After a bit, the group found the person named Darkly. He was chilling in the alley.

He greeted, "Hi there! The name's Darkly. Do you guys need something?"

Blaze commented, "We would like to know how to get through the pipe to Twilight Town."

Darkly informed, "Couldn't be easier! You just need to have something with your name on written it."

Flurrie mused, "That does sound rather simple."

Darkly said, "Indeed it is! Do you have anything that has your name written on it?"

Koops responded, "I do."

Goombella added, "Same."

Violet replied, "Me too."

Luigi frowned, "I used to but you can't even read mine."

Mario admitted, "Yeah same here."

Darkly reassured, "Not to worry, we can get that settled for ya. I'll write your names on your overalls." After that, Darkly wrote down Mario and Luigi's names down on their overalls. He did the same for everyone else too just in case. Darkly commented, "I don't know what errand is taking you to Twilight Town, but I hope it goes well. I'll be rooting for you!"

The team thanked him and then left.

...

Once they got to the pipe, it finally let them through. The group had finally arrived at Twilight Town.

Blaze said, "Hey looks like we are finally here!"

"Hey!"

Everyone turned, seeing a person (Freddy) there.

Freddy commented, "It's been a long time since anyone's come from...outside. You've come from far away?"

Flurried stated, "You might say that."

Freddy perked up, "Yeah, those clothes... I'm pretty sure you guys must be...adventures. Right?"

Koops replied, "Yeah we are adventures."

Freddy admitted, "This is a bad time to arrive. Wait, but you're adventures! ...maybe it's the perfect time."

Goombella replied, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Creepy! What the heck do you mean, a bad time?"

Freddy said, "Oh, gee wiz, I dunno... It's a scary tale to hear. And scary to tell too."

That's when the bell rang.

Violet asked, "What was that?"

Freddy was worried now, "Oh no! The bell rang again! Oh... This is so awful! Who could it be now?"

Luigi stammered, "W - what do you mean?"

With a flash of purple smoke, Freddy turned into a pig.

Mario started to say, "What on earth...?"

Blaze asked, "What is going on?!"

Flurrie admitted, "No clue myself."

Koops stammered, "I - I think we should head back to Rogueport! This is getting too creepy!"

"Oh, badness... Now poor Freddy got turned into a pig... Not good."

That's when another person came up to them.

Goombella asked, "Hey, who are you?"

Dour introduced, "I'm the mayor of this poor town. Some call me Dour. I'm not the sharpest fellow, but I do believe that you're adventures, right? This isn't the place for the telling of tales, sadly. Come. Come to my home." He then lead them to his house. He told them, "My traveling friends... Welcome to Twilight Town. Well, I'd like to welcome you... But welcoming is usually people is a good thing. And it's nothing but bad here."

Violet asked, "But how in the world did this happen?"

Dour sighed, "Well, as you may have guessed... our town has been cursed."

Luigi stammered, "C - cursed?"

Dour confirmed, "Yes sir cursed. That's the right word, right? Yes, of course it is. You see... Beyond town, is a forest, and in its heart is an ancient building, the Creepy Steeple. The dark creature who lives there... Its curse ordains that when the steeple bell rings... One of the Twilighters living here in the village will be turned into a pig. Will my loved ones become swine? Will I, too, become a curly-tailed oinker? I'm so worried, I can't sleep at night. Of course night and day are pretty similar here... If this keeps up...well... the village will become one giant pigpen. Which would be bad. Let me give you some advice. Leave us! Leave before you too, get...piggified!"

Mario was defiant, "We aren't going anywhere, Mr. Mayor. We would like to help. And we are looking for something as well."

Dour perked up, "Looking for something?"

Blaze explained, "Yeah, we are looking for something called a Crystal Star."

Dour admitted, "Uh... I don't know about any Crystal Star thing but in Creepy Steeple. There is a glittery red stone shaped like a star."

Flurrie perked up, "That sounds like a Crystal Star to me."

Dour asked, getting scared, "Uh... You really are thinking about going to Creepy Steeple, aren't you?"

Koops shivered, "I - I don't want to but I think we oughta check out that lead."

Dour shivered too, "Unthinkable... "

The group headed out of the mayor's office.

Goombella stated, "We've got to find this Creepy Steeple."

Violet asked, "But where is this Creepy Steeple that the mayor was talking about?"

Luigi stammered, "N - no idea but we will probably find it sooner or later."

Mario replied, "With our luck? We will probably find it sooner than we expect."

The group had found a guard keeping on eye out, letting them know that no one else could go forward without the mayor's permission. The team was about to go back to his house but that's when the bell rang again.

Blaze frowned, "Uh oh. That means someone has been changed into a pig."

Flurrie said, "Well, let's talk to the mayor again so we can try and go to the Creepy Steeple."

Once they got there, they had discovered that Dour had been turned into a pig.

Koops groaned, "You have got to be kidding me!"

Goombella asked, "Well what do we do now? We can't get his permission now!"

Violet offered, "Let's go back to the guard and ask."

As the group walked back to the guard, the bell rang again. Once they got to the gate, they discovered a pig there too.

Luigi stammered, "O - oh not again."

Mario pointed out, "Yeah but this works out in our favor. We just hop the fence and get into the woods."

The group went through the gate and found a black key. They didn't know what to expect but they knew as long as they stayed together, they would be fine.

...

Wishmaker1028: That ends this chapter! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!