Paper Mario: Color Splash RECUT/Chapter 6

This is a story plotline of Chapter 6 of the game, "Paper Mario: Color Splash *RECUT*".

Pre-Chapter 6

Upon Mario and friends arriving back at Prisma Fountain with the Orange Grand Paint Star, Huey is quick to rejoice. Tangerine cuts his introductions short, though, at the sight of the ailing Ellshe. Thanks to the reminder, Kidd brings the sort-of-conscious shell fairy to Tangerine. Kidd then quickly explains what happened, not leaving out this situation being her fault. When Kidd asks Tangerine to help Ellshe, Tangerine promises to see what he can do.

With a wave of his magic paint, Tangerine infuses some color power into Ellshe. Sure as can be, the valley girl Sticker Fairy’s color re-saturates back to normal. Now fully conscious, Ellshe is ecstatic at the others reviving her colors. Huey, satisfied, thanks Tangerine for saving Ellshe, pretty sure Kersti will be happy when she gets the news.

Suddenly, a shape similar to the Sticker Comet appears on Ellshe. The shape breaks apart as fast as it appeared. Ellshe only has a few seconds to voice her reservations about this unexpected development before she changes shape! In the blink of an eye, Ellshe shifts from a shell Sticker Fairy to a gold-shelled female Koopa with blue hair.

The Koopa opens her eyes. Immediately, she asks who everyone is. Kidd, startled, questions her by name, but Ellshe is just as off-guard how Kidd knows her name. The last thing Ellshe remembers was falling off a cliff during Sticker Fest- the rest is a blank. Thinking he’s pretty clever, Mario tries cutting the knot on this problem by mentioning Kersti’s name. However, the only reaction Ellshe has to the name is her needing to meet up with some friends- a strange thought for her, as she doesn’t have any friends as far as she knows. Before Mario and the others become really depressed at that reveal, Ellshe decides to go for a power jog to clear her mind.

Following Ellshe’s departure, Huey is dumbfounded at Tangerine’s power not working as expected. The bucket’s not alone, as Tangerine is equally perplexed at Ellshe’s shell form also being a shell. The only explanation that makes sense to the Grand Paint Star is this shape changing being an art known to members of an ancient tribe. The only two people to ever come to Prism Island, though, are Merlon and-

Once Tangerine thinks about the other person, he suddenly looks panicked. Then, remembering what Bowser Junior has, Tangerine warns Mario, Huey and the others to get the other Sticker Fairies and the Sticker Comet off Prism Island as fast as possible. Again, he gives an Artifact-Up Slot to increase Mario’s versatility, but enters his slumbering recovery mode before Huey can inquire more about the current dilemma.

Annoyed, Huey wishes the Grand Paint Stars would tell him why he needs to get the Sticker Star related folks off Prism Island…among other things. A sudden explosion in Yellow District draws the guardian and Edwin’s attention away from these questions. Without warning, Kersti flies in, and Kidd hides behind a tree to avoid an uncomfortable discussion at a bad time. As fast as she can, Kersti lets the gang know- the Koopalings are attacking the Rescue Squad’s HQ, while Merlon is there! Nya finds this behaviour unusual for the turtle siblings. Huey wants to tell Kersti about Ellshe, but another explosion cuts him off, leading Kersti to demand they go help the Squad while she searches for her friend.

When Mario and co. arrive in the Yellow District, they see Bowser Junior wreak havoc, alongside Motley, Morton, Iggy, Ludwig, Wendy and Larry. Merlon and several Rescue Squad members are injured. From within his Clown Car, Junior is just relishing the carnage. On the other side of the coin, Motley is nonplussed, annoying the prince. Junior gives Morton- or rather Leston- for at least causing some trouble, annoying the surprisingly smart brute at the use of his insulting nickname. Iggy calms Morton down, while Ludwig and Wendy continue assaulting Merlon. Finally, Larry wants to hurry up so he can eat some more delicious meet, wishing Lemmy and Roy were here so this could be finished faster.

Eventually, Huey can take no more, calling the Koopa Clan on their disregard for moral standards. Bowser Junior does not care, and further shows his disregard by calling in six Red Paratroopas carrying a dark energy orb. Within the orb- the Sticker Comet! An incensed Nya demands Junior release the Sticker Comet, for the sake of the Decal Ninji Clan. Surprisingly, Motley also agrees with Nya, further suggesting they head back home. Regretably, Junior remains stubborn in his quest, revealing that with the Sticker Comet and the paint the Koopas stole from Prism Island, he can leave this dimension and head to the other place again, just as Junior’s new buddy promised.

A voice questions Junior on if he really believes what he’s saying- this marks Aace’s arrival, along with Pitholl, Cucleer, Perry and some Musketeer soldiers. For obvious reasons, BJ isn’t enthralled with the head members of the opposing forces coming here, promising they’re next after he deals with Mario. Pitholl and Cucleer are more than happy to give the Prince what’s coming to him, but again, Aace won’t let them. Instead, they are only to watch, while the other Musketeers bring the injured Rescue Squad members to safety. Just as Aace says, Boosketeers and Blue Paratroopas retrieve Cosso, Verda, Iron Hard Jonny, Suga T, and other injured Squadees around Port Prisma. However, Aace makes the bizarre request that the Squad Captain stay behind to watch Mario and Bowser Junior’s fight. Aace strokes his moustache after this comment, leading to the Squad Captain looking down in shame. This sight stirs something in Kidd, causing her to yell at the Squad Captain by name- Leblaanc.

In addition to Kidd, Morton is also suspicious of Aace’s intent in not interfering. Like before, Iggy replies, thinking Morton is too paranoid, and Aace has nothing left. Motley is also conflicted, before finally deciding to fight by Bowser Junior’s side. For the first time during his stay, Bowser Junior finally praises Motley for his courage…before tricking Mario into believing Peach is behind him, allowing the Prince and Clown a Back Attack.

At long last, Mario and friends finally get to confront the leader of the Koopa pack on Prism Island, and his little clown too. When Bowser Junior’s not blasting Mario with cannon balls or ignited him with the KCC’s flamethrower, Motley’s blasting away with magic. Junior more than proves to know the value of teamwork even with an unsure ally, for Motley is actually pretty good at support. Observe- Motley stealing some paint from Mario to create a paint shield for the future Koopa King. On top of providing good defense against Mario and friends’ attacks, Junior can also channel the paint into a blast stream. Finally, the Sticker Comet machine allows the Koopa Clown Car to emit a powerful darkness blast onto Mario.

The battle wages on. With the help of his friends, his cards, and his brain cells, Mario is able to take out Motley, cutting off Junior’s access to the paint shield. The wittle Pwince is ticked, but not down for the count. Then something very odd happens- despite Motley’s protests, Junior calls for his new buddy to help. At that moment, the eyes on the Koopa Clown Car change, from two normal ones to two big eyes and eight smaller ones.

In the second phase of the battle, Junior’s new buddy, whoever or wherever he is, definitely pepped up the clown car. Now, alongside only taking half the damage even without a shield, Junior can use a rainbow blast inflicting Burn, Poison, Wet and Tiny on Mario all at once. This makes those turns where Mario is afflicted in so many ways much more unbearable and much tougher. Finally, the conditions wear off, and Mario has had enough. With a roll of the Battle Roulette, Mario obtains a Super Frog Suit to power up his Jump moves greatly for two turns. Mario does not waste those two turns, hitting Junior with Mega class Jump moves. And just like that, Mario finally overthrows the heir to Koopa succession.

Being defeated, humiliated and embarrassed in front of the Koopalings is merely an underscore to Bowser Junior not taking his loss well. Like the child he is, Junior blames everyone but himself for his loss. It’s not just Mario, not just Motley (who just takes his boss’ abuse like a wimp), not just Aace (who pities Motley), and even beyond the Koopalings “everyone”- everyone “everyone”. For as the Sticker Comet tries to escape the machine trapping it, Junior kicks the clown car over to yell at a strange Dry Shroom with spikes. No, you’re not misreading that- Bowser Junior is yelling at a Dry Shroom with spikes for assuring the Prince all that would be needed to defeat Mario is the Sticker Comet’s power.

Bowser Junior screams towards the sky in anger, while everyone is just weirded out by Junior’s friend. The only one taking this seriously is Nya, who ninja-vanishes to presumably assassinate the unmoving Dry Shroom. Meanwhile, Wendy and Iggy mock Bowser Junior for essentially wasting everyone’s time, and Iggy even declares Junior crazier than him.

Just then, someone speaks up to defend the company Junior keeps on him. Ludwig is about to refute this, when it dawns on everyone present- the one who spoke up was the Dry Shroom itself. As Morton expresses surprised the Dry Shroom just talked, the actually-alive fungus unleashes a long spiked purple tendril towards the captured Sticker Comet. Inside the machine, the Sticker Comet struggles as its energy is rapidly taken from it.

Once all the energy is gone, the containment orb vanishes. To Mario and company’s surprise, the Sticker Comet changes shape into an Ancient sorceress! Nearby, Merlon regains enough of his consciousness to recognize the sorceress- the long-lost Merluvlee. When Merluvlee sadly tells Merlon she failed, Merlon realizes in horror that the “seal” has broken.

It’s true, as the Dry Shroom also changes shape, emitting dark energy that knocks the previously invisible Nya aside. Eventually, the shroom becomes a 10-eyed purple mushroom creature with 10 horns, 6 jagged (yet paper-thin) vines, and a small, equally thin moustache. The Royal Stickers sit on its cap (pun still entirely intended), with the Gold Royal Sticker on top.

A horrified Huey and an unusually calm Aace both recognize the beast. For Huey, he’s fought holo-copies of it courtesy of Starmageddon. Aace, on the other hand- he recognizes the monster as “Shroomsday”, welcoming it- or him- home with open arms. In turn, Shroomsday returns the sentiment, though he mentions a cousin of Aace’s, Dester, who apparently got in the beast’s way and paid for it. To that, Aace can only respond Dester knew what he was getting himself into.

As Pitholl, Cucleer, Perry and even Edwin look at Aace, distrustful of their boss keeping this friendship from them, Motley advises Junior to step away from Shroomsday. Instead, Junior demands to know why the beast didn’t turn into this form right away. The prince gets his response, in the form of Shroomsday firing a rainbow beam at him and Motley. The duo is sent flying, and Junior curses Shroomsday for being a backstabber before vanishing in a twinkling star in the sky.

The Koopalings don’t fare any better. Hope seems to come in the form of Roy finally making it to the scuffle. Armed with some black paint, Roy guarantees he’ll reduce Shroomsday to another black stain on the ground, and aims the Paint Blaster at the beast. Unfortunately, while the black paint’s presence does stop Shroomsday for a second, he then merely uses the power of the Royal Stickers to reduce Roy into a purple Mushroom. One by one, the other Koopalings present share Roy’s fate. The only one who manages to evade this dark craft is Morton, quickly gathering his siblings and jumping in a Clown Car while swearing to bring bigger guns next time.

Despite Shroomsday not finding any threat in Morton’s words, Aace still advises the creature to not overexert himself. Again, Shroomsday listens to the Boo Musketeer without question, and decides to leave town. As he passes by Mario, his friends and the Ancients, however, Shroomsday warns Mario he’s had something in store for him for quite some time. For now, Shroomsday exerts several spores into the skies of Prism Island, then leaves.

Soon, Aace and his lower followers also decide to depart. However, Pitholl, Cucleer and Perry are frozen in fear. Aace tries to cool the tension with a joke, but though it gets his close associates moving, the Pianta, Coo Coo and Goomba are still frightened, something which depresses Aace. Before Aace can follow, Leblaanc demands to know about the spores, as the moustached Boo promised him the Musketeers would keep the Rescue Squad and locals safe in exchange for Leblaanc helping the Musketeers in some unknown way. In response, Aace points out the deal held up barring unusual circumstances- Shroomsday’s return marks just that. Nevertheless, the sleepy Boo promises to keep Leblaanc updated if anything changes. With that last exchange, Aace finally flies off in search of Shroomsday.

Such an influx of new developments overtakes Huey, causing the guardian to legitimately panic like never before. It takes Kidd headbutting Huey to snap him out of it. At first, Huey is lost for any leads into Shroomsday’s presence. That’s when Louis realizes that if Shroomsday is from Prism Island, maybe the Memphawk’s dad, Orion, knows something about him. This, in turn, makes Edwin remember the gold statue at Golden Coliseum- Shroomsday was on it!

Thanks to the thinking of his friends, Huey calms down. Nya thinks nothing of it, admitting the situation did look bleak. However, she is concerned with Mario looking unusually and uncharacteristically afraid. After Huey quips it’s like Mario’s seen a ghost, Mario snaps out of it. The plumber still shivers, though.

While Mario and his pals head for Golden Coliseum, Aace is walking with Shroomsday in Mondo Woods, the other Musketeers behind them. They’re not planning anything at the moment, though. No dastardly schemes, no underhanded coups, no nothing. The two are just…talking and joking about unimportant things, like old friends.

As the two converse, Shroomsday apologizes for not contacting Aace earlier, but the beast was angry. Before Shroomsday can explain the reason, Aace correctly guesses it- Shroomsday was mad about some failure of Aace’s many years ago, as well as the Grand Paint Stars’ role in it. Therefore, Bowser Junior knocking them all away was actually Shroomsday’s idea, to punish both the Grand Paint Stars and Aace. Considering Aace needs the Grand Paint Stars, and his goal is likely the same as Shroomsday’s, the colossal mushroom admits his blind resentful actions only created more problems.

Aace doesn’t hold it against Shroomsday, thankfully. In fact, Aace almost calls Shroomsday by his “real name”, but decides against it, believing “she” should have the honors of calling the big legume this name when “she” awakens. With “her” around, no-one will have to worry about the emergency to deal with another problem. Just as Aace is about to mention the problem, though, Cucleer impatiently demands a word with Aace. Knowing what’s coming, Aace tells Shroomsday to go on without him, so the monster can see the beauty of Prism Island once again. He only warns Shroomsday to beware of the Draggadon, sighted somewhere near Marmalade Valley. Shroomsday takes in the warning, and slimes away.

Now that Shroomsday’s gone, the courage of Pitholl and Cucleer return, while Perry just watches. Pitholl is angry that Aace was keeping secrets while preaching honesty among the Musketeers. Meanwhile, Cucleer calls out his boss on his stories of justice, but now it looks like Aace was only thinking about himself.

Though Aace was calm before, Cucleer’s accusation creates a brief crack in it, as he’s put a lot of time into this plan of his for the greater good. Thankfully, Aace regains his calm, and rallies his fellow Boosketeers to his side. They do, annoying Cucleer at what ignorant ail-drinkers the Boosketeers are still siding with them.

And that’s one of the last responses either Cucleer or Pitholl have for a while, as Aace reveals some ingredients of the ale the Musketeers usually drink. There’s honey syrup, sour salts, Prism Island water, and most important of all, the secret ingredient- spores from Shroomsday and his Shroom minions. At the mention of the last ingredient, Perry steps back, while Pitholl and Cucleer’s minds are forcibly integrated into Shroomsday’s neural network, making their eyes glow yellow.

Seizing the chance, Aace gives most of the Musketeers an order- deal with Mario, and keep the Emerald Grand Paint Star away from him before they begin their plan. He then commands the brainwashed Pitholl and Cucleer to fly to where the Koopa Prince’s notes specified, and they obey. By the time most of the minions depart, the only Musketeers in Mondo Woods are Aace and Perry. When Perry voices fear of also being brainwashed, Aace assures him it won’t happen unless he stands against the Musketeers.

After serving the Musketeers for this long and Aace being more open, Perry asks the Boo leader what this is all about. This question prompts an unusual response from Aace…

Chapter 6-1: Title Unknown

"5 Grand Paint Stars have now gathered at the Prism Fountain. But now Mario and his friends have discovered a new evil that threatens Prism Island. Mario and his friemds had to find the last Grand Paint Star if they had any hopes of saving Prism Island. Perhaps the Sticker Fairies that Tangerine had mentioned could be of help."

Despite Mario and friends’ need to beeline it for Golden Coliseum, they know they should morally check the other areas of Prism Island first to ensure everyone’s safe. The spread of Shroomsday’s spores proves to have been faster than expected, unfortunately, and several shroom minions are now present in several past locations, even above-ground locales such as Ruddy Road. To make matters worse, the Slugshrooms and Carrishrooms are joined in their uprising by the third and most dangerous of all the Shroom enemies, the Monstrooms. These two-faced gluttonous goons rival the Corona Golem in power & durability, and keep capturing Mario’s partners during battle. It’s tough for Mario to say who’s tougher between the two biggest enemies he’s seen on the island, but he now knows Monstrooms are not to be taken lightly.

With the spread of so many eldritch beasts, Mario’s priorities shift back to Golden Coliseum. Yet once more, he makes a quick sweep across the landmark before heading to the statue. What a surprise- the three fungus jerks are here, too,  and their shiny pollen ensures the local Clubbas, Spikes and Chain Chomps last longer in battles. To Mario’s credit, his inclination for exploration pays off, as he finds a Chilly Pick Artifact hidden in a storeroom of the massive battle building.

No more stalling- Mario, Louis and friends return to the main arena. When the lift finishes the journey, the gang see Orion fighting the monster. For a retired Rescue Squad leader, he does much better than most people would against the vermin, taking out two Carrishrooms and throwing a Slugshroom at a Monstroom. However, he pulls his arm after that throw, debilitating him from further combat. Scared for his dad’s life, Louis and Mario hurry to Orion’s side, fighting off some of the legume goons.

As time passes, though, more and more of Shroomsday’s minions arrive. Nya and Kidd are taken aback by the sheer number of abominations gathered here, but Edwin isn’t scared. He knows that with the hidden Super Star in the nearby crate, the team can just steam roll the Shroom minions into a salad. Cue a Monstroom throwing that crate over the walls of the Coliseum, in turn diminishing the bravado Edwin just showed. Edwin has no clue how to bail the gang out of a boned situation.

Edwin’s words inspire Louis to do something drastic- retrieve the Draggadon Bone out of his pants. Right on cue, a rumbling is heard, and Princess the Chain Chomp returns to roll over all of Shroomsday’s minions. The big Chain Chomp girl hasn’t forgotten her master, for she smushes Orion with her rolling back and forth. Her work done, Princess proceeds to leave once more.

Orion then asks Louis and Mario why they returned. Following their long story, Orion recounts the gist of what he’s heard- the gang meeting a monster like the one on the statue, and coming to see if it holds any secrets. What was Edwin’s hunch turns out to be correct- Orion read a lot of ancient text scrawled on the statue.

According to Orion’s research, the statue was made 1300-ish years ago. Orion further confirms the partner of Starmageddon was none other than the Shadow Queen, the evil demon who was sealed under Rogueport until Mario destroyed her years ago. Often, the Queen was away from Prism Island, “tending” to her new kingdom of Rogueport instead. The Blight King didn’t like the way the Shadow Queen treated her kingdom, but he was too taken in by her witchcraft to truly object. Sometimes, the Shadow Queen would bring two of her three pet dragons to Prism Island while she spent time with the King, forcing Draggadon to defend the Vellbex from the Rogueport lizard-avians.

Eventually, using their magic and other unknown means, Starmageddon and the Shadow Queen created a child, an heir to both their thrones. Sadly, fear of the Shadow Queen was so great, the locals of Rougeport and Prism Island avoided the child, for fear of upsetting the child and incurring the Shadow Queen’s wrath. The King felt powerless and sad at his daughter’s loneliness. If he forced his subjects to spend time with her, it would instead sprout more hostility.

So one night, after a quick trip far away to obtain a rare ingredient, the King created a large happy flower to be his kid’s friend. The Queen, however, resented being outdone by anyone. In response, she cribbed together some of what was leftover of the ingredient, and created a large thorned mushroom to also be the heir’s close friend. The point of the story is that while it’s unknown whether the king made a statue for his own pet, he definitely did for the queen, two of her dragons and the mushroom, to commemorate the opening of Golden Coliseum.

Edwin’s only a little interested in this history. In contrast, Huey sadly puzzles over why Starmageddon didn’t tell him about the child- Huey would have been their friend, no questions asked! In the next instant, Edwin asks if there was anything else on the statue. Thinking on it for a moment, Orion reveals there was- a different note in different handwriting, and in English, too!

The note is definitely written by a child, and from the looks of it, the heir herself! The heir complains how her parents won’t let Petally and ------y enter the games anymore, despite her teacher vouching for them. Angered at this injustice, the heir tries to calm down by proposing she and her friends take a walk near the ocean. It’s where she and her friends go when they need to think, despite the heir being a- a- the scripture’s too scratched out at this point.

The mere mention of the ocean clues Huey in where Shroomsday may have gone- to Bloo Bay Beach. Nya, fully alert to the islanders in danger, informs Mario they need to head there now. Mario nods, and Orion himself decides to head back to Chateau Chanterelle to recover, slowly lumbering off.

Upon arriving at Bloo Bay Beach, Mario and his friends, especially Marirana, were shocked to find that multiple Shrooms are attacking and transfiguring the fellow Piantas, as well as Suebelle. The only current beachgoer who escapes is Birdo, taking Suebelle's shroom with her just to keep it safe. In additon, most of the Bloopers were corrupted into Poison Bloopers that were toxifying the waters. Nya considers the situation more, then guesses Shroomsday was already here.

Our heroes answer the call to righteousness, defeating the Shrooms and their shiny corrupted allies. By saving Ringmaster Rixx, the political entertainer repays them with a bribe of 300 coins. Then, by saving the judgmental Pianta woman and kids from some Carrishrooms, Koopas and a Poison Blooper, Mario and the gang are given Super rank Syrup cards for their good deeds. Our protagonists have a great streak going, finishing off the last team of Shrooms and corrupted wildife to help Suebelle.

Sadly, while Suebelle is restored to normal, she’s still in no mood to talk to Marirana. To further pour salt in the wound, Suebelle points to Edwin’s speech earlier for getting her to realize Marirana doesn’t care about her. This riles up Edwin, however, as he clarifies what he was actually thinking about when he accused Marirana of this- he’s actually been alone and penniless for a long time. While Edwin admits joining for the money, he also wanted people around him. The little Slurple starts getting upset at this point, upset that Suebelle could believe her problem is more major than Edwin not having the money to pay for something…or someone, as Mario and friends start to pick up on.

Though slightly humbled, Suebelle still stands her ground. Therefore, Kidd points out in astonishment how Marirana saved Suebelle- the same as if Kidd had a child in danger. Nya also speaks in agreement with Kidd, remembering Bella T’s advice from earlier on how family members fighting doesn’t mean they don’t care- it usually means they care greatly. Still, Suebelle tries to shift gears by bringing up the possibility that Mario was the first to jump at the call. To this, Mario responds Marirana wanted to save Suebelle first.

At this point, Suebelle is unsure what to think anymore, for she always saw Marirana as wanting to hang out with other people rather than with her own sister. Disheartened, Marirana makes clears she always wants Suebelle by her side, unable to imagine not being near her.

Then, something magical happens, something that clears this whole situation up- Birdo finally speaks normally. She advises Suebelle that unlike what the Beepboxer was telling her earlier about Marirana, the sister does want to reconnect and understand. Wistfully, Birdo swoons to this family love, remembering another time she saw it long ago. Birdo proceeds to depart on her weird fake moon, to a cold place where she can spread her love.

With Birdo’s departure, Suebelle starts to consider she might have been jealous. It then dawns on her she just wants a day of no pressure with Marirana, like when they were younger. At this point, Suebelle starts taking on a rough southern accent like Marirana, revealing she was suppressing it for the sake of her stage persona the whole time.

Overjoyed, Marirana tells Suebelle truthfully she would like to goof off with Suebelle once in awhile. It’s rather awkward now, though, since despite all the talk of family and feelings, the team really do need to go stop Shroomsday. Luckily, Suebelle is understanding of the odd circumstances placed upon Mario and the gang, directing them towards Blissful Paradise. She tells the gang, though, that Keirf and a pink-haired woman were the only ones who went there earlier.

Our heroes arrive in Blissful Beach, to the sight of Shroomsday accosting Keirf. The gargantuan spiked king is majorly ticked at the spaced-out lobster-eel for his part in destroying a “master unit” of Shroomsday’s nearly a month ago.

To assist him in his revenge, Shroomsday makes an unwilling and annoyed Nastasia an offer. While Shroomsday isn’t sure if he’ll ever see who he misses again, if Nastasia helps get rid of Keirf, Shroomsday will use his own Royal Stickers to distort the space continumm and bring who Nastasia cares about most here. Surprised at this once-in-a-lifetime offer, Nastasia stops and thinks about it.

For ten seconds. Reasoning the Count would be disappointed with Nastasia if she helped cause destruction just to make herself happy, Nastasia suddenly uses her hypno powers on Shroomsday to persuade him to leave the beach, if not Prism Island.

However, Nastasia’s otherwise immense power fails to impede Shroomsday in any way. The beast, though smiling, is clearly seething with rage, letting Nastasia know her specific powers would never work on him due to the nature of his being. The thing about Shroomsday is despite looking physically there in one spot, he’s actually “everywhere”, the very word reverberating from his being. To punish Nastasia for her defiance, Shroomsday grabs Keirf and slams him on top of her. His targets together, Shroomsday declares the same fate, also sharing a faux pas that he never liked bats. The beast raises one of his tendrils, ready to strike. Quick as a thorn, he unleashes the force…

…Only for O’Chunks to grab onto Shroomsday’s tendril from behind. Upon O’Chunks asking Shroomsday what he’s doing, the purple hideous beast tries to intimidate the bearded scruffy one with a long, threatening. About 1/100^th of the way through his speech, Shroomsday is interrupted when O’Chunks shoves the mushroom’s words in his mouth. Despite his rough exterior, O’Chunks still tells Nastasia how proud he is of her not giving into her greatest temptation.

The Flip-Folk fellow then shoulder-bashes the giant critter before him, pushing him further and further away from Blissful Paradise and the Bloo Bay Beach area. Such heroism inspires Nastasia to thank O’Chunks, as well as pencil in another appointment with him.

Regardless of Huey’s own frank satisfaction with O’Chunks just fighting Shroomsday, Nya fears O’Chunks will only serve as a delay, even notwithstanding the other Shroom monsters able to act without their master. With just a little thinking, Edwin once again realizes where they should look next- Fort Cobalt. The Slurple’s amazing memory lets him recall the Musketeers taking the base while Mario and friends fought General Guy, making Edwin think the Grand Paint Star wasn’t the only reason they invaded. Huey definitely agrees with this logic, and the gang sets off again.

When Mario and his friends reached Fort Colbat, a group of Boosketeers were guarding the entrance- turns out Edwin was right. And to add insult to injury, the Musketeers have got General Guy all tied up. Before Mario and the gang were about to go fight him, General Guy told the gang that they should call a truce until they defeat the Musketeers and Shrooms invading Fort Colbat. At first, Huey didin't want to believe him. But since they are trying to stop Shroomsday, he accepts the temporarily truce. That just left one question.... how are they gonna beat those Musketeers at the entrance? Luckly, Mario knew how to get past the Boosketeer,by battling them. Once the battle was over, they head over to where the poor Shy Guy general was, and freed him from his ropes. General Guy thanks them for freeing him. Though he wishes he could help Mario and his friends, he regrets that he needs to round up his Shy Guy troops that were also imprisoned by the musketeers. He tell Mario and his gang if they any of his troops roped up by the musketeers, they should free them as well. General Guy also tells them if they do that for him, he promises to change his ways and help them. Mario and his friends accept his request and they made sure to be on the lookout for any of General Guy's men while exploring Fort Colbat. And they continue their serch inside the base while General Guy stands by until all of his men were freed.

Mario and his friends went through the base, having to do that fence puzzle again and fighting a lot of the musketeers and freeing some Shy Guys along the way, The constant fighting finally rewards our heroes with access to the room where General Guy was originally fought. There, they find a gaggle of notes scrawled on the floor. Next to the notes is a Noki Bottle Opener Artifact. Edwin is not surprised, recounting how messy Pitholl and Cucleer are when they do anything. The team’s minds are refocused by Nya, as she muses checking what’s scrawled upon the nine notes.

All of the white notes appear to have been written by Bowser Junior, taken from his journal. They detail how, after Bowser and his forces returned from their failed plan in the Decal Lands,  Bowser Junior had also accomplished no victories in his life. Even the attempt to ruin Peach’s tea party with the airship’s punchy claw and terraform her castle were thwarted by Mario, Luigi, Bucken-berry and Ala-Gold. Put simply, Bowser Junior is infuriated at having no new friends nor being respected by the Koopalings.

One day, when Bowser, Kammy, Kamek and the other minions went to Peach’s Castle and didn’t come back for a while, Junior decided to go pick on the Ninjis in the Decal Lands. From how he remembers what Nya told Mario, the Ninjis were so thankful Junior found the old ruins, they let him take first dibs. What he found was a cool spiked Dry Shroom that could talk, leading to Junior calling it “Shroomy”.

To cement it’s friendship with Junior and deal with the Koopalings, Shroomy suggested Junior tell his dad about Prism Island, under the pretext of making the Koopa Kingdom bigger. Once Junior brought this up to Bowser, the Koopa King was right on board. The news of the Musketeers’ occupation of the island and resistance against the Koopalings further brightened Junior’s day, as it guaranteed they would not be back for months, even years. However, the relationship between son and father strained due to Junior’s insistence Shroomy could talk, as well as the general creepiness of this particular Dry Shroom. This only served to make Junior cherish Shroomy more.

A little after the news of the battle for Prism Island came in, Bowser, Junior and Kamek mounted another assault on Peach’s Castle, while Kammy lead a different force on a different path. Within minutes of their arrival, though, a huge light appeared in the sky and sucked everyone from the castle in, as well as some others. As Junior was being sucked in, he accidentally let go of Shroomy, who got buried under a lot of rubble.

On the other side of the hole was another Mushroom Kingdom, and another Bowser Junior for this Junior to hang with- Junior found more common ground with his equally lonely counterpart than with Shroomy. Even though the two Princes considered burning the way home, they wussed out. Tragically, this friendship was ended by the Mario Bros again, their victory knocking the Juniors into a deep sleep. When Junior awoke again, he was back in his world’s version of Peach’s Castle.

Junior’s yearning to see his other self grew so much, it motivated Shroomy to offer some assistance. To do this, it would need the Sticker Comet and Royal Stickers, passing over Prism Island this year. Since Bowser had fallen ill due to his yearly allergies being worse than before for unexplained reasons, Junior decided to wait until the next month.

Once the wait was over, the duo went- later followed by Motley under Bowser’s orders. When the Koopa King still didn’t show up, Junior and Shroomy went to the decisive battle between the Koopa Clan and Musketeers, knocking the six Grand Paint Stars out of the fountain. From then on, Shroomy suggested building a base under the desert for some of the Snifits. The oddest thing of all, strangely enough, was Shroomy’s recommendation against using the black paint. In fact, Shroomy often flew into a temper at the mere mention of black paint, mystifying Bowser Junior.

Most recently, Junior and Shroomy learned the containment device trial Kidd used had worked. Thanks to this report, Junior was now ready to help Shroomy obtain the Sticker Comet. All that was left after that would be heading to Redpepper Volcano for another part of Shroomy’s own plan. And Junior was finally happy for the first time in a year, joyed at the idea of seeing “other me” again!

The gang take this all into their minds, now understanding why all these things happened and how the Koopa Clan learned of Prism Island- Shroomsday orchestrated it all, like a mutant maestro. As Edwin and Louis think, though, they realize an oddity in the final note- what would Shroomsday be looking for at Redpepper Volcano?

To close off their research, Mario also looks at the outlier of the nine notes, a rainbow-colored one. This note’s writer is unknown, but amidst the strange symbols and calligraphy, Mario swears he can make out the phrases “key behind starlight”, “trial of tangy shapes”, and “precursor of darkness”.

Chapter 6-2: Title Unknown

Our heroes decide to think about the mysterious rainbow note later, for they have to stop some bad guys now. Their first trip brings them to Chateau Chanterelle, in order to peck Orion’s mind for more information. After confirming Draggadon’s revival thanks to the Paint Star, pressing Louis’ father for info on Redpepper Volcano definitely yields some insight as to what Shroomsday and Aace seek there…

After the Blight King went missing, control of Prism Island was finally handed down to his daughter. Unfortunately, not only was she too young to be given such a task- some evidence on the Coliseum’s statue suggests the King’s daughter became much more malefic, no thanks to the Shadow Queen’s corruption. Eventually, this eviler behaviour reached a boiling point with Prism Island’s locals, and Orion reluctantly reveals that his ancestors used the Grand Paint Stars to defeat the child, as well as seal her in a tomb.

Unusually, Orion is pained what his ancestors resorted to, professing they should have done more to make the child feel like a respected adult. In Orion’s mind, freedom is everyone’s right, regardless of morality. All the retired Memphawk can suggest at this point is for Mario and Louis to head for Redpepper Volcano, so they can find their answers. Scratch that, actually- he also suggests stopping by Port Prisma for reinforcements from Rescue Squad.

On their way out of the Chateau, our heroes see a colorless female Memphawk who wasn’t there before they entered, just hanging out. From the sound of things, she waited six months to work up the gumption to interview Orion, when she was silently drained by Masque the Shy Bandit. The Memphawk is annoyed how her simple quest was too much to ask, demanding Mario and Louis restore love and joy to Prism Island. With that, the Memphawk woman leaves. At the top of Mario’s mind, he knows where she’s gone to.

Next up on the trip around the Island is the Rescue HQ in Port Prisma. Many members are present- tired, but still on the call to duty. There’s only a few missing, as well as extra room for one extra Squad.

Also present is Leblaanc, whose got some ‘splainin’ to do. Faced with the plumber and now reforming Squad mate, Leblaanc enlightens everyone to his deal- in exchange for strategically calling away his Rescue Squad subordinates from actually stopping the Musketeers, the bladed warriors would ensure no real harm would befall the squadees. There was something else Leblaanc made the Musketeers promise, but he bails on revealing that tidbit.

Regardless of this promise, Leblaanc isn’t happy at Aace for allying with Shroomsday. As retaliation and to make up for his mistake, Leblaanc is calling every available Rescue Squad member. Once altogether, the whole unit can mount an invasion on the Musketeer HQ in the woods. Thankfully, most of the missing members of the four current squads are at the volcano, simply licking their wounds from Bowser Junior’s recent attack. This, though, comes with the news of a Purple Rescue Squad, as well as Leblaanc holding it to Mario and Kidd to send any stray members or leaders here.

As Mario leaves Rescue HQ to go check on Piper’s gang, Merluvlee exits the Mawk & Pawk Dojo. The sorceress formally introduces herself, also revealing she used to be an advisor for Starmageddon over one thousand years ago. Edwin proceeds to ask Merluvlee two questions- why did she become the Sticker Comet, and why did Shroomsday seek her out beyond reclaiming the Royal Stickers? Since her story is long, Merluvlee decides to tell them if the gang come see her near the docks, though she emphasizes it’s not mandatory, and the team could learn from the battles ahead.

So many people on the island, so little time. Eventually, Mario and friends decide to skimp on Merluvlee’s story for now, and go see Piper’s friends instead. However, instead of four joyful individuals of different species happily catching up with each other around a growing tree until being joined by a Memphawk, a lone female Toad is freaking out near a dwindling chunk of wood and foliage. Relieved to see Mario and Marirana, the Toadette informs the group that the quartet of old pals left to go find a rare plant called a Rainbow Carnation, for its pollen also serves as a tree medicine. The carnation only grows in really high places, however, but the Toadette is sure the group will be fine.

Immediately, Louis squawks out Marmalade Valley as the locale of this flower, having seen it a few months ago. There, in addition to a Memphawk boy excited at Draggadn’s revival, the team of do-gooders also see Redd, Bolue, Griinie and Pynk braving the Valley’s heights. Their target- a flower more complete and dignified than the pollinating ones around the island, yet somehow still similar. With Pynk’s long reach, Griinie’s flight, Bolue’s throwing and Redd’s resourcefulness at looking good, the four friends reach the top together and claim their prize. The flower in their possession, the diverse band appears to be heading back to Port Prisma.

One trip later, Mario and Marirana find the four friends joyful at the tree’s recovery. Pynk, remembering Piper’s message of flowers blooming at the old meeting spot, is overjoyed. Then the Memphawk shows up, as expected. Redd recognizes her as Yella, while Pynk takes her friend’s arrival as a further sign Piper can’t be far behind.

It is then, with deepest remorse, that Yella gives her long-absent friends the bad news………Piper died. Everyone, from Griinie to Bolue, are devastated at their mysterious friend’s demise. The uneasiness of Yella makes her further news more gutwrenching, the traumatic memory of Piper suddenly decomposing as more of the mono-color plants started appearing around Prism Island filling her heart with sorrow. Their old friend could no longer call Prism Island his home, for Prism Island itself recognized Piper less and less.

The tearful cherry on top the mourning cake comes in the form of the tree’s flowers just blowing away, negating what the gang just did a little while ago. Oh, and a lone seed falls out of the tree. The seed is far from dead, however- suddenly, it opens, releasing a Ptooie from its crunchy innards. It’s a Ptooie unlike any Mario has ever seen (although something still stirs at the sight of it). Rather than the usual red head-white spots, white lips and pure-green stalks, the Ptooie is dark-red with yellow spots, darker-red lips a deep green stem.

Seeing the five friends afraid of this strange Ptooie, and a feeling of unfinished business welling in Mario, the plumber decides to fight the plant. However, the battle ends before it can even begin when Bolue and the others suddenly stand between Mario’s side and the plant, looking angry at Mario. When Mario is confused, Bolue clears up the situation quite nicely.

“THIS IS PIPER! HE’ S ALIVE!”

Mario, Marirana and Huey only watch as Redd, Bolue, Griinie, Pynk and Yella gather around Piper, relieved to still have their friend again. Piper doesn’t see it as a big deal, as he claims he’s always worried about them. Nevertheless, he still has a good, hearty laugh at reuniting his friends. He further explains the Rainbow Coronation was so high and so alone, it wasn’t corrupted by the unusual parasitic flowers suddenly showing up around the island. Piper knew his friends would gather again someday, and even go for the Rainbow Coronation right away. It’s been a gift in Piper’s family for over one millennium, foreseeing possibilities, but he knew in his heart they would have looked for it anyways.

Bolue doesn’t care for the explanation- he’s just satisfied the whole team’s back together! Piper agrees to this, and suggests where they could go. The idea sounds good, and the six friends leave for their next destination…until Piper trips. As everyone worries, though, it’s a false alarm, and the cocky plant gets back up again. Immediately, Redd remembers the last time this happened, and Piper appreciates his friends looking to the past. Again, they all have a stupid laugh- followed by Piper spitting up a huge, pale M to Mario and friends. Piper admits he didn’t see that one coming, but yet again, everyone laughs it off, before leaving town.

After their departure, Huey speculates what the “M” could be. Meanwhile, Mario looks unsure about it, though he thinks it’s incomplete somehow. Marirana finally breaks the tension, now understanding the importance of being with who one cares about.

Mario continues to wonder about this as they arrived at Redpepper Volcano. At the entrance to the hot mountain, he and the others are intercepted by a curious Kersti. The crowned Sticker Fairy’s temperous streak returns as soon as she notices Kidd, her anger rising higher when she thinks Ellshe’s game has ended.

At the last second, Huey steps in to retell how Kidd changed her ways and helped Ellshe recover. That said, Huey doesn’t go into the particulars of Ellshe’s current status as a Koopa Troopa- instead, the bucket merely informs Kersti her friend is looking for her and the other two Fairies. Kersti does notice something odd about Huey’s description of Ellshe taking a walk, but she lets it slide. Regardless, she decides to resume her search for Ellshe while leaving the volcano to Huey and the others, noting the volcano doesn’t sit well with a proper lady like her.

Once Kersti leaves, Kidd is perplexed Huey didn’t tell the crown fairy the whole story. Mr. Bucket’s only response is Kersti should learn for herself about what Ellshe’s turned into, as well as Shroomsday and the Sticker Comet’s truths. Though the response makes sense, Kidd fesses up she hates lying to Kersti, and Huey is sadly of the same mind. Without another word, Mario and Kidd head on further up, while Huey quietly reminds himself Kersti’s not the only one he’s keeping secrets from.

Again, Aace is invisibly eavesdropping on this whole conversation. Also like before, something someone said gets the lava flowing in Aace’s mind, causing him to fly out.

Just a few steps further, three Shy Guys from General Guy's army are hiding behind a rock. It looks like they're afraid of something- or some dragon for that matter. When questioned why they were hiding, the fellow Shy Guy tells them that they don't want to know. This made Nya concerned. She asks the Shy Guys if they wanted them to see what it was, and the Shy Guys obliged. With that, the 3 Shy Guys left to meet up with General Guy.

When the gang head to check it out, something is coming out of the lava. In the blink of an eye, Draggadon rises, and he looks enraged! Huey is surprised to see the flying mythic guardian with his own metal eyes, while Edwin is intimidated by the dragon’s immense size. The Slurple rogue is calmed when Huey assures him he speaks a little Draggadon. By that, Huey means SPEAKING LOUDLY AT THE DRAGON AS HE INTRODUCES HIMSELF, MARIO AND EDWIN TO CREATE A HELPFUL DIALECT!

By a stroke of fortune, Draggadon does speak that way himself. Regrettably, the insurmountably goliath suspects Mario is allied with Shroomsday, smelling the mushroom beast’s scent on the plumber. Despite Huey’s best efforts, it leads to him, Mario and Edwin running for their lives as Draggadon lava surfs after them, destroying what few rocks serve as a bridge.

Our heroes end up back where they started, now with an angry dragon breathing bursts of fireballs at them. Mario wonders what he should do to calm down Draggadon...suddenly, he got an idea! He drops the Basin Artifact on Draggadon's head with the help of his friends. And boy, did it hurt! For the Draggadon at least.

Edwin’s curiosity piques up, though, wondering why the island’s non-metal protector thought Mario was with Shroomsday. All Huey can guess is Shroomsday being the one responsible for Draggadon’s fossilized state, and even then he doesn’t sound sure.

Putting that conversation for later, Mario and friends climb onto the dazed Draggadon. With Huey and Edwin’s combined brainstorming, they retrieve the leftover Magma Burger from their first visit to Fort Cobalt, as well as a fishing rod up Mario’s moustache. Miraculously, the burger isn’t diseased or rotten despite being out of the fridge for far over three hours, and Draggadon is super-focused on the burger.

Mario and friends test out their new ride, luring Draggadon to the northeast platform unreachable for even Louis. It works like a delicious charm, and the gang undocks, while Draggadon sinks into the magma. There’s two Musketeers nearby, but they’re deep in conversation about an unknown object. Despite the briefness of the talk, Mario and friends sense some urgency in the swordswielders finding this object, for the purpose of solving another mysterious Prism Island problem.

Now inside the volcano proper, the gang find all sorts of red-hot minions of both factions. All three Fuzzies, Fire Bros, Dry Bones, the stronger Shroom enemies… There’s even more opponents in the form of the burning Ember and the airborne rotund Draglet. It’s definitely heating up in the world of combat, but keeping a cool head ensures Mario and friends prevail.

Several obstacles also litter the volcano, such as SoundStones, rapidly shifting lava and platforms with wide gaps. In these trying times, Marirana’s sound, Kidd’s speed, and Louis’ jumping give Mario the boost he needs to trek the Redpeppers of the Volcano. That Magma Burger also continues serving useful, luring Draggadon out of the lava for further transport.

Midway through the red hot rock, Mario and friends seem to be stuck in a room with colorless lava, limiting Draggadon’s movement. More surprisingly is Sledge teaching a group of Fire Bros how to throw their burning spheres, courtesy of Morton Koopa. Once again, Mario totally ruins Sledge’s day, eliminating his friends in turn-based card combat. Even a late Hammer Bro can’t fight Mario alone.

Contrary to popular belief, Sledge does not complain about his dwindling crew’s departure. No- as a professional, he merely tells Mario to meet him at Daffodil Peak to settle this once and for all. Sledge then departs from the volcano. The looming threat of the Musketeers finding their mark is enough convincing for Mario to delay that request, though.

At the back of the lower volcano is a huge room. High above, hanging on the rock stalactites, are three members of Purple Rescue Squad- Ombra the Pianta male, Uva the Pianta boy, and Stency the Brustache woman. These three may be hanging for their lives, which was apparently Kidd’s doing- but man, are they super chill about it. While they wait for Mario, Kidd, and a sense of decency to save them, the trio constantly compare themselves to cats, slugs and birds, respectively. Ombra, Uva and Stency- they see their own danger, yet they are just too cool to care about it.

At first, it seems impossible to reach them, a lack of lava for Draggadon to surf through an especially chief obstacle. A quick gaze at the back wall reveals a solution, in the form of a closed rock soda bottle with a square groove above it. Huey and his Cut-Out ability are followed up with the Noki Bottle Opener, unleashing the molten contents of the undrinkable drink into the volcano. Cue some lava surfing atop Draggadon and rescuing the missing Purple Squad.

The awesome trio are rescued, and Kidd apologizes amidst their insane animal metaphors. Their departure leaves Huey with one question, though- if every Squad has five members, and Kidd is leader, yet they only rescued three, and they were the only ones Kidd tossed in here…then where’s the fifth member? Strangely, this yields no answer- just a depressed, long silence and traumatic look from Kidd. Realizing the discomfort his question brought, Huey decides Kidd can tell the gang another time about the final Rescue Squad member.

Happier times come in the form of a Red Mini-Paint Star. To thank Draggadon for his services, Huey and Edwin reward the helpful dragon with the amazingly-still-fresh Magma Burger. Draggadon has now calmed down, trusting Mario despite the stench of Shroomsday somehow still upon him. The big guy asks the crew why they’re in the volcano, giving Huey the chance to ask if anything is here the Musketeers might be interested in. While Draggadon has no knowledge of anything else hidden in Redpepper, he knows someone who might- someone named Shadhema. If the gang find her, they’ll find their answer.

As Draggadon departs, Huey thanks him, even coming on strong. However, Huey and Edwin are left to wonder who Shadhema is. They kept that in mind as they collected the red Mini Paint Star, which creates a path leading to Redpepper Crater.

At Redpepper Volcano’s crater, Mario and Louis see a Yellow Toad near a bunch of lava rocks. The Toad, alerted to the gang’s presence, explains he works at Tangerino Grill, and he’s got a huge block of ice taking up space in the restaurant’s freezer. Unfortunately, though Chef Vinachio told the Toad to find something at the crater to melt the ice, the Toad can’t jump that high. To help a mushroom buddy out, Louis offers to deliver any fiery Artifacts if he and Mario find one here. Giddy with glee, the Toad jumps super high for joy and waaaaaitaminute.

…uh, so anyways, the Crater is more of the same, nothing really special. Just some Memphawk leaps from Louis, some pole-vaulting and suction from Edwin while avoiding Embers- same old same old. The only real change is Ruff Puffs and Steel Clefts also taking up residence as foes alongside the other volcano dwelling baddies, but that’s just a matter of using aerial-targeting battle cards.

Entering the back room of the crater is a whole ‘nother story, however. As soon as Mario and friends arrive, Pitholl and Cucleer also drop in. As they explain, up ahead is the resting place of Prism Island’s ruler, Shadhema herself. They don’t seem like themselves, weirdly, speaking much more threatening and empty than before. It only takes Louis a bit to realize it’s not Pitholl or Cucleer speaking, but Shroomsday through them. A fight ensues.

Ironically, Pitholl and Cucleer fight much better under Shroomsday’s possession than in their right minds. What that means isn’t exactly on the gang’s mind, the double troublemakers showing themselves much buffer than before. Even KOing one of them to disable their team move doesn’t neutralize the threat. Upon Cucleer’s demise, Pitholl gains the ability to instill his blade with his tropic ancestry, dealing almost as much damage as the team move. The key word is almost, though, and Team Mario wins for the third time.

After defeating Pitholl and Cucleer, Shroomsday takes his loss in stride. The fight was just to delay Mario and his amigos from getting in the way of some Blue Paratroopas carrying a copy of Bowser Junior’s containment device. The possessed treeman and bird head back to their base, instilling fear on how much stronger Shadhema could be compared to them.

The duo’s departure is followed by rocky stairs to the upper opening, rising from the magma.

Our heroes rush into the opening, to find…a hot spring. A horrible sight meets Mario’s gaze- Peppa T, the Invisible Caan, and Den T in their underwear! The embarrassed three guys run back towards the hot spring, only to find it surrounded by Blue Paratroopas. Using the device, they force a black coffin with the mark of the Grand Paint Stars out of the spring. This creepy revelation startles Huey and Louis, the latter remarking he now knows why Orion sometimes felt cold. By the time they regain their composure, the Blue Paratroopas are already flying off with the coffin.

So close, yet so far- this latest blunder fills Huey with hopelessness. Thankfully, Louis is more optimistic, since they just have to stop the revival from happening at all. And even if Shadhema does awaken, the Memphawk has faith Mario can take her on. Louis’ brighter outlook brings the fight back in Huey, who also remembers Mario defeated Starmageddon a short time ago.

The team decides to ask around, in order to see if the present Rescue Squad members, including Cosso and Sol, know anything. While they do, though, they also relax in the hot spring. Eventually, almost every member except Sol heads back for Port Prisma. Meanwhile, Sol is drying himself off with a Magmaw Dryer Artifact. Upon Mario gazing at it and his macho body, Sol lets Mario borrow it, then heads off.

Oddly enough, Huey can sense a Paint Star nearby, but Mario and friends can’t see it. With a little prodding, the gang find a hidden passage behind the waterfall, where three Snifits and a Boo are relaxing. One Snifit wonders why Bowser’s a no-show, whereas another reveals to Mario that Boos can’t feel temperature changes- she’s just in the water for fun. This one sentence gets Mario and Edwin to understand why Aace couldn’t find the coffin earlier.

Finally, Mario collects an Orange Mini-Paint Star, creating a shortcut back to Regale Trainworks.

Before heading off to the restaurant, though, the gang decide to meet up with Sledge at Daffodil Peak. By the time they got there, they were nearly surrounded by Musketeers. It was an ambush! This lead Mario and the gang to fight them.

After a tough battle, Kersti shows up and asks why they were ambushed. No one has a clue... unless, those Musketeers were trying to get Kersti. They have to worry about that later- they need to meet up with Sledge fast! Our heroes run through the many obstacles along the way, and fought some Boosketeers, Crazy Dayzees, and Dry Bones. In addition, some of General Guy's Shy Guy troops are here in various spots.

Sooner or later, Mario and the gang reach the top of Daffodil Peak for the second time. Sledge is there, waiting like he said. The shady Sledge Bro is frank on his aggravation with Mario, the plumber always ruining even the most trivial of pursuits. Yet Sledge also finds himself respecting Mario for his strength otherwise, and knows how much of a problem the Musketeers are growing into. No further words leave Sledge’s mouth- just a hammer from his arm, starting his showdown with Mario.

This time, Sledge juggles his hammers like a strong clown. It’s not just for show, either- it prevents aerial moves from hitting him. Worse is when Mario goes to hit Sledge with his close-range moves, the round hammer Bro stops juggling, and the hammers hit Mario after he thwacks Sledge. This forces Mario to use under-the-feet moves like the POW Block or Quakehammer to unbalance Sledge, damaging him instead and opening him up to aerial moves that turn.

Before Sledge is defeated, he switches up his tactics. Now, he only juggles when he’s about to attack. However, he juggles the hammers up really high, then either throws them straight at Mario or in an arc, messing up Mario’s timing. Sometimes, he uses his final hammer for a powerful slam move, a la Morton. Regardless, by surviving the onslaught of hammers for long enough, Mario and friends eventually defeat Sledge.

Unlike the last times they fought, Sledge doesn’t run away. Instead, he congratulates Mario’s team for their fighting & loyalty to each other, and they compliment him likewise. Asked to join, Sledge takes all of a millisecond to think about the offer and the current situation. Then, just like that, he joins the party, while still reminding Mario he’ll always be loyal to Bowser.

Prior to leaving the peak, Mario decides to test Sledge out against a few Musketeers. The turtle’s Hammer Juggle is quite the ability, defending Mario from and countering aerial moves for 1 turn, heavily damaging anyone stupid enough to try attacking anyways. Alongside this partner attack Sledge calling in a little Hammer Time for his perk, ranking up all Hammer cards or doubling Mega class Hammer cards on the Battle Roulette in exchange for ranking down Jump cards in that same situation. Even out of battle, Sledge can just Hammer Throw, dazing enemies for four seconds.

With Sledge on Mario’s team, the gang hot-foot it to Tangerino Grill with the Magmaw Dryer. Using the hot dragon hair appliance, they melt the ice block in the kitchen fridge and even get a Frackle Spectacle out of it. Marirana also gets the chance to thank Bella T for her help reconnecting with Suebelle, something the Toad twin just sees as free advice on her part. Rather than any payment like a concert ticket, Bella T just asks Marirana and Mario take the Frackle Spectacle wherever they go.

A job well done, the gang exit the restaurant- seeing Ellshe again from afar. Her memory’s returning, recalling she called someone K-girl, but Ellshe’s still a little foggy in her mind. She proceeds to walk off, searching for her forgotten friends.

Though Louis reminds Mario about the mini-pipe in Sacred Forest, Mario and Marirana’s minds are on helping Gulliv T with his height problem. Using the power of the SPEC-tacles, Gulliv T becomes a normal sized boy. Leblaanc, while surprised, welcomes Gulliv T to the Rescue Squad merrily, even accidentally calling him “son” at one point- though he corrects himself. Marirana and Huey are so happy for Gulliv T’s induction. Strangely, Kidd becomes a little down…

Chapter 6-3:

Mario and the gang then head to Scared Forest, and find the mini-pipe Louis was telling them about. Huey was so excited, mostly because he can sense a Mini Paint Star at the end of this pipe. Nya however, was concerned that it could be another ambush when they got to the end of the pipe. She knew she was going to regret this- but they need to get that Mini Paint Star, so they must fix the mini-pipe. With the Frackle Spectacles's power, the mini-pipe grows to a normal sized pipe.

Huey’s hunch pays off, as another Mini-Paint indeed lies on the other side of the pipe. That said, as Nya praises Mario’s ability to always find what he seeks, Mario starts to feel worried. Huey is confused, as he doesn’t see Shroomsday. The bucket fairy proceeds to make a bad pun, which he defends when Nya and Sledge call him out on it.

Just then, Lemmy Koopa rolls by on his rubber ball. He then poofs right in front of the quartet, surprising them. Lemmy has been so busy practicing his magical act and looking for the Musketeers’ circus, he has no clue where Bowser Junior, Motley or the Koopalings are. Once Huey explains the deal with Shroomsday and Morton being the only survivor of Port Prisma, it leaves Lemmy bewildered that Junior had a wildcard.

Additionally, Lemmy notices Sledge in Mario’s party. It’s not just the Koopaling is surprised the big Hammer Bro is working with Mario- there’s also the matter of Sledge being the only Circus Bro still on the island, since Sledge’s brothers and sisters fled. Amazed at this news, Mario, Huey and Nya ask Sledge about this detail of his life. It’s rather simple, though, Sledge just pointing out the circus life was never for him, seeking the spoils of battle. Sledge gets the conversation back on track, reminding Lemmy that the Koopalings and Mario now share a similar enemy. Despite Lemmy not promising Mario the lower Koopa Clan forces will hold back, he does decide to go look for Morton.

The Koopaling proceeds to roll away peacefully. Relieved, Nya appreciates meeting the one Koopaling in Junior’s army.

That is, until Lemmy poofs behind the trio, wanting to demonstrate his magic in combat.

Our buddy, Lemmy- he’s the last Koopaling. If you didn’t know about his magic wand or shell attacks, it would be unusual. What Lemmy does utilize in battle is his round rubber bouncing ball, giving him the chance to hit Mario with many weak attacks. Like his twin Larry, the circus king also summons some Koopaling minions and bewitches them with the Circus status. Sneakiest of all is Lemmy sometimes draining paint from the first colored card Mario uses in a turn- the attack still goes through, but the card doesn’t come back, hurting Mario in the long run.

As Lemmy’s vitality gives out, he gets the bright idea to summon the super happy destructive Wonder Ball. This thing’s pointy, grey, dark, and edgy. It’s also incredibly durable, resisting a lot of damage like a BAUSS. Accidents happen with clowns, regardless, and the Mario team manages to destroy the Wonder Ball, as well as bring Lemmy down.

Similar to the recent string of Mario’s bigger enemies, Lemmy is gracious in defeat, finding drama in it. The battle also gave him an idea on how to defeat Shroomsday, and the Koopaling leaves in a puff of smoke to share it with Morton. When the smoke clears, it turns out Lemmy left behind the Koopaling Contract, a parchment with all the Koopalings’ signatures written on it.

The contract’s existence reminds Sledge it was this style-over-substance approach that convinced him to leave the circus. Nya has to somewhat agree, then wonders what our heroes would ever need the parchment for. A dark idea hits Mario’s mind at that point- a Dark Bloo idea. The machine in said Inn’s secret basement, to be exact. Regardless of Mario collecting the Mini-Paint Star to create a road towards the Green Energy Plant, he decides to check out this hunch.

Within the Dark Bloo Inn’s secret basement, Mario brings the Koopaling Contract to a scanner on the pod in the back. After a quick scan, the pod accepts the sample, revealing itself to be a Timespace Pod. With it, Mario can rematch whoever’s DNA was on any strange object he brings the contraption. Since all seven Koopalings used their fingernails rather than a pen to sign, Mario can now rematch a wide variety of opponents! Once he’s ready, Mario tests the pod to bring him back to the moment he fought Morton at Crimson Tower.

Except the machine doesn’t just do that- it also powers up Morton tremendously, perhaps beyond Starmageddon’s VR clone himself. Most indicative of all is Morton’s burning hammer dealing huge amounts of damage. Mario is only thankful the move wasn’t that powerful when his journey started, and triumphs once again.

Immediately after the battle, Mario is transported back to Dark Bloo Inn’s Timespace Pod. Alongside a GUI showing 1/7 near the Koopaling emblem, Mario receives three copies of Morton’s enemy card. Quickly leaving and entering the Inn to restock, Mario vows to plow through the other six fights.

Iggy, Ludwig, Wendy, Larry and Lemmy are also buffed. However, it’s just to the point they’re as strong as the EX Morton, rather than exactly proportional in difficulty. Iggy’s chariots are a pain, Ludwig’s Ludsub stomp is double painful, Wendy rains a lot of coins, Larry’s jump kick is like an angry crow taking flight, and is it really necessary to re-explain the “magic” of Lemmy’s Wonder Ball?

With the six Koopalings he’s fought on the island dealt with again, Mario is looking forward to battling Roy at least once. The red plumber pities not fighting Roy earlier, but reasons this is at least something.

This time, the Timespace Pod brings Mario to a monochrome circus (Emerald Circus). On the other side of the stage platform is Roy, looking for a fight. Before starting, however, some Shy Guys steal Mario’s color and Syrups. Mario almost curses wasting coins on those cards- then he fights Roy.

Roy treats Mario the same way he did Luigi- blasting Paint at him. In this case, while Mario is overcome with the emotional beats of the colorful paste, he also gains some color back, allowing him to regenerate sometimes.

Halfway through the royal rumble, though, Roy calls his Shy Guys to give him all the paint again, mortifying Huey as the large Koopaling swooshes it around in his blaster. All mixed together, Roy fires the black paint randomly, covering the circus floor in black paint.

Hammering Roy at this point is a bad move, as the black paint again hurts Mario if he steps in it. Mario stands to think for a bit, before coming to the decision to use water and ice cards like the Ice Flower or Turbo FLUDD to clear the path. One card alone doesn’t fix this, but three do, and the black paint goes away.

The sight of his new discovery washing away drives Roy nuts, encouraging him to wail on Mario with an assortment of punches and kicks. This lack of focus provides Mario the motivation and chance to finish the fight quickly, and Roy is downed.

Once again back in Dark Bloo Inn, Mario doesn’t just get 3 Roy cards. The GUI shows a 7/7 near the Koopaling symbol, manifesting a Koopaling Clown Car Artifact for Mario to collect. With it equipped, Mario can deal some more damage to Koopaling-allied enemies.

Right outside the Green Energy Plant are Shroomsday’s minions, trying to break into the building. This stirs an out-of-place furious reaction from Kidd, as she rushes over to ram the monsters away from the door. It takes a Monstroom swatting Kidd towards Mario and co to convince the Vellbex she needs to work with her friends. With three powerful Monstrooms assisting the Slugshroom and Chassishroom in their company, the battle quickly shows itself tougher than expected. Regardless, Kidd and Mario come through.

Edwin makes a joke about dinner being cancelled for the Monstrooms, but Kidd is busy looking around the Save Block for someone. When she can’t find whoever she’s looking for, Kidd looks relieved, believing her dad brought “him” into the house. Upon Huey asking what Kidd’s looking for, the goat fatale replies she’ll explain inside.

Our heroes try opening the door, but it’s locked. Being the polite metal guy he is, Huey knocks on the door. Suddenly, a green Toad grabs Huey and drags him in. Confused, Mario, Kidd, Edwin and the others follow fast.

Inside the GEP, Mario and the crew see Huey being held by a metal claw, with a green older Toad observing the guardian. In the bottom-right corner of the plant, meanwhile, a young Vellbex boy with an eyepatch is sleeping on a comfy collection of sheets. One misunderstanding later, Mario, Huey and Edwin get to know the Toad as Enerr T. They also learn Enerr T is Kidd’s adoptive father, taking her in when her real parents perished in the Azure Underground long ago. Furthermore, Enerr T confirms O’Chunks was here earlier, helping Enerr and the Vellbex boy into the Green Energy Plant while the geometric goliath drew Shroomsday away. Even though a few shroom monsters doubled back, Enerr T’s just glad the biggest of them is gone.

One question remains- who’s the young goat? When Huey asks this, Kidd pleasantly, yet strangely reserved, tells the gang it’s her son, Billy. Edwin and Huey briefly debate who Billy’s father is, before deciding to just wake the boy and ask him. At this suggestion, however, the cheerful mood in the room turns to solemnness, and Kidd and Enerr T begin to look anguished. Finally, Enerr T lets our heroes know something- Billy’s not going to wake up. In fact, Kidd hesistantly reveals her son’s been asleep for a whole year already.

Huey, startled, inquires seriously what caused this- he’s the guardian of Prism Island, after all, and it’s his duty to know. The question leads Kidd to tell her friends a story- a story of how Billy, despite his smallness, had a big heart. Every time he, Kidd, Enerr T and Billy’s dad- Leblaanc- went out for a picnic, the kind boy would always pick flowers for his mom.

One day, the family went deeper into Mossrock Theatre. While there, Billy found some strange flowers that weren’t growing there the day before. Unaware, Billy brought one of each color to give to his mom. The flowers were so mysterious, yet interesting, that before Billy gave them to Kidd, he decided to help himself to sniffing them all at the same time.

Kidd tries to remain calm recounting what happened, but at this point, she completely loses her composure and is unable to continue. Enerr T then continues- immediately after smelling the flowers, Billy abruptly collapsed. They brought him back to Green Energy Plant immediately, but though Billy was alive, he wasn’t waking.

Without warning, Billy starts speaking- but rather than a young boy goat, something about his voice and speech of control and roses reminds Mario not just of Piper, but of another flowery figure in his mind. Spooked, Enerr T brings to light that Billy sometimes talks like that in his sleep, also mentioning his grandson has spoken a lot of control and roses in this state.

Doing his best to continue on, Enerr T elaborates no measures, not even the Grand Paint Stars, have worked to reverse Billy’s condition. And of course, Kidd reveals Billy’s deep slumber was what convinced her there was no good in the world, as Billy’s kindness cost him his consciousness.

Now knowing the full story of Kidd, Huey sadly asks his friend goat why she didn’t tell them earlier. Such a testy subject brings out a brief relapse in Kidd, calling Huey “Tin Thing” as she reminds him how even Starmageddon’s Grand Paint Stars were no help. Edwin, however, realizes something- if Aace is always warning the Musketeers to stay away from the Sporinating flowers, then perhaps he knows the antidote for such an emergency? Both Enerr T and Kidd are awestruck at how this obvious solution slipped under the radar for so long, and Kidd gives Edwin a power smooch, filling him with giddy feelings.

Getting further into the woods is problematic, and would require another Mini-Paint Star. The mention of this reminds Enerr T of something- before the plant’s power went out, a shooting star blasted through the window and went into the monitor. It was this event that tripped the breaker and broke the power, though.

After a top and bottom of the building, Mario and friends realize the Amp Battery would provide a major help in providing the energy. To complete the flow, though, they need to climb to the top of the house to find the proper Cut-Out Zone. They do, and the Battery is summoned.

The Amp Battery begins to work its magic, but Huey remembers something important- lightning tends to strike tall metal objectSBBZBZBZBBPABZZP! Before he even finishes his sentence, the Amp Battery unleashes divine justice upon Huey, using him to connect the heavens with the earth and re-energize the Plant! Huey definitely doesn’t feel good after that!

Returning inside, Enerr T confirms the power is back on. Behind him, meanwhile…despite Huey not recognizing the imagery on the monitor, Mario and especially Louis are overcome with nostalgia. On the monitor is a recreation of the Grass Lands, from one of Mario’s earliest adventures. Enerr T explains he’s been measuring Billy’s brain activity with this ancient imagery, and the results indicate it makes lots of people happy, something Louis jumps on board with.

Because Huey can smell the Mini-Paint Star past the monitor, the question remains of how to enter. Whipping his moustache for a bit, Mario realizes Huey’s Cut-Out might prove the key. This is correct, and the gang are transported into the pixelated past…

The Cut-Out power causes the gang to materialize in the original Grass Lands. While Huey is weirded out by the pixelated dimension, Louis is just enjoying himself. In short order, Mario and friends are joined by an 8-Bit Goomba, the first one besides Perry they’ve seen anywhere on Prism Island. Relieved at seeing such an old face, Mario walks up to the weak pitiful creature to initiate turn-based combat. Strangely, though, the 8-Bit evil mushroom prefers to injure Mario on the field, with no apparent understanding of “Battle Cards”. Learning his lesson in pain, Mario returns the favor, instantly reducing the 8-Bit Goomba to paint.

The nostalgia trip through the weirdly stage-built landscape continues, until our band of Good Samaritans reach the most feared obstacle of bleeding hearts and artists- the wall. Huey and even Nya are stumped at the sheer thickness and height of the green monument. Unexpectedly, Catguru’s face appears over a nearby cloud. The weird paradoxal feline offers his assistance, in the form of an art from a fellow moustache lover- the ability to Flip!

With Catguru’s help, Mario is once again able to channel his power he originally used in other dimensions to bend his perspective. Unlike before, rather than a road straight ahead, Mario gets the sensation of a diagonal “isometric” view. Among Catguru’s jovial celebrations of Mario Flipping out also come some warnings- Mario needs some paint to use Flip, and he can only stay in the isometric view for 10 seconds. Thankfully, Mario is able to exit Flipping prematurely, though Catguru finds the idea of returning to reality boring. Catguru finally parts, leaving Mario and friends to fully explore the pixelated wonderland.

During their trip through the digitized old lands, the gang explore the underground, some verdant hills, and even one of Bowser’s old castles. Unfortunately, they also learn that the 8-Bit Goombas don’t just have equally retro Embers and Bullet Bills as buddies in other parts of the world- some stronger Koopas, such as Fire and Boomerang Bros, also prowl the digital landscape. This forces the Italian-American caricature and his racially-diverse comrades to switch between slow and fast combat on the go.

Further exploration of the level yields passage to a secret upper area. Inside the passage resides some Shy Guys and a Green Pokey, guarding part of a strange frog-like amulet. Perplexed at his smaller foes from a dreamy adventure long ago residing in a world recreating the first time he met the Koopalings, Mario finds it hard to concentrate during this battle. Once he wins, he takes the frog amulet piece, the Shard instilling a sense of Panic inside him like when he talked to the sleepy Toadette way back at Sunglow Ridge…

Quickly, Mario shakes the thought out of his head, not wanting to entertain the notion. Slowly, he and his friends explore the rest of the old world, even coming out on top with a tricky Warp Pipe. At last, after finding a secret red pipe hidden in- or rather, besides- some lava, Mario and the party find the room with the Green Mini-Paint Star. All they do beforehand is take out a large platoon of Fire and Boomerang Bros, and the star’s good as theirs!

Shortly after Mario hits the Goal Block to force the Mini-Star back to the outside world, Catguru returns in full to congratulate the plumber on his expert use of Flipping. Edwin, thinking of something, takes the chance and asks the wily feline if he’s ever heard of Shroomsday or Shadhema. While Catguru has not heard the former’s name, the latter brings back wonderful memories. Substitute “wonderful memories” with “a time where many immeasurable forces were drawn to the power of the Eclipse Princess”, and you might understand Louis and Huey’s confidence in dealing with Shadhema suddenly dropping. Catguru leaves for good this time, someone else calling to him.

Shaken by this news, it takes the sight of Billy’s still sleeping body to remind Mario and Huey of some of the emotional stakes. The team proceed to grab the Mini-Star on the second floor of the plant, revealing the way to Mossrock Theatre.

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Thousands of miles away, at Starlight Workshop, Kolorado is admiring himself for continuously finding more Artifacts and Things in the back ground. The Koopa archeologist seriously considers moving in, until Peach’s voice alerts the turtle to her, Toadsworth and Kitanu.  Peach thinks about bringing a few of the Blight King’s creations home as souvenirs, but Toadsworth feels uncomfortable in the laboratory. Annoyed with her retainer, Peach insists they’re also safe. …Despite the foreboding nature of the door leading into this room. Or the gold Huey statue violently rumbling.

When Toadsworth persists being a stick-in-the-mud, Kolorado chastises the elderly mushroom for lacking a sense of adventure. The shelled scientist also suggests Toadsworth take a page out of Mario’s book in acting brave. Sadly, Toadsworth must admit to his old, small body, while also cursing himself for not attaching the pogo add-on to his cane like other elderly animals before him. This act of helpless yearning causes Kolorado to change tact, and actually offer one of the King’s Things to give Toadsworth a hand.

Yet in the middle of trying to figure out the right Artifact prototype, Bowser Junior and Motley finally return to the land, crashing into and knocking out Toadsworth in the process. Toadsworth being the only one between the two villains and Peach spurs the fair princess to feel guilty for a circumstance beyond anyone’s control. When Kolorado goes to check on the villains, the grumpy Junior ignites the Koopa professor on fire, and he runs out of the back room in pain.

The moment has finally come for Peach to confront Bowser Junior. Unfortunately, the crowned Koopa Prince is not in the mood to directly inform Mamma Peach of his “why”. Rather, the Princess only gets the jib of it, hearing his anger of getting back at Shroomy and forcing him to send Bowser Junior to the other Mushroom Kingdom.

Unexpectedly, Motley draws the line at this point with Junior. Tired of his advice always ignored, being bullied, made fun of, and Junior not wanting to be friends, the clown has decided it’s time to bring Bowser Junior home. Junior doesn’t take him seriously at first. A quick magic blast from Motley changes that, though, and the clown reminds Bowser Junior of the Koopa King’s orders- keep Junior safe, and keep an eye on him. If Motley has to knock Junior out to keep him safe, so be it.

There’s no more time for talk, as Motley chases after Bowser Junior, firing magic at the young prince. A clearly distressed Peach wants to find a more peaceful solution, but Kitanu advises against it- this is Motley’s decision.

Eventually, Bowser Junior is in front of the gold Huey statue. Whether groveling or a sincere revelation, BJ tries calming Motley down with talk, but the clown’s not laughing. Insisting what he does next is as Bowser’s servant, Motley fires a heavy blast at Junior. Junior ducks out of the way, causing the powerful blast to hit the Huey statue instead, creating a hole. While embarrassed, Motley charges up another magic blast.

…When suddenly, black paint pours out of the hole in the Huey statue. Even creepier, unlike the stuff at Sunglow Ridge, this black paint keeps moving after pouring out, as if it were “alive”. Peach and Junior try to warn Motley about it, but he doesn’t listen until it’s too late. Just as fast as it appeared, the black paint grabs Motley, Junior and Peach, while also swatting away Kitanu. The force of the impact makes Kitanu faint, also causing a Sticker Comet symbol to appear over him and crack. With her last breaths, Peach cries for Mario and even Toadsworth to save her.

Following alarms for emergency lockdown and all doors including the entrance closing, silence overcomes the Starlight Workshop. Then…

“THEY WILL ALL FEEL- THE TRUE POWER OF THE BLACK PAINT.”

Chapter 6-4: Big Top Mario

When they got to Mossrock Theater, Mario's partners were creeped out by the place, especially the uncanny circus music playing in the background. All around the trees of this eerie forest were posters advertising for the Emerald Circus. Huey was happy to read all about it, because he would like to go to the circus and see the hullabaloo of Monkhairas on unicycles his creator always spoke of. Nya has to remind Huey the Circus is actually the Musketeer's base.

The Ninji's warnings are interrupted by the long-awaited sight of O’Chunks and Shroomsday, still fighting each other. Between Shroomsday’s macabre statements of parading the brave warrior’s body around and O’Chunks’ unyielding fighting spirit, there’s no end to their continuing struggle against. The two titans proceed to take their duel further into the woods.

In the second area, there are several hard and soft fences, essentially creating a maze of sorts. With Nya’s help, Mario is able to better surpass the wooden labyrinth. Several baddies complicate the process of exploration, though, such as Dino Rhinos (amazing Mario just as much as they did Luigi), Draglets, Broozers, Rebazy Dayzees and Arantulas.

New foes also haunt the woods. In the case of the Phantom, it’s very literal. The gang even battle mounds of sentient cotton candy, Cottonstiks. Even as his friends are considering just eating the cute soft enemy, Mario does not underestimate his sweet foes. But even the Phantom and Cottonstik’s power together pale to the most powerful non-boss foe Mario has encountered across all of his adventures, the Amazy Dayzee. Behind their diva-like behaviour is a powerhouse of an enemy, it’s power so great and divine, not even blocking diminishes the damage it deals. Thankfully, Amazies are just as cowardly as always, running away if they think they’ll lose.

Regardless, throughout the forest, the various Musketeer minions were performing several acts such as hanging on a trapezes and doing somersaults. Even one of General Guy's troops got caught up in the act- a Dry Bones grabbing him while it was on the trapeze. Thank goodness Mario came to the rescue and pulled him out of the Dry Bone's grasp! The fellow Shy Guy thanks Mario for freeing him, and even admits that this place was giving him the chills. It went back to meet up with General Guy.

Upon arriving in the third area of the woods, the Mario group sees Shroomsday wallop O’Chunks back and forth. Shroomsday wants to know what makes O’Chunks think he can take on the enormous legume’s power, to which O’Chunks smarmily replies he doesn’t need to think whacking weeds like Shroomsday. Eventually, O’Chunks casually socks Shroomsday in his ten eyes. In response, Shroomsday upsides O’Chunks. Pretty soon, the two’s rough encounter turns into a dustcloud, and the fight moves even further in.

Mario is about to give chase, when Huey suddenly smells something. Though Kidd and Nya misunderstand Huey’s wordless gestures, it dawns on Edwin what his metal homie smells- black paint coming towards Mossrock Theatre. The forecoming threat is more than enough incentive for Mario to hurry.

Proceeding through this area isn’t quite simple, for Monkhairas are throwing their stale bananas on the paths ahead. The monkeys are definitely clever in diluting Louis’ ability to help, as they’ve constructing really high fences to prevent the Memphawk from simply Leaping over them. The fences’ close proximity to the edges of the hills also make Nya’s Vanishing a bad idea. After observing their throwing speed and patterns for long enough, though, Mario realizes Kidd’s Dashing can squeeze by just enough. The idea pays off, and that area is dealt with.

Hidden in one of the wooded areas is a Double Mini-Paint Star, of Orange and Purple colorations. By collecting it, Mario unlocks some shortcuts to both Tangerino Grill and, of all places, Lighthouse Island. Following a brief celebration of this find, Mario remembers he has to hustle it back through the woods before the black paint arrives!

Our heroes finally arrive in the last part of the woods, just before a Mini-Paint Star no doubt leading to the Musketeers’ HQ. What’s better is Shroomsday is exhausted from all the fighting- though O’Chunks is also giving out. The two comment on each other’s incalculable strength, before Shroomsday asks O’Chunks where he gets it from. This prompts O’Chunks to divulge it comes from his desire to protect Nastasia, as well as all his other friends. Hearing O’Chunks’ reasoning causes Shroomsday to think back to a time where he felt the same- sadly, that time has passed. Now, Shroomsday reaffirms his unstoppable wrath as the last remaining creation of the Shadow Queen, surpassing all he sees!

Then Shroomsday starts sniffing, something awful-smelling in the air. O’Chunks believes as Shroomsday smelt it, he dealt it. However, Shroomsday’s bafflement slowly turns to dread as he realizes what the smell is…

Up in the skies above Mossrock Theatre, Morton and Lemmy are commandeering a Koopaling airship. Excited to finally get some payback, Morton yells to down below he now knows why Bowser Junior confiscated the Black Bills- because “Shroomy” told him to. And if that’s so, it must mean Shroomsday has some weakness to it. Lemmy definitely feels the excitement in the error at the idea of the giant purple menace meeting his maker in the Underwhere. Following that, Morton gives the order to drop the Black Bill on Shroomsday, hopes for a big reward on Morton’s mind. With this clearance, the Shy Guys on board proceeds to DROP DA BOMB. (Sapook eht nioj…)

Down below, Shroomsday wastes no time stretching his tendrils very far towards the Black Bill, intending to stop it. …Unfortunately, the tendrils disintegrate as soon as they make contact with the enormous ammo. While O’Chunks is growing a wee worried at the dark bullet of doom heading before them, it’s nothing compared to the extreme pain overcoming Shroomsday from merely touching it! The beast is so desperate to end the torment, he actually fires lasers at his own tendrils to sever them before the black paint can come any closer! In a stroke of luck for Shroomsday, the laser also hits the airship, severely damaging it enough to force Morton and Lemmy order a retreat.

Even with the black paint no longer touching it, Shroomsday is still in agony, and he start raving on the situation being far worse than he could have prepared for. Abruptedly, he opens a portal to both escape a likely game over and find Aace for consultation. As Shroomsday enters, O’Chunks leaps in after the monster, and the portal closes after him. That leaves Mario, Huey and the rest to once again deal with a Black Bill- this one coming right where they are!

To save his friends, Huey asks they duck and cover, even shielding their eyes to keep the black paint out. The gang agrees, and like at Sunglow Ridge, a strange void suction sound is heard following impact from the Black Bill. Eventually, Huey gives the clear, and our heroes open their eyes…to the sight of Huey clutching his stomache.

Huey insists black paint is nothing he can handle. Not only does Edwin agree, but he also finds it suspicious Huey can handle the toxic mix much better in comparison to Shroomsday shrivelling at a mere touch. It’s here that Edwin demands answers on what’s going on.

It seems while Huey doesn’t think he’d be the best guy for that story- plus he doesn’t even know what the big plan is- he does pique up the Emerald Grand Paint Star as a possible source. Revealing that Emerald was the first Grand Paint Star that Starmageddon ever made, Huey happily chirps the greenest of all painted celestials holds the final key to the general mysteries of Prism Island’s past.

With this promise and more timed dashing with Kidd, Mario and friends reach what seems to be the last Mini-Paint Star on Prism Island, and by extension the road to the Musketeers’ hideaway, Emerald Circus.

The long walk brings the band of heroes to the entrance of the Emerald Circus. Huey understands what the location is right away, as Edwin reminisces on how long it’s been since he’s been here.

Several Musketeers are stationed around the tent, but they’re too busy to fight. Pre-ordering tickets for the next show, a Quincada suspicious of Mario’s looks, a Monkhaira surveying some captured Yoshis…everyone outside has their hands, appendages and paws full getting ready.

All Mario and his allies can really do is check up on the Yoshis. They seem alright, but the cage is still too small for them. The unfairness of the situation is accentuated when the Green Yoshi remembers Mario from Dark Bloo Inn. His kinship with these majestic dinosaurs spurs Mario to unlock the cage.

Too bad the red Yoshi swallows and spits out Mario as soon as he tries unlocking the padlock.

Some sharp eyes alert the gang of someone else being nearby. Using his hammer, Mario massages the nearby victim of Yoshis. It’s Verda of Blue Rescue Squad- she wanted to pet a Yoshi, but it was defensive against her. The caring Pianta appreciates Mario helping her, and heads back to Port Prisma to report her findings before Leblaanc.

There’s nothing else for Mario to do or try at the circus at the moment, so he and the others follow.

Back at Port Prisma HQ, almost the entire Squad is finally assembled. Leblaanc gives a motivational speech to stir his fellow Rescuers’ fighting spirits- now is the time they take the island back from the Koopalings and Musketeers! All five Squads and Gulliv T heed their leader’s encouragement, and head out to Emerald Circus en masse!

This time, Leblaanc is also joining the operation. Seeing Kidd’s surprise at this, Leblaanc explains to her- calling her Kiddwella to boot- he feels ashamed of himself for not stepping in to help Kidd and giving up on her after Billy fell asleep. Instead of getting angry at him, Kidd(wella) puts it behind her, done playing the blame game. Leblaanc is happy for the return of Kidd’s spirit! …that said, there’s something he wants to tell Kidd, something he did, and that something is-

Before Leblaanc can explain, Kidd implants a kiss upon him. The Squad Captain turns very red at this, but keeps himself reserved. For three seconds. Finally, he can take it no more and loses himself in the amour of love, dashing after his organization in his lust!

Mario is about to head off when he recalls none of the gang have heard Merluvlee tell her story to them. Realizing he shouldn’t put this off any longer, he and the others head down to the piers to find the sorceress. Out of the kindness of her heart, Merluvlee decides she’ll give Mario cards if she listens to her stories, as all parts of them are very long. As Mario learns, there’s currently three parts of her tale she wishes to share now. Our heroes, glad yet guilty they can just binge-listen, gather around Merluvlee, and she begins...

Part one- It actually all began with an incident involving the King and Queen’s daughter. Several players from alternate dimensions came from far and wide to capture the power the young ruler possessed. The results of the planet-shattering battle were horrendous- one of the Royal Pets and many of the Vellbex had their games ended. Even worse, the Shadow Queen used the aftermath of the clash to strike a powerful blow upon Starmageddon, banishing him into the dimension of another participant.

Though the clash ended, things only got worse for Prism Island after- for the Queen had corrupted both her child and the surviving Royal Pet, who Mario and friends know as Shroomsday. Both Merluvlee and Aace tried reasoning with the two, but the Shadow Queen’s evil influence was too great, chiefest of all a lack of responsibility or care.

With more understanding, the gang proceed to part two. Shortly before the Shadow Queen was sealed away by four heroes, she became jealous of a traveling Monty Mole kingdom. She proceeded to send Shroomsday on a mission to destroy those Monty Moles. At first, it seemed Shroomsday had failed, as no word had reached Prism Island for some time. Even better in Merluvlee’s eyes was the Shadow Queen being imprisoned in her palace. Everything should have ended there.

Unfortunately, the Queen’s influence over her child, as well as Shroomsday’s bond, ensured this would continue. Shadhema sent her mother’s most loyal right hand to check on and free Shroomsday. Somehow, she did, under the continent of Pastelora. This resulted in the beast cursing the continent and its inhabitants, on top of finally dealing with the Monty Mole kingdom.

Eventually, Merluvlee felt she could no longer stand by. Luckily, she got a message from the Monty Mole king, Montgomery, requesting her aid along two others. Merluvlee accepted, but Shadhema wouldn’t let her leave. Finally, the Prism Island locals had also reached their breaking point with the Shadow Queen’s influence and legacy- Shadhema the prime person exemplifying this.

Even Aace had to admit his student was just a shell of her former self. But since he loved Shadhema too much to openly rebel, Aace left Prism Island for a long time. Altogether, the people of Prism Island were able to subdue Shadhema, allowing Merluvlee a chance to depart.

In part three of the tale, Merluvlee finally reached Pastelora. By the time she arrived, Shroomsday had already turned the capital city into a plagued shadowland, complete with shadowy Monty Moles and Shroomsday’s minions. In the middle of the chaos, the Monty Mole king, Montgomery, fought alongside a Bomb Boo and a red Swampire to deal with Shroomsday. Wasting no time, Merluvlee flew into the fray.

The brawl lasted for weeks. Eventually, Merluvlee noticed Shroomsday was wearing five extra crowns she’d never seen before he left. Getting an idea, Merluvlee took the five extra crowns, as well as the Gold one, away from Shroomsday. Just as Merluvlee thought, the experience drastically weakened Shroomsday. However, the power of the crowns was immense, especially the gold one. In order to contain their power, Merluvlee had to focus all her mystic energy, changing her into a spatial comet in the process. Sadly, despite Shroomsday being weakened, he still put up enough of a fight to force Montgomery into dragging the shroom monster into Pastelora’s depths…

For listening to Merluvlee’s stories, Mario receives a lot of Syrup cards, some high-end. As Mario and friends decide to head off to Emerald Circus, Merluvlee informs them she’ll tell more of the story once they deal with the Musketeers’ base.

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Inside the deepest chambers of Fortune Island, Aace, Pitholl and Cucleer are overseeing the Blue Paratroopas bringing in the coffin from Redpepper Crater. The ghostly leader is very particular about where the coffin is set, though he does give the hands-up eventually.

Despite relief at finally getting to make up for his mistake years ago, Aace is unsure whether to look in the coffin- he dreads seeing Shadhema’s angry, betrayed eyes. Once Pitholl and Cucleer egg their boss on, Aace eventually gives in- only to find something so horrific and decayed, his eyes fill with terror. The sight of Shadhema’s body, or what’s left of it, convinces Aace that the Grand Paints Stars won’t be enough to bring her back. Motioning the Paratroopas to carry the coffin away, Aace contemplates his suspicions were correct. To revive Shadhema, he needs-

Suddenly, Shroomsday enters the room through a portal, with O’Chunks hanging onto his tendril. While O’Chunks is busy with Shroomsday’s tendril, a panicked Shroomsday informs Aace of the Koopalings creating and using the black paint in Black Banzai Bills. This fills Aace with even more concern for the future, his only relief being it could have been worse. All that matters is retrieving a missing ingredient, then returning to Prisma Fountain to revive Shadhema.

Shroomsday, wondering what he missed, cautiously asks of this secret ingredient. An uneasy Aace whispers what it is into Shroomsday’s horn. Whatever it is, something like the instinct of narrowly dodging a bullet combined with flabbergastment instills Shroomsday, with Aace only further clarifying the missing ingredient makes too much sense. In light of this, Mario’s continuing presence undermines any chance the Musketeers have of obtaining the last of what they need.

Shroomsday thinks about it. Finally, he comes to a decision…

---

When they got to the Emerald Circus, the entire Rescue Squad was in line for the show. Even General Guy and his troops were in line, surprising Huey. General Guy explained that he couldn't resist coming to watch what may be a good show.

Along with General Guy and his minions, Mario and friends also talk to a few of the Rescue Squadees. Peppa T hasn’t seen the circus since he was a boy, Stency is working on her Rescue Squad song’s lyrics, Stabyltu thanks Mario for talking to an average Lakitu like him, and Michelle is hyped being one of the first in line. In addition, Jonny lets Mario and Louis know that Leblaanc would like Orion back in the Rescue Squad after this mission, to head a new Vermillion Rescue Squad and restore some version of Orange. The rest of the Squadees are too focused on the mission to pay them heed, as if not speaking would allow the world more breathing room in portraying the image of everyone teaming up.

Upon reaching Cosso, he’s about to give the order for roll call. However, he stops midway, as he senses Leblaanc should handle such a momentous moment, and Kidd agrees. Honored by their vote of confidence, Leblaanc yells for the mother of all Roll Calls. The tally ends with Suga T, as she yells out “25!” Counting Leblaanc, that’s 26 members, with General Guy’s forces as back-up. The thought of the large gathering believe Billy would be proud if he were here.

The show is finally about to start, and a Boosketeer welcomes the entire line-up heartily. In fact, as the Rescue Squad and General Guy’s forces are heading in, the ghoulish cavalier ominously mentions they’ve been expected. Worried, yet with another smooch from Kidd, Leblaanc heads in after his allies to ensure their safety.

Surprise! It was all an elaborate trap- the entire Rescue Squad and General Guy’s army are seated on the left stands, encased in webbed-up cocoons! While Boosketeers and Monkhairas are all relaxed in the right stands, the Arantulas wrap up their work, salivating at the idea of eating the Rescue Squad and Shy Guys. Only Leblaanc is able to force his head out of a cocoon, befuddled at how the Musketeers knew they were coming. This leaves Mario and friends vastly outnumbered in the Musketeers’ own domain, unable to even reach their close associates and Shy Guys.

To pass the time again, Huey and Edwin make small talk about the Slurple returning to his group’s circus. All Edwin is able to communicate is his awestruckness at what a full house and giddy audience it is right now. Huey is also excited- though he swears he smells both black paint and a hint of banana.

About a minute later, Perry appears on stage to build up the Emerald Circus’ grandeur. Right away, he pulls out the big guns, with Khairacles’ Show of Stunning Strength.

On cue, the giant green ape drops in, crushing Perry. He follows it up with some showboating, leading to a lot of applause from the Musketeers present. And Khairacles is just enjoying himself, the applause a banana bunch laced with drugs. The applause finally dies down, and Khairacles starts things off by demanding the Weight.

The psychotic Thwomp from the Sunset Express returns once more, and flattens Khairacles beneath him like a sandwich. Huey is relieved Khairacles was defeated so easily, but Edwin warns him not to speak too soon. Suddenly, the Thwomp starts shaking, and Khairacles easily lifts it in one hand while juggling Perry in the other, making Sledge envious. As the ape effortlessly continues the act, he brags he can carry anything of any weight, to Perry’s aggravation. In time, Khairacles throws the Thwomp away and drops Perry, before deciding to demonstrate a tougher challenge- the Emerald Grand Paint Star!

The ancient star’s small size is not representative of its supernova-heavy weight, and Khairacles struggles to even move it an inch. In a bizarre turn, though, after slicking the back of his head, the enormous monkey tries lifting Emerald a second time…and succeeds, pushing it upwards!

Laughing warmly, Khairacles assures he is the strongest on the island (though he wishes "the other three" hadn’t left), before directing his attention at Mario’s group. Wanting to continue the show, Khairacles decides to give the gang a try on-stage. Rather suddenly, Khairacles jumps out of the tent, forcing Perry to stall.

In the midst of Huey and Kidd discussing the mystery of Khairacles’ second wind with Emerald, Edwin warns the gang that Khairacles could easily move the entire tent if he wanted to. Among the crowd, the Musketeers also wonder about Khairacles' ease of movement, for Aace struggled to transport the Tangerine Grand Paint Star when the organization still had it.

The call of the Grand Paint Star gets to Huey, and he decides the gang should take Khairacles up on his dare.

Reaching the center stage ends up being harder than it looks, Louis’ Leap strangely repelled despite no fences. This forces Mario and his compatriots to find the back door into the circus.

Outside, the Boosketeer ticket seller is frenzied at Khairacles’ mystifying departure. Not only that- a stranger freed the Yoshis during the confusion, and the rowdy dinos may get in Mario’s way during his challenge. The only remaining Yoshi is the green one Mario freed from Dark Bloo Inn, but he’s gotten a little too comfortable at the idea of living in a cage. Indeed, once Mario forces the cage door open, the green saurian goes back into the small colorful prison.

At the back of the tent are a Cottonstik and Monkhaira, discussing Khairacles’ armwork. By talking to them, Mario learns that Khairacles slicks his hair back with his left arm before unleashing his super punch, while he removes stage hazards that could harm him with his right arm following a bad experience with sharp objects long ago. Our heroes mentally jot this down, for it could prove Khairacles’ undoing.

There’s nothing really important in the backstage area. It’s mostly just stage props, scenery, extra ropes and an 8-Bit Crystal Artifact. Admiring his pretty nostalgic acquisition, the gang finally head onstage from the back.

Everyone’s excited to see Mario and his friends enter from the back stage, possibly including Perry who introduces them. Unfortunately, Huey gets stage fright, and starts to look sick. With Louis, Marirana and even Sledge’s encouragement, Huey works up the mettle in his metal to fly on up. Filled with a little more confidence, Huey does a little stand-up routine where he does an impression of a normal tin can. Regrettably, the audience is near silent, a Boosketeer outright stating he lost intelligence just hearing that joke.

A dejected Huey flies back to his still supportive friends, asserting that joke killed back at the workshop…despite it being the only joke he got to tell between gaining his personality core and Starmageddon placing Huey in Sleep Mode. Even in light of the tough crowd, Louis meekly suggests Mario might have a great joke to tell.

It falls on Mario to regain the audience’s favor. He does- but not with a joke. Instead, he just stands there and flexes. Stands there and flexes. Mario, the hero of hundreds of video games, walks to the centre of that stage, moves no more, and exerts muscle into his arms. It almost looks to be a bomb- until Leblaanc and General Guy bail Mario out with some Pixl Mushrooms, making Mario grow multiple times before exploding and reforming. THE CROWD JUST EATS IT UP! (The explosion, not the Mushrooms.) The crowd’s faith in the plumber’s troupe is restored, and Perry gives the signal to start the battle medley.

Like Luigi before him, Mario must fight three sets of foes. This time, the man in red and his cohorts battle several Monkhairas sharing a single unicycle; two trapezes for Arantulas and Cottonstiks; and of course, the-

All of a sudden, before Perry can announce the third set of foes, a fifth set of trapezes drops down. However, it’s not a Musketeer, but an Anti-Guy who wasn’t with General Guy earlier. Several feelings fill Mario at the sight of this powerhouse- dread, annoyance, sadness, and strangest of all, an odd familiarity. Not just with the Anti-Guy species as a whole, but something about this one is peculiar to Mario and friends. As Perry calms the crowd by assuring them it’s part of the show, Mario and the others endure the fury and flurry of the Anti-Guys acrobatics. Finally, they knock the dark Shy Guy off his hanging wooden rod, potentially ending his game via a long fall.

And then the moment is forever burned in Mario and his pals, because the Anti-Guy’s speech instinctively reminds Mario who it is- the depressed one he met aboard the Sunset Express. The poor masked guy only asks Mario he venture to that faraway place and relax for both of them, before expiring.

Of course, the Musketeers toss coins, and there’s another wave with a Monstroom, some Dino Rhinos and some Draglets. Sadly, the sting of the Anti-Guys demise is still present, and it’s as if this experience has tossed Mario and friends the most important thing of all.

The FEEEEEEEEEEEEELZ.

After clearing the last wave and their own souls of regret, Perry calls to the audience to give Mario and friends more applause. All that’s left to do is jump on some giant bongos to summon Khairacles back into the tent. Ensuring he “saves the game” first (whatever that means), Mario jumps on the percussion instrument enough times to attract Khairacles’ attention.

The giant ape is humbled to the gang’s strength in combat, while also commending Edwin for improving since the Slurple trained here. To that remark, Edwin admits his friends- Mario, Huey, Louis, Marirana, Nya and even Kidd- were all supportive. Maybe not Sledge, since he just joined, but Edwin is sure he'd be just as friendly given time. The point is that without them, Edwin doesn’t know where he’d be. Marirana finds this sweet, while Khairacles admires Edwin for his changed beliefs in really trusting his friends. All that said, the humongous gorilla reminds Mario and the others that Aace trusted Khairacles with the Emerald Paint Star while preparing to revive Shadhema. The battle for the final Grand Paint Star commences.

Khairacles is one mad monkey to keep track of, boasting a banana bunch of moves. Like a copyrighted ape, Khairacles stomps on Mario hard from time to time. His banana swords also prove painful, not the least of which is their staleness making them poisonous if not blocked. Then there’s Khairacles playing his bongos for multi-hit combos, throwing Mario off.

The banana on top of the coconut cream pie is Khairacles’ arms. Just as his minions warned Mario earlier, loosy left not only punches, but Khairacles sometimes slicks the back of his head, doubling the move’s power for that attack. Meanwhile, when Mario tries outsmarting Khairacles’ stomping with Spiked Helmet cards and spiky enemies on his side, Khairacles puts his righteous righty to work removing them.

Even if the monkey finds this funny, the plumber stops finding this amusing. Our hero proceeds to deplete Khairacles’ arms of their vitality. This not only limits Khairacles’ moveset in general- it also limits him to just stomping, making him much easier to deal with. With that in mind, Khairacles eventually calls for a barrel of bananas to feast upon. After gorging on his meal, Khairacles’ arms return to working order. Such an assortment of contingencies and attacks keeps Mario and friends on their toes the whole fight.

Using one last Mega Hammer, it was Mario who depleted the beast. As Khairacles is about to lose balance, he apologizes to Aace, Shroomsday and Shadhema for failing, before giving out and collapsing upon the unlucky Perry. Khairacles’ hat falls off mid-tumble, revealing purple Dry Shrooms in his hair.

Victory is spoiled, though, when Kidd realizes Aace is nowhere in sight, and Sledge also notices Pitholl and Cucleer are MIA. Edwin is thrown off by his bosses not only being absent during this affair, but only leaving Khairacles to guard Emerald. Something’s screwy, and Huey believes Emerald might know what Aace is up to. Before Mario jumps on the bongos again to check the roof, Khairacles musters enough strength to ask Mario something- if he finds a sentient banana, Khairacles would like to meet with him.

Luckily, Gulliv T has finally broke free of his web cocoon thanks to his memories of his Mini days. The rest of the Rescue Squads are impressed with Gulliv T’s skills, and they debate which Squad he should join. Even General Guy weighs in on the discussion, wanting Gulliv in his army. Finally, Leblaanc ends the conversation by reminding everyone that it’s Gulliv’s choice which Squad he wants to join, and it’s his dedication that defines him. Gulliv T tells Mario to go ahead while he frees the Rescue Squad- once they’ve secured the Emerald Circus, they’ll meet back at Port Prisma to figure out a way to stop Shroomsday. Mario thanks Gulliv and heads to the roof.

After they leave, Perry crawls from under Khairacles. Growing infuriated that even the Musketeers can’t defeat Mario, the Goomba is starting to openly consider returning to Bowser’s side, and by extension Perry’s friend Gary. As soon as these words leave Perry’s mouth, his eyes start glowing- Shroomsday is about to possess him for planning to desert! Thinking quickly, Perry starts praising how great the Musketeers are, and the glowing stops. No other options are available except to go find Aace and see if he’s ready yet.

On the roof of the Emerald Circus is the Grand Paint Star of the same color. For the sixth and final time, the gang hitch a ride on the round-pointed object. Their ride takes them above the skies of….Mustard Café again? Emerald sprinkling green paint above its skies bamboozles our heroes, as there were no other Big Colorless Spots in that area. It must be a rare mistake- yeah, that’s it.

End of Chapter Text:

"Mario and his friends have found the final Grand Paint Star!"

Paper Luigi: The Final Chapter - The Treasure of Prism Island

Over half an hour earlier, Luigi and Daisy arrive at the entrance to Mustard Café. While Daisy is admiring the locale for its nice name, Luigi is struggling to carry a large red gorilla. The ape is wearing a banana on his head, indicating him to be Nabana’s true form. About to collapse, Luigi expresses surprise on Nabana changing into the monkey partway through their escape, and that Nabana needs to exercise when he returns home. For now, the main focus is bringing Nabana to the café so he can rest.

A confused Daisy asks Luigi about the treasure. Hearing this aggravates the already tired Luigi, not wanting to risk their primate pal’s fur for something neither Luigi nor Daisy can find. Luigi proceeds to tell Daisy off, uttering she can look for the treasure while he stays with Nabana.

Feeling guilty, Daisy apologizes for not thinking about Nabana. Luigi calms down a little bit himself, admitting he was acting greedy too in the search for the treasure. Further reflection gives Luigi the epiphany of the treasure not being important, but the adventure the three friends shared together- and still are, as Daisy points out. Big Green agrees, but he still knows the group has no leads to the treasure.

Suddenly, Luigi’s memory jogs himself when he recollects the crystal that came with his letter! The crystal shatters with on-point timing, revealing a pointer within. The magic within the pointer enchants it to direct Luigi and Daisy towards the large pit. The treasure must be inside the underground caves, and Daisy guesses Weeg was sent the pointer because it must only work for the kind and innocent. In an admirable display of humbleness, Daisy fesses up the pointer probably wouldn’t have worked for her or Nabana.

“Did someone say ‘strongest ape in the world?’”

Luigi and Daisy are alarmed, as Nabana wakes up and flexes his muscles. Though the lesser counterpart heroes are relieved to see their friend finally conscious, Nabana has no recollection of his new friends, or his name being Nabana. Further attempts to jog his memory on Mossrock Theatre and the treasure hunt in general only confuse the crimson gorilla moreso, mentioning he’s more of a lone ape. The last thing he remembers is exercising on the edge of a fruity volcano in his home land during Sticker Fest, when it unexpectedly erupted. That, and Nabana has the contradictory feeling he IS looking for friends.

Dejected, Luigi wistfully reminds Nabana of how the monkey always referred to the younger Mario bro as his second banana. This does the trick, as Nabana admits it’s definitely something he would say to a sidekick. Elated to progress at least this much with reconnecting with their monkey mate, Daisy suggests she and Luigi leave Nabana at the café to fully recover after all, while the duo search for the treasure.

At that moment, Nabana grabs Luigi and Daisy, for he wants to keep looking with his new friends. To Nabana, if they’re looking for something together, they’ll finish it together. Such loyalty fills Luigi with gratitude for his partner, and Nabana rushes right into the pit, filling Daisy with adrenaline.

The landing inside the pit could’ve been smoother, but the gang surviving is the most important thing. Luigi’s a little out of it, though, needing to reorient himself- and the pointer focusing north speeds up the process greatly. The gang is excited at the idea of their search finally nearing the end!

Inside the caverns, Luigi’s higher jumping altitude gives him some leeway in surpassing two-block platforms. Even better is Nabana’s change from fairy to anthropoid, since he can climb up some of the softer walls. Together, this substantially reduces the time combing the sands of the café underground.

Battles also come and go like a breeze. True- the caves have become more and more populated with the different Pokeys and Shroomsday’s minions since Mario came here, but Daisy is still here to replenish Luigi’s health and the end of turns. Our banana buddy Nabana also just keeps on giving, his Partner Ability causing him to beat his chest and give Luigi a set of powerful cards.

At last, some time later, Luigi and the pronounced duo find the jailhouse and arrive at its bottom floor, now with a Save Block. The pointer glows as bright as possible down here, then drills into the sand- it’s found the treasure. Wasting no time, Luigi and Daisy get to digging.

This excavation is less of a slog and more of a mini-game. Part disposal and part puzzle matcher, Luigi, Daisy and Nabana remove the loosened rocks by passing them in sequence to a pile tower at the back. When they match three similar rocks- coming in yellow, red and orange- they disintegrate in a flash, giving the gang points. However, none of our heroes can hold more than five rocks at once. A more pressing issue is the pile at the back, leaning towards our heroes as it rises. Luigi, getting the feeling if they try tossing more than 10 rocks on top the back pile, no-one will be enjoying the treasure.

Some good news is occasionally finding old grey Koopa Shells in the dirt, removing all rocks beneath it once it becomes active in 4 seconds, and scoring 5 points regardless. The dormant Bald Clefts are more middling news, serving as useless dummies, though clearing rocks near them convinces them to leave. The most annoying “rocks”, however, are the Slugshrooms. While they can be cleared as with the Clefts, Luigi and friends learn the hard way that matching just two of the escargot legumes angers them, costing our heroes five points.

Keeping their wits collected and scoring 90 points is enough to unearth the treasure. Seeing what it is causes Luigi, Daisy and Nabana to hurry into the depths to see where it’s found. Whatever it is, Luigi is taken aback something like it is on Prism Island, too. For Nabana, he boasts he’d be the best with the treasure. And as soon as Daisy points out it just needs a paint job, green sparkles rain into the unseen pit, filling the trio with awe. Our heroes have finally found the treasure, and are ready to show it off...

Paper Luigi: Ending Text

"Finally... after many enduring perils, having fought many battles, and enduring Prism Island's many inhabitants, Luigi and his friends have found the treasure of Prism Island! It would seem like a fitting to end to this story. But it's not over yet. There is still the matter of Mario and his friends restoring Prisma Fountain to its natural estate and saving Prism Island. But worry not for our green plumber, for he will return soon. Very soon. With the "treasure" he had found, it will be of most help for Mario where he'll be going. But you can be assured that Mario's Colorful Adventure is about to head for the climax."