In this chapter, our heroes will go to World 7!
A lot of Mario games have sky worlds.
And New Super Mario Bros. U is no exception.
But our heroes should be careful, because the monsters are strong in this world. Not as strong as the ones in World 8, of course…but why throw caution to the wind?
And Baramos is waiting for our heroes in the tower.
Given that he's the Dragonlord's equivalent to Kamek, it seemed inevitable that our heroes would fight him directly.
My grandmother might be gone but I figured I would still continue this fanfic.
Though it does demotivate me a bit.
Chapter 52: Above the Clouds
Our heroes arrived in Meringue Clouds.
Jessica was currently comforting Allister.
He had a nightmare about an alien Yoshi attacking innocent Yoshis...and eating them.
Who would have thought that there were Yoshis all the way in outer space?
And yes, this was happening in reality. But in a different kingdom.
Our heroes got a letter from the Dragonlord.
He didn't seem like he was happy that they had made it this far.
All the way to World 7.
"If you don't turn back, you're going to have to fight Baramos. I doubt you could best him!" read the letter.
"Something tells me he's not kidding." noted Jessica. If there was one positive aspect the Dragonlord was, it was that he told the truth.
Our heroes heard Baramos' laugh.
"He wasn't." answered Jade.
"Come and fight me if you dare!" exclaimed Baramos.
He was waiting for them in the tower.
There were a variety of spells he wanted to try on them.
So he was looking forward to the battle…assuming they could make it to him.
He had made sure to summon powerful defenders to guard the tower.
"You think we're ready to face him?" asked Peach.
He was undoubtedly going to be a mighty opponent. Probably stronger than the generals themselves. They knew from experience that he was talented with magic.
And it was most likely the Dragonlord had chosen him to be his right-hand for a reason. They imagined that there would be a lot of candidates aiming for that position.
For now, they would focus on getting to him.
Luckily, there was a shop that could help them with this task.
Even in the cloud world, there were still some locals selling weapons and armor.
And items too.
Unsurprisingly, some of the residents of the town were Lakitus.
One of which was taking pictures of them with a camera.
Was he friends with the Lakitu from Super Mario 64? He used a video camera, which wasn't that much like a digital camera.
They told him about the last general.
She was known as Belial.
Unsurprisingly, she had wings.
She was a powerful demon.
If they wanted to get to World 8 and enter the realm of the Dragonlord, they had to take her down.
For now, they would focus on reaching Baramos.
It seemed almost inevitable that they were going to be facing him in combat.
Belial was currently in her castle.
She heard that the vanquishers of her fellow generals had arrived in Meringue Clouds.
No doubt they planned to take her down as well.
But she figured she could rest easy, because Baramos had volunteered to fight the heroes.
How in the world were our heroes possibly going to get past him?
Land of Flying Blocks
In order to get around the level, our heroes needed to use, you guessed it, flying blocks.
"We should be careful not to fall off." noted Jade. That would hurt.
The first enemy that they encountered were Firebirds.
As their name implied, they wielded the power of flame.
And their power was potent.
Also present were Snowbirds.
They were like Firebirds, but in reverse.
Our heroes had to be careful not to get frozen, or they would be helpless.
Some Cloud Surfers were roaming the level as well.
They had to take care not to get blown away by their whirlwinds.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of enemies in Meringue Clouds had wings.
This time, the boss was Jamirus.
"So, you're the ones who defeated Murdaw." noted Jamirus.
It was such a shame, in his opinion. He had returned only to be defeated by brave heroes once again.
Well, he was going to see if he could avenge him. And avoid a similar fate while he was at it.
Jamirus attacked using Kaswoosh.
Our heroes were attacked by powerful tornadoes.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario, who tried to hold onto his hat.
"Take this!" shouted Jamirus.
Mario leapt on top of him.
"Ow!" shouted the gryphon.
He summoned War Gryphons to back him up in retaliation.
He was fighting four against one, so it seemed like a good idea.
The War Gryphons began to attack Mario.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.
He was left dizzy by their attacks.
Luckily, Peach was in the party.
She healed Mario.
"Thanks!" exclaimed Mario. Thank goodness for Peach's healing magic. He wasn't sure what he would do without it.
Jessica used ice to freeze Jamirus as well as the gryphons.
"Brrr…" spoke the gryphon.
She figured she would try something different from fire.
Though fire was her speciality.
Mario then followed by hammering him.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the gryphon.
Jamirus slashed Mario in retaliation.
"Oof!" shouted the plumber.
Jamirus then followed by kicking him.
Mario was knocked backwards a few feet.
Peach hit him on the head with a frying lan.
"Ow!" shouted Jamirus.
Jade then kicked him in the chest.
Jamirus breathed fire on her.
She remembered to stop, drop, and roll.
He then attempted to breathe fire on Mario.
But he countered using FLUDD.
Jamirus fell to the ground.
"Ugh...I can see why...you were able to defeat Murdaw..." spoke the gryphon.
It seemed that their victory over the first of the Dread Fiends wasn't a fluke.
Of course, was their defeat of six of the seven generals a fluke?
Mario pulled on the flagpole.
It was satisfying to beat yet another guardian. Jamirus might be of the first guardian of the world, but he was reasonably strong.
But Baramos was most likely even stronger than Jamirus was.
So maybe they shouldn't celebrate just yet.
Inside Yoob's belly…
Our heroes looked around to see if they could find anyone else that had been swallowed.
It was important that they got everyone together. Chances are it wasn't safe inside the belly of the beast. And they had a better chance of escaping by working as a team.
"I have to admit, I never thought I would be exploring a giant alien Yoshi's stomach." noted Captain Toad.
He had explored a lot of places but this one was new to him.
"Hopefully you'll be able to explore elsewhere." spoke Ashlynn. She wasn't looking forward to being digested. So they needed to get out while they still could.
They found a green Yoshi.
He was trying to roll a boulder down a hole.
One could tell how heavy it was just by looking at it.
For some reason, the boulder resembled a Chain Chomp. Were there Chain Chomps inside Yoob's Belly by any chance?
"Can you help me out?" asked a green Yoshi.
It didn't seem like a task he could do alone.
"What are you trying to do?" questioned Captain Toad.
"I figured if I pushed the boulder down the hole I could make a passageway through Yoob's belly that we can use to escape." explained Yoshi.
"Good idea, but I think we should find the other people that have been eaten first." noted Alena. They would definitely want to know about this plan.
She imagined her super strength would be of good help for pushing that boulder, however.
"Good point." nodded the Yoshi.
He didn't want to escape without his friends.
He would feel pretty lonely without them. After all, they had watched a lot of movies together. Maybe if they somehow managed to escape they could watch another one. Preferable one that did not involve monsters that ate people.
Our heroes decided to look for the Yoshis and the Toads.
What they found were more Shroobs.
The RC Shroobers.
These Shroobs seemed to like to play with toys.
But these toys were dangerous. Not ones that you would want to play with. Unless maybe you were Bowser Junior.
They seemed to be capturing the Yoshis and the Toads that were inside the stomach, placing them inside eggs that resembled the ones that Yoob hatched out of.
What were they planning to do with them?
It likely had to do with the fact they were inside the stomach in the first place. Why did they let themselves be swallowed?
Well, whatever they had planned, it would be best if they stopped it. They were pretty sure they were up to no good.
And it was plausible that they were capturing them to drain their vim. Perhaps they didn't need the factory to do it. Though they did wonder what they would replace Swiggler with.
The RC Shroobers saw our heroes.
"They're trying to save the Yoshis! Take care of them!" exclaimed one of the RC Shroobers.
The RC Shroobers attacked with remote-controlled robots.
These small robots had a tendency to explode.
They also had miniature UFOs as well. Though it was plausible they could fit the normal-sized UFOs inside the belly now that Yoob had grown.
Luckily, electricity could make the robots short-circuit.
Which Nera exploited.
"My toys!" exclaimed a RC Shroober whose UFO crashed into the ground.
After defeating the RC Shroobers, a Yoshi came out of hiding.
This Yoshi was yellow in color.
"Thanks!" exclaimed the yellow Yoshi. He didn't know what he would do if he were discovered by those evil aliens. What if they experimented on him?
Now if only he could find a way out of Yoob's belly.
Surely there had to be a way out somewhere.
A Red Yoshi was being attacked by a Shrooba Plant, who was trying to bite him.
These Piranha Plants were purple and had spikes.
They could also breathe poison.
It seemed that the Shroob planet had their own version of Piranha Plants as well.
It was surprising how many similarities the Shroobs had to some of the people they had oppressed.
"Help me!" shouted the Yoshi.
He didn't want to be eaten…especially not twice on the same day.
Luckily, Ruff threw a rock at the Shrooba Plant.
The Shrooba Plant was left stunned.
"Thank you!" shouted the Red Yoshi. He really owed them one.
Our heroes had experience dealing with poisonous enemies, luckily. They remembered the Fuzzbushes from Chucklehuck Woods.
Some Koopa Troopas were being chased by Dr. Shroobs.
They were able to find them due to how loudly they were screaming.
"The doctors will see you now!" exclaimed one of the doctors.
"Help!" exclaimed the panicking Koopa Troopas.
It seemed they did not want needles injected into their arms.
Considering these Shroobs had probably not been to medical school, one could not really blame them.
Our heroes remembered them from the Vim Factory.
They decided they would help the Koopa Troopas. They would need all the help they could get if they wanted to escape from Yoob. Even if they were probably part of the Koopa Troop.
Luckily, Nera was able to topple them using a Kaboom spell.
"I think it's us who need a doctor now..." noted one of the doctor Shroobs.
"Thanks!" exclaimed one of the Koopa Troopas.
Oddly enough, there were Toads selling weapons and armor in Yoob's Belly, as well as items.
It seemed that they were so used to selling things that they decided to do it even when trapped in the belly of the beast.
Our heroes encountered a blue Yoshi being attacked by some Protobatters.
It seemed appropriate that enemies from Bowser's Inside Story were inside Yoob's Belly, considering multiple levels of that game took place inside a belly.
"Get back here, pinata!" exclaimed a Protobatter.
"He's not a pinata!" shouted Ashlynn. They shouldn't treat him as such.
Using her magic, she taught the Protobatters a lesson.
"This baseball game's a no-hitter." noted a Protobatter.
Alena pushed the boulder down a hole.
It rolled through Yoshi's belly, creating a tunnel.
"I think we might have a way out now." noted Alena. Though she did admit she wasn't sure where it led.
It seemed that there was only one way to find out.
Maybe if they were lucky they would find a warp pipe inside Yoob's belly. Perhaps the Shroobs used it to access his insides.
The victims of Yoob began to cheer. They just might be able to escape from Yoob and the Shroobs.
This plan had to work.
The Yoshis descended down the hole.
"Remember to stay together!" exclaimed Alena.
She didn't want them to be captured by the Shroobs.
And besides, there might be more Chain Chomp stones they need to roll.
A nearby RC Shroober heard what was happening.
"What was that noise?!" exclaimed a RC Shroober.
He discovered the Chain Chomp state.
"It looks like Yoob's dinner is trying to get away!" shouted the Shroob who liked to play with toys.
This was not good, because Yoob would deactivate if he did not have dinner. Hence his voracious appetite.
The commander had told them about it.
Meanwhile, Commander Shroob was conversing with the Shroobs.
He was on stage with a microphone. Behind him was a purple curtain.
The Shroobs were all seated in purple chairs.
They were happy that the heroes had been taken care of. One of their mightiest troops had fallen to them. Now that the heroes were gone the morale was good once again.
"We've managed to take care of the heroes who shut down the Vim Factory and took down Heavy Shrooboid! Isn't it wonderful?" asked the commander.
"I think it might be a bit early to celebrate though." answered an intern.
"How come?" questioned the Shroob with the mustache. Why this Shroob had facial hair was anyone's guess.
"Now we have an army of turtles to deal with." explained the Shroob minion. It seemed they didn't kindly to Yoob eating some of them. He was designed to eat Yoshis specifically, but he wasn't picky about his food. Especially now that he had grown to such an enormous size.
Commander Shroob groaned.
It seemed it was a bit early to celebrate.
They might have taken care of the heroes, but they still had other villains to deal with.
It looked like if they wanted to fully conquer the planet, they were going to have to take care of the competition.
"Alright then. Men, to arms!" exclaimed the commander.
The Shroobs went to get their ray guns. If there was anything that could get past a Koopa's shell, it was their ray guns.
For some reason, most of his race seemed to be male. Though there were two major exceptions. The ones that ruled over them all.
Meanwhile, Kamek told Bowser what was going on.
"An alien Yoshi is eating Koopa Troopas?!" exclaimed Bowser.
He did admit that his minions could be incompetent (which likely played a role in why he kept losing to Mario), but he still wouldn't stand for this.
So it was time to take some action. The Shroobs had messed with the wrong king, in his hard opinion.
The only question was how he was going to prevent more Koopa Troopas from being consumed. It was hard to deal with an enemy of Yoob's size.
Now that Yoob had grown giant, he was much harder to deal with.
Although, he recalled growing giant himself more than once. It seemed likely that he could even the playing field against the Shroobs.
Kamek was still checking his spellbook to see what he could use against Yoob.
Perhaps he could cast a spell to make himself grow giant.
That had worked well with Baby Bowser.
But it would take some time getting used to his new size.
Suddenly, he had an idea as how to fight Yoob.
He knew there was one Bowser Baddie that Yoshi did not want to eat.
So perhaps it would work against Yoob as well.
It was time to use a summoning spell.
"If that overgrown Yoshi thinks he can keep eating us, then he has another thing coming!" exclaimed Kamek.
The Koopa Troop were not going down without a fight.
Hopefully our heroes can help the Yoshis and Toads escape Yoob's belly. And they can avoid ending up in Bowser's belly. Haha.
And yes, I figured our heroes could help Yoshi push the boulder down the hole. You likely know how strong Alena is by now. So why have the Yoshis do all the work?
Regarding Jessica's team, you think she can defeat Baramos?
They can try, at least. They managed to defeat Jamirus, at least.
I felt like I've done well writing this fanfic given that I made it to World 7.
I figured I would see if I could try to complete one of my fanfics. I will admit some of my fanfics do go long periods of time without updates.
So I figured this one would be an exception.
I felt like I made the boss fight for this chapter a little longer. I figured it would be more enjoyable that way.