Kroop replied, "Murphy? Louise? And Grey? Those are fine names."

Goombella told him, shouting a bit, "No, we are Mario, Luigi, and Goombella!"

Kroop smiled, "I appreciate that, Grey! They are nice eyebrows! Now listen up. If you're intent on going to Hooktail's castle, find the secret pipe near this village. I don't know where it's at, but I know you need stone keys to use that pipe. The keys are somewhere in Shhwonk Fortress, just past the village. Get them first."

Mario confirmed, "Got it."

Kroop said, "Well then, Murphy… Get going and take care of that Hooktail monster!"

Mario nodded as the group left the house.

Luigi stammered, "Y - you can't be serious, are you?"

Mario raised a brow, "Do you know of another way?" When Luigi didn't answer, Mario knew that he had won that argument. He added, "Thought not."

Goombella stated, "Come on you two, let's get a move on!"

The group headed out of the village and towards the Shhwonk Fortress. As they headed towards a gate, they saw a Koopa there.

The Koopa said, "An old stronghold called the Shhwonk Fortress lies ahead. A stone creature lives there. At least, it might live there. This gate is to keep it out. My job…is guarding the gate. But if the mayor says it's okay, I'll let you pass. Careful out there, though!"

With that, he opened the gate.

"Er, excuse me! Er, beg your pardon! Wait a moment, please!" A young Koopa came up to them and added, "Pardon me for yelling like that… I was panicking. Umm…how do I begin?"

Mario said, "You can tell us what your name is."

The young Koopa looked at him, "Um right… M-My name is Koops. I heard that you are traveling to Hooktail's castle."

Luigi trembled, "W - word travels fast."

Koops nodded, "Er, I have a favor to ask." Koops was shaking as bad as Luigi was. He said, "Well, um… Oh, just… Just forget it. Never mind. Ignore me. Good… Goodbye."

That's when Koops ran off.

Goombella remarked, "Okay… That was weird. What do you think that was about? Talk about issues!"

Mario thought for a moment, "Maybe he was trying to wish us luck? Or maybe keep our heads up?"

Luigi trembled, "W - well, it's over now. G - guess we gotta head in."

To that, Mario and Goombella nodded. Mario took the lead as they headed in.

…

When they got to a small castle, they got attacked by small stone creatures called Bald Clefts. They quickly went to work to fight them. It didn't take long to defeat them. The group kept walking, talking at the same time.

Mario asked, "Now that we are here, what do we do now?"

Goombella answered, "I guess look around."

Luigi stammered, "O - or we can get out of here while the getting is good…?"

Mario grabbed his brother's arms and dragged him along. Luigi was shaking as Mario dragged him along. The group went out and into more forest. They went into another building, interacting with something that looked like a Thwomp.

The Thwomp chuckled, "You're the first contestants I've seen in awhile. If you've come all this way here to Shhwonk Fortress, you must want stone keys. And if that's the case, then you must compete against me. If you win, I'll let you through where the stones rest. However, if you lose, you will suffer a terrible fate. And by terrible, I mean awful." He chuckled again as he added, "So? What do you want to do?"

Mario confidently answered, "We will take you on!"

Luigi was shaking, "B - Bad idea…"

Goombella reassured, "Relax, Luigi. We've got this."

Luigi gulped nervously as the Thwomp stated, "You're in for it now!"

Suddenly the Thwomp turned the place into a game show like area. Mario, Luigi, and Goombella all sweatdropped. Not what they thought it had meant. The Thwomp was dressed up as a game show host.

He said, "Hey, hey, ladies and germs! Welcome, everybody to the 65th Super Fun Quirk Quiz! Perk up those ears! If you correctly answer five of the following questions, you win! But three of 'em wrong, and you'll suffer a cruel and unusual punishment! Now, for the first question! What is hidden in this place?"

Mario answered, "Stone Keys."

The Thwomp waited for a minute before answering, "That is correct! Good job, now onto question 2. What do one Mr. Softener and one Fire Flower cost at the shop in Petalburg! Total!"

Luigi replied that time, "16 c - coins."

The Thwomp waited another minute before stating, "That is also correct. That's two in a row that you've answered correctly. Onto the third question! What is the name of the mayor of Petalburg?"

Goombella responded that time, "Kroop!"

The Thwomp waited another minute before saying, "That is correct! But it won't help much. Now, onto the fourth question. Where is that Crystal Star?"

Mario responded, "Hooktail's Castle."

The Thwomp waited another minute before saying, "That is correct. Well, that's amazing but it will be harder from here. Now tell me for the last and fifth question. How can one get from Pedal Meadows to Rogueport?"

Luigi stammered, "T - take a pipe."

The Thwomp was surprised that they had gotten it right so he cheated and attacked the heroes with Clefts. The heroes quickly took care of them and the thwomp finally let them through - making a pipe for them.

Goombella commented, "Well, that was interesting…"

Mario told them, "C'mon, let's go down the pipe and see what's down there."

Luigi stammered, "R - right fratello."

With that, the group went down the pipe.

…

When they went down the pipe, they saw that they were in some sort of a sewer.

Mario turned to Luigi, "This makes you feel like we are back home, doesn't it?"

Luigi shrugged, "Eh, not really. But this does remind me of fixing those pipes and that one special pipe that sent us here."

Mario nodded in agreement.

Goombella said, "I hate sewers though. They are always gross."

Mario commented, "Understandable. Our father was a very accomplished plumber in his day. He hoped that we would take over his company once we were older."

Goombella raised a brow, "Then what happened?"

Both Mario and Luigi looked sad at that moment. Just about when Goombella was about to apologize, Luigi spoke up.

Luigi sniffled, "W - we lost them when we were 15 years old. They were in a terrible accident."

Goombella stated, "Oh, I'm so sorry… I didn't know…"

Mario reassured, "Not your fault. It was a long time ago. We had found the magic pipe a little after that - that was the thing that brought us here. And soon as we got here, Peach was in trouble with Bowser."

Luigi added, "Y - yeah, one thing led to the other and we wound up being the heroes of the kingdom."

Goombella breathed, "Wow, that's really interesting."

Both the brothers nodded. That's when they got into a far off room, seeing a gold fuzzy there.

He said, "Hey you suspicious types! This is our place! And coming in here is rude, rude, and rude! Sorry, suckers! If you want a warm welcome, too bad! Now I lunch on your head!"

Mario activated his Firebrand as the gold fuzzy jumped on them. Luigi, shakily, activated his Thunderhand to help. Goombella fought it too. The gold fuzzy, at some point, called in more fuzzies to fight with it. It didn't take too long for them to defeat it and its friends. They had managed to find the Sun and Moon Stone.

...

Wishmaker1028: Chapter 7 is finished! Hope you enjoyed! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!