpost..."

Except for Bobbery, all of his friends were quick to back up the muscular man with his claim.

"Yeah!" Goombella yelled. "Listen, we 'DEFINITELY' heard there was a cannon around here!"

"Ummm... I'm pretty sure we heard there was a cannon around here!" Koops proclaimed.

"I'm quite sure we heard of a cannon near here!" Flurrie told him in a dignified manner.

"You're crazy, man!" Yoshiam frowned and huffed at him. "There's GOTTA be a cannon around here somewhere!"

"Uh, but we heard there was 'definitely' a cannon..." Vivian told him meekly.

"But...I'm pretty sure there's supposed to be a cannon SOMEWHERE around..." Ms. Mowz added rather coyly.

"What do you want me to say?" The Fahr Outpost Mayor stated firmly. "We do not have one!"

"Uh, Bobbery?" Andrew turned to face his Bob-omb friend for some assistance since he was the only one who could make negotiations with the mayor possible.

"I'm already ahead of you, old boy," Bobbery declared as he approached the mayor and got his attention. "Now, listen here... You're the mayor, hmm? How can an official like you lie that way?"

The Fahr Outpost Mayor took notice of Bobbery and was completely shocked. He had recognized him even after so much time had passed since his last visit to this frigid wasteland. He was unable to say anything as Bobbery continued to tell him.

"Old boy, I KNOW I saw a cannon the last time I was here, which just so happens to have occurred during the whole Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon Crisis of '62," Bobbery scolded him. "So do not lie, sir!"

The Mayor would've frowned if he had a mouth. He didn't appreciate this in the slightest. Therefore, he decided to make a biting comment of his own.

"SHUSH! You call yourself a Bob-omb? I spit at you!" The Mayor spat at him. "You know 'rules'! There is to be NO mention of cannon to non-Bob-ombs! NO mention!"

The Fahr Outpost Mayor took a deep breath before he finished up. "We must not allow it to be used for evil. After what happened during Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon Crisis in 'month' of October of 1962, we cannot take chances with it..."

"Of 'course' I know all that, you great blowhard," Bobbery huffed back. "I was here during the whole Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon Crisis, which if I do recall, lasted from the 16th to the 28th of October! It's in part the reason why I've been following the Big Bomb Cannon Protocol to forbid word of its existence from leaking out into the wrong hands in the first place!"

Bobbery then sighed as he approached Andrew to motion the mayor's attention to the muscular man and his other friends. "But we must use that cannon to get to the moon, old boy. And if we don't, sir...the world could end!"

The Mayor had to flinch at the way that Bobbery finished that sentence in a dark tone of voice. Just the thought of the world ending all of a sudden was one thing that didn't sit well with him. Of course, there was still a catch with having them be able to use the Big Bomb Cannon to get to the Moon. And he'd have to let them know about it.

"Mmmm... Hawwwwwwww... 'World' could end..." The Mayor shook his head. "Ummm... Well, we cannot have that, now..."

The Mayor then sighed before bringing up the problem with letting them use the cannon. "Still... You cannot use cannon right now because of certain...circumstances."

"Circumstances?" Bobbery asked as Andrew and his other friends were curious about this.

"What do you mean by that, sir?" Andrew asked him.

"We must have 'permission' of Goldbob to use 'cannon'," the Mayor exclaimed.

"Wait, did you say, Goldbob?" Andrew had to make sure he heard him correctly. "As in the owner of the Goldbobbington's corporation? That Goldbob?"

"Da, yes," the Mayor confirmed it to be true. "He is the one who started 'whole' blasting-things-to-faraway-places policy when he was in 'army'... Once he got rich with Goldbobbington's, he let business slide and does not start it up again..."

"I see," Andrew frowned as he rubbed his chin, but the Mayor wasn't done yet.

"Also... General White was the one who devoted himself to 'operation' of cannon..." The Mayor continued. "But he was so depressed by losing of job, which came as 'result' of Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon Crisis that happened in first place, that he took cannon key and left."

Wait, did he say General White? Andrew was thinking to himself. Why does that name sound so familiar to me? I feel like I've seen him from somewhere before. But from where?

"Goldbob and General White?" Bobbery was curious about this. "Those two old chums of mine are who you'd be referring to, eh?"

Bobbery had to muse. Truth be told, he had been wondering what General White's been up to after the crisis regarding the Big Bomb Cannon in Fahr Outpost took place. He had heard rumors that he grew depressed and was traveling.

Not to mention he 'himself' had grown into a depressed state upon the death of his wife Scarlette. So Bobbery would know the feeling entirely.

Still, he wasn't surprised. When General White was in the army, he would be notorious for traveling all over the place. It seems that General White has the stamina to do so until he gets tired. Then he would go to sleep for what most would assume would be for a million years.

"Da, that is correct," the Mayor confirmed this to be true. "If you want to use cannon, you must find Goldbob and General White."

"Very well, then... We can't give up now, old boy!" Bobbery had to declare before getting Andrew's attention. "Andrew, let's go find those two!"

"Good idea. Looks like it's our only option if we're to get to the moon," Andrew nodded in agreement. "We better go and see Goldbob and General White, right away!"

"Well, once you find them, come back and talk to me." The Mayor informed him.

"You got it," Andrew turned to his other friends. "Well, guys? Guess we have two people to track down if we're gonna be able to use the cannon to get to the moon."

"Gotcha, Andrew," Goombella beamed. "The sooner we find 'em, the better!"

"Good idea, Andrew," Koops rubbed the back of his head. "Ummm... This shouldn't be too hard, right? Right?"

"Mercy me! I do believe that shall be our next course of action, Andrew," Flurrie remarked proudly. "We shan't keep these two waiting any longer! We'd best go find them!"

"Aw yeah! Great plan, Presto!" Yoshiam cheered as he jumped up and down. "The sooner we can find those two guys, the sooner we can finally get blasted to the moon by that cannon! YAHOO! AWESOME!"

"Good thinking, Andrew," Vivian smiled. "We'd best get going so we can finally get to the moon where the final Crystal Star and Princess Peach are located."

"Hmm mmm mmm mmm. I do agree with you there Andrew, my handsome cheese hunk," Ms. Mowz smirked slyly. "We'll be able to get to the moon before long. I can promise you that."

"Yeah," Andrew then turned his attention to Bobbery. "And Bobbery? Thank you for helping to make the negotiations easier for us."

"Believe me, old boy, the pleasure was all mine," Bobbery informed him. "Now, I must say, this shall be one experience that we'll never forget, eh wot?"

"Yeah," Andrew agreed. "We'll be sure to find them. But first things first, I think now would be a good time to Ultra Rank all seven of you. How does that sound?"

Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz have smiled at Andrew; a sign that they were all for going through with the Ultra Ranking, courtesy of Merlon.

Andrew had to admit, he couldn't have asked for a better team of people to have traveled with him. This was the least he could do to show how much he appreciated them.

"Very good," Andrew gave them a thumbs up. "Let's get going!"

"All right!" All seven of them cheered simultaneously as the eight heroes left Fahr Outpost and the snowy region that surrounded it.

They went through that pipe and headed back to Rogueport to get Andrew's seven friends Ultra Ranked before they could find Goldbob and General White so they could use the Big Bomb Cannon to get to the moon.

Needless to say, things were starting to get interesting for the eight traveling heroes...

---

AT MERLON'S HOUSE - IN ROGUEPORT:

It took no time for the eight of them to get back to Rogueport, where they immediately went to Merlon's house. Merlon was standing behind his desk where the Ultra Ball was resting when suddenly, he heard a knock at the door.

"Yes. It is open," Merlon called out. "Come on in."

The door opened up and entering was none other than Andrew. He was accompanied by Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz, and this got Merlon a little curious about their arrival.

"Oh? You're back, Andrew?" Merlon then asked. "Are you ready for me to Ultra Rank your partners?"

"'As a matter of fact', yes. I'm ready to Ultra Rank them," Andrew proclaimed. "I have 21 Shine Sprites. So I think I can Ultra Rank all seven of them."

"Very well," Merlon said simply. "I must ask that you do one partner at a time, provided that you give me three Shine Sprites for each ally that you have me Ultra Rank."

"Of course," Andrew took out his Shine Sprites. "Let's get started."

And with that, Merlon got started right away on Ultra Ranking Andrew's seven friends. He did them in the order that Andrew recruited them; Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz.

Merlon followed the same procedure that he went through when he Super Ranked them in the first place. The Ultra Ball floated in the air and was glowing while the seven of them felt the room spinning when it was their respective turn.

One by one, each one of them felt a brand new power enter inside of them, which resulted in them gaining more strength, and learning a brand new move in the process. Each of them felt some sort of exhilarating sensation overflowing inside of them.

Eventually, the procedure came to an end after Andrew used his last three Shine Sprites to Ultra Rank Ms. Mowz. Once Merlon was done with Ultra Ranking her, he then stopped and gave himself a rest.

"And done," Merlon declared. "Your friends have all been Ultra Ranked."

"That's great, Merlon!" Andrew was ecstatic about that before he faced his seven friends. "Well, guys? What do you think? Are you happy with being Ultra Ranked like this?"

"What d'you think, Andrew?" Goombella smirked in admiration. "That felt 'totally' AWESOME! Wowsers! It felt nice the second time! I feel like a reenergized Goomba! Now I can wreck any jerks that try to be gnarly with us! You can 'totally' count on it, Andrew!"

"Ummm... Wow. That felt...pretty amazing!" Koops had to admit while rubbing the back of his neck. "Man, sure feel great all of a sudden. I think I have become a whole new Koopa. Seems pretty cool. I'll be sure to aid you in fights when we have to fight any other bad guys, Andrew."

"My, my, my! Mercy me! And here I thought the first time felt fabulous, darling!" Flurrie beamed rather dramatically. "I daresay, I feel the energy in me like I've been reborn as a Wind Spirit, and as an actress! Why, I do believe that I shall be quite useful the next time someone hassles with you, Andrew! I hereby make a vow and a promise that I mustn't let you down, and that I shall be more than obliging to aid you whenever our next fight shall be! I guarantee you that, sweetums!"

"Aw yeah! Now this is more like it! That was a rocking experience, Presto, my man!" Yoshiam cheered while jumping up and down. "Now I feel like I can wreck some more slimeballs that try to mess with us, man! This is pretty radical! With my new strength, I will be you to have your back and beat up any jerks that try to hurt you, dude! And really, I looked forward to it! I won't let you down, Presto!"

"W-Wow. Gosh... I...I feel great. That felt amazing," Vivian had to admit meekly with a smile. "And I had thought the first time was great, but that was amazing. Andrew, I promise to continue doing the best that I can to help you in fights. I won't allow anyone to hurt you, not even my sisters. I feel like I have just mastered a new spell of some kind! I'll be sure to be useful to you next time we get into a fight. I swear it, Andrew!"

"Harumph! That was quite a remarkable experience that I had gone through! And to think the first time around was spectacular. That was phenomenal, old boy!" Bobbery exclaimed. "I must say, I am feeling like a whole new Bob-omb already. I believe that the sensation has made me feel 20 years younger! Andrew, dear boy, I give you my thanks for providing this opportunity for me, once again. In return, I shall give it all of my efforts to provide more assistance whenever any ruffians try to make a mockery out of you. And as a Bob-omb sailor, I shall give you my word. After all, this might prove to be the most smashing experience, eh?"

"Hmm mmm mmm mmm... Yesss. That was quite the most peculiar experience that I went through as well," Ms. Mowz admitted with a sly smirk. "If you ask me, I feel like I've just mastered some new globe-trotting skills. Andrew, dearie, I will be more than happy to provide my aid to you the next time we have to fight something that tries to harm you. And I will make sure that you won't regret having my help throughout the remainder of this journey, sweetie. I give you my promise."

"Ah, well, you guys. I appreciate that," Andrew smiled sheepishly. "And I'm glad to know that you liked being Ultra Ranked like this. I think the eight of us will prove to be an even more effective well-nitted-together team. I can already see it!"

"You better believe it, Andrew," Goombella grinned. "And why's that? Because the eight of us are the greatest team to have ever formed!"

"Yeah!" Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz all agreed in unison.

"Very good to know," Andrew then turned his attention back to Merlon. "Anyway Merlon, what new moves did each of them learn from being Ultra Ranked? Individually?"

"Well Andrew, I'll explain them to you," Merlon started. "First, there's Goombella. She had just learned a new move called Rally Wink. With Rally Wink, Goombella can give you some encouragement and confidence and bring up your spirit with a kiss to do more attack to your foes."

"Rally Wink? That sounds pretty nice," Andrew smirked. "That sounds like something Goombella is capable of."

"Darn 'right' it is, Andrew!" Goombella beamed as she walked up to Andrew and rubbed against his left leg. "It's 'totally' my style! I will be sure to boost up spirits, just like I've done for the football players when I was at the pep rally at the University of Goom!"

"Yeah. And I look forward to it," Andrew gently rubbed his hand across Goombella's ponytail. "Now what about Koops?"

"Koops had just learned a new move called Shell Slam," Merlon explained. "With Shell Slam, he can ram through all the ground enemies, and it is powerful enough to plow through thick shells and heavy armor, ignoring the shielding entirely."

"Shell Slam, huh? How amazing," Andrew smiled. "Koops? Looks like Shell Slam can be useful in dealing with the subspecies of Clefts. As well as Chain Chomps, if we ever do run into them."

"Gee whiz... Ummm... That sounds nice," Koops gave him a flattering look. "Andrew? I'll be sure to make use of it when dealing with Clefts and Chain Chomps. Only if we run into them..."

"That's what I like to hear, Koops," Andrew gave him a thumbs up before looking at Merlon again. "Now, what move did Flurrie learn?"

"Flurrie has just learned a new move called Dodgy Fog," Merlon told him. "With Dodgy Fog, Flurrie can summon a thick misty fog to surround you, which increases the chances of your enemies missing the attacks that they launch on you."

"Dodgy Fog? Why am I not surprised? That's something I'd expect her to do," Andrew smirked. "I expect Flurrie to know something that will keep me safe and secure when dealing with something dangerous."

"I daresay, I must agree with that, darling," Flurrie floated over to him and massaged her shoulders. "I am a woman of my word when I say that I plan to keep you safe, Andrew. And I shan't be going against it either. I shall make perfect use of it when some dangerous cad tries to hurt you, sweetums. I mustn't let you down, sugar. I can promise you that."

"Awwww, Flurrie... I know I can depend on you," Andrew blushed at the fact that his friend with benefits was massaging his shoulders again. "A-Anyway Merlon? What about Yoshiam? What move did he learn?"

"Yoshiam had just learned a new move called Stampede," Merlon explained to him. "With Stampede, Yoshiam can call in and summon a massive herd of Yoshis to trample over and plow right over any foes that cross your path."

"Stampede, huh? How interesting," Andrew mused. "Yoshiam? With that move, you might end up becoming the new leader of a herd of Yoshis one day."

"Ah c'mon, Presto! That's crazy talk, man!" Yoshiam told him as he walked over. "You're the only leader that I'll follow! Still, that sounds pretty awesome, dude! I'll be sure to summon any of my fellow Yoshis to trample anyone who tries to mess with you! You can count on it, man!"

"And I won't regret it when you do it," Andrew said as he gave Yoshiam a high five. "Well Merlon, what about Vivian? What new move did she learn?"

"Vivian had just learned a new move called Infatuate," Merlon remarked. "With Infatuate, Vivian will blow air kisses to her opponents, in an attempt to charm them into confusion, where your enemies will attack each other instead of you."

"Infatuate? Sounds rather amusing. And rather cute too," Andrew smiled. "I can't say I'm surprised. Vivian is so cute that she could be able to infatuate anybody, with her adorable quirks and her sweet tender kindness."

"Awwwww, uhhhh...A-Andrew. That is very sweet of you," Vivian was blushing heavily as she floated over to Andrew. "I promise to use it to keep others from hurting you and have our opponents attack each other. I will be sure to do that, Andrew."

"And I know you'll do great with it too, Vivian," Andrew patted her back and rubbed his hand gently through her pink hair. "OK, Merlon. What about Bobbery? What new move did he learn upon being Ultra Ranked?"

"Bobbery had just learned a new move called Bob-ombast," Merlon revealed to him. "With Bob-ombast, Bobbery can explode and blast away at all of your foes with a brutal explosion that's comparable to six dynamite packs going off."

"Bob-ombast, huh? So it's kinda like Mega Bomb," Andrew rubbed his chin in amusement. "That sounds like a firework display that's worth seeing. I look forward to seeing it for myself."

"Aye. I must say, I look forward to making full use of it for myself, old boy," Bobbery stepped up and gave him a stance that looked like he was saluting him. "I believe that it'll be smashing to blast away any cad and scoundrel that tries to double-cross you. Provided that I'll be able to make full use of its potential blast that'll clear the way and prevent any ruffians from lacerating you, Andrew. I give you my solemn pledge that I shall be of assistance when the time comes to use it, eh?"

"Yeah. I look forward to it too, Bobbery," Andrew gave him a salute before looking at Merlon one more time. "And now there's just Ms. Mowz. What move did she learn?"

"Ms. Mowz has just learned a new move called Smooch," Merlon told him. "With Smooch, she can provide you some energy and health that you may have lost with a simple kiss on the cheek."

"Smooch, huh? That sounds pretty nice," Andrew grinned. "I can see Ms. Mowz doing something like that for me."

"Oh yes. That is something that I'd do for you, Andrew, my sweet," Ms. Mowz said seductively as she sashayed over to Andrew and jumped onto his left shoulder. "And I can guarantee you that it'll be worth the wait, dearie. You've earned my respect, so I suppose it's the least I can do for a man of your profession. In fact, why don't I give you a demonstration, hmm?"

"Huh?" Andrew was confused when Ms. Mowz went ahead and planted a kiss on his left cheek for safekeeping. "Wow."

"So, wasn't that something or what?" Ms. Mowz asked him slyly.

"Yeah. It was 'definitely' something," Andrew grinned. "I'm glad that I've done this for all seven of you. Now I know that we can accomplish our goal of obtaining the final Crystal Star and rescuing Princess Peach."

"Yeah!" All seven of them yelled simultaneously.

"Ahem! Since you've used all of the Shine Sprites that were scattered across the Rogueport region, and all seven of your friends have been ultra-ranked," Merlon motioned him to the door. "Then you may go."

"Right," Andrew sighed as he approached the door. "Thanks for everything, Merlon. You've been a big help to me and my friends here."

"Anytime, Andrew," Merlon waved to him. "Well, so long! And good luck on your quest!"

"Will do," Andrew called back as he walked out the door with his seven friends, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he watched the door close behind the muscular man, Merlon had one thought that crossed his mind.

I hope that General White encounters him soon. Merlon thought. He will be of great use in fulfilling his dreams soon enough...

With that thought in mind, Merlon yawned and then polished his Ultra Ball, spending some more time in his own house.

Back with Andrew and his friends, they were walking away from Merlon's house as the muscular man had plans to go back into the Rogueport Sewers.

"Well guys, now that we took care of that, it's time we take care of other business," Andrew advised them. "We have to find Goldbob and General White before we can use that cannon to get to the moon."

"That's correct, sweetie," Ms. Mowz nodded. "Now, I have this hunch that perhaps we should go see Goldbob first. After all, he is currently in Poshley Heights, yes?"

"Indeed. That's where Goldbob is," Bobbery confirmed. "We rode on the same train with the old lubber. And if I recall, I don't suppose that Goldbob shall do anymore traveling, if my sea bomb intuition is correct."

"Good idea. We can go to Poshley Heights first," Andrew mused. "And I think I know how we can get there without using the train."

"Jeepers Andrew, whatcha mean by that?" Goombella was confused along with the others.

"Earlier when we were touring the Rogueport Sewers, I saw a room that looked identical to the blue pipe room that we unveiled before," Andrew shared with them. "Only there was a giant stone block in the center instead of a giant yellow block. With my Ultra Bat, I can bash it down with an Ultra Bat swing, and I can activate those switches to reveal two more blue pipes. And I have a hunch that one of those blue pipes will lead us to Poshley Heights in a flash."

"Mercy me, darling! That does sound quite promising!" Flurrie was ecstatic about Andrew's plan. "And I do believe your right. There must be something in there that can prove to be essential to us. And it just might be a blue pipe that'll lead us to the ever-so-fabulous Poshley Heights!"

"Yeah... Good call, Andrew," Koops agreed. "We'd best check it out and see if we can find a blue pipe that'll bring us to Poshley Heights..."

"You got it," Andrew then jumped onto the green pipe. "Let's get going, guys."

"All right!" Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz all cheered simultaneously as they joined Andrew atop the green pipe.

All eight of them went down as they headed to that room that Andrew was referring to, which will contain the shortcut pipe to Poshley Heights. Needless to say, they were going to be in for one heck of an experience with this...

---

IN POSHLEY HEIGHTS:

As it turns out, there 'really' was a blue pipe that led to Poshley Heights. The eight of them went into the room Andrew was referring to, and he then used his Ultra Bat to do the Ultra Bat swing to bash down the giant stone block that was in the way.

Then just like before, he performed a Spin Jump on both super switches that were present. Two blue pipes have appeared upon activating them; one on the right, and one on the left. Andrew had even claimed an FP Plus badge from a brown treasure chest that was nearby. He put it into his badge kit, which he then put back into his backpack.

After that, he learned that the blue pipe to the right led to Keelhaul Key, while the blue pipe to the left led to Poshley Heights. Naturally, he took the blue pipe on the left as he jumped onto it with his friends, and they went through it, heading straight for Poshley Heights.

The blue pipe brought them directly to the area where the Poshley Sanctum was located. After jumping off the pipe, the eight heroes had some ground to cover as they had to walk 'all the way' to the train station since that's where Goldbob's house was located.

"Well, that little trip was rather impressive," Ms. Mowz had to comment. "I guess those blue pipes do bring us to places that we've already visited. I must say, this is a rather huge convenience for us. Wouldn't you agree, dearie?"

"Yeah," Andrew nodded. "I told you that the blue pipes would be of use to us in case we'd have to go back to the places we've been to previously."

"No kidding, Presto! These things ROCK!" Yoshiam declared. "Too bad they don't have any of these that can get us straight to Glitzville. That's 'definitely' a bummer for us."

"Yeah," Andrew frowned in agreement. "The only way to get to Glitzville is by using the Cheep Blimp in the Rogueport Station."

"Hey, Andrew?" Vivian got his attention. "We should be close to Goldbob's house which is near the station, right?"

"That's right. It should be just ahead of us," Andrew pointed as they made it to the Poshley Heights Station.

Near the station to the left was Goldbob's house. And right in front of the house was Goldbob himself, along with his wife Sylvia and their son Bub.

"And there he is," Andrew pointed out. "Goldbob is still in front of his house with Sylvia and Bub."

"Hmm mmm, yes. They seem to have settled back into their home," Ms. Mowz said slyly before suggesting. "Now, we'd best go and see if Goldbob will give us permission to use that cannon to get to the moon, right Andrew?"

"Good idea," Andrew nodded. "Let's get this show on the road!"

And so Andrew walked up to Goldbob with his seven friends right beside him. As soon as he was right in front of him, Andrew decided to get his attention by clearing his throat and greeting him.

"Hey, Goldbob," Andrew greeted. "We're glad that we found you. We need your help with something."

"Ah. Good day to you, Presto," Goldbob greeted him back before looking towards Bobbery. "And you too, Bobbery."

"Aye. It is pleasant to see you again Goldbob, old boy," Bobbery told him.

"Anyway," Goldbob then turned to face Andrew again before he asked him. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well, I'm gonna get to the point, Goldbob," Andrew went down to business. "We need to be given your permission to use the Big Bomb Cannon in Fahr Outpost to get to the moon and save the world."

"Is that so?" Goldbob seemed rather intrigued by this. "Hmmm... Well, that IS rather a pickle, isn't it?"

"Yeah it is," Andrew nodded. "Especially after the whole Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon Crisis that had occurred in October of 1962, as Bobbery had explained to me. But we really would like to be able to use the cannon to get to the moon, so we can show the Bob-ombs of Fahr Outpost that we're on their side and we're here to fight against evil. If that makes sense."

"Yes! Very well, then! I certainly owe you a favor or two, hm?" Goldbob declared willingly. "Yes, I should say!"

"That's great!" Andrew beamed and smiled.

"The truth is, I had hoped to resume my business with that cannon someday, even after the whole crisis with the Big Bomb Cannon had come to pass, especially with the Protocol that we Bob-ombs had to follow..." Goldbob then decided to clue him in on something. "And just between us...I only stopped because the wife said she didn't like the noise. It had nothing to do with the Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon Crisis."

"Well, that is certainly nice to know," Ms. Mowz seemed amused by this. "Still, I'm glad that we can work this out for us to get to the moon."

"In any case, I take it that there is a catch to this, is there not, Goldbob?" Bobbery had to check with him.

"Sadly, there is, Bobbery," Goldbob sighed before facing Andrew. "For you see, it takes a hefty bit of coin to get that cannon working..."

"All right," Andrew waved and convinced him to continue with his arms crossed. "Go on."

"So... I'll need you to demonstrate just how much you want to use that cannon," Goldbob said reluctantly before asking him a serious question. "If it were a matter of money, just how much would you pay, if I may ask?"

"Oh! So it's a matter of how much money that we need to worry about, huh sweetie?" Ms. Mowz asked him slyly, getting Goldbob to nod. "Well dearie, you're in luck, because I think we can work out a perfect deal of cash just so we can have permission to use that cannon. Tell me something, Goldbob. How would you feel if we gave you...?"

"I'll give you everything that I have!" Andrew shouted abruptly as he took out a big coin bag that had every single ounce of coinage that he had earned throughout this entire journey.

"WHAT!?" Ms. Mowz yelled in shock as she looked at Andrew in a horrified manner. "Andrew, you're willing to part with all of the money?! The money that you've earned during your most perilous trials!?"

"Omigosh! I can't believe that I'm saying this, but Ms. Mowz is right!" Goombella spoke up and agreed with her. "You're 'totally' not gonna part with all of your money, aren'tcha?"

"Yeah, man! This is crazy!" Yoshiam had to yell. "Is it worth giving up every penny that you've earned on this journey?! Think about it for a second, dude!"

"Guys, I know how you feel. But we don't have a choice," Andrew sighed as he showed the big coin bag to Goldbob. "I would like to part with all of my money for permission to use the cannon."

"Well, Presto, your friends have a point. I mean, you'd pay 'every' coin you own? All of them?" Goldbob wondered. "You, er... Really? So... Really?"

"That's right," Andrew nodded. "I'm willing to part with this just to use the cannon."

Goombella was in a state of shock from what he was doing. Koops was confused and wondered if there was another way around this. Flurrie was appalled that Andrew would make himself suffer like this; something that she refused to have happen to him. Yoshiam had to give him a look as if he had gone crazy.

Vivian frowned, hoping that Andrew knew what he was doing. Bobbery gave him a confused look as he wondered if it would be worth using the cannon with no coins. 'And' Ms. Mowz was shocked that Andrew would give up all of her money, which was understandable seeing how her family was relatively poor. Despite this, none of them said anything as they all believed in Andrew and that he was willing to do the right thing.

Goldbob gave him a quizzical look as he was still reluctant to take this as an answer. Therefore, he continued with the questions.

"Well, I suppose I'm just surprised to hear you say that," Goldbob had to admit. "Staggered, 'actually'. You know that means you'll be left with zero coins? With absolutely nothing? You know that, do you?"

"I'm aware of that," Andrew told him. "And I think I can manage. My friends can too since we'll be together during the whole scenario."

"I mean, think of it, man! If you spent all your coins...and I mean ALL of them..." Goldbob had to clear his throat before continuing. "You would certainly face a great deal of difficulty down the road."

"I know," Andrew sighed. "But I can work my way around it, and I'll be sure to keep my friends here safe from anything."

"But hold on. I want to make sure you're doing this fully aware of the consequences," Goldbob then asked him again. "Are you sure you won't regret this later? 'Absolutely' sure?"

"I am aware of the consequences, for sure," Andrew nodded. "And I can assure you, that I won't. Getting the Mushroom Kingdom Princess rescued and escorted back home should be worth it."

"I can 'really' take them all? Really?" Goldbob then asked him. "You won't say 'Just kidding!' later on or any sort of tomfoolery like that?"

"I can assure you that I won't," Andrew shook his head. "I plan on parting with my money, and that's that."

Goldbob finally had to buckle down. It was obvious that Andrew was gonna sacrifice his cash for the safety of the entire planet. He had no choice but to concede to this.

"Well, all right then..." Goldbob sighed as Andrew handed him his big coin bag of all of his money.

"I hope this will cover our end of the deal," Andrew sighed. "Now, the permission to use the cannon?"

"Hmm... Well, you've certainly shown me something, sir," Goldbob then went and took out a piece of paper with a ribbon on it. "So... I give my permission for you to activate the Fahr Outpost cannon."

Goldbob then went and handed him the paper, which was the Goldbob Guide; a.k.a, the permission needed to use the cannon.

"Thank you very much for this, Goldbob," Andrew rolled the paper up and put it in his back pocket. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

"Yes. It was, wasn't it? Oh... And I wasn't serious earlier, my dear fellow," Goldbob then decided to bring up. "How could I take your money? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Andrew had to tilt his head in confusion at that, as he had no idea what he was getting at. His friends agreed as they gave Goldbob a similar look.

"It's a shame, I suppose..." Goldbob uttered under his breath before declaring loud enough for Andrew to hear him. "But I'll return your money."

Andrew was flabbergasted by this as Goldbob handed him back his big coin bag of money to him. He couldn't believe it. He is willing to part with his money to save the world, and Goldbob returns it to him. Why? Did Goldbob already have enough money in his estate that made him and his family set for life? Or was this some kind of test?

"Wuh? But...I was willing to part with it and..." Andrew paused as he realized something, and he then decided to ask Goldbob a serious question. "This was a test, wasn't it? To see if I'd be more than willing to part with my money if it meant saving the world from tyranny, right?"

"That's exactly what it was, Presto," Goldbob confirmed it to be true. "And you have certainly shown me your generous donation to allow everyone in the world to continue living without terror and chaos hovering over them. So you have proven to me that you're worthy to gain permission to use the Big Bomb Cannon. Congratulations."

"All right! This 'actually' works for us," Andrew put his big coin bag back into his backpack, which miraculously managed to fit into his backpack. "Now we have permission to use the cannon, and both of us benefitted from it. Thanks, Goldbob."

"Anytime, Presto," Goldbob then decided to send him on his way. "Now soldier on, my boy!"

"Right," Andrew said as he looked at his seven friends. "Let's go, guys. Our work here is done."

Andrew walked off towards the Sanctum where that blue pipe was located. Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz followed right behind him as they were planning to take their leave from Poshley Heights. All they had to do was to find General White.

"Hmm mmm mmm mmm... This has been quite a surprise," Ms. Mowz said slyly. "We got permission from Goldbob, and it didn't cost us a penny. How fortunate for us, right dearie?"

"Yeah," Andrew nodded. "Sure glad that I proved to be worthy of being permitted it. That was something."

"Yes. In any case, all we got to do now is find General White, right Andrew?" Ms. Mowz asked him. "I mean, how hard can that be? This ought to be easy for us, dearie."

"Don't be so sure of that, Ms. Mowz," Bobbery spoke up as Andrew was lost in thought. "From what I've recalled, General White was always one to travel the world and enjoy sightseeing like a tourist. Why, I was good friends with him back in the day, along with Goldbob. The three of us always went to the pub on our breaks during our service days, and White was always fascinated about seeing the world, hoping to accomplish his hopes and dreams, if I do say so myself."

Bobbery then shook his head and remarked, "But I am getting off-topic, am I not? Finding General White shall be a taxing experience for sure since he is always on the move. We'll just have to be ready for it, eh old boy?"

Andrew had heard parts of it, but tuned out most of it when a deja vu came to in. In Petalburg, when he and Goombella were just starting their journey to find the first Crystal Star; the Diamond Star, had encountered someone named General White.

And he was a white Bob-omb with a black mustache. The memory of trying to talk to him was playing back in his mind.

"Hut! I am General White. I am a Bob-omb! And I have lost my hopes and dreams," the Bob-omb named General White told him in a rather depressed tone. "My heart has grown cold... I must apologize, but I ask that you leave me alone."

"All right," Andrew decided not to argue as he left with Goombella. "Let's go Goombella."

"Right," Goombella obliged as Andrew took one last glance at General White.

Andrew never would've imagined that he had encountered him so early in his journey. And now it was coming back to him.

I can't believe it! General White was someone that Goombella and I had met when we were just starting our quest to collect the Crystal Stars! Andrew thought. The others have got to know about this!

Andrew shook his head and then decided to reply to Bobbery's comment.

"Yeah. He might be hard to find. But I just remembered something!" Andrew felt like sharing before asking his Goomba friend. "Goombella?! Do you remember when we were just starting our journey to get the Crystal Stars? 'AND' we had arrived in Petalburg and we encountered a white Bob-omb named General White?"

"OMIGOSH! Andrew! You're so 'TOTALLY' right!" Goombella blinked and yelled. "We DID encounter someone named General White early on at the start of our journey! Jeepers! I never would've thought of it! And the last we saw him was in Petalburg! He's 'totally' gotta be in Petalburg!"

"Wow! Hey, ummm... Now that you mentioned it," Koops felt like sharing as he rubbed his chin. "I have seen General White several times in the past when he was residing in Petalburg. This was before my dad came back and before Hooktail was defeated. Golly... Never thought of talking to him... He seemed depressed about something... Could it be about the crisis with the Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon that the mayor mentioned earlier?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was. 'Actually', I already know for sure that it is," Andrew snapped his fingers. "Well guys, we're heading back to Petalburg!"

"Oh, my! Splendid! Just splendid!" Flurrie clapped her hands joyously. "Now I shall get to see the beautiful town of Petalburg for myself!"

"Yeah," Andrew said as they made it to the Sanctum and the blue pipe. "Now come on! We have a General White to find and get him to operate the cannon again!"

All seven of them nodded in confidence as they knew where he was getting at. They were as determined to do this as he was. Without anything else being said, the eight of them went through the blue pipe in the hopes that they could make it to Petalburg quickly just to find General White.

What Andrew didn't know was that it would be easier said than done, and that he'd have to go on a wild goose chase to find him along with his friends. He would find out about that for himself. No doubt about that...

---

IN PETALBURG:

As it turns out, Andrew and his crew got to Petalburg quickly with one of those blue pipes, which led him to a blue pipe in the center of the circular ground south of Koops's house.

Speaking of whom, Koops told Andrew that he'd be right back since he's gonna check in with his father and girlfriend for something important.

As Andrew had allowed him to do that, he and Goombella led the rest of them to the spot where they saw General White last, right in front of the house that belonged to the Princess Peach-obsessed Koopa.

Unfortunately, when they got there, General White was gone. Bobbery wasn't surprised by this, as he had expected it, while the rest of them were confused. Andrew and Goombella weren't sure about what to think of this, since this is where they saw him last. Maybe General White was on the move.

They headed back to the area where Koops's house was located, as Andrew was just confused by how General White could've just taken off like that.

"I just don't get it, guys," Andrew frowned. "He was there when Goombella and I last came here. But now he's gone. I dunno where he ran off to."

"Me either, Andrew," Goombella then made a suggestion. "But it might be a good idea to check in with Mayor Kroop and see if he knows where he ran off to, don'tcha think?"

"Good idea," Andrew sighed. "Let's check in with the Mayor."

As they were heading to the mayor's pink house, Koops came out of his own house, having said one last thing to Koopley and Koopie Koo.

"All right. Sure..." Koops told them. "Right. I'll see ya again real soon. Once I'm done with adventuring with Andrew. You too. Bye, Dad. Bye Koopie Koo."

He then closed the door and walked up to Andrew, which got the muscular man's attention.

"Hey Koops. How did it go in there?" Andrew queried. "What did you need to see your dad and Koopie Koo for?"

"Ummm... Well, I told them that I've been doing good on my adventures, having gotten six Crystal Stars right now. With only one left," Koops then remembered something else. "Oh! And I told Koopie Koo about the recipe for making a Heartful Cake that you showed me the other day. Wanna know what Koopie Koo told me?"

"Yes?" Andrew encouraged him to continue.

"Koopie Koo said that she plans on making a Heartful Cake for both of us the day I return home from traveling with you, Andrew," Koops explained. "How does that sound? Seem pretty cool, isn't it?"

"Sure is," Andrew gave him a thumbs up.

"Anyway, how'd it go?" Koops then asked. "Any luck finding General White?"

"No luck at all," Andrew shook his head. "We're about to check with the Mayor and see if he's seen General White lately."

"Good call there," Koops agreed. "Might be a good idea to ask him anyway. If anyone knows where General White is, it ought to be him."

"Exactly," Andrew walked up to the front door. "Let's go."

His seven friends approached the door too. Andrew then knocked and slowly opened the door to see Mayor Kroop still in there. He hasn't changed a bit since Koops left Petalburg. Andrew then got his attention.

"Hello, Mayor Kroop," Andrew greeted as he set foot into his house with his friends. "It's just a couple of familiar faces."

"Oh! If it isn't Audrey!" Kroop recognized him and Koops. "And you too Koops. You certainly have grown since you've last been here."

"Ummm... Not really..." Koops rubbed the back of his neck. "I've just been adventuring a lot lately, and I've been kept busy. Sure has done me some good so far..."

"I can see that for myself," Mayor Kroop commented before looking at Andrew. "Now, Audrey, what can I do for you?"

"OK, Mayor. I'll get to the point," Andrew came out with it. "We're looking for someone called General White, and he was last spotted here. Do you know where he is?"

"Eh? What's that you say? General White?" Kroop rubbed his hand across his beard. "Hrmm? General..."

"That's right, Mayor Kroop," Koops spoke up and walked up next to Andrew. "We're looking for him because we need something important for him to do for us. Sure is urgent too. Have you seen him around here lately? Sir?"

"Hrmmmmmm," Mayor Kroop thought for a moment before he came up with what was on his mind. "Well, I'm certain I've seen him around...but not lately, no."

"So he left," Andrew sighed. "Do you know where he ran off to?"

"I think he may have possibly said he might head south to a more tropical locale..." Kroop answered. "Creakey Key? Was that it?"

"Creakey Key?" Andrew blinked at this. "Do you mean Keelhaul Key?"

"Yup! That's it!" Mayor Kroop snapped his fingers. "That, might, possibly, perhaps, could be it..."

"Right," Andrew sighed. "Well thanks for the info, Mayor Kroop. We appreciate it."

"Anytime, Audrey," Kroop waved at him as Andrew exited the house with his friends. "And be sure to stop by again real soon!"

"Got it," Andrew said before he closed the door behind him, with his friends by his side. "Well, I guess that's that."

"Ummm... So, we're going to Keelhaul Key now," Koops remarked. "Better get going, and hope we catch up with him."

"Honestly, old boy, I am not too surprised in the slightest," Bobbery sighed. "General White was always one heck of a rascallion when it came to traveling the world. He's done it all the time in the army if I do say so myself. 'As a matter of fact', his traveling had gotten him in trouble with the MPs a couple of times for leaving the barracks, if I do recall."

"Well! That was rather unexpected! I do crave dramatic travels, but this ought to be something else!" Flurrie yelled. "With that said, it was such a divine treat to visit Petalburg for 'myself'! How delightful!"

"In any case, Andrew, I'm more than certain that we'd best get to Keelhaul Key," Bobbery suggested. "If we're lucky, we might end up running into the old chap and save our energy for getting the Crystal Star. Provided that we do so on the double if you please?"

"I guess we should," Andrew sighed as he approached the blue pipe with his friends. "Let's go to Keelhaul Key."

No one else said anything as the eight of them went through the blue pipe, as they planned on heading to Keelhaul Key next...

---

ON KEELHAUL KEY:

"Oy! Captain 'Uscles!" Pa-Patch was the one to greet him as he approached the shantytown that hadn't changed at all. "And you too, Admiral Bobbery! It sure has been a long time, seein' that you folks came back o'er 'ere!"

"Aye! It has been Pa-Patch, dear boy," Bobbery said as he approached him along with Andrew and the others. "Sadly, this ain't a social gathering, as you may call it. We'd be here on important business."

"Oh? What can I do for you?" Pa-Patch asked them.

"I'll get down to business, old boy," Bobbery came out with it. "Pa-Patch? We're wondering if General White's been here lately. We got word that he came here, but we ain't seeing any hide of him. Mind telling us if you've seen him, if you may?"

"Oy! Yes! I have seen 'im," Pa-Patch confirmed. "Yeah, he was 'ere until a second ago."

"So, he was just here, eh?" Bobbery felt his mustache droop slightly.

"Oy," Pa-Patch nodded. "But he took off, right quick."

"So he just left," Andrew had a blank look as he sighed, shook his head, and placed his index finger and thumb from his right hand over his forehead. "Do you at least know where he ran off to?"

"Of course I do," Pa-Patch then revealed to him. "Said he was goin' to an 'arena', or somefin'..."

"An arena?" Andrew only needed a minute to know where he had to go next before he groaned. "He went for Glitzville."

"Sure sounds like it to me," Yoshiam proclaimed. "We better head there quick, Presto! Pronto, before he leaves again!"

"I guess so," Andrew sighed and shook his head. "Well, thanks anyway, Pa-Patch. I appreciate the information."

"Anytime, Captain 'Uscles! Hopin' to see you and the good ol' Admiral again real soon!" Pa-Patch then said to Bobbery. "An' Admiral Bobbery? Feel free to come back anytime! We can sit 'an' chat, just like we did durin' the ol' days!"

"I'll be sure to do that soon, Pa-Patch, old boy," Bobbery nodded. "For now, we better shove off to Glitzville. Farewell for the time being."

"Got it!" Pa-Patch said farewell to Andrew and his friends.

"Aye! That Pa-Patch was always quite the eager chap to have around! And he was always quite fond of the likes of me. Especially after one sea voyage resulted in me having saved his life!"

"You don't say?" Goombella seemed curious about this.

"I do. It was during a dark and stormy night," Bobbery recapped. "We were sailing through rough terrains, and there were torrential downpours and claps of lightning, as I recall! And due to tidal waves coming up from behind the stern, Pa-Patch fell overboard, and was requesting assistance."

"What happened afterwards, Bobbery?" Vivian asked him.

"Well, what else? I made full use of the life raft and the ship's rope and pulled him up to shore aboard the blessed ship!" Bobbery declared. "It wasn't no easy feat, but my fortitude had allowed me to prevail anyway, and by the night's end, Pa-Patch was rescued. And he was in debt to my brave heroic actions, if I do say so myself!"

Bobbery cleared his throat before he continued. "Therefore, he has begun to show great amounts of admiration for me and has always looked up to me as being one of the greatest sailors to have ever sailed the seven seas. Indeed. That is what happened, and he's been like that ever since."

"Yeah, that does explain a lot," Andrew felt like commenting. "It explains why he thinks so fondly of you. And it also explained why he thought you were the best option when it came to needing a navigator for the S.S. Flavion. I guess you're not called a legendary hero of the sea for nothing, huh?"

"Precisely what I had in mind, old boy," Bobbery confirmed.

"Well, anyway, looks like we're heading to Glitzville next," Andrew sighed. "And you know what that means?"

"Yeah. We have to take the Cheep Blimp since no pipes can bring us to Glitzville," Yoshiam said. "Dang. What wouldn't I do to find a pipe that can lead us there?."

"Same here. Unfortunately, this is our only option," Andrew motioned his friends to follow. "Well guys, let's go to Glitzville. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can run into General White. Let's go."

They nodded as the Goomba, Koopa, Wind Spirit, Yoshi, Shadow Siren, Bob-omb, and Little Mouser followed his lead and left Keelhaul Key. They were hoping that General White would still be in Glitzville by the time they got there...

---

IN GLITZVILLE:

As soon as they made it back to Rogueport, they went for the Rogueport Station and took the blimp to Glitzville, since that was the only way to get there. Once they arrived there, they looked everywhere to see if General White was there.

Unfortunately, General White was nowhere to be found. Andrew wasn't too pleased that General White might've left again. Their search led them into the Juice Bar, where Podler noticed Andrew entering his place for the first time in ages.

"Hey! If it isn't the Prevailing Presto!" Podler greeted him. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah," Andrew said. "It has been a long time since I've been here."

"Sure has," Podler then asked. "So anyway, what brings you back here? You looking to enter the ring again?"

"I'm sorry, but that's not why we're here. We're here on important business," Andrew then came out with it. "Mr. Podler, we're looking for someone named General White. Do you know where he is?"

"Oh... You must mean that white Bob-omb, huh?" Podler asked with an intrigued tone.

"That's right," Andrew nodded. "You've seen him, haven't you?"

"Yeah, he used to come here all the time," Podler confirmed.

"Whoa! Well, that's pretty sweet, man!" Yoshiam proclaimed as he gave him a thumbs up. "So anyway, have you seen him around here, dude? We're looking for him, and he's on the move or something like that. Have you seen him recently?"

"Uh, can't say that I have, little Yoshiam," Podler shrugged. "I haven't seen him lately."

"So he just left," Andrew had a blank look on his face before he asked. "Do you know where he ran off to now?"

"Yes. Now that I think about it," Podler then rubbed his chin. "I think he headed off to some huge tree...or not."

"Huge tree?!" Andrew said in shock before he pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned in slight irritation. "Ahhh... He's at the Great Tree now... Just great! That's terrific!"

After taking a few breaths, Andrew then said to him. "Well thanks anyway, Podler. We appreciate the help."

"Anytime, Presto," Podler waved at him as Andrew and his friends went for the door. "Feel free to stop by anytime. And I'll be waiting for the moment when you'll be making your comeback in the Glitz Pit one day! Take care!"

"Yeah. You too," Andrew sighed as he closed the door once the eight of them left the Juice Bar.

"Hey, Presto? You 'starting' to sense a pattern here or something?" Yoshiam frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. "Because I sure do, and it 'definitely' reeks of some funny business. This General White person is certainly cheesing me off with all the traveling we've been doing just to find him!"

"I feel the same way," Andrew agreed. "All we can do is head to the Great Tree and hope that he's there."

"By the stars, I am certainly astounded by visiting there again," Flurrie had to gush. "I can hardly wait to see how those adorable little Punies have been doing, and if they've been doing quite all right, darling."

"I'm pretty sure they have been," Andrew smiled lightly as he approached Stewart. "Well, let's head to the Great Tree."

"Gotcha, Andrew," Goombella nodded.

All eight of them took the Cheep Blimp back to Rogueport, where they'll then go back into the sewers and make their way to the Great Tree that's in the Boggly Woods. Needless to say, Andrew was feeling his patience being tested to the limit right about now. He could only hope that this'll come to an end soon...

---

AT THE GREAT TREE:

Once they made it back to Rogueport, the eight of them made their way to the Rogueport Sewers and headed for the blue pipe that led them to the Great Tree. It didn't take long at all as they found themselves coming out of the blue pipe that was to the far right of the Great Tree.

Andrew had walked through the electronic door that was never taken down, along with his seven friends, as they entered the Great Tree. Andrew took notice that the Punies were all living their usual lives, even though Punio had to deal with the Puni Elder's nagging every once in a while. Flurrie was in awe at how they'd been peacefully living their lives.

Unfortunately, Andrew did not see General White anywhere, and something told him that General White wandered off somewhere else. Hoping that his suspicions weren't correct, he approached the regular Puni that was in front of the entrance and got his attention.

"Excuse me?" Andrew said.

"Oh! Welcome to the Great Tree, Andrew!" The Puni greeted him and Flurrie. "And you too, Madame Flurrie."

"Well! This is certainly a treat!" Flurrie had to gush in admiration. "It's so nice to see you again, you cute adorable Puni, you!"

"Yeah," the Puni said sheepishly. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"Well dearie, we shall make this quick," Flurrie got down to business. "We're looking for this fellow named General White. We had gotten word that he was heading here. 'Pray' tell, do you know who he is?"

"Yeah!" The Puni jumped up and down briefly. "He's an old Bob-omb with this great mustache."

"That's right," Andrew snapped his fingers. "Do you know where he ran off to? We can't find him anywhere in the tree, and we think he might've gone to another location. Do you know where he is?"

"No...I have no idea where he went," the Puni then decided to share with him. "He may have said he was going somewhere dark..."

"Somewhere dark?" Andrew felt his left eye twitch briefly as he did his best to keep his sanity in check. "Great. Now he's gone to Twilight Town."

"Well, thanks again for the useful info, dearie," Flurrie sighed as she told him. "And do take care with your life in the Great Tree. And I daresay, this also goes for the other adorable Punies that live here!"

"We will! Thanks, Madame Flurrie! Take care!" The Puni gave them a farewell. "And good luck with finding General White too, Andrew!"

"Right," Andrew said dryly as he left the Great Tree with his friends.

"Now, I do believe that we shall make our way back to Twilight Town, is that correct?" Flurrie wondered.

"I'm afraid so," Andrew frowned. "We better get this done and over with."

"Hey, Andrew?" Vivian had to ask him. "You OK? You seem a little upset about this. Do you need to take a break?"

"Vivian's right, Andrew," Goombella agreed. "You don't seem down with traveling like this. Maybe we oughta take a break before heading to Twilight Town."

"Look, I appreciate you guys feeling concerned for me. But we don't have time," Andrew told them. "The sooner we get to Twilight Town, the sooner we can catch up to General White."

"OK. If you say so," Vivian still seemed concerned for him. "We'd best get to Twilight Town then if we're gonna have any hopes to catch up with him!"

"Right. But first things first," Andrew took out a black marker. "Bobbery? Ms. Mowz? I'm gonna need to write your names on your backsides. Otherwise, you won't be able to get through the pipe to Twilight Town."

Neither one of them argued as Andrew wrote their names on their backsides. They were able to keep in the sensation that they were feeling from it. In a matter of seconds, he was done.

"There we go," Andrew put the black marker away. "Now we can all get to Twilight Town."

"Harumph! Well, old boy," Bobbery commented. "I must say that that was a rather...peculiar experience that I was put through just now."

"Yes. It was peculiar, wasn't it," Ms. Mowz agreed seductively. "I appreciate the gesture, dearie. And oh, feel free to do that again anytime you like."

"Anytime, guys," Andrew tried not to blush at what Ms. Mowz just said. "Anyway, let's get to Twilight Town."

"Gotcha, Andrew," Goombella agreed. "Let's hope that he's there this time!"

And with that, the eight of them went through that blue pipe and made their way to the pipe that leads to Twilight Town. Andrew felt like his sanity was going to break at any moment. He just knew it. All it would take is for General White to have left Twilight Town the moment they got there...

---

IN TWILIGHT TOWN:

In no time at all, the eight heroes made their way through that pipe that leads to Twilight Town. The place looked as bleak and eerie as it was before. But Andrew wasn't down to sightseeing. He just wanted to find General White already. So he looked around town with his friends.

Unfortunately, just like with all of the other locations, General White was nowhere to be found. He was gone. Andrew feared the worst could happen, but everyone in town didn't know of him.

Eventually, his search led him to talk to a villager that was in front of the Twilight Town Inn. He then got his attention by clearing his throat and speaking.

"Excuse me, sir," Andrew started to say as calmly as he possibly could.

"Oh. Andrew, is that you?" The Twilighter greeted. "Glad to see you back in this dreary town of ours."

"Yeah," Andrew sighed as he nodded.

"Anyway, mister, we'd like to ask you something, if that's all right," Vivian spoke up as she floated over to Andrew's side.

"Sure," the Twilighter then asked. "What do you need?"

"Listen, we're looking for this guy named General White," Vivian got to the point. "We checked the other locations, and it led us back to here. Do you know of him?"

"Yeah, I know that old guy," the Twilighter nodded. "He's a white Bob-omb, right?"

"That's right," Andrew then asked him. "Do you know where he is?"

"He was here until recently," the Twilighter wasted no time in saying that.

"You CAN'T be serious," Andrew's left eye twitched again as he had a forced smile on his face. "Do you know where he ran off to?"

"What am I, his secretary?" The Twilighter proclaimed quite rudely. "He looked tired, I know that."

Andrew now felt his eyebrows furrow as his forced smile morphed into a frown. Not just at his rude response. But also for how General White wasn't here either. This didn't sit well with him, so he stormed off.

"Well, thanks a lot for the help then," Goombella said rather sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "We'll be sure to never speak to you again when we need something."

"Anytime," the Twilighter said rather apathetically.

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Andrew couldn't help but scream furiously. "I'M AT THE END OF MY ROPE, GUYS!"

After taking a few deep breaths, he said while looking red in the face. "We went and checked through every. Single. Location that we've been through so far. And we haven't been ABLE to find GENERAL WHITE in ANY OF THEM!"

"Andrew! Andrew! Please calm down!" Vivian tried to assure him as she rubbed his shoulders. "I know how upsetting it is, and I'm not happy about it either. But don't get so worked up over this."

"She's right, dearie," Flurrie agreed. "It shan't be good, seeing you getting all riled up over being unable to find this strange fellow."

"I know, Vivian and Flurrie. But I can't help it," Andrew said calmly as he frowned. "All this traveling we've done has taken a little toll on me, and we haven't been successful with finding him."

"Yeah... Man..." Koops frowned too as he nodded. "Sure stinks to know we haven't found him yet... Wish we knew where he has gone to now..."

"Yeah! This is 'definitely' stupid, dude," Yoshiam remarked with a huff. "Why can't this General White guy learn to ease up and settle down somewhere? Does the dude think we need the exercise or what?"

"I must say, it is quite a bit exhausting to the legs," Bobbery had to admit. "Still, General White's been that kind of gent for so long. I'm just surprised that he's still got it in him after so much time has gone by."

"Yes. It's easier to find a rare and valuable badge than it is to find this General White character," Ms. Mowz admitted.

"Yeah," Andrew sighed and covered his eyes with both of his hands. "Now I don't know what we should do now..."

"Hey Andrew? Color me obvious, but don'tcha think maybe we oughta go back to Fahr Outpost and give the Mayor the scoop that we can't find him?" Goombella had to suggest to him. "This has become a problem that we 'totally' can't do anything about. So maybe it's best if we see the mayor of Fahr Outpost again, y'know?"

"I guess we don't have a choice, Goombella," Andrew sighed as he uncovered his eyes. "Let's head back to Fahr Outpost, guys."

They all nodded as they followed Andrew to the pipe, as the eight of them left Twilight Town, and were planning to head back to Fahr Outpost to give the mayor the bad news...

---

IN FAHR OUTPOST:

It didn't take long at all for Andrew and his group to make it back to Fahr Outpost after having trekked through the snowy outskirts of the village. As soon as they made it there, they went to the area where the Mayor was standing, right in front of the cannon monument.

Once he saw him, Andrew approached him and sighed. He didn't want to do this, but he had no choice, as he had no idea where General White had disappeared to. When he was in front of him, Andrew cleared his throat and got his attention.

"Excuse me, Mayor?" Andrew started. "We have a problem."

"Da... Yes?" The Mayor gave him a curious look. "What seems to be [problem]?"

"I'm gonna get to the point," Andrew came out with it quickly. "We can't find General White anywhere."

"What? You cannot?" The Mayor was a little shocked by what he was hearing from Andrew.

"That's right," Andrew decided to elaborate further. "We checked every single location that my friends and I had been to so far, and we haven't seen any sight of him. And we aren't sure where he ran off to now."

"Hmmmmmmm... Now, where did he go... This makes trouble for us..." The Mayor was also puzzled about coming up with a solution for this dilemma that they were faced with. "We 'definitely' need him... Otherwise, we cannot even operate that thing... So... What to do..."

As the Fahr Outpost Mayor was saying that, Goombella caught sight of someone opening up the door in a nearby house to the right. It was General White, and he was uttering to himself about wondering where the blue ball cap-wearing muscular hero of a man could have run off to. Goombella was rather shocked by what she just witnessed.

Omigosh! Was... Was that General White who I just saw over there? Goombella thought as she saw him go back into his home. Y'know what? It is! That 'totally' must be General White! I gotta let Andrew know about this!

"Yeah..." Andrew crossed his arms and looked towards the ground. "I'm not sure what we should do either..."

"Hey! Andrew!" Goombella got his attention. "This might sound 'totally' crazy right now, but I just saw General White go into that house right over there!"

"What?" Andrew blinked he saw the house Goombella was pointing to with her right foot. "You saw him go into that house?!"

"Totally!" Goombella yelled with a nod. "My eyes don't lie, y'know? I saw General White go into that house, for sure!"

"Well," Andrew sighed. "Let's go and see him! Come on, guys!"

His group of diverse friends followed his lead as the eight of them went into the house that General White was supposedly in. When they went inside, they were greeted with a surprising sight.

On the bed was General White, and Andrew recognized him. Unfortunately, he had just fallen into a deep slumber, meaning waking him up was very difficult. Andrew wouldn't know that for himself, but he would learn about it before long.

"Well, that's General White all right," Andrew observed him. "He looks just like he did when I first saw him in Petalburg."

"Oh dear. This ain't good. Blast it all," Bobbery witnessed him sleeping as he knew how much of a heavy sleeper General White was. "Old boy? It appears that General White here has taken quite the snooze cruise, as you may call it. And from what I know, waking him up from his slumber is very difficult to achieve. So be on your toes, old bean."

"So he's asleep," Andrew shrugged. "All we have to do is wake him up, and then we'll explain the situation to him. What could 'possibly' go wrong?"

"I hear ya, loud and clear Andrew," Goombella smirked. "We just need to wake him up, and then we'll 'totally' be able to get to the moon in no time!"

"Right. We better get started," Andrew stretched his fingers as he approached the sleeping General White.

The first thing he decided to do was a basic one; announce to him that he's gotta wake up. After taking a deep breath, he decided to let his voice be heard.

"Hey, General White! It's time to wake up!" Andrew yelled at him to wake up, but he didn't budge.

He was still asleep. He was 'actually' getting louder with his snoring. Andrew then tried snapping his fingers loudly next to the sleeping General White several times to get him to react. He was still sound asleep.

Andrew sighed as he tried every gimmick he could think of. He clashed with some cymbals that he found near the general. He blew into a trumpet that was nearby right in his face. And he even banged loudly on a marching drum next to General White. All of which proved to be futile efforts, as the general was still out like a light bulb. 'In fact', he was snoring louder now.

"OK. What other obnoxious loud noises haven't we done yet?" Andrew rubbed his chin before he came up with something.

He took out his Mailbox SP and played the ringtone that would go off every time Princess Peach would send him an email, right next to General White. He was snoring far louder this time. He couldn't be more asleep.

He then had Bobbery blow up right next to General White to get a reaction out of him. Needless to say, Andrew heard the impact of the blast that Bobbery made with his Bomb move that he did next to General White.

Sadly, even though the explosion was loud enough to wake any normal person up from a slumber, General White was not even budging. He was counting sheep by this point as his snoring intensified in loudness. One would wonder if he could even hear his 'own' snoring.

"Ummm... Man," Koops frowned. "He's 'definitely' hard to wake up..."

"By the stars! I am rather shocked beyond words!" Flurrie yelled. "I daresay, I've heard of travel exhaustion in some folks that I've traveled with during my days as a touring actress, but this is a bit too much!"

"What should we do, Andrew?" Vivian asked with a frown. "Nothing we're doing is waking him up."

"Hmmm..." Ms. Mowz came up with an idea. "Maybe I can tickle him, just to see if he'll react."

"Go ahead, Ms. Mowz," Andrew sighed. "Nothing that I've done so far has woken him up."

Ms. Mowz nodded as she jumped up and started tickling General White's belly. She seemed tempted to swipe something from him, but she restrained herself, seeing that she would let Andrew down if she did that.

But alas, as she tickled him, General White didn't even giggle in his sleep. He was sawing logs by now, and that wasn't a good thing. Ms. Mowz jumped off of the bed and landed right next to Andrew.

"Sorry, dearie. I tried," Ms. Mowz sighed. "But that Bob-omb refuses to budge in the slightest."

Andrew then let out an aggravated groan before he had to yell abruptly. "WHY WON'T YOU WAKE UP!?"

This didn't work either, as General White was still snoring away. It was then Andrew had another idea, that was a last resort sort of idea. It seemed drastic, but this situation called for it. He just hoped that it would be able to pay off.

---

TWO MINUTES LATER...

---

In no time at all, Andrew was now in possession of an electric guitar that was plugged into an amp, with the volume set to full blast.

He also had a drumset and bass guitar that two of his friends were gonna use. That's right. Andrew was going to rock out hard with an electric guitar to see if he'd wake up.

Koops was holding a bass guitar, even though seemed reluctant to play it. He was doing it just to help Andrew with waking up the general. The base and head of the bass took the shape of a green Koopa Shell. Koops wanted to get this done and over with.

Yoshiam, meanwhile, was going to play the drumset. Unlike Koops, he was more than eager to do this, as he would be letting out some serious steam upon the nonsense they went through just to find him.

The drumset was simple, being green in color, just like Yoshiam. On the front of the bass drum was a Yoshi Egg; specifically, one that had a red-violet, yellow, and blue spot on the front, just like the one that Yoshiam had hatched from in the first place.

"All right Koops, and Yoshiam," Andrew held his electric guitar correctly. "Are you ready to do this?"

"Aw yeah! Like 'heck' I am! Let's rock out for real, Presto!" Yoshiam yelled eagerly, sounding like he was getting into using the drumset. "I'm more than ready to pump it up and wake up ol' General Rip Van Winkle over there! Let's do it!"

"Ummm... OK. I can do this," Koops sounded a little nervous by this as he gulped. "Let's get this over with..."

"Got it," Andrew grinned. "Let's begin!"

Immediately, what happened next was simple. Andrew, Koops, and Yoshiam were playing their instruments very loudly, as they had performed several rather loud and very heavy thrash metal tunes.

At one point, Andrew was heard doing the infamous metal scream from Angel of Death by Slayer. He performed the entire song to see if General White would wake up, to no avail.

That didn't deter Andrew though, as he was desperate to wake up the sleeping General by all means necessary. As he and his Koopa and Yoshi friends kept playing some loud thrash metal songs, the others were rather perplexed by this.

"Jeepers," Goombella winced. "If this doesn't wake up General White, I dunno what will."

"Mercy me! Andrew is quite the bold and savage, yet rather brave and attractive electric guitar player," Flurrie had to admit. "Though I do suppose that he has the perfect touch to it! He's quite fabulous with it!"

"He sure is," Vivian had to trail off in a slightly dreamy manner.

"Hmm mmm mmm," Ms. Mowz said slyly. "I think Andrew could use a couple of groupies to keep him company in this case."

"Don't even joke about that, Ms. Mowz," Goombella cringed at that. "It's gnarly, and it's 'totally' not funny."

"To each of their own, I suppose," Ms. Mowz shrugged as they continued to watch the three of them rock out.

Eventually, the three of them played some other heavy metal and punk rock songs that were wicked loud and obnoxious in noise. Regardless, all of the songs they were performing had required a metal scream, courtesy of Andrew, who delivered it with ease.

Andrew also felt some vented-up anger being let out of his system from doing this, which seemed so relieving, considering the nonsense that he went through just to find General White.

Their performance eventually led into them performing Smells Like Teen Spirit, which Andrew kicked the intensity up a notch. By the time he was done with singing, Andrew pried the plug to his electric guitar out upon seeing that General White was still sleeping.

He then went ahead and then did a guitar smash with his electric guitar, slamming it into the amps, completely wrecking the guitar and the amps. Koops was a little mortified by this, while Yoshiam was all for doing it himself.

"All right! Right on, Presto!" Yoshiam bellowed. "I've been wanting to break something all day! YOW!"

With that, Yoshiam tore apart his drumset and started slamming each drum through something like a lamp and a pole. Each drum had a hole punctured through the center of it. Yoshiam was even able to toss one of the drums out the door. The bass drum was especially damaged when Yoshiam plowed through it with a Ground Pound, causing a gaping hole to appear in its wake.

Koops had witnessed what they were doing and felt that he had no choice. He reluctantly tried to break his bass guitar, even though he was uncomfortable with doing so. Eventually, after he broke the head off, he felt a loud vibration shake the room, which caused him to flinch and shake along with the noise.

By now, Andrew was all set with wrecking his electric guitar and the amps, while Yoshiam had pretty much demolished his drumset. Andrew was panting and breathing as he felt the adrenaline rush flowing through his brain upon what he had just done.

"Oh yeah! That felt good!" Andrew sounded ecstatic when he yelled at that one. "Now is General White ready to wake up?!"

Sadly, this didn't work either. General White was sleeping like a 'stache baby, by this point. Koops and Yoshiam saw this too, as did Andrew's other friends.

"NRRRRGGGHH!" Andrew growled and pulled on both sides of his head. "That is IT! WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE TO WAKE YOU UP!?"

In a rather strange fit of blind rage, Andrew charged over and started jumping on top of General White multiple times with his Power Bounce. In other words, he was jumping on him to wake him up, and Goombella took notice of this.

"Omigosh! Andrew!" Goombella gasped. "Let me help you with that!"

In a matter of seconds, Goombella then went and jumped on top of General White too, by using her Multibonk. Yoshiam felt left out, as he had to do something too.

"Aw c'mon! Don't leave me hanging, man!" Yoshiam yelled. "I'm gonna help out too!"

Yoshiam then did a flutter-jump until he was right above General White. In a matter of seconds, he joined Andrew and Goombella in jumping on the general with a Ground Pound, which had him caught in an endless loop of Ground Pounding. Andrew and Goombella, meanwhile, continued to use their Power Bounce and Multibonk, respectively.

The others all watched them do this to General White, including Koops, who was sighing in relief that he didn't have to do anything else to wake up General White.

"Great Goobery! Not even that blasted noise that the old boy played was enough to wake up General White," Bobbery had to exclaimed. "It still astounds me to see General White be able to sleep through anything, even after so much time has gone by. I must say, not even playing some ruffian music is enough to shake him, eh?"

"Gee whiz," Koops sighed. "Sure hope he wakes up soon..."

No one else said anything as they continued to watch Andrew, Goombella, and Yoshiam jump on top of General White to see if he'd budge. True, he was still snoring away. But it was just a matter of time before he finally came to and woke up at long last.

---

Luckily for the eight heroes, all that work was finally paying off when a noise was being emitted from General White himself.

"Guhh-norf, snorf, norf..." As soon as that was heard, Andrew, Goombella, and Yoshiam stopped jumping on him and got off the bed.

On cue, General White finally sat up, jumped up, and stood up on his bed. He then let out a yawn before he noticed Andrew in his house, with his seven friends right behind him.

"Now, who are you?" General White asked with a rather groggy and downer tone of voice. "I am tired... I do not need your attention... I just want to sleep, as it is all hopeless..."

Andrew couldn't help but exchange looks with his seven friends at this. General White still sounded like he had lost his hopes and dreams, which had resulted from the Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon Crisis. After a few moments of silence, Andrew found his voice and then said to him.

"Uh, General White?" Andrew started to ask as he raised an eyebrow.

Instead of responding though, General White had observed Andrew closely, as he realized that his description matched what he was looking for.

"Hut? Those...muscles. That ballcap... And that bat, even..." General White was convinced as he fully shot his eyes awake. "Hut-hut! I have been looking everywhere for you!"

Andrew was now flabbergasted. Did General White just say that he was looking for him? Was that why General White was traveling to all of the locations that he had been to previously? Was it because he had hopes that he would still be in those places?

"Wuh...What? You... You've been looking for me?" Andrew was barely able to find his voice. "Why?"

"Well... To bring that cannon back online!" General White had to declare.

Andrew was at a loss; this seemed WAY too coincidental to be real. Andrew had to give Bobbery a look, which Bobbery took notice of as he stepped up and got General White's attention.

"Ahem! A thousand pardons for a moment, General White," Bobbery started saying. "But I do believe that it's nice to finally meet up with you again after so long, old boy."

"Hut?" General White was able to recognize Bobbery on the spot. "Why, if it isn't Admiral Bobbery? It's been way too long since we've last met, dear boy. A pleasure to see you again, old chum."

"Likewise. It's been a pleasurable surprise," Bobbery nodded before he asked him. "Anyway, old boy, you mentioned how you've been looking for Andrew this whole time. And that you've been looking to bring that cannon back online. Whatever do you mean by that, if I may ask?"

"Well Bobbery, my old friend, you've already known that I had lost my life's work..." General White explained to him and to the others too. "My very reason to live... I found myself at wit's end... Especially thanks to the Fahr Outpost Big Bomb Cannon Crisis from October of '62 that left my job in a vulnerable state to those seeking the cannon for malicious purposes...I was in bad shape..."

Bobbery had an expression that encouraged General White to continue. General White turned to face Andrew before he said the next part was crucial evidence that Andrew needed.

"And then the Rogueport fortune-teller told me... 'Seek the man with the blue ballcap...and the yellow-orange handkerchief...the one with the baseball bat and the muscles... He will fulfill your dreams.'" General White cleared his throat before he finished up. "Or something like that..."

Andrew was now fully convinced. He figured out that somewhere along the line, there's been a slight miscommunication when it came to Andrew needing to find General White, and vice versa. Was it possible that fate was allowing this to take place?

Regardless, this was all he needed to convince him that he needed to use the cannon with his friends to get to the moon and save the world.

"Uh, yeah. About that," Andrew tugged on his handkerchief before he stated. "General White? We need to use the cannon to help me and my friends here with saving the entire world."

"Hut? You're telling the truth?" General White thought he misheard him for a moment there.

"That's right," Andrew confirmed with a nod.

"Hip-hip-HOOOORAH!" General White sounded over the moon when he shouted that. "That fortune-teller was right!"

"I guess so," Andrew smiled sheepishly at that.

"So, what are we waiting for?" General White was more than eager to start operating the cannon again after so many years had gone by. "I shall get the cannon ready, so go tell the mayor! Now get moving! Hut-hut!"

"Right," Andrew uttered while giving him a salute.

With that, General White jumped off of his bed, as he then marched outside to get preparations for the Big Bomb Cannon ready to be used. Andrew only watched him leave as the adrenaline rush he was feeling earlier was starting to wear off. And that meant only one thing.

"All right! This is 'totally' AWESOME!" Goombella beamed while jumping up and down. "Now we can use that cannon to get us to the..."

Goombella was unable to finish her sentence as the sound of someone collapsing onto the floor was heard.

It was Andrew. He had fallen onto the floor and was out cold. All of the traveling that he did to find General White, combined with all of the futile attempts to wake him up had left him in a state of exhaustion. And all seven of his friends took notice as they rushed over to him.

"OMIGOSH! ANDREW!" Goombella yelled as she saw him fall over.

"Ummm... Wow..." Koops blinked. "Sure seemed exhausted after everything we've been through... Man... You suppose that he's sleeping or something?"

"Oh, my! Mercy me!" Flurrie cried dramatically as she picked up her darling Andrew. "The poor man is tired. And I shan't blame him for it. What with all the traveling nonsense that he's done, and how he tried his hardest to wake the General White fellow up. I do believe that we must let him sleep for a bit before we can use the cannon to reach the blessed moon!"

"Yeah. Sheesh," Yoshiam frowned at this. "Presto gave it his all in trying to find him and wake him up. He seemed wiped out by the time we were done traveling. That's for sure."

"You think Andrew is going to be OK?" Vivian asked with concern. "He's not gonna get sick again from what he's been through, is he?"

"That's hogwash, if I must say. The old boy is simply exhausted is all," Bobbery exclaimed. "All that he needs is some rest, and I daresay, he'll be in tip-top shape soon enough. That is for certain."

"Hmm mmm, yes. We might want to let him rest at the Inn before we use that cannon," Ms. Mowz proclaimed slyly as she got out an Inn Coupon she found. "I believe we can make full use of this so Andrew can get some rest there, free of charge."

"OK. I dunno how you found that Inn Coupon, but you're right," Goombella sighed. "Andrew 'totally' needs some rest before we go to the moon, and claim that last Crystal Star."

"Did you expect anything less from yours truly?" Ms. Mowz asked slyly before adding. "By the way, I found that behind the stairs in front of the inn, in case you're wondering where I got it from."

"It doesn't matter how you got it or where you found it," Goombella sighed. "What does matter is that we need Andrew to get some rest at the Inn before we can be blasted out of that cannon, where we'll be heading to the moon. C'mon! Let's get him to the Inn!"

They all nodded in agreement as the seven of them escorted a sleeping Andrew to the Inn to get some rest, with Flurrie being the one to carry him safely there.

They knew that once Andrew was well-rested and fully awake, they could all use the Big Bomb Cannon to get to the moon, and then they'd finally be one step closer to getting the final Crystal Star.

Needless to say, they were going to be in for a rather thrilling trip on the moon once they finally got there. There was no doubt about that at all...

---

END OF CHAPTER 67...

Well, that's it for this chapter. Whew. This was yet another wicked long chapter that I've written. I've been writing rather long chapters lately, but hey. I've been adding some character depth to some of the characters here, such as how Pa-Patch has come to see Admiral Bobbery as an idol. Don't be surprised.

Still, poor Andrew. You can feel for him here, especially since he has to go through the nonsense of hunting for General White in all of the locations that he's been to previously, and then has trouble waking him up when he finds him sleeping in his home.

This was a jab to the ridiculous amount of backtracking needed to find him, especially with how Andrew went to extreme lengths to wake him up, even performing some thrash metal tunes. Still, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even with how long it is.

Anyway, aside from that, I don't have much to say here. The next chapter is pretty simple. It'll involve the eight heroes getting blasted from the Big Bomb Cannon after Andrew has been fully rested, and it'll show the sequence with preparations for the blastoff.

They'll get blasted through space and land on the moon safely, where they'll then tour the moon to find out where the last Crystal Star and Peach is located, and they'll stumble upon a suspicious building. And some other stuff will occur too. How will this go for the eight of them? Read and find out next time, readers!

For now, only if you like, you can leave a review, and let me know what you thought about this chapter overall.

Otherwise, that's all I have for now. So until next time, I do hope you look forward to the remainder of Chapter 7. And on that note, thanks again for reading, everyone!