//------------------------------//
// Storming the Koopa Bros. Fortress 
// Story: My Little Paper Mario 
// by Codex92 
//------------------------------//

	After gathering their provisions, all kept tightly inside Twilight's saddlebags, the group headed off down Pleasant Path to take down the Koopa Bros. Twilight stayed close to Mario, Goombario, and Kooper in case they got ambushed, taking the time to admire the peace there was on the road. Like back in the village, the foliage was blocky, and the road was green and lush with nature. Aside from the Goombas and Koopas patrolling the road, it really lived up to its namesake.

They climbed up the road that lead to Koopa Village and made their way across the bridge, where the Koopa Bros. Fortress lies. Along the way, they began encountering Koopa Paratroopas, their aerial dives a minor nuisance, but they quickly lost their wings with Mario or Goombario bouncing on their heads, or Twilight zapping their wings with her magic, sending them falling onto their backs, completely defenseless. There was a river they had to cross over, but the switch to raise the bridge was on the other side. Luckily, Kooper shell tossed himself over to the other side, smacking the button and allowing them access to cross. Twilight could have simply flown over to press it herself, also curious how the mechanisms of a large blue button able to alter something around them without any physical connection to said mechanism, but they needed to move on and quickly save the Star Spirits and her friends.

After crossing the river, they caught sight of the fortress just up ahead. "Wow. That's a pretty big fortress."

"And if I know the Koopa Bros., they're going to stop at nothing to keep us from reaching the highest point of the fortress," Kooper said.

"It looks pretty old," Twilight noted. "It must have been built a century ago, judging by the moss and slight cracks in the stone walls."

"There might also be traps inside," Goombario mentioned. "Forts this old would have to have some still functioning even after being worn and torn by the natural elements."

As they got closer, they could see the fortress was built on a small lake. Knowing there could be a basement floor inside, they hoped some of that lower floor wasn't too badly flooded. The group stepped onto the small walkway that failed to act as a bridge for the harmless moat surrounding the old fortress. The metal doors pushed open, Black Ninjakoopa stepped out, holding a notepad in his gloved hand, not even noticing the surprised enemy standing there.

"Ok, so, I gave our troops the keys to some of the doorways...Now we just need to set up the-" He looked up from his notes, screaming out in surprise as he leapt back. "M-Mario!? Oh crud! He's already here!" Black then noticed Kooper, immediately glaring at the blue-shelled Koopa. "Blue..."

"My name is Kooper!" Kooper argued. "I haven't thrown my name away like you four!"

"So, you're siding against the Koopas, eh? We knew you were a coward, but joining with Mario, dude?" Black shook his head, ashamed to see a fellow comrade going against their ideals. "Even more lame than ever."

"Please don't tell me all of them talk like that," Twilight grumbled.

"Sadly, yes," Kooper said. "I even found it a bit annoying when they tried to act and sound 'cool'."

Black noticed Twilight behind Mario, Goombario, and Kooper. Flipping through his notepad, he reached a page where he doodled a few pictures of extra faces to look out for, his drawing skills worse than that of a newly hatched Koopa Troopa. From the short debriefing from Kammy Koopa before they ran away from Bowser's wrath, she told them to be on the lookout for six equine creatures with a sketch that looked a lot better than the Koopa's doodles. His eyes shifted between the alicorn and what he drew, which looked like a blob with stubby legs, big eyes, poorly proportionate wings, and a simple line as a horn.

"You!" Black suddenly shouted, pointing at the mare. "You're one of these creatures we're supposed to watch out for along with Mario! Ooh, you guys are gonna get it. Good luck making it past our impenetrable fortress!"

The Ninjakoopa fled back inside the fortress, slamming the doors shut behind him. "'One of these creatures?' Great," Twilight sighed. "Now I hope my friends are hidden safely somewhere. Wanted by Bowser to be captured or beaten up along with Mario. My bits are on being captured and held hostage."

"Then let's kick their shells," Kooper said, making his way over to the front door.

"Actually, you think we should find another way inside?" Twilight suggested. "He probably locked the-" Kooper pushed open the doors, making the alicorn facehoof. "He didn't lock the entrance? Seriously?"

"Yeah. They aren't that smart, even as a group," Kooper said.

"No wonder you were the leader. Good thing you didn't turn out like them," Goombario said.

With the front doors opened for them to simply waltz on through, they entered the Koopa Bros. Fortress. The first room they were in was inside of one of the twin towers, which rose up to the outer walkway on top of the old fort. The only way to reach the doorway up there was through the second level, which meant finding a way up there through the rest of the fortress. There was some water inside that came from a grate, where they saw two Koopa shells floating on the water. There was a flight of stone stairs under the water that could be moved up, connecting the walkway further up that Mario couldn't reach on his own. As much as Twilight wanted to find an easier route and fly up, she didn't want to end up by herself and risk getting caught if she were ambushed by several Koopas.

Walking around the water, unable to be accessed by the metal fence, they found a Koopa Troopa guarding a locked door. "Well, at least they managed to lock something," Twilight blandly stated.

"Pretty easy," Goombario said. "Just a normal Koopa." Mario attacked first, leaping high into the air before trouncing the guard, sending him falling on his back. Kooper tossed himself, hitting the red-shelled enemy hard, sending the Koopa soaring into the wall, smacking his head and knocking him out cold. With the guard knocked out, Goombario approached him and rummaged through his shell. "Let's see...Aha! Got the key for the lock."

The Goomba, with the key in his mouth, leapt up to the lock, pushed the key in and twisted it. The lock opened, along with the door, advancing them further inside. The next room was a bit more dangerous as they froze, spotting a few inanimate bombs with eyes and feet, a windup key always spinning on their backs.

"W-What the hay are those things?" Twilight asked.

"Bob-ombs," Kooper answered. "These things can blow up in your face if you're not careful." The alicorn gulped, keeping far enough away and noted to avoid using her magic if she accidentally ignites their fuses. "What are they doing here?"

"No idea, but let's be careful," Goombario warned. "If we don't knock them out, they'll light their fuses and blow themselves up."

"They commit suicide???" Twilight asked, both in fear and worry for the walking bombs.

"That's what they're meant to do," Kooper said. "But most Bob-ombs don't really die after they blow up. They either get knocked out from their own explosion or can keep going and blow up some more."

"Oh. Ok! That's reassuring!" Twilight's outburst alerted the Bob-ombs patrolling the room.

Following the Koopa Bros. orders, they charged forward, attacking the intruders. They were easily dealt with thanks to Kooper's shell tossing, his shell keeping him safe from the Bob-ombs' explosions when they got furious, their black bodies blinking red as their fuses lit up by themselves. Thankfully, for Twilight's sake over killing these oddly cute inanimate beings, they were only rendered unconscious after exploding.

Continuing their way through, they reached the door to the next area, stopping as they heard talking come from the other side. "Alright, lower the bars!"

"Yes, sir!" another voice said, the sound of a cell door lowering down to the ground with a loud thunk.

"Let's see if Mario and his little buddies get this key," the first voice said.

"That's Green Ninjakoopa," Kooper said. "I guess they're actually being smart and hiding their keys instead of handing them to their lackeys." He kicked the door open, surprising the green Ninjakoopa and a couple Koopa guards. "Knock knock, Greenie!"

"Blue! I didn't want to believe Black, but you really are working with Mario." Green ran off to meet up with the rest of his Bros., pointing a finger at the heroes before leaving. "If one of you guys beat them, you might be promoted to be a fifth member of the Koopa Bros.!"

Obeying one of their four bosses, the Koopas in the room threw themselves from inside their shells, all of them wanting that promotion that badly. Kooper shell tossed himself toward them as well while Mario knocked the others past the allied Koopa with his hammer. After the plumber smacked them into the wall, dazing them from the harsh impact, Goombario headbonked on their exposed bellies to knock the wind out of them. Twilight kept to the air, since none of them were Paratroopas, assisting by either blasting some of them back with a magic beam or tossing them into Mario with her telekinesis.

Once the guards were all taken care of, they relaxed a bit and looked around. They could see a few cells in the room, two of them holding a key to unlock some of the doors in the fortress. Unfortunately, there wasn't a switch or button to press to open the cells, though there did seem to be an alternative judging by the old cracks in some of the walls. In the leftmost cell, there was a crack that connected to the previous room from a higher ledge, but after taking care of the Bob-ombs in there, they weren't likely to be of any use while they were seeing stars. In the middle and rightmost cells, there was a crack just outside the cell walls, but sadly, there weren't any Bob-ombs that they fought.

"Ok, I guess they're a bit smarter than I thought," Kooper said. "We might need to hold a Bob-omb hostage to help us blow up the walls and get those keys." He then looked at Twilight, Goombario and Mario having the same thought as they too looked over at the alicorn. "Unless Twilight knows a spell that can crumble cracked walls?"

"Unfortunately, if you want me to shatter the entire cell, then we won't get the keys," Twilight said. "And I won't be able to levitate them out between the bars because it's a lot bigger than the distance between each one. Plus, I think Bowser's lightning with the Star Rod messed with my magic a little." She lit up her horn to try to teleport into the cell to grab the key, but her horn fizzed out, unable to transport inside. "Yeah. I can't teleport and get it either."

"But you managed to turn my bag into...whatever those things are now," Kooper pointed out.

"Teleportation is a more advanced spell back in Equestria," Twilight explained. "It didn't strain too much magic out of me when I turned your bag into saddlebags, being very similar, just with a slight change in its form and a little added hammerspace to carry several items inside at once."

"So we're going with plan B; grab a Bob-omb and force it to explode and break the walls." Goombario looked at the bars, unfortunate to be too big to squeeze through. "Might as well keep going and hope we don't run into anymore locked doors."

Ignoring the fortress keys for now, they entered the next room. Unfortunately, there was a locked door with a Koopa guarding it. He was quickly knocked out, but he didn't drop a key. Instead, a blue button appeared  behind the stairway that lead up, but with the railings blocking the way, they couldn't jump across to the second floor. Mario pressed the button, making the whole fortress shake as it made the stairs lower down, giving them access to the basement floor.

"Well, we got something out of that Koopa," Kooper said. "Let's take a look down in the basement for any keys they might have hidden from us."

They stepped down the flight of stairs into the basement. It wasn't as flooded as they expected, but there was water around a few inches away from the surface of the floor. Two different paths headed in opposite directions: one leading back toward the entrance while the other further onto the other side in the other tower.

"So, where should we go?" Twilight asked.

While they figured out which would be the best route, they headed voices come from the direction of the second tower. Curious, they headed toward the voices, finding themselves looking at an incredibly large cell. When they walked around to the bars, they found a few Bob-ombs inside, though they weren't black like the ones patrolling the fortress. There were a couple green ones, a blue one, a dark red one, and a unique pink one unlike the rest of them. Twilight was unable to tell if Bob-ombs had genders, but she considered the pink one a she, having a longer fuse colored yellow, and the bow of her windup key didn't have holes like the other trapped bombs.

The pink Bob-omb spotted Mario, Goombario, Kooper, and Twilight on the other side of the cell, running up to them the moment she spotted the heroic plumber of the Mushroom Kingdom. "Holy self-destruction! It's Mario!" Twilight was right, the Bob-omb's voice definitely feminine. "Thank goodness! You think you can get us out of here!"

"Can we trust them?" Twilight asked.

"We're not like the Bob-ombs patrolling this dump," the Bob-omb said. "We were thrown in this cell after trying to rebel against the Koopa Bros. Unfortunately, we can't break ourselves out of these stone walls. Too tough to blow up."

"Uhh, we'll try to figure out how these cells work and bust you out," Goombario said. "My name's Goombario. And that's Kooper, and Twilight Sparkle."

"I'm Bombette," the Bob-omb said. She eyed Kooper, feeling a little suspicious of his different colored shell compared to the usual red shells of the grunts and leader of the Koopa Bros. "The question is if that Koopa can be trusted."

"Don't worry, Bombette. I'm not part of the Koopa Bros.," Kooper assured. "Though, if you believe I used to be a part of the gang before they worked for Bowser, then trust me when I say I have no part in assisting them or the Koopa King."

"...Huh. At least you're the smartest of the bunch," Bombette said, lighting up her fuse a little in frustration with a furrowed gaze. "What I wouldn't give to blow up on those four Koopas and get back at them for throwing us in here! We worked for several works fixing up this stupid fortress for them, and they never gave so much as a thank you! I had enough, so I blew up in Red Ninjakoopa's face to show him a thing or two, then I got tossed in here."

"Can you explode multiple times without passing out?" Goombario asked.

"Pthh! Please! I'm the champion of explosive stamina!" Bombette gloated. "In fact, I never get exhausted from doing it over and over! I just love blowing up stuff!" Mario asked Bombette if they let her and her friends free, she can assist them on their journey in case there were any obstacles that they might need a Bob-omb's help with. "Hmm...Well, since you asked, sure! I've been cooped up in here for so long, I need to stretch out my legs! And a little adventure might be fun."

"Great! Just hang tight until we figure out a way to open this cell. We'll get all of you out of there soon enough." After assuring they will come back for the imprisoned Bob-ombs, the party headed back to the stairs and went in the other direction.

On the other path, they stepped into a simple room with a few Koopa Troopas and Paratroopas. As soon as they entered, the doorways somehow bounced up and froze in the air, trapping them inside with the guards.

"How the hay does THAT even work!?" Twilight questioned.

"Ask later! We've got a fight on our hands!" The enemy Koopas attacked the trapped group, the Paratroopas diving down on them from above while the grounded Koopas shell tossed at them from the ground.

Mario and Goombario leapt over the normal Koopas, Twilight flew up in the air, and Kooper shell tossed back to ram into them. The Paratroopas quickly went for the alicorn, flinging themselves like projectiles to knock her out of the air. She managed to avoid them, bucking them away or shooting them with a beam or two. Mario and Goombario worked together to jump off the Paratroopas' heads to get rid of their wings, trapping them on the ground while Kooper slid around, keeping the standing Koopas occupied. Twilight tried to mimic what Mario does, diving down and slamming all four hooves down on a defenseless Koopa that was on his back, knocking the wind out of his lungs and even popping him out from his shell.

"Huh. I should jump on these guys more often," Twilight uttered to herself. "Pinkie would have a blast bouncing on them."

Twilight was suddenly knocked in the back of the head by one of the enemy Koopas, too busy focused on how she could help to notice him. "Better pay attention next time, creature."

Before the Koopa could hit the alicorn again, Kooper spun in, kicking his opponent hard in the face, knocking him out as he was sent flying into the water. With the last of the Koopas knocked out, the friendly reptile ran up to Twilight, helping her sit up.

"You ok, Twilight?" he asked.

"Ow...Yeah. Just a really bad concussion, I think." She rubbed her hoof over the spot the Koopa struck her, wincing in pain as she felt a bad bump. "You're right. Your shells are tougher than stone...I'm just gonna stick to staying in the back from now on."

Kooper checked her head, only seeing a small bump where the Koopa rammed into her. "It's just a small bump. You're fine. But, yeah, I think your better helping us from a distance."

The doorways fell back down to the floor, the trap dismissed once the Koopas in the room were beaten. "...You know what? I'm not going to figure out how those doorways did that anymore. It's going to give me a headache." They moved on to the next room, which was a long hallway that lead to a key for the locked door back on the first floor. The only problem was that it had fire bars swinging around, threatening to burn anyone who dares to try to pass by. "...Uhhh...Is this really considered reliable security?"

"For you or Mario, I don't think so," Goombario said.

Mario asked Twilight if he wanted to go and get the key for them, but the alicorn shook her head. "I'll get it. Saves you the trouble from getting burnt by this moving fire, probably able to do this by a magical enchantment." Flapping her wings, Twilight hovered in the air, flying safely over the rotating fireballs. She grabbed the key in her mouth, not willing to use magic with her head pounding as she flew back to the others. "Aside from the random encounters, getting through this fortress is way too easy."

"Now we're able to head up further," Kooper said as they began backtracking. "I hope we'll find some kind of switch or button to open up the cell holding the friendly Bob-ombs."





Up on a platform in the second tower, high above the cell holding the imprisoned Bob-ombs, Yellow Ninjakoopa hammered away on the ground. He had placed a yellow question mark block above the center of the dangerous ledge. He chuckled maliciously as he moved around, setting up his trap like a professional.

"Aaaaaand...Done!" he said, giving himself a thumbs up for his job well done. Yellow tested the floor, feeling really sturdy as he checked to make sure the block was connected to it. "Since Mario's always a hippity-hoppity block puncher, he's sure to wonder what's inside this mysterious box. And the moment he jumps into it, my trap activates!" The Koopa heard the door down below the walkway open up, looking over the side to find Mario and his party walk through the door. "Time to see if the suckers fall for the trap."

He quickly ran into the second floor doorway to hide in the next room, peeking through the keyhole as he waited to watch them fall for his block trap. Yellow didn't have to wait long, spotting the party climbing up the sloped walkway leading to the second floor. The group noticed the floating yellow block floating above the center platform.

"That's a weird place for a question mark block to float around," Goombario noted.

"So, these are one of those odd blocks that float around or sit around randomly?" Twilight asked. "Why are these things important?"

"They can either pop out coins or items if struck," Kooper answered. "We might find something helpful against the Koopa Bros., or anything else in the future. It might also have a switch that can open up the cell far beneath this tower."

"I don't know," Twilight said, getting a closer look at how precarious a block that might hold money or an item floated over a dangerous platform high above the building. And right above the opened ceiling of the large cell the Bob-ombs were being held. Mario, Goombario, and Kooper stood out on the platform to see what was inside. "Uhh, maybe we shouldn't mess with it."

"Relax, Twilight. It's not like we're going to fall off." Twilight kept her distance, having a bad feeling something was off with a convenient block over a three story drop.

Mario jumped into the block, which disappeared, nothing coming out from the top of it. Suddenly, the floor underneath the three male members flipped down, the trio screamed as they fell down the tower and into the large cell in the basement. They hit the ground hard: Mario landing on his feet, Goombario on his head, and Kooper on his back. Their fall startled the Bob-ombs, Bombette approaching them and looked up, finding Twilight staring down at them from the trapdoor high up on the platform.

"Are you guys ok!?" Twilight asked.

The guys groaned, Mario relatively fine, though Goombario and Kooper were a bit dazed from their harsh landing. "I think they're ok! What are you guys even doing!?" Bombette asked. "I don't think bungie jumping down here without a bungie cord's gonna help us get out!"

"I knew something was off about this section," Twilight muttered to herself. "Hang on! Maybe I can fly you guys out one at a time!"

"You're not gonna help them!" Yellow kicked the doorway open, surprising Twilight as she turned around in his direction. "Time to say night night!"

The Koopa pulled out a small sheep figurine from his shell, disappearing as he flicked it in the air. Twilight was about to zap the Koopa Bro, only to have a dozen wooly sheep appear in front of him.

"W-What the-!?" The flock of sheep bleated and stampeded toward the alicorn. Before she could get away, they ran past her, suddenly feeling really sleepy as the sheep's wool brushed past her body. "W-Wha...Why am I...so...sleepy...?"

As soon as she let out a yawn, Twilight fell to the ground, passed out from the magical sheep's drowsy spell. Down below, the others saw the sheep run by, disappearing as they struck the wall and ran on thin air.

"Oh no," Bombetted groaned. "Sleepy Sheep."

Yellow poked his head over the trap door, waving to the prisoners. "How do you like my trap, suckers!?"

"Y-Yellow," Kooper groaned, climbing back to his feet, ignoring the pain in his shell. "I can't believe we fell for it."

"Have fun trying to find your way out of there!" Yellow said. "When we get a message out to King Bowser, he's sure to give us a raise!...And forgive us for leaving the fortress unattended before you even got here." He looked back at Twilight, hearing her snore, cast deeply under the Sleepy Sheep's power. "In the meantime, I'm going to be taking the purple thing behind me for safekeeping. Kammy Koopa wants to study one of these six things she told us to look out for, and lucky us, Mario brought us one! We got ourselves a rare creature, a Star Spirit, and have Mario, a pint-sized Goomba-"

"Hey!" Goombario shouted.

"-and the loser bro who gave up on the Koopa Bros.," Yellow continued. "Unless, of course, you want to reconsider joining us so you can get a 'get out of jail free' card."

"I'd rather be dunked in lava and turn into a Dry Bones than join you immature villains!" Kooper exclaimed.

"Oh well. Figured you would say no, anyway. Enjoy your stay at casa de la Koopa, suckers!" Yellow chuckled, letting out a whistle to call in a few Koopa guards. "Take this thing up to the top with the Star Spirit."

The guards obeyed, hefting the sleeping alicorn up as they headed up higher in the fortress. "Oh great. Now what?" Mario tried to jump as high as he could to reach the walkway, but it was too high for even his standard jumps. He tried triple jumping and wall kicking off the side of the cell's stone walls, failing just as well as his momentum pushed him too far from the closest railing to even touch. The plumber let out a sigh, needing another plan to get out. "Not even Mario can jump out of here. We really are stuck here."

"There's gotta be some way," Goombario said. "We can't let Twilight get taken away!" He looked at the water at the back of the cell. "Maybe there's an underwater passage or something that can get us out."

"No underwater routes," Bombette said. "Believe me, we can see the water clearly just from the ground, and there's nothing but solid walls and grates for the water that are too small for us to squeeze through. Even for a small Goomba like you."

"I'm not that small," Goombario grumbled. They looked around the room to see if there was some other way out that the Bob-ombs were unable to find. The Goomba noticed a tiny crack in one of the corners of the cell, walking up to it to get a closer look. It was pretty small, but he could also see some scorch marks on the wall and stone floor. Apparently, one of the Bob-ombs must have been desperate enough to try to blow a hole in the wall. "Hey, was someone exploding over here?"

"Yeah, that was me who did that," Bombette answered. "I got a bit mad and exploded several times to vent out my frustration. We're not supposed to explode when we're in here, but they can't stop us from doing what we were meant to do; blow stuff up!"

"It looks like you did some damage to this part of the wall," Goombario noted. "You think you can try blowing it up again? I think we can make an escape route if we can get you and your other Bob-omb friends to work together."

"Hmmm..." Bombette approached the wall and looked at it closely. "You know, I think it just might work." She turned back to the other imprisoned Bob-ombs. "Come on, guys! We're staging a breakout! Get over here and help me blast this wall to smithereens!"

"I go wherever Bombette goes!" the blue bodied Bob-omb said, immediately running up and standing alongside the pink Bob-omb.

Bombette stared at him blankly, pushing him away from her with her foot. "Bruce, you stay over there. We're supposed to be broken up, and need SPACE so you can stop obsessing over me."

"But, Bombette, I still love you!" Bruce proclaimed, tears streaming down his face.

"Will the rest of you please get over here so Bruce doesn't try to woo me when we're not in a relationship anymore!?" Bombette pleaded, avoiding the waterfall tears spouting out from the bawling Bob-omb. The others complied, mostly to get out of this cell. "Alright, everyone light your fuses on three! One! Two! Three!"

Simultaneously, the entrapped Bob-ombs lit their fuses, huddling as close to the wall as they can. Mario, Goombario, and Kooper backed away, not wanting to get caught in the powerful explosion they were going to make. As soon as the sparks from their fuses grew, the fire sunk into their bodies, creating a chain reaction of an explosion, surrounding the corner of the cell in smoke while making several loud booms. The Bob-ombs flew up in the air after exploding, all but Bombette falling to the ground slightly dazed.

Once the smoke cleared, their combined explosion had worked, creating a sizable hole in the wall, big enough for all of them to escape through. "Alright! It worked!"

"But, how come you guys didn't try to do this before?" Kooper asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"I didn't think I managed to crack that wall after blowing up so many times," Bombette admitted with a sheepish giggle. "It didn't come to mind to work together and try it again to finally leave."

"Hey! What's going on in there!?" The doors to the cell room opened and closed, a Koopa and two Bob-ombs walking up to the bars. "You Bob-ombs aren't supposed to be letting out explosions while you're in this cell!"

"Oh, we're sorry," Bombette apologized sarcastically. "You know, we Bob-ombs need to let off some steam every once in a while. You two know what I mean, right boys?"

"That doesn't mean exploding," one of the black Bob-ombs said. "How about you just hit the wall instead of lighting up your fuses?"

"Oh! What a wonderful idea! And I know just what to hit!" Seeing they were still unaware of the crumbled wall out of their view of the inside, Bombette ran to the opening. "I'm gonna hit you three bozos first!"

Before they could figure out who she was talking about, Bombette let out a battle cry as she charged headfirst into the guards. Mario, Goombario, and Kooper quickly ran out to help their new ally, Kooper tossing himself, bouncing off the walls and smacking into one of the Bob-ombs. He smacked it against his other companion, instinctively lighting his fuse and blowing up, causing a chain reaction as the second Bob-omb blew up as well, knocking each other out. They quickly went around the walls to help Bombette against the Koopa guard, but she took care of him, ramming her hard body into the enemy.

The sunglasses wearing Koopa tried to toss himself at the pink Bob-omb, but she jumped over him. Lighting her fuse, she charged forward right as he popped himself out of his shell. Ramming headfirst into his chest, she released a powerful explosion, sending her flying back from the smoke, landing perfectly on her feet. The Koopa fell over, soot covering his body, eyes spinning around in his head.

"Wow. You're really good," Kooper complimented, Mario giving Bombette a thumbs up.

"And I feel even better," she said. "Let's hurry and save Twilight from those idiot Koopa Bros. The others will wake up in a few, so they should have plenty of time to escape before these nimrods do."

"Right! Let's get them!" With Bombette now on their side, they made haste and continued their way up the fortress, needing to grab the keys they saw in the smaller cells in case they ran into anymore locked doors.