In this chapter, our heroes will encounter Morag.
Can they defeat her?
Then again, you might already know the answer to that.
Our heroes don't seem to lose.
Though if you think our heroes could encounter a hopeless boss fight, let me know.
I almost got 1337 words writing this chapter.
On a sad note my grandmother has passed on.
I shall miss her.
So forgive me if I upload chapters a bit slower.
I feel like a chapter every three days was a bit much anyways.
Chapter 44: Morags to Riches
Grinding-Stone Tower
As the name implied, our heroes had grinding stones to worry about as they climbed it.
As usual, our heroes needed to be careful.
Some Harmours were roaming the tower.
As their name implied, they wished to cause harm to our heroes.
So they would need to fight them off.
They were skilled with their axes…and their shields.
These enemies were definitely fortified.
Luckily, they did not have magical resistance. That was their weak point.
"Is it just me, or are a lot of foes knights?" questioned Angelo. There were slime knights as well as restless armour enemies.
"The Dragonlord figured he'd rather have knights fighting for him than trying to slay him." explained a Harmour. Dragons and knights were known to be enemies.
So he decided to get them on his side instead.
There were also Moosifers roaming the tower as well.
They had encountered them before.
Perhaps they should try fighting them by grabbing them by the horns.
It turned out they were weak against holy attacks. Befitting a demon.
So Angelo and Peach were the way to go.
"I have seen the light…and been wounded by it!" exclaimed a Moosifer.
Some Babygoyles were flying around the tower.
They had to be careful not to get pierced by their pitchforks.
That would not be a pleasant experience.
At least they did not have to change their diapers.
Oh wait, they didn't wear diapers.
"There are a lot of demons in this tower." noted Jessica.
Speaking of which, some demon thunderers appeared.
"Speak of the devil?" asked Bianca.
As their name implied, they controlled electricity.
Luckily, water could short them out…as long as it was holy water.
Bianca was in possession of it, luckily.
Morag was waiting for our heroes in her throne room.
There were statues of Grrrgoyles leading up to it.
As well as a red carpet.
A lot of the Dragonlord's minions seemed to have their own throne.
Of course, the Dragonlord had one himself.
"I've been expecting you." noted Morag.
Our heroes got ready to fight.
Suddenly, the Wight Knight appeared.
"We meet again, Morag." said the Wight Knight.
It seemed history had a habit of repeating itself.
"It's a shame you won't join the dark side, Wight Knight. I would love to have you as my lieutenant." spoke Morag. Imagine the evil things that they could do together.
"I respectfully decline, as I always have." answered the Wight Knight.
He was going to stay on the path of righteousness. He did not wish to be evil.
"If only you were a bit more corruptible." noted the sorceress. She would make for a great evildoer, in her mind.
"Have you ever thought of joining the side of righteousness?" asked the knight.
He imagined that she could have a future as a hero.
"I'll consider it if you defeat me again." said Morag.
The Wight Knight charged towards Morag.
But she launched a fireball, knocking him off his horse.
"You're gonna have to do better than that." spoke the dark magician girl.
"How about this!" exclaimed Jessica.
She launched a Frizzle at Morag.
"Ouch!" shouted the witch. That was decidedly better than that.
However, she launched another fireball of her own at retaliation.
Jessica narrowly avoided the flames.
Morag then cast Sizzle.
Angelo was burned by the flames.
And so was Mario.
"I could really use an ice pack." noted Angelo.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.
"You alright?" asked Bianca. That attack looked like it hurt.
Mario nodded. Though he wasn't happy that Morag had set his overalls on fire.
Morag began to fly around.
This made her harder to hit.
Swords and hammers were not the way to go.
Morag created tornadoes using her wings.
Our heroes scrambled to avoid them.
Morag then tossed another fireball.
Our heroes dodged it.
Mario leapt on top of her head.
"Ow!" exclaimed Morag.
Morag descended and clawed Mario.
Bianca zapped Morag with her wand.
"Ouch!" screeched the sorceress.
These four were formidable when together.
Apparently, this was why the Dragonlord was worried about them.
Mario whacked Morag with his hammer.
Morag sank her teeth into him.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the plumber. Her fangs were very sharp.
But Jessica hit her with her whip.
She recoiled from the attack.
Morag then clawed Jessica in the cheek.
Jessica clutched it with her hand.
Angelo then lunged at her with his sword.
Morag went on her knees.
"That fight sure gave us a workout." noted Jessica. The Dragonlord had made a good choice choosing her as a tower guardian. Though the tower guardians had always been a step up compared to normal guardians.
She imagined that the next tower boss would be stronger though.
"You defeated me…perhaps I should become a hero." noted the sorceress.
Perhaps it was time to start a new life.
If she couldn't persuade the Wight Knight to join her cause, maybe she could join his.
Morag was now a summon they could use.
The next tower boss was Murdaw.
It seemed he was serving the Dragonlord now.
Perhaps he wanted somebody a little less evil than Mortamor.
Meanwhile, in the Beanbean Kingdom…
As soon as they approached the ship, the Beanstar piece was discovered by some of the crew members.
"What were the chances of treasure showing up right on our ship?" asked a crew member. That was not something that happened every day.
"I guess luck is looking up for us after our ship got beached." answered another new crew member. He was glad that the heroes had decided to lend a helping hand.
They decided that they would tell their captain about it.
Perhaps he could sell it for a sum.
"It looks like we're going to have to try to negotiate the Beanstar piece." noted Alena.
Perhaps they should talk to the captain.
The two of them went inside.
Our heroes decided to follow them.
They noticed that for some reason one of the sailors looked like Donkey Kong.
Were they somehow related?
Then again, there did not seem to be a jungle in the Beanbean Kingdom.
And they did not recall any members of the Kong Family being undead.
A skeleton sailor noticed the heroes.
"What are you doing on our ship?" asked one of the skeletons.
Did they have stowaways?
To his knowledge, the captain had not invited them.
"We're looking for a piece of a Beanstar." explained Peasley.
As fate had turned out, it had ended up in the Chuckola Crew's possession.
"You're saying the Beanstar pieces have scattered to the winds?" asked the skeleton.
It sounded like they would have their hands full finding them all.
"You'll have to ask the captain about that." said the skeleton.
"We were planning to." noted Peasley.
Unsurprisingly, the captain was in his office.
"Can you give us the Beanstar piece?" asked Captain Toad.
If they got it, they would be one step closer to restoring the Beanstar.
"That would be much appreciated." noted Meena.
"You can have it, but first, can you help us get this ship to shore?" asked the captain. He would really appreciate that.
He was hoping to be on the seas again.
There was so much to explore out at the Oho Ocean.
Though as a member of the undead he did not feel the heat of Teehee Valley.
"How are we going to do that?" asked Ruff.
That ship was not going to be easy to move. It was made of metal. Of course, it wouldn't be easy if it were made of wood, either.
It seemed unlikely even Alena could push it.
Even though she had super strong muscles.
"I have an idea." spoke Captain Toad.
He pulled out some dynamite sticks.
"You have dynamite sticks?" asked Peasley. He should be careful with them. Kingdom Come was not a kingdom worth visiting. Though the Beanbean Kingdom was.
"They're very useful for rockfalls." noted Captain Toad.
He had gone cave exploring in the past.
He had also made sure to bring a flashlight. Multiple, in fact. In case one ran out of battery.
Though the Swoopers had asked him to be careful not to shine them on top of them. That hurt their eyes. And no, they were not as blind as a bat.
"You seem prepared for a lot of situations." noted Ashlynn.
"Well, I do explore a lot of places." spoke Captain Toad. He was wondering if our heroes were planning to go to Joke's End. They would want to be dressed for the cold. Especially Maya.
"I imagine you do." answered Maya.
"Are you ready to set them off?" asked the captain. He was ready when they were ready.
He pulled out a match.
And yes, he had a box of matches.
When they were ready, he would ignite them.
"Just as long as you're careful with them." spoke Meena.
She didn't want anybody to have an accident. And she knew better than to play with explosives. She had heard of Rockbombs.
He used the dynamite sticks to propel the S.S. Chuckola forward.
The skeleton crew were happy to be at sea again.
They had been waiting forever.
Though perhaps when you were undead, you didn't have to worry about time.
"Alright. A deal's a deal." said the captain.
He was a skeleton of his word.
"By the way, has your crew been pilfering cursed gold?" asked Ruff.
He wasn't sure how a literal skeleton crew had come to exist.
"No, we have not." answered the captain.
They knew better than that. What if they ended up with a leak on their ship?
Then their ship would probably end up in Davy Jones' Locker.
"I see." answered Ruff.
Cackletta did say that he had been watching too many movies.
Though he did wonder how a literal skeleton crew had come to be.
A skeleton sailor came to deliver the Beanstar piece.
"Accept this as a gift from us!" exclaimed the sailor.
But at that very moment, the sailor tripped.
And the Beanstar piece slipped out of his hands.
Unfortunately, the Beanstar piece fell overboard.
And yes, there was a splash.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Alena. This was decidedly an unlucky turn of events.
Just when they were about to collect it too.
Then again, who said that collecting the Beanstar pieces would be easy?
"So sorry!" apologized the sailor that was delivering it to them. He wished that he weren't such a klutz.
Perhaps he should have had someone else deliver the Beanstar piece instead.
It seemed collecting it was going to be a bit harder than they thought.
It looked like they were going back to the ocean to search for it.
So the team decided to jump overboard.
"Why did they jump overboard?" asked the sailor.
He didn't think that made much sense.
"I guess they really want that Beanstar piece." noted the captain.
To be fair, people could breathe underwater in the Beanbean Kingdom.
They could see the Beanstar piece floating away.
It looked like they were going to have to swim after it.
This time, the enemies were more difficult.
It seemed Bowser was learning from his mistakes. Though that was a bit surprising given his track record.
They had Mecha Bloopers to deal with. They were bigger than normal Bloopers.
"HEROES SPOTTED. PREPARE TO FIRE BULLET BILLS." said one of the Bloopers.
These mechanical Bloopers fired Bullet Bills.
Luckily, our heroes could dodge them. And they had to reload after a while.
And they would short-circuit when exposed to electricity.
They were aquatic and robotic, after all.
So lightning magic was the way to go.
As well as the Thunderhand.
Also, for whatever reason, Mecha Bloopers did not move from their position.
So while their defenses were above average, they weren't hard to hit at all. Especially with their big size.
Perhaps their creator should do something about their weaknesses.
There were also Starkisses.
They did not want these starfishes kissing them.
If they were kissed, there was the possibility of being poisoned.
And there was a risk of having their stats decreased as well.
It seemed Dragon Quest was not the only game to feature its share of aquatic enemies.
One of the Starkisses blew a kiss at Peasley.
"A lot of girls seem to do that." noted the prince.
Along with asking for his autograph.
He blocked it with his shield.
They too were vulnerable to electricity.
"I'm not sure we should be kissing someone who's charged up." noted a Starkiss. That did not seem like a good idea.
Though she wondered why the water didn't make them short out.
Mario logic, apparently. Though most of the heroes were from Dragon Quest.
Our heroes saw the Beanstar piece go through a yellow warp pipe.
So our heroes went inside.
As it turned out, the first Beanstar piece had gone to Gwarhar Lagoon.
It was as sandy as Teehee Valley, but there was loads more water.
It probably wasn't a good idea to drink the water though. It was probably salty.
It was nice to have a beach level after traversing the harsh desert. They had been to an oasis as well.
But chances are Bowser minions were there.
"Weren't we planning to go here to fight Lemmy?" questioned Ruff.
"That we were." noted Peasley. He found it to be an interesting coincidence.
Perhaps they could accomplish two of their tasks simultaneously.
Though our heroes wondered if Lemmy decided to take his leave.
It was possible that he wished to explore the Beanbean Kingdom, like Captain Toad.
As it turned out, Lemmy was still there.
He had made a giant sand castle.
Unfortunately, it turned out he had managed to find the Beanstar piece before they did.
He didn't know what it was for, but he did not intend to part with it. Finders keepers.
Lemmy let out a laugh.
He was pleased with his work.
"I'm definitely winning the sand castle contest!" exclaimed Lemmy.
Who else would be able to make a sand castle that big?
Suddenly, he saw the heroes.
He was not happy to see them. He had heard all the trouble that they had caused to the Koopa Troop.
"Oh no! They're here to disturb my beach party!" exclaimed Lemmy. He was so having so much fun at the beach too.
He didn't want to meet the fate of the five Koopalings that had been defeated by the heroes, that was for sure.
On the lighter side of things, he had found a piece of the Beanstar.
He didn't know what it was, but it sure looked valuable.
Anyways, he wasn't going to let the heroes ruin his fun if he could help it.
"Should we fight them, sir?" asked a Boomerang Bro.
"That won't be necessary." answered Lemmy.
He had another way to keep the heroes out of his fortress.
Quickly, he pulled a lever.
A gate blocked off access to the castle.
This surprised our heroes somewhat.
"Good luck invading my castle now!" exclaimed Lemmy.
He blew a raspberry at them.
It was rather annoying.
It looked like our heroes wouldn't be able to enter just yet.
Perhaps there was a way they could get in.
Was there a secret entrance of some kind?
Maybe a member of the Koopa Troop knew about it.
So they decided to look around for them.
Maybe one of the locals could help them as well.
Our heroes decided to search for them as well.
They noticed a sign reading "This Way to The Jellyfish Sisters!"
Supposedly, they knew advanced techniques involving Firehand and Thunderbrand.
Though it was anyone's guess as to where they had gotten hand powers.
Perhaps those two could help them.
It was worth a try.
Morag has been defeated!
And she's decided to turn over a new leaf.
But our heroes have another tower to complete before they can reach the castle.
This tower guardian is going to be more difficult.
I'll be going to my grandmom's funeral on Tuesday...ironically, I had a class where I went to go to school on Tuesday.
Anyways, aren't you happy the S.S. Chuckola didn't crash in this reality?
That would stink.
By the way, do you think I should feature new heroes?
There seems to be a lot already.
But I'm open to ideas.
See ya.