In this chapter, our heroes will visit yet another ghost house.
This is the last one.
So it's gonna be the toughest.
You think I should make a sequel for this fanfic?
There are a lot of platformers in the Mario franchise I could use. A Super Mario Bros. Wonder fanfic doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
I already did an RP based on New Super Mario Bros. Wii though. It was a long time ago, however. So maybe I'll write a story based off of that someday.
Chapter 56: Boogie Woogie
Our heroes discovered yet another haunted house after exiting the tower.
A sign read "This Is The Last Haunted House, We Promise!"
Luigi was relieved to hear that.
He felt like he entered enough haunted residences as it was, and that he had encountered enough haunted houses on this adventure. Though he did have a team this time.
He decided to pet Polterpup before going in. It would be best if he relaxed himself before going inside.
Spinning Spirit House
Some Dullahans were roaming the haunted house.
They decided to discuss recent events. Recent events affecting the Dragonlord's army.
"Did you hear? The heroes defeated Baramos!" exclaimed one of the Dullahans.
It seemed that news traveled quickly in the Mushroom Kingdom.
"What?! Baramos?! The Baramos?!" shouted another Dullahan. But he was one of the Dragonlord's strongest minions!
What kind of heroes were they up against? Were they Level 99?
"Surely the Dragonlord can handle things, right?" asked the other Dullahan. They said he was almighty, though perhaps they were exaggerating things.
Although, the heroes had made it all the way to World 7. That was only one world away from World 8, where the Dragonlord was. So things weren't looking so good.
Suddenly, one of the Dullahans spotted the heroes.
"It's them!" exclaimed the Dullahan.
The other Dullahans were surprised.
Though considering the ghost house was close to Baramos' tower, maybe they shouldn't be so surprised.
"You think we can win?" questioned a Dullahan. They had defeated the mighty Baramos.
Not to mention all the other powerful foes they had defeated.
They wondered for a moment if they should evacuate Meringue Clouds. Otherwise they might end up sharing his fate.
Still, the Dragonlord wouldn't be happy if they deserted the army. Though they wouldn't be the first ones to do so.
So they decided to fight our heroes.
These enemies were geared towards defense, so taking them down took a bit longer than usual.
There were Spitegeists spinning around, as the name of the level implied.
It was best not to look for too long or they would get dizzy.
Group attacks worked well against these spirits.
Alistair could use breath attacks, so now was a good time to use him.
There were also Rantingen Ravens.
These ravens were rather tough for their kind.
For one thing, they could breathe fire, much like Baramos could.
This made them a bit tricky to deal with.
But ice would persuade them to chill out.
Alistair was glad he could use ice breath attacks after fighting them.
These birds were also vulnerable to stones. So Wario would be of help, as he had earth techniques.
Guarding the flagpole was Booga.
The flag was green and had his face on it.
Jade was not happy to see this particular Spectral Sentinel.
She remembered him well.
"Not you again!" exclaimed Jade. She wasn't looking forward to being brainwashed once more. Hopefully it wouldn't happen to her this time. She wanted to stay on the side of the good guys.
She recalled Booga forcing her to fight her own comrades. That was unacceptable.
"Wait, why are you the boss of a haunted house?" asked Luigi.
Tyriant probably would have suited the level more. Was he not a lich?
"Well, Booga can be used as a nickname for Boogieman." noted Booga.
"Fair point." answered Jessica.
"Hmm, four against one doesn't seem fair. How about I even the odds?" questioned the dancer.
"What is he up to?" asked Luigi.
As it turned out, he was casting a spell that would turn one of the heroes to his side.
"I think I'll choose the redhead! I would love to have someone as attractive as her on my side!" exclaimed the dancing demon.
There was also Jade, but he figured he would try out a new girl, seeing as she had lost to the Dragon Quest XI hero and his team.
"Do you only value women for their looks?" questioned Jade. There was more to women than that. She was a talented martial artist, for example.
He fired a black mist projectile.
Jessica quickly dove out of the way.
"You're not turning me evil!" exclaimed Jessica.
That had happened to her once. And she didn't want to experience it again. Next time she would be careful not to pick up a staff that belonged to a demon lord.
He hit Donkey Kong instead.
As soon as the black mist hit Donkey Kong, his fur turned black and his eyes turned red. His tie turned green as well.
"Oh, c'mon!" exclaimed Booga. A gorilla was not what he considered attractive. It seemed things had not gone according to plan.
Unfortunately, that spell of his had a recharge time.
So he couldn't simply recast it.
Still, he might as well make the best of it.
Luckily for Booga, it turned out Donkey Kong was reasonably strong.
One punch of his could send someone flying, after all.
"I think we might want somebody who's experienced at fighting DK." noted Jessica.
But who would that be?
"I know who." answered Luigi. He was familiar with the Donkey Kong arcade game. Before Mario was stomping Koopas, he was jumping over barrels.
He switched out with Mario.
The plumber in red immediately noticed DK's different appearance.
"DK? What happened to you?" asked Mario.
"He got brainwashed, just as I did." explained Jade.
"Oh no…" noted the plumber. It looked like once again he would be fighting DK.
DK pulled out his bongos and played music, sending music notes towards all the party members.
Jessica was knocked down by one of the music notes.
"I'm literally facing the music!" exclaimed Jessica.
Mario whacked DK on the head with his hammer.
But he swung his fist in retaliation.
Mario wondered if there was a way to bring him back to his senses.
Jade noted that defeating Booga was enough to turn her back to normal.
But DK was guarding him rather well.
He was rolling barrels towards them now.
Our heroes jumped over the barrels.
But Jade mistimed one of the jumps.
"Ow!" exclaimed Jade. That barrel had knocked her off her feet. Luckily, she was not seriously injured.
What was in those barrels, anyway? Bananas?
Luckily, Mario had an idea on how to get DK to return to his senses.
He pulled out a Golden Banana.
For some reason, a voice said "Oh, Banana!"
Who had said that?
DK looked at it, and then beat his chest.
Perhaps the good DK was still in him somewhere.
Though the "good" DK had caused trouble in the city more than once. Maybe Cranky Kong needed to teach him to clean up his act.
DK ate the golden banana.
He began to turn back to normal.
"What just happened?" asked Booga.
"It looks like we managed to break your spell." noted Jade.
The demon groaned. So much for that.
"I guess I'll have to deal with you myself!" exclaimed the dancing demon.
He began to summon a tornado.
Things began to get very windy.
The tornado hit Mario.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.
It seemed Booga knew a thing or two about magic.
"Take that, pesky plumber!" shouted Booga.
DK punched Booga in retaliation for brainwashing him.
The Tikis had tried that once, but they hadn't been as successful. Who would have thought Diddy and himself would be immune to their mesmerizing music?
Booga was fast, so he could attack twice per turn.
But that was something the heroes were used to.
He could also throw magic rings at our heroes. This was another creative liberty, but considering you've probably read all the chapters up until this one you'd likely be expecting that by now.
Mario was reminded of the times he had faced Wendy.
Jessica knocked Booga down with her whip.
Jade seized her chance and punched Booga multiple times in rapid succession.
Booga collapsed to the ground.
"I can see why…Tyriant failed to beat you." noted the Spectral Sentinel that liked to dance.
"That serves you right for brainwashing people for being your slaves!" exclaimed Jade.
Jade pulled on the flagpole.
The flagpole now had her face on it.
Luigi was relieved to be done with the ghost houses.
Though his next adventure would probably feature more of them.
But of course, he would probably have the professor at his side.
Meanwhile, Baramos returned to the Dragonlord.
He was surprised to see him in this state.
Still, at least Baramos would be able to fight the heroes once again. Hopefully he could take care of them this time after all the trouble they had caused the Dragonlord's legion.
"Baramos! You're alive!" exclaimed the Dragonlord.
That was a pleasant surprise.
It looked like for once he hadn't lost a minion.
"Yes, I am." nodded the right-hand of one of the fanfic's two main villains. Though perhaps alive wasn't the right word to use. Was he not a member of the undead now?
The Dragonlord was happy that Baramos had survived his encounter with the heroes. He wasn't sure if he could handle losing another high-ranking minion. Especially his right-hand.
"Rest assured, I will not lose to these heroes again!" exclaimed Baramos.
This time he wouldn't underestimate them.
"I hope. I've lost so many minions to these heroes…" noted the Dragonlord. Six of the seven generals among them.
Meanwhile…
Alena gave the portrait of Princess Shroob to Queen Bean.
They had to admit, it was a hassle getting back to the castle.
They had to face a giant poltergeist, for one.
The Shroobs had not made things easy for them. At least they had managed to defeat their champion.
"So this is what the Shroob princess looks like…" noted the queen.
She would have her scouts keep an eye for her.
That way they could evacuate people whenever she was spotted in an area.
After all, she was extremely dangerous.
Alena's team received a tip that the Shroob Mothership had been spotted near Woohoo Hooniversity.
An anonymous source had sent that to Beanbean Castle. Was it trustworthy? Hopefully whoever had said that wasn't a Shroob who was trying to divert the heroes' attention from an attack.
One could only hope that they could stop the Shroobs from abducting the students and teachers there.
Little did they know that this was a trap designed by the Shroob Commander himself.
The Shroobs would be waiting for them.
They would rue the day they tried to stop the Shroob Princesses from taking over the planet.
Currently, it was night in the Beanbean Kingdom.
They could some Troopeas sleeping.
One of them was snoring.
On the way to the mothership, our heroes encountered Blazing Shroobs.
For some reason, these Shroobs were on fire. Had they gotten on King Koopa's bad side?
One could only wonder how that had happened. Unlike in Partners in Time, these Shroobs were not in a volcano.
There was no volcano in the Beanbean Kingdom, in fact.
However, the fact that the top of their heads were on fire did not seem to hinder them in combat.
They could toss fireballs at our heroes.
So they had to be careful not to get burned. Didn't their mothers teach them not to play with fire?
Unfortunately, Alena's team did not have Mario on their side.
So they could not use him to put out the flames with FLUDD.
However, it turned out there was another weapon that they could use against them.
Captain Toad just so happened to have packed water bottles for the adventure.
These water bottles could be used to put out the Blazing Shroobs' flames.
That way our heroes could jump on them.
"Aw, man!" exclaimed one of the Blazing Shroobs.
However, it turned out the Blazing Shroobs were not defenseless without their flames.
They were armed with ray guns as with normal Shroobs.
But they could fire them faster.
While they were on fire, they could ignite a UFO's blaster and have it fire projectiles.
For some reason, the color of the blaster (and the shots fired) always matched the color of who it was going to attack. But that worked in our hero's favor.
Ruff took down some of the Blazing Shroobs with Ice Flowers.
Ice seemed to work well against a lot of the Shroobs for some reason. Were they not used to the cold?
Some Topminis appeared.
These enemies were also from outer space.
They had the honor of appearing in both Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel.
As their name implied, they were small.
But this did not mean they weren't a threat.
They could spin around like a tornado.
And this meant they could deflect projectiles.
Luckily, if they spun too long, they would tire themselves out.
This was our heroes' chance to strike.
There were also Octoombas.
They were basically Goombas…but from outer space.
Oh, and they spat out rocks.
They were similar to Octoroks from Legend of Zelda.
Or the Squigs from Super Paper Mario. Or maybe their relatives?
Last but not least were Undergrunts. They had a tendency to bury themselves underground.
They were similar to Monty Moles, but they too hailed from space. And they were working with the Shroobs instead of the Koopa Troop. It seemed the Shroobs were persuading other races to join their cause through fear.
They had sharp claws that they could use as weapons.
These moles also wore spiked helmets, so there was no jumping on them.
It was a good idea to hammer them though.
That way they would emerge from hiding underground.
Our heroes arrived at Woohoo Hooniversity after fighting their way through the enemies from outer space.
They saw the Shroob Mothership in the distance. Even in the darkness of the night, it still wasn't hard to make it out.
The only question was how they were going to get onboard. It was all the way up in the sky. And none of the party members had wings.
Prince Peasley did have a hovercraft, but it was pretty unlikely it could carry all of them. And there was no way he was boarding the mothership by himself. That was not a good idea.
Perhaps the Woohoo Hooniversity staff could help them.
After all, they owed them a favor after they had cleared out the Koopa Troop.
They decided to speak with Professor Wu Hoo.
If there was anyone that knew what to do, it was him.
"How can I help you?" asked the professor. He was happy to see the heroes again after what they had done for him.
As it turned out, he was in the basement in case the Shroobs decided to search the hooniversity for potential victims.
"We're trying to get on the mothership." explained Alena.
"The Shroob Mothership? That's a very dangerous place." noted the teacher. Personally he wondered why the heroes would want to go there. Shouldn't they be staying away from it?
Currently, the students were hiding. They could only hope they weren't discovered by the Shroobs lest they risk being shroobified. They had heard about the Vim Factory. Even if it did get shut down.
The professor imagined that the mothership was full of Shroobs.
And one of the Shroob princesses might be in there. Or both.
"I know. But shutting down the mothership would put the Shroobs at a disadvantage." noted Alena.
If they did enough, chances are the Shroobs would be forced to retreat.
Though one could only hope that they wouldn't return. After all, they had returned following their failure in the Mushroom Kingdom. They were like the Koopa Troop in that they didn't give up easily.
"Right, of course." nodded the professor.
As it turned out, the professor had a cannon that they could use to get inside.
So our heroes decided to use it.
"This reminds me of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door." noted Captain Toad as he boarded the cannon with his teammates.
This cannon didn't operate off of Bob-Ombs, however. Though there were Bob-Ombs that were native to the Beanbean Kingdom.
The cannon fired, and our heroes found themselves in the mothership.
Immediately, the Shroobs heard the sound. And the commander knew what to do.
"It looks like the heroes are here. Let's give them a warm welcome, shall we?" asked the commander.
The Shroobs nodded and readied their ray guns.
They immediately went to search for our heroes.
It was time to end their games.
Unbeknownst to the Shroobs, the Koopa Troopas had begun their escape plan.
Kamek managed to retrieve his wand from a sleeping Shroob.
He should have known better than to sleep on duty.
Now it was time to break out.
Our heroes might have defeated Baramos, but they still have some levels to go before they reach the Dragonlord.
Now that I think of it, the bones of Baramos would make for a good haunted house boss.
But seeing as our heroes just fought him I decided not to use Baramos again just yet.
Our heroes will be seeing him again eventually.