All right, readers. Here is the third chapter of this story!
Now, I don't have anything to say that I already said in the previous chapters. This is still part of the prologue, so there's still a way to go before the start of chapter 1.
Anyway, for this chapter, Andrew, Goombella, and Professor Frankly explore the Rogueport Sewers, encounter some Goombas, find a black chest, which gives Andrew a new ability, and they find the Thousand-Year Door for themselves, among other things. How will this go for them? Find out right now!
IN THE ROGUEPORT SEWERS:
It didn't take long for Andrew to reach the bottom of the pipe, which he emerged from it and set foot into the Rogueport Sewers. He was quickly joined by Goombella, and then Professor Frankly.
Andrew took a look at his surroundings and he was amazed. The place looked like an underground city. There were some buildings off in the distance that looked a little unstable, but they seemed to remain intact.
Some pillars had fallen off and standing to the side, and some of them were crumbled. Needless to say, Andrew was rather fascinated by what he was seeing for himself.
"Wow," Andrew uttered in slight awe as Goombella and Professor Frankly went right next to him. "So these are the Rogueport Sewers, huh?"
"That's right, Andrew," Goombella nodded before deciding to share. "Y'know, the current town was built on top of this ancient one."
"So you're saying that this ancient town was what was the original town a thousand years ago?" Andrew wondered.
"Yeah! Pretty surprising to find all this down here, right?" Goombella told him. "It kinda blows my mind... The ruins here are all crumbly and gnarly now, but it was once a great town, 'really'."
"I bet it was," Andrew mused. "I also bet that it was far better than the town that's standing currently..."
"Anything would've been better than what we've seen in Rogueport," Goombella admitted in agreement. "Well, Professor Frankly, where should we go?"
"Hrmmmm...If what I researched is correct, then the way we should go would be," Professor Frankly pointed to the right. "That way!"
"Fair enough," Andrew shrugged as he went along with it. "Let's get going."
And so Andrew, Goombella, and Professor Frankly headed off to the right, away from the pipe they came down from. Andrew saw another pipe leading further down, but it was blocked by a pair of iron bars. Seeing that they'd need to find a way to it, the muscular man and the two Goombas went down the stairs that were ahead of them.
As soon as they got to the bottom, they were about to approach another set of stairs ahead of them when suddenly, they heard someone call out to them.
"Hey! Hey, man! What's up?" The voice called out to them. "Who's the hottie you got there with you?"
"What the...?" Andrew looked up with Goombella and Frankly, as they saw three Goombas at the top of the stairs.
Or rather, there was one regular Goomba that was accompanied by two other variants of Goombas. One of them was a Paragoomba; a Goomba with wings. The other was a Spiny Goomba; a Goomba who wore a green helmet with a spike on top.
The three Goombas paid no attention to Andrew, as their attention was on Goombella. And from the expression on their faces, they were 'clearly' smitten by her.
"Wassup, baby?" The Paragoomba tried to flirt with her. "Why don't you hang with us for a while? We play real nice!"
"Man, what's a FINE-lookin' Goomba doin' with a brawny muscular man like that?!" The Spiny Goomba retorted, not phased that a Goomba girl was with a man such as Andrew.
"Seriously?" Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Are you guys flirting with her?"
Goombella, meanwhile, felt a spark in her eyes. She had no interest in these three perverts whatsoever. And she was planning on letting them know about it, too.
"Oh, it is, like, SO sweet that you boys think I'm cute! Seriously!" Andrew could hear the sarcasm coming straight from Goombella's mouth, as he realized what was going to come next, as she then raised her voice. "Yeah, guys like you make me feel like TOTALLY BARFING! Now get out of our way!"
The three Goombas were shocked by this. They didn't take the rejection lightly, and they were going to let her know about it.
"Ouch! That was cold!" The Goomba told her in shock.
"What, you're too good for us?" The Paragoomba asked in irritation. "Come off it, sister!"
"Nobody zings us like that!" The Spiny Goomba yelled angrily as he then let out a battle cry. "Nobody! Let's get 'em!"
"Why must everyone have to resort to violence to solve their problems?" Andrew asked in slight irritation.
He didn't get an answer as the three Goombas charged right for them.
"Well," Andrew sighed, getting out his wooden baseball bat. "I guess I know what I need to do."
With that said Andrew then started by jumping up into the air, where he then landed his right foot on top of the regular Goomba. He jumped on his head twice before kicking him back a couple of feet away, knocking him out cold.
From there, Andrew took his bat and swung it right into the face of the Spiny Goomba. If one were to look at the Spiny Goomba closely, it looked like one of the teeth of the Spiny Goomba got knocked out of his mouth from the impact. Andrew then swung the Spiny Goomba away from him, as he landed right next to the regular Goomba, becoming unconscious.
Lastly, Andrew went for the Paragoomba and grounded him downward with his fist slamming right onto the Paragoomba's head. Once the Paragoomba was at ground level, Andrew used his bat and swung the Paragoomba right next to the other two Goombas.
All three Goombas were completely out for the count, as Andrew made quick work out of them. They had lost.
Professor Frankly was rather impressed by how Andrew dealt with those three hooligans, while Goombella couldn't help but gloat and taunt them for how Andrew took them down.
"Ha ha ha! Serves you right, losers! You asked for it!" Goombella laughed before grinning smugly at the knocked-out Goombas. "That was AWESOME!"
"Yeah," Andrew dusted his hands off in agreement. "That was too easy."
It was then Professor Frankly decided to get Andrew's attention. "Are you ready, Andrew? There are plenty more where they came from, and they'll all have it in for us."
"No need to worry Professor Frankly. I think Goombella and I can fight off any creeps that stand in our way," Andrew put his bat away before looking at Goombella. "You can fight, can you Goombella?"
Immediately, Andrew got his answer when he felt something ram him in the chest. He didn't get time to react as he saw that Goombella had just headbutted him in the chest, making him skid back a few feet away. Andrew felt the impact from the helmet she was wearing as he also felt the wind blown out of his lungs.
From a few feet away, Goombella stood in front of him as she smirked. "Does that answer your question, Andrew?"
"Oooo...Oh yes," Andrew gasped, with both hands over his chest as he groaned.
"Are you okay?" Goombella asked with a little worry.
"Yes...I'm fine," Andrew wheezed. "I just didn't think you were that strong."
"Well you asked if I could fight, and that was a demonstration," Goombella answered before looking at him with concern that she went too far. "Seriously though, I didn't hurt you too much, did I?"
"No. No. You didn't Goombella," Andrew told her with a gasp. "It's nothing worse than a football injury. I should be fine."
"Well...OK. If ya say so," Goombella decided to go with it. "Shall we get going, Professor?"
"Of course," the Professor nodded. "The Thousand-Year Door awaits!"
"Hey guys," Andrew managed to catch himself as he went up the stairs with the two Goombas. He decided to point to a moving platform that he saw that could bring them to that pipe. "There's a platform over there that we can use. We can get to that pipe which should bring us further down into the Rogueport Sewers."
"Good eye, Andrew," Goombella beamed. "Let's go for it!"
And so the three of them went onto the platform, which floated right to where that green pipe was. As soon as they were within range of it, Andrew, Goombella, and Professor Frankly jumped on top of the pipe and went down further into the sewers...
The three of them came out from the pipe as they continued downward through the Rogueport Sewers. There were a couple of Goombas, but Andrew and Goombella made quick work out of them as they went down the stairs, passing by the iron fencing that was above.
Andrew ended up finding and collecting a Mushroom and a 'Fire Flower' in two ?-Blocks which he hit with his bat. He then saw two small yellow blocks with dotted eyes on them. He smashed them to smithereens, which revealed a pipe right behind them. Andrew knew what this meant as he, Goombella and Frankly jumped onto it and went down further towards where the Thousand-Year Door supposedly was.
As they exited that pipe, they were now in a lower corridor. They had walked to the right when Andrew spotted something Goombella and Professor Frankly didn't. It moved quickly into the hole nearby next to a set of iron bars, but Andrew was able to get a glimpse of it. From what he saw, it looked like a tiny gray bug-like creature, which got him perplexed.
I'm assuming that that's going to become important later on... Andrew thought as the three of them kept going.
Andrew and Goombella dealt with some Spinias; which were green-colored spring-like creatures with eyes and teeth. It was then Andrew found a blue switch nearby. Knowing what that meant, Andrew used his bat and slammed it onto the switch, which made it vanish.
Whatever happened next left him surprised. A set of stairs leading up to another room above were revealed out of nowhere.
"Wow Andrew," Goombella gasped. "Those stairs came straight out of nowhere after you hit that switch."
"I know. I don't think we should question the logic of it," Andrew informed her. "Let's go up the stairs."
"Right," Goombella nodded as she followed Andrew up the stairs along with Professor Frankly. They then passed by a panel of some kind and they went into the entranceway that was ahead.
In a matter of seconds, they entered an empty room. However, it would've been 'completely' empty if it weren't for the one thing that was in the center. It was a rather large black-colored chest that caught their attention.
"Hmm? Hey Goombella, get a look at that," Andrew pointed towards it. "It looks like a black treasure chest."
"No kidding," Goombella snorted in agreement. "Let's go see what's in it."
Andrew approached it along with Goombella and Professor Frankly, as he then thoroughly examined it. He then went to touch it when he heard something inside of it.
"Whoa!" Someone in the black chest gasped as the black chest wiggled a bit, getting Andrew to raise an eyebrow.
"What the...?" Andrew was confused by this.
"Hey! You! Can you hear me?" The Black Chest asked.
"Uhhh...Yeah, I can hear you..." Andrew felt that it was awkward talking to a Black Chest that could talk.
"Whoa!" The Black Chest came to a shocking conclusion. "That must mean you're the hero of legend!"
"What? I'm a hero of legend," Andrew modestly shook his head before explaining. "I can't possibly be the hero of legend. I'm no hero in the slightest. You must got me mixed up with someone else..."
"No, I'm pretty sure you're the one," the Black Chest insisted. "I mean, only the great hero of legend can hear my voice. Yeah! Everyone else...nothing."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Andrew felt like asking.
"See, long ago, an evil spirit cast a curse on me, locking me in this box," the chest explained. "I was bummed. I've been here ever since, waiting a long, LONG time for the hero to come by!"
"Whoa," Andrew blinked in shock. "That must've stunk."
"Uh huh," the Black Chest decided to ask. "...So, yeah, anyway, big guy... What brings a hero like you to a place like this?"
Ignoring the hero part, Andrew was about to say something to the big black chest. But before he could, Professor Frankly got his attention, as he felt rather suspicious about the Black Chest.
"Er, Andrew... A word with you?" Professor Frankly advised him.
"What is it, Professor?" Andrew looked at him curiously.
"I'm not exactly confident that we can trust this...box," Professor Frankly warned him. "I think it may be best not to mention that we're looking for the Crystal Stars."
It was then Professor Frankly realized his little mistake as he grimaced.
"...Well, drat. I just said it out loud! What's wrong with me?!" Professor Frankly yelled rather dramatically, getting Andrew to raise his eyebrow at this before the Black Chest got his attention again.
"Oh, yeah? Searching for the Crystal Stars, are you, now?" The Black Chest told him.
"Uh, yes?" Andrew said slowly.
"So you 'really' are a hero," the Black Chest proclaimed. "Well, you're 'DEFINITELY' gonna need my help if you hope to get those bad boys."
"Right," Andrew tugged on his handkerchief. "So, what can we do about it?"
"Well, first you should look for the key to this box. Then use it to let me out. Definitely," the Black Chest answered. "By the way, the key is a standard key that's colored black."
"Well, what do you think we oughta do, Andrew?" Goombella asked, seeming skeptical about opening the Black Chest.
"Hmmm..." Andrew did some thinking. "I suppose it couldn't hurt if we can go find the key for this chest..."
"Great. Well, I know MY vote goes to you finding that key. I'm sure it's around here somewhere," the Black Chest then begged. "C'mon! Being stuck in a box is no picnic! I'm counting on you, O Great Legendary Hero!"
"Right. I'm gonna find the key," Andrew told Goombella and Frankly. "I'll be right back."
With that, Andrew left the room for a minute to find the black key. He jumped down a ledge nearby, where the black key was resting. He grabbed the key, pocketed it, and jumped down from the ledge. He then climbed back up the stairs and went back into the room where the Black Chest was located.
"Andrew! Didja find the key?" Goombella asked him.
"I sure did," Andrew took out the black key from his pocket. "And I have it right here."
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! You brought the key!" The Black Chest overheard him and shouted excitedly. "Yes! Oh, man, I owe you BIG!"
"Right," Andrew approached the Black Chest. "I'll use this key to open up the chest."
As soon as the chest was unlocked, the being inside the chest decided to give Andrew an 'unexpected' surprise.
"YESSSSSSSSS! Thank..." the tone changed from excitement to one of malice. "Ha! Thank NOTHING!"
"What?" Andrew was now confused. What was that about? He was about to find out.
"Whee hee! Fooooooools!" The being inside the Black Chest cackled madly as the chest opened up, engulfing Andrew in what appeared to be an ominous smog.
"What's going on?" Andrew was puzzled by this unexpected change of events.
Andrew saw that the being responsible was a purple-colored ghost with black dots. The ghost's face looked rather scary look; identical to the scary-looking faces that people see on the front of Jack O' Lanterns during the Halloween season. It was then the ghost spoke to him.
"Oh, BOY, did you fall for it! I BURNED you!" The ghost taunted him in a way that he was enjoying it. "What, you think I was gonna help you?! Instead, I'm gonna spread a little of the suffering I've endured in that stupid box!"
"Wait, this was a trap?" Andrew asked with a rather bored tone. "You tricked me into opening that Black Chest?"
"Yeah!" The ghost answered. "Sorry, but those are the breaks! I'm gonna cast an evil, terrible curse upon you! Buggly-wuggly-WOOOOOOOO! You're cursed!"
Andrew was rather shocked by that as he was struck by a bolt that was filled with some unlimited magical powers. He felt the magic force overcome part of his body moments later.
"Whee hee hee hee hee! Enjoy that curse, sucker!" The ghost told him snidely. "You got what you deserved! You wanna hear all about the sweet curse I just dropped?"
"Might as well," Andrew crossed his arms as he waited for an answer.
"Then listen well!" The ghost started to explain. "From now on, if you stand on certain platforms while focusing hard enough, you'll turn into a paper airplane!"
"A paper airplane? Seriously?" Andrew deadpanned in annoyance. "What's next? You're gonna have me collecting stickers, cards, things, and stuff?"
"Joke about it all you like, fool!" The ghost then howled. "But you won't be laughing for long when you suffer the rest of your days under my terrible curse! Whee hee hee hee hee hee! Oh, I can't help but chortle! You're DOOMED!"
In a matter of seconds, an airplane panel appeared. It was colored gray with a paper airplane on it.
"This curse is pretty rough, I guess, so I suppose I owe it to you to explain it. Ready?" The ghost didn't wait for Andrew to say anything as he continued. "If you stand on an airplane panel like this one, the floor will start to glow."
"Right," Andrew decided to humor this spirit as he walked onto the panel as it then started glowing.
"Yeah, OK, you're on the panel," the ghost then advised him. "Now try focusing hard enough. And then, bam! You're a paper airplane!"
Andrew did just that, as in a matter of seconds, he turned into a paper airplane, not saying a word about it.
"The worst part of this curse is that you must focus hard enough to control yourself," the ghost told him smugly. "I guess if you got good at it, you might fly a long way...but that's the ONLY good thing."
"I see," Andrew sounded indifferent as he said that while he was a paper airplane.
"So, be honest. Isn't this curse just about the worst thing that's ever happened to you?" The ghost queried.
"Yes. I get it. It's terrible." Andrew said rather sarcastically as he didn't even try sounding afraid of it.
"Whee hee hee hee hee hee!" The ghost laughed in a spooky manner. "If you put more focus into it, you MIGHT return to normal! Maybe!"
Andrew did just that as he quickly returned to normal.
"Farewell, you foolish fool! Whee hee hee!" The ghost gave its farewell.
In a matter of seconds, the ghost that just cursed Andrew vanished into thin air, as the ominous smog that surrounded Andrew also disappeared from plain sight. Goombella and Professor Frankly had witnessed the whole thing taking place. While the Professor couldn't think of anything to say, Goombella decided to comment.
"So, uh... Wow. Just wow," Goombella then asked. "What was THAT guy's beef?"
"I...dunno," Andrew looked at his gloved hands. "I think I was granted a special ability that's disguised as a curse..."
"Well, if ya say so," Goombella shrugged. "Well c'mon! Let's get outta here."
"Right," Andrew nodded as they and Professor Frankly left the room. It was then Andrew saw the same airplane panel that he had shown just now.
"Hey, guys. That's the same airplane panel that I was shown in the other room," Andrew pointed out softly. "I'm gonna see if this works."
Andrew stepped on the panel, where it started glowing. Goombella and Frankly stood right next to him as Andrew put enough focus into his newfound power.
As soon as he grabbed both Goombas and held them in his arms, he managed to turn into a paper airplane. As a result of putting enough focus on his flight, Andrew was able to make it to the other side which had a giant angry-looking block in front of another pathway leading to somewhere else.
Once he landed on the giant block, Andrew returned to normal and managed to let go of Goombella and Frankly, who were standing by his side again.
"WOWSER! That...That felt AWESOME!" Goombella had to admit while beaming.
"Wasn't it?" Andrew looked at her curiously.
"Well, it certainly helped us get onto this new pathway," Professor Frankly jumped onto the pavement. "Let's get going! The Thousand-Year Door should be nearby!"
"Right," Andrew and Goombella said in unison as they jumped up onto the pathway with the Professor, as the three of them headed into the next room from there...
AT THE SITE OF THE THOUSAND-YEAR DOOR:
It was revealed that the next room was the most important room of all. It was incredibly spacious as there were some platforms above on the far left and far right sides of the room. There were a few pillars shown, a couple of which were knocked over. There was a pedestal placed in the center of the room. And right in front of the pedestal was a humongous-sized door with seven stars on it.
As soon as Andrew, Goombella, and Professor Frankly entered the room, the latter was 'absolutely' surprised by what he saw in front of him. He then decided to get Andrew and Goombella to see it for themselves.
"Oh! Andrew! Goombella! Look...at...THAT!" Frankly motioned them towards the door, which just so happens to be the Thousand-Year Door itself.
Both Andrew and Goombella gawked at the sight of it, as the former was left in disbelief by what he was seeing.
"Is...Is that...?" Andrew couldn't finish his question.
"Yes, Andrew! It's the Thousand-Year Door spoken of in the legends!" Professor Frankly exclaimed rather excitedly.
"It's...It's 'actually' real?" Andrew uttered. "The Thousand-Year Door 'really' does exist..."
"Yeah Andrew," Goombella beamed with anticipation. "It's the real deal!"
"Yes! I can't believe it's real either! So the legends are all true!" Frankly declared. "There it is, big as life! Come! Let's move closer!"
Andrew and Goombella didn't object as the three of them approached the door. As they walked up to it, Andrew's mind was in a bazillion places at the moment. He couldn't believe it. He only heard rumors of the tale, but he never would've thought that the Thousand-Year Door truly did exist in real life.
But there it was. In front of him. The real deal. There was no way that Andrew thought he was dreaming, as he was fully awake.
As they approached the door, Goombella took notice of the pedestal, as she commented on it.
"Hey, what's the deal with this weird pedestal, huh?" Goombella queried. "What could it be, you think?"
"I dunno," Andrew scratched his temple in curiosity. "Only one way to find out, I guess..."
It was then Andrew jumped up onto the pedestal and stood right in the center of the platform, with Goombella and Professor Frankly joining him.
In a matter of seconds, a light surrounded the center of the platform, getting Andrew to gasp and jump for a split second. From there, a weird diagram-like thing appeared surrounding the pedestal. This got Goombella and Frankly to be a little curious along with Andrew, who was glancing left and right.
"Professor! What's going on?" Goombella asked, wondering what was happening around them.
Andrew stopped glancing as the Magical Map that was in Andrew's pocket came out and unfolded itself. From there, the map rose in the air towards the door, right above Andrew as a bright flashing light occurred, where it had engulfed the map 'entirely' as something was happening to the map.
From what was seen on the map above, a new location was popping up on the map. Specifically, it was a location placed on the green-lush hills located to the east of Rogueport. It was revealed to be an old-fashioned castle that was colored gray and seemed to be many stories high in height.
As soon as the castle appeared directly on the map, something else appeared in front of the castle. It was revealed to be the first Crystal Star; the Diamond Star.
Moments later, Andrew felt another special force overcome the map as he felt something strong coming from it. It's as if he had been granted to use a special ability.
Eventually, the lights finally died out as the Magical Map slowly floated back down, and Andrew caught it in his right hand.
"Woah. That was certainly amazing," Andrew admitted as he decided to check the map. "I better check out what just happened to the map."
And Andrew did just that. Goombella and Frankly joined him as they also checked out the map. Goombella, in particular, was especially curious about what had happened just now.
"Professor! The map!" Goombella yelled as she then asked. "And what was with all those crazy lights?"
Professor Frankly did some thinking for a few moments before he decided to comment.
"It appears that information related to the locations of the Crystal Stars appeared..." Professor Frankly pointed out.
"Yeah," Andrew said. "That is a new location shown here. And what appears to be a Crystal Star appeared right in front of it."
"Exactly," Professor Frankly nodded.
"And the lights?" Goombella brought up.
"It looked as if a mysterious power was given to Andrew..." Professor Frankly deduced.
"Mysterious...power?" Andrew couldn't believe his ears as he whispered.
"Jeepers Professor," Goombella was completely wide-eyed. "What does THAT mean?"
"I'm not certain right now," the Professor admitted honestly before he added. "Well... One way or another... We should return to my place and study the map closely."
"Good idea, Professor," Andrew nodded in agreement. "We better head back to Rogueport then."
"Gotcha, Andrew," Goombella smiled at him. "Let's head back."
Professor Frankly nodded as the three of them headed back up the same way they came from to get to the site of the Thousand-Year Door, as the Professor planned on inspecting the map further once they got back to his place.
They were going to be in for one heck of a surprise when they found out what had happened to Andrew and the Magical Map. There was no doubt about that...
END OF CHAPTER 3...
Yeah. That's it for this chapter. Hope that it was alright with you, even though it mainly focused on the trip to the Thousand-Year Door and what had happened at the site of the door.
Now, things are starting to get a little more interesting as the location of the first Crystal Star appeared on the Magical Map. Along with the paper airplane curse and the new ability that the map bestowed onto Andrew, this is where the quest is almost set to begin for Andrew and Goombella.
One other thing I should share, I've been meaning to do this kind of story for a long time, and now I'm finally doing it. And by the way, I've been planning to do this story LONG before the remake for the Switch was announced. Just so you all know.
Anyway, for the next chapter, Professor Frankly shares with Andrew and Goombella about the special move that the former can now do with the Magical Map, as well as the location of the first Crystal Star and how they can get there. Aside from that, Andrew brings up Princess Peach to Frankly after explaining how he got the map, they learn something more intriguing and wonder about the suspicious gang that nearly kidnapped Goombella. Oh! And, of course, Andrew and Goombella end up fighting a giant Blooper in the sewers, where Goombella demonstrates her Tattle ability to Andrew. How will this all go? Find out next time!
For now, only if you like, you can leave a review and let me know what you think about this chapter. This is just getting started, so I'll be sure to keep it coming.
Aside from that, I have nothing else that I need to say here. So until next time, I do hope you'll take care of yourselves. And with that, all said and done, thanks again for reading guys!