In this chapter, our heroes will make their way to Rock-Candy Mines.
And our other heroes will explore the Guffawha Ruins.
There they'll meet the monster that has the citizens of Little Fungitown on edge.
Also, I ended up with 1337 words again. I find it amusing when that happens.
Chapter 41: The So-Called Monster
"I wonder how Nera is doing." questioned Bianca. The two of them were like sisters.
Though Nera was a bit dismayed that she didn't get to marry the hero. He was rather attractive. And his courage was admirable.
But if he was happy, so was she.
What was his name? Let's say Quintus.
"I'll bet she'll be happy you're free from that cage." noted Jessica. She knew from experience that being locked up wasn't fun. It was lucky she had friends to help her out of those situations. Like Angelo, for instance. It turned out he was trustworthy after all.
"You have my gratitude!" exclaimed Bianca.
She would be joining them on the adventure in return.
It was the least she could do.
Besides, adventuring was what she did best.
As such, she would be accompanying the heroes on this level.
This level was cloudy.
Flight of the Para-Beetles.
"I think they flew away." noted Luigi. Did they go south for the winter?
Wait, it wasn't winter.
Though he wouldn't strongly object to seeing them.
They weren't the most dangerous enemies around, though they were not Goombas.
I have a different insect in mind.
Flight of the Beelzebuzzes
As the name implied, there were Beelzebuzzes in the level.
They were stronger versions of Flyguys.
These insectoids had the power to bring their fallen comrades back to life.
"Oh no! My comrades have fallen! It's time for me to take some action!" exclaimed a Beezlebuzz.
The cost was that they had to sacrifice themselves. Such a powerful spell came at a cost...similar to the spell Magic Burst.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!" exclaimed the Beezlebuzz before fatigue set in.
"Your loyalty to your comrades is admirable." noted Bianca.
Still, they could make the battle longer than necessary. And it was a very powerful healing spell.
So it was best to take care of them quickly before they had a chance to do so.
Luckily, fire worked well against them. So that could help with that task. And they had spells that could target multiple enemies as well.
So perhaps luck was on their side.
Aside from the Beezlebuzzes, there were also Cumulus Rexes.
These enemies had power over the weather.
So they were reasonably strong enemies.
Bianca narrowly avoided the lightning bolts that they summoned.
"That was scary." noted Bianca.
There were also Low Djinks, who had the power to control wind.
They weren't as strong as High Dijinks, but that didn't mean they were weak.
Their tornado spells were proof of that.
Would High Dijinks appear in this fanfic? Considering they had appeared in multiple Dragon Quest games, they probably would.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Luigi, who had been hit by a tornado.
He felt rather dizzy now.
"I remember fighting a genie once." noted Wario. Captain Syrup had used it to fight him.
That had been unexpected.
But the reward had been surprisingly good.
After our heroes defeated one, Wario asked if the Low Djinks would grant them a wish.
He would love to have all his treasure back.
But his hopes were quickly dashed.
"Sorry, I don't have phenomenal cosmic power. But I can join your side if you wish." explained the Low Djinks.
Wario shrugged.
It wasn't what he hoped, but having him on his side could be of use.
So he accepted the offer.
The boss of the level was Marquis de Leon.
He was a strong guardian indeed.
But since they had defeated Rashaverak, they just might stand a chance against him.
Still, it was best not to underestimate this cat. Otherwise they might not be feline well after the fight.
"Very funny." answered Jessica.
"I was expecting an insect boss! But there aren't many in Dragon Quest, right?" asked Luigi.
I see you remembered that.
"Was there a reason you chose him then?" asked Peach.
He has six limbs…which is kind of like a fly.
"I see your point." noted Jessica.
Marquis de Leon breathed ice on our heroes.
He had potent ice breath...which was a contrast to the last boss that they faced.
Bianca took care not to get frozen.
He also had super strong punches.
Perhaps he would make a worthy general. Especially considering that five of the seven had fallen.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Luigi, who was sent flying backwards a few feet.
It helped that he had four arms, so he could punch multiple times at once.
And very strong jaws.
And his roar was loud enough to knock the heroes off their feet.
"I wonder why he isn't a general." noted Luigi.
He seemed pretty strong.
"I volunteered to be the general of the Soda Jungle, but Rashaverak beat me to it." explained Marquis de Leon. It was a bit disappointing, but he respected the Dragonlord's decision.
He was impressed that the heroes managed to defeat her.
She was a pretty strong dragon...though not as strong as the Dragonlord himself.
Luigi jumped on Marquis.
But he tried to grab him in retaliation.
Bianca launched fire at him.
"Not my mane!" exclaimed Marquis.
He was very proud of his mane.
And besides, it provided him some protection from attacks.
He swung his fists at Bianca in retaliation.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the blonde.
But she was alright.
Marquis de Leon then let out a roar, but our heroes covered their ears.
Jessica then launched a fireball at his face.
It was a critical spell.
Luigi then zapped him with Thunderhand.
Marquis de Leon collapsed to the ground.
"I lost? Maybe I wasn't cut out to be a general after all." noted Marquis de Leon.
Now that Marquis de Leon was defeated, our heroes could go to the Rock-Candy Mines.
They received their usual letter from the Dragonlord.
"Will you just give up already? You're costing me a lot of perfectly good soldiers. And besides, you don't want to make Atlas mad at you." read the letter.
Meanwhile...
Ruff wondered if he should turn back.
Had anyone who had gone into Guffawha Ruins ever returned?
That story about that monster implied that nobody had.
But then again, how could someone describe that monster if they hadn't returned from the ruins?
They had asked around as to what the monster looked like. Supposedly, it was a moai. Similar to the Mad Moais from their world.
Though given how afraid people were of the monster, it wasn't easy to get information.
Our heroes met Captain Toad.
Prince Peasley had heard of him.
But he was surprised to see him.
Our other heroes were surprised to see a Toad in the ruins given how afraid everyone was of the monster that was apparently lurking there.
"Captain Toad? What are you doing in the Beanbean Kingdom?" asked Prince Peasley. To his knowledge, he usually explored parts of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Though Beanbean Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom were close together.
"I figured this place would be a great place to explore." noted Captain Toad. And he decided he wanted to branch out a bit.
"Did you hear about the moai?" asked Kiryl.
"Yes. But adventure doesn't come without risks." noted Captain Toad. And he was curious to see whether these rumors were true. Sometimes people tended to exaggerate things.
"So we've noticed." answered Nera. She always seemed to enconter monsters whenever she went on a journey. Though these enemies were different than what she was used to.
Inside the ruins were Chuck Guys.
But these Chuck Guys were stronger than the ones in Chucklehuck Woods.
Perhaps they too were afraid of the monster…and had trained themselves accordingly.
They weren't the monster that they were looking for, so they continued on.
There were also Limbo Bros. As their name implied, they usually came in pairs.
They wielded torches, so they had to be careful not to get burned.
Luckily, water would put out their torches, thanks to the power of logic.
"Oh no! My torch!" exclaimed one of the Limbo Bros who had their torches extinguished.
"Should we say oh no or bro no?" asked another Limbo Bro.
"Either's fine." answered the first of the bros.
When their torches were put out, it would take some time for the Limbo Bros to reignite them. And they would not have a weapon until then.
Along with the Limbo Bros, there were Oucher Glasses, which lived up to their names.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Nera, who had been attacked by one.
They attacked using sand.
Luckily, being made of glass, they weren't as durable as they could be.
But they could reflect light attacks for that reason.
"Not again!" exclaimed Kiryl.
As they traversed the ruins, they heard the sound of crying.
"Is that you?" asked Alena.
"It's not me." answered Kiryl. He was actually feeling good today.
Our heroes decided to investigate.
It was none other than the moai.
"Is this the monster that the Toad was talking about?" asked Alena.
"Why does everyone think I'm a monster? I never did anything wrong!" exclaimed the moai. Personally he just wanted to say hello to visitors.
But they ran at the first sight of him.
"Huh?" asked Ruff.
He was starting to think this moai was not what he seemed.
"How did these crazy rumors start?" questioned the moai. He wondered who would even spread such a rumor.
"Beats me." answered Ashlynn. To be honest, she didn't even think that he looked that scary. Though she did hear that there were some moais that were hostile.
Perhaps the moai wasn't the monster everybody thought he was.
They should tell the townsfolk about this.
They would most likely be able to rest easy in their beds.
And who knows? Maybe people would go exploring the ruins in the future. Maybe the moai would be able to help them navigate. He had been there since forever…though that was probably because of what people thought of him.
But then again, just because the moai was harmless didn't mean that exploring the ruins was safe.
They had been attacked by Limbo Bros and the like after all.
Now that the rumors had been proven false, our heroes decided that they were going to take their leave.
Luckily, there was a shortcut that our heroes to make a hasty exit.
But on their way there, they met a familiar face.
"You again?!" exclaimed Popple.
It was none other than the shadow thief.
"What are you doing here?" asked Ruff.
"I'm here for the Crabbie Grass!" exclaimed Popple.
"Crabbie Grass?" asked Alena.
She then noticed that there was some grass nearby.
Apparently, that was what Popple was talking about.
"Who is this?" asked Maya.
"He's a Bean that likes to take things that don't belong to him." explained Peasley.
Apparently, he didn't listen to his mother growing up. As Rhapthorne himself would say, such a pity.
"Why would Popple want that grass?" asked Ruff.
"It can be used to cure Bean Fever..." noted Peasley. Being turned into Beans was not something that visitors to the Beanbean Kingdom would get used to quickly. So it was good that such a cure existed.
Since the ruins were supposedly haunted, the grass was very valuable. Though since many of the residents of the Beanbean Kingdom were Beans, they did not have to worry about bean fever.
"I'm going to collect some Crabbie Grass and sell it for a fortune, see?" answered Popple. He could imagine the money that he could make off that grass.
"That sounds like extortion if you ask me." noted Alena. She didn't think that was ethical. Though perhaps being a Bean wouldn't be so bad. She and Prince Peasley were kindred spirits.
You could say they were peas in a pod…pun intended.
"What's it to you?" asked the infamous criminal.
"I don't think we should let you do that." noted Nera. That was unjust.
"Fine then!" exclaimed Popple.
He got ready to fight the heroes...for a second time.
He tossed some poison mushrooms at our heroes.
"Something tells me we shouldn't eat these mushrooms." noted Ashlynn.
Normally mushrooms in the Mushroom Kingdom were a tasty snack, but not these mushrooms.
Popple tossed a smoke Bob-Omb.
The smoke filled up the arena.
"Where'd he go?" asked Nera.
Popple then swiped a Mushroom.
"Hey!" exclaimed the girl.
Popple then tossed some Bob-Ombs in multiple directions.
Captain Toad shined a flashlight in his face.
This caused him to drop a Bob-Omb he was holding.
Popple gasped.
The Bob-Omb exploded.
He was sent flying back a few feet.
But this made him angry.
He pulled out some boxing gloves.
He then began punching our heroes.
But Alena punched him in the face.
He was down for the count.
"I lost again? Me? The great shadow thief?" asked Popple.
"I think it might be your ego that's leading to your downfall." noted Alena. Personally she didn't see what was so great about him.
"Fine! You can have the grass!" exclaimed the thief.
He decided to let them have the grass.
He then decided to take his leave.
The yellow pipe led right back to Little Fungitown.
They wondered what the chances of that was.
But why question something that they liked?
It was preferable having to make their way back to the ruins. Though some extra experience wouldn't hurt them.
They decided to tell everyone that the moai wasn't who he thought he was.
He was actually a nice guy.
"He is? That's a relief. Now I can go to Guffawha Ruins and get some Crabbie Grass for my patients." noted the doctor. People would be happy to know that they had a cure for Bean Fever.
That was great news indeed.
Now that their work was done, our heroes got ready to leave Little Fungitown.
Lemmy Koopa was probably itching for a fight, anyway.
Captain Toad decided he would accompany them.
"Captain Toad? You want to come with us?" asked Ashlynn.
"I get kind of lonely traveling alone." explained Captain Toad.
"I see your point." noted Alena.
She herself felt better traveling with her friends. And she couldn't take on bosses by herself.
When our heroes descended the elevator, our heroes saw the moai.
Apparently, he realized what they had done for him.
"Thanks a bunch! Take my summon token!" exclaimed the moai.
While he wasn't a monster, he could fight if he deemed it necessary. He had the power to fire projectiles.
"Aren't Jessica and his friends usually the ones who summon?" questioned Alena.
Though she wasn't usually one who questions something that she likes.
We're deviating from the formula a bit. Why not be creative when writing this fanfic?
"I see your point." noted Nera.
Creativity was what made reading fanfics fun.
Though in the case of Baramos appearing in a haunted house, that was partly the result of the author forgetting to include him in a tower.
"I understand." nodded Kiryl.
Peasley decided to let his mother know that he was coming back. He had been gone for a while.
Their trip to Little Fungitown had certainly been eventful.
Queen Bean was happy to overhear this.
"That's great news!" exclaimed the queen. She knew that her son would be able to defend Little Fungitown from the Koopa Klan. Her faith was not misplaced.
She had also heard that Peasley had unlocked a new power. One that you could obtain by paying Oho Oasis a visit.
That would help him on his quest.
Luckily, Captain Toad was now on their side as well.
So their trip to the Guffawha Ruins had worked out.
It was time to go back.
Would you look at that. The moai wasn't the monster that people thought he was. Though you probably already knew that.
The rumors about Bowser are usually true though. So perhaps rumors aren't always false.
That's why I had Popple be the boss instead.
As for Captain Toad, I figured I would be creative and have a more obscure Mario character join Alena's team.
I felt like I did well writing this chapter considering I've had a nasty earache for the last couple days. Luckily it doesn't seem to be an infection. I had an ear examination.
Anyways, don't worry, I think I've recovered now.
See you later!