Even though they had no idea that they were being watched, the group continued on their way towards the huge block tower. Eventually, though, they ran into some big, burly-looking Rabbids carrying large slabs behind their backs. They were known as Smashers and they were mean.
"Oh, dear. My sensors are revealing two interesting facts about those Smashers," BEEP-0 said. "One - they have a really bad temper. If struck by a weapon, they will charge their attacker like a raging bull!"
"And the second fact?" Twilight asked.
"They have incredibly high stamina. It's comparable to a walrus after an all-you-can-eat fish fry. Thankfully, if you're far enough away from them, they'll eventually stop charging. My sensors are also detecting a bunch of hidden enemies in the battlefield. I would suggest that we make our way towards the safe zone at all costs!"'
It wasn't easy getting to the safe zone, but the group eventually made it. Even if they did end up getting flattened like a pancake on some occasions by the Smashers. Thankfully, though, their HP was restored back to full health after clearing the battle. They did struggle in the battle before, however, even ending up getting Luigi knocked out. Because of this, they ended up with their first silver trophy instead of the usual gold.
Well, aside from that, the group finally managed to reach the huge block tower. All that was left for them to do now was to climb it. It wasn't going to be easy, since they had to solve a new kind of puzzle this time. It was a pipe puzzle that reminded Twilight of the Rubik's Cube. One of her favorite puzzles to try to solve, even if it was extremely difficult.
"Hmm... It looks like we have align each of the pieces of that pipe with those colored blocks," Twilight observed. "If we get them all lined up, then maybe, just maybe, this light will turn on and we will be able to move forward."
Everyone agreed to help out in getting the pipe pieces aligned by going to one of the button. Twilight was handling the green button, Rarity did the blue button, Sunset had the red button, and the Rabbids took turns with the yellow button. They eventually got the pipe fixed and sure enough, the light lit up, allowing them to move forward.
The group traveled through the pipe to the other side and ended up going into another battle. After a long, grueling battle against several enemies, the group ventured through another pipe and saw the last pipe puzzle of the area. This time, however, it was a rotating puzzle. Everyone pushed the buttons to rearrange the pipes until the light on the far right lit up. Twilight then got a notification on her phone that explained to her that they could now move forward.
"Okay. That was weird," Twilight said, furrowing her brows.
She put her phone away and the group moved onward to the last regular battle of the Ancient Gardens. They came out victorious and even got another gold trophy for their efforts. After that, everyone moved onward until they came to the very top of the block tower.
At the very top of the tower was the Rabbid with the SupaMerge headset that was causing this whole mess.
"Look, there he is!" Sunset said as she pointed to the Rabbid.
Mario walked over to the Rabbid, who was utterly terrified by everyone coming close to him. Just as Mario was about to gently bring him back to Peach's Castle, though, a small sinister laugh was heard in the distance. Both of them looked up and saw none other than the Prince of the Koopa Troop himself, Bowser Jr., in his Junior Clown Car. It was who was with him, though, that managed to shock the girls.
"Uh, Sunset? I think we've got company," Twilight shivered.
Sunset looked up and to her horror, the Dazzlings were right there with Bowser Jr. as he hovered over to them. As soon as he was in front of everyone, the Dazzlings jumped down and faced them with confident, sinister smiles.
"What are you three doing here?" Sunset hissed.
"Isn't it obvious, Sunset Shimmer?" Adagio mocked. "We're here for that rabbit creature, same as you."
Sunset's nostrils flared.
"Well, of course we're here for him! We need him to fix this mess and restore the entire Mushroom Kingdom back to the way it was!"
"Yeah? Well, too bad! We saw him first!" Bowser Jr. said. "He and his special talents belong to us!"
Once he finished talking, the Dazzlings encircled the poor Rabbid, preventing him from escaping on all sides. Bowser Jr. hovered above them as started to think of what to call the Rabbid.
"Seriously? You're thinking of naming this... whatever it is at a time like this?" Aria groaned.
Adagio jabbed Aria in the stomach with her elbow.
"Don't interrupt him!" she snarled as she glared at her sister.
"I think I'll call you... SPAWNY!" Bowser Jr. exclaimed with glee.
"Aw, I think that's a cute name," Sonata cooed.
"Ugh! Seriously, Sonata? You're the worst!" Aria groaned.
"I am not! YOU ARE!"
"Enough! Both of you!" Adagio roared. "Instead of going after each other's throats, I think we should let Spawny here teach our new friends a very important lesson."
The Dazzlings each let out a sinister smirk in agreement at Adagio's plan.
"That sounds like a great idea! My papa's gonna be so impressed when he gets back from vacation and hears about that!" Bowser Jr. beamed.
Sonata offered her hand to Spawny, who reluctantly took it as she and her sisters climbed into Bowser Jr.'s Junior Clown Car. Despite its small size, it was able to accommodate them with ease. As he laughed, Bowser Jr. took out a giant banana to mock Mario and his companions.
"And you, Mario, YOU must be exhausted after all those battles. Take this -- it'll give you some much needed energy."
"You're helping the enemy?!"
"Just wait. You'll see what happens after I drop this banana. They're about to meet someone that the top banana around here."
Adagio let out a sinister grin. She knew exactly what he meant. Bowser Jr. tossed the banana to Rabbid Peach, who started eating it without a care in the world. That is, until they heard heavy footsteps from behind the blocks in front of them. The source eventually revealed itself as a giant Rabbid-like creature with the physicality of a gorilla. Plus, it was also wearing a red necktie. The creature's name was Rabbid Kong. Rabid Peach dropped the banana, which Rabbid Kong took for himself and promptly ate in fell swoop. He then went to a safe spot that had a bunch of bananas with it. In front of him was a switch with a picture of a banana on it.
Rarity decided to fill in for Sunset, since she was pretty intimidated by Rabbid Kong's appearance. Plus, Rabbid Kong had some techniques to use, unlike the Rabbids they had faced before. Luckily for everyone, though, Twilight managed to purchase herself a secondary weapon, along with Luigi, who was helping them out. Rabbid Kong let out a shockwave that knocked the group of five back a few spaces in the arena. Rarity decided to use her Geode Shield technique to shield everyone from any potential damage. Luigi deployed his sentry towards the switch. Upon activation, it started homing in towards the switch. As soon as it reached it, all of the bananas that would've healed Rabbid Kong fell through a metallic trap door, causing him to try to get the bananas back out of desperation.
"Wow. He's acting just like DK did when the Kremling Krew stole his banana hoard for the first time," Sunset muttered as just observed the battle.
Rarity fired at Rabbid Kong, freezing his head. The ice block prevented him from using any techniques for a while. Once everyone got his health low enough, the effect of Rarity's weapon wore off and he jumped to another part of the arena. After getting low health three more times, Rabbid Kong got up on top of a block tower behind him and roared like King Kong.
The group ran over to his location and Rabbid Peach saw that the tower was unstable due to a small block keeping everything up.
"I wonder what would happen if I pushed THIS block," she said mockingly.
"No, don't!" Twilight begged.
Rabbid Luigi laughed, which was just begging for her to do it.
"Don't encourage her!"
"Too late," Rarity said as Rabbid Peach intentionally pushed the block.
As Rabbid Kong fell like King Kong did in the movies, Rabbid Peach decided to rub salt in the wound by taking a few selfies. Unbeknownst to her, though, Rabbid Kong managed to sneak into one of her selfies and gave a thumbs-up before continuing to fall.
After that was over, BEEP-0 decided that the best course of action for everyone was to return to Peach's Castle in order to rescue Spawny from Bowser Jr. and the Dazzlings.
"With the Dazzlings working alongside Bowser Jr., there's no telling what kind of damage they'll cause together!" Sunset said.
"I agree, Miss Shimmer, I suggest we head back to Peach's Castle and go after them in order to prevent any more damage being done to the Mushroom Kingdom!" BEEP-0 said.
Well, things have certainly gotten interesting for our unlikely heroes. The only question is, will they be able to stop Bowser Jr. and the Dazzlings before it's too late? Or does fate have other plans for Sunset and the others?