Time for another chapter of this Mario and Dragon Quest fanfic! Are you excited?

We're approaching the end of World 3!

Chapter 16: Sewer Patrol

Jessica bought a chain whip.

Mario bought a sunshine hammer. Was it from Isle Delfino? The Piantas were a peaceful people, but they would definitely want something to protect themselves with in case Shadow Mario showed up again.

Luigi bought a new cap.

It was the Thunder Cap.

Peach bought a sundress. And yes, this could provide protection from the monsters.

"Who's staying behind this time?" asked Jessica.

Angelo and Peach raised their hands.

"Shouldn't we bring a healer though?" questioned Jessica.

It would be a good idea to bring someone that could keep them in shape.

Especially considering that there were always guardians lurking at the ends of the levels. They might not be as strong as the tower or the castle bosses but it was still best to be prepared.

"Don't worry. I'm a doctor!" exclaimed Mario.

He snapped his fingers and all of a sudden he was wearing a doctor's outfit.

"You're a plumber and a doctor?" asked Jessica. That was a surprise to her.

Mario nodded.

"I don't think it's easy having two jobs." remarked the sorceress. Though if Mario wanted to be as rich as she was, he would need to work hard for it.

"Nowadays I have-a one!" exclaimed the plumber. Which was being a hero.

Being a doctor had come in handy though. You never knew when Viruses were going to show up. The trick was to match them in trios.

The four of them stepped foot into the level.

Above the Cheep Cheep Seas

"The Cheep Cheeps are on lunch break." said Luigi.

Ironically, they were having Goldfish crackers for a snack.

Above the Puffpoise Seas

"Strange, I don't recall them appearing in main series games." noted Jessica.

When would they make their debut? DQ 12?

As the name of the level implied, there were Puffpoises swimming around.

Occasionally, one would stop to say hello.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Jade.

She had been bitten.

"I guess dolphins aren't as friendly as they look." noted Jessica.

"We're porpoises!" exclaimed one of the Puffpoises.

"Well, you get what I mean." said the mage.

Unsurprisingly, they attacked with water magic. Though they did bite occasionally.

"I'm-a all wet!" exclaimed Luigi. Perhaps he should look for something he could dry himself off with.

Luckily, he could still use Thunderhand without zapping himself.

It seemed the Thunder Orb had given him some protection from lightning.

"Ouch! So this is the electric plumber I heard so much about." spoke one of the Puffpoises.

Some Muddy Hands appeared. Specifically, they emerged from the ground.

One waved hello to the heroes.

"These remind me-a of the Handfakes from Partners in Time." noted Luigi. They were an obscure Mario enemy but Luigi remembered them.

However, these hands didn't carry any signs.

One of them began to tickle Jessica.

"Stop! That tickles!" exclaimed the sorceress.

Unfortunately, unlike the other monsters living in the Sparkling Waters, Thunderhand didn't work against the Muddy Hands. It still suited the world, but the Muddy Hands were unique this way.

Luigi was going to need to try a different strategy.

A Muddy Hand slapped Luigi in the face.

"Ow!" exclaimed the plumber in green.

Mario remembered that he had FLUDD.

He decided to use it to attack the hands.

"Aaaugghhhh!" exclaimed one of the hands.

"I always wash my hands before and after work." noted Mario.

And yes, the hands could speak despite not having visible mouths.

Some Cumaulus flew towards the heroes.

It seemed they had come to rain on the heroes' parade.

"I'm used to clouds-a smiling at us, but these clouds are-a glaring at us!" exclaimed Mario. They weren't happy to see them, that was for sure.

These clouds were indeed not friendly. They had come to pick a fight with our heroes.

Since they could fly, hammers were not the way to go.

One of the Cumaulus rained acid rain on Mario.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the plumber.

"Feeling a bit under the weather?" asked the Cumaulus.

"I am. Are you?" questioned Mario.

"Huh?" questioned the cloud.

Suddenly, Luigi leapt on top of the cloudy adversary.

"Oof! You're turning my rain into pain!" exclaimed the Cumaulus.

"Maybe you shouldn't cause us trouble." noted Luigi.

Luigi used his Poltergust to blow the clouds away.

It seemed it worked on more than just ghosts.

Our heroes noticed a Metal Slime. They were rare yet at the same time they seemed to be all over the place.

She was running away from a monster.

That monster in question was a Hunter Mech.

"You cannot escape me." said the mech in a robotic voice. It would not rest until it had managed to hunt the metal slime successfully.

Of course, as a robot, it did not need to rest.

"I'm the next Gingerbread Man! Who won't make the same mistakes he did!" exclaimed the Metal Slime. If a fox offered her a ride, she wasn't going to accept it. Especially if it were a Fencing Fox.

"But you are a girl." reminded the mech.

"Gingerbread Woman?" answered the slime of iron.

"I guess we're not the only ones hunting them." noted Luigi.

"We should probably try to save the metal slime." suggested Jessica. After all, were they not heroes?

And if they did, she might be willing to share some experience with them.

However, the Hunter Mech was armed and dangerous. It was a hunter of slimes, after all.

It had a sword and a bow.

"It's both a swordsman and an archer?" asked Mario.

"That's a versatile fighter." noted Luigi.

"It's good to be prepared for different situations." said Jade. The bow would definitely be useful considering metal slimes fled at the first sign of trouble.

The Hunter Mech fired an arrow at them.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Luigi.

He narrowly ducked underneath it.

"I hope-a one of those-a arrows doesn't hit me-a in the knee." noted Luigi.

It then lunged with a sword.

Mario hammered the robot.

It was a critical hit.

"Shutting down…" murmured the Hunter Mech as it deactivated and the light in its eye faded.

The Metal Slime was so grateful that she gave them some exp. She wasn't sure if she could escape a tireless hunter without them.

And she also joined the party.

There were more mechs up ahead.

And it seemed Metal Slimes weren't all they were hunting.

"Adventurers sighted. Beginning attack sequence." spoke one of the mechs.

"We better be careful." noted Mario. These robots were designed specifically for fighting.

Luckily, Luigi found out he could short-circuit them with his Thunderhand.

The boss of the level was a Mortoad.

And an Armoured Wartoise.

"Wait, there's two of them this time?" asked Jessica. That hadn't happened before. Though Baramos had shown up to provide aid for the tower bosses.

"Gracos couldn't choose." explained the Wartoise.

They both were promising candidates. And a lot of monsters had volunteered to guard the flagpoles as well.

So she decided to have them work together.

Mario noted that with those spikes there was no way that he could jump on the tortoise.

So he decided to jump on the Mortoad instead.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the Mortoad.

Luigi summoned Polterpup.

It was time to see what he could do.

Polterpup barked and the party was Accelerated.

"Thanks!" exclaimed Luigi. It was nice to have him around, even when used to cause mischief. Next time he wouldn't swipe the keys that were needed for progression.

Polterpup barked to tell them that they were welcome.

"That's no good." noted the wartoise. His weakness was that he wasn't fast. Now that they had increased their speed it would definitely be harder for him to hit them.

His shell did make for a good defense though. Could it protect him from them?

Mortoad launched projectiles.

They fell from the sky.

"Look out!" warned Jessica.

Luckily, Mario and Jessica dodged the projectiles.

But Luigi and Jade were hit.

"Ow!" shouted the man in green.

"This toad is strong." noted the martial artist.

Though given that she was working with another monster, perhaps she shouldn't guard the flagpole alone.

The Armoured Wartoise attempted to take a bite out of Jessica.

But she avoided him.

"I guess he's a snapping turtle." noted Jessica.

"I'm a tortoise." pointed out the Wartoise.

"Oh, right. Your shell is round." comprehended the redhead.

The Mortoad attempted to grab Mario with her long tongue.

But he leapt over it.

She then summoned Toadies.

"Hmm, these amphibians don't have faces on their backs." noted Jessica. They also didn't seem to live in towers, either.

"We're content with one face, thank you very much!" exclaimed one of the Toadies. Though it would be cool to be able to use breath attacks…literally in the case of monsters that had ice breath.

The Armored Wartoise followed the Mortoad's example and summoned Quayhorses.

Like the Wartoise himself, they had armor.

Though they were also armed with tridents.

Mario hit the Wartoise in the head with his hammer.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Wartoise.

The Toadies hopped towards the heroes.

Luckily, they weren't as dangerous as the Frogfaces. They could trip the heroes with their tongues, however.

"Agh! I fell!" exclaimed Jade.

Since they were cold-blooded, ice worked well against them.

The Quayhorses charged towards our heroes.

"En garde!" exclaimed one of the Quayhorses.

One of them hit Jessica.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the mage.

Luckily, Mario gave her some medicine.

"Here you go!" exclaimed the doctor.

"Thanks." spoke the mage.

The Quayhorses possessed chilly breath. It was a good thing that Mario had cold medicine.

They also had sweet breath as well. But Mario countered by throwing sleep medicine at them.

The seahorses fell asleep.

Jessica took down the Mortoad with a Crack spell.

"Oh no…" said the Armoured Wartoise.

Luigi then took care of the Armoured Wartoise with Thunderhand.

"Even working together we still couldn't win!" exclaimed the Mortoad.

"These heroes really are something." noted an Armoured Wartoise. Would Gracos be able to handle them? They were getting close to her castle.

In the Beanbean Sewers…

The Spinies were covered in spikes, so it was best to fight them from a distance.

It seemed some enemies had adapted to counter the Mario Bros' strategies. It made sense considering they had been facing each other for years.

"Don't even think about jumping on us!" exclaimed one of the Spinies. If they did, they would definitely regret it.

"Don't worry, I won't." answered Alena as she kicked a Spiny away.

Likewise, there were Buzzy Beetles as well.

These enemies were immune to fire. Though unlike the Spinies, they were safe to jump on. Kicking them at other enemies was decidedly useful.

"Is there a way for me to fight them?" asked Nera. She didn't just want to stand there without doing anything. That was not the definition of teamwork.

On the lighter side, fire worked against the Spinies. They hadn't prepared themselves for that attack.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" exclaimed one of the Spinies. It was times like this when he wished he were a Buzzy Beetle instead of a Spiny. Having jumping protection was nice though.

Suddenly, a Spiny dropped an ice scroll.

"I guess there is!" exclaimed the mage as she read the scroll.

She could now use ice magic.

Luckily, the Buzzy Beetles didn't resist ice.

"Brrr!" exclaimed one of the beetles. Now he knew what it was like to be at Joke's End.

Some Bullet Bill Cannons suddenly emerged from the ground.

"It looks like they fortified the sewers!" exclaimed Kiryl. They must not want them to reach the cave.

The Bullet Bill Cannons opened fire on them.

This forced our heroes to take cover.

"You should have worn Bullet Bill-proof vests!" exclaimed a Spiny.

Luckily, Alena had an idea.

She went behind one of the cannons and redirected it towards the Bowser Baddies.

"No! Not friendly fire!" exclaimed a Spiny as he tried to avoid the Bullet Bills.

"Who would have thought they would turn our resources against us?" questioned a Buzzy Beetle.

Our heroes saw a sign reading "This way to the Giggleho Cave."

Perhaps the Bowser Baddies had planted it there. Some Bowser baddies lacked a sense of direction. Like the Green Koopa Troopas that fell off cliffs. They should take a page from the Red Koopa Troopas.

"Now we know how to get to the cave." noted the prince.

"That's good. I don't want to walk in circles." said Kiryl.

Especially when there were Bowser Baddies lurking around. Though he didn't mind fighting a few of them to get experience.

Suddenly, Captain Goomba appeared.

It seemed he was guarding the way to the Giggleho Cave.

"I remember you from Stardust Fields!" exclaimed Alena.

"And I remember you!" shouted Captain Goomba. Though at the time, there were only two of them.

"I guess you don't give up easily." noted the princess. His persistence was admirable. She knew that she didn't give up on her dreams personally. And she was glad she didn't too.

"I sure don't!" exclaimed the captain.

"Are you sure you can win? There's four of us and only one of you." pointed out Peasley. The odds didn't seem to be in his favor.

"Actually, I brought a friend this time." explained the Goomba Captain. He figured that his mistake last time was trying to fight alone.

Well, he had Goombas for support. But he still figured he would win if he worked as a duo.

"Who is that friend?" asked Nera.

"Hello!" exclaimed Captain Shy Guy.

"Strength in numbers? I can understand where you're going." noted the prince. He felt a lot stronger when he worked with a team. And they seemed like a balanced team as well.

"I think I can win this time!" shouted Captain Goomba.

"What do you think of my new flag?" asked the Shy Guy. It made him feel special.

It felt great to be a captain among Shy Guys.

"It's nice." said Nera. She wasn't the kind of person to wear a flag on top of her head though.

Our heroes got ready to fight the captain…for the second time.

I guess Captain Goomba is going to be the Popple of this fanfic. Though I might feature Popple himself, seeing as Mario, Luigi, and Captain Goomba have both encountered him.

Did you like my deviation from this fanfic formula? Two guardians seemed like an interesting idea.

And yes, I figured the FLUDD would be useful against enemies like the Muddy Hands.