(A/N: Now that the adventure is over, Mario and his friends should be able to figure out which of Bowser's minions handed the Toad a Poison Mushroom. Let's start the chapter and see if we can find out what'll happen!)
A week had passed since the Cackletta ordeal came to an end. Now Mario decided it was time to see if Bowser could tell them which of his minions had done the dirty deed of tricking the Toad into giving him a Poison Mushroom, but failed to kill him.
Mario and Luigi went to Peach's Castle to tell the princess that they were going to see Bowser. And Peach said, "Okay, I'm going with you."
"Peach, if you go along with us, Bowser's going to try to kidnap you as soon as he sees you, or when we get near his kingdom, since that was his original plan. He was still planning to do it after we 'rescued your voice'." Luigi warned.
"If that's what Bowser wants, he's out of luck, because I'm not about to let him do that to me. Not this time." Peach said.
"You think he's going to let you stop him? He never listened to you before when you told him to let you go and put you back." Mario reminded her.
"First of all, I developed a backbone when we had to cure you. And perhaps he's still a little pooped from that big adventure we had. He may not wish to do any kidnapping if he's still out of it. If he has recovered, he hasn't come to get me yet." Peach said. Then she added, "And what if he's not willing to comply with your wishes and tell you who was responsible? I think I can convince him to do so."
Mario and Luigi weighed their options. They really didn't want to bring Peach with them, but she still insisted on coming along, in spite of how dangerous Bowser was. And maybe she could get Bowser to help. He might not say no to her.
"Well, all right. You can come with us, if you must." Mario agreed.
"But if you're joining us, then you'll have to be on your guard, like we're going to be. Think you can do that?" Luigi asked.
"You saw how I worked on that after being provoked one too many times in Teehee Valley, while we were on our way to Little Fungitown. You saw how I held my own against the enemies that we happened upon in Guffawha Ruins. No one is going to take me against my will." Peach promised.
So the group marched themselves to Bowser's Castle, taking down any enemies that stood in their way. Mario wasn't sure if any of them were the ones who handed a Poison Mushroom to the Toad who ran the arcade in Little Fungitown, but if they were, then they were gonna pay dearly for it.
"Only Bowser can find out which one of them did it, Mario. His enemies all look the same to us, yet he can pick them out as easily as anything. He can pick them out of any crowd." Luigi reminded him.
"Lo so. I know. But I'm not sure if he'll find out as quick as we'd like." Mario said.
"If he knows all his minions, he should be able to find out who it was by process of elimination." said Peach.
Minutes later, they were standing right outside of Bowser's Castle, staring at the doors that led inside that dreadful place.
"Here we are." Peach said, gazing at the doors she was too familiar with.
"And it's about time, too!" Mario said, before knocking on the door the way Squidward had knocked on the customer's door in the episode "Pizza Delivery". Peach got behind the Marios in order to watch their backs.
To their good fortune, Bowser was the one who answered the door, but he was not amused when he saw who was standing there.
"Mario... and Green 'Stache?!" Bowser asked incredulously.
"Who?" Luigi asked, starting to look around, trying to look for the person Bowser spoke of, since his name sure wasn't 'Green 'Stache'. (A/N: I deem this situation my new headcanon.)
"YOU, STUPID!" Bowser yelled at Luigi.
"No, Bowser, my brother got sick and tired of you not knowing his name, and so he has decided that he's not going to answer you unless you call him by his real name, and it's-a Luigi. He won't answer to any other name you call him, so you'd better learn how to call him 'Luigi', or else." Mario warned.
"Okay, then. Mario and... Luigi." Bowser said.
"You called?" Luigi asked, looking at Bowser.
"What are you two doing at my castle?" Bowser asked, not happy to see them.
"Well, first of all, we see that you got your memory back. Congratulations." Mario said.
"Uh, thanks?" Bowser said, surprised to hear such a thing from Mario.
"But we really came here to see if you can help us out with something." said Luigi.
"Yeah, it's a matter of great importance, and only you can do it." Mario said.
"Well, guess what? I'm not going to do anything that involves helping a couple of stupid plumbers! I'm the king, and I order you to get lost!" Bowser yelled, ready to slam the door in their faces.
Before the door could close, however, Peach moved forward, quickly caught it, and said with authority in her voice, "Then how about you do it for me, instead?!"
Bowser hadn't seen Peach standing there right away. One minute, she wasn't there, and the next, here she was!
"Princess Peach! You're here?! And you have your voice back!" Bowser exclaimed, surprised to see that Peach had come here with Mario and Luigi. She had to know that they were coming here, and she willingly followed them here. Oh, this was too great!
"Yes. In fact, I never lost it to begin with. I was warned by Prince Peasley about the impending theft ahead of time so I could prepare to keep myself safe. I finally told Mario and Luigi the truth when I visited the Beanbean Kingdom myself. I would've told them a lot sooner, but then you showed up and forced me to stay out of the way. I couldn't tell them the truth with you around! You would have kidnapped me for sure if I was that stupid!" Peach said.
"Oh, that's not fair, Peach!" Bowser complained.
"But that's not the reason why I'm here! I knew you were going to refuse to help the Mario Bros., but since you seem to like having me around, I demand that you do as they ask, and help them out. And if you know what's healthy, you'll do it NOW!" Peach said, shouting the last word while giving Bowser a look that could freeze the lava in his moat. Seeing the princess like this actually made him nervous.
"All right. Come on in." Bowser said, allowing the group to enter his castle.
"The only reason we're here is just to ask you for some help." Mario explained.
"Help with what?" Bowser asked.
"We'll discuss that when we find somewhere quiet to talk." said Luigi.
"Okay, we'll go talk in my castle's sitting room. That's nice and quiet." said Bowser.
When they arrived, Bowser sat down in a big, comfy chair, and Luigi, Mario, and Peach sat down together on the couch, with Peach sitting the furthest from Bowser, so as not to tempt him to make a move to kidnap her. Then again, Mario and Luigi were there, too, so attempting to do so would be foolish.
"Now tell me, what brings you to my castle?" Bowser asked.
"All right. The matter began during our time in the Beanbean Kingdom." Mario started.
"Well, I was out of it for a good portion of the time we were there, so you'll have to let me know where you were when it happened." Bowser said.
"We know you were out of it. We saw you." said Mario.
"But I'll start us off. We were visiting Little Fungitown, a quaint little town full of Toads who have immigrated to the Beanbean Kingdom." Peach said.
"Huh. I didn't know that there were Toads living over there." Bowser said.
"Neither did I, but Queen Bean told me that some of them do." said Peach.
"Anyway, Mario and I went to check out the arcade in town, and the proprietor was planning to give a prize known as an 'Invincishroom' to anyone who got a super-nice score on any of the games." said Luigi.
"And Luigi and I did just that. We played an easy game, beat the high score by twice as many points, and when we told the proprietor, he gave us an 'Invincishroom'." Mario said.
"So you got one?" Bowser asked. He had no idea where this little story of theirs was going, but he knew that he had to listen. And he never heard of these 'Invincishrooms' before. Not until Mario, Luigi, and Peach told him about them.
"Yes, we got one. I ate it because Luigi thought it looked suspicious. He was right to feel that way, because something happened to me that probably wasn't supposed to happen." said Mario.
"What do you mean?" Bowser asked.
"The Mushroom was said to be a mix of 1-Up Mushrooms and Stars from the Mushroom Kingdom." Peach explained.
"But if it really was that, then it shouldn't have done what it did to Mario. He's had those things time and again, and they have never done such a thing to him!" said Luigi.
"What did the Mushroom do?" Bowser asked.
"It made me sick." Mario replied.
"Mario was struck down with a sickness called 'Bean Fever'." said Peach.
"Because that wasn't an 'Invincishroom', or an 'Invincibility Mushroom', as it's-a supposed to be called." Luigi said.
"Oh, it wasn't?" Bowser asked.
"No! It was... get this... a Poison Mushroom!" Peach yelled.
"So, let me get this straight: Mario ate a Poison Mushroom, thinking it was a good Mushroom, and it made him very ill?" Bowser asked.
"Yes..." said Mario, feeling sheepish.
"Great!" said Bowser, feeling satisfied. Then he realized what had gone on, and he said, "Wait a second?! You're telling me that a Toad tried to poison Mario?! Why would a Toad do that?! I thought they liked him!"
"That's what we asked the Toad who ran the arcade! He told us that he didn't know the Mushroom he gave Mario was a bad one because he'd never seen an Invincibility Mushroom; he'd only heard of them! But it turns out that there's a cave where the Mushroom can be found, only it was full of monsters that he stood no chance against! He said that he'd asked three of your minions to help him get the correct one." Luigi said.
"My minions?! But why would they grab the wrong one?! They know that killing Mario is my job, not theirs! Tell me, did he describe the minions to you?" Bowser asked, feeling angry. Now he knew what this was all about. His minions were in trouble with him for trying to do his job.
"He mentioned a Shy Guy, a Boo ghost, and a Goomba, all of whom had flags on their heads." Peach replied.
Bowser immediately knew who Peach was talking about, and that made him even angrier.
"Oh, so those goofballs are trying to do my job, eh? I'll find out which of those wise guys was stupid enough to go through with it, but first, come with me." Bowser said, getting up and motioning for Mario, Luigi, and Peach to follow him. Mario and Luigi took Peach's hands in an attempt to protect her from Bowser, then walked behind him, wondering what he was up to now.
Bowser led the group to a room that was pretty much empty, except for a couple of windows that allowed light into the room. He said to them, "My minions aren't supposed to help Toads, and they know better than to try and do my job for me, no matter how difficult Mario and his brother are. And since you were all kind enough to come and point out this nasty detail to me, this is where you can beat up the one who was dumb enough to do it."
"You mean to say that you're really going to let us have the matter out with him?" Mario asked.
"Sure. For all I know, I might have already done it, but I know that you want to let him have it just as much as I do, so wait here. I'll bring him here when he tells me that he did it." Bowser said. He closed the door and left the area, leaving Mario, Luigi, and Peach all alone.
"I hope this isn't part of some horrible trick to kidnap Peach, and us." Luigi said after the sound of Bowser's footsteps faded into silence.
"No, he wasn't too happy to learn that one of his minions was responsible for Mario's near-death, since he considers it his job, so I think he's willing to listen to us and help us find out who did it." said Peach.
"That would be una benedizione, a blessing." said Mario.
Bowser stomped over to the room where his minions were having a meeting. It hadn't been long since he had demoted Captain Goomba, stripping him of his title and flag, but now that Goomba was in even more trouble than he had been for taking Bowser's memory, since he had a hand in trying to kill Mario for Bowser, and if he took full responsibility...
When Bowser got to the meeting room, he didn't bother to knock and find out if the meeting was still in progress or not; he was much too angry to do that. He threw the door open and yelled, "WHOEVER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING A TOAD AND FINDING A MUSHROOM FOR HIM, COME STAND BEFORE ME RIGHT NOW!"
Bowser's minions jumped out of fear when they heard the door open, and they were even more terrified when they saw Bowser and heard him yelling at them! He was madder than they'd ever seen him before!
"WELL?!" Bowser shouted, looking like he was about to pop a blood vessel if he got any angrier.
Knowing it was up to them to put Bowser out of his pain, the demoted Goomba, Captain Boo, and Captain Shy Guy nervously made their way over to their angry king, and Captain Shy Guy meekly asked, "You wanted to see us, Lord Bowser?"
"So you're the ones who did all that!" Bowser said.
"Actually, a town of Toads was under attack by a brainwashed Morton. All the Koopalings were brainwashed into helping that stupid idiot, Fawful." said Captain Boo.
"And I did not intend to help a bunch of stupid Toads, Lord Bowser! I hate them as much as I hate Mario and his stupid brother!" yelled Goomba.
"But I told them that we could say we weren't stopping Morton to help the Toads; we were doing it to help you, since Morton is supposed to be on your side." said Captain Shy Guy.
"Okay, I suppose I can forgive you for doing that, since you actually did get Morton back on my side and away from that jerk. No one should be allowed to brainwash my minions like that!" Bowser said.
"Say, where are the kids, anyway?" asked Captain Boo.
"Kamek took them to one of my race courses so they could practice their kart-racing skills; keep them fresh for the next Grand Prix." Bowser said. Then he added, "But that's not really important. No. The question I'm about to ask you is very important, though, and I want the truth from you! Did you go out looking for a Mushroom after you saved a Toad?"
"We did, Lord Bowser." said Captain Shy Guy.
"And we had to do it because that dumb Toad wouldn't stop badgering us until we caved in and agreed to do the job for him." Goomba said.
"But there was a problem. We found two different Mushrooms that we never saw before in the cave. And we weren't really sure which one was the Mushroom the Toad wanted." said Captain Boo.
"I suggested to Goomba that he do a taste test to find out." Captain Shy Guy replied.
"But I refuse to eat anything that awful Mario enjoys!" Goomba replied.
"Oh, so you're the one who chose the Mushroom, eh?" Bowser asked, concealing his anger.
"Yes, I did." Goomba said, unknowingly sealing his fate, for that was all Bowser needed to hear.
"All right. Come with me!" Bowser said, picking up Goomba by his head and carrying him out of the room.
Captain Boo and Captain Shy Guy looked at each other, feeling very concerned for their comrade. Bowser had just demoted that Goomba a few days ago, and he sounded really mad about the Goomba choosing the Mushroom. Was it possible that he might've grabbed the wrong one and Bowser or one of the Koopalings ate it? They didn't really know, but hearing about that Mushroom seemed to set him off.
Meanwhile, Bowser was walking through the castle halls, keeping a tight grip on Goomba's head. Goomba was starting to feel nervous, and he asked Bowser, "Lord Bowser, where are you taking me?"
"Shut up! You'll find out in a minute!" Bowser yelled at him.
"Geez, all I did was ask him a simple question!" thought Goomba in annoyance. That wasn't a good enough reason for Bowser to yell at him like he did. But then again, he was the one who caused Bowser to get amnesia on the mountain back in the Beanbean Kingdom. Surely he wasn't still sore about that! But if he was, he sure knew how to hold a grudge. Just look at his grudge against Mario!
Eventually, they came to a closed door. Bowser opened the door, poked his head into the room, and said, "I found him! He's all yours!" Then he threw Goomba into the room, closed the door, and locked it. If Goomba wanted out of the room, that was just too bad.
Goomba looked around the room, trying to figure out just where Bowser sent him. The room was pretty much empty, and there were two windows on the one wall to let some light in the room. He didn't ever recall being in this room before.
"All right, what am I doing here?" Goomba asked himself.
"You're about to be chewed out by the people you hate!" a familiar voice said.
In his confusion, the Goomba hadn't realized that he was not alone. He looked in the direction the voice came from, and he saw Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach slowly approaching him. The worst part was that they all looked very angry!
"Chewed out?! By you three?! For what?! Being a Goomba?!" asked Goomba.
"No, for what you did!" Luigi replied.
"What I...? Was it for giving Lord Bowser amnesia?!" asked Goomba.
"No. Didn't Bowser tell you?" asked Mario.
"Well, I do know that Lord Bowser was yelling at me, Captain Shy Guy, and Captain Boo for not properly checking out the two Mushrooms that we found in the cave, thanks to the Toad who didn't shut up..." Goomba said.
"Bowser had every right to be mad at you for that, and so do we! You grabbed THE WRONG MUSHROOM! Mario ate it and got very sick because of you!" Peach yelled.
"You mean to say I picked out the wrong one, and Mario's the one who ate it?! That's great!" said Goomba, cheering up.
The next thing Goomba knew, something hit him in the face really hard, and he screamed like a little girl as he was sent flying towards the wall at the other end of the room. His back made hard contact with the wall, and he slowly slid to the floor, not sure what happened, until he saw Princess Peach with her parasol out. She was holding it like a baseball bat. Apparently, she had used it to swat him like a fly ball!
"That Mushroom you grabbed in the cave was a Poison Mushroom, you dunce! You think you're going to get off scot-free for trying to kill me?!" Mario asked.
"Bowser was angry with you because he said that killing Mario is his job. We're mad at you for trying to kill Mario!" said Peach.
"Look, I just got demoted by Lord Bowser not too long ago for being the one who gave him amnesia when he was on the mountain! Can't we consider that enough of a punishment?" Goomba asked, feeling very scared.
"Hardly! My brother could have died because of your stupidity!" Luigi yelled.
"And now it's time for you to pay the penalty!" Peach said. With that, she and the Mario Bros. powered up with Super Mushrooms.
"Oh crap..." Goomba said, turning pale. This was not going to end well for him at all! He ran to the door, but he couldn't open it! It was locked, meaning he was trapped! Then the heroes lunged at Goomba...
For the next 10 minutes, the sounds coming from that room were generic fight sounds, as well as girlish screaming from Goomba, and shouts of anger from Mario, Luigi, and Peach.
Bowser was quietly standing outside of the room, taking it all in. He wondered if Goomba had figured out why he was so mad. Probably not, since he had to run away from the angry heroes, and he was not going to be leaving that room until Mario and his friends had had their fun.
Every now and again, Bowser could hear Goomba frantically yelling at the door, "LORD BOWSER! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! PLEASE LET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!" But his pleas fell on deaf ears. After what he did, Bowser intended to let him suffer for his mistakes.
15 minutes passed since Goomba was thrown in that room, but Bowser hadn't heard anything coming from that room for the last 3 minutes now. Was the fight over? He got his answer when he suddenly heard the power-up deactivation sound, which was then followed by a light knock at the door. Then he heard the sweet sound of Peach's mellifluous voice asking, "Bowser, are you out there?"
"Yeah. What's up?" Bowser asked.
"I thought you should know that we've had our fun, and the Goomba is unconscious from what could be the beating of his life. We'd like to leave now, but you locked the door. Can you please let us out?" Peach's voice asked.
Bowser quickly unlocked the door and opened it to see Mario and his friends standing there, looking unscathed from the battle. He said, "I had to lock the door so Goomba could not escape the beating you were going to give him."
"Good idea." Mario complimented.
"Yeah, we didn't want him getting away from taking his punishment." said Luigi.
"That's why I did it. Anyway, while I was out here, listening to the fight, I decided that I won't kidnap you for a while, Peach, since you were kind enough to warn me that one of my minions was doing my job. Their job is to hinder Mario, not kill him." said Bowser.
"Thank you." said Peach.
"All right, Bowser. We're really glad that you're leaving Peach alone this time." Mario said as he, Luigi, and Peach exited the room.
"Yeah, well, I guess I owed her for telling me what was going on while I was out of it, and that's the best way to pay her back for her help." Bowser said.
"I never thought I'd say this to you, Bowser, but thanks for letting us beat up the one who tried to kill my bro." said Luigi.
"Hey, he caused trouble for me on the mountain, and even though I demoted him, I'm glad you were able to make things even worse for him. Sounds to me like you were punishing him far better than I ever could." Bowser said. Then he walked into the room and looked Goomba over. Since he was still a member of Bowser's army, the Koopa King decided to take him to the castle's infirmary.
Later, Goomba awoke to find himself lying in a bed in the castle's infirmary, and when the world slid into focus for him, he looked to see Captain Boo and Captain Shy Guy standing at either side of his bed.
"Hey, welcome back." said Captain Shy Guy in a soft voice when he saw Goomba wake up.
"We decided to get you some cards and candy in hopes that you'll feel better soon." said Captain Boo, pointing to said items, which he and Captain Shy Guy laid on the bed before Goomba woke up.
"Ohhh, what happened to me?" asked Goomba, sounding like he was in pain. He was sore all over, and he couldn't quite remember what went on before everything went black.
"Lord Bowser told us. The Mushroom you gave to the Toad was a Poison Mushroom, which Mario ate." said Captain Shy Guy.
"But Lord Bowser hates Mario with a passion. I thought the fact that Mario ate something deadly would make him feel happy." said Goomba.
"No, because everybody knows that killing Mario is Lord Bowser's job, not ours. We're supposed to hinder Mario from reaching Lord Bowser when he takes Princess Peach." said Captain Boo.
"Oh, now I remember. He let me get beat up by Mario, his stupid brother, and Princess Peach." said Goomba as it all came back to him.
"Yeah, he told us about that when we asked him where you were and why." said Captain Shy Guy.
"I guess I'm never going to be a captain again..." said Goomba sadly.
"Nah. You're just going to have to do something big. Something that will dazzle Lord Bowser so much, he'll realize that demoting you was a huge mistake on his part." said Captain Boo.
"And I know you can do it." said Captain Shy Guy.
"Thanks. Hey, where's Captain Koopa?" asked Goomba, realizing that he was not with the other two.
"He's busy cleaning the room where you got beat up by Mario and his friends. You never would have guessed that a big fight happened in there, the way he's working." said Captain Boo.
"But he took the time to sign a card for you, and that one box of sweets is from him." said Captain Shy Guy, pointing out the treats.
"Oh, that's nice." said Goomba.
"Just give Lord Bowser some more time to come around, and try to get your strength back, too." said Captain Boo.
"And when you've fully recovered, try to think of a way to make him reconsider the demotion." said Captain Shy Guy.
But Bowser overheard this and said it was too late. Goomba already had three strikes against him, so becoming a captain again was not possible.
"Three strikes?! For what?!" asked Goomba.
"One, for stealing my memory. Two, for helping a Toad. And three, for trying to do my job!" Bowser said.
"Actually, Lord Bowser, we told you that helping the Toad couldn't be avoided. He wouldn't let up until we caved in and agreed to look for the Mushroom for him. That wasn't our fault." said Captain Boo.
Bowser had been too angry to recall hearing that part during their explanation. He said to Goomba in a firm voice, "All right. I'll let you off for the relentless Toad, so you will get one more chance, but that's it. If you screw up once again, then you can just forget about being a captain again. Ever!"
"I will not fail you again, Lord Bowser!" the Goomba said, fully intending to keep his promise as soon as he recovered.
The End
Okay, that's the end of that one. I came up with the idea upon learning that Mario did not consume an Invincishroom, but a Poison Mushroom that Goomba mistook for the real deal, and the Toad didn't even know it! The moral is that if you're not sure about something, do more research on it! Hope you liked it!