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It encourages me to continue.

Chapter 21: Life Is Ruff

Our heroes stood before Wario, who had a task for them.

"I need-a your help! Evil monsters have stolen-a my stuff!" exclaimed Wario.

"Sounds like the Dragonlord's doing." noted Jessica. It seemed Toad Town wasn't the only place that had been attacked.

"I tried to get it back, but they-a have a blue dragon!" exclaimed Wario. She was fearsome. And big as well.

"Oh, my." remarked Jade.

Blue dragons surpassed even green dragons.

"Maybe-a you could hypnotize them to give the money back." suggested Mario. He remembered the time that he tried hypnotizing people on television.

"I don't have-a money! I can't get on TV!" explained Wario.

"That explains it." noted the plumber in red.

"Besides, some of them might be able to resist the hypnosis." noted the plumber in yellow. And something told him it wouldn't work on the Blue Dragon at all.

"Do you want to join our party?" asked Jessica.

She reminded him a bit of her pal Yangus.

"Sure!" exclaimed Wario.

Wario has joined the party!

"It's nice that we aren't fighting." noted Mario.

"I don't really do villainy these days." spoke Wario. He had done bad things in the past, but he preferred being a hero.

Though he did note that there was a lot of treasure to be found by being a hero.

Our heroes could see their first stop in their new quest.

This time, Jade decided to stay behind.

"I think I should warm myself a bit first." explained Jade. This was the coldest world in the Mushroom Kingdom, after all. At least in this game.

"I understand." nodded Jessica. Traveling across different environments could take some time getting used to.

Though she had fire magic if they needed it.

Luigi decided to stay behind as well.

"His breath smells funny." noted Luigi. Wario was not the most hygienic person in the world.

Though for whatever reason, he seemed to be in perfect health for adventuring.

Peach was inclined to agree with Luigi.

The team was Mario, Wario, Jessica, and Angelo.

"I guess I'm the only girl for the time being." noted Jessica.

Oh well. At least the men were attractive.

Two at least.

Spinning Star Sky

Some Sugarstar Slimes appeared.

They were a bit more obscure than most of the monsters I featured in the fanfic, but seeing as what the level was like he felt they would suit the level perfectly.

As their name implied, they had a star shower attack.

"Mamamia!" exclaimed Wario.

But it could be avoided.

Luckily, some stars could be used as lifts.

Not all of them were dangerous.

There were Hoods in the level.

It seemed they were admiring what they had stolen from Wario.

The baddies had stolen quite a few items from the plumber.

"Check out what I got!" exclaimed a Hood.

Wario turned red with anger. They were going to pay for this.

He lunged towards one of the Hoods.

"Whoa!" shouted one of the Hoods.

He got sent flying.

There were also Pogoin' Penguins.

It wasn't exactly a surprise they were encountering penguins in this world.

They fired snowballs at the party. This creative liberty could result in the party being frozen.

But unsurprisingly, they were weak to fire.

Mario's Firehand worked well here.

As did Alistair's fire breath.

There were Snowmanglers as well.

"Are you going to toss snowballs at us too?" asked Jessica.

"Actually, we had a different attack plan in mind." explained a Snowmangler.

He used his broom to send a chilly tornado at our heroes.

"Brrr…" spoke the sorceress.

Luckily, fire worked pretty well.

But they could dump snow on themselves for healing.

There were also Freezing Fogs as well.

They poured hail on top of our heroes.

"Hail the Dragonlord! See what I did there?" said one of the Freezing Fogs.

But they too were vulnerable to fire.

The boss of the level was none other than Robbin' Hood.

He was admiring a bag of gold that he had pilfered from Wario.

To differentiate him from the other Hoods, his hood was lime.

"That's-a mine!" shouted Wario.

"I stole it fair and square!" answered the leader of the Hoods.

"Oh look! We're fighting a named monster this time!" exclaimed Jessica.

"Didn't you fight a named monster in the castle?" questioned Robbin' Hood. Her name was Gracos.

"Well, this is our first time fighting a named monster on the field." noted the sorceress.

Before they had been normal monsters.

Robbin swung with an axe.

Compared to the other hoods, he swung much faster. This was a boss version of the Hoods, after all.

But Wario was fast enough to dodge it.

He punched Robbin with his fist.

Compared to Mario, he hit harder.

But he was slower to compensate for that.

When it came to RPGs, protagonists usually had strengths and weaknesses. There were some that were all-rounders though. Like Mario himself. He decided not to be the best at anything except for versatility.

That was why he was typically the first character. So people could get used to playing the game by playing with him.

Robbin' Hood was not amused that he had been attacked.

"Ouch! Take this, fatty!" shouted Robbin Hood.

He swung his axe again.

But being called fat made Wario angry.

In retaliation, he leapt on Robbin Hood and ground pounded him.

"Aaaarrghhhh!" exclaimed the Hood.

That one had been a critical hit.

Perhaps he shouldn't be provoking his opponent.

"Nice one, Wario!" shouted Mario. Perhaps with Wario at their side they could gain the upper hand.

"I'm-a number one!" exclaimed Wario.

"Hasn't Mario been in more video games than you?" asked Jessica. There was a reason why Mario was an iconic video game character.

Of course, Dragon Quest was iconic as well.

"Maybe, but I doubt he has as much-a money as I do!" exclaimed Wario. At least before he was robbed, anyways.

Jessica summoned a Scorpion.

He stung Robbin' Hood and poisoned him.

"How did you recruit him?" asked Mario.

"I helped him across a river." explained Jessica.

"And you didn't get stung?" asked Angelo.

"He only stings in self-defense…or when he defends others." noted the magician. Though she did bring an antidotal herb, just in case.

They did not sting willy-nilly.

"Good to know!" exclaimed Mario.

"Some scorpions do wish to fight us though. They like to hone their skills." acknowledged Jessica.

"Where did I put my antidotal herb?" asked Robbin' Hood.

Now would definitely be a good time to look for it.

Jessica hit him with Frizzle.

"Oww!" exclaimed Robbin.

This time, he used Hatchet Man.

This attack would be devastating if it connected.

Which it did.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Wario.

He was still standing, but barely.

Angelo healed him.

"Thanks!" exclaimed Wario. For a moment he thought he was going to fail in his mission.

Wario punched Robbin' Hood again.

Robbin' Hood whistled and some Hoods appeared.

"Get them, boys!" shouted the leader of the Hoods.

Luckily, Jessica had group spells.

The Hoods were sent flying.

Wario then headbutted Robbin' Hood, which was enough to finish the fight.

"You can pass…" said the leader of the Hoods.

The Hood dropped a ruby.

Wario was happy to have some of his treasure back.

But he wasn't done reclaiming it.

There were some monsters to beat.

So he would be going to the next level.

Perhaps there would be another one of his treasures in that level.

If so, he was looking forward to it.

Back at the Chateau de Chucklehuck…

Ruff picked up the scent of the heroes.

"Someone's coming!" exclaimed Ruff.

As it turned out, they were our heroes.

They had managed to get past the monsters on the way to Chateau de Chucklehuck.

"That was a good workout!" exclaimed Alena.

"It sure was." nodded Nera.

The Beanies wondered if they should have sided with Bowser.

Ruff approached them.

"Hi there." spoke the boy.

"Oh look! It's Ruff from Dragon Quest VII!" shouted Alena.

"That's the name! Er, you're not here to steal from the chateau, are you?" asked Ruff.

"No, we're not." spoke Kiryl.

There were Question Blocks in the chateau, but the sign said they were there for guests to enjoy.

Our heroes had seen them before. Though the author hadn't really mentioned them by now.

Ruff then picked up another scent.

This time, they were Bandits.

"Can you help me fend them off?" asked Ruff.

Alena nodded.

Ruff has joined the party!

Our heroes fought against the Bandits.

Occasionally, they would try to steal an item.

So they would need to keep an eye out for that.

They were then joined by Pidgits. Had they been stealing magic carpets?

They were rather fast, so our heroes needed fast reflexes to dodge them.

But if they defeated them, they could borrow their magic carpet for a time.

This made it easier to fight enemies, due to the mobility advantage.

Our heroes then met their boss, who was Popple.

"You think you can stop me from swiping the Chuckola fruit?" asked Popple.

"Well, we're not the type of people to let evil do whatever it pleases." answered Ruff. In the past, he had stopped Orgodemir. That had been no small feat.

He had companions on his side to support him during the battle, of course, but it was no small feat.

If he did that, he wouldn't be much of a hero, now would he?

Kiryl nodded in agreement.

"Fine then! I guess I'm going to have to show you who you're messing with, see?" shouted the shadow thief.

OST: Popple Battle

Popple tossed a Poison Mushroom at our heroes.

"This mushroom is poisonous, see?" said Popple.

Our heroes were careful to dodge it for that exact reason. Being poisoned would make it harder for them to keep their health up.

Alena kicked him.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Popple.

She was going to regret that.

Popple pulled out a Bob-Omb.

He tossed it at Alena.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Alena.

She already had experience with them.

You could never be too careful around them.

Popple then pulled out a smoke Bob-Omb.

It looked like a regular Bob-Omb, but it was gray.

As soon as he tossed it, the field was filled with smoke.

This gave Popple an opportunity to strike.

"My herb!" exclaimed Nera.

"I'll be taking that, see?" asked Popple.

Ruff bit him for stealing from them.

"Ow!" shouted the shadow thief.

"Don't take what doesn't belong to you!" exclaimed Ruff.

Granted, he had eaten some of the Chuckola fruit. But he didn't steal deliberately.

Popple checked his bag again.

"Let's see what else I have in my bag." said Popple.

He pulled out a Fire Flower.

A grin appeared on his face.

This would definitely be useful against the heroes.

"Time to turn up the heat, see?" spoke the shadow thief.

"Do you always end your sentences with see?" asked Kiryl. He was starting to notice a pattern in his dialogue.

"Is that a problem, see?" questioned the thief.

Compared to Fawful, he talked pretty normally.

"No. It's your life of crime that's the problem." explained Peasley.

It would be best if he didn't even thinking about stealing from the Beanbean Castle Treasury. If he did he would be experiencing the wrath of his blade.

Of course, if he stole the Beanstar, there was no way he would be able to awaken it. But he still shouldn't take things that did not belong to him.

Popple launched fireballs at our heroes.

"Ouch! That's hot!" exclaimed Ruff.

"I know." agreed Nera.

She decided to launch a fire spell at Popple to teach him a lesson about playing with fire.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" shouted Popple.

He used the herb to heal himself.

"That's better." spoke the thief.

But Peasley slashed him with his sword.

He then followed by launching a mini tornado from it.

"Yeowch!" shouted Popple.

He was sent flying several feet.

These heroes were not to be underestimated.

Popple pulled out a Starman.

"Hahahaha! I'm invincible now, see?" said Popple.

"Uh-oh." spoke Peasley.

He then began to run towards them.

Peasley knew that as long as he was in this state, even being touched by him would do damage.

So he instructed everyone to avoid him.

Luckily, the Starman wore off.

Ruff then bit into him.

Popple exploded like the other bosses.

When the fight was over, they saw Popple on the floor.

But he got back up.

"Fine! You win! But I'll be back!" exclaimed the thief. Assuming the Beanbean Royal Guard didn't catch him first.

"You think he'll be back?" asked Kiryl. It could be an empty threat.

But he wasn't sure.

If so, they had best prepare for a rematch.

"He might come back. Captain Goomba returned after I beat him the first time." noted Alena.

Though if he came back, she wasn't sure when he would strike.

"Thank you for driving off ze thieves!" exclaimed Cork. Things would have been pretty bad if they didn't manage to stop them. Having somebody steal their fruit would be really bad for business.

There was also the possibility they would find the priceless glasses hidden in the chateau as well.

"As a reward, ve can assist you in combat!" spoke Cask.

They helped the five of them learn new techniques. Much like the Starshade Bros. before them.

Nera learned how to use Zap.

And Ruff felt faster on his feet.

Popple was upset that he had failed in his task. In his opinion, the plan was foolproof. But unfortunately the heroes had ruined everything.

But there would be other heists. He was sure he could find something else. He knew about the Beanstar, but he wasn't sure where he was going to find someone pure enough to awaken it.

He heard that there was a more valuable Chuckola Reserve deeper in the forest anyway.

But then again, people said the caretaker of the reserve had gone insane. Being in isolation could do that to people. And he had been by himself for quite some time.

Perhaps he should have stopped to say hi to his brother every once in a while. Heck, maybe even say hello to Cork and Cask. Those two were nice.

That way he wouldn't have gone bonkers.

Anyways, maybe he shouldn't mess with him.

"I think I'll go look for an accomplice." said Popple.

Somebody who could help him accomplish his heists would be welcome.

Ruff is now part of the party!

And Wario is part of the other one.

Compared to the rest he's what I would call an anti-hero.

You probably noticed that Popple didn't have a rookie for this fight.

He didn't have one the third time Mario and Luigi fought him.

But if you do think he should have a rookie, let me know.