In this chapter, our heroes will face Captain Goomba!
Some of them anyway.
The others are still in the desert.
Note that despite the chapter title, Captain Goomba is not a pirate. Though it could be cool if he was.
Chapter 7: Aye Aye, Captain
The Goombas charged at Alena and Peasley.
Alena and Peasley fought against them.
But some got hits in.
"That stung a bit." noted Alena. Luckily, Goombas were not heavy hitters. They were more formidable when they were in a group though.
Peasley healed Alena.
"Thanks!" exclaimed the princess. Luckily he still had some MP to spare. Every time he leveled, he got some more MP. Though he was welcome to spend his extra points on them.
There was syrup he and Alena could use, but it was still a good idea to spend some on that. After all, using syrup in a fight would cost each of them a turn.
Alena tossed a Goomba at the captain.
"Oof!" exclaimed the captain. He couldn't help but feel a bit envious that Alena had hands.
He performed a cheer.
The Goombas attacked faster.
"These Goombas are stronger fighters when they have a captain leading them." noted Alena. Maybe that was all they needed to become stronger soldiers. More than a few Goombas wished to be stronger.
If they encountered more captains in the future, they would want to approach them with caution. Chances are they would have similar powers.
Alena punched the captain.
"Ow!" exclaimed the captain.
However, the Goombas proceeded to attack the princess in retaliation. It seemed they were loyal troops. It was admirable. But did not work in the heros' favor.
"The Goombas are protecting the captain…we might need to clear a path." noted Alena.
Peasley nodded as he sliced the Goombas.
"I wish I could wield a sword." remarked one of the Goombas.
Unfortunately, he did not have hands. So that wasn't an option for him.
Wings were though.
The Goomba Captain bit Alena.
"Ow! Quit it!" demanded the princess.
However, she shook him off.
Alena jumped on top of the captain.
The Goombas tackled her.
But she shook them off.
Prince Peasley slashed the captain.
The captain exploded.
"Why do bosses explode when we beat them?" asked Alena. They didn't where she was from.
"I do not know." answered Peasley. To his knowledge, Goombas were not relatives of Bob-Ombs. Though their leader (Goomboss) did have an explosive temper.
However, the captain later reappeared, though he had collapsed on the floor.
"No! I lost! Bowser is going to be so disappointed with me!" exclaimed the captain. It was such a shame. The Goombas had all been rooting for him.
"Maybe you could challenge us to a rematch? That was a good fight!" remarked Alena. And she and Peasley got experience aplenty. If they leveled up enough, they would be ready to fight the Koopa King.
"Are you sure you want to fight him again?" asked Peasley. He would likely be tougher if they fought once more. He would be better prepared, most likely.
"Well, I do want to comfort him." spoke the princess. A good princess was one that had a heart. And she decidedly had one.
"Maybe I could! I'll look for another captain!" exclaimed the captain. Chances are there were other baddies who would be interested.
"That would make the odds fair." noted Alena. Perhaps it was two against one…troops non-withstanding.
Now that the captain was gone, the duo could continue on.
Our heroes noticed that there was a fortress up ahead.
Apparently this was where the Goombas were coming from.
It would be a good idea to conquer the fortress.
That way Stardust Fields would be safe.
Elsewhere…
PERILOUS POKEY CAVE
"I think the Pokeys are gone." pointed out Mario. They had gone with Bowser to conquer another land.
That's right. You have Cactiballs to deal with instead.
PERILOUS CACTIBALL CAVE
Sure enough, more Cactiballs were in the area.
However, some of them decided to flee instead of fighting.
Perhaps they did not have much time on their hands. And perhaps they knew how the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland felt.
There were also Bubble Slimes.
"Careful, they're poisonous." warned Jessica. That was what separated them from normal slimes. Aside from their shape, of course.
Luckily, Peach had learned how to heal her comrades.
She had that power in Super Mario RPG.
Though it seemed she had gained a new power since then.
A Bubble Slime launched toxic bubbles at the heroes.
"I'm basically an Anti-Healslime!" exclaimed the bubbly slime. Though they were related to Healslimes.
"I think I-a know what you mean." nodded Mario.
Peach whacked one with her frying pan.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the slime. It seemed this healer could attack efficiently as well.
Fortunately, in addition to Peach's healing abilities providing protection, they occasionally dropped Refreshing Herbs as well.
Perhaps other poisonous monsters did so. It was always a good idea to cure party members after a fight. Especially given how tough bosses could be.
Jessica attacked them with her whip.
Luckily, she didn't get any goo on herself.
There were also Dancing Devils.
"I didn't know that devils liked to dance." noted Peach.
"Some of them do." answered Jessica.
A Dancing Devil began to dance.
Peach began to dance as well.
"Remember to stay focused!" reminded Jessica. It was important to do so when you were in the middle of a fight.
"Oh, right." recalled Peach. It was especially important for her to do so, as a healer was an integral part of an adventuring team.
Though Mario and Jessica were of big help as well.
Mario hit some Dancing Devils with a Green Shell.
"Ouch! Why do you have to spoil our fun?" asked one of the devils. He was having so much fun dancing. Then he got hit by a green shell.
"It was self-defense!" exclaimed Mario.
He learned how to use Firehand after the fight.
This would come in handy against plant enemies.
The boss of the level was a Fandangow.
She was doing a dance.
"Another Cactiball is the guardian?" asked Peach. She was expecting something different after the Mad Moai.
"Actually, it's a close cousin. The Fandangow." spoke Jessica. They were known for being dancers, aside from being spiky.
"That would explain the orange color." noted the princess.
There were in fact some Fandangows that were blue, but they weren't as common.
The Fandangow was stronger than the Cactiballs they had faced before.
Unlike the Cactiballs, she could attack the whole party at once. She had more experience rolling into a ball.
And it was to safe to say the Fandangow wasn't going to flee.
Peach's healing powers were definitely of use here.
The Fandangow also knew dance moves.
Jessica began to dance.
"Did you lose your focus?" asked Mario.
"It happens." noted the sorceress. She could understand Peach more clearly now.
Mario hit the Fandangow with Firehand. It was lucky he had just learned it. And yes, he was careful not to get hit by the spikes.
"Ouch! That's hot!" exclaimed the Fandangow.
She was used to the heat, but fire was still problematic.
The orange cactus rolled into a ball, but Mario hammered him away. Thank goodness for his fast reflexes.
The Fandangow fell over.
"I guess I was out of step." suggested the Fandangow.
"You seem like a good dancer to me." remarked Peach.
Mario pulled the flag.
It was time for the next level to begin.
Meanwhile…
"So, this is the Goombas' Fortress." spoke Alena.
There were Goombas abound.
As well as Goomba statues.
There was a statue of the Goomba King near the entrance.
He had an angry expression on his face.
"I think that might be their leader." noted the princess. The crown on his head certainly implied that.
If he was as big as that statue, then they should be prepared for a fight.
Spiked Goombas were in the fortress.
They had extra attack compared to other Goombas.
Though they weren't much different otherwise.
"I wish I were king." remarked one of the Spiked Goombas.
That would be cool. Bowser the Koopa King seemed to love being one. And nobody had ever decided to mutiny against him.
Although, if he were the king, he would still have to answer to others. There were multiple bosses that were higher up than the Goomba King was.
Some of the Goombas guarding the fortress were Giant Goombas.
Giant Goombas still weren't tough, but they were definitely harder to deal with than smaller ones.
"Am I a giant weakling?" asked one of the Giant Goombas that had been defeated by the duo.
"Maybe if you keep training, you'll get stronger!" suggested Alena.
"Maybe." answered the giant Goomba.
Maybe if the Goombas trained some more, then maybe people wouldn't consider him weak.
Captain Goomba was training pretty hard. And he was leveling up fast.
Though judging from the fact that he had lost, he still had much to learn.
The duo continued further into the fortress.
FIRE SNAKE CAVERN
"I don't see fire snakes here…" said Mario.
Not fire snakes. But there is fire. And there are snakes.
Sure enough, there were indeed Firespirits in the cave.
Jumping on them was obviously going to be a bad idea.
But ice magic would work well.
The Firespirits could cast Frizz.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Peach.
However, Yoshi could eat the fireballs.
"How did you do that?" asked the Firespirit.
"I guess you don't mind eating spicy foods." noted Jessica.
"Have you thought of a name for him yet?" asked Peach.
Jessica thought about that.
She had an idea.
"I'll call him Alistair!" exclaimed Jessica.
"Is there a reason for that?" asked Mario.
"Well, like you, I happen to have a brother. Only he passed away." explained the sorceress.
"Oh no!" shouted the young man.
"Yeah. He got killed by a jester…who was possessed by a demon. It's a long story." noted Jessica.
"I'm so sorry." apologized Peach.
"I've come to terms with it. I did manage to avenge his death, after all. Though for his sake and others, I'm going to continue monster hunting." spoke the sorceress.
In addition to the Firespirits, there were Pit Vipers.
They too were poisonous.
One of them bit Mario's ankle.
He became poisoned.
"Oh a-no!" exclaimed the plumber. That was going to make it harder for him to keep his health up.
Peach gave him a Refreshing Herb.
"Thanks!" shouted Mario. It was nice of the princess to provide him support after everything he had done for her.
"There wouldn't happen to be a church around, would there?" asked Jessica.
She knew from experience they could cure poison. They could also revive party members, though none of them had gone down yet.
That would definitely be useful considering they were starting to encounter poisonous monsters.
"Some of them have opened up recently, actually." noted Peach.
The Toads figured it would help them stay calm in a time of crisis.
There were Drackmages in the cavern. It seemed some Drackies could use magic.
In their case, they cast Kasap.
"Oh a-no!" exclaimed Mario.
There went their defenses.
The boss of the level was a Flython, unsurprisingly.
"You're not making it to the tower! Not if I have anything to ssssay about it!" exclaimed the snake.
"I had a feeling you were going to put an emphasis on the letter S." noted Jessica.
"It's what sssssnakes do!" explained the snake with wings.
"Exactly." nodded the mage.
The Flython attempted to bite them.
It was likely he too had a poisonous bite.
He also tried to trip them with his tail.
But Jessica's ice magic was effective against him.
"Hmm? Oh, that's right. He's a reptile." noted Jessica.
His wings also allowed him to fly, but only for short periods of time.
He couldn't be hammered when that happened.
Jessica finished the fight with a Crack spell.
"Ssssssso thissssss issssss what defeat tasssssssstesssss like!" exclaimed the Flython.
"That was a lot of hissing." noted Jessica.
Now there was nothing standing between our heroes and the tower.
"Ready to fight me? I'll be waiting for you." said the Stone Golem.
"It might be a good idea to buy some items first." noted Jessica.
The monsters were dropping more coins than the ones at Acorn Plains.
If they saw Gold Golems, they should watch out for them.
The item shop now had monster munchies for sale.
"This should come in handy if you want to recruit monsters!" exclaimed the Toad merchant.
Unsurprisingly, he had a turban on his head.
Since they now had another party member, there were more items that they could buy.
Peach decided to buy some monster munchies.
Alistair wanted to eat some of them, so Jessica gave them to him.
She bought a snakeskin whip, in addition to a silk robe.
It was decidedly helpful to have armor so you could take more hits.
Mario bought some desert overalls and some desert boots.
Peach bought an accessory.
It was a bunny tail.
"Are you going for a bunny girl outfit?" asked Jessica. She had worn one of those.
"I figured it would suit me." noted Peach. She was cute like a bunny.
"True." nodded the mage.
A bank had opened up as well.
It was there if they wanted to store money.
Sometimes monsters might try to take their cash.
It was run by a Gold Bob-Omb.
They would consider using it when they had more gold.
The three (or four) of them entered the tower.
I hope you liked this chapter!