In this chapter, our heroes will fight Hargon again.
But you probably already knew that.
Our other heroes will work on invading Cackletta's tower.
I would imagine that it's the third-to-last dungeon.
Jessica's story is wrapping up so I figured I should start wrapping up Alena's story too.
Chapter 61: You Sunk My Battleship
Boarding the Airship
This time, most of the level took place outside the airship.
Our heroes had to watch out for a Mecha Hand that could potentially crush them.
Luckily, they did not need a hand to get past it. It was still dangerous though.
Why did he have a mechanical hand on the ship, anyway? It looked like what you would use in a crane game.
Its presence was a mystery.
But perhaps they could ponder that once they were done with the level.
After all, was Hargon not waiting for a rematch?
They figured they shouldn't disappoint him.
There were Pudgedevils roaming the battleship.
They bore a resemblance to Murdaw, though they were blue in color. Though considering they had smiles on their faces, they probably weren't feeling blue.
They weren't as strong as he was, but they were still reasonably strong.
Coincidentally, they had been in the same dungeon as Loss Leaders, who resembled Dhuran. That dungeon in question being Mortamor's Dreadlair.
They were capable of summoning magic barriers to protect themselves from magic attacks.
And they had powerful magic themselves.
They were a tad obscure but the author happened to like their design. He felt blue was a nice color for them.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Mario as he was hit by a powerful Kaboom attack.
That attack had knocked him off his feet.
It seemed Hargon had taken care to make sure there were powerful defenders on his ship.
He really didn't want our heroes to get through this time.
Could our heroes still make it?
Peach bombarded the Pudgedevils with a Blossom Shower attack.
The Pudgedevils were knocked backwards.
And one was sent flying off the airship.
Luckily, he was able to use his magic to levitate himself.
Considering how close they were to the Dragonlord's Castle, it would be a shame if our heroes gave up. Though admittedly the monsters had gotten rather strong.
Some Annihilanterns were flying around as well.
They could summon High Dijinks.
As our heroes continued on, they encountered Cobra Cardinals.
They were pretty talented with magic, and they could revive fallen monsters.
So it was a good idea to take care of these snakes first.
Though considering that they used healing magic on their comrades, perhaps they subverted people's expectations of snakes.
Last but not least were the Liege Lizards.
In their case, the Dragonlord was their liege.
As before, Hargon was waiting for them in the captain's room.
"We meet again, heroes!" exclaimed Hargon.
"So we do." noted Jessica.
"You think you'll win this time?" asked Luigi. He imagined that he was better prepared for a fight this time around.
"Of course I will!" shouted the sorcerer. They might have beaten him once, but who said that history would repeat itself?
It seemed he was the last obstacle before our heroes could enter the Dragonlord's Castle.
Our heroes could quickly tell that he had grown stronger since the last time they had met.
Donkey Kong punched Hargon as hard as he could.
Hargon wondered why the heroes had a gorilla on their side.
But then again, he was a formidable fighter. So maybe it wasn't too surprising.
He decided to target Donkey Kong first.
He breathed c-c-cold breath.
"Brrr…" spoke DK.
That was pretty cold.
It seemed Hargon had been working on his breath attacks.
Breath attacks could hit the entire party, so that was a good idea.
He could also cast Kaboomle as well.
His group attacks definitely had some extra oomph this time.
It seemed that he had level grinded.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Luigi.
"That wasn't a pleasant experience." noted Jessica.
It seemed she wasn't the only one that was improving in the field of magic.
Donkey Kong attacked Hargon with several coconuts.
Hargon dodged most of them, but one of them hit him on the head.
He rubbed his forehead.
Jessica then struck him with her whip.
Hargon was poisoned.
He decided to try casting a healing spell to cure it.
But he was left vulnerable while healing.
Luigi leapt on him multiple times.
Donkey Kong then blasted him with his drums.
Hargon noted that his rematch wasn't going according to plan.
But he wasn't giving up yet.
Hargon cast Oomph on himself.
"That's not good." noted Jessica.
Was there a way to decrease his offense?
She knew enemies could use Disruptive Wave to counter their buffs.
Hargon slashed Donkey Kong with his hand.
DK screeched.
But as it turned out, Bianca could use the spell Blunt.
This counteracted Oomph.
"Thanks, Bianca!" shouted Jessica.
"You're welcome!" answered Bianca.
Bianca was able to finish off Hargon…with help from her friends.
"I lost again?!" exclaimed Hargon.
It was unbelievable enough that he had lost the first one.
But twice? It must be a bad dream.
Donkey Kong beat his chest.
Now he could finally go to World 8.
Well, it wasn't much of a world. It was simply the Dragonlord's Castle. It was a contrast to the other seven worlds that were much more expansive, that was for sure.
But it was still quite an accomplishment to get there in the first place.
They just might be able to defeat the Dragonlord.
The Mushroom Kingdom was counting on them, so they would do their best not to displease them.
Our heroes left the battleship.
Meanwhile, Hargon approached the Dragonlord.
The Dragonlord was not pleased that the heroes were still at large.
Why couldn't his minions defeat them?
All his generals had fallen at their hands and had decided to evacuate the Mushroom Kingdom.
"You still couldn't defeat the heroes?" asked the Dragonlord.
This was not good. If you asked him, the heroes had made it too far.
Was he going to have to face the heroes himself?
To be fair, he did have the ability to transform into an enormous dragon. So he wasn't exactly defenseless. That was why they called hi the Dragonlord.
"I feel ashamed…" answered Hargon. He was sure he had them this time. But he thought wrong.
Perhaps he should beg for his master's forgiveness.
After all, the heroes were on their way to his castle.
"Sound the alarm. We need to prepare for the heroes' arrival." spoke the overlord.
Hopefully Hargon and Baramos could hold them off.
To think that they would make it all the way to his castle.
Well, hopefully the castle defenders would be able to hold them off.
Hargon noticed something that was rather surprising.
"Baramos! You're alive!" exclaimed Hargon.
"So to speak." answered Baramos.
Hargon quickly noticed that Baramos had been reduced to a skeletal state.
Perhaps when he had been defeated by the heroes he had been lucky.
"Oh dear. Your battle with the heroes didn't turn out so well, did it?" asked Hargon.
"What do you think?" answered Baramos.
He was tempted to laugh at Baramos, but he figured they needed to work together to stop the heroes from reaching the Dragonlord.
Chances are they would be at his castle soon.
Meanwhile, in Stardust Fields…
Our heroes saw the Border Brothers.
They had decided not to let anyone in from the mushroom side, as they knew about the powerful monsters that were now roaming Stardust Fields.
It just didn't seem safe to let them in.
"If you want you can go to the Mushroom Kingdom. But it's a one-way trip." said one of the Border Brothers.
"We have to make sure that the Mushroom Kingdom citizens stay safe." noted Border Bro 2. Though he had heard that things had been crazy in the Mushroom Kingdom as well.
It was lucky for them that none of the Dragonlord's minions had tried to cross the border.
But they would keep an eye out, just in case.
"I see your point." answered Peasley.
Perhaps if they defeated Cackletta it would be safe for tourists to enter again.
They could only hope. Tourists were a big part of the Beanbean Kingdom's outcome.
It wasn't the only source of income, of course, but the Beanbean Kingdom still needed money to maintain it.
"Perhaps once we've saved the Beanbean Kingdom we could go to the Mushroom Kingdom." noted Nera.
"Tempting, but I want to go home." spoke Alena.
Some Necrotroopeas appeared. They were distinguishable from regular Troopeas by their pale skin. And yes, they did resemble vampires. Sunlight wasn't an issue for them though.
These Troopeas had mastered the art of necromancy, making them distinct from the Troopeas that healed their comrades.
Our heroes had to watch out for Boos and Dry Bones whenever they encountered them.
Oh, and they could also strike our heroes with lightning.
"Ow!" exclaimed Ashlynn.
Captain Toad found using his flashlight against the undead enemies was effective.
But it wasn't as effective against the Necrotroopeas.
Our heroes managed to reach the tower…after fighting through a bunch of enemies. They did not make things easy for them.
"I wonder why Cackletta has such a big tower." questioned Ruff. Was a tower of such a size really necessary? He was fine in a humble home personally.
They could tell that it was going to be quite the climb.
But if they could stop Cackletta, then their efforts would be worth it.
That would be one less villain threatening the Beanbean Kingdom. It would be easier for them to be heroes if there were less villains to fight.
Well, maybe two. Chances are they would face Fawful before facing Cackletta.
It was likely that he was in the tower as well.
After all, it was rare to see the two of them apart. At least before Bowser's Inside Story.
At the entrance of the tower our heroes could see a portrait of Cackletta.
It was almost as if Cackletta herself was watching them.
It wouldn't be surprising if she was.
Some Ninji Lords appeared.
They behaved like Ninjis, but they had better ninja skills.
They could toss more shurikens at once, for one.
Since they were faster, they were harder for our heroes to hit.
They also had poisonous kunai.
Refreshing Herbs were going to be their friends here.
Some viruses were here as well.
Perhaps Fawful was studying them. One could only hope that he wasn't planning to test them out on the populace.
It would be really bad if the Beanbean Royal Guard got sick.
But these viruses were different from the ones that our heroes had encountered in the Woohoo Hooniversity.
Instead of being based off the primary colors, they were based off of the secondary colors.
The purple Viruses resembled the red Viruses, the orange Viruses resembled the yellow Viruses, and the green Viruses resembled the blue Viruses.
While matching three was still effective, this caused the viruses to be dizzy instead of taking them down.
It seemed they were more resilient.
Perhaps Fawful had anticipated someone coming up with a cure for the infection and had adjusted the viruses accordingly.
After all, he had heard of Dr. Mario.
As it turned out, Cackletta had designed statues resembling Hoohooros to guard the tower, in addition to Fawful's experiments running loose.
They were known as Boohooros, and they were blue in color.
They too had the laser ability.
It seemed that the Dragonlord wasn't the only one using bosses as common enemies.
Though in this case the enemies were created by the author.
Luckily, these statues lacked the ability to create pillars.
However, they did have the ability to lower themselves into the ground to dodge attacks.
So it was a good idea to attack them quickly.
Our heroes found themselves in a train yard.
It was odd that a train yard could fit inside a tower.
But then again, it was likely this tower was magical given who owned it.
Perhaps this was where Cackletta and Fawful got their supplies from.
Suddenly, our heroes saw a giant train.
A train that looked just like Fawful.
Was Fawful so narcissistic that he had designed a train to look just like himself?
A few seconds after they noticed it, our heroes heard Fawful's voice.
"Welcome to Cackletta's tower of wickedness! I will be your host!" exclaimed Fawful.
"Are you not going to fight us yourself?" asked Captain Toad.
He was expecting that.
And he probably had a Golden Mushroom on him. It was just a hunch.
"If you are making it to me, then yes, I shall! But for now you must face my train of doom!" shouted the evil inventor.
"Train of doom?" questioned Ruff.
Suddenly, the train's eyes lit up.
"I guess that's the train of doom." noted Alena.
Our heroes got ready to fight it.
"You think we can win? It's kind of big." spoke Captain Toad.
"I think we can if we work together." answered Prince Peasley.
After all, Mario had taken on dragons in the past and had come out on top.
"We can only hope so." answered Kiryl.
Alena punched the train as hard as she could.
It left a dent.
But the train tried to run them down.
Our heroes quickly moved out of the way.
"Who is the conductor of that train, anyways?" asked Ruff.
Kiryl decided to have a look.
Some Mawful Moles were at the controls.
"I think we have our answer. Though instead of conductor there are conductors." explained Kiryl.
One of the Mawful Moles pressed a button.
The Fawful Express summoned Choombas.
These Goombas were rather fiery.
And yes, their names were similar to Chuboombas.
But they were two distinct species of Goomba. These Goombas did not eat sweets.
Luckily, water worked well against these fiery Goombas.
They successfully managed to extinguish the Choombas.
But this was only the first wave of attackers.
The second wave was Crawfuls.
They had very sharp teeth.
Since they were reptiles, they were vulnerable to the cold.
The Fawful Express fired a missile.
Unsurprisingly, the missile had a Fawful face on it.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Ruff.
How were they going to stop the missile?
If they didn't act fast, things would be messy for them.
"I have an idea." spoke Nera.
"If you do, then hurry!" exclaimed Ashlynn.
Nera used a wind spell to redirect the missile.
It hit the train instead.
"Oh no!" shouted the Mawful Moles.
That attack had spectacularly backfired on them.
The Fawful Express…was now a train wreck.
The Mawful Moles came out with a white flag.
"That's a nice flag you got there." noted Ruff.
"That means they're surrendering." explained Nera.
"Well, it's still a nice flag." said the boy.
As it turned out, the Mawful Moles were under mind control.
Alena removed their glasses so they could be free moles again.
"Thanks!" exclaimed one of the moles.
Fawful witnessed what had happened.
It was a surprising turn of events.
But then again, he knew from experience how strong the heroes were.
"Nooooo! They destroyed my train of doom!" exclaimed Fawful.
He thought he had them there.
He doubted Cackletta would be happy as well. It would be harder to get supplies without that train.
Well, perhaps it was time to send out more Mechawfuls.
Luckily, he had an improved model.
They were known as the Dark Mechawfuls.
These robots were more formidable than the ones he had used to attack Beanbean Castle Town.
Also, they had a wheel instead of legs.
He figured he would save time constructing them this way.
He imagined that these robots would be enough to take on the heroes.
They would make sure their climb was…challenging.
Meanwhile, Jojora decided to relax in Joke's End.
She was happy to have their old home back.
Now that the Koopa Troop was gone, she could relax.
But unbeknownst to her, she was about to have a guest.
"Oh boy! I bet there are diamonds here!" exclaimed Popple.
He felt like he had lucked out this time.
And to make things better, the heroes had just left.
He had seen them sailing away.
So he wouldn't have to worry about them.
"Is that Popple, the Shadow Thief?" asked Jojora.
"No! I've been caught again!" shouted the thief.
At this rate, the Beanbean Royal Guard were going to catch him and toss him in the dungeon. He did have a wanted poster, after all. And it was worth a good amount of coins.
Perhaps he should make a break for it, because he wasn't sure if he could break out of prison.
"You should know better than to take people's belongings." noted the fairy.
"Cut me some slack! The Beanbean Kingdom is being attacked by aliens!" exclaimed Popple.
Such situations could bring out the worst in people.
"I'll give you that." noted Jojora.
Oddly enough the Shroobs had not paid Joke's End a visit.
Perhaps it was because they assumed it was unpopulated.
Or perhaps because they didn't like the cold.
Or maybe both.
"Maybe I should try robbing Shroob Castle instead." noted Popple.
"Works for me." answered Jojora.
"I'll need a rookie for that though." spoke the thief.
"A rookie, you say?" asked the fairy.
"Yeah! A partner in crime!" exclaimed Popple.
"I can do that." answered Jojora.
"Yes!" cheered the thief.
Maybe he could take one of their spaceships.
But he would need to figure out the controls.
Well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.
Off to the Shroob Castle they went.
I hope you like this chapter. Our heroes in the Mushroom Kingdom are going to World 8 now.
That's exciting, right?
It's the final stretch of Jessica's journey.
And it's the final stretch for Alena's journey too.
There is World 9, of course, but that can wait until later.
I decided on one chapter per five days, since the chapters are getting a bit longer.