In this chapter, Nera will appear! I figured I could feature a character from Dragon Quest V.
Since this is the thirteenth chapter I hope nothing bad happens to our heroes.
She's going to be joining Alena's group.
And yes, this story is essentially two stories in one.
I could have stuck with just one but I wanted to feature Bowser in this fanfic somehow.
Chapter 13: Nera Sighted
Nera found herself in Beanbean Castle Town, just as Alena had.
"Where am I?" asked the girl with blue hair.
"Welcome to Beanbean Town!" exclaimed a Bean.
"Um, hi?" greeted Nera. He hadn't seen someone quite like that young man before.
But at least the locals were nice.
"Is she a princess?" asked a Bean girl.
She reminded her a bit of the princess that had come to town earlier.
She had gone with Prince Peasley to battle Bowser and his minions.
If he had the chance to write back to them, that would be nice.
Personally, the Bean Girl wondered how she was doing.
Also, Prince Peasley hadn't returned yet.
She hoped that the mission was going well. The kingdom was counting on him, after all.
If anything happened to their prince, the town would be in an uproar. Everybody loved him. In fact, they were considering making a statue of him.
And they certainly didn't want the town to be in a state of chaos. Bowser's minions were causing enough trouble as it was.
"Enjoy your stay here!" exclaimed the Bean guy. He enjoyed it in this town personally…hence the wide grin he always had on his face.
"Should we tell her about the Oopa-kay nvasion-iay?" asked the Bean girl. She didn't want to spoil her vacation, but there was a crisis on their hands.
"I don't understand Pigarithm latin." answered the Bean with blonde hair.
"I think I shall enjoy my stay." noted Nera. Though she got the feeling this town wasn't entirely peaceful.
Her sister's brattiness was annoying her, anyway.
Though she did wonder how she would get back home.
Was there a way?
Meanwhile, Alena, Kiryl, and Peasley were approached by the Hammerhead Bros.
"Can we help you?" asked Kiryl.
"We just wanted to thank you for helping us get to the summit of Hoohoo Mountain again!" exclaimed Sledge. Now that the cannon was gone, it was safe to go to the summit.
"Yeah. I don't know what we would do without you." answered Mallet.
"We would like to teach you how to fight!" exclaimed the red Hammerhead.
"Sure." nodded Alena.
The three of them appreciated that.
Alena learned how to use Oomph.
And yes, she could use magic now.
Peasley could now blind enemies. It seemed the flash of light that appeared whenever he stroked his hair could be useful for combat.
Kiryl learned how to cast a Regen spell on his partners.
Progressive healing could be useful.
"We appreciate your help." thanked Alena.
"It's the least we can do!" exclaimed Sledge.
Now they were better equipped for handling Bowser's minions.
"By the way, we also have equipment if you want it. You'll have to pay us though." noted Sledge. They needed to make a living somehow. Though oddly enough they didn't recall Blablanadon ever charging for his services. Should they leave him a tip? He didn't have a tip jar.
"Considering that you two are blacksmiths, it makes sense that you two have equipment." acknowledged Peasley.
They got a discount for helping them stay in business...and because of their charisma.
The latter was how things worked in the Beanbean Kingdom. Though it also worked in the Mushroom Kingdom as well.
Luckily, Prince Peasley was brimming with charisma.
Alena got a pair of claws.
It seemed claws were her speciality.
Peasley got a new sword.
This one was a rapier.
Before he had a copper sword.
Kiryl decided to buy some new armor instead.
He bought some chain mail.
"I think we'll be better prepared for the trials ahead." noted Peasley. There were probably tougher baddies waiting for them as they descended the mountain.
"Good! I hope that you can save the kingdom!" exclaimed Sledge.
They certainly didn't want Bowser conquering it.
They heard he had almost conquered the Mushroom Kingdom.
The three of them began to descend down the mountain.
However, there were Shy Guys waiting for them.
"Uh-oh!" exclaimed Alena.
A Shy Guy began to slap Kiryl silly.
"Ow! Stop slapping me!" demanded the priest. Perhaps getting a new suit of armor was a good course of action. He reminded himself to thank the Hammerhead Bros. later.
Alena grabbed him and threw him away.
"Oof!" shouted the Shy Guy.
"Thanks." said Kiryl.
It seemed they were going to have their hands full going down the mountain.
Meanwhile...
"It looks like we're going on another underwater level." noted Jessica.
The next level led straight to the ocean.
"How do we get to the tower?" questioned Angelo.
Unfortunately, they did not have a boat.
"Don't worry, we can breathe underwater in this world." explained the girl. It saved them the trouble of finding scuba gear, so she decided why question something she liked?
Though Mario did happen to know an inventor.
To be honest, she could actually do that in the first one.
"How peculiar." noted the white-haired boy.
This time, Mario decided to sit this one out.
"I just ate some spaghetti-a and I don't want a cramp in my tummy-a!" exclaimed Mario. Especially since that would hinder his ability to fight.
"Understandable." nodded Jessica in understanding.
Although, something told her they could eat mushrooms down there and not get cramps in their tummies.
Since Jessica had assured him that diving underwater in this world was safe, he decided that he would come with.
Tropical Refresher
Underwater were more Crabids.
But Luigi zapped them with Thunderhand.
"Yeowch!" exclaimed one of the Crabids.
It was unfortunate for them that they had someone on their side who could manipulate electricity.
It was going to wreak havoc on the underwater enemies here. Could they still win? They at least had the numbers advantage.
Some Squid Kids showed up.
"Oh look, it's the Khalamari Kids' stronger cousins." noted Jessica.
"Hi there!" exclaimed one of the Squid Kids, waving with his right tentacle.
Compared to the Khalamari Kids, they were less likely to get distracted.
They too were weak against lightning, however.
"I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew!" exclaimed a Squid Kid that got zapped.
"I guess you did." nodded Peach.
"When I grow up, I want to be a Squidzilla!" shouted one of the Squid Kids. That would be awesome in his opinion.
He could settle with King Squid though.
Suddenly, scary music began to play.
OST: Jaws Theme
"That music tells me we're in trouble." noted Jessica.
"Something's coming after us!" exclaimed Luigi.
He was scared…which didn't surprise anyone.
A Barracuda was indeed coming this way.
"Mmm…adventurers!" exclaimed the sea predator. He was so happy to find them.
"Can we defend ourselves from him?" asked Luigi.
He wasn't sure personally. He had a mouth full of fangs, which was unnerving at best.
"I think we can." answered Jessica. She had faced bigger monsters before. Like that Stone Golem in the last world they visited.
Luigi sighed in relief.
She launched a fireball at it.
"Ouch! This morsel is spicy!" shouted the Barracuda.
More Barracudas showed up.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Luigi.
He was starting to think that he was in trouble.
"Don't forget, you can exploit their weakness." reminded Jessica.
It was good that they had him on their side. He was certainly helpful in this world, that was for sure. As the monsters themselves had noticed.
"Oh yeah." recalled Luigi. It seemed Thunderhand would keep him from being fish bait.
He zapped the Barracudas and they swam away.
Some Mad Molluscs were around as well. They had a habit of biting.
"The princess is an alien from outer space who is going to destroy the planet!" warned one of the molluscs.
Peach scratched her head. She was pretty sure she was human. And she definitely didn't want to destroy the planet. Not even Bowser himself would do that.
"These monsters are a little loopy, aren't they?" questioned Jessica.
The princess nodded.
Some monsters definitely lived up to their name.
"Would one of you be interested in joining us?" asked Peach.
She figured she could try negotiating sometimes.
After all, if you wanted to be a good leader, it was important to master the art of diplomacy.
She had experience with the Beanbean Kingdom, luckily. Perhaps she could go there once they had defeated the Dragonlord.
"If I join, will it rain chocolate from the sky?" questioned the mollusc.
"I'm not sure. Maybe?" shrugged Peach.
"Ok! I'll join your party!" exclaimed the sea critter.
He became a token.
There were also Seaslimes.
It seemed some slimes had adapted to living underwater.
Their shells gave them extra defense.
Additionally, they could provide support to other monsters as well.
They happened to know the spell Kabuff.
"Oh a-no." said Luigi.
The boss of the level was a Sea Dragon.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed the plumber in green.
That was a big sea monster.
"I think we're a bit too close to the flagpole to give up now." suggested Jessica.
Luigi nodded. Though he did find that monster scarier than the Barracudas.
Luckily, the dragon was also weak to lightning.
However, she took a bite out of Luigi.
"Ow!" exclaimed the plumber in green.
She then used Gigaflash to blind our heroes.
It was going to be that much harder to aim their attacks.
Luckily, it missed Peach and Angelo.
"It figured something unlucky was going to happen to us in the thirteenth chapter." acknowledged Jessica.
At least none of them had passed out. Not yet at least.
"Mamamia! I can't see a thing-a!" shouted Luigi. To make matters worse, he found the darkness to be scary. That was when the ghosts showed up.
"Don't worry, you aren't stuck like this forever." assured the sorceress. She had experienced it before and it always wore off.
He sighed in relief. But now he wouldn't be able to see the monster's attacks coming either.
Perhaps he should consider using a Refreshing Herb.
Luckily, for some strange reason, he could still reach into his bag and grab one.
"Phew!" exclaimed Luigi as he restored his sight.
Likewise, Angelo cast Brighteye.
"Thanks!" exclaimed Jessica.
She hit the Sea Dragon with Crack in retaliation.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the dragon.
In retaliation, she roared and summoned some Man O' Wars.
"We sure are encountering a lot of slime monsters, aren't we?" questioned Peach.
"Yeah…I heard slime monsters were all over the place." noted Jessica. It didn't matter which Dragon Quest game you played.
Luckily, Peach cast Woosh and blew them away.
Angelo hit the dragon with his sword.
"Aw, you got me!" exclaimed the sea dragon. "I sea you were too much for me to handle."
"If I had a gold coin for every time a monster made a pun…" thought Jessica to herself.
Now that the Sea Dragon had been defeated (and Angelo had pulled on the flagpole), our heroes were free to go to the tower.
Hopefully they could defeat the king…er, Queen Squid.
"By the way, according to the map, it says that we can skip this world and go to World 4 instead." informed Jessica. It seems this adventure wasn't so linear.
The Dragonlord did say they had to defeat all seven generals to get to him, but maybe he was exaggerating a bit.
There might be secret paths to skip worlds, as well.
"We could do that, but I want to free all the worlds from the Dragonlord's hands." noted Peach. That way they wouldn't have to worry about another evil overlord taking his place. Though there was always Bowser to deal with.
"I understand that." nodded Jessica.
To be honest, she liked it in this world, anyway. It was bright and sunny.
"I think I'll sit this one out." said Peach, pointing to the tower.
"How come?" asked Luigi.
"I want to do some monster merging." explained the princess. It would definitely be helpful to them in the future.
"Ok then!" exclaimed Mario.
The four of them went into the tower.
Meanwhile…
Alena, Kiryl, and Peasley continued down the mountain.
It seemed there was no shortage of Shy Guys.
"How many of them are there?" asked Kiryl.
"I don't know, but they're persistent." noted Alena.
She certainly didn't mind the extra experience though.
After all, she wasn't sure what she would encounter next.
As it turned out, that would be the Fly Guy.
They were carrying poison mushrooms. Something told Alena she shouldn't eat them.
"Why do so many of our enemies have the power to fly?" asked Kiryl.
"Well, I have the power to fly." reminded Peasley.
It seemed the baddies got the bright idea of finding a way to level the playing field.
Speaking of bright ideas…
…Peasley stroked his hair and blinded a few of the Shy Guys.
"I'm blind!" exclaimed one of the Shy Guys.
Ironically, this was one of the strategies a Dragon Quest monster had used not too long ago.
"I should thank the Hammerheads for teaching me how to do that." noted Peasley.
He wondered why he hadn't thought of it before.
But then again, this was the first time the kingdom had been invaded. Though there were rumors of an evil witch that was up to something big.
The three of them continued their way down the mountain.
Meanwhile, Nera decided to explore her surroundings a bit more.
"Be careful! There are evil minions out there!" warned an elder Bean.
"Evil minions?" asked Nera.
She had fought those before.
"Yeah! Bowser the Koopa King has declared war on our kingdom!" exclaimed the elder.
"Oh dear." remarked the blue-haired girl.
She hoped that everything would be alright.
But her friend Ponce (the DQ V hero) had told her that she could fend for herself.
So she decided to go outside.
Perhaps she could fight these Bowser Baddies.
The town would appreciate it, most likely.
"Here goes nothing." thought Nera.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I guess that's one of my catchphrases.
Should I come up with a new one?
And yes, I figured that the Hammerhead Bros could act as shopkeepers in this story. I don't think the team really needs hammers but new equipment would be useful for them.