//------------------------------// // The Great Mission to Rescue Mario and Pinkie Pie // Story: Game Quest: Super Mario 64 // by Phantom-Dragon //------------------------------// Upon walking into the room, both Yoshi and Spike were baffled by what they discovered. They were standing in a large round room, with a single red carpet that takes them from the door they had entered to another door on the other side. On the left and the right sides are stained glass windows of a blonde lady in a pink dress, picking roses – no doubt, it's Princess Peach. What's baffling about the room are four strange doors – two on both sides of the door along the other end. The two doors on the left are framed with green and red outlines, each marked with the letter ‘L’ and ‘M’ respectively. The two doors on the right are framed with yellow and white outlines, with the yellow door marked with the letter ‘W’. "What are all these strange doors?" Spike asked, as he and Yoshi went up to investigate them. The two heroes walk over to the door marked with an M, pulling on the knobs to find it was locked. But someone was calling for help on the other side, "Oooowhooooaaaaa…" "Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped in alarm, before he goes over to the door marked with an L to find that it was also locked. But the dinosaur could hear someone was shrieking on the other side. "Doooooohoohoohoho!" "Mama Luigi!" Yoshi chirps sadly, before both he and Spike quickly went to third door to find it was also locked. The two leaned their heads against the door to hear someone is growling on the other side. "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!" The occupant growled, before he loudly proclaims. "MUST. RAGE. NAP!" With a fart and a squeak, the occupant loudly(and obnoxiously) snored as he quickly fell asleep. From the outside, Spike and Yoshi slowly turned to each other, looking rather uncomfortable at what they heard, before they shrugged their shoulders and turned to the next door. Like the previous three, the fourth door was also locked, and it's eerily quiet on the other side. After they were done investigating, Spike and Yoshi walked to the center of the room, "Well Yoshi," Spike began. "I think it's safe to say we found your missing friends." Yoshi nods in response as he pointed to the letters on each door, "Yoshi, Yoshi." He chirped. Spike followed the dinosaur's fingers as he nodded, getting on what he's on about, "Yeah, he was kind enough to mark each door for us. Thank you for noticing," Spike sighed, turning to the blank door. "Hmmm... I wonder if he was going to reserve that room for you and me if we got captured... I don't even want to think about it..." He shuddered, before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "Now how do we get them out? Where are the keys?" Yoshi nodded, agreeing to the dilemma he and the young dragon found themselves in, when a shower of gold light sparkles caught his and Spike's eyes. The two followed the sparkles, to reveal a sign hanging on a wall in the room, as if beckoning for the two to read its message. "Greetings. I am Princess Peach. My castle is in great peril!! I know it's because of Bowser again. Will he never tire of terrorizing us? He stole the castle's Power Stars and disappeared into the walls along with us! Retrieve all of the Power Stars from the walls and the paintings in the castle. But there are some secret stars that Bowser had overlooked. Here is a hint: there are secret paths in this room, and one of them leads to a Secret Star! Find the Secret Star! It will help you on your quest." Once they were done reading the message, Spike and Yoshi looked around in the room, searching for the secret path to the said Secret Star, "But how are we suppose to find a secret star that even Bowser doesn't know?" Spike asked. Thinking, he leans against the stained-glass window on the right, only to fall through, "WHOA!" He wailed, as he disappears into the window. "YOSHI!" Yoshi chirped in alarm, as he sprang up on his feet and chased after the little dragon. The Princess's Secret Slide “AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” Spike wailed. The little dragon fell through the window, landing on the floor of another room. "Whoa! Where am I now?" “YOSHI!” Alarmed, the little dragon looked above and quickly ducked to the side, just as the green dinosaur arrived. “Yoshi!” Yoshi chirped. “Hey, Yoshi!” Spike greeted, happily. “Glad I’m not here by myself.” The two looked around at their new surroundings, to see that they've landed in some part of the castle, with nothing special, but a long slide. "Looks like this is the place," Spike deduced. "This must be where the Secret Star is hidden. But where?" Yoshi spots and points to another signpost, which he and Spike hurry over to read: Welcome to Princess Peach's Secret Slide! Bowser doesn't know about the hidden Star here. If you can slide under 21 seconds, then you'll win something even more special than just a single Power Star! Spike and Yoshi peer down at the long slide, unsure of what awaits them on the other end. "Are we really going to do this?" Spike asked. "Yoshi!" Yoshi nodded. Before Spike could respond, Yoshi kicked his feet and slid down the slide. “Hey!” Spike shouted. “Wait for me!” Spike dives after the dinosaur, skidding along down the slide. Speed of Light – Joe Satriani “Whoa!” Spike hollered. Spike and Yoshi slide down, turning left toward a trail of gold coins, which they followed as they turned another left, finding themselves sliding down a slope that took a steep drop. “WHOA!!” Spike screamed. “YOSHI!!” Yoshi screeched. Ahead, the two saw the slide made a turn toward the right. The only problem: There was no rail to keep the two from falling off the slide, into the bottomless pit below. “Turn right! Turn right!” “Yoshi!” Both Spike and Yoshi make a quick right turn, only to find the slide makes a full circle, taking the boys down a bumpy set of slides. Along the way, Spike and Yoshi happen upon a sparkling green mushroom, which disappeared the moment they touched it, with a red number and letters that read: “1-Up”. “Huh?” Spike asked. “What was that?” Yoshi casually shrugged his shoulders, before the boys resume their focus on their trip down the slide. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Spike screamed, holding onto Yoshi. Just as they hit the rails, the slide took a sudden winding turn, and our two heroes end up bouncing off the walls, like two spinning pinballs. “WHOA!” Spike yelled. “STOP THIS CRAZY THING!” “YOSHI! (I CAN’T!)” Yoshi wailed. After what felt like 9 seconds, Spike and Yoshi finally cease spinning and tumble-rolled down the last stretch of the slide, where a black-and-white checkered pattern marked the finish line. Upon crossing, a fanfare of trumpets played from somewhere, signaling the end of the boys’ little race. After a moment to collect themselves, Spike and Yoshi look up to the monitor screen appearing from the wall, displaying their time record: 0’29”18. "Aw, darn it!" Spike stomped his foot in frustration. "Looks like all that spin took our time off." "Yoshi," Yoshi nodded, before he and Spike turn to see the block floating in the air, above a platform. They both walked up to the block and touched it, causing it to explode into confettis, revealing the Secret Star they came for. With that, Spike and Yoshi grabbed the star, which dances around them as Spike cheered, "Yeah! We got a Power Star!" "Yoshi!" Power Stars: 6 + 1 = 7 Next thing they know, a large hole suddenly appears below them, as the pair comically fall through the hole. Princess Peach's Castle – Main Lobby Emerging from the other end, Spike and Yoshi find themselves back in the main lobby. “Huh?” Spike exclaimed, flabbergasted. “What’re we doing back here?” “Yoshi?” “Yoshi? Spike?” The boys turned toward Toad, approaching them from the main entrance. “What’re you doing back here?!” The Toad exclaimed. “I thought you guys were up there.” Toad motions toward the princess’s room, which our heroes came from. “We were!” Spike replied. “At least we found a Secret Star.” “You guys found a Secret Star?” The Toad gasped. “Yoshi!” “Sure did,” Spike nodded. “I think we also found out where Mario and his pals are.” “You’ve found Mario and his buddies?” The Toad asked. “That’s great news! But where are they?” Spike and Yoshi both face each other for a moment, before Spike answered. “Believe it or not, they’re in the princess’s room. Apparently Bowser locked them up and threw away the keys. Now they’re behind these weird doors.” “Yoshi,” Yoshi nodded, sadly. “Aw, that’s too bad,” Toad frowned. “But if Bowser’s really locked them up, he must’ve given the keys to a few of his lackeys. If you guys keep searching for the stars, I know you’ll find the keys and free Mario and his buddies!” “Let’s hope so,” Spike shrugged. “Hopefully, we’ll find my friends too.” Just then, a thought occurred to the little dragon. “By the way, Toad, how many Power Stars are there?” “Well, there are a 150 Power Stars, and 8 of them are hidden in 15 courses, throughout the castle. Some of them have been hidden away from Bowser so he couldn’t get to them,” Toad calculated. “And it looks like you’ve found a few of them. If you could manage to find them all, we’ll be able to turn the tide against Bowser and banish him and his goons from the castle. Hopefully for good this time.” “150 stars?!” Spike exclaimed. “Boy, that’s a lot of work, even for both of us!” Yoshi couldn’t help but nod in agreement. “Hey, y’know, if you guys are tired, then it’s best if you work on freeing Mario and his buddies for the moment,” Toad suggests. “You know what they say? Divide and conquer. And if you work as a team, you can get the work done quicker!” Spike and Yoshi turn to each other, nodding in agreement. “Well then, what’re we waiting for?” Spike asked. “C’mon Yoshi! Let’s go free Mario!” “Yoshi!” The two raced back up the stairs, returning to the princess’s room. When they arrived, they saw it was exactly the way they left it. Nothing had changed. Spike approaches the red door, marked with the letter “M”. “Hey, uh, Mr. Mario?” Spike called. “If you can hear me, me and Yoshi are gonna get you outta there!” Spike and Yoshi turn to the door in the middle, opening it to the side and entered. Inside, they appeared to be in a little kid’s room, with walls painted pink, the white floors decorated in multicolor polka dots. Everywhere they look, Spike and Yoshi saw the neatest looking trinkets: A toy piano in the corner, stacked with a red-and-green Koopa shell, next to a large drawer containing colored boxes – up to 40 boxes, but the game only has 36 mini-games – with other box loads of toys, Bob-ombs, stars, and mushrooms, with a mushroom-styled table sitting to the left, and just by the entrance where the boys came from. “What is this place?” Spike asked. “Oh, this is the Rec Room,” A voice answered, revealing himself to be a Toad. “This is where the princess loves to play games in the big drawer behind me, since she was just a child.” “Really?” Spike asked, looking at the drawer. “She must really like playing games to have this many.” “She sure does,” The Toad nodded, sighing. “Whenever she wasn’t running the kingdom, she would often come here to relive her days when she was a little girl… That is, if she’ll ever play again. What with her imprisoned in the walls by Bowser with the rest of us and everything, even if she does get rescued, it still won’t matter without the keys to her drawer.” “How so?” Spike asked. “It all went so fast,” The Toad answered, continuing. “One moment, I was just in this room, cleaning the place up when Bowser attacked the castle and I… Somehow, I’ve lost the keys to the drawer. If the princess finds out about this, I’ll be chewed out big time. “Ah c’mon, I’m sure the princess will understand. It’s not exactly your fault.” “Maybe, but I’m not taking any chances. Can you guys help me? I know you’re already busy with finding all the Power Stars and everything, but I really need your help to find the keys. Can you do it? Pretty please?” Spike and Yoshi face each other, before turning their attention back to Toad. “We’ll keep an eye out for them,” Spike shrugged. “Though, I can’t make a promise we’ll find them.” “Fair enough,” The Toad nodded, understandingly. Turning to the left, Yoshi approached a portrait of what appears to be some islands, surrounded by a large ocean. Spike reached to touch the portrait and saw it rippled, like the one to the Bob-omb Battlefield. “Looks like another star is here, Yoshi,” Spike declared. Together, he and Yoshi jump into the portrait, vanishing out of sight in their next pursuit for another Power Star. Sunshine Isles Upon arriving in the next world, Spike and Yoshi splashed into the large, shallow waters. Gasping for air, the two reptile heroes discovered it wasn’t deep as they stood on a small island, between two large palm trees. Looking ahead, they saw four more islands, three small ones surrounding the larger one in the center. “Whoa!” Spike gasped. “Nice place! I’m thinking of coming back here for a vacation sometime.” The young dragon breathed in the fragrant smell of the beach, turning to the right where he and Yoshi spy a clear crystal ball, in the shape of a disco ball. Spike also finds a sign beside it, reading it: “The clear ball you see in front of you is a Star Sphere. When you get all 5 Silver Stars, the Power Star will appear inside the Star Sphere.” “Silver Stars, huh?” Spike reached into his backpack, whipping out the map he and Yoshi got from their Bob-omb Buddies before spying five Silver Stars flashing. Two of them were on the large island in the center, with one moving around above the water, and two others located on two separate islands. Spike and Yoshi proceed to follow the map, beginning their search for the five silver stars. Thankfully, the water was shallow enough for the boys to wade in, and they weren’t required to swim to the islands. The first star they found was on the big island, at the top of its hill, the lone silver star dancing next to a palm tree. To get there, though, Spike and Yoshi found themselves contending with two Goomba on the island, as well as a ravenous plant, with razor sharp teeth, like a Piranha’s. Luckily, the plant was fast asleep, leaving only the Goombas to worry about, which Yoshi made quick work off, swallowing one into an egg before stomping the other into a gold coin. Following the unpleasantries, they collected their first star. Spike turns and spots the second star dancing atop the palm tree on another island behind the center one. “I’ll get it!” Spike volunteers, flying off to collect the star. After completing the small task, Spike turns toward a small cave at the base of the center island, where the third silver star lies. Spike quickly collects the star from the cave, turning around to meet Yoshi, who somehow managed to catch up. “Okay, Yoshi!” Spike smiled. “That’s three silver stars and only two more to go!” Spike quickly whips out the map for him and Yoshi to study. According to the map, the fourth star is located on a small isle that is a hop-skip-and-jump away from them. After collecting the fourth star, the boys look back at the map to see the fifth and final star moving towards them. “What the—” Suddenly, Spike and Yoshi look up to see that the final star was in the clutches of a large bird, specifically a condor. “Hey! Excuse me, Mr. Bird?!” Spike called out, to no avail. “Hey, hello! We need that star! Come back here! Can we please have it?” But it was fruitless. The bird kept flying away, carrying the silver star in its talon. “It’s no use, Yoshi! How are we—” Spike’s eyes widen in alarm when he spots Yoshi holding his egg up, aiming it directly at the bird. “N-N-N-No, Yoshi! Don’t—” But it was too late. With a swing of his arm, Yoshi tossed the egg at the bird, landing a direct hit. In a flurry of eggshells and feathers, the bird dropped the silver star into the water, with a single gold coin. The bird, meanwhile, was left disoriented and in a daze, after being attacked by a flying egg. Shaking its head a moment to recover, the bird cocked its head and sights the assailants who attacked it. With a loud caw, the bird swooped down toward the dinosaur and dragon, its claws outstretched. Spike and Yoshi quickly duck their heads in the water, as the bird flies over them. “Way to go, Yoshi!” Spike frowned. “You just had to make it mad!” The two look up to see the bird making a turn, making another dive at them. “RUN FOR IT!” Both Spike and Yoshi kick themselves into a run, splashing the water with their feet, running for dear life to escape from the angry bird. *Rimshot* While running, they passed the final silver star, which bounced along the water where it was dropped by the bird. Before the bird could snatch at one of the heroes with its talons, Yoshi and Spike made a sudden stop as they lunged for the final star, while the bird flew overhead again. “Got it!” Spike panted. As promised, a Power Star materializes inside the clear ball, which both Spike and Yoshi quickly noticed on the map. “Quick, Yoshi!” Spike shouts, frantically. “Back to where we came from!” Both Spike and Yoshi got up on their feet, running back toward the island they were on. The angry bird, however, was still in hot pursuit. “I’m sorry about what my friend did to you, Mr. Bird,” Spike called out. “But we really need that star!” Spike and Yoshi kept running to reach the Power Star. A loud caw drew their attention, as the bird made another dove towards the pair. “Yoshi! Duck!” The two quickly duck their heads, barely evading the bird’s sharp claws, as it flew overhead. Realizing it missed its targets again, the bird flapped its wings and climbs back up into the air again. Taking advantage of the bird’s absence, Spike and Yoshi both lunge towards the crystal ball on the first island, smashing it to pieces, and reclaiming the Power Star. “Phew!” Spike gasped, tiredly but triumphant. “We got the Power Star!” Power Stars: 7 + 1 = 8 “Yoshi!” Yoshi yelped in alarm. The little dinosaur points toward the bird, diving towards them again. Spike looks up with wide eyes. “Yikes! Tweety’s back!” Before the bird could snatch either of the heroes with its claws, a portal to the castle quickly opens up, and the two heroes dive into it. The portal closes itself before the bird arrived, vanishing into thin air, causing the bird to miss and crash into a palm tree. Princess Peach's Castle | The Princess's Room "WHOA!" Spike and Yoshi fall out of the painting, crashing back into the REC room, where the Toad was waiting for them. "Oof!" Spike grunted. “Might have to do a raincheck on that vacation!” "Oh! You're back!" Toad exclaimed happily, as he went over to help the two up. "So how'd it go?" "If you don't count the part where we almost got attacked by a very big angry bird," Spike glared at Yoshi, who shrugged in response. "We had a great time. We just scored ourselves another Power Star! Which makes it number 8." "Number 8?" The Toad exclaimed. "Oh, that's wonderful! Now you can open the sealed door that requires 8 Power Star!" He pointed to the door that is in the back of the REC room. After a moment to catch their breath, Spike and Yoshi walked up to the door, with the number 8 printed on the star. Just like what happened before, outside of the princess's room, a star materialized before the door, spinning several times, bathing the door in a shower of sparkling light, before it disappears. Reacting to the Power Star, the door slowly opens. Spike and Yoshi both looked at each other for a moment, slowly opening the door, walking in to find an empty room. There was nothing in the room, except for a large glassy window that stood in front of them, and to the right is a portrait of a man with a large round nose, with blue eyes, black mustache, and wears a large red cap with the letter M in the white circle, matching red shirt beneath a blue overall with gold buckles. "Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped excitedly, pointing at the portrait. Spike didn't need to think twice at who they were looking at, "I take it that's the Super Mario guy I've been hearing about?" Spike asked. "Yoshi!" Yoshi nodded excitedly, and he was the first to dive into the painting, which rippled following his entry. "Hey, wait for me!" Spike called, as he dove after Yoshi. Goomboss Battle – Obstacle Course Upon arriving, Spike and Yoshi found themselves standing on a tall tree trunk, with a ramp pointing down to a checkered platform. Looking ahead, Spike and Yoshi could see the entire layout of the new course they had entered. Everywhere they looked, they see the entire course is made up of several platforms that stand over some strange purple fogs, and a large abyss on the sides. Some of the platforms appeared to be stationary, while others looked like they could tilt either way, and some were rising up and down, amidst the fog. In the center of the stage is a mesh grate the heroes can hang and swing from, as well as some brick blocks, much like the ones in the Bob-omb Battlefield. At the far right of Spike and Yoshi appeared to be a long platform that leads them to a tall tower, with a wall of red meshed grates. "Wow, this place is huge," Spike commented. "Mario must be around here somewhere," He said as he whips out the map, looking at the layout of the course, and looked to see a large red x marked at the top-right corner of the map, over a tall tree. "Hmm, how convenient. X-marks the spot?" He asked Yoshi. The two heroes proceeded to slide down the tree trunk they were standing on, down onto the checkered platform, where a lone Goomba spotted them and charged at them from the left. Again, Yoshi made quick work of it, when he swallowed the attacking creature and laid it out in another egg. Spike and Yoshi continued to be on their way, hopping onto a tilting platform that resembled an upside-down pyramid. The platform began to tilt onto their side, only for Spike and Yoshi to jump off the other end, onto another checkered platform, where another Goomba was standing. Unfortunately for the Goomba, both Spike and Yoshi landed on top of its head, flattening it to the ground as a pancake, and it disappeared in a puff of smokes, leaving behind a gold coin. Spike turned to look at Yoshi, who could only shrug in response. The two heroic reptiles then pressed onward, coming up to three rising platforms that moved up above the strange purple fogs, and moved back down, beneath the fogs. Curious, Spike took a quick sniff at the strange fogs, and immediately regretted it. He coughed viciously as he recoiled from the foul stench, "Ew! That's terrible!" He groaned, while Yoshi walked up beside him, stroking his hand comfortably over the dragon's back to calm and sooth him. Afterwards, the two were on their way. Both dragon and dinosaur proceeded with great cautions not to be on the platforms, just as they were dipping back, beneath the fogs. Once they were on the other side, they arrived on another platform, where they had another encounter with some Goomba guards. The Goombas charged towards Spike and Yoshi to attack, but Spike and Yoshi retaliated, with the young dragon breathing a green fireball, while Yoshi lobbed his egg at the two creatures, and they disappeared in puffs of smokes, leaving behind gold coins. After their battle, Spike and Yoshi were on their way to what appeared to be a tall beanstalk, growing from potted soil, taking them up to a floating round platform, connected by a rope bridge which leads to the trees, which according to the map is where the red x is marked. To get there, Spike and Yoshi had to sneak pass another Piranha Plant that was sleeping. Then, when Spike and Yoshi came to the beanstalk, they find themselves surrounded by a Lakitu, much like the Lakitu Bros. they met outside the castle. "Hey look! It's one of those Lakitu Bros." Spike pointed. "Yo, Lakitu! What brings you here?" But rather than answering, the flying Koopa held out a red spiky ball, which it lobbed at the two reptiles. "HEY! What's the big idea?" "Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped, holding his arm out, protectively over Spike. The two watched as the ball unrolled, revealing itself to be a small, spine-shelled quadrupedal turtle with menacing eyes. The small turtle slowly advanced upon the heroes. Spike looked up at the Lakitu that attacked them, who reached into its cloud, pulling out another spiky ball, which it was about to throw at the heroes. Reacting fast, Yoshi stuck his tongue out to swallow the spiny creature, before spitting it back at the Lakitu, who exploded into smokes, leaving behind five gold coins. "Whew, it's raining coins," Spike smirked. The two heroes proceeded to climb up the beanstalk, up to another platform, where they walked across the rope bridge, fighting off some more Goombas. Somewhere in the trees, a lone pink pony played herself a harmonica, while sitting in a cage. Just then, she starts to bounce as her whole body trembled, tingling out of control. She turns to see a sight for sore eyes. “Hey! Is that Spike with a green dinosaur?” Springing up to her hooves, Pinkie Pie desperately banged against the bars. “SPIKE!” Pinkie called. “IT’S ME, PINKIE PIE! COME BACK!” Unfortunately, Pinkie was so far away, and her call was too faint for Spike to hear. Reluctantly, Pinkie watched miserably as Spike and Yoshi were on their way to rescue Mario. “Look at me!” Pinkie Pie sobbed. “Please!” But all the pink party pony could do is watch helplessly, while Spike and Yoshi left. Her mane deflates even further as her coat slowly turns gray. Back with Spike and Yoshi, the two had arrived at their destination, at the top of a tree, looking down at a dark hole. Spike looked back at the map, "This must be it," He said to Yoshi, who nodded in agreement. Without wasting another second, Spike and Yoshi jumped into the hole. Goomboss Battle Upon arriving from the other end of the hole, Spike and Yoshi were both shocked and startled to see standing before them was a large goomba, who appeared to stand almost as taller and larger than the Big Bob-omb. In appearance, the giant goomba has bushy white eyebrows and mustache that framed his crazed, angry face, with a bejeweled red crown atop his head, and appeared to be wearing a red and white striped pants. "Whoa!" Spike moaned. "That's a big Goomba!" "Bwa ha ha ha!" The Giant Goomba chortled. "I am no ordinary Goomba... I am Goomboss, the Great Goomba, the grand pooh-bah Goomba. That Mario always stomp on us. But now the tables have turned. I have locked him away in a room. I bet he's crying like a baby. I have no business with the two of you, now scram! There's no way a couple of prehistoric wimps like you could beat my stupendous stomps!" "What a boom box," Spike said, mocking the giant Goomba. "WHAT?!" Goomboss bellowed, as he stomped his feet and gave chase after the dragon and dinosaur. Super Mario 64 Boss Battle Spike and Yoshi quickly beat their feet as they took off running away from the giant Goomba, "Wait, what am I running for? I have wings!" Spike smacked himself in the head, as he quickly flapped his wings and took to the air. The young dragon flapped his wings, putting some distance between him and Goomboss, before he dives down, sticking his little foot out for a kick. "HI-YAH!" Spike screamed, as he dives towards Goomboss, landing a kick to his face. "Hahaha, that tickles," Goomboss chortled, unfazed by the little dragon's attack. "Oh yeah?" Spike then inhaled a gust of air, before he breathes a burst of green fire at the enormous Goomba monarch. "How's that?" Goomboss stood, unamused with his face covered in black soots and burns, and the tip of his mustache burning slightly, "Was that your best shot?" Goomboss scowled. "Now let me show you mine." With a large stomp, three Goombas suddenly appeared in puffs of smokes before Spike and Yoshi, guarding their leader. Though, both Spike and Yoshi's eyes were widened in alarm to see the Goombas before them aren't regular Goombas. One of them appeared to have wings, while the other two wore green helmets, with pointy spikes atop their heads. "Seize them!" Goomboss ordered boomingly. With that, the three Goomba henchmen give chase, with the two Spiky Goomba chasing Yoshi, while the winged Goomba pursued Spike. Spike tried to blast the flying Goomba out of the air with his green fireballs, but the winged Goomba did some arial spins, gracefully and effortlessly evaded the dragon's fires. The two Spiky Goombas chased after Yoshi, each attempting to jab their spike helms at the green dinosaur's behind, to which Yoshi avoided by running faster, and jumping in the air at the last second, just as a spiky Goomba lunged forward. Eventually, Yoshi finds himself surrounded, with two Spiky Goombas on his left and right, a bottomless abyss in front of him, and a pool of purple toxic fogs behind him. Goomboss came stomping up, having caught up to the dinosaur and chortled, "Nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide," With another stomp of his foot, he roared. "GET HIM!" With that, the two Spike Goombas charged after Yoshi, who jumped at the last second to evade the two spikes. He looked down to see the worst has yet to pass, when the two Spike Goombas pointed their spikes at the dinosaur, just as he was about to land. Yoshi quickly kicked his feet in the air, desperately fluttering himself in the air, as he puts some distance between him and the Goombas. But he couldn't keep the motion going forever as his legs gave out, and Yoshi was about to fall on top of the Goombas' spikes. "YOSHI!" Spike shouted, as he came diving towards the green dinosaur, shoving him to the side, away from the two Spiky Goombas, saving the dinosaur's behind. "Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped, thanking Spike, before noticing the winged Goomba that was chasing Spike was diving bomb towards them. Reacting fast, Yoshi shot his tongue out at the dive-bombing Goomba, swallowing it completely in his mouth, before he laid another green spotted egg, like before. Picking the egg up in his arm, Yoshi lobbed it towards the remaining attacking Goombas, ricocheting off of the Spike Goombas, causing them to disappear into puffs of smokes, before the egg smacks into Goomboss's face, breaking into little eggshells upon impact. Angered from the dinosaur's attack, Goomboss's whole face turned boiling red, "How dare you strike me!" Puffing with rage, Goomboss grew twice as big than he was before, as he towers over Yoshi and Spike. With another stomp of his feet, Goomboss summoned another troop of Goomba henchmen to do battle with him. This time, there were two winged Goombas and four Spiky Goombas. All six Goomba henchmen charged after the two heroes, who both charged forward to return the attacks. Spike took a deep breath as he a let out a burst of green fires on the arena, causing the Spiky Goombas to stop in their tracks, scared out of their minds to walk through the fire, while the winged Goombas flew over the flames. The two flying Goombas were about to tackle Spike, only for Yoshi to quickly snatch one of them out of the air, laying an egg and hurled it at its winged comrades and the other four Spiky Goombas. Angered to see his henchmen have been defeated by a little purple dragon and a green dinosaur, Goomboss jumped up in the air, stomping the ground furiously, creating a tremendous earthquake that nearly knocked Yoshi off his feet. Yoshi looked up, eyes widened to see the furious giant Goomba charging towards him. "YOSHI!" With a yelp, Yoshi took off running for dear life, with Goomboss chasing him. Spike flapped his wings as he flew circles around the giant Goomba, "Come on! Try and get me!" Spike taunted. "Oh wait, you can't. Because you don't have any arms!" The young dragon then blew a raspberry, until his wings stopped flapping and they were crunched against his body, and he felt himself being crushed by an invisible force, as if he was in the grip of a giant hand. "Hey! What's going on? What gives?" Spike grunted, as he was brought to Goomboss's face. "We Goombas may not have arms," The large Goomba boomed. "But what we lack in limbs, we make up for with great mental powers, like telekinesis." With a cackle and a flick of his head, Goomboss flung Spike away, crashing into Yoshi, and they nearly fell off the arena. Thankfully, Spike managed to save himself from the fall, with the aid of his wings, while Yoshi held onto the edge with all his strength. "Hang on, Yoshi!" Spike said, as he struggled to pull his dinosaur friend back up. "I got ya!" "YOSHI!" Yoshi screamed, alerting Spike to turn his head in time to see Goomboss approaching them. "Game over... for you!" Goomboss chortled, raising his foot up to stomp on the two boys. Thinking fast, Yoshi kicked his legs up against the structures of the arena, fluttering himself back up the ledge, taking both himself and Spike out of harm's way. With Goomboss mildly distracted for having missed his targets, Spike and Yoshi took the moment to attack him from behind, with Yoshi charging forward with a tail whip, while Spike breathed a massive fireball that exploded upon impact, scorching Goomboss from behind. Burning himself in an even brighter shade of furious red, Goomboss snarled, "No! I will not lose!" He puffed himself even bigger, as he stomped even more angrily, summoning a troop of nine Goomba henchmen, with the same pattern as before. Goomboss leapt proceeded to stomp furiously, chasing both Spike and Yoshi, as he leads his army of Goombas after them. Yoshi took off running, with Spike flying alongside him. "What do we do now, Yoshi?" Spike panted. "We can't keep this up forever." Yoshi thought of a plan while running, before he turns to Spike, making gestures with his hands, and pointed to his mouth. Spike seemed to catch on what Yoshi was getting at, "You've got to be kidding me," He moaned, before looking behind them to see that Goomboss wasn't slowing down. "Well, what choice do we have? Just make it quick!" Spike curled himself up into a ball, as he lets Yoshi swallow him in his mouth, before the dinosaur laid the young dragon out as an egg. Then with a turn of his whole body, Yoshi hurled the egg at Goomboss, hitting him in the face, shattering and freeing Spike upon impact. Goomboss stopped dead in his track, furious to be hit thrice. "Beaten by a couple of pipsqueaks like you..." Goomboss grumbled. "How did that happen? Is it just the Goombas' fate to lose?" The Goomboss was just on the verge to explode, as it states, "I have Mario locked up in a room, you know. This key will open up to his room! I still can't believe you beat me." [End of Boss Fight Music] With those final words, Goomboss exploded into a thousand Goombas that disappeared in a puff of smokes, leaving behind a single gold key, engraved with the letter M. Spike and Yoshi didn't hesitate to pick up the key, punching their fists up in the air at their triumphant victory. Once again, Pinkie Pie sat miserably in the cage, playing a depressing tune on her harmonica. Just then, Pinkie turned and saw Spike and Yoshi return from their triumphant victory over Goomboss. Discarding the harmonica, she frantically digs into her mane, tossing aside cupcake pans, random portraits, a future script of ‘Game Quest’… GIVE ME THAT! *Snatches the script* “Sorry!” Pinkie shouts to the sky. Finally, she pulled out a megaphone and shouts: "SPIKE! IT'S ME! PINKIE PIE! UP HERE! SAVE ME!!" "What the what?" Spike stammered, as he and Yoshi stopped in their track. "Hey Yoshi. Did you hear that? That sounded like..." Spike and Yoshi looked up, before their eyes widened up to see one of Spike's missing friends, Pinkie Pie, waving her hoof out for him and Yoshi, from her cage. "Pinkie Pie?!" Spike exclaimed, as he and Yoshi looked up to see the pink pony herself, in her cage, atop one of the trees. "Sweet Celestia! Pinkie Pie!" Spike shouted as he and Yoshi ran up to the tree, holding the pink pony in her cage. "Is that really you?" "Omigosh! Omigosh! Omigosh! Spike! Is it really you?!" Pinkie Pie chirped happily. "How did you find me?" "Well, it's a long story," Spike replied. "But how do we get you out of there?" "See that switch over there?" Pinkie Pie pointed to a large strange transparent pink box, with an exclamation point in the center. "Step on it, and it'll unlock my cage!" Spike and Yoshi did just that. Upon pressing the switch down, Pinkie's cage immediately unfolded, freeing the pink pony from her prison. "I'M FREE!" Pinkie Pie bounced happily, as she tackled Spike into a spin and they both rolled on the ground, with Pinkie Pie snuggling her cheek against Spike. "Oh, Spikey! I'm so happy you came and rescued me! I thought I'd never see you again!" "I'm glad to see you too, Pinkie Pie," Spike groaned from the death gripping hug. "But can we go now? We've got to free the others. Starting with Mario." "Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie Pie smiled. After they left the course of Goomboss, Spike, Yoshi, and Pinkie Pie hurried back to the room with the four locked doors, where they stood before the door that holds Mario captive. Yoshi held out the key as he inserted it into the keyhole, and with a turn, the door was unlocked with a loud click. Spike and Yoshi both opened the doors up, just as the jumpan himself exited with a holler and a front flip, as he makes a grand entrance, "YIPPEE!!!" Mario hollered, as he took his hat off. "Mario!" "Hey Mario!" Pinkie Pie greeted happily, to which Mario turned around and smiled. "Hahaha, Pinkie Pie! You save-a Mario!" Mario laughed, as he hugged the jumpy pink pony. "Oh no, it wasn't me, Mario!" Pinkie Pie smiled. "It was Spike and his green dinosaur friend, Yoshi, over there. They saved you, right after they saved me from the Goombas!" "Oh?" Mario looked up, surprised and shocked to see a little purple dragon, standing next to his dinosaur friend, Yoshi. "Oh? You battled-a Goomboss and rescued-a me?" "Sure did," Spike smiled. "Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped in agreement. With that, Mario smiled as he shook the little dragon's claws, "Way to go! Number one!" He congratulated Spike. "Thanks!" Spike blushed, as he and Mario stopped shaking hands. "Anyway, it's nice to finally meet you, Mario! I've heard so much about you! I'm Spike by the way." "Nice-a to meet-a you, Spike!" Mario tipped his hat. "So, you're a friend of Princess-a Twilight and the ponies-a then?" "Of course!" Pinkie Pie smiled. "We always knew that Spike would be there for us! He always knew what to do if we're ever in danger!" "Yeah." Spike frowned. "After you guys disappeared for a week back in Equestria, I was sent here by some hooded figure. Oh!" The dragon exclaimed, as he remembered, "Speaking of which. Pinkie. Where are the others? The ponies I mean." "I don't know." Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulder. "Trapped somewhere. When were on our way to confront the Big Bob-omb meanie, we were bamboozled by Bowser and his evil buddies. I was locked away in that cage, before you and Yoshi rescued me. But the others are somewhere in the castle. Either that, or they're in another castle," She giggled at the last part. "Then let's-a go!" Mario insisted. "We've got to find some Power-a Stars and save Princess-a Peach, and free my brother, Luigi, Wario, and the rest of the little-a ponies!" "YEAH!" The heroes punched their fists in agreement. "C'mon, Mario!" Pinkie Pie hollered happily. "Let's-a go!" "Yahoo!" Mario hollered, as he and Pinkie jumped together, leading the way, with Yoshi and Spike following.