In this chapter, our heroes will fight Petey Piranha.
As for our other heroes, they'll continue exploring the spooky parts of the Soda Jungle.
If you've played New Super Mario Bros U, you'll know how big that world is.
So I think writing about that world will take a while. Though I still am having fun writing about it.
I guess the producers of that game like to make jungle levels. I can see why. Jungles are exciting.
Chapter 36: Twin-Win Situation
Piranha Bean breathed flames from his mouth.
It seemed he had more potent fire breathing than his cousins.
Maya and Meena recoiled from the hot flames.
"Thank goodness that didn't burn my hair." noted Maya. She liked her hair. It was one of her best qualities.
Though perhaps she should focus on inner beauty and not outer beauty. There was more to a woman than her looks. Alena had taught her that. She was cute but also decidedly strong.
Meena whacked Piranha Bean with her staff.
Piranha Bean spat out a spiked ball.
It hit Meena.
"Ow!" exclaimed Meena. Thank goodness it hadn't hit her in the face. Though she wasn't as beauty-conscious as her sister was.
Alena tossed her a Mushroom.
She ate it to heal herself.
"Who would have thought that mushrooms could be so delicious?" asked Meena. She was eager to try more…though she decided that she should save them for when she needed healing.
"It was a very pleasant surprise." answered Alena. She had eaten more than a few of them personally. She figured it was always a good idea to eat one after a fight…unless of course, she hadn't been hurt.
Maya hit Piranha Bean with a fireball.
It was a critical spell.
"That was sure lucky." remarked Maya.
Piranha Bean collapsed on the floor.
He stuck his tongue out.
A few seconds later, he spat out Prince Peasley.
Alena sighed in relief.
The prince had survived his unfortunate experience.
Now they wouldn't be short one party member.
"I appreciate your help!" exclaimed the prince.
The rescue mission was a success.
However, the prince wasn't quite the way that they remembered him.
He was now far smaller than before. Even smaller than Bowser Junior.
Our heroes looked at him with surprise.
"Is it just me, or are you all bigger than usual?" asked Prince Peasley, who now had a very squeaky voice that was what people imagined a chipmunk would sound like.
Perhaps they had consumed Mega Mushrooms. That would definitely be a good way to deal with the Piranha Plant infestation.
Ruff shook his head.
"I think you shrank in size." answered Nera.
Perhaps this was a side effect of being in Piranha Bean's belly.
"Is there a way to fix him?" asked Alena.
She sure hoped so.
Queen Bean wouldn't be happy if her son came back to her about the size of a mouse.
And it didn't seem likely he could fight too well in his condition. Which was unfortunate, given how helpful he was with them before he shrunk.
"Maybe if we give him a mushroom he'll grow." noted Kiryl.
That's how mushrooms seem to work. In the Mushroom Kingdom at least.
Alena nodded and gave Peasley a mushroom.
This was worth a try, at least.
He grew back to his normal size.
"You have my thanks!" thanked Prince Peasley.
Alena sighed in relief.
Now she wouldn't have to worry about stepping on him.
Some Frost Piranhas appeared.
As their name implied, these Piranhas breathed ice.
But they were even more vulnerable to fire for this reason.
However, they could freeze any water that Ruff tried to drench them with.
It seems that the Piranha Plants had adapted to their tactics.
Suddenly, Petey Piranha descended from the sky.
Kiryl was very surprised at the occurrence.
"Piranha Plants can fly?" asked Kiryl.
That was something new.
"Most of them are rooted to the ground. But not him." answered Peasley. This would make him a bit harder to fight than normal.
Alena, Ruff, Maya, and Meena would fight him. Though other party members could enter the fight and fill in as usual.
As before, the boss music from Super Mario Sunshine was playing.
For some reason, Petey Piranha was firing mud balls at them.
But it was effective. There was a chance our heroes would be blinded if a mud ball hit them. Even a big target like Petey would be hard to hit after that.
Luckily, Petey Piranha was ironically vulnerable to water.
If they filled him up enough, he would be exposed to attack.
And as usual, there was a fountain nearby. Alena noted that they made a good choice featuring those water fountains at the airport. It made fighting the Piranha Plants so much easier.
Ruff pulled out a bucket and filled it with water.
He then poured it into Petey Piranha's mouth.
He fell over.
His weak point turned out to be his belly button.
Alena punched it.
"Take this!" exclaimed Alena.
But Petey Piranha got back up.
He then spat out seeds at our heroes.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" shouted Ruff. It was a good thing he wore a helmet. Did the airport have an equipment shop by any chance?
"That hurt!" bellowed Maya.
Alena punched him in his belly.
"I think Alena is our ray of sunshine." noted one of the Beans watching the fight.
He was sent backwards a few feet.
Petey then flew up in the sky again.
He launched a tornado at our heroes.
"I'm getting dizzy!" exclaimed Ruff, who had gotten caught in the tornado.
Maya used her magic to shoot him down.
She figured that fireballs would work well.
Petey Piranha was a plant after all.
Unfortunately, being a big target made it hard for the flying Piranha Plant to evade them.
One of them hit him in the face.
Petey Piranha crashed into the ground.
He became dizzy.
Now was decidedly a good time to go on the offense.
Meena decided to take that chance.
So she hit him with ice.
Perhaps he was vulnerable to ice as well.
Petey Piranha was frozen.
Alena then shattered the ice…violently.
Petey Piranha took to the sky again.
He spat out more seeds.
Luckily, our heroes were prepared this time.
"You're not interrupting my dance!" exclaimed Maya.
Maya launched another fireball.
It hit Petey Piranha in the face, and he crashed into the ground.
The enormous Piranha Plant was down for the count.
"We did it!" exclaimed Ruff. As usual, they had emerged victorious.
"Not quite. We still have that doomship to take care of." answered Meena. It was a bit early to celebrate, though progress had definitely been made.
"How do we stop it?" asked Maya. It was big. Even bigger than Petey had been.
Surely, there had to be a way.
"I think we can stop it by defeating the captain." suggested Nera.
Chances are if they took down the captain, the doomship would be forced to retreat. And then the airport would be safe.
Luckily, there was an anchor our heroes could use to board the airship.
Pom Pom wondered why the Piranha Plants had failed.
She was pretty sure she had planted a lot of them.
But still the heroes had managed to prevail over them.
Even Petey.
It looks like she was going to have to take a more direct approach and defend the doomship from them.
Luckily, there were strong Bowser Baddies on the ship that would help with that task.
Perhaps they would succeed where the Piranha Plants had not.
She could certainly hope so.
If all else failed, she would fight the heroes herself.
Perhaps she would succeed where Boom Boom had failed.
In the Soda Jungle…
Taking a deep breath, Luigi accompanied Jessica into the next level.
He could only hope that they would be able to leave the haunted section of the Soda Jungle soon.
Being in this area made him feel sweaty.
He at least didn't have to worry about King Boo this time though.
If you asked him, King Boo was scarier than Bowser himself.
Maybe that was why he decided not to use a Bowser suit the second and third time.
Painted Swampland
OST: Kingdom Rush Frontiers: Shadowmoon Battle
On the subject of paint, some of the enemies were indeed painted.
Painted masks, to be precise.
They were known as Cheeky Tikis.
They could fly, so melee attacks weren't usually effective. Jumping would work though.
One of the tikis blew a raspberry at Jessica.
She frowned.
"I guess they really are cheeky." noted Jessica.
She decided she was going to teach them a lesson.
Maybe she could earn their respect that way.
So she hit them with Boom.
"Nice one!" exclaimed a Cheeky Tiki, who was now feeling respectful towards his opponent.
"I guess that works." noted Jessica.
Alistair launched an egg at another Cheeky Tiki.
He then let out a laugh.
It seems he was being a little cheeky himself.
Some Heedoo Voodoos appeared.
They were known to summon undead.
So they seemed perfect for a haunted jungle level.
Alternatively, instead of necromancy, they decided to whack our heroes with their staves.
"Ow!" exclaimed DK.
He rubbed his head.
One of them summoned some Ghouls.
These ghouls spat out the poison that the Soda Jungle had in abundance.
Donkey Kong slammed them with his fists.
Some of the Cheeky Tikis decided to shield the Heedoo Voodoos.
This made attacking them a bit more complicated.
Luckily, Cheeky Tikis weren't too resilient. So they couldn't shield the shamans for too long.
Jessica cast Sizz and burned a few Heedoo Voodoos.
"Redhead wield fire! Fire burns!" exclaimed a shaman.
And yes, they spoke like Mumbo Jumbo from Banjo-Kazooie. Though the author did admit that this wasn't a Banjo-Kazooie fanfic. If it was, our heroes would be collecting jiggies and notes instead of coins and powerups.
One of them dove into the water…and then remembered that it was poisoned.
Why was that so hard to remember?
Some Soulspawn flew towards our heroes.
Their purple color suited the level.
One of them bit DK…multiple times in a row. Unfortunately for the gorilla, Soulspawns had multiple mouths.
He let out a screech.
DK quickly ate a banana to heal himself.
He then fired coconuts at them in retaliation.
Unfortunately, it seemed they could turn invisible.
Luckily, they became visible right when they were about to attack.
DK used his bongos to attack them.
There were Heligators in the swamp as well. It seemed inevitable that they would encounter alligator enemies in a swamp level. Especially since DK was with them.
It seemed they could resist the poison.
They had strong jaws, so our heroes had to be careful not to get bitten.
And they also had high health.
Luckily, DK had experience fighting alligators.
Mario decided to swing one by the tail.
It reminded him of the time he fought Bowser.
He then tossed him at some Soulspawn.
The boss of the level was…
…oddly, there was no boss.
Though there was a female fighter nearby.
Perhaps they could ask her a few questions…
…like what she was doing in the haunted area of the Soda Jungle by herself. That didn't seem like a good idea. Though Luigi did admit to having gone into haunted mansions by himself.
"Is there a guardian here?" asked Mario. He wanted to be prepared in case there was.
"Yes, there is." nodded the warrior.
"Where?" asked Luigi. He didn't see one nearby.
"You're looking at her." answered Maeve.
She suddenly transformed into a Fright Knight.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed the plumber in green. This was a twist. It was surprising how deceptive monsters could be.
"The Dragonlord brought me back to life so I could guard this flag." explained the undead warrior. It seemed she had been given a second chance at life after she sacrificed herself to undo her curse.
"It wouldn't be the first time." noted Jessica.
"I suppose I could let you pass…if you prove your strength." said Maeve. If they couldn't beat her, how could they defeat the Dragonlord? Heck, it seemed unlikely that they would be able to defeat the general of the world if they couldn't win against her.
"That seems fair." answered Luigi. They could use the combat experience if they wanted to defeat the Dragonlord.
Jessica summoned Krystalinda.
She froze Maeve solid.
This gave the party a chance to wail on her.
But it wasn't long before she shattered the ice.
She swung her sword at the heroes.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Luigi.
It seemed Maeve knew a thing or two about swordsplay.
Mario considered leaping on top of her, but given that she was wearing a spiked helmet, that didn't seem like a good idea.
So he hammered her instead.
Normally he wouldn't hurt a girl, but this was self-defense.
And besides, undead weren't known to feel pain. And she was wearing armor.
Maeve summoned a golem for support. It seemed like a good idea not to fight the heroes one against four. She knew other guardians had tried and that hadn't ended too well. Though a lot of guardians did seem to have summons.
The golem had served her well back when he guarded her tower, which she appreciated.
She considered summoning the crabble-rouser, but he was still salty over her slaying him.
So she decided not to. It seemed likely that he would betray her.
And besides, the crabble-rouser was rather obscure, so readers may not recognize it.
The golem stomped towards our heroes.
Donkey Kong punched him in the face.
The golem picked up a tree and threw it at him.
DK narrowly avoided it.
Jessica hit him with her whip.
It wrapped around his legs.
The golem collapsed.
'Maybe I should use this strategy when I face big monsters.' noted Jessica.
The golem tried to get back on his feet.
But DK slammed him with his fists.
This knocked the golem out cold.
This made Maeve unhappy.
Her anger psyched her up.
She slashed DK in retaliation.
DK wondered if this was retribution for the time he had snatched Pauline, seeing that there was a lady attacking him. Wasn't Candy Kong more his type, anyway?
Luigi zapped Maeve with Thunderhand.
She let out a screech.
Maeve then reverted to her human form.
It seemed she had decided to stop fighting.
Luigi pulled on the flagpole.
It felt relieving after enduring the spookiness.
"Now that you've pulled the flagpole, maybe I should quit serving the Dragonlord and protect women instead." suggested Maeve.
It would be the best way to atone for what she did. Though perhaps she already had by allowing the heroes to take her life to save the women of Ballymolloy.
"There is a princess I've been working on protecting." noted Mario. He had been doing so for quite some time.
And some help would be welcome.
Though Princess Peach was more of an independent woman these days.
"You don't say?" asked Maeve.
Princess Peach waved at her.
"Perhaps I should join your side then." noted the fighter who could transform into the undead. She already regretted serving Orgodemir, so perhaps she shouldn't serve the Dragonlord either. Though admittedly the Dragonlord wasn't as bad as Orgodemir was.
Now our heroes had another summon.
Luigi was happy to have a new one, though he was still unhappy about exploring the haunted section of the jungle.
The golem agreed to join their side as well.
"Your loyalty is admirable." noted Maeve.
Perhaps he too had seen the light.
Speaking of light, they were almost out of the haunted section of the jungle.
But there was still one more level they needed to complete.
The Deepsea Ruins.
What do you think of this chapter?
I figured it would be fun to include one of Bowser's doomships.
And I also figured it would be fun to include Petey Piranha.
He's been in Mario and Luigi games before.
If you're wondering when another Koopaling will show up, rest assured that one will be appearing soon.
As for Jessica's journey, I figured a fright knight would make for a good boss. I went with Maeve since she's a named fright knight.