My Little Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

by Codex92

Mr. X and the Secrets of the Pit

"Oh yeah! Future champion of the Glitz Pit coming through!" Scrappy gloated as he waltzed into the minor league locker room ahead of the group. "I killed it out there, and all by myself!"

"Ok, Scrappy, settle down," Fluttershy gently chided, placing her hoof on the little Yoshi's head. "You're starting to get a bigger ego than Rainbow Dash, and if you keep that up, then I'm not letting you fight anymore."

"Aww, Mama Fluttershy! That's not fair!" Scrappy whined. Before he complained further, the yellow pegasus gave the Yoshi a stern glare, not exactly her signature Stare, but the look made Scrappy wince, instantly calming down. "Sorry, Mama Fluttershy...Can I still celebrate if we win a match?"

"Just not too much where you'll get on everypony's nerves," she said, making the Yoshi cheer as he continued his victory dance.

"At least Fluttershy can keep the little darling tamed from all the excitement," Flurrie noted.

"She's absolutely great with foals, even after watching my little sister and her friends back home," Rarity said.

"That was a BOOM explosive match!" Master Crash said. "Not even my team could BA-BOMB not blast those two Clefts tough bodies."

"All thanks to this little guy right here," Rainbow said, patting Scrappy's head. "I didn't think Yoshis could fight after seeing the ones on Lavalava Island, but they're pretty tough."

Jolene walked into the locker room, approaching Mario while the others tried to control Scrappy's excitement. "Great work, Gonzales," she said, giving Mario their coins for their win in the match. "Also, Mr. Grubba wants to see you and your team in his office." Curious to know what the fight promoter wanted with them, the group followed the Toadette down the halls to Grubba's office. As she opened the door, the Clubba yelped in surprise, quickly shoving something in one of his desk drawers in a panic with a hard slam, trying to act nonchalant with a bead of sweat running down his head. "Mr. Grubba, I brought Mr. Gonzales upon your request."

"M-Ms. Jolene, you mind your manners, now!" Grubba exclaimed. "We KNOCK around here, missy!"

"My apologies, Mr. Grubba," Jolene said with barely a hint of an apologetic tone.

"Don't you worry your pretty li'l head about it," the Clubba brushed off just as quickly as his surprise.

"What exactly were you looking at?" Pinkie asked, popping up behind Grubba's desk, startling him as he jumped back.

"N-Nothin' really important!" he quickly said, pushing the mare away and setting her back with her friends. Taking a moment to compose himself, he addressed the plumber, getting to the matter at hand with bringing his new fighter to his office. "Now, Gonzales, I am quite impressed by how far y'all have gotten. Even the crowd can't believe that amazin' comeback with your new little dino partner."

"Yeah, I am pretty awesome, aren't I?" Scrappy gloated, making Fluttershy clear her throat, reminding him to tone down his boasting.

"Not just that, but the demographic for our fights has reached out to even little girls, earning more fans for the Mane Six!" Grubba exclaimed gleefully. "The last couple days, there's been fan mail asking for more fights with the six of you ponies and your incredible talents in combat, even a toy line!"

"Wait, seriously?" Starlight asked.

"Why, of course! And with you all being in the major leagues, there's going to be merch with all your faces, memorable quotes, and even action figures! Don't that tickle your funny bones!?" While Rainbow, Pinkie, and Scrappy were overjoyed to have their images from the Glitz Pit seen throughout the continent, the others were a bit nervous, their growing popularity might be noticed by the X-Nauts. "Still working on the specs for the figures, but we're getting some posters and shirts ready for your growing fanbase, and there's already orders piling up!"

"Cool!" Scrappy cheered.

"Well, there ain't any for the little 'un just yet," Grubba said, disappointing the Yoshi. "But with a little more time in the spotlight, we'll get one for ya as well."

"Uhh...that's...great," Goombella uttered.

"But we're gonna need to work on Gonzales's outfit," Grubba added. "That plumber look's not gonna cut it forever. Maybe add some frills or somethin', make the red shirt a light pink."

"I think not!" Rarity interjected. "And if there's ever a need for a costume change, I will gladly do the honors myself. But Mario in pink and frills..."

The fashionista cringed imagining Mario in pink, though she could see Luigi making it look good, oddly enough. "Oh well. By all means," Grubba shrugged. "Now, let's get y'all settled into the major-league locker room, and you get more of them seats lined up while you break records reachin' for the stars!"

"Follow me, everyone," Jolene said, guiding the group over to the better locker rooms for the top ten fighters in the Glitz Pit.

They walked inside the locker room from the tour they were given upon arrival, seeing the same variety of fighters in the upper leagues from the very same tour. Most of them were pretty serious when they saw the quick up-and-coming fighting team walk in, Scrappy's waltzing in like a big shot not helping their welcoming committee respect them.

"Make way, here come the future champions!" the Yoshi announced. He was given hard stares from some of the major-league fighters, especially the Dark Koopatrol at rank 1. "...Sheesh. Not the friendliest group around here."

"You'd best keep your mouth shut around us, kid," the Koopatrol warned with a growl. "We all saw your first debut against the Armored Harriers. You're in way over your head if you think you're able to take on the likes of us."

"Ah, don't mind Red Eyes," the blue-shelled Koopa with sunglasses said. "He's in a tiff because he always loses to Rawk Hawk when he gets the chance to fight him."

The Dark Koopatrol grumbled irritably with clenched fists, then huffed and sulked over on the other side of the room. "The major-league locker room has the same type of match system as the minor league's, but the bouts are definitely going to be more challenging," Jolene said. "I must be going. Good luck out there."

Jolene made her leave as she adjusted her glasses. The Koopa who spoke up approached the newcomers in the major league.

"You're gonna need a whole lot of it here," he said. "I'm kinda surprised you made it here in less than a week. Maybe you might show Rawk Hawk a thing or two about humility when he finally gets his butt whooped." Not even a second later, the door to the locker room slammed open, and in comes Rawk Hawk, smirking as he looked down at his fellow competitors. "Uh oh. Speaking of, here's the big cheese himself."

"Listen up, losers!" Rawk Hawk said. "I've been hearing about a rising star rising up in the ranks, and I just saw them fight the Armored Wusses not too long ago." He looked at Mario, scoffing at how he looked up close compared to his fights in the arena. And when he eyed at his partners, especially the six colorful mares, he chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know how you got lucky enough to get here, but your little rainbow pets won't do you much good if you face me in a match. And that's a big IF, buddy."

"You know, you're not really all that threatening," Rainbow said. "We've faced way worse than some pro fighter. You're going down, Rawk Hawk, and we're gonna be taking that belt from you."

"Hah! A squishy little pigeon like you thinks you can take me on!?" Rawk Hawk laughed, poking Rainbow's muzzle, which made her growl. "You'll barely last a second with the RAWK!"

While Rainbow struggled to keep herself from beating the crap out of Rawk Hawk for calling her a pigeon, Scrappy noticed everyone else in his group was staring at the champion's belt. "Hey, why is everyone looking at this guy's belt?"

Goombella gently pulled the Yoshi aside so none of the other fighters heard them, seeing they all needed to explain to him why they were in the Glitz Pit in the first place. "Well, I know you were kinda just...'born' not that long ago, we're not really here to be champions in the Glitz Pit," she explained. The news surprised Scrappy, peaking his curiosity. Goombella moved over to their belongings, which were moved in this locker room from the minor league's from the security team during their brief visit with Grubba, finding Mario's backpack and took out one of the two Crystal Stars they found. "We're looking for seven mystical gems called Crystal Stars, which will open up something called The Thousand-Year Door once we find them all."

"Ooooh. Shiny," Scrappy uttered, his eyes transfixed on the shimmering light the Crystal Star gave off.

"And one of those Crystal Stars is on Rawk Hawk's champion's belt," Goombella pointed out. "We can't just take it, or else we'll get in a lot of trouble. So, we're fighting to get that Crystal Star, then we're leaving to find the next one."

"Ohhhh. Now I get it." Scrappy looked at Rawk Hawk, who was still poking fun at the mares while flaunting his title. The curious Yoshi walked up to the golden bird, examining his belt up close. Rawk Hawk looked down at the Yoshi, a bit unnerved with him eyeing his belt, thinking he was going to steal it. Not as entranced as he was with the real Crystal Star Goombella showed him, Scrappy turned to face his friends. "Hey, this star's a fake! It's not shiny at all!"

Despite all but Goombella being confused by Scrappy's statement, Rawk Hawk didn't take that well, glaring at the Yoshi with a twitching eye, grabbing the green dino by the scruff of his neck and hoisting him up to his face. "Oh, we got ourselves a smart mouth here!" he exclaimed. "You're saying my belt's a fake!?"

"Noooo, I said the star's fake," Scrappy reiterated. "But if you wanna tussle, put me down and I'll give you the ol' one-two, flutter-kick in the roo!"

Rawk Hawk snorted, then laughed at the ridiculous, childish statement the Yoshi made. "Well, ain't that just cute?" he mocked, dropping Scrappy, who quickly landed back on his feet. He grumbled when Rawk Hawk patted his head, knowing full well the champion was making fun of him and wanted to pummel him to prove he wasn't as weak as he looked. "Now, listen here, you little runt. You're lucky you're not in the ring, otherwise I would batter you all across the floor like a rag."

Fluttershy immediately went into protective mother mode, flying right up to Rawk Hawk, startling him with the menacing glare she gave him. "You so much as touch a soft, squishy scale on Scrappy's cute, little head, you're going to regret hurting my little Yoshi, Mr. Hawk!"

Rawk Hawk glanced at Fluttershy and Scrappy, questioning how this pegasus was the mother of a Yoshi, but when she didn't get a response from him, Fluttershy used her Stare, making him tremble. "Uhh...W-Well, y-you know this is a fighting competition, right? So-"

"I don't care what it is, but if you hurt my little Yoshi in any way, I'll hurt you," Fluttershy warned.

Rainbow hovered beside Rawk Hawk, giving him a cheeky smirk. "I would heed my friend's warning, dude," she advised. "Fluttershy might look meek, but get in the way of something cute and cuddly she's willing to protect, she'll gain the strength of ten Applejacks and beat you until you're black and blue."

"Ah don't think that's accurate, but Fluttershy can be a might terrifyin' if ya put a critter she's fond of in danger," Applejack said.

Rawk Hawk recovered from the soul-piercing Stare as Fluttershy backed off, letting out a scoff as he made his way out the door. "I won't let anyone take my title from me. Especially not a mustachioed midget and his cheerleading squad."

He slammed the door, leaving the other major-league fighters stunned by Fluttershy's surprising boldness and overprotection with Scrappy. "...Well...that's a first," the Dark Koopatrol uttered. "He's definitely worried about you guys, but I won't believe you can beat him until you get to me. Which I doubt you'll be there at the rate you're rising ranks."

"Uhh, Scrappy, what did you mean earlier about the star on Rawk Hawk's belt?" Koops asked.

"Goombella told me about these Crystal Star thingies you were looking for before you met me," he said. "They were real shiny..." Scrappy trailed off, but quickly shook his head before he got too distracted, cursing his curious instincts. "But the one on his belt wasn't as shiny if they're that important."

"The Crystal Star on his belt was a fake?" Starlight questioned. Grabbing the Magical Map, she looked at the Crystal Star they were searching for, still hovering over Glitzville. "That doesn't make sense."

"Well, now that I think about it, it was hard to tell when we first saw it in the stands," Rarity said. "The Crystal Stars do have that added bit of enchanted luster that makes them stand out. And I believe Scrappy might be right."

"So we've been fighting for absolutely nothing!?" Pinkie screeched. "Aww, pony feathers! Where's the real one at, then!?"

Suddenly, Mario's Mailbox SP began to go off, but with a different ringtone than the one for Princess Peach's emails. Pulling out his device, Mario reads out the mysterious message someone gave him aloud.

iF yOu WaNt ThE cRyStAl StAr, HeEd My InStRuCtIoNs.
FrOm X

Despite the odd typing system to hide their true identity when just the name "X" was enough for a mystery, this mysterious person who knew about the whereabouts of the real Crystal Star in Glitzville baffled them. "Who the hay is this X guy?" Rainbow asked. "And why does he want to help us?"

"Should we trust him?" Starlight asked.

Mario shrugged, but if this X took the time to figure out his email address and give him instructions to earn the Crystal Star, they had no choice but to follow through with X's future instructions while continuing their rise to fighting stardom. Since it was late in the evening, everyone turned in for the night, resting up for their next few bouts in the major league. Their next match was against The Tiny Spinies, two Red Spike Tops, quite a difficult pair of Buzzy Beetles with the spike on their shells to keep them from being flipped over helplessly on their backs. Luckily, Mario had his enchanted Lucky Charm, a simple jump thanks to the protective glow of Fluttershy's magic preventing an enemy's counter defenses from hurting him or anyone, wowing the crowd when he didn't prick his feet off their spikes. Then there were The Poker Faces, two Bristles, who were just like the ones back in Petalburg when headed for the ruins east of Koops' hometown, using the same method like The Tiny Spinies.

After that match, as the group recuperated, Mario's Mailbox SP rang again with that same ringtone, Pinkie dancing along to the catchy beat while humming it, only to be disappointed when the plumber opened it to check what was sent. "Aww, I like that tune!" Pinkie whined. "It's got an ice worldly tune to it."

Ignoring the odd specifics of Pinkie's thoughts on the strange ringtone, he read out the next message from their "friend" X.

gO tO tHe WaTeRiNg HoLe OuTsIdE ThE gLiTz PiT.
FrOm X

"'The watering hole'?" Starlight uttered curiously. "Does X mean the juice bar outside the arena?"

"Sounds like the only logical place to check out," Goombella said. "But does Mario have to do this alone, or should we come with him in case it's a trap?"

"I think Mario can get out of any sticky situations without us getting in the way," Rainbow said. "Go check it out, Mario. We'll hold things down if we can reserve our next match."

Mario nodded, following X's advice and made his way to Glitzville's juice bar. After leaving the locker room, Mario overheard a conversation around the corner, a bit farther away from Grubba's office. He noticed Jolene with one of the security guards, both of them standing in front of the locked door between the Clubba's office and the champion's luxurious room.

"So you're telling me that you have no idea who got inside?" Jolene questioned. "What do we pay you for?"

"I'm awful sorry, Ms. Jolene," the guard apologized. "I heard a noise in there, but I couldn't find nothing..."

Jolene let out a tsk in irritation, then shook her head. "Fine, leave the rest of the matter to me. Go back to your post. And listen to me carefully: do not EVER tell anyone this or I'll have your job."

The guard nodded, then walked off to return to his duty while Jolene headed the other way to continue working. Mario was a little suspicious about what was behind that door, seeing how it might be some kind of storage room. He turned around and focused on heading for the juice bar, jumping back in shock when he saw Bandy Andy standing behind him without making a sound.

"Sorry there, Gonzales," Andy apologized. "Didn't mean to make you jump out of your skin. You doing some snooping of your own?" Once Mario stopped his heart from pounding in his chest, he shook his head, keeping his emails from X a secret. "Oh well. Your loss." The Bandit walked past the plumber and continued his sneaky snooping. "If you are curious, though, check your pockets, Gonzales."

After Andy rounded the corner, Mario balked, thinking the Bandit fighter stole his coins. Quickly sifting through his pockets, his money wasn't taken, but there was a folded up piece of paper he knew wasn't there. Opening it up, he read what was written, the top of the page reading "The Seven Wonders of the Glitz Pit".

1. The Sealed Wall: The remains of fallen athletes are rumored to be stored behind a sealed wall in a minor-league locker room.
2. The Man-Eating Toilet: A toilet in the major-league locker room is said to devour anyone who attempts to use it.
3. The Stairs of Mystery: An unknown room in the Glitz Pit has a second floor but no stairs, and groaning noises can be heard coming from above.
4. The Haunted Boudoir: The champion's room is rumored to be haunted. People within the room claim that they hear voices whispering from nowhere, supposedly the voices of athletes who lost to the champion.
5. The Spooky Ring-Lights: Strange lights supposedly leak from under the ring doors when nobody is inside.
6. The Missing Ones: Sometimes fighters disappear for no reason and never return, including the first champion, Prince Mush.
7. Grubba and Jolene: The first part of this wonder is that Grubba is muscular despite being past sixty-years old. Secondly, Jolene has been known to suddenly vanish.

Mario raised a brow at the seven odd "wonders", and wondering if this was what Andy was trying to discover during his sleuthing outside the locker room. They sounded completely ridiculous, although the first one made him frighteningly curious with the large yellow block in the minor-league locker room. Stuffing the seven wonders Andy "gave" him back in his pocket, Mario left the wonders alone and continued on his way out of the Glitz Pit.

When he reached the bar, a decent place he and his friends went to for a nice cold beverage and some food, the bartender recognized the plumber, though more as his fighter persona in the Glitz Pit. "Ah, Mr. Gonzales! Just the mustachioed man I was looking for!" Confused, Mario pointed to himself curiously. "Yes, you!...Well, actually, you're a bit late. Someone left a package and a note by the door a little while ago. The letter said: 'Look for a thick-'stached man named Gonzales and give him this.'" The bartender pulled out the package he mentioned from behind the counter, handing it to Mario. He opened the package, and inside was a new hammer, looking similar to the Super Hammer he found in Dry Dry Ruins, though the double-sided head of the mallet was a more bright silver. "Ah. That's a new model of hammer: the HAMMAWHACK 2005. Solid craftsmanship, good grip, high bonkability.

"Must be a gift from a big fan, seeing how expensive getting one of these can be. But...why leave it in a juice bar of all places? A bit odd leaving it here rather than officially handing it to the pro fighter." As the bartender shrugged and returned to tending to the other patrons, Mario's Mailbox SP rang again, the same ringtone from X as he checked it.

SmAsH tHe BlOcKaDe In ThE mInOr-LeAgUe LoCkEr RoOm.
FrOm X

Now X wanted Mario to break down the block in the minor-league locker room, right after learning of the wonder about fallen athletes "stored" behind that blockade. He hoped the wonder wasn't true, his need to find that Crystal Star more important than whatever trouble he'll get himself into. Heading back to the Glitz Pit with his new hammer, Mario tried to figure out how he was going to sneak into the locker room when there's security guards keeping a watch on all the doors throughout the building. As soon as he got close to the minor-league locker room, the guard at the door noticed Mario while he pondered what to do.

"Ah, Gonzales," he said, getting Mario's attention. "I got word that you wanted to move back down to the minor league again." Mario grimaced as he heard the strange statement. There was no way he wanted to go back to the minor leagues after getting as far as he has, let alone any sane fighter wanting to lower their fame when reaching for the top. But, if this was the chance he had in order to get in and break that giant block down, he took it, nodding his head after a bit of awkward hesitation. "Well, that is kind of weird of you to actually want this, but go right on in."

The guard stepped aside, allowing Mario through. He didn't know if this was dumb luck, or someone pulling the strings to allow him to break the rules like this. Maybe it was X manipulating the guards through some hypnosis or magic. Walking inside, the gang in the locker room were a bit surprised to see him waltz right in, even though he was in the major leagues.

"Gonzales? W-What are you doing back?" Sir Swoop asked.

Mario didn't know what to say, or even explain why he was really here in the first place. They watched him approach the yellow block, curious to know why he was transfixed on it, although the two Iron Clefts glared at the plumber, still humiliated after their loss in their second match. Mario pulled out his old hammer, giving it a hard whack, which barely made a dent or cracked it slightly. He was a little skeptical that the patented HAMMAWHACK 2005 was stronger than the Ultra Hammer he found in Mt. Lavalava, but if X believed it could break this block more than his old one, he was going to take the mystery person's word for it. Grasping his new hammer, he wound back his swing, and to make sure it was destroyed, Mario spun around rapidly as he smacked the block several times. The last strike out of four caused the block to break apart, revealing a hidden storage room.

"Whoa BOOM!" Crash exclaimed, he and the others staring in shock at the secret room.

"Cleftor call new room," Cleftor said, apparently calling dibs on the extended part of their locker room they never knew about.

Mario was kind of glad that first wonder was debunked, thankfully being a separate storage room with a lot of old books on a dusty bookshelf, a broken computer on a desk, no sign of any fallen fighters. Unsure what he was supposed to look for, he noticed something at the top of the bookshelf that didn't seem as old as the books that were stored away. Leaping up and grabbing the small stack of pages held together with a paper clip, Mario took a look at them once he landed. To his shock, the pages had scientific details on the Crystal Stars, even pictures of the Crystal Star they were looking for were taken.

"Mr. Gonzales?" Jolene said, startling Mario from his "reading". "What are you doing in here? This is the minor-league locker rooms. Those in a higher league are forbidden from entering the lower ranked rooms, or even bash walls down for absolutely no reason." Mario grimaced, figuring he would have gotten caught after hearing how loud that big yellow block broke to pieces. Of course, with her being strict, Jolene would be the one to check on things. She approached him, snatching away the papers he just acquired. "I'll be confiscating THIS for your recklessness, thank you very much."

Mario wanted to protest, but if he didn't want to get kicked out, he kept his mouth shut as he watched her walk off with the item X wanted him to see. At least there was proof that the Crystal Star was here, but who was researching the Crystal Stars here in Glitzville? After returning to the major-league locker room, ignorant of the Armored Harriers giving him the death glare as he left, his friends waited to hear what he found, only to come back with a brand new hammer and knowing their Crystal Star was still here in the floating battle city.

"So THAT'S what was behind that block," Pinkie said. "I knew there was something suspicious behind it, and yet neither of our older hammers worked! Curse you, sequel reset rules!"

"Was there anything else X sent you to go to?" Starlight asked, but Mario shook his head. "Drat. At least we can trust him if he knew those papers were there."

"Or...what if this X guy is a girl?" Scrappy theorized.

"There is that, too," Flurrie agreed. "Whoever this X is, we should follow their instructions regardless."

"I just hope we get the Crystal Star, soon," Koops said, gulping nervously. "I-I kinda forget everyone in the continent...watches us...And...Koopie Koo..."

Koops blushed, twiddling his fingers bashfully. The girls all giggled as Koops' girlfriend could be watching them fight in the Glitz Pit, impressing her more and more with his fighting skills.

They continued reserving matches, their next fight against the blue-shelled Koopa and his team, The Shellshockers. Grubba requested Mario not to use his hammer, which wasn't much of an issue since they were fighting Koopa Troopas, though these were considered Shady Koopas from Goombella's mental knowledge, two normal and one Paratroopa. During the fight, Mario took care of the Shady Paratroopa, bouncing on his head to make him lose his wings and fall on his back, but instead of expecting them to be helpless, the fallen Koopa ducked in his shell and tossed himself at the current party fighting. Luckily, they managed to leap out of the way, Rainbow diving down to slam down on his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. They were careful with the next two, taking care not to knock them over and finished the fight with Scrappy snatching one with his dexterous tongue and spitting him back out into his partner.

Grubba announced The Great Gonzales and his team the winners, the crowd roaring in applause. Unfortunately, there were a couple party crashers who ran through the crowd, heading straight for the ring. It was the Armored Harriers, spouting out their anger toward Mario and his team for humiliating them in their match. They tried to beat the group to get revenge, but Scrappy made short work of them like before with his kind's specialty: snatching anything with their tongues, shove them in their mouths, and either spit them at their enemies or turn them into eggs to throw at said enemies. Despite the extra fight, the crowd went nuts as they chanted Scrappy's name, inflating the Yoshi's ego even more, to Fluttershy's chagrin.

Once back in the locker room and obtaining their winnings, Scrappy calming down after the adrenaline rush of their last match, Mario's Mailbox SP began to ring that familiar tune. "Yeesh! What now!?" Goombella exclaimed.

He pulled out his mobile email device and read what was sent.

Keep sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong and you are D-E-A-D M-E-A-T!

"Well, that was a friendly message," Applejack commented sarcastically.

"It definitely wasn't our buddy X," Rainbow said. "Wonder who sent that one?"

"A Rawk Hawk fan who doesn't like us very much?" Pinkie guessed.

"It was obvious we were going to have somepony out there jeering us for getting close to eventually winning the champion's belt," Rarity added.

Whoever the hate mail came from, they shrugged it off and continued with their next match against The Fuzz. By their name, the group consisted of three Fuzzies: a normal black Fuzzy, a Green Fuzzy similar to the Forest Fuzzies back in the Mushroom Kingdom, and a Flower Fuzzy, which was pink and, when it latched onto Pinkie Pie in the match, it sucked away some of her energy rather than her own health. It was quite an easy fight, making Starlight and Goombella question how these three Fuzzies were ranked 6. With their victory set and another rank up, Jolene came into the locker room to give them their winnings, but she also had a present she brought in.

"Here are your earnings, Gonzales," Jolene said. She placed the present down on the small table in the middle of the room after giving Mario the coins. "Some fan also wanted to give you and your team a cake."

"Cake!?" Pinkie exclaimed. She rushed toward the gift box, ripping away the box with a flurry of pink hooves to reveal a delicious vanilla cake with white frosting and strawberries topped in a circular pattern. Already, everyone's mouth watered at the sight of such a delicacy, making some of the other fighters jealous at such a gift. "It looks yummy!"

Jolene left to let the team eat their gift, Starlight using her magic to slice evenly cut pieces for everyone, even to the jealous fighters so they didn't feel left out. The other fighters thought it was an odd gesture, but they didn't complain and enjoyed their slice, especially the Koopa from Shellshockers. After finishing their snack, Mario reserved another match against the Magikoopa Masters: three Magikoopas with red, green, and white robes respectively. Yet another fight with familiar foes, the Green Magikoopa on a broomstick while the other two favored the ground. Mario's party avoided their magic spells, being mindful of the Green Magikoopa turning his allies invisible or electrocuting them, took out the White Magikoopa as their team's healer, and knocked out the other two before they could try to strengthen their defenses.

The crowd cheered at the Magikoopas' defeat. "We got ourselves a winner! THE GRRRRRREAT GONZALES!!!!" Grubba announced.

As the group waved, Mario noticed something in the crowd on the ground floor of the stadium, standing out among the smaller audience. "MAAARIOOOOOO!!!!!"

Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy winced, recognizing that roar anywhere. Charging through the crowd, that roar came from none other than Bowser, to everyone's shock. How Grubba didn't have security stop anyone from interrupting fights or jumping in right at the end was beyond them, but with Bowser, they doubted security could stop the fire-breathing Koopa King.

"Bowser!?" all the mares sans Starlight exclaimed.

Bowser jumped onto the ring, shoving aside the fallen team the group just beat. "Looks like we got ourselves another fighter stormin' in screamin' his head off!" Grubba commentated. "Gonzales seems to have a lot of foes, doesn't he? Some don't even know his real name!"

"What are you doing here, you jerk!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Is that really this Bowser guy who attacked you girls?" Starlight asked, her expectations shot down after hearing how scary Bowser was. "...I thought he'd be a little bit bigger. Like dragon-size."

"At least he doesn't have the Star Rod anymore," Rarity said. "But how in Equestria did he find us!?"

"I overheard someone mentioning a mustachioed doofus here in Glitzville," Bowser said. "And would you look at that? Perfect timing, along with all six of you rainbow-" He paused when he looked at Starlight. Even though he didn't care much about who the ponies were, or even bothered learning their names, Starlight was obviously not the alicorn who accompanied the other five with their friendship magic beam. "...Who the heck are you? Don't tell me you replaced that one with wings and a horn."

"My name is Starlight Glimmer, and I didn't replace Twilight," Starlight said irritably. "She's been kidnapped and we're trying to find her. Along with your princess you seem to be fond of and love to kidnap on a daily basis."

"So you know where Princess Peach is!?" Bowser exclaimed. "Who took her and tell me where she is before I beat the info out of you!!!"

"You were going to beat us up regardless!" Pinkie said, waving her hammer around intimidatingly.

"Darn right I am!" Just as Bowser was about to charge them, he yelped when he was hit by a Yoshi egg, splattering all over his face. "Ahh! Ptth! What-Who threw that!?"

Another egg, the comedic stumbling Bowser did made the audience laugh. Wiping off the eggshells and yolk, Bowser leered at the Yoshi fighter, tossing an egg in one hand casually with a cocky grin.

"I did!" Scrappy proclaimed, throwing his last egg in Bowser's face again with perfect accuracy. "Suck it, jerk!"

"Scrappy, no!" Fluttershy shrieked, snatching the Yoshi before he tried to charge after the Koopa King. "He's too dangerous!"

"Oh, that's it! I'm gonna kill that runt, then I'm coming for all of you!" Bowser roared, wiping off the last egg's contents, his face red with rage as he unleashed a flamethrower on the group.

Mario was about to help them, but Starlight quickly stepped in, casting a barrier strong enough to withstand Bowser's intense flame breath. Forcing her barrier forward, she sent it smacking into Bowser, making him grunt in shock as he was flipped onto his back.

"You're not laying a single claw on my friends, you overweight, wannabe dragon!" Starlight said.

"I'm not fat! I'm big boned!" Bowser whined. He got back up, glaring daggers at the powerful unicorn. "I've about had it with you and your magic!"

"Then how about a beating!" Rainbow yelled, ramming into Bowser's chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Without the Star Rod, Bowser was far weaker than he was from their first encounter, and he had nothing to keep him invincible unless he hid in his shell. He picked a bad time to be ganged up by The Great Gonzales and his team, some of the other mares getting their chance to beat up the Koopa King for all he did to them back then. Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie were a bit wary as they watched THE Bowser fight against Mario, hearing stories about how tough he was, but seeing him getting his tail handed to by his archenemy was kind of satisfying to see him get his comeuppance. Mario dealt the finishing blow with a jumping uppercut to his chin, sending the large Koopa up in the air before coming down with a painful crash outside the arena.

The crowd went wild once again as they witnessed the unscripted second match, Grubba letting out a chuckle to put his two cents in. "What a show! That's our Gonzales!" he said. "Not even battin' an eye from an ambush! Stay tuned for our next few rounds of battles for the day, folks! Until then!"

---

After the match, everyone took a small break from fighting the rest of the day after encountering Bowser in this continent. Even though the audience ate it up with two different additional, out of nowhere fights, Bowser's appearance rose some red flags. They had no idea how he figured out Peach got kidnapped, but if they keep running into him, he's not going to be rational even if they agreed on a truce and worked together to stop the X-Nauts. Even if they had the same enemy, Bowser was too stubborn to receive any help from his enemy.

Once they got enough rest, they continued rising up and ranking up, reserving a match against Craw-Daddy. It was only one foe, who just so happened to be a Craw like the ones in Rogueport, only his color scheme was darker and he had red eyes, similar to the Dark Koopatrol in an intimidating way. Craw-Daddy was pretty tough with that spear of his, but with the advantage of a party, the tough Dark Craw was no match with the power of teamwork. Thankfully, no other haters ran through the crowd to attack Mario, and Bowser was thankfully gone, probably kicked out of the Glitz Pit the other day by security.

Winning the match and taking their earnings from Jolene, the group wondered what to do next while worrying about Bowser showing up again. The silence was broken by Mario's Mailbox SP ringing, opening it up to see another email from their friend X.

gO tO tHe TeLePhOnE bOoTh OuT oN tHe PaViLiOn.
FrOm X

"Here we go again," Rainbow uttered. "More secrets this place is hiding."

"What could there possibly be at a phone booth?" Goombella asked.

"You think...X wants to talk with us through the phone?" Koops pondered.

"Only one way to find out," Starlight said. "I'll come with you this time. So far, X isn't really looking for specifications on Mario doing this alone or with someone. If he sends another message, then I'll come back here."

Mario nodded, taking his leave with Starlight alongside him. They barely entered the hall before Rawk Hawk stopped them, waiting for Gonzales to come out to speak with him personally.

"Perfect timing, Gonzales!" he said, making Mario and Starlight groan irritably. "Uncle Rawk Hawk's got some advice from you and your little animal cheer squad. Keep stealing the spotlight from me, and you'll be in for a world of hurt."

"I think you're just scared of losing," Starlight said. "We've got more important things to worry about than your petty scare tactics, or even your belt now."

"Oh, so you think you can just brush off winning the title if it's 'easy' to take!? Mark my words, you grape-flavored, candy land loser. The Great Gonzales is gonna be The Great Washout if you mess with me!" With a huff, Rawk Hawk retreated to his room, leaving Starlight fuming with yet another name someone gave to an Equestrian.

"Is it that hard to call me or the other girls 'ponies'?" she questioned. "I'll show him who the loser is when he gets zapped over and over with non-lethal bolts of magic lightning." At thought suddenly crossed her mind after recalling the mysterious threat mail they got a while ago. "...Say, you don't think...Rawk Hawk sent that threatening message yesterday, did he?"

Mario shrugged, not entirely concerned with the champion's idle threats, regardless if it was personally from his beak or through text. Ignoring Rawk Hawk's warning, the duo continued following X's message and headed outside the Glitz Pit. They found the phone booth outside the shop, only instead of expecting the phone to ring as they got closer, they found a key sitting in the middle of the booth's floor. Wondering what it would open, the Mailbox SP rang again, receiving another message from X.

gO tO tHe StOrAgE rOoM nExT tO gRuBbA's OfFiCe.
FrOm X

"The storage room, huh?" Starlight uttered. "Guess this key must belong to that locked door. But who would be dumb enough to leave the key out here? What if somepony else took it?"

Mario was just as clueless, shocked at how irresponsible the caretaker of such an important key could leave it behind. Or, maybe X really was working in the Glitz Pit and knew something neither the owner or his assistant knew of. So many questions were raised, along with another wild goose chase, but Mario and Starlight made their way back in the Glitz Pit, heading around the hall to the locked storage room. Mario let Starlight know that Jolene questioned a guard yesterday about hearing something inside, even though the door had been locked. Taking caution, they both looked around so they didn't get caught, unlocked the door, and quickly walked inside. There were some metal crates in the room, three in one corner while several more were neatly organized on the other. And, to Mario and Starlight's surprise, standing on top of the crates was Ms. Mowz, up to some more "treasure hunting".

"Well, well, well," Ms. Mowz tittered in amusement. "My hunky cheese wedge has found me again. We have got to stop meeting like this, darling."

"Oh, great," Starlight groaned as Ms. Mowz flipped off the crate, landing beside her "hunky cheese wedge", the nickname making the unicorn gag. "So, the guards have been hearing you rummaging through the storage room's 'treasures'?"

"Hmm? Hearing me?" the mouse thief questioned, then laughed in amusement. "Hon, I'm quite an experienced mouse-burglar. I never make any noise to give away my location while sneaking into places with expensive treasures." Her statement baffled Mario and Starlight. If Ms. Mowz never made any noise in here, then what did? "Anyway, I got what I was looking for, so I'll be on my way. Until we meet again, my mustached hunk." She snuck a kiss on Mario's cheek as she ran past him, the plumber not seeing that coming despite knowing how she made her exits. Before leaving the room, she turned back to Mario and Starlight. "Oh, before I forget, you should know there's some secrets to this arena. You and your friends should be careful, lest you end up like those poor souls upstairs."

She slipped out of the door and made her escape, her cryptic warning startling the two. "Poor souls?" Starlight asked nervously. Mario's Mailbox SP suddenly rang, scaring Starlight and made her jump into Mario's arms. Realizing where the music was coming from, the unicorn growled, climbing out of Mario's arms, to his amusement. "I hate when it just goes off out of nowhere! It's worse than Pinkie Pie...and I always expect her to pop in out of nowhere!"

Mario chuckled as he pulled out his mobile messenger, seeing what X had sent them this time.

fInD tHe StAiRcAsE sWiTcH tO rEaCh ThE aTtIc.
FrOm X

"A staircase switch?" Starlight questioned. "All I see in here's a bunch of metal crates. Probably filled with fighting props or some smelly wrestling outfits they didn't bother washing."

As Starlight scrunched her nose in disgust at the latter theory she made, Mario was a little disturbed by X's lead. It sounded like The Stairs of Mystery wonder from Bandy Andy's list, from the mystery stairs that can be revealed to Ms. Mowz mentioning someone being upstairs. These wonders really weren't coincidental at this point, but Mario was going to keep his doubts in case this building really was haunted. Finding the switch for the stairs shouldn't be too hard, probably hiding behind one of the crates. As Mario moved to one in the larger group, instead of feeling solid metal, he felt some sort of thick tarp among the solid surface. Confused and curious, he tugged it, moving the tarp off to reveal several yellow sand blocks.

Starlight noticed and was just as shocked as Mario. The Glitz Pit's stored gear wasn't here in this room, or maybe not on this floor. Mario smashed his way through the blocks, finally locating the switch hidden behind the large stack. Pressing it, a metal staircase unfolded itself down from the ceiling, revealing the second hidden level of the storage room. Climbing up the stairs to see wooden crates, the Pit's actual storage units, another locked door, and another huge yellow block behind a blockade of crates that were able to be climbed over. Starlight tried to use the same key on this new lock, but the teeth wouldn't fit halfway through, which meant they needed a different key for it. The only place the duo could check was what was hidden from that block.

After climbing over the crates, Mario performed the same rapid spin on the block with his new hammer, destroying it to uncover an opened grate leading to the crawlspace above the first floor's ceiling. Seeing no other way with no lead as to what they should find, Mario and Starlight jumped down and carefully crawled along the confined space. Passing by some pipes, there was a grate on the other side leading back down to the storage room's first floor, and ahead was some light seeping in through a small hole, where they could hear a conversation taking place. Keeping quiet, Mario and Starlight peeked through the hole curiously, looking down in Grubba's office with the Clubba and Jolene in the middle of a private meeting.

"...So you didn't find hide or hair of nobody in the storage room, that what you're sayin'?" Grubba asked.

"Yes, Mr. Grubba," Jolene said with a nod. "It appeared to be secure. But don't worry, sir. I've taken the necessary precautions. It was most likely just a rat or something."

"Well, no big deal either way," Grubba said. "Ain't nothin' in there we'd miss too much anyway. Thanks for stayin' on top of this, Jolene." The Toad nodded again, although Mario and Starlight figured Grubba was going to have a field day when they notice a few "crates" were missing. "Oh, by the way, any word on King K.?"

"I'm afraid we still don't know where the whereabouts of King K., Mr. Grubba." Jolene's response baffled Mario and Starlight. King K. said he was retiring after the last match they last saw him, which didn't make sense for him to be considered missing. "I deleted his spot on our roster per regulations. The Glitz Pit no longer has any official connection to KP Pete, a.k.a. King K. I have, of course, taken the same steps with all fighters who have gone missing."

Grubba let out a heavy sigh, looking a bit worried. "Fighters sure have been goin' missin' a lot, lately," he said, rubbing his forehead while leaning back in his chair. "That's the fifth one this year! What in tarnation is goin' on around here? I even heard some security idjit say the Pit's cursed."

"I doubt that, sir, but I certainly don't understand the disappearances," Jolene said in agreement.

"Well, for the time bein', tell the other fellas that King K. headed home for a spell," Grubba instructed, even though King K. did say he was going to quit before he "left". "If word gets out about missin' fighters, it sure ain't gonna be any good for business. Nasty rumors have a way of sendin' folks runnin' to the hills, know what I mean?"

"I understand completely, Mr. Grubba," Jolene said. "I will take care of everything, sir."

Jolene headed for the door, but Grubba leaned forward on his desk, a thought running through his mind. "Y'know, Jolene," he said, causing the Toad to stop. "You're a dang find manager, but you just plumb disappear sometimes...I just gotta know! Where in the world do ya go, darlin'?"

It was hard to see through the peephole, but Jolene seemed to tense up a little, slowly turning to face Grubba. "Uh...T-That's...Mr. Grubba, I know you're my boss, but I don't believe that's any of your business."

"Easy! Didn't mean to pry, now!" Grubba said apologetically. "Well, how about this, then...Heard of a Crystal Star?"

Jolene's eyes widened, almost flinching in shock, but kept her stoic expression despite her reaction. "...N-No...I've never heard of such a thing, Mr. Grubba..."

"Okeydoke. Well, I 'preciate your time, Ms. Jolene," Grubba said. "You go ahead and run along, now, ya hear?" Without another word, Jolene hastily left, her reactions making her all the more suspicious of her actions. Grubba sighed again, pondering what to do about the unfortunate happenings in his business. "Well, ain't this a fine how-do-you-do? Good fighters are turnin' into a dying breed. Gonzales is the best draw I've got 'round here."

"Unbelievable," Starlight uttered. "King K. was supposed to be retired, but he's missing, along with several others? Who else was in the roster before they were unheard from?"

"Huh!? What was that!?" Grubba exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling in a panic as he heard Starlight. The unicorn quickly covered her mouth, not realizing how loud she was talking as both her and Mario grimaced. "There someone up there!?"

They both looked at each other, Starlight eventually calming down enough to find a way to avoid getting caught. "...Squeak. Squeak squeak..."

"...Phew. Just a mouse crawlin' around," Grubba said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I need to relax. Maybe call pest control if we're startin' to get mice and rats up in the crawlspace. Maybe after some more matches, I'll do some yoga or somethin'."

Grubba stood up and left his office to continue entertaining the masses for the day. Mario and Starlight let out the breaths they held as soon as the door was shut.

"That was way too close," Starlight said. "Let's get out of here before we get in trouble for spying on the owner."

Mario and Starlight crawled over to the grate, Mario dropping down first after opening it up, then caught Starlight when she followed after. When they arrived back in the locker room, making sure none of the security team saw them exiting the storage room, they relayed everything they overheard to the others, where all of them were just as equally shocked.

"That makes no sense!" Rainbow said. "How is King K. missing!? He said he was retiring!"

"I think we should be worried about Jolene," Goombella interjected. "They're probably overreacting because King K. didn't tell Grubba or Jolene he was going to quit. Her vanishing without a trace sounds impossible for a Toad like her."

"And she knows about the Crystal Star, too. Maybe before she took those papers away from Mario," Starlight added.

"We don't have much evidence to prove she's up to something, both with the Crystal Star or making records of previous fighters 'disappear'," Rarity said.

"If we can find the key to the door on the second floor of the storage room, we'll see what's hidden behind there," Starlight said. "Ms. Mowz mentioned someone was hiding up there while looking around for some more stuff to steal."

"T-That thief again!?" Goombella exclaimed. "Why is she always showing up where we are!?"

"This can't be a simple coincidence anymore," Flurrie added, both her and the female Goomba glowering with jealousy. "I think the little mouse is stalking Mario more than 'hunting treasures'."

"Mama Fluttershy, what are they talking about?" Scrappy asked.

"We met Ms. Mowz a couple times in other places, and she usually leaves after her heist by giving Mario a kiss," Fluttershy said.

"What's a kiss?" he asked. Fluttershy looked at her friends, Rarity and Pinkie giving the pegasus a sly smirk. Before Scrappy knew it, the three mares gave the Yoshi an example on him, surrounding him with giggles as they peppered him with kisses. When they were done, the young dinosaur's pupils shrank with a scrunched face and flushed cheeks. "...Oh..."

He fell over in stunned embarrassment, his foot twitching after being given an example. "Well, you asked, cutie!" Pinkie said with a giggle.

After the Yoshi recovered, eventually wiping his face from the lip-smacking triple attack, Mario reserved another match, their next fight against Hamma, Bamma, and Flare. The team consisted of a tough variety of Koopas, Hamma obviously being a Hammer Bro, Bamma was a Boomerang Bro, and Flare was a Fire Bro. Hammer Bros. weren't new with the mares, although the Boomerang and Fire Bros. were new, the former with an infinite stack of boomerangs to send them hurtling toward them and come back around to knock the backs of their heads, the latter able to spit out fireballs from his mouth, making them bounce toward them and possibly burn them. This was a tough group with all three of them using projectiles: hammers in the air, fireballs on the ground, and returning boomerangs after they've been flung. Despite playing the dodging game, Rarity and Starlight being able to shift the weapons and fireballs aside, or Scrappy using his tongue to grab and spit them back out helped, felling the trio of tough Koopa soldiers and taking their rank in the roster.

While resting in the locker room after accepting their winnings, Mario's Mailbox SP rang from a new message, though not from their friend X.

This is your last warning! Stop snooping around about the Crystal Star! If you don't, you'll suffer the same fate as the other fighters who have gone missing...

"From our 'favorite' fan again," Starlight grumbled. "Sounds like our mysterious hater knows about the Crystal Star."

"And the missing fighters," Goombella added. "This is a serious threat. Does this guy not realize he's dealing with a hero from another kingdom?"

"S-Should we call the authorities?" Koops asked. "I-I know we won't end up like...the missing fighters, but still..."

"Ah think we need to find him and see what he knows," Applejack said.

"Yeah! He must know where King K. is!" Rainbow added.

"Speaking of friends, while going out to get a smoothie after our latest scuffles in the ring, has anypony seen Andy?" Rarity asked curiously. "He snoops around the halls, but I didn't see him before our last match?"

Everyone shook their heads, curious to know of the Bandit's whereabouts. He most likely got booted out of the roster by Jolene after another attempt at stalking her, but when Mario checked the ranks, his team was still there. Mysteries just keep coming up all over the Glitz Pit, and the seven wonders Andy left him before his "disappearance" were all true. Hoping the Bandit was at least ok, Mario set up a match for them against Chomp Country, who appear to be two Red Chain Chomps. Maybe Pinkie could tame these Chomps like she did with Chompy in the Dry Dry Ruins. Grubba gave Mario his request to advance their rank, using no items in battle, which was easy since they didn't need any from their packs in these matches.

While waiting for security to get them, Jolene walked in the locker room, carrying a similar box she brought earlier with that cake from an excited fan. "Mr. Gonzales, another gift from your admirers arrived," she said, placing the package on the small table. "Quite popular with how far you've come. Enjoy whatever it is."

Once she left, Pinkie and Rainbow sped toward the package and opened it up. "Whoa! Another cake!" Rainbow said.

Though Rainbow was excited, Pinkie scrunched her face as she stared at the cake. It looked similar to their vanilla one they had and shared with the major-league fighters, but the frosting on top was pink.

"Must be strawberry flavored with that pink frosting," Rarity said. "I would have preferred chocolate to compliment the strawberries, but I'll take any good-looking dessert."

Starlight used her magic to slice up to cake, although Pinkie remained skeptical as she sniffed the cake a little. As Starlight hovered a slice to her mouth, Mario gasped as his eyes flashed pink, his Lucky Star giving him a vision. He watched Starlight eat the cake, the others following her as they munched on the sweet treat, all except Pinkie. A few seconds after everyone swallowed a bite, they all began to grunt and grimace, something going wrong as their bodies seized up and collapsed on the floor in excruciating pain. The vision ended, and Mario quickly reacted, smacking the slice out of Starlight's magic.

"Hey!" Starlight exclaimed. "Mario, what's the matter with you!?"

He quickly warned everyone not to eat the cake, telling them it was poisoned. "POISONED!?" everyone exclaimed.

"I knew this cake smelled weird!" Pinkie said, her suspicions correct when she saw the "delicious cake". "That wasn't strawberry frosting! It must be some kind of paralysis poison, which isn't all that deadly, but it would have been enough to incapacitate us!" She gave the cake a sniff again. "And I don't think they even used any sugar to make it any sweeter to hide the bitter taste of jealousy."

"So, we can't eat it? Why?" Scrappy asked.

"Mario's foresight," Applejack said. "That Lucky Star of yours sure does come in handy if we're in any danger."

"And always right one hundred percent of the time!" Pinkie added.

Mario didn't know about that after the one mysterious vision he had of Twilight turning into a demon. They always happened moments before any of his pony friends were about to be harmed pretty badly, but that one hasn't come true. At least, not yet.

Starlight grimaced, feeling awful for yelling at Mario over a slice of cake, even if he believed it was poisoned. "Sorry, Mario," she apologized, but the plumber shrugged it off.

Security finally came to get them, escorting them to the ring to face off against Chomp Country. The two Red Chain Chomps weren't swayed by Pinkie's random treats, their minds focused on winning the fight as they chased the pink mare around. Their metallic skins were tough to break through, but they eventually beat the two Chomps after Mario immobilized them using the Emerald Crystal Star's power, where it created a magic time bomb that grew bigger as Mario continued focusing power into it until it blew up, freezing the Chomps in time. When they returned to the locker room, their cake was gone, and laying on the ground in pain was the Koopa from Shellshockers, his cheeks covered in the "strawberry" frosting.

"What in the world happened to him!?" Goombella exclaimed.

"He ate that cake you all said was poisoned," the Dark Koopatrol said. "Idiot had a sweet tooth and couldn't help himself, even after the warning."

"Uggggggh...I'll...never...eat another cake...ever again," the Shady Koopa groaned in agony.

"Shouldn't we call an ambulance or a doctor!?" Starlight questioned, shocked to see no one bothering to help the Koopa's poisoned state.

"He'll be fine," the Dark Koopatrol brushed off. "He just needs to rest it off. It's not lethal."

"And how do you know that?" Pinkie questioned, getting up close to the Koopatrol with a suspicious glare. She put on a detective's cap and a bubble pipe, blowing a few bubbles in the stoic Koopa's face. "Was it YOU who tried to poison us!? You afraid we'll take your spot, considering you're next!?"

"Because I had a similar kind of cake 'an excited fan' gave me before one of my attempted matches with Rawk Hawk, and I doubled over in pain and couldn't fight, forcing me to forfeit and leave the champion with his belt," the Koopatrol explained, growling at the earth pony before slowly pushing her out of his face. "And if I were to poison you, that would get me kicked out for cheating or harming other fighters outside the ring." Pinkie was about to question further, but the Koopa shoved his hand over the mare's muzzle. "And if you're about to ask about the hate mails Gonzales is getting, I didn't send them. I don't give idle threats outside the ring, and I fight fair."

"...Ok," Pinkie squeaked while still muzzled.

The Koopatrol let go of Pinkie's muzzle, letting her retreat back to her friends. "Who would try to poison us?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"I'll bet Rawk Hawk's behind this," Rainbow grumbled. "In fact, I think he's responsible for all the hate mail AND the missing fighters, too!"

"I highly doubt Rawk Hawk's as smart as he is brutish," Flurrie said.

"But he has a motive for stopping us from taking away his title," Starlight said. "He must be watching the matches from the monitor in his room, and came in to get a look at us when we moved up to the major leagues. He even got a little bit rough when he thought Scrappy called him a fake when we were talking about the star on his belt."

"You mean he might have the real Crystal Star in his room?" Koops asked.

"After the last email we got from our hater, I believe so," Goombella said.

"We've only got one more fight before Rawk Hawk, so let's find out when we beat his plot into next week!" Rainbow said.

Their next match was against the Dark Koopatrol, his stage name being The Koopinator. It didn't sound as threatening as his appearance claimed to be, no thanks to Grubba giving the team names, but he was tougher than a normal Koopatrol, that was certain. Similar spikes protecting his head and back from the Koopa elites in Bowser's army, it was hard knocking the Dark Koopatrol on his back, and his shell tosses were quite powerful. Even without flinging himself, his hand-to-hand combat was quite skilled, taking his role as a fighter seriously with him being at rank 1. He was dead set on taking the champion's belt, but Mario had more skill under his belt against Bowser's Koopa army, finishing The Koopinator a hard uppercut to the jaw, sending him flying up and falling down on his back. With the match won by The Great Gonzales and his friends, Mario helped the Dark Koopatrol up, who respected his opponents after seeing their skills in person.

Once they were back in the locker room, the Dark Koopatrol getting some help walking back from the plumber, setting him down on the bed to let him rest. "You guys aren't half bad," he said. "Maybe Rawk Hawk will finally learn how to be humble and respect his fellow fighters in your debut against the champion."

Mario's Mailbox SP rang yet again, the plumber excusing himself to check the next email out of the several dozen he's been receiving since being here in Glitzville.

rEmOvE tHe GrEaT gOnZaLeS aNd MaNe SiX pOsTeRs In ThE lObBy.
FrOm X

He read the message to his friends, where they hoped they'll get closer to finding the Crystal Star. "Thank goodness it's X this time," Flurrie said. "But what could possibly be hidden behind posters of us?"

"Let's all find out," Starlight said, this time gathering everyone after spending way too much time here than they needed to.

After entering the lobby, they heard screams coming from the huge group of fans when they saw Mario and his team walking out. "It's Gonzales!" a female shrieked.

"I want an autograph from The Mane Six!" another added.

The crowd swarmed them as they tried to push their way through to reach the posters of the group plastered in the lobby. The posters overshadowed Rawk Hawk's many mugshots, even the other major-league fighters more well known to the fanbase. Unfortunately, Mario and the ponies were the only ones who were getting "attacked" by their fans, leaving Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and even Scrappy on the sidelines.

"Hey, I'm part of the group, too!" Scrappy whined, flutter kicking his way over the crowd to find Fluttershy. "Mama Fluttershy, let me sign some autographs, too!"

"Well, at least this gives us the freedom to find whatever's hidden under one of these posters," Goombella said.

"T-Then let's hurry before they all decide to want our autographs when they realize who we are," Koops added.

Aside from Scrappy, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie made their way through the crowd, or hovered over in the wind spirit's case, reaching the posters and looked underneath them. It didn't help that there were several of these posters, but Koops managed to find something hidden behind one, which happened to be a key. Finding Mario among the crowd, the plumber spotted him waving the key in the air, signalling them they found what X wanted them to find. After dealing with the last of their fans' requests for an autograph or a picture with them, the group quickly made their way back into the hallway, escaping the disappointed fans as the security team blocked their access to pester them or other fighters backstage.

"Oh man, they love us!" Rainbow said. "Rawk Hawk must be pretty jealous seeing his fans are coming to us instead!"

"I didn't really do much fighting, but I got to sign some pictures," Fluttershy said. "At least I'm not modeling and left so stressed with photo ops every few minutes."

"What did you guys find?" Starlight asked.

"It's a key to something," Koops said, handing the key to the unicorn.

Yet again, the Mailbox SP rang. "I'm surprised that thing hasn't short-circuited with how many emails you're getting," Goombella said.

gO tO tHe SeCoNd FlOoR oF tHe StOrAgE rOoM.
FrOm X

"Back to the storage room," Starlight said. "Then this key must lead to that locked door."

Filing down the hall, barely able to hide any suspicions of their actions, the group made their way to the storage room, keeping an eye out for any of the security team from watching them step into someplace certain staff members weren't allowed to enter. Climbing up the stairs to the second floor, Starlight used the new key on the lock, which fit perfectly, and unlocked it. Everyone walked into the next room, with more storage boxes stacked around, and yet another one of those giant yellow blocks in the corner. Climbing over the boxes, Mario pulled out his hammer, warning the others to stand back as he busted the block. Underneath it, however, was a surprising shock: nearly crushed under the block were King K. and Bandy Andy, both of them considered missing and and horrible shape.

"HOLY MONTY MOLES!!!!!" Goombella shrieked.

"King K.! Andy!" Rainbow exclaimed. Everyone gathered around the gravely injured fighters, King K. completely unconscious, but Andy was still partially awake, groaning in pain. "What the hay happened to you two!?"

"G-Gon...zales," Andy weakly said. "L-Listen...to me...Don't...go near...the ring...when...no...one...is...around..."

Unable to stay awake, Andy passed out after using the last of what energy had to warn them. "Hey, Andy, stay with us!" Rainbow said, gently shaking the Bandit, but he wouldn't budge. "...Darn it. We need to get these two to some help!"

"Let's find a doctor, and fast!" Starlight said.

Using her magic, Starlight lifted King K. and Andy on Rainbow and Applejack's backs, quickly rushing them out to get them immediate medical attention. As they began walking down the staircase, Mario paused when he saw the door was open, and hiding behind it was Jolene of all people. Before he could call her out, Pinkie yelped when she bumped into him, the Scrappy as he rushed a bit too fast down the steps, causing all three of them to tumble the rest of the way down to the ground floor.

"Ow! Why'd ya stop, Gonzales!?" Scrappy asked. When he heard Jolene gasp in surprise, he looked up, watching her quickly shut the door and flee. "Huh!? I just saw Ms. Jolene!" The Yoshi quickly got up, stepping on Pinkie and Mario's back before chasing after her. When he rammed through the door, looking down each hall while standing in different fighting poses, there was no sign of the Toad. "Wow, she is fast. Where'd she go?"

The others quickly filed out, their confusion only growing after Jolene caught them, only to suddenly disappear without a trace. Forgetting Jolene for now, Rainbow and Applejack rushed the hurt fighters to a doctor, leaving the others baffled with what was going on in this building. Mario pulled out the seven wonders Andy left him, the Missing Ones weren't necessarily missing, but kidnapped and left to near death in the "hidden" upstairs storage room. And before Andy passed out, he warned them not to be out in the arena when no one else was around, making him wonder if it was tied to the Spooky Ring-Lights wonder on his list. The only big question was who did this to Andy and King K., and what does Jolene know that she's been hiding?

Comments

[Emperor Wolfgang]

And thus the plot thickens.
I missed this story. I was actually getting kind of worried and thought you had abandoned it. I'm glad to see that's not the case.
So the epic conclusion to this chapter is coming up. Fun fact: one of my favorite youtubers: Fawful's Minion, said that he heard that the boss of this chapter can deal as much as SEVENTEEN damage in one turn!

[MLPMekarm]

the mysteries are getting the poor mustached man and friends.

[castroedgar316]

9847568
But remember, he also said the buffs he gets from the lower tier fighters' life force (attack, defence, dodging, and, for the game, extra turns) are random, so he could either be a cakewalk or utter hell depending on how he buffs himself. So let's just hope that it isn't the latter for the group's sake.

[Skyeheart]

This is probably much further down the line, but considering this is our last 'encounter', you are planning to do the trouble center recruitment side quest, right?

[Emperor Wolfgang]

9847839
Would make for an awesome fight though.

[Emperor Wolfgang]

9847543
I take it you don't like Season-9?

[the koopanater]

9847568
Oh yeah, I remember that, I also remember that at this is only the THIRD BOSS, so the attacks are huge compared to the late game.

[Xanatos Speed Chess]

9847897
Pretty much.

[SwitchRun]

This was a good read. Can't wait to find out what happens next.

[Codex92]

9847885
Oh, you bet Ms. Mowz is going to join the group. The recruitment moment might be short, considering all the tedious backtracking that's done in TTYD, but there's definitely going to be a lot of jealous moments with the female party members...maybe even Vivian, even though she isn't really a girl...at least she isn't mentioned one in the english translation.

[Codex92]

9847568
I didn't abandon it. I'm still planning on continuing this and doing the sequel, Super Paper Mario. I've just been busy with other stories, life, and I did two chapters in a row for one story since there was a part I really wanted to do.

[Skyeheart]

9849251
Really? Even with the ending somewhat implying her crush?