OK, readers. This is the 77th chapter of this story!
Now, I've been meaning to get to this chapter for a while. This chapter is 'basically' focused on the eight heroes engaging in the second fight with the Shadow Sirens; which consists of Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss. All eight of them will be eager to give them a thrashing since they didn't get enough the first time.
As I said previously, this chapter will contain several character growth moments amongst the eight heroes, with Andrew no longer doubting himself, especially after seeing that Doopliss has been reduced to being Beldam's punching bag and being utterly pathetic.
And of course, Vivian will get the big character growth here by showcasing far more confidence as she can stand up against her sister Beldam, which Andrew wholeheartedly approves of.
Other character growth moments here that'll be on display will include Koops showcasing far more courage while fighting the Shadow Sirens, which comes as a result of beating Gloomtail.
Yoshiam planning to defend Andrew's title, and give Doopliss a thrashing for stealing Andrew's identity in the first place. And Bobbery will showcase some explosive techniques with the moves he has already that he had been able to master in Navy, and that Scarlette was always impressed by them.
And of course, Goombella and Flurrie are finally able to let go of their past irritation and run-ins with Ms. Mowz after the three of them team up together, and the Goomba and Wind Spirit will finally admit that they have some respect for the Little Mouser afterwards.
All of that will be shown, along with the fight being memorable and epic, and some other stuff will be included too. How will this go for Andrew and his seven friends? Read and find out, now!
IN THE PALACE GARDEN - INSIDE THE PALACE OF SHADOW:
By now, the eight heroes had left the Riddle Tower and went back over to the bridges by using Boat Mode to get there. All seven of Andrew's friends hung onto Andrew as he stepped onto the Boat Panel and turned into a paper boat. He sailed across the moat until he reached the other Boat Panel on the other side.
Once he was there, he turned back to normal and stood on the Boat Panel again, with his friends letting go of him. Andrew then stepped off of the Boat Panel and pointed to the door towards the right.
"Let's go that way, guys," Andrew pointed. "There might be a new passageway that'll lead us to the cataclysm."
"Of course," all seven of them said in unison as they followed Andrew across the bridge.
Once they made it past the bridge to the right, they were just about to head to the door that was a few feet ahead of them. However, before they could reach it, they heard a familiar voice that got all of them on edge.
"We've been waiting for you, Andrew..." That familiar cold, creaky crone's voice uttered, which got Andrew to furrow his eyebrows.
Oh great... Andrew grumbled in his thoughts. Tell me that's NOT who I think it is...
Then right on cue, Beldam and Marilyn emerged from the shadows, popping up right in front of the eight heroes. Andrew's suspicions were right, as he reacted on the spot.
"You guys again!?" Andrew howled in irritation with gritted teeth.
Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz all felt the same irritation from Beldam and Marilyn's sudden appearance.
Before they could voice their thoughts on this though, Professor Frankly emerged from the door that was behind Beldam and Marilyn, and the 'professor' casually walked over to join Beldam and Marilyn.
As he stood there in a nonchalant manner, all eight heroes had to react at his sudden appearance, and why he was here and not keeping the likes of the Shadow Sirens out of the Palace of Shadow.
"What the?!" Andrew had to wipe his eyes at this.
"What?!" Goombella was startled to see her 'own' professor siding with the likes of Beldam and Marilyn.
"Huh?!" Koops had to shake his head, as he felt that he was seeing things.
"Oh, my gracious!" Flurrie gasped as she looked like she had swooned by what she saw.
"Whoa!" Yoshiam yelped in surprise as he jumped.
"Huh?!" Vivian was bewildered by what she was seeing as she adjusted her witch hat.
"What-what?!" Bobbery felt like something ticked inside of him as he looked at the 'professor' in a perplexed manner.
"What?!" Ms. Mowz felt her heart-shaped tail stiffen up as she adjusted her Zorro mask.
"Professor Frankly?! What are YOU doing here?!" All seven of Andrew's friends had to yell simultaneously at this unexpected plot twist.
"Yeah Professor?! What are you doing here?! I thought you were gonna stand guard outside the door and keep the likes of Beldam and Marilyn out!" Andrew yelled before he groaned, pinched the bridge of his nose, and shook his head. "Well, so much for preventing the Shadow Sirens from coming in through here..."
Andrew didn't know the truth about the professor's identity. And neither did his friends. But they would find out in a few minutes. It all started when Beldam threw her head back and started cackling at how they were reacting to seeing 'Frankly' with them. She then had the gall to say this next comment to the muscular man.
"Thank you SO much for opening the door for us, Andrew!" Beldam was rather condescending when she said that. "Yes, that was nice!"
She then pointed towards the eight heroes and told them rather ominously. "Thanks to your do-gooder predictability, my plan is progressing very smoothly..."
Andrew felt a little unsettled by how Beldam referred to this as her plan instead of it being Sir Grodus's plan. Could there be something that he's missing from all of this? What did she mean by that?
He didn't get to think it through when Vivian was able to step up and make the next comment.
"Sis?! H-How dare you!" Vivian yelled with a frown and her hands curled into fists.
"Yeah! Opening the door for you?!" Andrew stepped up next to Vivian as he glowered at Beldam. "What's THAT supposed to mean? Because as far as I'm concerned, YOU are the last person that I'd be willing to open the Thousand-Year Door for!"
Beldam didn't even flinch when Andrew pointed furiously towards her when he said that. She couldn't help but shake her head and let out her trademark cackle at the fact that these eight bumbling heroes were as ignorant as the rest of the Earth's population.
"Mwee hee hee hee hee!" Beldam cackled before crossing her arms confidently. "So you still don't see it?"
"See WHAT?!" Andrew barked, feeling his patience with the shadow crone slipping away in a matter of seconds, while Beldam remained as confident as ever.
"Ah, such fools..." Beldam then decided to spell it out for them while continuing to be condescending. "The 'Professor Frankly' you were with when you opened the Thousand-Year Door... Was none other than this little freak-in-a-sheet!"
Then right on cue, 'Professor Frankly' was engulfed by familiar purple smoke. Once the smoke cleared out, Frankly was revealed to be none other, than Doopliss. Andrew and his friends all jaw-dropped at this revelation and how they were fooled.
"Uh, yeah, my name's Doopliss, but..." Doopliss uttered under his breath as Andrew came to his senses.
"How come we didn't see THAT coming!?" Andrew yelled in shock. "That would explain why Frankly was acting suspiciously and gave us that bogus theory! He wasn't Professor Frankly at all! He was Doopliss!"
"So, we've been shellwinked again?" Koops asked while rubbing his temple.
"I'm afraid so," Andrew frowned at this.
By now, Goombella was fuming about what she had just learned, and she had demanded answers as to the whereabouts of her archaeology professor, and what the Shadow Sirens had done to him.
"What did you DO to the real Professor Frankly then?!" Goombella spat venomously, something Andrew took notice of, and he couldn't blame her for it either. "Huh, you total hag?!"
"Mwee hee hee hee hee!" Beldam cackled as she remained unfazed by how Goombella was trying to intimidate her. "The real Frankly is sleeping off a nasty bump on the head in a closet somewhere!"
Goombella felt some steam coming out from her head, which was a sign that she was full-blown furious by how callous Beldam was being and that she had no qualms with hurting her archaeology professor.
"Poor thing!" Beldam said with mock sympathy, which caused a vein to pop in Andrew's head.
The urge to thrash and pummel Beldam once again was growing stronger by the second, as he had curled his hands into fists and gritted his teeth furiously. Beldam dismissed that as she pointed her finger towards them.
"And once we get rid of you here, our plan will be nearly complete!" Beldam then sneered at them, especially towards Andrew and Vivian. "Ready for the end, my dears? You and that traitor Vivian have a date with eternity!"
"Guh-huh!" Marilyn grunted eagerly, willing to go along with Beldam's scheme.
"That's right, Slick! Eternity!" Doopliss spat, trying to show that he was willing to dispose of them too.
Beldam did not like how Doopliss was getting involved with letting the heroes know what they thought of them. So she turned around and gave Doopliss an angry look before hissing at him and raising her hand.
"Shut up, freak!" Beldam barked at him as she slapped him, getting him to settle down.
"Oh, OK... Right... Sorry..." Doopliss apologized meekly as if he had just got on her bad side.
"Jeepers! I can't believe what I'm seeing," Goombella shook her head. "Doopliss is 'basically' Beldam's punching bag now. I ALMOST feel some pity for him."
"Don't feel too much pity for him, Goombella," Andrew told her. "Remember? He stole my name and identity."
"I know," Goombella deadpanned. "That's what I meant when I said 'almost'. I haven't forgotten."
"OK," Andrew sighed in relief. "That's good to know."
Their attention was turned back towards Beldam, and how she was planning on finishing them off and putting them in their place. She forgot the beating that she endured from Andrew the first time. So it would seem that they'll have to show her and her teammates again.
"Oh, it's the end, all right...but not for us, Beldam!" Goombella sneered, still furious at how the Shadow Sirens did something awful to her archaeology professor. "You guys are going DOWN!"
"YOU guys are the ones who are done for!" Koops yelled, feeling a bunch of bravery coming from his voice as if he had become strong like his father. "Let's settle this, once and for all!"
"Oh, I do believe it is YOU who will fall today, dear!" Flurrie shook her head in displeasure as she got her hands ready to fight them. "Let's settle this, hmm?"
"No way we go down, sister! You want a piece of this?" Yoshiam howled, shaking his fist at her as he was eager to start thrashing away with them. "Bring it on!"
"I'm with Andrew 'all the way!'" Vivian declared her loyalty to Andrew as she floated next to him before telling Beldam furiously. "Today, sis... I'm going to punish YOU, you hear me?"
Andrew couldn't help but smirk at this, as he was fond that Vivian was standing up to Beldam and was going to put HER in her place. It was a moment that he deeply admired as Bobbery then said his part next.
"Such balderdash!" Bobbery huffed, looking like he was going to light his fuse and blow up on them for their insolence. "It's quite obvious you are in for a stomping, so let's have at it!"
"Oh, I think YOU'RE the ones who will be smarting after this!" Ms. Mowz told them as she cracked her fingers. "Let's finish it!"
"You guys just LOVE getting beatings and thrashings by the likes of us, don't you?" Andrew said his part. "Very well, then. Since you creeps didn't get enough the first time, we will show you once and for all that you shouldn't underestimate us! And that you shouldn't get it our way! Let's do this!"
Beldam was unfazed by their threats as she turned around and faced them while speaking to Marilyn and Doopliss to get the battle started.
"Come, my sort-of-lovelies!" Beldam snorted. "Marilyn! Freak-sheet!"
"Guhhhhh!" Marilyn nodded while grunting in anticipation at that.
"I said, my name's DOOPLISS!" Doopliss yelled, sounding as upset as a child who was throwing a temper tantrum.
"Wait a minute," Andrew had to do a double take with Doopliss. "THIS is the same guy who stole my name and identity? AND left me feeling SCARRED as a lonely shadow!?"
Andrew couldn't help but narrow his eyebrows at Doopliss. At one point in time, Doopliss [was] a severe threat with the Ruby Star and took great pleasure in seeing Andrew squirm and struggle when he was a lonely friendless shadow, while he constantly showed admiration for his troubled state in such a sadistic manner.
But now, Doopliss had fallen greatly, and he had been reduced to being the sole punching bag for Beldam, and nobody would take him seriously. Doopliss was now utterly pathetic. He was so pathetic, that it hurt.
"No kidding, Presto!" Yoshiam agreed with him. "What a loser!"
"Just remember, he doesn't have the Ruby Star to cause that horrible magic that he did on you," Goombella informed him. "Because of that, it's unlikely he'll steal your identity again. If anything, he can only transform into you or one of us, just like all Duplighosts."
"That's a good point, Goombella," Andrew agreed with her. "Still, let's not hold back when we're dealing with the Shadow Sirens!"
"My! I do believe that I am all for that, darling!" Flurrie proclaimed. "Let's handle these scoundrels once and for all!"
Beldam then shook her head as she made the declaration to Marilyn and Doopliss while facing Andrew and his friends.
"All right, my kind-of-lovelies!" Beldam declared. "This time, we take out Andrew and his goon squad for good!"
Beldam then warned them with a threat. "So...if I catch you slacking, you'll be in for INCREDIBLE punishment come tomorrow!"
"GUHHHHH!" Marilyn nodded as she grunted.
"OK! OK! OK! OK!" Doopliss said quite hastily, wanting Beldam off of his back.
"So typical," Andrew said dryly, crossing his arms and sneering at Beldam, while Vivian was staying close to him to protect him from her sisters. "That is so typical of you Beldam, to threaten your teammates by punishing them for not meeting your expectations."
Andrew then leaned over to leer as he took out his Ultra Bat. "I'd expect nothing less from you. It's gonna make your defeat all the more satisfying."
"I'll make sure you regret this, Andrew," Beldam sneered at her, looking like she was ready to shoot an Ice Beam at him.
"Oh?" Andrew stood his ground before wondering. "And how do you suppose that you, Marilyn, and Doopliss can be able to defeat all EIGHT of us? Hmm?"
Beldam didn't say anything else. Instead, she growled and held her hands up as she fired an Ice Beam attack at all eight of them. Expecting her to do such a thing, all eight of them managed to duck and get out of the way.
"Harumph!" Bobbery grunted at that stunt. "I take it that that loathsome crone feels the need to wile up the likes of us, does she not?"
"Definitely," Andrew frowned at this. "Even so, I am not surprised by it in the slightest."
"Regardless Andrew, I WILL be sure to protect you from my sisters," Vivian promised. "And I will show Beldam that I'm only loyal to you!"
"I'm glad to hear you say that, Vivian," Andrew gave her a thumbs up. "And I'll be sure to return the favor."
"Hmmm, correct me if I'm wrong, Andrew," Ms. Mowz had to point out. "But doesn't it look like one of the Shadow Sirens is trying to do something to us?"
Andrew then looked toward where Ms. Mowz was pointing to. He saw Marilyn proceeding to strike them with a Thunderbolt. This got Andrew on alert as he had to warn his friends.
"Guys. We're about to get shocked," Andrew warned. "We better get out of the way!"
And that's what they did, as they jumped out of the way from being struck by several Thunderbolts. Goombella felt her hair was on the frizzy side as an effect of it.
"Aw c'mon! Not again! I just had my hair brushed!" Goombella yelled. "Andrew?! The Shadow Sirens are cheating to beat us!"
"I think I notice," Andrew nodded as he saw Doopliss charging for them.
Because he couldn't do what the Shadow Sirens could do, Doopliss had no choice but to use his Head Missile to land a strike on them. Andrew was able to counter against this as he pulled his fist back, and plowed it forward, hitting Doopliss square in the face.
Doopliss had to back off as he rejoined with the other Shadow Sirens.
"What should we do, Andrew?" Koops questioned. "We have to fight back, don't we?"
Andrew nodded in agreement to that. Truth be told, they had to retaliate before the fight fell in favor of the Shadow Sirens.
Andrew had plans of going after Beldam since it was high time for him to put Beldam in her place for some of the cruel things that she pulled on Vivian.
And then there was Vivian, who would want to go after Beldam not only to protect Andrew. But to also be able to stand up to her oldest sister and let her know that she can't abuse her anymore.
As for the others, well, surely they would have something all figured out, right? Andrew had to voice himself on this plan that he came up with, regardless of what his friends thought of it.
"There's only one thing we can do here, guys," Andrew announced. "Will have to take them out in groups. A group of three handles one member. A group of three handles another member. And a group of two can take care of the remaining members of the Shadow Sirens."
"Wait a minute," Goombella had to ask. "Which ones will we each go after?"
"I do believe Goombella is right," Flurrie agreed with her. "Whatever do you mean by that, Andrew?"
Andrew was unable to say anything else as Beldam was preparing to freeze all eight of them with her Blizzard attack, planning to make them frozen in blocks of ice.
"No time to explain," Andrew exclaimed. "Let's go! Go! GO!"
With that, all eight of them scampered away and went in separate directions while avoiding Beldam's Blizzard attack. Now each 'individual' Shadow Siren was being squared off by three groups of the heroes. One group of three, one group of three, and one group of two.
The group of two consisted of Andrew and Vivian. And of course, they were in a standoff with Beldam, which they both made for rather personal reasons. Nonetheless, Beldam remained firm and determined to kill both of them.
"Hmph! You two are foolish for attempting to oppose me like this!" Beldam sneered as she readied her hands for an Ice Punch. "It would be easier for you two to just give up and stand down, and I'll make sure your deaths are quick and painful."
"I don't think so," Andrew told her sharply. "I suppose you forgot about how I beat you the first time. I have no plans of doing that whatsoever."
"Very well. Have it your way," Beldam proceeded to charge for Andrew to land her Ice Punch. "It'll just make your deaths all the more satisfying."
Unfortunately for her, Andrew jumped out of the way in time, as he flipped through the air and then spun around until his right foot was aimed right for Beldam's head. He made direct contact with her, as she shook it off and skidded a few feet away from him.
"Grrrrr..." Beldam snarled at him as she prepared to fire an Ice Beam attack at him with both hands. "Perhaps you'll change your mind once I make sure you're completely frozen in a block of ice!"
Andrew was raring to defend himself as Beldam was about to strike him with the Ice Beam. However, before she could do that, a fist struck her in the back, and it left a slight burn on the back of her neck.
This caused Beldam to fall over as she then turned around to see who was responsible for it. It was Vivian. And she had just used her Shade Fist on her oldest sister while frowning and glowering at her.
Beldam returned the glare full-force as she wiped her mouth and decided to react to how her traitorous whelp of a sister would do such a stunt on her.
"Hmph! I should've expected you to try something to me sooner or later, Vivian!" Beldam snarled. "I'll make sure your death is far worse than any kind of punishment that I've given you in the past!"
"I won't allow it," Vivian said hotly as her hands were coated in flames. "And I will not allow you to harm Andrew. I promised him that I'd protect him from you. And that's exactly what I AM gonna do!"
"Then prepare yourself, traitor," Beldam was about to use her Ice Punch on her. "I'll make sure you regret ever having turned against me!"
With that, Beldam and Vivian charged for each other and dished out Shade Fists and Ice Punches towards each other. Andrew would occasionally land a strike on Beldam's head with his Ultra Bat.
But otherwise, he allowed Vivian to have her moment and stand up to her abusive sister since it was 'absolutely' necessary. And of course, he would aid her if things turn ugly.
Meanwhile, one of the groups of three consisted of Goombella, Flurrie, and Ms. Mowz. And they were pitted against Marilyn, who had been proceeding to strike them with her Clap Attack. All three of them effectively dodged her attacks, with the former complaining about how she had to team up with the floozy Little Mouser.
"I can't believe it," Goombella groaned as she rolled out of the way from another Clap Attack. "As if being stuck battling this behemoth wasn't bad enough, now I have to fight alongside the floozy to defeat Marilyn."
"You know, Goombella? There's more to me than just being what you call a 'floozy'," Ms. Mowz snorted. "And I must admit, I don't enjoy the circumstances of this, but I'm willing to put our differences aside just to do this for Andrew!"
"Oh," Goombella sighed before looking at Flurrie. "What d'you think, Flurrie?"
"I must say, I do not approve of having to join forces against this mysterious brazen," Flurrie admitted before adding. "But if we must, then we must. I shall put aside 'any' and all conflicts we've had previously just so we can get by this quite all right. Is that clear, Goombella?"
"Yeah. You're right, Flurrie," Goombella gave in. "OK, Ms. Mowz. I won't make this any more difficult for all of us."
"That's more like it," Ms. Mowz said slyly before asking. "Now how can we take care of Marilyn? I take it that you handled her last time, yes?"
"Yes. And I 'basically' dished out a bunch of Multibonks to land a strike and 'totally' bring her down," Goombella exclaimed. "And just like last time, she'll attack us directly with her brute force and can shock us with Thunderbolts and Thunder. Not to mention, she can charge up her attack for a 'totally' gnarly strike!"
"By the stars! I do believe we're dealing with a brute right now!" Flurrie gasped.
"No kidding there," Goombella rolled her eyes. "But as long as you avoid the brunt of her attacks, she shouldn't be too tough..."
"In that case, I suggest we work as a team and make sure that the odds fall into our father when dealing with this behemoth!" Flurrie declared as she raised her right hand into the air.
"Hmm mmm mmm, yes. I can work with that," Ms. Mowz mused. "So, shall we get started, ladies?"
"Might as well," Goombella as she dodged another Clap Attack.
She then jumped through the air and struck Marilyn's head with a Headbonk. Although it was much stronger than it was in the Boggly Woods, Marilyn was still able to shake it off.
Flurrie then soared through the air and landed on top of Marilyn with her Body Slam, dodging the Thunderbolt that nearly struck her. She managed to leave behind some significant damage on Marilyn before getting off of her.
"Well, I believe it's my turn," Ms. Mowz cracked her fingers. "So watch how I do this, you two."
With that, Ms. Mowz walked over and jumped out of the way of another Clap Attack which pounded the ground with some slight power.
Ms. Mowz landed on top of Marilyn and proceeded to unleash her Love Slap attack on her, hitting her three times before whipping her with her tail, and then jumping off of her before she could retaliate.
"Guuuuuuuuh!" Marilyn grunted as she readied her hands into fists and shook them in front of her belly as if she was summoning a Thunder attack to strike all three of them.
"Get out of the way, girls," Goombella could sense it. "She's about to shock us with her Thunder attack!"
"Right," Flurrie and Ms. Mowz were quick to pick up on this as they got out of the way along with Goombella.
Marilyn's Thunder attack had covered some ground where she was, but the most it did was give Goombella some more frizzy hair and made Flurrie feel a little shaken up with static. Case in point, they were just found, as the three girls continued to hold their own against the middle sister.
And then there was Doopliss, who was forced into a staredown with Koops, Yoshiam, and Bobbery. Seeing that he didn't have the powers that Beldam and Marilyn had, he had to rely on his usual Duplighosts powers to aid him. Despite this, the three of them didn't seem worried in the slightest.
"Hey, guys?" Koops decided to ask him. "We shouldn't be worried about dealing with Doopliss, right?"
"Don't be foolish, old boy. This scoundrel shouldn't be taxing in the slightest," Bobbery assured him. "I must say, this lout shouldn't be too much of a challenge for the likes of us, eh?"
"Who cares about that?" Yoshiam howled. "We still have to beat him no matter what! Presto is counting on us!"
"Indeed," Bobbery nodded. "A scoundrel is a scoundrel, as I'd like to put it. Therefore, we shall have at it with this ruffian!"
"Good idea, Bobbery," Koops nodded as he narrowed his eyelids at Doopliss. "Let's give it our all!"
"Yuk yuk yuk! I don't think so, pal," Doopliss retorted. "I'll be sure to fix you guys up in a jiffy so Beldam won't punish me!"
With that, Doopliss went into the air and was planning on landing a Head Missile on Koops and knocking him onto his back, to render him helpless.
I can't let this chump try to mess with us! Yoshiam thought furiously as he came up with something. Now's my chance to defend Presto's title and get back at this guy for messing him up!
With that, Yoshiam shot out his tongue and wrapped it around Doopliss before he could strike Koops. Pulling his tongue back, Doopliss fell onto the ground as Yoshiam approached him, keeping his grip on him with his tongue.
Once he was in his face, Yoshiam released him and put his tongue in his mouth, as he then grabbed Doopliss in a tight grip with his left hand.
"So, you like stealing BODIES, don't ya?" Yoshiam sneered furiously. "Well let's see if you can STEAL this!"
Without wasting a breath, Yoshiam decked Doopliss in between the eyes, landing a hit on him with his punch, before he did it again and jumped up and landed a Ground Pound on him, striking him six times in a row.
"Hey, Yoshiam? I appreciate the save," Koops approached him with a suggestion. "But would you mind saving some of the attacking for the rest of us?"
"Oh, right," Yoshiam smiled sheepishly as he pushed Doopliss in front of Koops. "Sorry about that. Knock yourself out by beating this chump up, buddy."
"Of course," Koops went into his shell and charged himself up before he could ram into Doopliss with his Shell Toss.
He made a significant impact, knocking Doopliss back as Koops did a slight breakdance routine afterwards.
"All right! Allow me to take over," Bobbery marched over and lit his fuse. "I'll be glad to give this cad an explosion that he shall not soon forget."
Bobbery lit his fuse as he stood in front of the dazed-out Doopliss. In a matter of seconds, the Duplighost was greeted by a Bomb attack, which landed a strong blast in his face, and he had to shake it off and cough from the impact. Bobbery had regenerated and landed right next to Koops and Yoshiam.
"Aw yeah! We got this chump on the ropes!" Yoshiam beamed. "We'll finish him off in no time flat!"
"Ack yuk yuk!" Doopliss coughed as he stood his ground. "Not if I can help it..."
With that, Doopliss tried another Head Missile toward them, but the Koopa, Yoshi, and Bob-omb were able to dodge it and land a counterstrike.
By now, Beldam had noticed Doopliss not putting up a fight. And that infuriated her more than anything. She was successful in pushing Vivian to the ground and held Andrew off with an Ice Punch, as she started to give Doopliss a threat.
"Hey! You! Freak-sheet!" Beldam warned him coldly. "Pull it together, will you? Don't make me punish you!"
"S-S-S-Sorry..." Doopliss stuttered as he backed away from his attackers.
It was now time for Doopliss to Transform as he let out that screeching sound and his red pupils flashed. In a matter of seconds, he disappeared in a poof of purple smoke.
It was then a neon green laser light scanned Yoshiam, as Doopliss decided to transform into him. Once the light was gone, Doopliss reemerged, disguised as him.
"Nice try, chump," Yoshiam spat. "You may look like me, but that's not enough to stop me!"
"I'll show you," Doopliss snorted back.
With that, Yoshiam and Doopliss duked it out together by using Ground Pound against Ground Pound. They seemed to be an even match. But Koops and Bobbery could tell which one was Doopliss, so they managed to strike him with their respective attacks.
"I swear, Freak-Sheet," Beldam warned him. "If you don't put in some effort, I'll make your punishment a horrible nightmare!"
As soon as she said that, she was greeted by a booted foot, which belonged to Andrew. She felt the impact as she shook it off and glowered at him.
"Maybe it'd be smarter to not threaten to punish your teammates, and instead focus on what is in front of you," Andrew told her sharply.
"You're asking for it now, Andrew!" Beldam sneered as she was about to land an Ice Beam on him.
Before she could do that, she felt her body being engulfed in flames, cutting off her attack. It was apparent that Vivian had used her Fiery Jinx on her, as shown by the smoke coming from her hands.
Beldam then turned around to unleash her Blizzard attack on Vivian instead. It made some impact, but other than Vivian shivering, she was just fine. She wasn't frozen solid. That wasn't enough to deter Beldam as she floated over and grabbed her by the neck.
"You know, I should have finished the job years ago. I should have killed you a long time ago, you twit," Beldam sneered. "Perhaps I should summon some Smorgs and allow them to eat you whole. Or maybe I should just find a Death Shroom and shove it down your throat."
Andrew felt something snap inside of him as she said that. Combining that with the urge to do something that he'd been meaning to do to Beldam for a long time, he charged and decided to unleash a roundhouse kick to the back of Beldam's neck.
It made a significant impact as Beldam let go of Vivian and fell facefirst onto the ground, giving Vivian some time to breathe.
"I've been meaning to do that for a long time," Andrew said sternly, cracking his knuckles. "I won't allow you to do anything horrible to Vivian. Not anymore, and certainly never again!"
"Grrrrrr..." Beldam slowly got up as she then faced Andrew, glaring daggers at him. "I'll teach you for doing such a stunt on me, you fool!"
With that, Beldam ended up casting a spell on Andrew. The spell that she unleashed on him was a Slow Time spell, which resulted in Andrew moving in slow motion and talking in slow motion.
"What the...?" Andrew uttered slowly. "Whaaaaat's haaaaappening tooooooo meeeeeeeeeeee?"
"Mwee hee hee hee hee!" Beldam snickered as she was more than thrilled to finish him off in this state while taunting him. "Not so tough now that I have you in my sight, huh Andrew?"
"Oh no," Vivian gasped as she decided to take action.
"Now I won't be able to miss you from over here," Beldam was planning on unleashing her Blizzard attack on him. "Enjoy your demise fool! I certainly will! Mwee hee hee hee hee!"
Andrew was unable to run out of the way since he was in slow motion, as Beldam was gonna get a kick in freezing him to death. Before she could strike him, Vivian went ahead and used her Veil ability to grab Andrew and drag him through the shadows where Beldam couldn't hurt him.
"Gah!" Beldam snarled. "Vivian, you twit! You get back here so I can finish you two off!"
"Never gonna happen, Beldam," Vivian told her in the shadows.
"Thaaaaaank yoooooooou, Viiiiiiviaaaaaaan," Andrew thanked her in slow motion.
"Don't mention it, Andrew," Vivian kept him close as they remained in the shadows. "Like I promised you, I will protect you from anyone, no matter what."
Andrew didn't say anything as he allowed Vivian to keep him hidden from Beldam's wrath for the time being until he could get back to normal. Beldam tried fighting fire with fire, but it proved to be fruitless as Vivian was a step ahead of her and wouldn't allow her to go near Andrew.
Back with Goombella, Flurrie, and Ms. Mowz, they had a slight edge on Marilyn. But even they had to admit that her power wasn't to be trifled with.
"Jeepers! She's like, gotten stronger or something," Goombella gasped.
"I daresay, it's as if she had been bestowed a special power that made her strength on par with that of our darling Andrew," Flurrie exclaimed.
"It would appear so," Ms. Mowz then cracked her fingers. "But I'll make sure that the odds fall into our favor. Watch this."
With that, Ms. Mowz used her Tease attack, as she created four copies of herself as they ran around Marilyn and made her dizzy.
Once she was in a daze, all four of them jumped on top of the middle sister and proceeded to dish out their Love Slap attack, which was painful coming from all four of them.
Marilyn tried striking all four of them with her Thunderbolts, but they all missed since they quickly dodged it. After landing some significant damage, the three copies disappeared as Ms. Mowz rejoined the others.
Goombella then went ahead and used her Multibonk attack on her, striking her 11 times in a row. She then did a backflip before landing on the ground.
Flurrie then floated up and decided to use her Lip Lock attack. She then started smooching her and draining her of her energy, and adding it to her own.
By now, Marilyn was panting, as these three women were certainly a match for her. She then proceeded to use her Charge to increase her power. Beldam, who was furious by how Andrew and Vivian were escaping her grasp, took notice of Marilyn and decided to ask her.
"Are you OK, Marilyn?" Beldam asked out of slight worry for the only person who never opposed her and was willing to unleash havoc upon everyone.
"Gunhh-hunnhhh..." Marilyn grunted in pain as she was feeling worn out.
"Very well then," Beldam then got to work. "I shall give you the advantage over those fools that are outmatching you!"
With that, Beldam then cast another spell, this time on Marilyn. It was the Speedy spell, which allowed Marilyn to move faster than usual. And Goombella took notice of it right away.
"Omigosh!" Goombella gasped. "Beldam just gave Marilyn the fast status! Meaning she can attack twice in one swift movement, by charging and then landing a strike on us! And she's 'totally' moving faster!"
"Mercy me!" Flurrie then had to ask. "This seems strikingly familiar to what we dealt with when handling that Grubba lout before, is it not?"
"That's right," Goombella nodded. "Macho Grubba did the same thing to himself to charge and land an attack in one quick move!"
"In that case, I do believe we'll have to work extra hard to be one step ahead," Ms. Mowz suggested.
"Doesn't look like we have a choice," Goombella then warned them. "Especially since Marilyn is about to attack us!"
In a quick motion, Marilyn unleashed her powered-up Thunderbolts, which they were able to dodge. Even so, they felt the significant power that came with the strikes, as they were shaken up.
"By the stars! I daresay that she's gotten extra powerful now, hm," Flurrie wondered.
"Yes," Goombella and Ms. Mowz said in unison.
"In that case, I do believe it's best for all of us that I provide the right protection," Flurrie then decided to use her Dodgy Fog on them and herself.
After quaking her arms near her chest, Flurrie then spread her arms out and summoned a couple of misty fogs, of which they surrounded Goombella and Ms. Mowz, as well as herself, which served as protection.
"All right! 'Totally' awesome!" Goombella beamed. "Now we can handle this brute and be one step ahead of her!"
"I must say, I'm quite impressed," Ms. Mowz mused. "Even though I recall hearing that you'd do this for Andrew only, yes?"
"Well, as they all say, desperate times call for desperate measures," Flurrie exclaimed. "And since we happen to be on the same page, we shall make it our effort and not allow ourselves to fall for this behemoth, so long as I have a say in it!"
"That works for me," Ms. Mowz nodded. "Shall we continue this fight?"
"I'd thought you'd never ask," Goombella smirked as she landed another Headbonk on Marilyn.
Flurrie and Ms Mowz followed up with their respective attacks of Body Slam and Love Slap. Marilyn was quick enough to charge and unleash more Thunderbolts on them. But because of the effects of Dodgy Fog, they barely landed a strike on them.
Nonetheless, Marilyn continued to hold her own against the three women, as their fight raged on, with Ms. Mowz providing enough support for Flurrie and Goombella so they could reconsider what they thought about her in the past.
By now, Doopliss decided to ditch disguising as Yoshiam and opted to take the form of Koops instead, as he was embracing his new disguise.
This proved to be a big mistake on his part, as Yoshiam was able to take advantage of his form by jumping up and landing a Ground Pound attack on Doopliss, hitting him six times in a row.
Because Doopliss was disguised as Koops, who was a Koopa Troopa that was rendered helpless on his back like any other Koopa that's been knocked over, Doopliss was struggling to get back on his feet, helpless trying to get up, to no avail.
"Wow," Koops blinked and shook his head. "I'm sorta embarrassed right now, to see Doopliss disguised as me and unable to get back up onto his two feet."
"You and me both, Koops," Yoshiam gave him a thumbs up. "But now that he can't get up, he can't fight back. So we got him right where we want him!"
"Aye! This proves to be quite beneficial to us," Bobbery agreed with him. "And since he's in a wee bit of a pickle, as I'd call it, this is perhaps the perfect opportunity to show you gents something that I've to enemy forces back in the Navy!"
"Whoa! No way!" Yoshiam was curious about this. "What is it?"
"Just be sure to follow my lead," Bobbery instructed. "I shall prepare a Bomb Squad. And when I summon one, I will be sending one in your direction. You are to catch them, one by one, and then toss them on top of the Doopliss scoundrel in front of us. Do I make myself clear?"
"Loud and clear, Admiral Bobbery," Yoshiam smirked while doing a faux salute. "I'll get on it right away!"
"Smashing!" Bobbery then went and performed his Bomb Squad attack.
This time, he sent the time bombs towards Yoshiam, one at a time, as the Yoshi kid was successful in catching them before throwing them on top of a struggling Doopliss.
In a matter of seconds, Yoshiam had tossed the third one on top of Doopliss. All of his practicing with mastering his Mini-Egg attack since he first learned it 'really' paid off.
"Excellent job well done there, Yoshiam," Bobbery praised. "Now stand aside and allow me to add some necessary fuel to detonate the Bomb Squad sooner!"
"You got it," Yoshiam gave him a thumbs up as he backed away and stood next to Koops.
"Wow," Koops remarked. "Think maybe he can detonate them sooner?"
"Beats me," Yoshiam shrugged. "But we're about to find out for ourselves."
In a matter of seconds, Bobbery unleashed his Bomb attack on the helpless Doopliss, making a significant impact with the blast. The blast itself was able to set off the time bombs ahead of schedule. As a result, all three of them blasted Doopliss upward, as he felt the pain and agony from each one of them.
"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWCH!" Doopliss cried, landing back on the ground, still unable to get back up.
By now, Bobbery regenerated and landed right near Koops and Yoshiam.
"Whoa! That was wicked awesome!" Yoshiam jumped up and down. "And you did that in the Navy?"
"Aye. That's precisely where I made full use of it," Bobbery confirmed. "And uh, if I may have a moment, if you will, I'm obligated to let you chaps in on something."
"Sure," Koops decided to ask. "What is it?"
"I have to confess, that was a battle strategy that Scarlette always admired," Bobbery told them.
"Wow," Koops blinked at this. "Sure sounds nice, knowing that she admired it, huh?"
"You can bet your scallywag that she did, old boy," Bobbery told him confidentially. "Why, if I were given the 'opportunity' to do it for her, all over again, I most certainly would."
"Sounds great," Koops nodded. "Think maybe Koopie Koo loves my breakdancing hobby?"
"Given the circumstances as to how much of an honorable gent you are, Koops, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if she just so happens to cherish it," Bobbery proclaimed. Koopie Koo ought to be a lucky lass for having such a courageous Koopa taking care of her. Wouldn't you say so?"
"Yeah," Koops smiled. "Yes, I would."
"In any case, we still have to take care of Doopliss," Yoshiam pointed out. "Before he gets back up!"
In a matter of seconds, Yoshiam stomped on Doopliss to keep him from getting back up. He then laid four Mini-Eggs and then tossed them at Doopliss. They all struck him, and they made him feel smaller than they were.
Doopliss then tried to use a breakdancing technique to get out of the way and scurry to safety. Unfortunately, just because he was disguised as Koops doesn't mean he was a master at breakdancing the way Koops is, as he was unable to do so, as he continued to be stuck in his predicament.
"Ummm... Wow," Koops had to shake his head. "Golly, Doopliss isn't good at breakdancing. It's 'actually' sad to watch him."
As soon as Koops said that, he went into his shell and rammed right through Doopliss with his Power Shell. That combined with another Bomb attack from Bobbery left Doopliss complaining about his current predicament.
"This just isn't my day..." Doopliss groaned as he couldn't do anything to fight back.
It was at this point that the slow status that Andrew was under had finally worn off, and he could now move at normal speed again. Seeing that he was in the clearing, Vivian resurfaced with Andrew in her arms as she allowed him to move his arms and legs.
"All right! Now I'm back to normal!" Andrew beamed before leering at Beldam. "And now it's time for some unfinished business."
Before Beldam could react, she felt the impact of a Power Jump attack as Andrew stomped on her head. He then took out his Ultra Bat and unleashed a Power Swing across her head.
Needless to say, Beldam was not pleased by this in the slightest. And she didn't enjoy being bested by her traitorous sister and the muscular man before her. All she could do was growl and react to his methods of fighting.
"Gah! Curse you, Andrew!" Beldam howled furiously at him. "This is so very annoying! Blast it!"
"Well, now you know how WE feel when we have to deal with you guys," Andrew retorted. "And how you never seem to learn that we aren't to be underestimated."
"Grrrrr..." Beldam readied her fists for another Ice Punch. "I'll make sure to make you regret speaking in such a way!"
With that, she tried landing an Ice Punch on the muscular man. But Andrew was able to jump out of the way in time, and it gave Vivian the perfect opportunity to move in and deck Beldam across the face with her Shade Fist.
Beldam had to screech as she felt that her hat was on fire again, as she tried putting out the flames. Combined with how Marilyn was tied up by Goombella, Flurrie, and Ms. Mowz, and how utterly useless Doopliss was, her choices were very limited.
Andrew, meanwhile, was impressed by how confident Vivian was with dealing with her abusive sister. It seems traveling with him all this time had gotten her the confidence she needed, and she was acting upon what she declared to her earlier.
By the time Beldam put out the flames, she was panting angrily as she saw Andrew bearing a smirk at how she was falling against her sister.
"Well, Beldam? How does it feel?" Andrew asked her. "Now do you know what it feels like to push someone way too far by abusing them, just like you've been doing towards Vivian all of these years?"
"Hmph! So what?" Beldam scoffed that off. "That wasn't any of your business. But since she decided to consult you about it, it would make sense that an inferior being such as yourself would sympathize with such a pathetic failure as that plug-ugly worm."
"WHAT did you SAY?!" Andrew snarled, not approving what she said about her as he shook his fist at her.
"I'm not surprised," Vivian voiced herself as her voice started to raise with each passing second. "You never did think fondly of me at all. You always were willing to punish me for losing something that you were responsible for. You always were horrible and abusive to me. And you never did treat me like a person, instead of treating me like your servant. You never once showed me any amount of respect. And guess what? I'm not doing it anymore Beldam! I will no longer be your whipping girl to blame your problems on, and gaslight! You HEAR me!?"
"Well, Beldam? Are you proud of yourself yet?" Andrew asked her quite sarcastically. "Does it feel good, knowing that your 'own' sister gained the confidence she needed to stand up to you and put you in your place?"
"SILENCE!" Beldam howled, not appreciating this one bit as she got ready to do something else. "Just for that rebellious outburst, Vivian, I shall give you the great pleasure of suffering in ways that I've always DREAMED of!"
With that, she then cast another spell. This time it was on Vivian. She had managed to infect her with her Toxic Magic, causing Vivian to turn green, and was essentially poisoned.
"Oh no! VIVIAN!" Andrew yelled before glaring daggers at Beldam. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"
"Well, I was just doing the world a favor and infecting her with poison," Beldam said coldly. "Now you will have the luck of witnessing that twit succumb to her ailment. And you won't do anything to stop it."
"Not if I can help it." Andrew hissed in such a hostile manner.
He wasted no time in charging over to Beldam and delivered a rather painful uppercut to Beldam's jaw, striking her and dealing a significant amount of damage. This caused Beldam to collapse onto the ground as she felt just how strong Andrew's uppercut was.
By now, Vivian was coughing, and it looked like she was spitting out blood from the toxic magic that her sister infected her with. Andrew made sure Beldam was down before rushing to Vivian's aid.
"Vivian? You OK?" He asked her softly.
"Ack! Cough cough cough! Not really..." Vivian moaned and hacked. "She... She has powerful magic, Andrew. I feel miserable..."
"Well, you won't be miserable for much longer," Andrew then took out and summoned his Magical Map. "Cause I'm about to cure your poison with a little Sweet Treat!"
The Magical Map had sprinkled some magical sparkly bright stars that were glittering down onto her. Vivian could feel her poison ailment subsiding already as Andrew remained by her side, while Beldam was powerless to interfere, considering the powers Andrew has with all seven Crystal Stars.
While that was happening, it seemed that Marilyn was slightly gaining an edge as she had Goombella and Flurrie a little worn out with her powerful attacks and lightning strikes.
Even though her fast status wore off and she was moving at normal speed again, she was still a force to be reckoned with. And Ms. Mowz was the reason that Goombella and Flurrie were able to continue fighting her.
The effects of Dodgy Fog wore off as well, as the misty fog surrounding the three of them had disappeared in a matter of seconds. As of right now, Goombella was exhausted from running too much. She was aware of how Marilyn was about to attack her, but she couldn't keep it up any longer. Of course, this gave Marilyn a slight advantage over the Goomba girl.
"Guuuuuuuuuh! Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!" Marilyn howled her grunts as she planned on using her Clap Attack on Goombella and crushing her with her gargantuan hands.
"Omigosh! This is 'totally' game over for me!" Goombella yelled as she couldn't move. "I can't watch!"
And so Goombella closed her eyes, wondering how strong Marilyn's Clap Attack was now. What she didn't count on was the fact that Ms. Mowz was in the right place, at the right time. So she was able to assist her and snatch her out of the way of the attack.
Marilyn's Clap Attack hit the ground as a result, getting Marilyn confused and Goombella opened her eyes. She was surprised to see that Ms. Mowz had saved her when she was exhausted.
"Guh?" Marilyn murmured, sounding puzzled.
"Huh? Ms. Mowz?" Goombella had to ask her a serious question. "You saved me?"
"Hmm mmm mmm, well it certainly doesn't look like I'm surrendering you to the enemy, now is it?" Ms. Mowz asked rhetorically as she remained sly and confident. "The answer is yes. I did save you."
Before Goombella could say anything else, she witnessed Flurrie having dodged Marilyn's Clap Attack as she floated upward. The Wind Spirit was the perfect height to be struck by a bolt of Thunder. And Marilyn knew it too.
Ms. Mowz let her go as she then decided to provide her assistance to Flurrie before she could get struck by a massive lightning bolt.
Flurrie was feeling quite woozy right now that she only slightly realized the predicament she was in, as she saw Marilyn summon another Thunder attack. Before the middle sister could proceed with it though, Ms. Mowz landed on her head with her left foot, in which she was still wearing high heels.
"GUUUUUUUH!" Marilyn grunted in panic.
In that second, Ms. Mowz jumped off and got onto Flurrie. Flurrie was somewhat swooned by how Ms. Mowz aided her like that, as she floated herself and Ms. Mowz back onto the ground.
Goombella had enough energy to walk up towards them, and she then demanded something from Ms. Mowz, now that Marilyn was trying to recover her senses.
"Ms. Mowz? You saved us?" Goombella queried. "Why did you save us?"
"I must say, I am quite curious by this little unexpected twist of events myself," Flurrie asked her. "'Pray' tell, whatever possessed you to feel the urge to rescue both of us? Hmm, Ms. Mowz?"
"Why not? We're both on the same team, are we not? Surely, people that are on the same team will support each other, and come to the other's aid, yes?" Ms. Mowz had proclaimed before adding. "THAT and the fact that I am aware of how fond Andrew is of you two and that you mean the world to him. Just like the rest of us. And there's no reason to let these conflicting tensions drive us any longer. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Uhhhh," Goombella and Flurrie were lost for words as they were taking that in.
"Exactly! I know that our first meetings were a bit tense in the past, but that's all behind us," Ms. Mowz informed them. "This is now. And now, we're on the same team, and we have to support each other. So what do you say, Goombella and Flurrie? Would you two be willing to put all of this conflicting tension behind us for good, just so we can all be on good terms? Hmm?"
Goombella had to sigh at that. She was right. There was no reason for her to maintain a grudge against Ms. Mowz just for the first impression that she got of her when she kissed Andrew and acted like a flirt.
There was more to her than just that. She was poor as a child, grew up in a poor family, had to WORK on getting through in the badge hunting and selling business, and formed a partnership with Antoine; a Little Mouser whom they met at the Lovely Howz of Badges, of which Ms. Mowz is in charge of.
And on top of that, she learned of how Ms. Mowz's ancestors had ended up on Keelhaul Key, and also how her first badge was the Money Money badge that her parents gave her on her seventh birthday.
Even though it was an attempt for Ms. Mowz to gain some extra money, it didn't work. That still didn't stop her and her ambition from opening a badge shop and making plenty of money from doing so.
Goombella had to think back about what she thought about it. And she realized that the more she thought about it, the more she figured out just how ridiculous it was. Flurrie felt the same way, to a lesser extent, as she was at least tolerant of traveling with the mysterious Little Mouser woman.
After a few moments of silence, Goombella sighed as she finally found her voice.
"Oh. I guess you're right, Ms. Mowz," Goombella admitted. "Flurrie and I were a little judgemental by your behavior. And our first impression of you didn't do us any favors with how you kissed Andrew."
"Yes. I must agree with her," Flurrie added. "We shan't be anymore judgemental of your lifestyle. Just because it's not my cup of tea, does not mean that I shan't approve of it whatsoever. Whatever kind of tension we felt towards you in the past shall remain behind us, and we'll be honored to move on from it all. I hope I am right in saying so, Ms. Mowz."
"Yeah. I dunno if I'll 'totally' regret saying this or not," Goombella gulped before coming out with it. "If Andrew can see some potential in his friendship with you, then I guess I can see a friendship between us too, y'know?"
"Yes," Flurrie nodded proudly as she crossed her arms. "I shall be willing to overlook all tension we had previously, in return for starting over and establishing a friendship between us.
"Hmmm mmmm mmmm, well, this is unexpected. I'm quite intrigued by this, 'actually'," Ms. Mowz mused. "But yeah. I see no problem with a friendship forming between the both of you and yours truly."
"Gotcha," Goombella told her in a beaming manner.
"I must say, this shall be a splendid choice that we shan't regret," Flurrie declared.
By now, Marilyn had come to her senses as she shook her head and decided to focus her attacks on Goombella, Flurrie, and Ms. Mowz.
"Guuuuuuh? Guuuuuuuuuh! GUUUUUUUUUUUH!" Marilyn grunted, getting their attention as she proceeded to summon more Thunderbolts.
"Girls! Looks like we gotta run!" Goombella declared.
"Absolutely!" Flurrie and Ms. Mowz yelled simultaneously.
In a matter of seconds, all three of them got out of another Thunderbolt that nearly struck them, as they proceeded to continue battling Marilyn together, making sure to have each others' backs in the process.
As for Doopliss, he was running out of options by this point.
It didn't matter which one of Andrew's friends he transformed into; be it Goombella, Flurrie, Vivian, Bobbery, or Ms. Mowz, on top of having already transformed into Koops and Yoshiam, the three guys who cornered him were able to find a way to counter against him.
At one point, Doopliss transformed into Flurrie and attempted to crush Bobbery with his Body Slam attack. Unfortunately, Bobbery was well prepared as he ignited his Hold Fast move, in which Bobbery blew up with twice the power Doopliss would've given to him with that Body Slam.
Additionally, Yoshiam was able to use his Gulp to grab Doopliss as he was disguised as Ms. Mowz and spat him out at Koops, who had gone into his shell and deflected Doopliss back, causing more damage. He even tried disguising as Goombella to make use of the Headbonk attack.
But Koops summoned a Shell Shield to protect all three of them from Doopliss landing a Headbonk on them. In return, Doopliss was greeted with another Ground Pound from Yoshiam, followed by another Shell Toss and Bomb attack from Koops and Bobbery, respectively.
"Ughhhhhhh," Doopliss had moaned as he was lying on the floor, still disguised as Goombella. "I don't know how much more I can take of this..."
"You had enough yet, doofus?" Yoshiam cracked his knuckles. "Have you come to accept how you can't defeat any of us?"
"Bah! Not even close!" Doopliss hissed at him. "I have one disguise that I can use that none of you would've ever seen coming!"
"The lout is bluffing, for certain," Bobbery deadpanned at this.
"Well watch THIS!" Doopliss in his Goombella disguise had then vanished in a poof of purple smoke.
Moments later, he had copied the disguise that he was going for, and he resurfaced. Now he was disguised as Andrew, with the same hunched-over position and panting that he did when he stole Andrew's name and identity.
"Yuk yuk yuk yuk!" Doopliss laughed. "What do you think?"
"So what? You might look like Presto!" Yoshiam brushed it off. "But that doesn't mean you are Presto!"
"That's right!" Koops yelled as he got into his shell.
In a matter of seconds, Koops managed to ram right through Doopliss with such intensity of his Shell Slam, that it looked like he had just grown a serious spine and became braver than he ever was before. And this was something Yoshiam took notice of.
Doopliss was knocked onto his butt as he shook his head, as Koops came zipping back over to Yoshiam and Bobbery.
"Woah! Koops, that was awesome, dude!" Yoshiam praised. "You seemed far braver when you did that attack just now."
"I was? Ummm... Wow. Who would've thought?" Koops rubbed the back of his neck out of flattery. "Sure wasn't expecting that. I guess I have become more like my father. Especially with how brave he is, and how brave I'm becoming..."
"There's no denying that you're as brave as your old man, Koops," Bobbery told him. "Now, we'd best have at it with this cad and handle this issue at once."
Doopliss then decided to use his jump and bat attacks that Andrew is known for on the three of them. Unfortunately, they were able to counter them.
And while they felt the impact of the attacks Doopliss let out on them, they were still willing to fight away with him. He ended up succumbing to more of their basic attacks as a result. And even disguising as Andrew couldn't save him now.
By now, the Sweet Treat special move was done, and not only was Vivian feeling pretty replenished. She was no longer poisoned. It would appear that the Sweet Treat did the trick and got rid of her poison. And to think Andrew has her back just as she has his.
"All right. That's done," Andrew said with a smile as he put away the Magical Map. "You feeling better, Vivian?"
"Yeah... Yeah! Much better!" Vivian beamed as she looked at him. "Thank you for this, Andrew."
"Don't mention it," Andrew assured her. "We're on the same team. So that means we have each others' backs."
"I know," Vivian nodded in agreement.
As for Beldam, she was pretty irate about what Andrew had done and how he was able to cure Vivian of her poisoned state. She then decided to get their attention.
"Hmph! So what if you use that silly map to help cure her poison," Beldam spat. "Doesn't mean a thing to me. Especially with how I'll make sure that you both suffer from frostbite and freeze to death!"
With that, Beldam then summoned a powerful Blizzard attack on the two of them. But what Beldam didn't count on was the fact that Andrew and Vivian were huddled together, while Vivian made full use of her fire powers, and eventually formed a fire shield between them, which lasted until the Blizzard was done.
At first, Beldam was oblivious to this as she cackled at the thought that Andrew and Vivian had been frozen to death.
"Mwee hee hee hee hee!" Beldam cackled before remarking haughtily. "How does it feel, being on thin ice and you've met your demise, fools?"
It was then she did a double take when she saw what was in front of her. "What's THIS?!"
She saw the fire shield protecting Andrew and Vivian from her frosty Blizzard attack. As soon as it was over, the fire shield fizzed out, and the flames surrounding it went out, as the muscular man and his Shadow Siren friend no longer had to worry.
"I see," Beldam grumbled as she sneered at them. "Perhaps I have underestimated your true powers."
"So you're finally admitting that you've underestimated us?" Andrew asked quite curtly. "That's probably why you planned on giving both of us pneumonia, wasn't it?"
"Bah, whatever!" Beldam waved it off. "Just because you're tougher than I imagined, that doesn't mean I'm finished yet!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you are," Vivian told her sharply as she then went into the shadows and decked her with a Shade Fist.
Andrew followed by unleashing his Power Bounce on her, striking her on the head at least 10 times in a row. Once he leaped off of her, Vivian performed her Fiery Jinx as Beldam was engulfed in flames yet again.
Andrew then charged ahead and planned to swing his bat into her, but Beldam blocked the attack with her Ice Punch, as she planned on unleashing an Ice Beam on him. Andrew retaliated by doing a sweep kick underneath her, causing her to trip and fall over.
By the time she got back up, she had suffered from 10 more strikes across the head by Andrew's Ultra Bat.
She couldn't give up so easily. But with how Andrew comes to Vivian's aid, and vice versa, the oldest sister realizes that dealing with them alone is impossible.
So she had to get her teammates to assist her, even if it meant that Andrew's other friends would regroup with him. Once she stood up, she then glowered at them before making the announcement.
"Grrrrr... Marilyn! Freak-sheet!" Beldam bellowed. "Get over here and assist me at once!"
"It's Doopliss!" Doopliss wailed, shaking Yoshiam off of his head as he stormed over to where Beldam was.
Marilyn did the same as she grabbed Ms. Mowz by her tail and tossed her to the side before she went over to Beldam's side.
This resulted in Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz regrouping with Andrew and Vivian, as the eight heroes were at a staredown with the three Shadow Sirens. Beldam snickered as always, as this meant trouble for Andrew and his friends.
"Mwee hee hee hee hee! Well, Mr. Hero? What are you going to do now?" Beldam asked him snidely. "What's your next plan, knowing that anything you do will be countered by the likes of all three of us?! This is where you'll meet your end!"
"Guh-huh!" Marilyn agreed.
"That's right, Slick!" Doopliss snapped his fingers and gave Andrew a smug look.
"That's what you think," Andrew said calmly but confidently. "But we happen to have a special weapon in our possession that can help us whenever I can summon it."
"What?" Beldam retorted while giving him a strange look.
"You'll see," Andrew took out his Magical Map and summoned the Ruby Star. "I have the seven Crystal Stars that can aid me. And this one will make you regret ever underestimating us again!"
"Omigosh!" Goombella yelped as she figured it out. "Andrew!? Is it time for...?"
"That's right, Goombella," Andrew nodded proudly as the Ruby Star was floating right above him. "Time to demonstrate to the Shadow Sirens a little move I'd like to call Art Attack!"
In a matter of seconds, the Ruby Star vanished into red sparkles. Moments later, the Ruby Star took the form of a magic pen, which looked exactly like it did when battling Lord Crump on the X-Ship.
Andrew was fortunate to catch it as he decided to get to work on utilizing it properly against the Shadow Siren. Which included the very person who had possession of it in the first place and used it to steal his identity. This would prove to be a wonderful payback for that stunt.
Recalling how he used it before, he started drawing several circles around Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss. The Shadow Sirens then felt their skin shatter thanks to the Ruby Star's Art Attack. Andrew kept this up for several minutes, as it looked like their skin was shattering as a result.
He was able to get them all worn out as they were almost no longer able to fight them anymore. After getting six circles drawn around the three of them each, the attack was over, and it finally came to an end.
"All right! That felt awesome!" Andrew whooped as he put away his map and the Ruby Star pen vanished in red sparkles. "It's even cooler the second time around!"
"Yeah," Koops had to admit. "Always was fascinated when you used that attack on Lord Crump the first time. Sure seemed pretty cool."
"By the stars, Andrew! I do believe that those Shadow Sirens are on their last leg," Flurrie pointed to how exhausted they were. "I like our chances of settling this feud once and for all."
"Yeah! You said it!" Yoshiam beamed as he jumped up and down. "They're finished for sure! We can be sure of that, Presto!"
"Hey Andrew? We should finish them off before they try one last attack on us, right?" Vivian had to ask him meekly.
"Of course. That's what we're gonna do," Andrew then turned to face Bobbery. "Well, Bobbery? Mind giving these guys the proper Bob-ombast finish to this fight for us?"
"I would be most obligated to perform such a feat, old boy," Bobbery marched up to the exhausted Shadow Sirens as he lit his fuse. "These scoundrels shall witness an explosion that they shall never forget for sure!"
With that, Bobbery marched up to him, as large fumes were accompanying him as he was about to unleash his Bob-ombast attack on them. Once he was in front of them, he then started flashing red as a bunch of fumes were hovering right over his head.
In a matter of seconds, Bobbery unleashed the Bob-ombast attack with a massive explosion that did impeccable damage to all three of them. Bobbery regenerated and landed right next to Andrew, as he shook his head and watched the Shadow Sirens start to collapse.
"Mwee hee hee hee haaaaaaaack!" Beldam croaked as she did her trademark cackle.
"GUUUUUUUUUH!" Marilyn grunted in pain as she couldn't stand up any longer.
At that moment, both Beldam and Marilyn collapsed onto the ground, unable to get back up. Meanwhile, Doopliss, still disguised as Andrew, was teetering back and forth with his eyes closed, as he couldn't fight back anymore either.
At that moment, Doopliss collapsed onto the ground, just like Beldam and Marilyn. He was then surrounded by purple smoke, which got him to revert to his Duplighost form, as he had been defeated too.
"Oh, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Doopliss yelled as all three of them were officially down for the count, as the three of them were a heaping mess while lying down.
It didn't take long for spinning stars to swirl right above their heads as they were unable to fight any longer. Beldam could only utter something vague and suspicious that the eight heroes could hear.
"Arrrrrgh... At this rate... She will never... Oooooh..." Beldam uttered weakly as she became unconscious.
"Guhhhhhhhhh..." Marilyn moaned her grunt in defeat.
"Hnuuuurrggh..." Doopliss muttered in pain at what he had endured.
"Well, that takes care of that," Andrew dusted his hands off as he put away his Ultra Bat before realizing something. "Wait a minute, what did Beldam say about 'she'? Who is 'she' supposed to be?"
"And what was that plan she was yapping about, huh?" Goombella had to wonder. "This sounds bad..."
"Not to mention something awful happened to Professor Frankly," Andrew said. "Doopliss disguised as him, and Beldam mentioned how he got a nasty bump on the head and is in a closet somewhere."
"Jeepers. Gosh, I hope nothing bad's happened to the REAL Professor Frankly..." Goombella had a worried look on her face.
"I hope not either," Andrew assured her. "We'll be sure to find him once we take care of this."
"And another thing, why is Doopliss working with the Shadow Sirens, anyway?" Goombella had to ask. "Too many questions!"
"My only assumption with that might have to do with how Vivian ditched her sisters to join our side," Andrew gave his theory. "Doopliss happened to be in the right place, at the right time, which was in Twilight Town where Beldam and Marilyn were looking for Vivian. They then ran into Doopliss, they found out Vivian pulled a treason on them, and the rest is history."
"Gosh," Koops blinked at this. "Well, sure am glad we took care of them when we did. Man, that was pretty intense Andrew."
"I daresay, it was quite treacherous but exhilarating!" Flurrie agreed. "Why, I do believe that we all happened to have gained experience and newfound respect for one another that's on this team."
"Yeah," Andrew had to smile at that. "I've noticed how far you guys have come. Koops being braver, Bobbery regaining his love for the sea, Yoshiam defending my title and beating Doopliss up for me. And don't think I didn't notice the newfound friendship that you formed with Ms. Mowz, Goombella. I noticed that. Same with you, Flurrie."
"Well, we're on the same team," Goombella sighed. "And since we're 'totally' on the same team, we might as well try to get along and get to know each other a bit."
"I must concur with that," Flurrie agreed. "I shan't think of Ms. Mowz as that mysterious brazen that I first met in the Great Tree. I shall think of her as Ms. Mowz; the one we grew to know since she joined the likes of us."
"I'm glad to hear that," Andrew grinned at them.
"In any case, I'm glad we dealt with these chumps," Yoshiam declared. "They've been getting in our way one too many times now. They deserved to be given a beatdown."
"I can't argue with you there," Andrew laughed at that.
But Vivian is the one that I'm most proud of here. Andrew thought. She managed to gain the confidence she needed to stand up to her abusive sister and put her into her place. I couldn't have been happier with the results...
Meanwhile, Vivian had to stare at Beldam with a frown on her face, as she shook her head and sighed. She 'really' did bring this upon herself by getting in their way again, and thinking that she could unleash a terrible punishment on her like she did in the past. Still, she couldn't help but feel awful about the outcome.
"I'm sorry, sis..." Vivian apologized sadly.
"Vivian, you have nothing to be sorry for," Andrew assured her and put his hand on her shoulder. "What you did today was phenomenal. You were able to stand up to Beldam, let her know that you are no longer gonna take any of her abuse, and put her in her place. You have gained a lot of confidence since you started traveling with me, and you weren't afraid to step up and show her what for, especially when I was in danger. And I'm 'awfully' proud of you, Vivian. Good job."
"Oh, I, uh... Thanks, Andrew," Vivian thanked him. "I appreciate that. I just wish that my sister was a completely different person. And that she wasn't anything like your brother, Andrew."
"I know what you mean," Andrew said in understanding.
"I must say, seeing Vivian stand up to that crone was simply pleasing, from what I've witnessed," Bobbery confessed. "In any case, it was a jolly good job we've done, taking care of those scoundrels once and for all."
"No doubt," Andrew said in agreement.
"Yes. I suppose that they'll think twice before messing with the likes of us again, no?" Ms. Mowz mused.
"Believe me, Ms. Mowz, they should know better," Andrew said. "And even if they didn't, they'd get beaten up all over again for their troubles."
"I 'totally' agree with you there, Andrew," Goombella laughed as she winked at him.
"Yeah," Andrew nodded before looking at the knocked-out Shadow Sirens. "Well anyway, now that we took care of them, I guess our best option would be to leave these...these...these..."
"Doofuses?" Goombella guessed quite sharply.
"Wimps?" Koops wondered, with no signs of shyness in his tone.
"Louts?" Flurrie asked with displeasure in her voice.
"Wusses?" Yoshiam questioned as he stuck his tongue out at them.
"Cads?" Bobbery huffed while shaking his head at them.
"Idiots?" Ms. Mowz queried quite slyly as she was dismissive of them.
"All of those are good names to describe them," Andrew proclaimed. "But what I had in mind was this piece of trash. They're not worth our time anymore, so we might as well keep going."
"Good thinking, Andrew," Vivian agreed. "We better get moving and stop that cataclysm from being awoken."
"That's right," Andrew nodded as he then frowned as something crossed his mind. "Though given that the Shadow Sirens made it into the Palace of Shadow, I have a funny feeling that Sir Grodus may have gone ahead of us through this secret passageway to where the cataclysm is resting. So we're gonna have some ground to cover and catch up."
"Gotcha, Andrew," Goombella winked at him. "Let's go and stop this Grodus dweeb from awakening that cataclysm and taking over the world as a result! We should 'totally' get a move on!"
"Good thinking, Andrew," Koops nodded. "Sure did keep us stalled with fighting the Shadow Sirens. We might as well get through here and hopefully catch up with him..."
"Why, I do believe you're right, Andrew," Flurrie beamed in agreement. "This Grodus lout must be stopped at all costs. And we shan't allow him to achieve world conquest and have us bow to megalomaniacs. We MUST put a stop to it, darling!"
"No kidding! We got some serious catching up to do, Presto!" Yoshiam agreed while jumping up and down. "If that Grodus chump thinks he can rule the world with the cataclysm, he's sorely mistaken! Wait until I whip his behind! That'll show him! Let's get a move on, dude!"
"Of course, Andrew," Vivian nodded shyly. "Sir Grodus must be stopped, and he can only be stopped if we interfere. So we better get through the rest of this palace until we reach the area where the cataclysm is resting."
"By Blubbery's blotches, I must concur with you there, Andrew," Bobbery realized that he was right. "The fight with the Shadow Sirens may as well have been a diversion to keep us at bay while he gets through here with her Highness to get to where this cataclysm is resting. We must make haste, on the double, old boy. Effective immediately!"
"Yes, Andrew. It would appear that this Grodus character might've gotten ahead of us while we were dealing with the Shadow Sirens," Ms. Mowz rubbed her chin. "No matter. We can catch up to him and stop him from awakening the cataclysm and ruling the world. Let's catch up."
"Of course," Andrew walked over to the door, passing by the knocked-out Shadow Sirens as he opened it up. "Let's get going."
"Yeah," all seven of them cheered in unison as they followed him right through that door.
They had no idea what they would be in for when they made it to the throne room just before the cataclysm's resting chamber in the deepest part of the palace.
'And' they also weren't aware that they'd encounter the Shadow Sirens once again when things go completely array for all eight of them, along with the truth that Beldam had concealed from everyone.
They would find out about all of this soon enough. That was a guarantee...
END OF CHAPTER 77...
Well, that's it for this chapter. Yes. This happens to be the most ambitious chapter that I've written for this story yet, considering the three fights from three different perspectives being written out, with some references to a couple of previous chapters. Still, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
Now, the character growth I felt was handled greatly, as all eight heroes had their character growth shown here, especially since Andrew no longer felt doubt in himself when confronting Doopliss. He wasn't even thrown off when he saw him disguised as him. 'In fact', he was willing to use the Ruby Star to attack Doopliss (and Beldam and Marilyn), which is what Doopliss used to steal his identity in the first place. So I think that moment, for Andrew was 'absolutely' cathartic.
Aside from Andrew, Vivian was the one who had the most noticeable character growth here, having the confidence to stand up to Beldam, put her in her place, and let her know that she can't abuse her anymore while fighting back against her. That was something that I was happy about writing.
Another thing that's noticeable here is Koops's growing courage, Yoshiam was willing to beat up Doopliss for what he did to Andrew, and I liked writing out Bobbery's fight technique that he used in the Navy.
It's a unique twist to modifying Bomb Squad just a bit, so it could impair some more damage with some fuel to provide for it. And I thought that Scarlette admiring that about Bobbery was a nice touch to remember the good times he did spend with his wife when he wasn't out at sea.
Lastly, I decided to have Goombella (and Flurrie to some extent) put aside their conflicting tension towards Ms. Mowz and put their past experiences of her behind them since they're on the same team.
Especially since there's more to Ms. Mowz than being a floozy, as Goombella puts it. Now I think the eight of them can truly be a united team, and they'll have to be when it comes to the true final boss in the story. I hope you all accept the character growth that I included here.
Anyway, I don't have much to say about the next chapter. It'll involve the eight heroes going through the palace and solving more puzzles with the power of teamwork between all eight of them, and having to unlock some doors and dispatch of some enemies.
And of course, there will be the fight against Grodus, who makes a shocking revelation that shocks Andrew and his friends into seeing the wider truth of it. And the eight of them will battle Sir Grodus and a few other things will occur. How will this go for the eight heroes? Find out next time, everyone!
For now, only if you want, you can leave a review and let me know what you thought about this chapter overall.
Otherwise, I have nothing else to say. So until next time, I do hope you'll take care of yourselves. And on that note, thanks again for reading, everyone!