Chapter 59: Finding The Tropics In a Very Hot Desert

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in order to get to the Twinsy Tropics, we have to get through this desert called, "Doop Doop Dunes"." Peach said, as we were following her lead to wherever Twinsy Tropics is. "I forgot all about Doop Doop Dunes. I know Mario told me about it, but I was focused on other things."

"Doop Doop Dunes? Why does that name remind me of "Duck Duck Goose" or something?" Alexis asked with a sweatdrop.

"I don't know." Darius said. "It sounds like the name is depressing."

"Honestly, it's just how it is. There's nothing that's changed." Daisy said.

"Are we going to witness any more suspicious activities there?" Kinsley asked.

"Any more… what do you mean by "suspicious activities"?" Peach asked, as she was a little confused.

"Well… *sigh* How do I put this? At first, I thought Infinite seemed fishy when we first encountered him, but with him speaking the truth on Cackletta's rampage, I was starting to believe him. Then there was Mimi, who seemed to look like a threat…"

"Hey, you bully!" Mimi shouted while pouting.

"...But you two seemed to settle your differences and are now working together. So I am now asking if there's gonna be more suspicious activities in the desert."

…

"N-Not that I know of." Peach said after giving Kinsley's explanation some thought. "I've rarely been to the desert even before and after Mario's departure, so there is a possibility that we won't see anything similar to what Cackletta did in Gloomy Woods."

"So I guess this is our first time experiencing this "Doop Doop Dunes". And it's a desert." I said. "So I don't think we'll be able to see anything suspicious there."

"You think it's because of the heat? It's a desert after all." Blue asked.

"Possibly. I don't think anyone can withstand the hot temperature."

"Wait, is it gonna be hot when we reach the desert?" Darius asked.

"Yeah, but if you don't want to bear the heat, then we'll just make a run for it. It's better than being sweaty and sticky." Daisy said.

"Why would we do that?" Peach asked, looking confused.

"I'm the sporty one, Peach! Just because I am a princess who looks beautiful and awesome, doesn't mean I'm a lazy ass either. I can run if I want to. I have high energy."

"So that means… you're just like me! I'm athletic too! I can do a lot of things you do too!" Gemma shouted, looking surprised.

"Say what! You mean… you are a "do it all" type of person?! As in, a person that has the ability to play sports, exercise and things of that nature?!"

"Yup! Right on the nose!"

"Alright, Alright, Alright, you two, you gotta pump the brakes." Darius said, looking displeased. "Because one we gotta stay locked in, and stick to the important discussion. And two, I got the jets. There's a lot of people in my dimension that say I'm the fastest runner there. I can give you proof. Another time."

"Woah! Another athletic person? So are you saying that you're faster than me, Darius?" Gemma asked.

"I would love to see that." Candace said while smirking.

"See? Who said you're "seeing" that?" Darius asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You're participating in this too! And besides you don't wanna race your archnemesis standing next to you?!"

"I never proposed anything like that. And even if I did, I have the confidence to spank you in running!"

"You're not like that, sis!"

"Hey, guys. Can we put this conversation aside and get to the important discussion at hand?" Scarlett asked.

"I'm getting a strong signal again on my DSS, again, guys." Zack said looking at his DSS.

"Another strong signal? Could it be Infinite?" Blue asked.

"Your prediction is correct." We then heard the voice of Infinite's as he then appeared right in front of us. "Have you found the stone in the woods yet?"

"No, but we found some new leads." I said. "Cackletta was causing mayhem in the forest as she attacked many Toads all while possessing wigglers to attack us."

"We also found that she was destroying buildings as she and Fawful were desperate to find the stone." Peach added.

"She even tried to attack me as well!" Mimi yelled. "She mistook my rubee that she took from me as a stone! She's SO gonna get it!"

"I even found a letter on the ground that said that a Toad saw a stone near an unknown ruins." Scarlett added. "We were told by a random Toad that the best way to get there is if we get to Twinsy Tropics and take a boat there, but that boat won't fit all of us so we're finding another to get across the ocean."

"Twinsy… Tropics? That name is rather strange." Infinite said with a sweatdrop.

"What's strange about it?" Gemma asked.

"I just thought the name was strange. That's all there is to it."

"More importantly, how is your progress? Have you found any locations that might help?" I asked.

"I've talked to the residents." Infinite said. "I've asked if they know anything about the stone. They haven't given me anything about the stone since they weren't outside of the Mushroom Kingdom. However, they did request Princess Peach's help to find the source of the light and where it's coming from. So it looks like you're doing the citizens a favor."

"Yes, and Cackletta won't be able to find the stone that easily, so this makes life a lot easier for us." Peach said.

"If I ever encounter this Cackletta and Fawful again, I'll make sure they won't lay a single finger on the stone. Consider me as your assistant for now."

"Thank you, Infinite. This will give us a big boost to our advantage with your help." I said.

"Yes. Many thanks. If you find anything else, let us know immediately." Peach said.

"Certainly. Anyway, keep going." Infinite said as he suddenly vanished right in front of us.

"Wow. I didn't know he would be that helpful." Gemma said.

"Honestly… me either." Kinsley said. "I used to think he was suspicious, but I was wrong there. He doesn't seem to be that bad."

"I have to ask. Do you think he has a purpose for wanting to help us?" Zack asked.

"That's a good question. We never asked him about that." Blue said.

"Well, for starters, he stated factual rumors about Cackletta and Fawful attacking the woods." Kris said. "We both have a common enemy so there's no reason to feel even more curious."

"W-Why wouldn't I? That's me being curious." Zack said with a sweatdrop.

"Well let's put that aside for now. We need to head to Doop Doop Dunes right away." Peach said.

"Yes. We have a stone to look for, so we should get going." I said.

Soon after a long halt of our progress due to conversations being had, we followed Peach straight through Sunbeam Plains and now into Doop Doop Dunes where the environment was filled with just cacti. There were no signs of enemies in this area either. Everything about this world is feeling much more odd than it is back in the three worlds I've been in. And more importantly…

"Oh geez, it's really hot." Blue said as we started to feel the strong heat.

"I know, right? I never thought it would be this hot. But hey, at least it's bright and sunny!" Gemma said.

"Ok, before we can make our way towards the tropics, let's see if we can find some Toads that can help us get there. My mind's all foggy and I need this information." Peach explained.

"Sure thing, Peach, but… do you have any idea where you're going? Not to get in your way?" I asked.

"Yes, Kaze. I know where I can find civilization from here…"

"PRINCESS!" This was screamed by another random toad coming towards us. It was a red toad that was speeding to us and it looked like he was out of breath.

"Pri…*pant* *pant* Princess… *pant* Pri…"

"I'm here, Red Toad. Are you dehydrated?" Peach asked as she crouched down to him.

Are these toads named by just color? I don't know who is who now. Or maybe the personalities are different.

"Pri… Princess… Wa…Water…"

Peach then grabbed his arms for some reason and then felt his head. She was making sure has some type of fever.

"This looks bad. You haven't drank any water it seems like. We have to find you a building where I can cool you off. We're going to have to find some civilization to cure your dehydration."

"Somebody gonna have to grab a hold of him. Either one of you three do it." Kinsley said as she pointed at Zack, Darius and Kris.

"I'll do it. I have no fear of grabbing a toad." Kris said.

"Alright, there you go, Kris! Becoming an available resource! I like it!" Darius said as he was starting to grin at Kris as he was attempting to give the toad a piggyback ride.

"Yes. That definitely helps. Ok, now we can go look for some civilization. I do know where it is." Peach said.

This feels kind of simple now.

With the help of Kris, we were now following Peach in this hot desert. I was starting to notice now that this place is filled with nothingness. It just seems empty and it's starting to get really strange for me. But then again, it helps at the same time, because the less shenanigans we have to deal with, the better.

And it was not better for me as I was starting to sweat.

"Holy hell, the temperature is unbearable." I said as I started to feel a little exhausted from the heat.

"I know, right?! Who the hell wants to live in this burning-hot desert?!" Candace complained as she was starting to feel the heat draining her.

"Come on, you two. We're almost there." Daisy said. "If anything, I can just piggyback either one of you and we'll race our way there."

"Oh no no no. It's fine, Daisy. I prefer to move like this." I said, respectfully rejecting her offer.

"I should've brought a water bottle with me. Someone beautiful and pretty like me should not suffocate in this desert." Candace said with a sweatdrop.

"Zzz…"

"Wait a minute. He's sleeping?" Kris said as he heard the toad sleeping in his ear.

"He's really snoring in your ear. That is crazy." Darius said.

"That's what happens when you are not hydrated enough." Scarlett said with a sweatdrop.

"Are you sure he'll be fine though? He looks totally worn out." Alexis asked, looking worried.

"I guess when you're in the heat and you don't drink enough fluids, this is what happens." Gemma said. "Or to take a step further, doesn't he have a healthy diet?"

"You're asking if he has a "healthy diet" in a desert?" Candace asked with a huge sweatdrop.

"It's not that, Gemma. It's really what you just said. The heat can drain you if you don't drink enough water." Blue said.

"Not to mention, I hate being sticky in hot places like this. It's really disgusting." Mimi said with an annoyed look on her face.

"Yeah, you're not wrong on that." Candace said with the same face Mimi just expressed.

"Well the faster we can get to civilization, the better." Peach said. "We can not only cool ourselves down, but to get information on how we can get to Twinsy Tropics. Hey, look! We found our way!"

As soon as she said that, there were a couple of toad houses up ahead from here. Luckily, there were a couple of toads here that can help us get to where we need to be. A couple of them looked fine, but a few looked dehydrated.

It was almost as if… they were working together to get food. I felt really bad for them.

"Hey, everyone! Are you all right?!" Peach shouted, grabbing the attention of all the Toads in the area.

"Oh, Princess Peach! You're here!" This was said by a yellow toad coming toward us. "And you have a lot of people with you. Yes we're fine. We just got food supplies and water for us to survive in this desert. Is there anything you need from us?"

"Yes we do, but first…"

"We got a toad here who looks completely drained. He was even sleeping in my ear." Kris said as he was still carrying the toad on his back.

"Oh no." The green toad said, looking worried. "He does look worn out! We have to help him!"

"Please… help… me." The red toad whispered in Kris's ear.

"Alright, come on. We have to go help him now." Kinsley said, as she was trying to put pressure on all of us.

"Let's go inside this building here." The yellow toad said as he was leading us to the blue building, which was big enough for all of us to fit inside.

"Ok, sit on this chair right here." Kris said as he let the toad off his back and made him sit on this chair right here.

"Here's some water. I put ice in it. Drink that." The green toad said as he gave him a glass of water.

"You can talk to them, Yellow Toad. I'll take it from here." Peach said as he stopped the yellow toad from doing anything else.

"O-Ok. So what brings you guys here in this desert?" The yellow toad asked all of us, excluding Princess Peach.

"We want to go to Twinsy Tropics from here. Is there any way we can find it in the desert?" I asked.

"Twinsy Tropics? Yes, of course! So once you get through where we are at right now, you're going to keep going straight, and then make a right once you see palm trees. It'll be right there. Lucky for you guys, you might not see any bad guys lurking in the area so it should be a breeze for you."

"I do find it very pleasing… however, I also find it very strange." Princess Daisy said, looking concerned.

"Huh? And why is that, Princess Daisy?" The yellow toad asked, looking confused.

"Well, Sunbeam Plains, Gloomy Woods and Doop Doop Dunes, according to what you said, all don't have baddies except for Cackletta and Fawful. You don't normally see Koopas, Goombas, Shy Guys, whatever. I'm getting more confident that Bowser is… gone. He usually comes back on several occasions, but his minions are nowhere to be found, so that means… he and his minions are out of the picture."

"Well… it is odd, but we should feel ecstatic about this." The green toad said. "We've suffered great chaos from him and it only took Mario and Luigi to stop his tyranny. So we can finally live peacefully and not have to deal with him anymore."

"I understand. His evil deeds were so out-of-line. I was just… feeling concerned. That's all."

"But if I may ask, why do you all plan on going to the Twinsy Tropics?"

"Because we're here to claim a mysterious object that was the source of the bright light." Scarlett said.

"Bright light? Oh! The one that just happened hours ago?!" The yellow toad said.

"That's right!" Gemma said. " And on top of that, someone very bad has come back to this world and started causing destruction in one area. It's not Bowser though. It's someone else."

"Very bad? And it's not Bowser? Who would that person be?"

"Cackletta." Peach said as he's still taking care of the Red Toad. "Along with Fawful. They are the ones that are going after this mysterious object called the Legendary Stone. Our Kingdom is one of our areas that could be in serious danger which is why it was huge for me to gather a boatload of reinforcements to stop the calamity."

"I see. I can't believe it. Cackletta is really back." The yellow toad said as he was feeling anxiety.

"I thought we were done with Cackletta." The green toad said, looking disgusted. "Mario and Luigi defeated her after a long period of catastrophe and now she's resurrected. I don't know who brought them back."

"I thought the same thing, but since they're back, we're gonna make sure her and Fawful both get taught a lesson. Just like Mario and Luigi would."

"But are you sure you want to do this, Princess? Normally, you would be at the kingdom and be sheltered by the other toads here instead of playing the heroine role."

"I'm going to do what's best for not only the residents and the Mushroom Kingdom, but for myself as well. I'm disappointed that Mario and Luigi are gone, but after what we've been through all those times we were together, I've now realized that like Mario and Luigi– I'm a compassionate and a lovable person, yes, but what I don't see in myself that they don't see in me is… I'm not a "heroine" heroine. I just let myself be suffered by Bowser's affection towards me instead of using self-defense, although I have in some occurrences. I have no choice but to put the blame on myself…"

"Peach, you just don't know enough is enough."

"Huh?" Peach was shocked by Kinsley's response.

"Again, Peach. This is not all on you. Yes, it was true you were held accountable for letting Bowser take you away from Mario and Luigi several times, but, according to you, you also acted like a heroine before they left. One time, you said you saved Mario in which I assume he got kidnapped by Bowser. He was grateful that you became a heroine for him. And besides, aren't you making up for the amount of times you got kidnapped by becoming more self-confident and intelligent?"

"Yeah, I agree." Darius said. We all appreciate what you doing for us. So there's no need for you to be beating yourself up and talking like you're about to be a slave for yourself. My advice would be to just be you. And I like who you are as of now."

"They both are right, you know." I said. "You're doing great so far, so I have no complaints about your leadership. You just have to know that you have us. We can help you. You're just… pointing the finger at yourself because you just don't do things on your own.

Us as friends help each other, no matter what the situation is."

Peach then went silent again, trying to process what we are talking about here. Those were just encouraging words from Peach since she's been a major help to us so far, and we want to keep it that way. It didn't take long to get her response in after a long thought process.

"I understand. Perhaps, I was wrong again to judge myself. You guys, I can't thank you enough again for the wise words that you gave me. It's gonna help me big-time."

"And trust me, if you ever need an elite helper for your problems, I'm your G."

"Your… G?" Peach then was confused by Darius's response.

"Just pay him no mind. He can be a goofball at times." Scarlett said with a sweatdrop.

"And trust me, if you ever need somebody to come back to their senses, I'm your G." Alexis said.

"Alexis, please don't." Scarlett said with a facepalm.

"You both are in a different world, after all." Blue said. "They're not gonna be able to understand the new stuff that you guys talk about."

"Umm… Ok, I'll just assume it's random. Are you ok, Red Toad?" Peach asked the red toad.

"*gulp* Yeah, I'm a little ok." The red toad said, still recovering from the exhaustion of the heat.

"That was a scary incident back there. You should be careful next time." Gemma said, looking worried.

"I know. And I'm sorry. It was just… I was in a panic about that source of light that you guys were talking about that I couldn't act fast."

"No, we understand." Peach said. "We are going to make sure we take care of the incident right away. The toads are going to look after you until you are recovered."

"Alright, just… be careful out there, Princess. We care about you more than anything."

"I will. For your sake."

"Ok, so… head straight, then make a right when we see palm trees, right?" I asked the toads.

"That's right. The palm tree will be your best friend when you find it." The yellow toad said.

"Alright. It shouldn't take long to get there, so let's move out." Peach said as she was getting back on track.

And with that, all of us excluding the toads have moved out of the blue building and are moving deeper in the desert.

"These toads have been quite the help so far." Kris said as we were moving deeper into Doop Doop Dunes, even though I said it twice.

"No doubt about it." Zack said. "I'm surprised they don't suspect us as threats. Especially on the DSS."

"Well, they are good people." Peach said. "They don't like to be mean to newcomers unless they have to be."

"I'm glad we were able to work things out, Peach." I said. "I promise, when we get the stone, your world will be peaceful again before you know it."

"I'm pleased to hear that, Kaze." Peach said with a smile. "As long as you go by your word, I'll believe in you once more."

"We also have other worlds to take care of, so we shouldn't be focused on just this world." Kinsley said.

"We know that, Kinsley. I just… I just want people to trust in our capabilities. That's all." I said.

"She's right! We have to want people to see what we can do!" Darius said while putting an arm on my shoulder. "I want my name to be on that MVP status by the time we're finished with all of this!"

"Hello, sir!" Kris said. "That MVP status is gonna belong to yours truly! I've been a valuable resource a couple of minutes ago!"

"You keep bringing up this frickin' MVP status for the past two hours now! Just shut up already for god's sake! There is no competition!" Alexis yelled, getting irritated by the ongoing topic.

"Hey, who you yelling at over there?!" Darius shouted back.

"Seriously, Darius. We're doing this together." Scarlett said. "This isn't a competition. This isn't a fight over who's the better teammate. Again, we can't fight over this type of stuff."

"Yes, violence isn't the answer." Peach said. "We have to solve the issue together."

"But competition isn't worth solving." Darius said.

"Yes it is. You just initiated the whole argument in the first place." Scarlett said.

"Alright well I'll…"

*hawk screech*

"WOAH!"

"HOLY SHHHHHHOT!" Me and Darius got scared of this HUGE hawk swooping through us out of nowhere.

"What is that?!" Blue asked, looking surprised as she was looking at the hawk.

"Look! It took my DSS from me!" Zack shouted as he was pointing at the hawk's claw. It's claw was actually holding the DSS.

*hawk screech*

"Oh, it did take it away from you! Did the DSS detect it?!" I asked.

"No! It wasn't a monster! And it somehow took from me!"

"It's gonna get away! Come on! Let's chase after it!" Daisy shouted.

All of us chased down the hawk that stole Zack's DSS. That hawk did scare the heck out of me. And it was a huge bird too! It was moving so fast that we were using all of our energy to catch up to it.

"Where did that thing come from?!" Kris asked.

"I have no idea. We never encountered something like this before." Blue said.

"Peach, have you seen something like this before?" I asked.

"I haven't. This is all new to me in this world. But it's really fast." Peach said.

*hawk screech*

"Damn, this is like sprint training! Glad I'm doing this cardio!" Darius shouted.

"Remember, Darius! It's a marathon, not a sprint! So don't go too fast!" Gemma shouted.

"It'll slow down eventually." Scarlett said. "Let's just not waste stamina while still chasing it down."

We continued our pursuit of the big hawk as it was still moving at the same pace. There wasn't anything standing in our path, which was much of a surprise because I had a feeling it would send its goons to attack us in the first place. Unfortunately, it didn't. It was just a wild goose chase.

*hawk screech*

A couple of minutes later, the hawk flew over a mountain to escape from us.

"Nooo! It got away! And that was my most important invention!" Zack yelled in agony.

"How do we even get up there?!" Darius asked. "This was Zack's important invention and we're in a dire situation here."

"I think it's time we just did this. It's no point of having to hide our identity any longer."

Transform!

As soon as I said the word "transform", I was absorbed into a bright light. After a couple of seconds, I was in my HGU form. This was the only idea of getting through higher grounds.

"I'm sorry. I had to. Zack's DSS is necessary for us so… I'm gonna up there and get it." I said in my deep voice.

"Wait, Kaze! Where are you going?!" Blue asked.

I then ignored Blue and was using my body to fly higher up in the mountains. A couple of seconds later, when I reached the higher grounds the hawk was already it's own nest from a mile away.

As soon as I reached the nest…

"Hey! That's our equipment you're stealing! Give it back!" I shouted at the hawk.

*hawk screech*

The hawk was moving away with the DSS to move to a different location. While it was moving, I started to chase it down to make it surrender the DSS.

It was still moving at a fast pace, but something caught my attention.

I got an idea. I have my own magic, so if I could find a way to cage the hawk, I should be able to grab the DSS immediately. Ok. Let me try that.

I used my magic to form chains in order to attach them the hawk's claws. As soon as I did just that…

"Time to punish this animal!" I said.

I then threw the chains at the hawk, targeting its legs. The chains were moving at a faster pace than the hawk. As soon as it caught up to the hawk's legs…

*CLICK*

*hawk screech*

*BOOM*

The chains locked the hawk's legs, making the hawk fall face-first and drop the DSS, giving me an opportunity to retrieve it.

"Alright. Got it. Sorry for the animal abuse, but this not worth keeping." I said took the DSS back, leaving the hawk caged.

*hawk screech*

"Ok, I got it back, Zack." I said as I made it back to the group.

"*sigh of relief* I appreciate it, Kaze." Zack said. "I don't know how I would've felt if we abandoned it. I spent hours making this."

"Wait a minute, Kaze! That body! You have two bodies?!" Daisy shouted, looking shocked.

"Y-Yeah. We're also known as…"

"I'll take it from here." Scarlett said. "We're known as HCUs. Also known as Hyperdrive Cyber Units. Remember when we mentioned the other worlds that are in danger of an apocalypse? We are going to be traveling across those worlds while in those forms. Not all the time, but unless we have to."

"Oh wow… it looks so… futuristic."

"Yeah. I know. But, we'll get into more detail later." I said.

Revert!

I then reverted back to my human form.

"Your voice also sounded a little different. That's quite interesting." Peach said.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." I said with a sweatdrop. "But, anyway, that hawk was taking the DSS to it's own nest. Fortunately, I was able to cage it and retrieve it back."

"To it's… So it came from alllllllll the way over there, just to spot some equipment and come back to the nest?!" Darius asked.

"It probably mistakened it for food. Mimimimimimi!" Mimi said while laughing.

"Mimi, I don't think that was reason it wanted it." Blue said with a sweatdrop.

"Either way, at least it helped us lead to our destination. Look. A palm tree." Kris said as he pointed at the tree.

"Oh, you're right." Scarlett said. "That palm tree does lead to the Twinsy Tropics, just like that yellow toad said."

"Ok, no time to waste. Let's get a move on." Kinsley said.

"Right. Let's go, everyone." I said to everyone.

And so, the rest of our group headed towards the palm tree which leads to the Twinsy Tropics. We are one step closer to reaching the yellow stone in the unknown ruins. And so far, there were only two distractions in our adventure, so I was hopeful doesn't keep going sometime soon.

Author's Note: With the help of Infinite and the rest of the toads, Kaze and the group are one step closer to capturing the yellow stone as they head to the Twinsy Tropics.

I wanted to skip past Doop Doop Dunes, but it wouldn't make sense to skip this and go straight to the Twinsy Tropics. I had to at least put in a chapter at the desert so that you can see what happens there. I got a little stuck on it, but I finally got it out the way. Will there be more distractions? You'll have to find out next chapter.

That's all I got for now. Nothing much to say. If you guys enjoyed this chapter, make sure to follow/favorite/review this story, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.