The entire tower had different levels dedicated to the four Bibliofolds, each floor having two of them on each; earth and water, fire and ice. Olivia was clearly having the time of her life as they allowed her to be the elevator assistant as they rode it from the fire and ice floor to the uppermost level of the tower.
"And this is the final floor. Here you can find the Purple Streamer." She smiled, placing her hands in the front of her dress again. "How was that? Did I do better that time?"
"Yes, you-a did!" Mario clapped.
"It was so strange," Stephen muttered. "All of those Toads that were trapped to the walls...Peculiar."
"There might be somebody up here too, so be careful."
"Yeah, listen to teh goirly!"
Mario watched as a secondary elevator carried up an oversized roll of tape, trapped within a dispenser. The dispenser, much like Colored Pencils' lid and Hole Punch's handle, matched the color of the streamer. Olly's insignia was on either side of the dispenser, almost taunting Mario with how easy it was to reach with a simple hammer strike.
"I knew that was going to happen!"
"Ya think ya can challenge teh Shifty Sticker? Well, think again! I'm teh toughest member of teh Legion, and I don't play fair either!"
"I don't think it was a good idea to admit that," Stephen shot back.
"Eeeh, shuddup! Ya're nothin' but a good-fa-nothin' Toad! I'll stick yar ugly face to teh tower like I did teh rest!"
"Well, you think you're so tough?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah, yar story ends here!"
"Well, you're nothing but a tacky roll of tape! Yeah, that was good."
"TACKY?! Who are ya callin' tacky, Origami goirl?!" The dispenser hopped up and down in anger, shaking the entire ground. "I'll punch ya face in! Oh wait, I don't got hands...I know! I'll tear ya ta shreads! Yeah, tat was good."
"Not if Mario has something to say about it!" She pointed a hand at Tape. "Get him, Mario! You too, Stephen!"
"Yaaaa!" The two charged for the dispenser.
Tape moved from Stephen's shovel, and Mario smashed a side of the dispenser. Tape whirled, only to get a shovel to the back of the dispenser.
"Grr..." Tape growled, being overwhelmed from both sides. He couldn't turn too quickly in that dispenser of his, so Mario and Stephen were beating him easily.
"You've got this, guys! Go, go!"
Mario crushed the final piece of the dispenser, the roll of tape falling to the ground along with the shattered dispenser. Mario and Stephen high-fived, and Olivia joined them.
"Now, let's find a Magic Circle so we can get rid of the streamer!"
"Heheheh..."
Tape flipped up from the ground, the loose tape drooping downwards. Mario and Stephen prepared their selves.
"Ya think ya got me! Tat's why I'm not weak like teh othas!" He shook, the tape flipping up. "Ya wanna fight? Ya wanna FIGHT?"
The metal piece from the dispenser was now used to force the loose tape into a curved shape-it almost acting as hair-and preventing Mario from jumping on him.
"Then let's have a rematch! Me and teh red guy!"
"Waaah!" Stephen rushed away as Tape rolled across the ground, sticking bits of tape to the area around them.
"Heheheh! Try ta git past tat!"
Stephen stepped on a piece of the tape and fell. His foot was still trapped to the tape; and no matter how much he pulled, it would never come apart.
"Mario, watch out for the tape!" Stephen warned.
"Got that!" Mario sent a thumbs-up his way.
Mario had Olivia find a Magic Circle and, when she did, used it to flip Tape around. He shoved the spiked metal into the ground to make sure he stayed put.
"Nooo! I won't lose to a buncha creeps like ya!"
"That's for-a me to decide." Mario grabbed the loose tape. "Wahoo!"
He kept pulling at the tape until the roll had been cleared off. His arms returned to normal, and the tape vanished from the ground. Stephen joined Mario's side.
"Aah! Boss! It hoits! It hoits! Help me, boss! Do somethin'!" Tape's empty rolled flopped around, then fell silent. "Eeeh, fugitaboutit..." He snickered. "Teh boss ain't going ta be too happy 'bout tis, Origami goirl. I can tell ya tat much."
"I think we can handle whatever my brother throws at us now, Tape. We're ready for anything."
His snickers faded. "Eeh, it was fun while it lasted. Guess ya can have ya stinkin' Toads back now. I wanted a motorcycle too, but boss HAD ta say no..." His roll began falling into ash. "Tell boss I tried, 'kay?"
"O-okay..." Olivia promised.
They watched Tape's ashes float away in the breeze. Olivia frowned.
"Oh, these just keep getting worse and worse, don't they?" She guided Tape's energy to the Magic Circle. "There you go, Mario. Do your stuff."
Mario destroyed the streamer, watching the confetti fly from the spool. Looking up, he spotted the green streamer up in the clouds.
"Look!" Stephen noticed it as well. He pointed a hand up at the streamer. "How do we get up there?"
Olivia pointed out the four Vellumental statues around the circular top of the tower. Each was being blocked off by an elemental blockade.
The same Magic Circle from Diamond island stood in front of each locked-away statue. Olivia went over to Chikyū's statue first. It was above them on a raised pile of rocks and dirt.
"Chikyū..." Olivia used the Magic Circle to lower the statue, and Mario pressed the big red button on it.
Olivia repeated that process of using the Vellumental's abilities to make the statues accessible. The ability needed matched the statue; Lemon's needed water, Seraphina's needed fire, and Kōri's needed ice. The statues eyes lit up in unison, the elevator Tape rode up on transforming into a beam of brilliant light.
"Ooh, pretty!"
"You can use ALL of them?!" Stephen gasped.
Olivia nodded. "Yeah, I freed them from my brother's control, and they let me use their powers! Cool, huh?"
"I-I-I-I..."
"I wonder where this takes us," Olivia questioned, ignoring Stephen's shocked reaction. "Should we see? It looks like it'll teleport us somewhere!"
Mario stepped onto the platform, Stephen and Olivia following suit. They were ingulfed in light and found themselves by a building, the area around them strangely bright white. Olivia rubbed her hand on the ground.
"It's clouds? You can stand on clouds here? Cool!"
"This isn't natural, Olivia," Stephen corrected. "Wherever we are, it seems like the sky is the ground."
"There's a building! Let's go inside!" Olivia flew off towards the white building.
Once inside, a group of angelic Toads came to greet them, becoming shocked once they lay eyes upon Olivia. They went to the front desk, that Toad's eyes becoming wider as they drew near.
"Mani? Is that you? You look as youthful as ever, my Queen!"
"Mani? Queen?! No, I'm Olivia and the crowned one is my brother, Olly!"
"Ah, apologies. You look just like her, so I thought you were..."
"You thought I was her, I get it. That's the fourth time today." She glanced back at the Toads. "Um...fifth? Tenth?"
"We want to get to the Green Streamer," Stephen explained.
"Ah, that thing. It has been a curse upon this place since its arrival. It would help greatly if you were to dispose of it."
"They talk like Kaaptan Teeowed," Olivia mentioned. "Do you think they-"
"You are an Ancient One?!" Stephen pulled out his journal. "Tell me everything! Why did you build Sea Tower? What relations do you have to the Vellumentals? Who is Mani and why do you say Olivia looks like her? These things need answers, sir, and I don't have all day!"
"Did you say Kaaptan Teeowed?! Why that thief is still alive? He deserves to have his hands removed for his crimes!"
"Um..." Olivia started.
"He stole the Spa Marino from the King Shrooms! It's the only way to access Diamond Island!"
"We were just there-" Olivia began.
"The king punished him, but the fact he's still alive and well makes me so infuriated! What if he returns? He'll steal more from us, no doubt!"
"He was nice-" Olivia tried.
"Ooh, I'll bet that he's just dying to return to the skies! He even stole the Queen from us! That criminal!"
"Maybe I should just stop talking now..."
They received a card from the Toad, who told them that they earn a prize if they visit the four spas in Shangri Spa, as the area was named.
"Spas? I've never been to a spa before! This sounds really great! can we go, please?"
"Maybe after the streamer, Olivia," Stephen told.
"Aww, boo."
They left, passing a spa despite how upset Olivia was, and exited through another door. There stood a familiar face, sweeping the grounds of the main area.
"Kemek!" Mario called.
Kemek faced him, the sun glimmering off his glasses lenses. "Mario? Have you come here to mock me too?"
"What? No-a way! What are you-a doing here?"
"I'm being a groundskeeper," Kemek sighed. "This is what I get for crashing Lord Bowser's Castle..."
"Bowser? We know a Bowser!" Olivia claimed. "He was named Squareser though, because of his weird square shape."
"Lord Bowser's been folded? Oh dear, oh gosh! We need to fix this but..."
"What's wrong?" Stephen wondered.
"There's this crazy Folded Soldier blocking access to the castle! If only we could fly up and get rid of it, but this broom isn't magic."
Fueled by disbelief, Mario followed Kemek to the castle. Kemek let Mario walk forwards a few paces, only for Mario to almost get electrocuted from a storm cloud above them. Mario rushed back over to Kemek, and the shadow from the dark cloud diminished.
"Okie dokie, you were-a right," he panted.
"What did I say? I'm always right!" Kemek boasted.
"Kemek!"
Bowser Junior, Bowser's young son, came hurrying over on his Clown Kart. Kemek had a smile appear on his face.
"That's it! We can use young master's Clown Kart to get up there! Brilliant as always, Kemek." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Young master! Come over here!"
"Have you seen da-"
He was interrupted by a quick silver blur that passed him three separate times. He fell to the ground in pieces, landing into a puddle of mud.
"Young master!" Kemek rushed over and picked up the sliced pieces of the child. "What was that?!"
"It was so fast," Stephen added. "I couldn't see what that was!"
"Oh, young master...Lord Bowser will kill me if he saw you like this. We need to find a way to fix him, and quick."
"The spas sound so nice right now," Olivia suggested. "It'll calm your stress right away, I'll bet!"
"Wait, that's it! I overheard that the spas here have healing properties! We can restore young master to his rowdy, chaotic self!"
Kemek led them back to the spa they had passed previously, only for it to be filled with origami Chargin' Chucks. Mario got rid of them first, then put a foot into the water.
"Hoo! Ha, ha! Aaah..." The water went up to his neck, Mario being a relatively short man in general.
Kemek stepped in as well, tossing Junior's sliced pieces into the water. "Make sure to soak your whole body."
"Oh...should I? I could get soggy, or worse!"
"Stop worrying," Stephen said. "This spa used special minerals that make the water unable to get you soggy."
"Okay..." Olivia removed her crown and sank into the water, up to her head. "Oh! Aaahh...That's good...So good..."
Junior's pieces sank into the water, staying under the surface for a moment before the child popped back out, in once piece and energetic as ever.
"Yah! I'm back! Now we can go back to finding dad!"
"Not quite yet," Kemek said, eyeing the stains, dirt, and creases on him. "You still need to be fixed, young master."
"Aww! But I don't want to take any more baths! I was already supposed take one later so I can be clean for the festival!"
"If you do this, you'll be so clean you won't have to take any more for the rest of the week," Kemek told.
"Really? Dad has a pretty bad temper about the schedule..."
Kemek nodded. "I'll make sure of it, great one."
"Yay! I'm thirteen, I wish he'd just back off already!"
"Take a break at the spa, and make sure to wash all," Olivia sang, "your cares and stress away. Shangri Spa is open, today! Hey, that should be their slogan."
"Hey!" Junior gasped. "What's Mario doing here? We gonna fight?"
"We have better things to do than fight Mario for the millionth time," Kemek said sternly. "We need your Jr. Clown Kart so Mario can reach that cloud blocking access to the castle so we can find your father."
"Oh, Mario's gonna help me find dad? Okay, we're buddies for now, but don't expect me to be nice!"
The next spa they went to was the Spring of Sanctuary. Mario fought off a group of origami Goombas and waited for Olivia to join him.
"Aaahh...This one feels just as good as the last..." Olivia muttered under the water.
"Make sure to-" Kemek began before getting cut off by Junior mimicking talking with his hand.
"Soak everything, I know!" Junior finished, ducking under the refreshing pool.
"Mmm...these are quite nice, are they not?" Stephen moved in next to Mario.
"Yah," Mario agreed.
Junior popped back up, splashing water all over everybody. "Okay, I'm done! Let's go find da-"
"You're still creased and, ah! Those muddy smears! Lord Bowser would kill me if you came in like that!"
Junior let out a heavy sigh. "Fine, more baths it is..."
The third was the Spring of Jungle Mist, but that one took a while to get to. They had to traverse through a forest, while also trying to not get eaten by a Paper Macho Chain Chomp along the way. When they finally arrived, Mario couldn't be happier to see a pool of water that cleaned dirt.
Except it was completely drained of water.
After refilling the pool, Junior excitedly jumped inside. He was only excited because he wished the day to be done and over with, and Kemek told him it'd go by faster with a happy attitude. Mario, Kemek, Stephen, and Olivia followed as he sank beneath the water.
"Nothing like a soak to make your feet stop hurting," Kemek said.
Mario agreed with a nod.
Junior came back up. "Well, I'm clean now. Right? All that's left is the creases now, right?"
"Yes, young mas-HOLY GUACAMOLE! Young master, your color! You're completely white!"
"Aah! Not white! My bandana!" He brought his trademark bandana into a sad embrace, Mario knowing full well how much that article of clothing meant to the boy.
Mario pat Junior on the back. "There-a there, Junior. We'll fix your-a color."
Junior left out a huff. He clearly didn't want Mario's help, but at least he wasn't tied into a battle with the plumber. He had faced off with Junior far too many times already, especially being counted as Bowser's ally. Bowser failed to admit it, but it was true; he had partnered up with Bowser many times already, and today will count towards another.
The next spa was the Spring of Bliss. Mario had to fix a non-bottomless hole on the pipe for the cool water otherwise they would have burned. He turned the cold water on, then went to the pool of water. Kemek and Junior forced Mario to test the temperature of the water first.
"Mm," Stephen sighed happily, "this is better than anything in the desert, that's for sure."
Mario closed his eyes, enjoying the soak. Olivia was also staying silent, a change from her usually chatty personality. Kemek and Stephen shared a little conversation before Junior arrived, clean of the creases.
Wait, creases?
"Aah! Mario, Olivia!" Kemek's voice called.
Mario poked open an eye, turning to face Olivia. Her paper was mostly unfolded, floating atop the water.
"Mamma mia! Olivia!"
They exited, fished Olivia's paper from the pool, and sat it down on the ground.
"First, we'll need to drain out the water," Kemek explained. "Otherwise, she'd be soggy." He started running his hand down the paper repeatedly, applying pressure on every stroke. "Now, we refold." His clawed hands hovered over the paper. "Um...How do I refold her? Based off of her remaining folds, she may have some hidden...what are these? Valley folds?"
Kemek attempted to fold her back, stopping occasionally for fold reminders from Mario.
"I do Lord Bowser's laundry all the time, so I'm quite experienced at folding."
"Yeah," Junior followed up with a nod, "she's starting to look like one of dad's shirts now!"
Once the final fold had been completed, Olivia weakly sat up. She placed a hand on Mario's chest for support.
"Uhg...Thanks Kemek..." She answered slowly. "I guess I got too relaxed...I completely unfolded..."
Junior pointed a hand at the sign by the entrance to the pool. "No, this fixes folds and creases. You almost died from water, Olivia."
Olivia floated off from the ground, fixing her hair and crown. "Wow...maybe I should be more careful from now on..."
The prize was a visit to a hidden spa known as the Spring of Rainbows. The Toad told them it could restore Junior's colors. The path was a bit hard to traverse, but easier than the Spring of Jungle Mist. Until, that is, they got near the end. The path had been blocked, and Mario had to walk on a thin path against strong winds to reach the other end of the pipe to remove Olly's seal from the exit. Kemek, Stephen, and Junior rejoined with Mario through the pipe.
They had to complete this crazy game show named Shy Guys Finish Last. It started off easy, but progressively became harder and harder. Mario almost got blasted through the ceiling from a canon; and would have if Olivia had gotten the answer wrong. After the game, the four of them were dropped through a trapdoor into a circular pool of rainbow-colored water.
Junior excitedly splashed back up from the water, his colors returned and even brighter than before. "Yay! I'm finally done with the baths! NOW we can save dad, right Kemek?"
"Yes, now we can go save your father." He faced Mario. "Let's get rid of that storm cloud and the streamer."
