In this chapter, Jessica and Mario will enter the desert.
This time, someone will be joining them.
As for Alena and Peasley, I think they'll be facing the boss soon.
Chapter 6: Let Us Eat Cake
Blooper's Secret Lair
"Wait, does Blooper still own the place?" asked Mario.
He seemed to be away at the moment.
Now that I think of it, Octopot owns the place now.
Octopot's Secret Lair
OST: Seabed (Oho Ocean)
Some Khalamari Kids showed up.
They were surprised to see them.
"Oh no! It's the ones who defeated Antiquitree!" exclaimed one of the Khalamari Kids.
"Do we stand a chance?" asked another Khalamari Kid. They had to be strong to take him down. So they needed to be strong to take them down.
"There's no shame in fleeing if you think you're outmatched." pointed out Jessica. She had done that sometimes. Though she couldn't do that in a boss fight. It was a law of the land.
"Well, I suppose the Dragonlord would want us to continue fighting." noted the kid. They were his minions, after all.
The Khalamari Kids spat out bubbles.
"I don't recall them doing that in my last adventure." pointed out Jessica.
I'm taking creative liberties with the source material.
Jessica wondered if her fire spells still worked.
Surprisingly, they did.
"Your world is nothing short of fascinating." noted Jessica.
"Well, it wasn't always my world." spoke Mario.
"Huh?" asked the sorceress.
"I-a used to be from somewhere else." explained the plumber.
"I guess we're kindred spirits then." comprehended the mage.
"We surrender!" exclaimed the Khalamari Kids.
Some see urchins showed up next.
The fact that they always stared at them made them feel uncomfortable. They loosely resembled cyclopes with their singular eyes.
They had the power to heal their comrades.
However, they sometimes fled. Perhaps they were aware of the heroes' reputation.
Some of the Khalamari Kids decided to flee as well. Perhaps it was time for them to come home. Their parents were waiting for them.
Some Healslimes showed up.
They too had the power to heal their comrades.
"I'm not seeing the difference between you and see urchins." noted Jessica.
"Well, we can goo this!" exclaimed a Healslime.
He began to tickle her with his tentacles.
"Hahahahahaha!" laughed the sorceress.
Unfortunately, she had chosen to bare her midriff, since she was going for a swim.
A Healslime decided to flee.
"Where are you going?" asked Mario.
"I'm looking for a monster that needs healing." explained the Healslime. Chances are there was one of them around somewhere.
"Good luck with that." spoke the plumber.
Jessica defeated the Healslimes by using Crack.
"That's cold!" exclaimed one of the Healslimes.
Mario learned a new technique.
He could now summon green shells.
The guardian was an Octopot, unsurprisingly.
"You're pot getting through!" exclaimed the Octopot.
"It seems appropriate that you showed up just when I got used to fighting underwater." noted Jessica.
It was a new experience, but she learned quickly.
Mario leapt on top of him.
"Doesn't water weaken your jump?" asked the Octopot. That was what he heard.
"It didn't in Superstar Saga!" exclaimed Mario.
"True." noted the small octopus.
In retaliation, he spat ink in Mario's face.
"Oof!" exclaimed the plumber.
"That's rude." noted Jessica.
Being squirted with ink lowered his accuracy.
He tried jumping on the Octopot, but he missed.
'Missed me!" exclaimed the Octopot.
Jessica hit the sea monster with a fireball.
"You didn't miss me…" murmured the tentacled monster.
Mario wiped the ink out of his eyes.
He then launched a green shell at Octopot.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the sea monster.
He attempted to hit Mario with his spear in retaliation.
But he missed.
"Darn it! This time I missed!" exclaimed the Octopot.
Mario whacked him with his hammer.
The Octopot did a dance.
Mario began to dance himself.
"Oh boy!" exclaimed the plumber.
It was a bit weird to see since the dance was underwater.
"Mario, you need to focus." reminded Jessica.
"Oh yeah." nodded Mario.
He leapt on top of the Octopot.
The octopus fell to the sea floor.
"I guess things are out of my tentacles now." noted the Octopot.
Mario pulled the flag.
"Maybe we'll have a rematch someday." spoke Jessica.
Meanwhile…
"We got 100 coins!" exclaimed Alena. It was hard work but they had pulled it off. And it certainly helped Peasley and herself work as a team.
"Nyeck nyeck nyeck! Now I can buy more ammo for my cannon!" shouted Tolstar. No doubt the Bowser Baddies would think twice about trespassing on his land now.
They had some nerve trying to invade the kingdom. Couldn't they just stay in the Koopa Kingdom and be content with what they had?
Normally he didn't like outsiders, but considering that Alena was helping Prince Peasley defend the Beanbean Kingdom, he has grown tolerant of her.
"Now we know what the money was for." noted Alena.
She just hoped he decided not to sell the cannon to the Koopa Troop.
They already had enough weapons.
"Good luck with the Bowser Baddies! Nyeck nyeck nyeck!" laughed the Spike.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of stampeding.
"Huh?" asked Prince Peasley.
"What was that?" questioned Alena.
Whatever it was, it was very loud.
They didn't like the sound of it.
Tolstar was suddenly run over by several Goombas.
"Aaahhhh!" exclaimed the Spike. He had been caught completely off-guard. He didn't think there would be so many Goombas still on the battlefield after Alena and Peasley had fought them.
"This can't be good." spoke Alena. It seemed these Goombas were surprisingly threatening in a group.
The Goombas were being led by none other than their captain. Though the Goomba King had yet to show himself.
"For the Koopa King!" exclaimed Captain Goomba.
"It looks like the Goombas have gone berserk!" shouted Prince Peasley.
"And it looks like they're being led by that Goomba with a red flag." noted Alena. It was appropriate, considering that they should be cautious around him.
It was lucky that the Starshade Brothers had trained them.
Otherwise they would not be prepared for such a situation.
Of course, it had also helped that they had experience fighting Goombas. The Stardust Fields had been filled with them.
"Ready?" asked Peasley.
Alena nodded.
OST: Kingdom Hearts (Agrabah)
"It looks like we're in the Layer Cake Desert now." noted Jessica.
She made sure to put her normal attire on along with Mario.
It certainly was a different climate than the Acorn Plains.
As such, it was likely that they would encounter different kinds of monsters.
Suddenly, they noticed someone exiting a warp pipe.
"Hmm?" questioned Jessica.
It was Princess Peach.
"Hi! Did you get everything under control?" asked the sorceress. It was likely that things would be more peaceful in Toad Town now that the Antiquitree was gone.
The blonde nodded. She assured them that Mario was going to take care of things.
And considering he had taken down one of the Dragonlord's generals, he was doing a good job.
"Thanks for asking." nodded the princess.
"Good-a to see you again!" exclaimed Mario.
"I figured I could help you on our adventure. You did a good job saving the Acorn Plains." noted Peach.
"I suppose things would be easier if we worked as a trio instead of a duo." admitted Jessica. She remembered when she worked as a trio with Tavian and Yangus.
Were they doing OK? She hoped they were.
Peach joined your party!
"I think it's time for us to begin exploring." noted Jessica.
There was a stone golem in a tower nearby.
It seemed that big monsters had a tendency to go to towers.
Well, they would face him when the time came.
For now, it was time to begin the first level.
Stone-Eye Zone
OST: Kingdom Hearts: Agrabah Combat
The first thing that our heroes noticed was that there were stone-eyes in the area.
They were looking at them like they were expecting something.
However, they were not hostile.
The second thing that they noticed was that there was a Hammerhood waiting for them.
"I remember you!" exclaimed Jessica.
They had first met back at the Acorn Plains.
"I'm back for a rematch!" shouted the Hammerhood.
His new hammer was much easier for him to wield.
Now he would stand a better fighting chance.
However, he ended up in the quicksand.
It seemed they needed to watch their step in the desert.
It was more hazardous than the plains, that was for sure.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Mario.
Luckily, Peach let him grab her parasol.
"Thanks!" shouted the Hammerhood. He wasn't sure what he would do without her.
"You're welcome!" exclaimed Peach.
"Do you need some time to wash the sand off before our rematch?" asked Jessica.
"Actually, I was thinking of joining your side." explained Hammerhood.
"Really?" questioned the mage.
"Yeah! I owe you one!" exclaimed the hammer wielder.
The Hammerhood became a token.
Peach then put him in her bag.
"You might have a knack for taming monsters." spoke Jessica.
She had met someone like that before.
His name was Morrie. He had his own monster arena. And Jessica had been there.
"Really? We should test that." noted Peach.
"Won't-a that be padding for this fanfic?" questioned Mario.
"There was a Luigi's Mansion fanfic writer who did the same…though it wasn't to a big extent." explained Jessica.
Luckily, our heroes could go back to levels they previously visited.
Sure enough, there were some monsters that wished to join their side.
"It's slime for me to be a hero!" exclaimed a Slime.
"This will be a good opportunity for me to train my archery skills." noted a Bodkin Archer. He wanted to be able to score a bullseye.
"Alright! I'm up to bat!" cheered a Dracky. That made him so happy. Though he usually was happy.
"You want my help? That's on the vege-table." agreed a Cruelcumber.
"I'll help you out. I'd like to live a little." nodded a Skeleton.
"You're recruiting monsters? That's the spirit!" exclaimed a Ghost.
They were certainly building up a versatile arsenal.
The downside to it was that summoning monsters cost SP.
It filled up over time, but there was still a limit.
There were more Hammerhoods roaming the level.
They were more careful than the Hammerhood Peach had befriended was.
Though they too were rather clumsy with their hammers.
Some She-Slimes appeared.
"These remind me of the slimes we-a encountered in the Acorn Plains!" exclaimed Mario.
"Yeah. A lot of monsters look the same, but are different colors." explained Jessica.
It was Dragon Quest's way of saving money. There still was a wide variety of monsters though. 5at was part of why people considered Dragon Quest to be fun.
They behaved similarly to regular slimes, but were stronger and faster.
There were also Cactiballs as well. It was a small surprise that they had shown up in a desert area.
Jumping on them was a bad idea.
Fire worked well against them, however. They were plants, after all. Though they were in a hot climate.
The Cactiballs attempted to roll into them.
But Peach whacked them away with her frying pan.
Who would have thought a cooking utensil could be so useful?
Though to be fair, her parasol made for a great defense.
The guardian was a Mad Moai.
"A mad moai? That's pretty appropriate." noted Jessica.
"Be careful! He's big!" warned Peach.
"I know." nodded the fire mage.
"Get out of my zone!" demanded the mad moai.
He opened up by slamming the ground.
Unfortunately, he was not friendly like the other moais.
He was aggressive.
Peach tried to recruit him, but he refused.
"How about no!" exclaimed the Mad Moai. He would not be swayed.
"I guess it doesn't work on bosses." noted Jessica.
That would probably make things too easy for them. Though some monsters were harder to persuade than others.
Peach decided it was time to put her power to the test.
She summoned a Hammerhood.
The Hammerhood hammered the Mad Moai.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the Mad Moai.
That seemed to be effective.
Mario hit him with a Green Shell.
"Ow!" shouted the moai.
In retaliation, he launched a boulder at our heroes.
"Take this!" exclaimed the statue head.
Our heroes narrowly avoided it.
Jessica hit the moai with Crack.
"That's cold!" shouted the Mad Moai.
Peach hit him with her frying pan.
He tipped over.
"Well, this is just perfect! I lost the fight!" exclaimed the Mad Moai. He could only hope that the other guardians would do better.
Peach pulled out the flag.
"We did it!" exclaimed the princess.
They still had a long way to go before they reached the emperor.
Though if they made it to the emperor, Jessica got the feeling that Peach might be the MVP in that fight.
"It's weird, I don't recall the flags normally being guarded before." questioned Peach.
"Times had changed." noted Jessica. Though if they defeated the Dragonlord, chances are things would go back to normal.
It was time for the next level…
…and the next guardian.
Since Dragon Quest occasionally lets you summon monsters (mainly in Dragon Quest Monsters) I decided to give Peach that particular power.
Bye!