My Little Paper Mario

by Codex92

Shy Guy's Toy Box (Part Two)

Once they arrived in Green Station, they stepped off the platform to get a look at their surroundings in this section of Shy Guy's Toy Box. There was only pathway from the station, so thankfully none of the group had to split up, though the rails to reach Red Station were gone, not even a flippable switch seeing the big, empty gap between the tracks. Part of the wall had a green, yellow, red, and blue panel with a large diamond on it, and in front of them were boxes of the same color in that very same order.

"Ok, where's the switch?" Rainbow asked. "How are we supposed to get through now?"

"I see a lot of pretty presents!" Pinkie squealed as she ran up to them. Wiggy screamed in panic and tugged the earth pony's tail, stopping her from touching them. "Hey! I wanna see what's inside!"

"If Wiggy thinks that those presents are dangerous, we should listen to him," Goombario said, the pink Shy Guy nodding as he quickly wrote his response.

They are incredibly sensitive! I heard that these boxes, when hit in the right order, are able to lower the rails for us to reach Red Station. Unfortunately, I don't know the correct code. Only a few of us know of it,
and they have it written down in case they forget.

"So, what happens if we use trail and error?" Twilight asked. The Shy Guy held up his arms in a fighting stance and bounced around a little before pointing at the boxes. "We'll get in a fight if we guess wrong...Weird security measure."

"So, who has the code?" Kooper asked, but Wiggy shrugged his shoulders, unsure of who of his brethren had the code.

"Looks like we're beating up more Shy Guys to get it," Bow said. "I'm all in for it."

Making their way down the only path right of the station, the first area of the hallway had many conveyor belts moving the floor in different directions with a couple fences placed in different angles. It was easy to navigate over one of them blocking the entire width of the hall, or through for Bow's case as she phased through it while Twilight, Rainbow, and Parakarry helped the others over, Mario easily jumping over without much trouble. They spotted one Shy Guy wandering around, a piece of paper clung to its belt around its waist. Wiggy spotted some of the words written on it, alerting the others as he pointed out the code being on that particular Shy Guy's person.

"What!? What is it, boy!?" Pinkie asked. "Little filly fall down a well!? Fire!? A party in need of throwing!?"

Pinkie's random guessing made the Shy Guy slap his forehead in frustration. "Wait, he's holding a piece of paper," Rainbow noted. Wiggy nodded his head, then pointed back in the direction they came from as he formed a square shape with his arms. "He's holding onto the code we need to make those tracks, right?" He nodded again. "Perfect! Hey, you!"

The Shy Guy with the codes turned, only to be met by a rainbow blur that slammed into him, the pair tumbling across the ground for a moment before they stopped. Rainbow stood over the dazed Shy Guy, taking the paper from its belt as her prize. She returned to the others and showed them the note, but the odd gibberish written on it was nothing the likes of any of them have seen.

"Uhh, what exactly is this?" Twilight asked. "I can't make heads or tails of what these...symbols are."

"I think that's the Shy Guy language," Goombario said. "Unfortunately, I don't know how to speak or read it."

"Luckily we have a Shy Guy who can translate for us." Rainbow gave Wiggy the note, reading it over as he translated it for everyone through his pen and paper.

The right order to hit the presents to bring the rails back is yellow, green, red, then blue.

"Sounds simple enough," Rarity said. "Let's turn back and beat this General Guy so I can finally find a spa and freshen up."

"There's more down this way, though!" Pinkie whined. "Lookie! They've got a giant slot machine!"

Pinkie pointed at what appeared to be a large slot machine, three blocks hovering in front of three separate screens while a fourth seemed to activate it like a lever normally would. There was a lot more beyond it with blocky platforms moving up and down randomly.

"Pinkie actually is right. At least about what else is beyond this area," Twilight said. "There might even be something of somepony's at the end that we'll need to bring back."

"Oh, right," Rarity muttered. "Well, let us be quick, regardless."

"You know, with all the random adventures you've all been on, I didn't think you'd be so picky about being clean when you end up getting dirty anyway," Bow said.

"Well, being refined amongst my circle of friends, somepony needs to keep appearances for themselves in the public eye," the unicorn said, making the Boo roll her eyes.

Continuing on, ignoring the slot machine Pinkie desperately wanted to play with, they made their way to the moving platforms as they leapt up onto the upper platform. They spotted another chest containing another piece of stolen property, but this time it was guarded by a Koopa none of them had encountered until now. The ponies stared at the gray Koopatrol, bearing spikes on his shell and wore a spiked helmet on his head, as if he were made to conteract Mario's jumping prowess and prevent getting knocked onto his back.

"Oh no," Kooper groaned. "Another of Bowser's Koopa elites: a Koopatrol."

"Yeah, I know," the Koopatrol said, sounding a bit unsure of himself unlike the Hammer Bro. protecting Tayce T.'s frying pan in Pink Station. "Kammy had given me a new position to guard something in this chest from Mario, but here he is with a big group of allies and four of the animals she wants us to capture...I think this really is a punishment for me slacking off during my post." He sighed and readied himself in a fighting stance. "Oh well. Better to fight Mario sooner rather than wait until he reaches the fortress and owns all of us on his way up to rescue Princess Peach."

"You don't sound like you're going to win," Twilight noted.

"Because I know, in some way, I'm going to lose," the spike-shelled Koopa said. "I'm outnumbered, despite being a member of Bowser's stronger forces, and I'd rather face you than deal with his wrath if I fail him. So, let's just getting the beating over with."

Getting the fight started, the Koopatrol ducked in his shell and shot himself forward into the group. They all scattered, the ground-bound members of the party avoiding landing on the Koopa's spiked back. He made his way back to charge into Mario, but Kooper intercepted the Koopatrol, gray and blue shells clashing into each other as they tried to push each other back. Kooper ended up losing out against the tougher soldier, getting knocked back and tumbled over onto his back.

"That hurt," Kooper groaned, only to let out a wheeze from the Koopatrol bouncing up and slamming a foot down on his abdomen.

"I can't take all of you out at once, but at least I know I've tried to take out a few of you," he said.

"Get off of him!" Twilight shouted, using her magic and grabbing hold of the Koopatrol.

He yelped in surprise as he was suddenly flung off the ground and into the air. Rainbow flew up and charged forward into him, grabbing him by the front to avoid getting pricked by the sharp spikes on his back. The Koopatrol instinctively hid in his shell as they dove down, landing on the ground with his back first, but his resilient and spiked shell helped cushion the blow. He kicked the pegasus away from him, flipping back on his feet and shell shot himself toward the group again.

Aiming for Mario again, the plumber pulled out his hammer and swung the oncoming gray shell of spikes. Unfortunately, his hammer wasn't strong enough to smack the Koopa away, using all his strength to push back as his feet skid across the ground. Even though he seemed to not be hopeful in winning this fight, he sure showed he was as tough as his rank was meant to be.

"Pinkie to the rescue!" Pinkie tried to assist Mario by whacking the Koopatrol with her wooden mallet, but as soon as she hit him, her whole body shuddered, the tougher shell stronger than the weaker hammer. She jittered backward, her teeth chattering as her hooves couldn't let go of the vibrating hammer making her act like a jackhammer. "A-A-A-A-A-A-H-H-H-H-H-H!!!!! T-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o s-t-r-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g!"

The Koopatrol spun hard, making Mario stagger back as he parried his hammer, then popped out of his shell and delivered a spin kick to the plumber's head. "Tough as steel, but not as heavy," he said, patting his shell. "A wooden hammer won't even so much as hurt me."

"What about an explosion!?" Bombette asked, lighting her fuse as she stood behind the enemy Koopa.

"...Depends." Right as Bombette self-destructed, the Koopatrol had quickly popped into his shell, unharmed by the explosion as he was sent flying off toward Parakarry. The mail carrier tried to counter with his own shell toss, but he was sent flying back and dropped to the ground. Flipping back on his feet, the Koopatrol turned to face Bow, holding her fan out as she tapped it against her other hand. "...You think a paper fan's going to hurt me?"

"Oh, you have no idea how tough of a Boo I am, buddy." Bow swung her fan back and gave the Koopatrol a hard slap in the face.

Surprisingly, she managed to actually hurt him as he spun around, getting caught in a daze as she landed a few more hits on him for good measure. As soon as he stopped spinning, Goombario and Bombette charged together and headbutted the Koopa hard in the gut, knocking him on his back while bouncing off his belly and landing down hard. He coughed as the air was knocked out of his lungs, but his predicted loss came as Rainbow let out a yell, dive-bombing him at blinding speeds right into his weaker underbelly. The impact created a small rainbow dust cloud that formed a mushroom shape, Wiggy letting out a sound in awe at the miniature nuclear slam the pegasus made.

Once the dust settled, the Koopa groaned in agony as Rainbow stood over him. "Finally. Now we know just what we'll be up against when we get to Bowser's castle." Walking past the defeated minion, the pegasus opened the chest and pulled out what was inside, which happened to be the stolen dictionary Rarity, Bow, and Goombario saw from one of the Shy Guys in Toad Town. "A book? The hay is so important about a book?"

"Book!?" Twilight shrieked, knocking her friend out of the way as she grabbed the tossed up book with her levitation. She flipped through the pages, eager to know what knowledge awaited in its pages. "Oh! This is actually a Translation guide on the language of the Shy Guys! Maybe I can try to communicate with Wiggy through his own dialect." Looking over the words and odd symbols that was the Shy Guy language, she then brought her attention to the pink Shy Guy to test out one phrase to see if she could get it on the first try. "Whoob uwhah oohb ahpwhuaw."

Slowly, Wiggy turned his head to look at the others, then back to Twilight as he wrote his response.

You told me, "I'm banana kumquat welcome."

"What? No, I was trying to say, 'Hello, nice to meet you,'" Twilight corrected. She looked down at the book, wondering what she did wrong. "I think that's the right way to say this sentence..."

Wiggy showed everyone what Twilight told him, Rainbow and Pinkie being the first to break out in laughter at the alicorn's first attempt at speaking Shy Guy. "Nice first attempt," Bow teased. "Try saying that to the other Shy Guys and make it sound like an insult."

"I can learn it if I had enough time!" Twilight exclaimed. "You try learning something that's all about gibberish and strange symbols as a language!"

"Ever try speaking Boo? Same basic principle, except we speak in shrieks and scary noises. Like this." Bow suddenly disappeared, then reappeared in front of the alicorn, letting out a frightening shriek that startled the mare and made her fall over. "That's 'hello' in Boo."

"No, you scared me on purpose!" Twilight said.

"...You're right. I did." Bow chuckled teasingly.

Growling, Twilight sat up, closing the book before being humiliated by saying something else stupid in Shy Guy. Looking at Rainbow and Pinkie, who were still guffawing at her sentence in Shy Guy, she snatched the wooden mallet and gave the two of them a bonk on the head, not hard enough to cause any pain, but enough to shut them up.

"Let's just keep moving," Twilight grumbled. "I swear, I did exactly as the book instructed, even enunciating parts of the weird sounds I made correctly..."

The alicorn lead the way back while the others followed, Pinkie and Rainbow stifling their giggles all the way to the train station. As soon as they got back, Mario hit the boxes in the right order, all four of them blinking and making a dinging sound as they lit up before exploding in a burst of confetti. The colored walls in the back soon fell over, creating a colorful railway covering the large gap impeding their progress. Climbing aboard the toy train, they headed off to the last station, where General Guy waits for them.

They finally arrived at Red Station, the party stepping off as they got a look at their surroundings. Rainbow recognized the path she took when she arrived here, the right one leading down to the Shy Guy army HQ where she blindly stumbled upon, though on the other path, she had no idea what lies beyond that direction.

"Ok, so General Guy's base is here," Goombario said. "Which way is it?"

"It's down that way," Rainbow said, pointing in the direction of General Guy's HQ. "There anything else we can remember the Shy Guys all took before we face the big boss?"

"There was the mail bag at the post office we've yet to retrieve," Bow reminded, shocking Parakarry at the last stolen item.

"A mail bag!?" the Paratroopa exclaimed. "You mean all the mail in Toad Town was stolen!? We need to get that back! Think of all the backlog in taxes everyone doesn't know they have to pay, or bills piling up before their utilities are shut down because they didn't know about their payments! And letters for pen pals, lovers from across the seas, and family members won't be picked up to be delivered either!"

"Boy, he's really dedicated to his work even after he made a blunder with the letters he did have on him." Parakarry drooped and let out a depressed sigh at the reminder of his mistake for not checking his bags before flying off.

"Maybe the mail bag is over in the other direction," Kooper suggested. "I don't think General Guy would be that interested in mail unless he just wants to take it for no reason."

"No splitting up, though," Twilight said. "If we're this deep in enemy territory, we'll probably be facing a lot more Shy Guys."

Deciding to check the other direction first, they made their way to the path left from the station. Many highly stacked blocks walled off the path, but it could be crossed by going over using the lifts and small platform ferris wheels along the walls. They had to take out a few Pyro Guys wandering around, but it wasn't a problem as long as they didn't physically touch them and their burning bodies. They soon arrived at a surprisingly normal building, but as they walked inside, it was pitch black and hard to see even a single inch in front of their noses.

"Ooooooh. Scary, dark house," Pinkie said.

"I can see perfectly fine," Bow said.

"Because you're a Boo and you're used to darker environments," Goombario stated.

"Hang on, Rarity and I will try to light up the room a bit." Twilight and Rarity lit up their horns, illuminating the building a little bit. They could only see a small part of the room, some scattered blocks around, but it was mostly empty from what they could see. "You don't think there are ghost Shy Guys in here, are there?"

"Boo Guys," Bow scoffed. "They're not real Boos, yet they think they can act like us. I could tell if there were any in here."

While everyone looked around in the small amount of light around the unicorn and alicorn's horns, Mario spotted a dim light glowing from the other side of the room. His new perception ability kicked in as his eyes began glowing white, spotting what appeared to be a figure covered in a beige sheet with creepy eyes and a smile painted on the front holding onto a lanturn, an "X" mark made of bandages on its forehead. It almost seemed like a Shy Guy hiding under the sheet like it was pretending to be a ghost. It approached them and the light the two mares were giving off, quickly pulling out his hammer in defense as he warned the others about the threat approaching them.

"Someone...has come..." The creepy voice that came from the Shy Guy brought chills down the mares' spines. It appeared in their light, making Wiggy panic as he remembered who lived here. "If it isn't Mario! Whee hee heeeeeee!"

"A Lantern Ghost!" Goombario said. "Shy Guys who love to live in the dark! And he's a big one, too!"

"None of you are going anywhere," the Big Lantern Ghost said eerily. "I'll defeat you, then go back to my darkness."

Shaking the lantern he held, he unleashed a bright light in the room. The sudden brightness threw everyone off guard, including Bow, all of them blinded as they covered their eyes. As soon as they recovered, Twilight immediately lit her horn back up, only to regret it as the dim light of her lavender aura somehow stung just as bad as the bright flash.

"Ah! My eyes!" she exclaimed, cancelling her illumination spell.

"I think I've gone blind!" Pinkie said as she stumbled around until she rammed into Rainbow Dash. "Aha! There you are, Lantern Ghostie-Goo!"

She swung her hammer, hearing the pegasus yell out in pain. "Ow! Pinkie, that's me!"

"Oh. Oopsie! Friendly fire!" Pinkie said.

Wiggy was the only one who managed to keep his eyes concealed from the Big Lantern Ghost's light. Though he could see just fine, the dark room was still a struggle to navigate around. At least he could see where the darkness-loving Shy Guy's dim lantern was as he snuck around to get one of them from their blind spots. Until their vision was fixed, it was up to him to try to stop the Big Lantern Ghost and keep the others safe.

Following the light, the wig-wearing Shy Guy ran toward the big Shy Guy. He managed to smack the lantern as he tried to swipe it, making the light around it grow more to better see the area around it.

"Ahh! Noo! Not the light!" the Big Lantern Ghost shrieked. Now able to see his forehead, Wiggy leapt up and gave his foe a harsh kick in the weak spot, making him stagger back in pain. "Ow! Why are you against me!? We are brethren!" Wiggy didn't respond and leapt up onto the Big Lantern Ghost's head again, flipping off from his dismount and landing perfectly on his feet. "Fine, then I'll defeat you as well!"

The larger foe blew out the light from his lantern, making the area darker again as he fled. Mario recovered from the binding light, rubbing the spots out of his eyes as he focused on searching for the Big Lantern Ghost. Luckily, his perception didn't permanently blind him with the sudden flash of light from the lantern as he can see the odd Shy Guy being chased around by Wiggy. Mario ran forward, meeting the Big Lantern Ghost halfway and slid under him, tripping him over as he fell flat on his face, dropping his lantern as well as it bounced and rolled away.

Just as the bigger Shy Guy stood up, Mario threw a swift punch hard into the Lantern Ghost's forehead. He yelped in pain, but the onslaught didn't stop as his face was struck by hammer strikes, more punches, and several kicks, making him stagger back, completely defenseless without his lantern to blind the plumber. Wiggy ran over to the dropped lantern, giving it a few smacks to light the room up, only to hear something inside yell out.

"Umm, excuse me, but can you please stop hitting the lantern?" the voice asked, sounding quite young and feminine. Confused, the Shy Guy looked down at the lantern, tilting his head as he failed to see what was inside. "Can you let me out, please? I'm kind of, umm, trapped in here."

Looking around, Wiggy spotted Pinkie blindly flailing around with her hammer, trying to hit the Big Lantern Ghost despite being on the other side of the room. "Where are you, evil ghost thing!?"

"Pinkie, stop trying to fight!" Rarity said before yelping, almost getting hit by the mare's hammer. "We can't see, and neither can you! And you almost hit me!"

"How do you know it was me and not anypony else!?" Pinkie asked.

"You're the only one moving around!" Goombario said as he fell on the ground, getting kicked by one of the earth pony's hooves in her wild attacking spree. "And you kicked me in the face!"

Wiggy ran over to Pinkie and snatched away her hammer. "Hey! Who stole my hammer!?"

Ignoring the pony, he ran back to the lantern and gave it a good whack, cracking the top hard enough to break it. Shooting up from the broken lantern, a bright, electrical light zigzagged around the room and flew up to Mario and the Big Lantern Ghost. It stopped between the two of them, revealing a Lil' Sparky, a blue pacifier where it's mouth would be if they ever had mouths.

"Take this, you meanie!" The little living electro ball grunted as electricity built up around her body, but she gave the Big Lantern Ghost a small tap, shocking the larger Shy Guy with a powerful jolt.

His body singed and now lacking his lantern, the Big Lantern Ghost ran away in defeat. Eventually, the others' sight came back after the blinding flash, now seeing Mario looking at the Lil' Sparky glowing in the dark room.

"What in Equestria is that thing?" Twilight asked as the others approached the plumber and electric creature.

"Forget wondering what the sparky ball is! Where's my hammer!?" Pinkie asked. Wiggy poked her leg and held out her wooden mallet. "Oh! There it is! Thanks, Wiggy! If you found out who took my hammer from me, you let me know, and I'll give them a good wallop."

"That's a Sparky," Goombario said. "But, it looks like a pretty young Sparky. Where'd you come from?"

"I was trapped inside the lantern," the Lil' Sparky said. "I'm Watt! Thanks for saving me!"

"Well, that's a fitting name," Twilight said.

"And adorable!" Pinkie squealed. She bounced up to Watt, grabbing her and showing her everyone as she gave a roll call, the electricity flowing from her making Pinkie's mane and tail frizz up. "I'm Pinkie, and that's Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Bow, Mario, Wiggy, Pinkie-Oh, wait, I already introduced myself."

"Hello, everyone!" Watt said. "Umm, if it's alright with all of you, can I come along?"

"Why?" Kooper asked.

"Well, while I was captured by the Shy Guys, umm, I heard them talking about Princess Peach and Mario trying to rescue her." Watt floated out of Pinkie's grasp and floated around everyone. "I kind of want to help! I can be very useful lighting up dark places much better than these two!" she said as she hovered over Twilight and Rarity. "I like dark places, but sometimes, I kinda need to be held onto to light up places, like this room!"

"And you also want to get back at the Shy Guys for trapping you in that lantern, right?" Rainbow asked with a pound of her hooves.

"...Umm, I guess so, but that one's not bad," Watt said as she looked at Wiggy. "He saved me, and I can be helpful in fights! Even though I'm a Sparky, my electricity doesn't hurt friends! I just give a little, umm, ticklish feeling, but my enemies get a nasty zap! So, can I come? Pretty please?...If you don't mind?"

The group put a lot of thought into bringing Watt to join them. She was really young, far younger than Goombario, but she was able to shock the Big Lantern Ghost really badly. And her ability to illuminate dark places in a wider radius than Rarity and Twilight's spell can be helpful if their group grows any larger.

"Well, electricity can actually pierce through defenses of any foe," Goombario pondered aloud. "Not to mention all the elites in Bowser's floating castle that could have higher defenses that would seem impossible for us, even as a group taking just one of them down."

"Right," Kooper agreed. "If we're going to storm the castle once we free the rest of the Star Spirits, we're going to need our own army."

"Umm, does that mean yes?" Watt asked curiously.

The party looked at each other and nodded. "Sure. Welcome aboard, Watt."

"Yay!" the Lil' Sparky cheered, releasing bursts of harmless electricity in excitement. "Let's save the world! Umm, after we beat that meanie General Guy, of course."

"Why does Watt remind me of Fluttershy and Pinkie at the same time?" Rainbow asked herself as her personality was that of Pinkie's excitement, but having some timidness when she speaks her mind like Fluttershy.

Now with the Lil' Sparky in tow, the group followed Watt out of the dark room and made their way back to the station, but not before noticing a treasure chest hiding on the other end of the room, where they managed to recover the stolen mailbag from the post office. Along the way, Watt got to know a bit more about the four mares new to the Mushroom Kingdom, hanging around Rainbow more after learning she was used to electricity while astounded how pegasi from their world could manipulate clouds and make thunderclouds shoot out lightning with a single kick. She was even brought up to speed on how many of the Star Spirits they already rescued and the remaining two mares missing out in the world.

Once they reached the train station, they began their siege on General Guy's base. He must have known they were taking back all the stolen valuables and making a ruckus in their toy box, setting up a roadblock made of colorful building blocks toward his HQ. Unfortunate for him, one of his Shy Guys must not have noticed one of them pay attention to a crack in one of the larger blocks. Bombette made short work of the wall, blowing up on the cracked block and sending the structure crumbling down to individual pieces.

Some of the Shy Guys stationed to guard the wall panicked and fled, all of them squealing in fright as they ran back to the base. One of them ended up tripping over his feet, falling flat on his face with his leg twitching in the air. He quickly stood up, looked back at the invading party, and hurried after his comrades.

"Not much of a defensive force, are they?" Bow asked. "Just makes this all the more easier for us."

"Let's charge forward!" Rainbow said, leading the force as the others followed after her.

Wiggy was a bit reluctant to go back, not wanting to be yelled at by General Guy again for actually turning his back on his kind. He followed his new friends, regardless, no longer a member of his troop since he was kicked out and decided to help them recover the Star Spirit his former commander has held captive. The group entered the base, and using Bombette, they blast the doors opened to the large command center, making an entrance as the dust settled. Standing on the other end of the room with a large group of Shy Guys lined up in front of him was General Guy himself.

"Well, well, well," General Guy said. "If it isn't Mario and his little squadron. I had a feeling you were behind all the chaos in our toy box. Trespassing on our turf and stealing the treasures meant only for us Shy Guys! How did you even manage to find the location of our realm, anyway!?"

"We got a bit of inside help!" Rainbow said, hovering above her friends.

"...You. You're the creature that walked into my base a week ago!" General Guy noticed the other three mares among the group, four of the six ponies Kammy instructed on them to find and capture. "How did you elude us and survive in the toy box for that long!?"

"Why don't you ask one of your soldiers?" Rainbow swooped down and picked up Wiggy, the pink Shy Guy yelping and squirming to escape and revealing his hiding spot among the group. "You kicked him out because he was a weak link in your army!? Well, he broke that chain by helping me and showing my friends the location of Shy Guy's Toy Box! So, either way, you lost!"

Though the others couldn't see it, Wiggy could tell General Guy was glaring at him in utter rage. "...Of course. I should have sentenced you to exile than just kick you out of my army. You embarrass us by wearing that stupid wig, which you seem to have more of stashed away somewhere in here, and now you brought the enemy here! You are a traitor to Shy Guys and Bowser's forces! You will suffer the same fate as Mario and his comrades!"

"You kicked him out because he's being himself!? What kind of general are you if you bring somepony like Wiggy that low!?" Twilight asked.

"A general who can do whatever he pleases as I have the Star Spirit he entrusted on me!" General Guy responded. "We're going to take over Toad Town after beating the lot of you, and making sure to lock you four up in cages like the animals you are!" Wiggy finally spoke up and spoke to General Guy in his language, angry at how he was going to put Rainbow and her pony friends in a cage when they're as sentient as they were. He wasn't going to allow them to lock them up, especially the pegasus holding him. "I'll deal with you personally, traitor! Shy Guy battalion, charge!!!!"

The group of Shy Guys let out a battle cry and charged forward, surrounding the heroes as they began the fight. While they were busy dealing with the squadron, General Guy quickly ran over to a part of his base, not to run away, but to acquire something to help give him an edge. Though outnumbered, they managed to hold their own with hammers, fists, hooves, feet, magic, or bodies, knocking out more and more of the first wave. It didn't take long until the squad was beaten, all the Shy Guys scattered around them knocked unconscious.

"So much for that," Rainbow taunted, but when they turned to face the general, they didn't find any trace of him. "Hey! Where'd that coward go!?"

"I never run from battle, animal!" Hearing General Guy, they saw one of his troops run up, holding flags in his hands. He turned around and waved the flags a specific fashion, where he guided a toy tank over to the middle of the room. The machine moved a bit too fast, hitting the Shy Guy and knocking him over on his back, recovering quickly as he stood up and ran away. The tank looked more like a stroller of sorts with a hatch on the front and a light bulb resting on a pillar behind it. General Guy popped out from the hatch, looking smug under his mask. "You may have beaten my infantry, but this war has just begun! Time for the next wave: Stilt Guys, attack!"

"'Stilt Guys'?" Twilight's question was answered as two Shy Guys fell down in between the tank and party, only they were walking on metal stilts. She raised a brow, wondering what was so special about these two walking on stilts when they're still normal red Shy Guys. "...Was there supposed to be something menacing about them?"

"Shy Guys can do a lot of weird things," Goombario responded. "Walking on stilts just makes them that harder to hit on the ground, but mess with their balance and they'll fall over."

The Stilt Guys may have had an advantage with height, but that's also a big downfall as they had to move carefully. Not only that, but a hard enough ram through their stilts can teeter them off balance and send them falling to the ground. Mario and Pinkie teamed up, taking a Stilt Guy each as they jumped up and bounced on top of their heads. The added weight from them stomping on them sent them falling down to the ground off their stilts, only to have their heads smashed in by their hammers, knocking them out quicker than they were able to walk away.

"Yeah. Enemies on stilts are really not the best choice as a wave," Parakarry said. "I thought we were dealing with one of Bowser's toughest commanders."

"Hey, shut up!" General Guy yelled. "I became general of the Shy Guys for a reason! I am a tactician, and we managed to hide our toy box in the middle of Toad Town, and no one was the wiser!"

"And yet said toy box is every five-year-old's dream come true," Bow said. "Your tactical skills are just as bad as one, too."

"Then let's see if you'll laugh at my special battalion!" Blowing a whistle, Shy Guys began appearing, four of them fall from the ceiling as they stacked on top of each other while three came from the side and stacked up as well. General Guy looked around in confusion for the fourth member of the second stack, nearly falling out of his tank as the last one was hiding inside his machine. "Hey! None of you have permission to be inside my tank! When we defeat them, I want a hundred push-ups from all of you! Now, attack!"

"And this is even better than your Stilt Guys?" Twilight questioned.

"Uhh, are we dealing with Bowser's army or a bunch of clowns?" Rainbow asked Wiggy, who shrugged his shoulders after seeing how nonsensical General Guy's special squads can be.

"Well, the Koopa Bros. were tough, but acted like teenagers living a dumb fantasy while working for Bowser," Kooper stated.

"Tutankoopa was cruel to his Chain Chomps and wasn't all that terrifying," Parakarry added.

"Tubba Blubba wasn't all that bad, but his heart was the true monster," Rarity said as well.

"And General Guy is nothing but a bully!" Watt exclaimed. "He even put me in that lantern...and, umm, I don't like tight spaces."

"Hey, idiots, while they're busy talking and insulting me, attack them!" General Guy yelled at his troops, the eight Shy Guys snapping out of their thoughts as they pulled out slingshots.

They began firing pebbles at them, how the ones holding the stack up could aim well with the other Shy Guys' weight on them was an incredible feat. Unfortunately, their aim wasn't good enough as the group was a lot more mobile. While avoiding their shots, Watt zipped forward and began shocking the bottom Shy Guys, their jittering nearly causing their groups to topple over and leaving them vulnerable to attack. Wiggy and Rainbow Dash teamed up on one stack while Twilight tossed Kooper and Parakarry to the other, sending the Koopas flying through the air with a hard toss with her magic. The blue and cyan shells bowled the first group over, Kooper skidding to a halt and sending himself sliding back toward the falling Shy Guys, bouncing off them and knocking them unconscious before regrouping with the others.

Rainbow flew into the second stack, giving the group a hard buck that sent them tottering, struggling to keep themselves upright as they flailed their arms. Wiggy made their efforts all in vain, tackling between the two Shy Guys in the middle and sent them falling over. Watt flew in and finished them off with a powerful jolt, the light tap electrocuting them before they passed out.

General Guy was silent, but he was clearly seething as his body slowly began shaking until he was shuddering madly out of anger. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Fine, then! I'll just have to beat you all myself!" He hid inside his tank and messed with a few of the controls, making the light bulb hum to life as it lit up. They heard him cackle madly as electricity surged around the glass bulb. "And I'm gonna start with that pansy, wig-wearing delinquent who brought you here!"

Pressing a button, the tank fired a swift bolt of lightning from the bulb, aimed straight for the pink Shy Guy. The bolt moved faster than they could blink as it struck Wiggy, electrocuting him with a very painful shock as it sent him sailing back to the other side of the base. He slammed into the wall hard, his body singed as he fell to the ground, knocked unconscious with his limbs twitching from the electricity coursing through his body.

"Wiggy!" Rainbow flew over to the Shy Guy, hearing him breathe, but the tank's electrical jolt was far more dangerous with how much power it had. Looking back at the tank, General Guy popped up, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked in satisfaction at the unconscious ex-soldier of his. Rainbow leered at the cruel leader, snorting angrily. "Alright. That's it! I'm gonna blow up that stupid tank of yours! Nopony hurts my friends!"

"Good luck trying to leave a dent in this baby, or even trying to avoid the lightning bolts it can fire!" General Guy dove back down in his tank and began to fire another bolt, this time aiming for the pegasus.

Rainbow flew over to Watt and grabbed her. "Watt, I'm gonna need your help."

"Yay! Time for a super charge!" Watt cheered, then began grunting as she sparked wildly in the pegasus's hooves.

General Guy fired a lightning bolt once his machine was done charging, headed straight for Rainbow and Watt. It struck them both, but Watt gained a massive boost from the bolt as it focused on her. Her body sparked out of control, sending electrical currents flowing through Rainbow that actually helped enhance her strength instead of shock her. Sparking with electricity, she flew off, keeping Watt held tightly to her chest as she took off at her usual incredible speed, flipping around and bucking the light bulb hard.

The impact and the electricity coursing through her from Watt made the light bulb blow up, overloading the tank's special attack and releasing powerful shocks through the machine. General Guy yelped from inside, never knowing that the electrical current could affect his tank. He dared to peek out from the hatch once the electricity subsided, only to meet face to face with the angered pegasus and Lil' Sparky.

"...Uh oh," General Guy uttered.

"Uh oh is right, jerk!" Holding Watt tightly in her forehooves, Rainbow subbed the Lil' Sparky's body rapidly, making her giggle as the rough friction charged more electricity in her. General Guy was shocked to see the pegasus was unaffected by Watt's electrical body and the ever growing static she was building up in her. "Time for you to know how it feels to get zapped back!"

"W-Wait! Don't electrocute my tank!" the Shy Guy pleaded, but Rainbow wasn't going to show any mercy.

Slamming Watt down on him, her electrical current flowed into General Guy and the tank he sat in, his body jittering wildly while the tank shook heavily. Electric sparks shot out from both Shy Guy and machine until Watt finally ran out of energy. Rainbow moved away, the general's tank slowly coming apart while he stood in the hatch, singed all over as his limbs twitched. The tank soon exploded from the overloaded electrical current flowing into it, sending General Guy flying out of his mobile weapon and back down into the pile of destroyed toy parts.

Recovering from his daze, General Guy groaned and looked up. With his tank destroyed and many of his troops beaten, there was no possible way for him to win this war. All the stolen items were in their possession and he was bested Mario, his entourage, and the Shy Guy who he let off that guided them through the toy box that lead to his downfall, no matter what decision he made a week ago.

"So, anything you want to say?" Rainbow asked as she hovered in front of the beaten commander.

"...Just one...RETREAT!!!!!!" General Guy ran off, the rest of his troop fleeing with him as they all screamed in terror once they had woken up for unconsciousness.

Passing by the party, one of them ended up tripping over his feet and landed on his face, his leg twitching randomly. It must have been the same one from earlier as he stood up, looked back, and then ran away with the rest of his troop.

"And good riddance!" Rainbow yelled out to the fleeing general.

"That was fun!" Watt cheered. "Umm, can we do that again sometime? That tickled."

The Lil' Sparky's question went unanswered when they heard Wiggy groan, waking up from unconsciousness from the near deadly shock from General Guy's tank. Everyone quickly ran up to the Shy Guy as he got up on his knees. He shook his head, surprised to still be alive, though he saw the damage done to his now singed wig.

"Wiggy, are you alright?" Rainbow asked, answering with a nod. "Nothing broken? Body not paralyzed? Not really sure how durable you Shy Guys can be, but that bolt of lightning from that tank was pretty powerful."

"It was," Watt said. "But, umm, I didn't think it was that bad for someone like me."

Wiggy got up on his feet, wobbling a little as he almost lost his balance, but he was relatively fine. "General Guy wasn't really all that tough," Goombario said. "He ended up resorting to hiding in a tank like a coward. But, thankfully, he didn't use that lightning strike that much thanks to Rainbow and Watt breaking that light bulb."

"Well, now that we've beaten General Guy, where'd he hide the Star Spirit?" Rarity asked.

Wiggy pointed over to the toy gazebo on the other end of the room, unable to write what he wants to say with his paper all burnt from the attack. Rainbow flew over to it and found the card with the fourth Star Spirit inside it. She flew back to the others with the card in her mouth.

"So, how are we supposed to get them out?" the pegasus asked.

"Just give it to Mario," Twilight said. "He's going to get something from you as well."

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders and went along with Twilight's explanation, giving the Star Spirit to Mario. As soon as the heroic plumber grabbed it, the card began glowing brightly as it hovered out of their grip and spun around. Mario also pulled out his Lucky Star, watching it glow blue as one of the arms shifted to the same light shining around it. In the blinding light from the card, tearing to shreds as the Star Spirit was freed from his prison.

"Ahhh! Finally out of there!" he said, fixing his sailor's hat upon his head. "I got a bit annoyed hearing General Guy talking to himself like he's more important than anything else. Thanks for the save! Name's Muskular!" Muskular stretched out his limbs as he looked around the base. "But you think we can talk outside of this massive toy box? I feel claustrophobic just being in this room alone and being trapped in that blasted card for a week didn't help matters while I had my ears chewed off by that Shy Guy."

"Sure. We need to return a lot of things back to Toad Town, anyway," Kooper said.

Muskular noticed Wiggy, eyeing him warily. "What's with that one?...Is that that one Shy Guy that got kicked out a while back?"

"His name's Wiggy, and he's a friend," Rainbow said. "He helped me when I accidentally barged in here and hid me from General Guy's army. You got a problem with that?"

"Rainbow, you're talking to a Star Spirit!" Twilight scolded. "Do you realize how much power he has over you!?"

"Relax," Muskular assured. "I've got no beef with allies of yours. Plus, even if I could do anything, I'm still pretty drained while trapped in that card. Now, let's get out of this place meant for little kids."

The group made their leave of the base and made their way back to Blue Station to escape, making sure to pull the lever to open the tracks for the train to go to any of the stations in any direction.

---

Back in Peach's Castle, the princess sat around in her room, bored as usual being "trapped" in her room. She sat on her bed and looked out her balcony while Twink made silly poses in the mirror, just as bored as the princess. Sighing, Twink gave up trying to look cool and floated over to Peach. The two looked at each other and had the same exact thought.

"Sneaking around time?" Twink asked.

"I believe so," Peach said in agreement. "Let's just hope I get to at least do something exciting other than doing a dumb survey for Bowser."

"They really aren't going to put in random items as guards for Shy Guy's Toy Box, are they?" Twink asked skeptically.

"Bowser would, but Kammy probably changed them as soon as we left." Peach stood up from her bed and approached the fireplace, Twink floating behind her. "Oh well. I know Mario can defeat whatever comes his way. He's faced Bowser so many times, nothing else can handle him."

"Except now that he has the Star Rod," Twink muttered, feeling a little helpless that he can't take it away from the Koopa King.

"It's alright, Twink," Peach assured. "You're doing all you can for being a Star Kid. And we're helping Mario and the others, playing our part to give them some information they need."

"...I guess you're right." Peach moved the portrait and pressed the hidden button, opening the way for the secret passage yet again.

Going through the passage and spinning the moving platform around into the study Bowser once used to hide his diary and encountered him and Kammy earlier, they exited the room into the second floor foyer. Avoiding the Koopatrol guards and their flashlights, Peach and Twink snuck around to the dining room on the other end. Walking inside, they were surprised to see a large Shy Guy sitting at the other end of the table, a food lover judging by his fork and knife and how chubby his body seemed. He noticed Peach as Twink hid behind her to stay hidden from any of Bowser's soldiers.

"Oh. It's Princess Peach," he said, not even remotely surprised to see the princess had escaped her bedroom. "Nice meeting you in person. I'm Gourmet Guy, at least that's what everyone else calls me." Peach approached the friendly Shy Guy, half expecting him to call any guards to send her back to her room. "So, you're out of your room again? Don't know how you do it."

"You're not even going to alert the guards?" Peach asked curiously.

"Well, I'm supposed to..." Gourmet Guy's stomach began rumbling. "But I'm really, really hungry...I'll tell you what. If you make me something delicious, I can keep this a secret."

"You're saying if I can make you something to eat, you won't tell anyone I got out of my room again?" she asked. "But I don't have any utensils or ingredients to make you anything."

"There is the kitchen down on the first floor. And knowing you've been served from that kitchen in the past, it's definitely worth a five-star rating!" Gourmet Guy pulled out a key from one of his pockets and gave it to the princess. "Here's the key you need to unlock the door to reach the first floor. Be careful going down there as well."

"More guards, huh? Ok. Just sit tight and I'll be right back with whatever I come up with." Gourmet Guy nodded his head and waited patiently as Peach walked out of the dining room.

Peach and Twink couldn't believe that they managed to get a key from one of Bowser's minions to finally move a bit more around the castle. Being careful of the guards on the second floor, Peach made her way to the door to the first floor foyer and unlocked it. While passing through, she could see a couple more guards wandering around, though they would be easy to avoid just like the Koopatrols on the other floor. As the princess made her way down the stairs, she saw one of the doors on the outer pathways in the foyer open and close slightly. Twink noticed it too, both of them giving each other a look as they both silently agreed to check out that room. The kitchen was nearby, so it wasn't too far of a walk to make something for Gourmet Guy, keeping her promise to him so she wouldn't get caught again.

Sneaking around to the room, Peach slowly opened the door. Inside it was meant to be a guest bedroom, thankfully unchanged by Bowser or any of his followers: a comfortable bed, a cabinet for clothes, bookshelves, and a nightstand beside the bed. There weren't any windows, so the door couldn't have possibly opened by any wind. Before Peach tried to call out and ask if there was anyone hiding, she noticed the cabinet shake slightly. Silently walking over to the door, she opened it up, only to leap back in surprise as a Toad fell out and screamed, flailing his arms around.

"Ahh! Don't come near me!" he shouted. "I know kung fu! I'll beat all of you Koopas in one punch!"

"A Toad? How long was he hiding in there?" Twink asked.

The Toad managed to squint his eyes open, stopping his flailing as he saw Princess Peach and Twink staring at him awkwardly. "Your Highness!? Oh, thank goodness."

"How did you get here?" Peach asked. "I thought all the guests from the party and everyone else who got caught were thrown in Bowser's dungeons."

"Well, as soon as the ground started shaking, I fled into this room and hid," the Toad explained. "I've been hiding in here ever since. But, when I get hungry, I manage to sneak out and find myself something to snack on."

"You must be pretty lucky not getting caught, unlike Peach," Twink said.

"At least Bowser will let you off easy because he pines for you." The Toad shook his head and sighed. "Looks like he's won, though, huh?"

"Not yet," Peach said. "Mario will come rescue us. I'm sure of it."

"...If you say so. I'm just going to hide back in here until it's really safe to come out." The Toad jumped back into the cabinet. "Be really careful out there, Princess Peach."

He closed the doors and continued hiding. Peach and Twink left the room and made their way to the kitchen, avoiding the guards all the while. The kitchen was surprisingly kept clean during the time it has been on top of Bowser's floating fortress. It's stocked with ingredients, various cooking and baking utensils, a sink to wash dishes, a stove and oven of the best quality, and a bookshelf filled with dozens of cookbooks with tasty dishes to make.

"Ok, so what shall we make?" Peach asked, checking some of the ingredients while Twink flew over to the bookshelf.

The Star Kid grabbed one of the books, holding a lot of different desserts that looked scrumptious. "Oooooh. How about this 'Special Strawberry Cake'?"

He floated down and showed a two-layered cake covered in vanilla frosting, decorated with juicy strawberries and whipped cream. Peach and Twink's mouths practically watered, feeling their stomachs rumbling as they hungered for some dessert.

"That does look delicious," Peach said. "I think Gourmet Guy will like this."

"Not as much as we will when we get a slice." The duo giggled, deciding on the Special Strawberry Cake as Twink placed the book down on the counter, keeping the pages opened to the steps necessary to bake it.

Peach wasn't a stranger to baking, having made a few cakes for Mario as a reward for saving her from Bowser, so making this cake wouldn't be much of a challenge. Tying an apron around her waist to keep her dress from getting dirty, she got to work as she gathered some eggs, flour, sugar, butter, and cake mix, placing them in a bowl to mix them up as per the instructions given to her. Twink helped mix the batter around, flying around fast as he held the wooden spoon to make sure they were properly mixed while making a few spills.

Once the ingredients were mixed up, Peach poured the batter into a couple pans for the two layers and brought them over to the oven. Twink had preset the temperature for the cake to bake while the princess placed the pans on the racks. While waiting for the batter to rise, they began making the frosting and readied the strawberries and whipped cream to decorate. The timer dinged after a while, reminding Peach that the cake was finished as she put on oven mitts and took the pans out.

After they cooled down, they coated the two layers with frosting, Twink unable to handle himself as he licked whatever was left over of the frosting. Then they placed the strawberries on top exactly how the cake looked in the picture, topping the center between the circle of berries with a big dollop of whipped cream and placing one last, big strawberry in the middle.

"That looks sooooo good," Twink mumbled, licking his lips in anticipation.

"I know, but we better clean up before heading back to Gourmet Guy," Peach reminded the Star Kid, dragging him away from the cake.

It didn't take long for them to clean up the kitchen, Peach carrying the cake on a tray as she carefully left the room while avoiding the guards. She hoped their noses didn't catch the scent of frosting, but luckily, they were too busy with their patrols. She finally made it back to the dining room, setting the cake down on the table in front of Gourmet Guy.

"Oh, thank goodness! I've waited so long, I thought I was going to waste away!" Gourmet Guy said. "Looks delicious!"

"Then let's dig in and see how well it tastes." Peach sliced the cake for them, giving Twink's his under the table so Gourmet Guy didn't see him.

They dug in, the Shy Guy stuffing his slice in his mouth and chewed, only to pause as his taste buds exploded. "Ohh...Ohhhhhhh! OHHHHHHHHHH!" Peach and Twink were startled by Gourmet Guy's overreaction, even though their first bite they thought it was delicious. "THIS IS WAY TOO DELICIOOOOUUUUUS!!!!!" He then whooped and ran around the room wildly, Peach and Twink watching him awkwardly as he made a stop by where he sat at the table. "Whooooo...That was really good."

"...R-Really?" Peach questioned.

"Yeah. Well, it's maybe as good as that one cake that talking pink animal made for me back in the toy box." The princess had a feeling that Gourmet Guy was talking about Pinkie Pie, feeling slightly worried about her and the rest of the ponies, but with Mario keeping them safe, she was relieved by that fact. "Anyway, to show you my gratitude for the delicious cake, I guess I can tell you a little something about one of the Star Spirits."

Twink nearly choked on a piece of his slice and stifled his coughs while Peach stared at the Shy Guy in surprise. "Why tell me?"

"I just thought maybe you'd like a little news. It's not like you have some way of telling Mario from all the way up here." The Star Kid hiding under the table had to stifle his giggles, Peach giggling nervously as if Gourmet Guy was joking despite how wrong he was. "One of the Star Spirits is located in a volcano on an island south of the kingdom: Mt. Lavalava on Lavalava Island. But if Mario were to go there, then he'd better watch out for the nasty Lava Piranha that lives down there. I sure hope that nice animal doesn't go there either. It could eat her up for dessert...I could too if she were actually made of cotton candy. Her hair looks like it though..."

"...Ok. Good to know," Peach said, taking a bite of her cake as her worries began to grow again.

"Well, I better get going," Gourmet Guy said. "I'm pretty sure Mario's going to rescue you soon at this rate. Take care, Your Highness."

The Shy Guy made his leave, Twink coming out of his hiding spot with his cheeks stuffed full, finishing the rest of his cake with a gulp. "Oh boy. If Twilight and any of her found friends end up there, they're sure to be Piranha food."

"But Mario needs to know about this. He needs to save the Star Spirits." As dangerous as Mt. Lavalava is with the Lava Piranha guarding the next Star Spirit, Peach and Twink both knew this information needs to get to Mario, and soon. "Twink?"

"I'll tell them," he said, flying over to the window and opening it up. "I'll be back soon, Peach!"

Twink flew outside and closed the window, heading back down to the earth to find Mario. Peach looked down at her slice, wondering if any of Twilight's friends wound up on that dangerous island. She didn't have much time to ponder when the door opened up, Kammy Koopa walking in with irritation on her wrinkled face.

"What's with all that racket!? Keep it down!" The old witch walked around the table and spotted Princess Peach. "Ah, princess! So it was you making all that noise! You're a prisoner, and you shouldn't-!" Kammy did a double-take, realizing just who it was she was looking at. "W-What!? What are you even doing out of your room, anyway!? How did you get out!?"

"...Umm, I was hungry, and made myself a cake?" Peach said, her excuse working as Kammy still tried to figure out how she managed to escape her room for the fourth time.

"Guards, get in here right now!" Kammy bellowed, two Koopatrols walking in and were just as shocked as the Magikoopa to see Peach.

"Wha-? How is she out of her room again!?" one of them dared to ask.

"That's what I'd like to know! Who wasn't at their post!?" Before any of them could respond, Kammy whacked both Koopas hard in the head with her wand. "I don't want to hear anymore excuses! I'm sick of hearing you all say, 'But I was in front of the door! I didn't see her!' Get your lazy tails in gear and send her back in her room immediately!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" both Koopatrols said, obeying the irate witch's orders and ran up to Peach.

They escorted her back to her room, leaving Kammy to fume in thought. "Just how does she even get past one single guard standing at her door? And why was she eating something in here when she could have just asked for dinner." She looked at the cake, noticing the large chunk of the sliced cake being far more than how much she guessed the princess would actually eat. Her eyes trailed down to the ruffled cloth draped over the table, moving it over to reveal a plate with cake crumbs left underneath. "...Was there someone else here who snuck a slice with her? Unless it's that annoying Gourmet Guy, he wouldn't have been able to fit his fat behind under there...Something strange is going on here, and I have a bad feeling about this..."

Ignoring the plates and half-cut cake to the guards to clean up, Kammy Koopa slowly exited the room as she began formulating a backup plan. Knowing Mario must have already gotten the fourth Star Spirit by now, it was only a matter of time before he arrived to defeat Bowser and take back the Star Rod. She didn't have much time and needed those who were on break to help her if they had any chance in beating Mario for good this time.

Comments

[Texus]

oh god why did I found all the big storys now? I mean I can hardly finish that one I'm reading know.

However I think I'm quite happy with reading this after it's finished or I have the time too, I think this is not one of those stories where I think something could go wrong if I don't give my opinion on it
I often like to do that to have at least a chance to pretent something to happen that I dislike and maybe is done often enough.

[StarzGecko]

Every chapter there's so much happening and it's still so enjoyable to read a really great take on Paper Mario. Though I do feel like with so many companions that everyone is starting to become OP even the M6 are falling to it...

Be sure to make the journey tough for them so that they don't end up being OP.

[Codex92]

8330694
Well, Shy Guys seem a bit harmless and simple to fight by appearance alone. Watt is definitely OP as she can hit everything that isn't fire or has the shock status and can break through defenses. Even General Guy looks like a joke despite him being the Shy Guy leader, and he hid in a tank for his boss fight. The final encounter with Bowser, you know no one's going to OP him when he becomes OP himself.

[StarzGecko]

8330939
True. Just hope it does get challenging

[Justin Mershimer]

Are Mario and the gang going to fight the Master at the Dojo to get them stronger and ready for Bowser?

[Codex92]

8332478
I guess that depends on if I plan on making a chapter of the Dojo, The Master, and his two pupils. I'm not exactly sure myself, but I'll put some thought in it.

[Heavens_Angel]

If you were going to make a sequel in the distant future, here is an idea I would like to share. I would love to see Wiggy in paper Mario splash color as a bonus character. I could also see rainbow dash being drained of all six of her primary colors and Wiggy goes on a journey with Mario and the rest of the main six to find them and restore their friendas well as collect the lost Paint Stars.

[Justin Mershimer]

8333263
What about Kent C Koopa?

[Codex92]

8333572
I have yet to play that Paper Mario game and I have no idea what happens, so until I get up to a sequel involving that game after I play through it myself when I can acquire it, I'll probably end up stopping at Super Paper Mario until then. Although, given my updating schedule mixed with real life stuff getting in the way of my writing (along with boredom procrastination), I probably will make that sequel when the time comes.

[Codex92]

8333583
Maybe I'll put him in as a side fight near the end of the Lavalava Island chapters. They will end up seeing Kolorado waiting by Pleasant Path on their way to Chapter 6, anyway.

[Justin Mershimer]

8333263
I think it should be necessary because it'll improve their strength, agility, and mindset in the final battles.

[Heavens_Angel]

8333854
All I ask is to just consider it. And thanks for answering.:pinkiehappy

[Emperor Wolfgang]

That fight with the Koopatrol felt a bit on the short side compared to the fight with the Hammer Bros. in the previous chapter. Did the Koopatrol forget he could summon back up at anytime? Again Gourmet Guy is always funny to see. Hope to see him again sometime. And when I fought General Guy in Paper Mario, he gave me a bit of trouble. Still beat him on the first try though, if not barely. Maybe that's because I refused to use Watt? I don't know.
Anyway, overall great chapter, man.

[Codex92]

8357830
Since this is a story, the Koopatrol is practically by himself, so anything involving enemies calling for help won't happen unless they're in an area where they actually can call for backup, or in Fuzzies' cases, divide and make copies of themselves like a single-cell organism. And how dare you not use Watt!? Watt is OP in Paper Mario!...That, and when getting a new partner, you use that new partner to help you out against the bosses. Watt just destroys anything as long as they're not of fire or immune to electricity. And she's really helpful against General Guy and his cheap tank with that dangerous lightning attack from that annoying light bulb.

[Emperor Wolfgang]

8359579
So I've heard, but to me she wasn't all that powerful. See when I play or use a character in a video game, I usually pick the ones that hit hard. The less power something or someone packs, the less likely I'm going to pick it/him/her.
Every time I used Watt's primary attack, it would always do one damage. Never two, never three, just one damage point. Few times I've actually used her was for a damage buff, to paralyze enemies only for it to some times not work even though the gauge is full and I hit the right buttons, and in areas that required the use of Watt. I'm sorry, but Watt just didn't work out for me. Maybe I just don't know how to use Watt properly? Yeah, that's probably it, I just don't know how to use her.

[Codex92]

8360157
To do the maximum amount of damage with Watt, depending on her rank with all those added abilities, you have to hold down the A button until the star lights up at the end of the bar. It's similar to Bombette's Body Slam if you recall using her during chapter 1.

[Emperor Wolfgang]

8361085
Yeah, that's exactly what I do. I select the attack, hold the button required, wait for the star to light up, and release. No matter what, it always deals 1 point of damage to the enemy. Never fails.

[Codex92]

8362101
Ok, that's odd. Maybe you should try letting go right as the star lights up, not a second too late. Takes a bit of timing to get the max damage, even just using Mario's hammer or Kooper's shell toss where you let go after holding left. Try to work on your timing with Watt on weaker enemies and practice the timing. Unless you're playing Paper Mario on an emulator (which I sometimes do if I want to replay the game), then those graphics getting screwy can mess with your timing when attacking.

[Emperor Wolfgang]

8362949
Alright, I think I'll try that. I've already backtracked outside of Peach's Castle and dueled a Hammer Bro. Nothings changed though.
Hmmm...Maybe if I backtrack further. Yeah, I'll probably end up doing that, considering I beat the game months ago. Not really any need to beat it again, considering theirs no post-game content. Sad really. Might actually take the opportunity to find stuff I didn't find before. I'm missing a super block somewhere after all. That's what I think I'll do, practice with Watt on weaker enemies, and meanwhile Mario will do nothing. Thank you for your time, man. That's what I'll do.

[Codex92]

8364615
Yeah, I always ended up finding new things I didn't know when replaying Paper Mario over and over. I know all the super block locations, I've found all the star pieces and collected every badge, beat the dojo, but I have yet to try a level 1 run of the game, and I do not plan on doing that. I may know what I'm doing, but the lowest I've been able to beat the game without grinding star points was 18 I think. Paper Mario's fun, but its sequel is far better, and with a darker story, although Super Paper Mario's story is way better with how sad it gets at the end.

[Tailbiter231]

8365444
Yeah, the first three were the only really good ones, and the only ones it's fun to replay over and over again. First Paper Mario especially has nostalgic value, but by now so does the second.

[SammyLawrence]

Fun fact: when I was reading this story I made Big Lantern Ghost sound like Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas Watt sound like Venellope from Wreck It Ralph General Guy sound like Sarge from Toy Story and Muskular sound like John Cena (also I made Gourmet Guy share the same voice with Tubba Blubba so in short I also made Gourmet Guy sound like Big the Cat as well)