Time for another chapter of this fanfic.
Expect another haunted house.
But there's something you may or may not be expecting. I decided to add two more Dragon Quest heroes.
Let me know if it's getting too excessive.
Chapter 35: Every Which Way
For their next level, the heroes would be entering another haunted house.
Luigi wondered how many haunted houses the Dragonlord had.
Well, it was time to do his job.
With help from his friends, of course.
Angelo bought a falcon blade from the shop.
He felt it would come in handy for the house.
Which-Way Labyrinth
"Which-way labyrinth? Sounds confusing." noted Peach. It sounded like the Forever Forest that wasn't far from Toad Town. You had to pay close attention to your surroundings or you wouldn't be able to make it through.
Angelo nodded. This level was not going to be straightforward. The ghosts would make sure of that.
Surely there had to be a way to reach the exit.
Right outside the house were Raven Lunatics.
As usual, their enemies had grown stronger…and had changed color.
One of them cawed at our heroes.
They could attack twice per round, so they were very fast enemies. They were definitely faster than their blue cousins.
Angelo wondered if he should get a bow.
It would be much better suited for flying enemies than his sword.
But then again, he had access to wind magic. That was also very helpful against flying enemies.
DK's coconut blaster worked well against the ravens as well.
After our heroes took them down, they entered the house.
They saw a portrait of the Dragonlord in the wall right in front of them.
The portrait's eyes seemed to be following them.
It was a bit unsettling.
Inside the haunted house were Skelegons.
Apparently, dragons could also be undead.
They had shadow breath.
So our heroes needed to watch out for blindness.
As our heroes faced off against the undead dragons, they wondered which doors they should choose.
They could split up, but that would be risky.
And it was unlikely that each of them could handle the guardian by themselves.
Luckily, some of the doors disappeared when our heroes turned the knob.
This made life a bit easier for them.
Angelo used his healing magic to fight the Skelegons.
"It feels so ironic falling to healing magic." remarked a Skelegon.
Some Demonriders charged towards our heroes.
"What do you think of our mounts?" asked a Demonrider. They decided to follow the Grim Rider's example.
"They're nice." answered Jessica.
If they defeated the Demonriders, chances are they would be able to use their mount.
Their mounts were friendly this way.
There were some Witches standing next to a cauldron.
Admittedly, they had only been in a few Dragon Quest games, but this pun seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"What pun?" asked DK.
"The level title, remember?" questioned Jessica.
"Oh yeah." answered Donkey Kong.
We might be explaining the joke, but I figured it would be amusing if DK didn't get it.
They had to be careful around the witches, or else they could end up getting polymorphed.
Jessica thought slimes were cute but she figured she would refrain from being turned into one. They didn't have hands, after all.
Some Shadows flew towards our heroes.
Luckily, Luigi's flashlight worked against them.
"Oh no!" exclaimed a Shadow.
Luigi was glad he had thought quickly.
Some of these Shadows were in fact Shades…but it was hard to tell them apart.
Some Fightgeists possessed some statues, causing them to come to life. It seemed they had gotten creative in defending the haunted houses.
"So that's how they become animate." noted Jessica.
Then again, she got the feeling some were animated with magic rather than by spirits. There were witches in this house, after all.
While they were inside the statues, flashlights would not work on the ghosts.
So they needed to find another way to fight them.
Luckily, while their physical defense was high, their magical defense was not.
And if they hit them hard enough, the statues would crumble.
This would inevitably leave the Fightgeists vulnerable.
"I feel dizzy…" said one of the Fightgeists that had been forced out of a statue.
Now that the statues were gone, Luigi could vacuum the ghosts without too much trouble.
The boss was the Tortured Soul from Dragon Quest VIII. For whatever reason he resembled the Wight Emperor.
Of course, Treefaces resembled the Antiquitree.
His arena just so happened to be an altar. An altar with candles with purple flames. Aside from the candles, it was very dark inside.
Behind the altar was a flagpole. They could still make it out even in the darkness.
"I remember him." noted Jessica. He had made protecting Abbot Francisco more complicated. Who would have thought that there would be a former abbot guarding the secret passageway?
"He got tortured?" asked Luigi. That sounded very scary. Who would do such a thing to him? Especially a man who was a saint?
DK wondered if it was the Kremling Krew. Captain K. Rool had a field day back when he had been captured by them. It made him wonder if the captain was a coward. He didn't seem like the type of captain that would go down with the ship.
"He was forced to play Superman 64." explained Jessica. Or should she say Superman for the Nintendo 64?
"Oh a-no!" exclaimed the plumber. That must have been a terrifying experience. Not even Hotel Mario was as bad as that game was.
"I know." nodded the sorceress. She felt bad for him.
It was a shame they had to fight him.
But he was standing in front of the flagpole. So what other choice did they have?
Baramos showed up.
"Don't you usually appear at the towers?" questioned Jessica.
"I ended up showing up late this time." explained Baramos. He was surprised to discover Orochi had already fallen.
The heroes were handling things fast.
Also, the author had briefly forgotten about him.
"Besides, I figured I should help this poor, unfortunate soul!" exclaimed the sorcerer.
"Thanks…" thanked the unfortunate wight with a gruesome history.
He cast a spell.
"This should buff his summons!" shouted Baramos.
"I guess walking corpses and skeletons aren't a threat to us." noted Jessica.
They had already faced them some time ago.
The Tortured Soul cast Kazam.
"Oww!" exclaimed Luigi. It seemed that he was experiencing some of the pain the wight had experienced in life. All the more reason to sympathize with him, he supposed.
Jessica launched a Frizzle at the soul.
The wight recoiled from the flames.
"The flames…they burn…" said the undead abbot.
The Tortured Soul decided to summon some undead enemies. He didn't think that he could beat the heroes alone. Especially since Jessica had already beaten him once.
They were indeed stronger than the ones that he had summoned in Jessica's last encounter with him. Baramos had enhanced him well.
In his case, he summoned some more Skelegons.
As well as Corpse Corporals.
The latter were surprisingly fast for zombies.
Instead of walking, they ran.
As such, they were a bit harder to deal with than normal zombies.
Jessica cast Crackle on the corporal corpses.
She figured an ice spell would be a good way to slow them down.
Angelo slashed the Tortured Soul with his sword.
It was a shame that such a horrible thing had happened to one of the previous abbots.
He wondered if the abbots of Maella Abbey had a habit of suffering misfortune. One of them had been killed by a demon lord. It had been a terrible tragedy.
He decided that he would do his best to let the soul rest. After all, he imagined that Abbot Francisco would want that.
So he slashed the Tortured Soul with his sword once again.
The blade's increased speed was definitely coming in handy.
The Tortured Soul cast Kazam.
But Angelo blocked it with his shield.
Luigi leapt on top of him.
But a Skelegon clawed at him.
DK punched the Skelegon and knocked off his head.
"Oh no!" exclaimed the Skelegon.
His body attempted to pick his head up.
Angelo cast Moreheal on the former abbot.
This was enough to finish the fight.
The Tortured Soul fell to the ground, defeated.
He then began to vanish into darkness.
The undead he summoned crumbled.
"Thank you for letting me rest…" said the Tortured Soul. Hopefully the Dragonlord wouldn't disturb him again. He wanted to rest in peace. Though he did appreciate Baramos easing his pain.
"You're welcome." answered Jessica.
Hopefully he wouldn't have to play that particular game again. She wouldn't wish that game on Marcello himself.
After the Tortured Soul disappeared, Angelo pulled the flagpole. He felt that he had done a good deed today.
Though they had successfully completed the haunted house, they could tell there were more undead enemies up ahead.
So the spookiness would continue.
A few minutes ago…
Maya and Meena found themselves at the Beanbean Airport.
"Where are we, Meena?" asked Maya. It seemed they had inevitably fallen victim to the portals that everyone else had. It seemed like a miracle that it hadn't happened to them sooner.
Personally, she was glad that her sister was still with her.
They might have different personalities, but they were pretty close. Maybe they were meant to be together.
Meena looked around.
Apparently, they were in the Beanbean Kingdom.
The residents were rather unusual. They were all green in color for one.
Though judging from the smiles they had, they were friendly faces.
"May I see your ticket, please?" asked a Beanbean steward.
"We don't have one." answered Maya.
"You can't fly on the plane without a ticket!" exclaimed the steward. That was how things worked around the airport. They had better not try to stow away.
"A plane?" asked Meena.
Such technology did not exist in their world. Though admittedly Hunter Mechs and Killing Machines did exist. What kind of fantasy was Dragon Quest?
Back then, people used Zoom magic. It got people to where they wanted to lightning fast. And it didn't much MP either.
But things were different around the Beanbean Kingdom. If they wanted to go somewhere in a hurry, they used warp pipes.
Suddenly, a doomship approached the airport.
This was certainly alarming to the Beans that were working there. Though they were aware as to what was happening in the kingdom. It was fortunate that the queen was doing fine.
As soon as the doomship showed up, the weather became stormy.
It was almost as if the Koopa Troop could control the weather.
"We're under attack by Bowser!" warned a Bean.
"Bowser?" asked Meena.
This day kept on getting weirder and weirder.
The doomship planted some seeds.
The seeds sprouted into Piranha Plants.
Petey Piranha also descended from the airship.
Along with a Piranha Bean.
The airport was in crisis.
"We're going need the heroes of the Beanbean Kingdom to get here, pronto!" exclaimed the receptionist. The Beanbean Airport was a very important part of the kingdom.
And what else could they do about the doomship?
"The heroes of the Beanbean Kingdom, you say?" asked Maya.
Luckily, a Bean had good news.
"They're on their way!" exclaimed a Bean.
The Beans cheered. The heroes were always around when they needed them.
"I think we should help these people while we wait for the heroes to arrive." noted Maya. They couldn't exactly run the airport while it was overrun with Piranha Plants, could they?
"We don't have to sit here and do nothing." nodded Meena.
There were multiple things the two disagreed on, but this was not one of them.
The rest of the heroes approached the airport.
They could see the doomship from a distance.
The captain was Pom Pom.
"Bowser must be mad at us…" noted Nera. He hadn't sent one of them before.
"Well, we did defeat both Kamek and Bowser Jr." spoke Peasley. That certainly had an impact on the Koopa Troop's morale. He knew that they were among the strongest of Bowser's underlings. Though one could definitely make an argument Kamek had more experience.
Some Rocky Wrenches appeared.
They tossed wrenches at our heroes.
"Shouldn't you be on the doomship?" questioned Alena. That was where she imagined they would be.
"We wanted to defend it from you." explained the Monty Mole.
"I see." comprehended Nera.
Fortunately, our heroes were able to get to the airport without too much trouble. Though the Koopa Troop did know in advance thst they would try to save the airport, it seemed.
But that was the easy part.
Now they needed to deal with the Bowser Baddies that had invaded.
"Thank goodness you're here!" exclaimed a Bean.
"We're here to help." assured Alena.
"Great! Two magicians already got here before you…but we need all the help we can get!" exclaimed the airport employee.
Ruff wondered who those magicians were. Did they perform magic tricks? The Hackrobat had tried to change him back to his original form, but that didn't work.
"What did they look like?" asked the martial artist.
"They both had purple hair, and for some reason one of them was in a bikini." described the Bean. She looked good in a bikini but she wasn't sure why she would wear one at an airport.
"I think I might know who those two are." noted Alena.
She went outside just to make sure.
"It's important that we defend this airport. Otherwise Bowser could use it to invade other kingdoms!" warned Prince Peasley. He figured it would be best to think about the big picture.
"You think he'll make it into an air fortress?" asked Ruff.
"I wouldn't rule it out." answered the prince. He was pretty big on fortresses. Though he seemed big on towers nowadays.
"Maya! Meena!" greeted Alena.
It seemed she had been reunited with two of her friends.
This sure was a happy reunion.
"I remember hearing about your disappearance…I'm glad you're alright." spoke Meena. Her father would be pleased to know she was doing OK.
"As am I." replied Maya.
Now they knew where she had gone.
The party got to work fighting the Piranha Plants.
There certainly were a lot of them.
In addition to their sharp teeth, they also had to worry about their fireballs.
Ruff noticed that there were fountains in the area.
He decided to drink from one.
He found it tasted good.
Suddenly, a Piranha Plant emerged from the ground right next to him.
He gasped and spat out the water that he drank.
This made the Piranha Plant wet.
This gave Peasley an idea.
He zapped the Piranha Plant, and it was down for the count.
"Keep on doing that, Ruff!" exclaimed Peasley.
Ruff nodded and continued drinking. This seemed like a viable strategy.
Piranha Bean suddenly walked towards our heroes.
"This Piranha Plant looks different." noted Ashlynn. It happened to look more like Petey Piranha than the usual Piranha Plant.
The Piranha Bean approached Peasley.
Peasley readied his sword.
The prince was suddenly swallowed whole.
The Piranha Bean let out a burp.
"Peasley!" exclaimed Alena, her eyes widening with shock.
"Oh no!" shouted Kiryl.
It looked like they were going to have to save him.
Could they save the prince as well as the airport?
Well, they could try.
It looks like the Beanbean Airport is indeed in crisis. And so is Peasley.
I decided to feature Maya and Meena in this fanfic, because why not reunite Alena with some old friends?
There already are spellcasters on her team though.
I'm glad I found a level that would suit Living Statues, though I did take some creative liberties as usual. But I figured ghosts animating the statues would make sense.
If there's a good thing that came out of me briefly forgetting about Baramos, I got to make a movie reference!
As for the Piranha Bean, I decided to feature him a bit early. In the original he showed up while Mario and Luigi were searching for the Beanstar pieces. But I figured this would be a good chapter for him to appear.