Paper Mario: Heroes of Craft

Paper Mario: Heroes of Craft is a future Paper Mario game set to release for the Nintendo Switch. This game focuses on the story of Mario and his friends traveling to the distant Craft Palace to meet Princess Pandora and attend the Craft Moon Festival. Things go awry, though, when Pandora's old fiance, Prince Zular, crashes the party and destroys the Craft Moon in an attempt to gain ultimate power. Now Mario must team up with a wish-granting fairy named Craftia to repair the Craft Moon and stop Zular from potentially destroying the world.
While the game sticks to the general styles of the later three games (Sticker Star, Color Splash, and Origami King,) it also brings back elements from the first three games (64, Thousand-Year Door, and Super) to appease fans. It features paper-themed gimmicks, original characters and partners, and a brilliant plot.
(HELP WANTED: The creator of this game asks for your help. They need designs for characters in this game. Likewise, if anyone notices any errors on the page, please fix them. That being said, please do not destructively modify this page; the creator worked very hard on it. If you contribute to the game, please say so, so the creator can add you to the Credits section.)
== Story ==
=== Prologue - A Craft Moon Festival Gone Wrong ===
One beautiful morning, Mario and Luigi went outside to check their mailbox. Inside, they found a strange envelope sent by a figure named Princess Pandora. The letter inside the envelope said that both brothers were invited to an event known as the Craft Moon Festival. According to the letter, Peach was also invited to the festival, intriguing both of them. They were told to come over to the Craft Palace, which the letter provided coordinates for. Ecstatic, they both hopped on Luigi’s cart and drove off. 
Eventually, the brothers arrived outside the palace. There, they saw Peach, who was accompanied by…Bowser?! Mario and Luigi were about to clobber the Koopa king, when Peach told them that Bowser and his troops were only there to enjoy the festivities. Bowser scoffed, saying that he would’ve clobbered both of them, anyway. Following Bowser were Kamek and Bowser Jr., with the former warning Bowser not to make a scene on sacred grounds.
Suddenly, a cloud of purple smoke appeared before everyone, and a lovely woman with purple hair and a white dress emerged. She revealed herself as Princess Pandora, the one who invited them all, and welcomed them all to the Craft Palace. She told them to follow her into the castle, where the festivities were being held, which they did.
Later that night, everyone was gathered around Pandora, who began to explain the purpose of the Craft Moon Festival. Once every 100 years, the moon glows a strange shade of purple, and the divide between worlds grows weaker. At the stroke of midnight, a celestial being arrives, and will grant a wish to the first person who asks for it. Knowing all too well where this was going, Mario and Luigi decided to keep a close eye on Bowser. However, Kamek reminded the two that they weren’t here to cause trouble, and if Bowser acted up, he’d calm him down.
Luigi, noticing a weird pattern with Kamek, asked him why he was so determined to look good in front of Pandora. The elite Magikoopa spilled his guts, saying that she was a former love interest of his. Sadly, their love “was not meant to be.” Refusing to disclose any more information, Kamek returned to Bowser’s side. Luigi felt bad for Kamek, and wondered if he couldn’t do anything to make him feel better. Remember this moment, as it will become important later.
After much waiting, midnight finally hit, and a blinding light appeared before everyone. From that light, a small creature floated out. The creature revealed itself as Craftia, and, since it was in her “contract,” she’d grant a wish to the person who was able to ask her first. Everyone made a mad dash for the fairy, but Princess Pandora stopped everyone, and decided that Craftia should be the one who granted the wish. 
At that moment, though, a voice called over everyone, saying that they’d take the wish. A young man with long white hair and red robes dropped down. Princess Pandora knew all too well who he was: Prince Zular, her old fiance. She also knew that, if he was here and wanted the wish, he was up to no good. Even so, since Zular was the first one to ask, Craftia had to give him the wish. Thrilled, Zular wished that he was all-powerful.
A nightmarish light engulfed Zular, and when it disappeared, it revealed a more monstrous-looking version of the man. Immediately, he tested out his new powers on Princess Pandora, trapping her in an indestructible bubble. He also found Peach in the audience, and trapped her, as well. Mario tried to stop him, but was blasted back by a bolt of lightning. 
Zular then noticed Bowser was in the audience. Bowser attempted to do a flying kick against him, but he, too, was trapped within a bubble. Right after that, Bowser’s minions burst into the palace. At first, Bowser was relieved, thinking that his minions were there to save him. However, as it turned out, Zular had brainwashed them with his new powers, and they went rampant in the Craft Palace. Thankfully, Mario made a quick recovery from the lightning attack, and valiantly charged forward. Luigi threw Mario his trusty hammer, and an epic battle began.
Luigi asked if Mario needed a reminder on how to fight, but Mario didn’t need one. He was an expert on the battle system, as he used his boots to stomp enemies up to four times, and he used his hammer to take out enemies with one powerful swing. Mario could also block against enemy attacks to take reduced damage, or if his timing was perfect, he could dodge the attack altogether and take no damage. He fought three waves of enemies; first a group of three Goombas, then two Shy Guys, and finally two additional Goombas with a Hammer Bro in between. The Hammer Bro may have hurt Mario, but thankfully, Mario charged up his Ultimate attack, and created a shockwave with his hammer, instantly eliminating all of the enemies.
After defeating all three waves of enemies, Zular commended Mario for his strength, and challenged Mario to fight him. Kamek threw Mario a Life Heart, restoring Mario’s HP. He also reminded Mario to hit the nearby Save Block, allowing the plumber to save his progress. When he was ready, Mario stepped forward, and the battle with Zular began.
At the beginning of the battle, Zular summoned a spear to fight with. Much like Mario’s boots and hammer, he used the spear to strike him multiple times or hit him with one strong jab. The ability to block and dodge especially came in handy during this battle, and by damaging Zular enough, Mario wound up victorious.
Everyone was shocked that Zular was defeated so easily. Zular himself was surprised, and believed that he wasn’t powerful enough. He asked Craftia for more power, but Craftia just told him that he already made his wish, and he couldn’t get another one. So Zular tried the next best thing: draining power from the Craft Moon itself. He began absorbing the power from the Craft Moon, becoming stronger as a result. The power he was gaining caused the Craft Palace to transform into a darkened version of itself. 
Unfortunately, something went wrong. The Craft Moon began emitting a multicolor glow, and in an instant, split off into nine fragments that scattered across the land. Princess Pandora assumed that this action was a defense mechanism of the Craft Moon to avoid having its remaining power absorbed. Naturally, Zular was infuriated that he was cut off from his ultimate power source. Even so, he already had enough power to warp the Craft Palace to his liking. Black fog started to fill up the palace, forcing everyone to run out of the building, including Mario and his friends.
When everyone was outside, they witnessed another terrifying aspect of Zular’s powers. The Craft Palace was ripped out of its foundation and began rising up into the air. When it stopped rising, everyone looked in horror at the sight. The Craft Palace had become the Dark Craft Palace. Making matters worse, Pandora, Peach, and Bowser were still held captive inside. Bowser Jr. was heartbroken that his dad was in danger. Kamek had another question, a good one, too: what happened to Craftia?
Cue the fairy floating to the ground like a feather, landing face-first. Luigi tried to help her up, but Craftia told him that she’d rather be consumed by the earth. Since the Craft Moon was fragmented, she had no way of returning to the celestial world, so she was stuck. Even if it was restored, Zular would just drain the rest of its power, and it would be destroyed, anyway. Craftia used all of her power to grant him his wish, and now she had nothing to stop the evil prince. She says that she should’ve never given Zular that wish.
In an attempt to reassure Craftia, Luigi told her that they’d defeat Zular and bring the Craft Moon back. Perking up, Craftia asked them if that was even possible. Kamek intervened, stating that the Mario Bros. had taken on much stronger opponents…even though he was usually on the losing side. Craftia took the news very well, and decided to team up with Mario to take down Zular and repair the Craft Moon. 
But…where would they start?
Craftia sensed that one of the shards landed somewhere not too far from their current location. Kamek pointed out that the region Craftia was referring to was called Floral Falls. They then decided that Floral Falls was the best place to start looking. Before they left, however, Craftia decided to give Mario something. Since she couldn’t use her wish magic to harm anyone, and since she couldn’t undo wishes, she decided to give Mario the next best thing in order to stop Zular. She sprinkled some magic dust on Mario, conjuring some kind of power within him. Craftia explained that the power within Mario was called Supercraft, and it would come in handy on their journey.
To prove her point, Craftia told Mario to interact with a piece of fallen debris. The heroic plumber did as told, and the debris began to float up into the air. Mario followed Craftia’s guidance, and turned the chunk into an item block that dropped a pair of Iron Boots. With the power of Supercraft mastered, Mario and Craftia headed off to Floral Falls.
When they reached the outer gate, they came across a blue Toad house just outside. Curious, they went inside, and found a Toad wearing a lab coat and glasses. Though initially scared, he calmed down when he realized it was just Mario. The smart-looking Toad introduced himself as Toadex, a scientist who liked to invent crazy contraptions. He called out to “Flynona,” telling them that they had visitors. 
A pink Flopter with a stylish purple beret floated down the stairs. She was overjoyed when she found out the visitor was Mario himself, and happily greeted him and Craftia. Toadex told them that Flynona was his adopted daughter, and she was a huge fan of Mario and his exploits. Apart from being a scientist, Toadex was also the gatekeeper, and only he could open the gate to Floral Falls.
Acknowledging this, Craftia told Toadex that one of the shards of the Craft Moon landed in Floral Falls, and they needed to pass. The brilliant Toad scientist was aware of the disaster, and for Mario, would be more than willing open the gates. Toadex pressed a button, and the sound of the opening gates could be heard outside. He also gave Mario an Enemy Encyclopedia, so that he can keep track of the enemies that he’s defeated. 
Right as Mario and Craftia were about to leave, Flynona stopped them and asked them if she could tag along. Toadex objected to the idea, knowing how dangerous it was out there. But Flynona said that she wasn’t a little girl, and that she could take care of herself. After some bickering between the two, Mario whispered something into Toadex’s ear. Persuaded by whatever Mario said to him, Toadex gave Flynona permission to tag along. And thus, Flynona joined Mario’s party. Toadex wished them luck as they headed out.
When Mario, Craftia, and the newly-recruited Flynona left the lab, they decided to head to Floral Falls. However, when they got there, they saw that a fallen boulder was blocking the gate, denying them access. Fortunately, with the help of his new Supercraft ability, Mario was able to turn the boulder into a giant hammer, which he used to knock the gate open. When he did, he was bombarded by a squad of Goombas, but quickly took care of them, with some help from Flynona. With no further distractions, the gang walked through the gates and into the land of Floral Falls.	
=== Chapter 1 - A New Adventure Unfolds! ===
Mario, Craftia, and Flynona arrived at Floral Falls, in the small town of Springbloom Village. Flynona noted that, for a town that was normally very lively, it was unusually quiet. They looked around for any signs of activity, and came across a group of wild plants. A wave battle began, in which Mario had to defeat two waves of Nipper Plants and Piranha Plants. Because Flynona only knew a move that could get herself injured by them, she decided to sit this one out. 
After clobbering the plants, a Toad hiding in a bush peeked out, and after realizing that it was safe, hopped out of the bush. The Toad thanked Mario and his allies for taking care of the plants. He then explained that the Piranha Plant population suddenly spiked without warning, and the vile vegetation attacked the village. Craftia believed that the sudden spike in the population must be connected to the Craft Moon, somehow. 
On the west side of town, the gang saw a large gate, not too different from the one on the east side. This one, however, required a key to be opened. Craftia sensed that the fragment of the Craft Moon was somewhere beyond that gate. The Toad from before explained that the area past the gate was called Healing Petal Springs, which…was a pretty self-explanatory name. It was a land of flowery hot springs with magical healing powers. They closed it for a bit to celebrate the Craft Moon Festival, but the Toad had the key to the gate, so he could open it for Mario.
Unfortunately, when he went to get the key from inside his shop (which was right next to the gate,) he found that someone had robbed him during the plant attack. Inside, there was a sticky note that read: 
“Dearest shopkeeper, we took your stuff to help our lord, the great king Bowser. We apologize for the inconvenience on your part. Fortunately, resources practically grow on trees around these parts. Just grab some junk and slap a price on it. Nothing to it. From the best Koopa pack that ever attacked. -Notorious B.A.D. PS, if Mario happens to come by, don’t show him this note.”
Unsurprisingly, the Toad shopkeeper was outraged at this development. Then, Flynona noticed something on the ground: muddy footprints. The footprints led up higher in the falls. Mario and the others needed to find that key in order to pass through the gate, so they had no choice but to hunt down Notorious B.A.D. and get the key back from them. Before they left, the Toad gave them a strange set of blueprints. Flynona looked at the blueprints and realized that they were actually instructions on how to use a new move. After briefly looking at the blueprints, Flynona learned the move Hover. The Toad said that there were plenty more blueprints like that; some were even sold by shopkeepers like him. Keeping this in mind, Mario and his partners headed off to find Notorious B.A.D.
As beautiful as the falls were, they were also littered with enemies. It seemed to serve as a mini-tutorial for Mario's Iron Boots and Flyona's moveset. It wasn’t just enemies, though. While venturing up the falls, our heroes saw plenty of Toads that were in need of saving. Doing so would reward Mario with coins, and on rare occasions, other items.
Eventually, they came across a bridge. On the other side of the bridge, there was a Shy Guy, a Boo, and a Buster Beetle tormenting a Toad. When the baddies notice Mario, they panicked and decided to scramble, but not before destroying the bridge. The Toad told Mario that the hooligans who attacked him went by Notorious B.A.D., which confirmed that they had the key. Sadly, if they wanted to catch up to him, they needed to find a way across the gap.
Flynona got an idea. She told Mario to jump on top of her, which Mario did. She spun her propeller fast enough for her to be lifted off the ground. She flew across the gap…and immediately fell halfway across due to Mario’s weight. They landed safely in a bush…that had Goombas in it. As Mario once said, “it’s been one of those days.”
After dealing with the Goombas, they went back up to the gap. Craftia noticed a tulip on the other side, and if they could somehow get the tulip on that side, they might be able to do something with it via Supercraft. A lightbulb went off in Flynona’s head, as she flew across the gap, grabbed the tulip, and flew back over. While not exactly sure how a tulip would help them, after using Supercraft on it, Mario turned it into a tightrope that spanned the entirety of the gap. With some very precise footwork, Mario cleared the gap. For his troubles, the Toad from before rewarded him with a Mushroom, and our heroes continued down the path.
Eventually-er, they ran back into Notorious B.A.D. Seeing no other way out of their situation, the squad of troublemakers properly introduced themselves. The camouflage-wearing Shy Guy was Shyhard, the leader and brains of the team. Malice, the pink Boo with the cool shades, served as the team’s stealth and agility unit. As for the Buster Beetle with the crack in its shell, his name was Buggs, and he was the team’s muscle. Shyhard told Mario that they needed the shopkeeper's stuff to try and save Bowser. Naturally, they were met with opposition, and a fight broke out.
Fighting Notorious B.A.D. was interesting, to say the least. Despite being the leader, Shyhard was the weakest member, and was mostly talk. Malice and Buggs, on the other hand, were a bit tougher to deal with. Malice used her signature can of spray paint to try to blind Mario, while Buggs chucked brick blocks at them, dealing considerable damage. Notorious B.A.D. put up a good fight, but in the end, Mario and team were able to defeat them. Upset, Shyhard announced that they’d meet again, before all three of them took off. In doing so, they dropped the bag containing the shopkeeper’s stuff. Satisfied with their victory, Mario took the bag and returned to Springbloom Village.
Upon returning, the shopkeeper was overjoyed. He took the bag, and with a little fixing up, his shop was back in business. Mario noticed that he had a large selection to choose from. He had Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, and even a pair of Hopslippers. However, the shopkeeper decided to give away the key to Healing Petal Springs for free, as a token of his gratitude. With the key in hand, Mario and his partners were able to open the gate and proceed to Healing Petal Springs.
When they entered Healing Petal Springs, they saw that it was being taken over by carnivorous plants. In the distance, a green glow could be seen, which Craftia pointed out was the Craft Moon shard. If they wanted to get to it, though, they had to go through the army of plants first.
The trek through Healing Petal Springs was like being in a botanical circus. It was littered with Piranha Plants and Nipper Plants, all of which would gladly take a bite out of Mario and his crew if they stepped too close. Making matters worse, there were a lot of Toads in distress, so Mario had to save each of them by trampling on the vile vegetation.
After what felt like forever, Mario and co. finally reached the Craft Moon shard. Relieved, Craftia suggested that they grab it before more plants showed up. But as if Craftia’s words had summoned it, a Piranha Plant sprouted up and ate the shard. The power of the shard caused the Piranha Plant to grow gigantic and strong. Craftia knew that the only way to get the shard now was to defeat the giant plant. With that, the battle against the Supergiant Piranha Plant commenced.
To say that this fight was fun would be a horrible lie. The titanic Piranha Plant had an equally-large HP bar, and Mario couldn’t even stomp it because it was simply too tall. The only thing Mario could do was hit it with his hammer, and even then, the plant shrugged off a large amount of the damage. Flynona couldn’t stomp on it, either, lest she get hurt. To top it all off, the Supergiant Piranha Plant summoned more Piranha Plants and Nipper Plants to fight alongside it.
Things seemed hopeless…until Mario noticed that one of the Nipper Plants was carrying some blueprints, not unlike the ones that taught Flynona how to use Hover. Mario swiftly took care of the Nipper Plant, and gained a hold of the blueprints. Flynona carefully studied them, and learned the move Blade Whirl. This essentially turned the entire fight around, as the Supergiant Piranha Plant took extra damage from the attack. It had a cooldown of two turns, however, so in the meantime, Mario would have to make do with his hammer. After enough uses of Blade Whirl, the Supergiant Piranha Plant finally ran out of HP, and the fight was over.
The towering plant spat out the shard of the Craft Moon, and returned to its normal size. With no further obstacles in the way, Mario grabbed the shard, and felt a strange sensation. The shard increased Mario and Flynona’s max HP, and they were immediately healed from their battle wounds. One down, eight to go!	
***
Within the Dark Craft Palace, Peach and Bowser sat in a jail cell. Peach stared out the barred window, praying for Mario and the others to be safe. Meanwhile, Bowser was…being Bowser. The Koopa king was not a happy camper and screamed down the halls to no avail. Princess Pandora was nowhere in sight, so they both assumed that Prince Zular was keeping her somewhere else. Sadly, they had no way of escaping to find out for themselves.
Suddenly, something outside of the window startled Peach, causing her to fall back. In the window, a Ninji with a white outfit and some blonde hair poking out stared inside the prison cell. Both Bowser and Peach freaked out, before the Ninji told them not to, saying that she was their ally. The Ninji’s name was Ninjen, and she told the two that she was part of a secret rebellion to stop Zular. Ninjen said that she was going to find a way to free Peach and Bowser, but she needed more time. With that, the bold assassin made her exit. Reflecting on what she said, all the captured duo could do was wait…
***
Meanwhile, Luigi, Kamek, and Bowser Jr. were on ground level, with a large crowd of poor souls who attended the Craft Moon Festival. Kamek reassured them that everything would be alright, and Mario would be able to defeat Zular in due time. Luigi was a bit more restless; he suggested that they should find a way to help Mario from behind the shadows. Kamek was actually surprised that Luigi had such a good idea, and chose to tag along.
Bowser Jr. offered to help, too, but Kamek told him not to, as it was Kamek’s job to make sure no harm befell the Koopa prince. Letting Bowser Jr. join them would “defy his sole purpose.” He then instructed Bowser Jr.’s clown car to take the heir far away until the whole mess blew over. As the clown car flew away, Bowser Jr. begged Kamek to reconsider.
Although Luigi thought Kamek was cold for that, he appreciated Kamek’s help, nonetheless. Then, another thought emerged in Luigi’s mind: if Zular, Princess Pandora’s previous love interest, was evil, then the Magikoopa may have had a chance to confess his love. This made Kamek upset, as he revealed the truth. Pandora didn’t reject Kamek’s love; it was actually the other way around. Sure, they went on a date or two, but in the end, Kamek realized that it would never work out, and the two reluctantly moved on. 
Luigi just thought Kamek was in denial, and decided that, during their “super ultra mega important mission,” he would convince Kamek to change his mind. Luigi ran off, and, though very annoyed, Kamek hopped on his broomstick and followed suit.
***
Back in Floral Falls, Mario, Craftia, and Flynona were being congratulated for saving the day. However, Craftia told them that their journey was far from over, and asked for hints regarding the Craft Moon shards. The Toad shopkeeper said that he saw something land in Shimmering Bay, which wasn’t too far from their current location. Thankful for the information, they set off to find the next Craft Moon shard.
=== Chapter 2 - Pillaging Pirates of the Sparkling Sea ===
Our heroes walked down the path from Healing Petal Springs, and arrived at the beautiful Crystal-Tide Shore. Everyone was surprised at how beautiful it was. Despite there being no moon in the sky, the water of the bay was gleaming. It was so beautiful that it almost made them forget that the world was in peril.
When Craftia asked how the water still shone without a moon, a Koopa Troopa appeared behind them, giving them a little spook. The Koopa girl apologized, stating that she sometimes did that. Her name was Covi N. Tymen, a traveling journalist who had a knack for mysterious phenomena. She told them that the reason the water shimmered so brightly, even when there was no moon, was that, underneath the water, there were many glowing crystals. These crystals filled the sea with rich nutrients, helping marine life and biota on the shore thrive. This, in turn, gave Crystal-Tide Shore its name. Her work being done, Covi jogged off. All Craftia could say was that her timing was oddly convenient. 
Craftia got back on topic, and used her super senses to find the next Craft Moon shard. Good news was that Craftia knew exactly where it was. The bad news: it was underneath the waters of the Shimmering Bay. Flynona whined, since they had no way of going underwater.
Or so they thought. Covi overheard their discussion, and came jogging back. She pointed out an old legend regarding a magical bubble that could allow air-breathing creatures the ability to move freely underwater. She had no idea where the bubble was, or if it was even real, but said that it was their best bet. With that, she went off again. Everyone agreed that they needed to find that bubble.
That was easier said than done, though. They searched the entire beach, but they found no sign of the bubble in question. However, there were a plethora of items and Toads in need of rescuing. One Toad was the local shopkeeper of the area, who sold Mario an Eekhammer (as well as some other items, of course.) Even so, when questioning beachgoers about the bubble, no one was able to give away the location.
Soon, however, they had a lead. An elderly Toad they rescued from a palm tree claimed to be the owner of the lighthouse, and invited the gang over to visit. Their interests piqued, Mario and his crew followed the Toad to the lighthouse. They went up the stairs to the top room, where the Toad was rummaging through an old chest. He pulled out a map of the Shimmering Bay, and informed them that, in his prime, he was a sailor who long searched for the bubble. In those days, he marked every island he explored on the map, all except for a blank spot which represented an island he never got the chance to explore. The lighthouse keeper said that the island he spoke of was their best bet if they wanted to find the bubble.
The team exited the lighthouse, scanning the map the Toad gave them. While it was helpful to finally have a hint of where to go, another issue crept up: how would they get there? The answer was simple: Supercraft! Mario used his ability to transform a palm tree into a raft. It was a brilliant idea…until they realized that they needed wind to push the sail. 
They went back inside the lighthouse, and noticed a hatch they neglected to notice before. They opened the hatch, descended the ladder, and found a giant fan sitting on the ground. Well, giant-ish. However big you want to call it, it was big enough to steer their raft. If they wanted it, though, they had to work for it, as a group of Fuzzies were guarding the fan. After disposing of the Fuzzies, they grabbed the fan, put it on their raft, and sailed off.
Some time later, they were still sailing across the Shimmering Bay. Flynona looked at the map, and told them that the unexplored island was just up ahead. Unlucky for them, though, the fog was getting thick, and their vision was significantly reduced. It was to the point where the moisture in the fog caused the fan to short-circuit, meaning Mario and his party were sitting ducks.
Or were they? As soon as they were about to give up, a large pirate ship sailed beside them, and dropped the anchor when whoever was aboard noticed our heroes. Though convenient, Craftia told Mario and Flynona to be cautious, as there was no telling what was on that ship. Mario then climbed the anchor’s chain up on board.
When they got on deck, the first thing they saw were a volley of buccaneer Bloopers known as Swashbloopers. The scurvy squids cleared the path for their captain: a sassy Lochlady with an eyepatch, black hair, and if it helps you guess her name, a ring pierced on the end of her tail. She revealed her name to be Captain Ringfin, headstrong captain of the Blimey Bloops pirate crew. She knew that, if Mario and his friends were out on sea, they were looking for the treasure, too. However, it didn’t seem like Ringfin was referring to the bubble; it sounded like she was talking about the piece of the Craft Moon that landed somewhere in the Shimmering Bay. 
As the Swashbloopers grabbed the fan off of their raft, Craftia tried to convince Ringfin that the treasure was important, and that they needed it to save the world. The pirate captain didn’t buy it, and ordered her Swashbloopers to send them to the dungeon. Mario and his party tried to fight back, but ultimately, the sheer number of minions was too much, and they were captured.
They were thrown in a cell by the Swashbloopers, who told them that, if she was in a good mood, Ringfin would make them walk the plank…back onto dry land. In the meantime, they were told not to go anywhere. Not like they could do so, anyway.
Defeated, they all sat down on the rusty rope-held bench, which broke when they did. Craftia was about to have a temper tantrum, when she noticed that the accident ripped a plank off the wall, giving her an idea. With a little help from Supercraft, Mario turned the busted plank and the old rope into a grappling hook. He eyed the Swashblooper guarding the cell, and with precise timing, snagged the keys using the hook.
But they didn’t get too far before the Swashblooper noticed that Mario and co. were escaping. He called in for reinforcements, and a wave battle began. They had to fight off two waves of Swashbloopers, one with three, and the other with five. When all of the lackeys were defeated, they noticed a lever that unlocked all of the cells. They pulled it down, and an assortment of Koopa minions happily left their cells and ran out of the dungeon.
One particular character stopped to thank Mario. He was a blue Jumbo Ray named Bubba, who asked if Mario and his friends were looking for the “strange treasure” too. Mario realized that he was talking about the Craft Moon fragment, and nodded his head. Craftia added on, telling Bubba that, in order for them to get the fragment, they needed a magic bubble on an unknown island. They showed Bubba the map, and the optimistic Jumbo Ray confirmed that he knew what island they were talking about; he usually passed it in his morning swims. In fact, Bubba offered them a ride to the island, which, seeing as though they had no other way of getting there as of then, Mario and his team accepted, and Bubba joined Mario’s party. They hopped out a hole in the wall, with Bubba carrying Mario and his friends over the water, and they swam off. 
The fog from earlier had subsided, which was good. The Shimmering Bay was beautiful, but also filled to the brim with enemies. With his increase of HP, though, Mario was also stronger, and could take out the enemies quicker. Bubba was also helpful in combat, as his Water Jet attack could make enemies wet, letting Mario deal even more damage onto them.
After enough swimming, they arrived at their destination: Ruined Island. Craftia believed that the bubble was somewhere on top of the island, so they had to climb up to get it. It wasn't easy, as the island was home to some of the more dangerous enemies Mario’s had to fight so far. To make up for the immense danger, the island also had some good loot, some of which Flynona had to retrieve for Mario. He even got a Splashhammer from a chest.
They finally reached the top of the island, where an old chest was waiting for them. But just as they thought their troubles were over, a legion of Koopatrols dropped from the sky. The leader of the bunch, a Koopatrol in red armor, said that, by order of Prince Zular, they were going to stop Mario and his party in their tracks.
Yet another tense battle began. The Koopatrols’ battling ability was nothing to sneeze at. Besides the usual shell attack, the armor-wearing turtles had additional HP to boot. Not to mention that they wore spikes on their helmets, so stomping on them without Iron Boots was a bad idea. The Koopatrol General in particular packed quite the punch, and on low HP, he could unleash a fire shell attack, which, if Mario didn’t block or dodge, would seriously burn him. Despite their best efforts, Mario caught on to the Koopatrols’ tricks, and defeated them.
With no one else in the way, Mario opened the chest to reveal the bubble that they’ve been looking for! With the bubble in tow, they could now go into the waters of the Shimmering Bay. However, since they had no idea where the Craft Moon shard landed, they’d have to search about the entire Shimmering Bay. Not ideal, but they didn’t really have another choice. Mario equipped the bubble, and went underwater.
Mario and his friends sank down and hit the ocean floor. They were in the Shimmering Depths, the sprawling seabed dotted with beautiful crystals. Our heroes were mesmerized by the beauty of it, but Craftia snapped them back to reality. She sensed that the fragment was actually nearby somewhere, and the sooner they found it, the sooner they could resurface.
The Shimmering Depths may have looked peaceful, but they had a humongous variety of enemies. Apart from the basic Cheep Cheeps, there were also the slightly stronger Deep Cheeps and the pointy-headed Spiny Cheeps. Bloopers sometimes carried around Baby Bloopers, and Urchins occasionally floated in Mario’s way. Still, the heroes pushed onward.
Further into the Shimmering Depths, Mario and co. started to see the most threatening enemy they’ve encountered yet: the Smackerel. The toothy devil fish liked to lurk in the sand and strike Mario should he come too close. Adding insult to injury, they were a pain to fight, like the underwater enemy version of the Supergiant Piranha Plant. Mario was advised to avoid them altogether if possible. 
One long trip through the Shimmering Depths later, they arrived at a large opening with lots of glowing crystals. Amidst the light show, Craftia felt a large amount of energy in the area, which meant they were at the shard’s location. She rejoiced, as collecting the shard would put them one step closer to taking down Zular and restoring everything to normal.
But then, they heard the voice of a familiar enemy: Captain Ringfin. The crooked captain, accompanied by the Swashbloopers, thanked Mario and his friends for helping her find the treasure, implying that she followed them. Craftia gave Ringfin one last chance to back down, but she pushed her aside, claiming that, with the shard, she and her crew could become the most powerful pirates to sail the seas. The two sides glared each other down, and a fierce fight was underway.
Ringfin was a tough competitor to deal with. Throughout the fight, she summoned her Swashblooper minions to help her. While she didn’t shrug off damage like the Supergiant Piranha Plant, her attacks packed a punch. She alternated between slapping Mario with her tail and slashing at him with her cutlass. She and her cronies were also immune to becoming wet from Mario’s Splashhammer or Bubba’s Water Jet. Despite these challenges, they were slowly chipping away at her HP. 
Halfway through the fight, though, Ringfin and her crew decided to change up their strategy. A group of Swashbloopers brought down the large fan from before and placed it in front of Ringfin, pointing it in Mario’s direction. She stated that she and her crew made some modifications to it, and now it was a weapon of mass destruction. She wasn’t lying; when she activated the fan, it unleashed a nightmarishly strong underwater current that threatened to blow Mario and his team away. If it did, massive damage was dealt. Not even blocking could minimize the carnage dished out by the fan. Mario didn’t want to risk his game being over, so he tried to think of a way to counter the fan.
Then, Mario got an idea. By attacking the fan with his multi-strike weapons (the Hopslipper and Eekhammer,) the fan broke down. Afterward, he instructed his partners to attack Captain Ringfin with everything they had. The Swashbloopers tried to fix the fan, but by the time they did, Mario’s team depleted the rest of Ringfin’s HP, and the battle was won.
Ringfin was shocked that she was defeated, but still claimed that she was the greatest pirate who ever lived. She commented that Mario was stronger than she thought, and gave him some respect for it. She even said that the plumber was kind of handsome, right before drifting upward to the surface. Her crew chased after her, dropping a set of blueprints in the process. The blueprints were for Bubba, and the jolly Jumbo Ray learned Body Shield. Craftia was a little peeved that they got their hands on a useful skill only after the battle, but a win was a win. 
However, there was another issue to be addressed: where exactly was the Craft Moon shard? Craftia could still sense it in the area, but had no idea of its exact location. After some investigating, they noticed a patch of sand glowing a blue color, meaning it was buried underneath. They dug down, and collected the shard! Mario’s party’s HP increased like before, accompanied by a surge of strength entering their bodies. They found the two of the fragments already, but they still had a long journey ahead of them.
***
Back in the Dark Craft Palace, Peach was anxiously pacing around. When Bowser asked what was going on, the princess told him that they hadn’t heard from Ninjen in a while, which was beginning to worry her. She feared that Ninjen may have gotten busted by Zular.
Disproving her theory was Ninjen herself, who arrived outside the window holding an envelope. The sneaky savior told the two that the envelope held information regarding Zular’s plans. Intrigued, Peach and Bowser opened it up, and took out some photos of Zular, as well as a strange hooded figure, standing in or around some strange-looking rune circle on the floor. Ninjen explained that Zular had teamed up with an evil sorceress named Visrica, and they were planning something big. 
From the looks of it, the rune circle looked like some kind of magical calendar, indicating the time it will take for their plans to come into fruition. There were eight small circles that resembled the phases of the moon; so far, only one of them was glowing. Ninjen overheard a conversation between Zular and Visrica, and while she couldn’t hear all of the details, she got the gist of it: once all eight circles were lit up, something absolutely bonkers was going to happen. 
Peach put the photos back in the envelope and gave it back to Ninjen, asking her if she could deliver the envelope to Mario. The loyal Ninji obliged, and hopped away. Peach stared out the window and gazed at the starry horizon, telling Mario to be careful, wherever he was.
***
Elsewhere, Luigi and Kamek were trekking through some grassy plains, the outskirts of the Craft Palace. Or at least, where the palace was before it was lifted into the air. Luigi was doing a pretty good job…of driving Kamek up the wall. To Kamek, the ignorant plumber seemed to have found every possible way of inadvertently annoying him.
Luigi asked if the call of adventure was exciting, to which the Magikoopa said that it was “certainly something.” Kamek told Luigi to go on ahead, saying that he would catch up. When Luigi was out of earshot, Kamek began ranting about how he was driving him mad. He wanted to get back at the green Mario somehow, but didn’t want to stray too far from the mission.
That’s when Kamek noticed a dark and creepy forest. While he acknowledged that it might’ve been cruel to exploit Luigi’s fears, anything was better than going another second listening to his nonsense.
Kamek hopped on his broom and flew over to Luigi, pointing to the dark forest and telling him that there may be something important in it. Luigi was creeped out just by the forest’s appearance, but manned up and believed that Kamek was onto something. As Luigi ran in the direction of the woods, Kamek softly chuckled and tailed him.
***
Mario and his allies came out from the water back onto Crystal-Tide Shore, holding the piece of the Craft Moon they collected. They were all happy to be back on solid land, but Flynona asked where they should head next. Craftia couldn’t sense another fragment anywhere nearby, so she advised them that she should head back to Toadex’s lab to see if he could help. Bubba wanted to go, too, since he enjoyed the time he spent with Mario and wanted to hang around for just a little longer. 
When they arrived back at the lab, Toadex happily greeted them, especially his daughter. They asked him if he could help them find the next Craft Moon shard. As it turned out, Toadex was prepared for such an occasion, and presented them his latest invention: the Warp Cap. It looked identical to Mario’s hat, but it was so much more than that. The hat could teleport Mario and his partners anywhere they desired, essentially serving as a means of fast travel. Craftia asked how this was going to help them, which led to Toadex’s next point. He spotted a large energy reading coming from Dust Rust Dunes, which could only mean that there was another shard there. Toadex taught Mario how to use the Warp Cap, and with supersonic speed, Mario and co. were sent...
...right back into the lab. Toadex had neglected to mention one small caveat about the Warp Cap: it could only send them to places they had already been. Therefore, the Warp Cap was currently unable to take them to Dust Rust Dunes. But all was not lost. Toadex knew that somewhere around Floral Falls was a pipe that could take them to their destination. The only problem was that it was very well hidden, so they needed to thoroughly investigate the area to find it.
They followed Toadex's advice and looked around for the pipe, but they were disheartened when they couldn't find it anywhere on land. So, with their new friend Bubba, they decided to check the waters instead. They swam behind a big waterfall and into a secret area known as Cascade Caverns. There, they found the pipe they were looking for, and jumped in without any hesitation.
=== Chapter 3 - Tomb Raiders ===
Mario and his partners were warped into a large desert. They scanned the environment; all around them was sand and sandy ruins. Craftia knew the shard was somewhere in the expanse of dryness, but its aura felt distorted in a way. There was no sign of the shard anywhere where they were.
Suddenly, Flynona spotted something in the distance: a bazaar. It was a unanimous decision that the bazaar would be a good place to ask for hints about the fragment. First, though, they had to walk across the desert, which was filled from top to bottom with enemies. Even with the power bump he got from the last shard, fighting these enemies felt like a pain.
Mario also decided to check out some of the ruins to see if there was anything helpful in them. Aside from some items that he grabbed, he also saved a Toad from some circling Sandmaarghs. The Toad explained that word had gotten out that someone saw an artifact from the sky land somewhere in the area, and wondered if it had anything to do with the lost treasure. When questioned about what that was, he said that, somewhere in Dust Rust Dunes, there was a buried tomb containing riches beyond their wildest imaginations. Our heroes put two and two together, and concluded that the artifact the Toad was talking about was the Craft Moon shard. But when they asked him where he saw it land, the Toad sadly said that the area where everyone saw it land was “as empty as a dinner plate after Shroomsgiving.” Trying their best to remember this, Mario and his allies moved onward, still without a lead.
A few enemy attacks later, they reached Ramu Bazaar. There were a myriad of shady characters, some of which were at least kind enough to give or sell Mario some items. One person, particularly a Pianta named Pete, sold a large array of weapons, but at absurd prices. Mario didn’t buy anything from him, mostly because he didn’t have enough money. Just like at Crystal-Tide Shore, though, no one knew anything about the Craft Moon piece.
They were about to give up, when someone bumped into Mario. At first glance, she looked similar to a Shadow Siren, but was orange instead of the usual purple. She wore a sand-colored cloak around her head that covered most of her face, with only her shining silver eyes showing. She apologized for running into Mario, but then said that they had to get out of there. Before anyone could say anything to her, she covered them all with her cloak, and they vanished.
They reappeared in a nearby alley, with the strange figure pulling her cloak off them. Mario and his squad were about to berate her for what she did, but she told them to quiet down, or else “they” would find her. Flynona asked who “they” were, only for her to answer her own question. Outside the alley, a Snifit, a Spike, and a Hammer Bro came running down the road. They were angry that they lost “her,” since they needed the “last piece.” The Snifit, knowing that “she” couldn’t have gone far, told the baddies to split up and search the bazaar. 
After the trio left, the shady siren finally decided to spill the beans. Her name was Ankh, and she was the one the crooks were looking for. Craftia asked why, to which Ankh told them something crazy: she had something that would reveal the location of the great treasure of Dust Rust Dunes. She pulled out a piece of a strange disk, explaining to Mario and his friends that there were three other disk pieces that the crooks stole from her. With all four pieces, the disk would help lead the way to the treasure.
Hoo boy, where have we heard this before?
Ankh asked if Mario and co. could help her get back the other three pieces of the disk. At first, Craftia was a little skeptical of Ankh, but realized that Ankh could help them find the Craft Moon fragment, and told Mario to accept her request. Mario did, and Ankh joined Mario’s team!
Before they stepped out of the alleyway, Ankh warned Mario that walking through Ramu Bazaar could be dangerous. Therefore, she believed the best choice of action was to cover Mario up with her cloak again, so he could go unnoticed by enemies. As it turned out, this worked like a charm. Mario was completely invisible to all enemies. He could walk by them without them noticing, and could even touch them without triggering a battle; it would only startle them. 
The first thing Mario decided to go after was the Snifit, who would be the easiest to deal with. He eventually found and cornered the Snifit. The masked hoodlum was confused at first, but after seeing Ankh, he inferred that the two were working together. Then, a group of Shy Guys hiding around the area popped up and ambushed Mario. Mario battled both the Shy Guys and the Snifit. After defeating them, the Snifit dropped the first piece of the disk, which Mario collected.
The next baddie Mario searched for was the Spike. They found him, but he knew Mario and Ankh would go looking for him, so he climbed up on a roof and out of Mario’s range. However, a nearby crate gave Mario an idea. With a little Supercraft, he transformed the crate into a set of stairs, allowing him to climb up into the roof. The Spike, afraid of getting beat by Mario, gave up his disk piece without a fight, and ran off.
This just left the Hammer Bro. By searching every nook and cranny of the bazaar, they soon found him. He was showing off the disk piece to two Koopa Troopas, who were practically begging to get their hands on it. When they noticed Mario, all three of them challenged him to a battle. The Koopa Troopas went down fairly easily, but the Hammer Bro was pretty resilient, and required a few good hits to take out. Like with the Snifit, the Hammer Bro dropped his disk piece upon defeat. With all four pieces, Mario and his team were able to assemble the full disk!
Which was then stolen by a vulture.
As you might have guessed, this did not go over well with Mario or his partners. They knew they had to get it back, but the vulture was long gone. As luck would have it, though, a trail of feathers was left behind, which meant that, A) the vulture had a terrible molting problem, and B) they could easily track the foul bird. 
Doing so was less than easy. The trail led through the portion of Dust Rust Dunes east of Ramu Bazaar. Alongside the enemies from before. The feather trail eventually ended at a cave entrance, which led up to Klepto’s nest. To get up there, however, they had to fight their way through some Bald Clefts.
When they finally reached the nest, they saw Klepto tossing the disk into a pile of miscellaneous items. When the greedy vulture noticed Mario and his crew, he squawked angrily and swooped down at them, prompting a battle. Because Klepto was an airborne enemy, Mario had to use his boots instead. The vulture also liked to attack Mario by dropping rocks on him, some of which turned out to be Bald Clefts, who joined their feathered deliverer in battle.
They were able to defeat Klepto, who screeched in fear and flew away. Once the bird was out of their sight, Craftia told Mario that they could take back the disk. There was a lot of junk in Klepto’s nest, such as Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, a POW Block, and even a pair of Cyclone Boots. Mario kept looking through the heap of items until he found the disk.
No one knew about what to do next, but thankfully, Ankh knew what the disk was actually for. She told Mario and co. to follow her, and led them down from the nest and through Dust Rust Dunes. She brought them to a small slab in the ground, with a small hole where they could insert something circular. Of course, that circular object was the disk. Once the disk was put in the hole, the ground began to rumble, and a secret passageway was uncovered.
Everyone knew that this would lead to the legendary treasure of Dust Rust Dunes. Not only that, but Craftia could actually sense that the Craft Moon fragment that they were looking for this whole time was somewhere in the tomb. She had no idea how it landed underground, but after everything that’s happened so far, she wasn’t going to question it.
They all kept thinking about the treasure, wondering what they would do with it if they found it. 
Flynona thought about all of the cool stuff they could afford with it, while Bubba believed that they should give it to charity. Craftia didn’t really care for material possessions such as wealth, so she didn’t answer.
However, Ankh wanted to at least tell Mario and the others the reason as to why she hunted the treasure for years now. As they saw, her home, Ramu Bazaar, was falling apart. People trying to live an honest life there would get scammed or hurt by jerks like the crooks who robbed her from before. She wanted to find the treasure to improve life in the bazaar, so that people could actually be happy there. Her story moved Mario and his friends, and they all decided that, should they find any treasure, they would use it for the betterment of Ankh’s home. Their heads held high, they walked down the passageway and entered Rust-Sand Tomb.
Rust-Sand Tomb was a place that lived up to its name. The walls were made of cracked sandstone which leaked sand on the floor. Torches lit up the area, but not by a lot. Broken pieces of pottery were littered on the ground, making everyone worried that someone or something was there before them. 
Their fears came true, as three sarcophaguses on the far end of the room opened up, revealing three Chinchos. The bloodthirsty mummies waddled their way over to Mario, dragging him into a battle. The fight also woke up some nearby Dulla Bones, who assisted the Chinchos with their bone projectiles. Once all of the undead creeps were defeated, Mario and his gang proceeded onward.
The rest of Rust-Sand Tomb only got worse from there. The enemies that were thrown at them were quite strong. However, the biggest danger posed to Mario and co. were the traps. The temple was armed with dangerous puzzles to prevent them from ever reaching the treasure. First, they had to outrun a spike-covered wall threatening to crush them. Then, they came across a room filled with Sandmaargh-infested quicksand; Mario had to rely on Bubba to swim across it. Later, they were bombarded by a ginormous horde of Fuzzies, which they had to squeeze by using Ankh’s ability to turn Mario invisible. 
The deadly tomb saved the worst trap for last. Mario and his team saw a large door atop a slope. They all believed that it led to the treasure, so they eagerly walked up the slope. But when they did, a huge boulder dropped from the ceiling and started rolling down. The boulder threatened to squash them, and had it not been for a nearby alcove, it would have done so. Craftia said that, if she had an actual circulatory system, she would’ve had a heart attack from that. Once the boulder was out of the way, they went back up the slope and to the door. Their fingers crossed, they opened it and stepped through.
Nothing could have prepared them for what was in the next room. An entire chamber full of golden wares and trinkets. Everyone’s eyes were sparkling at the sight. Flynona began to wonder if the treasure was fake, “like in the movies.” Ankh inspected the gold just to be safe, and the silver-eyed thief came to a conclusion: the gold was indeed real. And there was more than enough to save her home.
Before they could collect anything, though, they noticed a large sarcophagus in the center of the room. This particular one was bigger and more extravagant than the others, and everyone was curious as to what was in it. As they pondered on it, the lid began to slide off of it. Something was inside of it, and was trying to break free.
Once the lid was completely off, a horrid creature slithered out of it. It was a mummy, yes, but it was far different from the Chinchos. It looked like a Shadow Siren, but it was made of a strange black liquid that oozed through its bandages. It looked like some kind of pharaoh, and it didn’t seem happy about the trespassers in its tomb. It let out a monstrous roar, and yet another intense boss battle started.
The Shadow Pharaoh was more straightforward than the last few boss battles (not counting Klepto.) It had no second phase, and didn’t shrug off any damage. That didn’t mean it was easy; in fact, the Shadow Pharaoh was quite the heavy hitter. From summoning sand twisters that could make Mario dizzy to smashing him with giant hands made from the same dark goop it was. Its attacks could also blind Mario’s eyes, giving him a chance to miss his attack. The Shadow Pharaoh was a worthy opponent, but was ultimately defeated by our heroic plumber and his allies.
In a set of violent death throes, the freaky phantasm wildly shook around, before going still and melting into a puddle of shadowy goo. From the puddle, a glowing yellow moon-shaped stone emerged. It was the Craft Moon piece! Craftia told Mario to grab it, and he obliged. As he did, he felt the sensation of his max HP rising, along with the max HP of his partners. They now had three Craft Moon shards, and only needed six more!
Before they could celebrate, however, the back wall slid open to reveal a door, along with a sign next to it. The sign was in ancient text, but Ankh could read it. It said “Gauntlet of 100 Trials. Entereth if thine’s soul be strong and sharp.” They decided to check it out, and opened the giant door.
The next room was pitch black, not a single torch flame in sight. No one could see anything, and thought the room was just pointless. When they took a step further, though, all the torches lit up, revealing a gigantic coliseum. An audience of ghosts appeared in the stands, cheering them on. Our heroes glanced around confused.
A ghostly Shy Guy phased in next to them, welcoming Mario, his friends, and all of his spectral acquaintances to the Gauntlet of 100 Trials. Mario and his team finally asked what was going on. The masked ghost explained that, centuries ago, the Gauntlet of 100 Trials was constructed by the great ruler of Dust Rust Dunes, King Umbros. He then presented his subjects with a challenge: whoever could defeat the beast he trapped within the gauntlet would become his successor and gain his fortune. Many heroes and vigilantes stepped up to the challenge, but all of them fell to the nightmarish beast. After King Umbros passed away and was mummified, the gauntlet just became a place for recreation, with his fortune remaining as the grand prize. Even then, no one could ever beat all 100 trials. The audience always hoped that someone was strong enough to finally do so, but no one ever was. Now, they were ghosts who could only move on once they saw someone finally take down the evil beast kept within the gauntlet.
The Shy Guy, or his ghost, asked Mario and his band if they wanted to participate in the Gauntlet of 100 Trials. He said that, while it would help him and his friends move on to the afterlife, he wasn’t going to force them if they didn’t want to. While enticed by the offer, our heroes turned it down…for now. Respecting their decision, the Shy Guy summoned an orange pipe that led back to the surface, telling them that they could come back any time they’d like if they changed their minds.
They went through the pipe and arrived back on the surface. Ankh reached into her cloak and pulled out some gold she had looted in the treasure room. While it wasn’t much, it was still important to her, as it would help change her home for the better. She thanked Mario for helping her, but then she thought to herself for a moment. The world was still in danger, and if she didn’t do anything about it, she’d lose her home anyway. Therefore, she decided to stick with Mario until peace was restored. 
As this was happening, a mysterious figure suddenly showed up, holding an envelope. They asked the heroes to look at the contents of the letter. Before they could ask, the figure vanished as quickly as they appeared. Although they really wanted to know who that mystery character was, their curiosity turned back to the envelope. They opened it, pulling out some photos of strange runes. As soon as they saw these, they knew their situation was about to go from bad to worse.
***
Per usual, Peach stared out the barred window, this time accompanied by Bowser. Both were waiting for Ninjen to return with more information. After much anticipation, the daring Ninji arrived back at the window. To begin, she told Peach that she delivered the envelope to Mario; the princess thanked her for doing so. She then let the duo in on some slightly worrying news: Prince Zular has been calling more alliances. 
However, right when she was about to state some names, Ninjen heard someone coming, and told Bowser and Peach that she had to go. She disappeared, and just as she did, Zular and the hooded Visrica walked by. They seemed to be arguing about the Craft Moon shards. If what Bowser and Peach heard was true, Mario had already managed to get three of the fragments. Visrica told Zular that they needed to eliminate Mario immediately, but the vile prince simply laughed, telling his wicked advisor that he already had some “friends” on standby. Annoyed, Visrica said that she was going to take care of the pesky plumber herself, and vanished in a puff of smoke. 
Zular wasn’t too bothered by this, and continued to gloat about his power. However, he was interrupted by two Koopatrols, who claimed to have something important. They presented him with a glowing red stone, which put a smile on Zular’s face. They had gotten a piece of the Craft Moon! The prince laughed evilly, exclaiming that they could use the shard as bait for Mario. 
With that, they walked out of earshot of Peach and Bowser, who were astonished at what they heard. Bowser, who, for once, was rooting for Mario, knew that they were going to lead him into a trap, and there was nothing they could do about it. Peach was worried about something else, not regarding Zular, but rather Visrica. Something about the witch felt nothing shy of evil, perhaps even more than Zular. She looked back out the window again, hoping that Mario knew what was coming his way and would be able to defeat it.
***
Luigi and Kamek entered the creepy forest. The former, of course, was slightly timid about his surroundings. But oddly enough, so was Kamek. The Koopa wizard couldn’t help but feel as though they were being watched. He then muttered under his breath, wondering if this was a bad idea. He snapped out of his doubt, as he still firmly believed that it was better than hearing Luigi’s excessive talking.
Just then, they met three individuals “talking” to a strange hooded person. The trio consisted of a camouflage-wearing Shy Guy, a pink Boo with shades, and a bulky Buster Beetle with cracked brown shell. When Luigi told them to stop tormenting the hooded figure, they turned around and introduced themselves as Notorious B.A.D. They said that they were politely asking the stranger for directions to Overfreeze Fields…and then went back to threatening him.
The hooded character wasn’t even remotely fazed by the troublemaking troupe. Underneath his cloak, he seemed to go into his shell, implying that he was a Koopa Troopa. With one strike from his shell, he sent Notorious B.A.D. into the air and crashing down. He then told the bruised baddies that Overfreeze Fields was west of the area. Terrified at the cloaked Koopa’s power, all three of the jerks ran off.
Luigi was impressed by the display of strength, and asked who he was. But when the stranger took off his hood, the green plumber’s mouth dropped. This person was a friend who used to adventure with Mario. Back then, he was a shy but kind and righteous Koopa who lived a happy life in a small town called Petalburg. He sided with Mario to protect his friends and family from a dangerous dragon named Hooktail, and stuck around to defeat the evil Shadow Queen.
Koops.
However, he looked quite different than he did all those years ago. He wore tattered brown rags with a black cape, had a small crack or two in his shell, and his right arm was replaced with a robot one! It almost looked like he had escaped from a prison. He also had a strange look in his eyes. It wasn’t the typical sheepish glance he’d normally give. It was a look of hopelessness and despair.
Nevertheless, Koops was happy to see a familiar face in Luigi. Kamek asked who he was, and Luigi filled him in on Mario’s adventure in Rogueport. Then, Luigi asked what Koops was doing there. The once lighthearted Koopa looked down, and told them the whole story.
After Mario and his friends left Rogueport, he, along with the rest of Mario’s old party (Goombella, Madame Flurrie, "The Great Gonzales Jr.", Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz) went their separate ways. Eventually, though, they decided to get back together and go on thrilling adventures for old time’s sake. They went by the name of “the Star Hunters,” and together, they were thicker than thieves. 
But an anonymous tip led them to the heart of the very forest they were in, Creep-Branch Woods. They found an old mansion that was infested with ghosts and other creepy crawlies, but the Star Hunters were an unstoppable force. Or so they all thought. Deeper into the mansion, they were attacked an absolutely horrifying monster, one that was too strong for them. During the fight, Ms. Mowz got seriously hurt, and they had to retreat. Unfortunately, Koops was separated from the rest of his friends, and ended up getting lost. 
Luigi felt horrible for what Koops and his friends had been through, and offered to help him find his friends. Kamek reminded Luigi that they had more important matters, but the generous brother did not budge from his offer. Koops happily accepted, and they all went deeper into the woods to search for the other members of the Star Hunters, much to Kamek’s dismay.
***
Mario and co. teleported back to Toadex’s lab, where the Toad had been waiting for them. He told them that he had a brand new invention he wanted to share with them. In the dark times they were in, people were in desperate need of help. Maybe they weren’t in danger, but they still had important requests they needed to be fulfilled. To combat these problems, Toadex invented a revolutionary device: the Online Trouble Center! Here, Mario could take up any concerned citizen’s request and earn possible rewards once he completed them. For the sake of simplicity, any trouble that Mario decided to tend to will not be mentioned here.
Once Mario was ready to continue the main quest, Toadex informed him that he had received a strong energy reading from Thunder Plateau, meaning that a fragment of the Craft Moon had landed there. The bad news was that he didn't have a clue as to how to get to Thunder Plateau. When Mario told him about the pipe in Cascade Caverns, though, Toadex was reminded of the tale of an ancient race of nomads who traveled the world in search of a place habitable enough to call home. They never did, but they built pipes that led to the past locations they visited, just to keep in touch with those spheres of the Mushroom World. Toadex had a theory that there were more pipes in Cascade Caverns, and that one of them would lead to where Mario was going next.
Sure enough, when our heroes went back to Cascade Caverns, they saw some ancient text that they couldn't make out before. Ankh was able to decipher the meaning of the message, letting Mario know that he had to hammer a miscolored brick somewhere on the ground. When he did, a staircase appeared, taking them to another floor. On this new floor, they were able to find their target: the pipe to Thunder Plateau. They eagerly hopped in it, awaiting whatever was on the other side.
=== Chapter 4 - A Thirst For Thunderous Justice ===
Mario and his friends arrived at the rocky cliffs of the Thunder Plateau. Craftia commented that it was a little underwhelming, and she thought it would be more “thunder-y.” Pushing that aside, Craftia tried to use her super senses to pinpoint the location of the next shard. But when she did, she discovered that, for whatever reason, her powers wouldn’t work right there. This meant that something in the area was messing up her powers. This meant that they had to find the shard manually.
The Thunder Plateau was…oddly quiet. It had a strange lack of enemies, as compared to the other areas they’ve been through. In fact, it had a strange lack of, well, everything. No Toads in need of saving, no disturbances, no hazards…nothing. This was starting to make everyone feel uneasy. It got so unnerving that they all stopped to discuss it. Everyone agreed: something fishy was happening. 
Then, they all saw a figure from the ledge above them. They couldn’t make out who or what it was, as they were concealed by shadows and ran off as soon as they saw them. Everyone found this pretty suspicious, so they decided to follow them. They tailed the mysterious person until they reached the end of the ledge above. The odd character finally spoke, telling Mario and his squad to stop following him. He said that the Thunder Plateau was too dangerous for them to continue any further, and that they should turn around. He stomped the ground very hard, causing some rocks to fall and block our heroes’ path, then he jumped up onto a higher ledge and ran out of sight.
Unsurprisingly, no one was happy about the setback. Even so, something about the stranger felt…weird. No one could bring themselves to feel resentment toward him. It was like he was trying to protect them from something. Regardless, they had to find another way through. Mario noticed a pathway that looked like a detour, so he and his gang chose to go down it.
Soon, everyone decided to take a breather. The amount of tough enemies in the region was crazy, and everyone was low on HP. Craftia was low on power after granting Prince Zular his wish, but she used some of her remaining quantities of it to heal her teammates. Craftia also believed that this was a good moment to get something off her chest.
But before Craftia could get a word in, three Brolders dropped down from a higher ledge. The rocky rumblers told the quintet that they were too close to their territory, and if they valued their freedom, it would be in their best interest to turn around. Since they needed that Craft Moon shard, Mario and his friends refused to do so. The only way through the Brolders was, of course, a battle.
The Brolders were difficult opponents, but were still no match for Team Mario. Instead of admitting defeat like every other enemy they’ve encountered, however, the Brolders shrugged off the humiliating loss and said that they were the winners, no matter the outcome of the battle. Just then, more Brolders dropped down, all of them craving battle. As strong as Mario and his crew were, there was no way they could fight that many enemies at once.
Luckily, they didn’t have to. Out of nowhere, an earthquake struck the ground. Weirdly, the quake had no ill effect on our heroes, but rather on the Brolders. Unable to withstand the severe quake, each of the sentient rocks fell off the edge. No one knew what happened, until they saw the concealed mystery man from before, standing right next to them.
The figure asked Mario + friends why they chose to continue, even after he told them that it would be better if they didn’t. They then stepped out of the shadows, letting everyone get a clear look at them. He was a Sumo Bro, one who looked like he had fought countless battles. A tattered cape wrapped around his neck blew in the ominous wind. He wore a conical hat over his head that casted shadows over his eyes at all times.
Our heroes thanked him, but the electric warrior didn’t want to hear it. He then sighed, saying that it was better if he explained the truth so they could understand the fuel behind his intentions. His name was Inazu, a strong warrior who once served in a clan of noble Sumo Bros. For centuries, his clan had feuded with the Brolder Clan, who they believed stole a precious artifact from them long ago. The leader of the Sumo Bro Clan, Master Bumu, wanted to end the century-long quarrel between the clans. The leader of the Brolder Clan, Boss Brolder, seemed to be on board with the idea. However, one faithful day, the Brolders went back on their truce and ambushed the Sumo Bros. Unprepared for the battle, the Sumo Bro Clan was quickly decimated, and their temple was destroyed. 
On that day, Inazu had been collecting resources for the clan. He soon found himself in deep sorrow when he got back to the temple. Everything he knew and loved was destroyed. He was the sole survivor of the incident, but only because he was absent from it. If he had been there, he could have done something to stop it. From that point on, he began to wander the Thunder Plateau, seeking justice for what the Brolder Clan did. That’s why he didn’t want Mario and his party intervening; it was his battle to fight, and he didn’t want them getting hurt because of him.
Craftia tried to explain the situation to Inazu, in the hopes that he would let them pass. After hearing their side of the story, the mighty Sumo Bro offered them a chance to proceed forward…but only if they managed to defeat him. While no one was keen about fighting a self-disgraced warrior who lost everything he cared about, they didn’t have an alternative.
Inazu was an absolute powerhouse! All of his attacks dealt huge damage, and if Mario failed to block, they could even paralyze him for a few turns. His most devastating attack was his Sumo Quake, which Mario couldn’t dodge. Fortunately, there were some aspects to the fight that made it more bearable. Even though Inazu had high HP and a hefty defense, he was extra prone to being inflicted with debuffs. Plus, unlike most Sumo Bros, it was safe to jump on him because his conical hat covered his sharp spike. These factors paved a path for Mario to clutch a victory.
Inazu fell to his knees, feeling as though he brought shame upon what his clan stood for. Since Mario and the others defeated them, he let them go through. Yet, despite their hard-earned triumph, it didn’t really feel like they won anything. Everyone felt bad for Inazu. He lost his entire life prior, and now he felt worthless. So Mario decided to do the most Mario thing he could: extend his hand to Inazu, telling him that he could come along with them. This filled the Sumo Bro with hope, as he firmly shook the plumber’s hand, joining his party.
Advancing forward, the Thunder Plateau got a little more dangerous. Now Brolders would begin appearing alongside the other enemies present. But Inazu, Mario’s newest partner, used the attacks from his fight to offer a huge battle assist.
It wasn’t long before they encountered a roadblock, however. A large and sturdy gate stood in their way, with no means of opening it. The only other thing around was a large metal circle that they were standing on, but this did nothing to clarify what to do.
Inazu was the only one who had an idea. The circle everyone was standing on was made of Thundarium, a metal frequently used by the Sumo Bro Clan. On its own, Thundarium isn’t very special. If hit with a bolt of electricity, though, it would react. This made it extremely useful in building functional gizmos for the Sumo Bro Clan. To test his theory, Inazu used an electrified stomp on the circle. Amazingly, the circle lit up and began turning, which slowly opened the gate. With the gate open, they proceeded, keeping in mind Inazu’s ability to activate Thundarium-powered technology.
Further on, they came across a large area of stone rubble. Inazu’s head dropped, as he revealed that these were the ruins of his clan’s temple. The area was filled with the gloomy stench of desolation, but Mario believed that there was something else around. Something that might be able to help them. They scanned the junk, finding some Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, some blueprints for Ankh for the move Snatch, and a Hurlhammer.
One item stood out, though. It was a small yet well-detailed map of the area. On it, there was a red X on the map, which perplexed everyone. Craftia sarcastically said that it led to buried treasure, but Inazu had a more accurate theory: it revealed the Brolder Clan’s secret hideout. This was indeed helpful, but Inazu still had a concern about something. From the looks of it, Master Bumu had this map for a while, but never shared it with anyone else. Inazu felt a little betrayed by that, wondering why he never used this information to stop the Brolder Clan. 
Putting the strange implications to the side, they followed the map’s directions, and eventually arrived at a large stone wall. This was the area marked on the map, but no one could find the entrance. Ankh pointed out that it was a secret hideout, so of course the entrance would be well-hidden. However, the Sand Siren knew a popular rule of thumb regarding secret entrances: all of them have overly-convoluted ways of opening them.
By investigating the area, Mario proved Ankh’s theory to be true. Sitting across a perilous pit of spikes was a switch. For a Brolder, crossing the spikes wouldn’t be a problem thanks to their rocky bodies. But alas, Mario wasn’t a Brolder, and he hadn’t seen a Rock Mushroom since his intergalactic adventures. He did, however, have the next best thing to that: a Flopter. Flynona’s ability to fly proved useful once more when she flew over the spikes and flipped the switch. 
When they went back to the stone wall, they were (not really) surprised to see that it had opened up to reveal a large door. This was the entrance to the Brolder Clan’s not-so-secret-anymore hideout. Mario and his party tried to walk in, but they were greeted by some Brolders who were standing guard. After a brief wave battle, our heroes entered the Brolder Temple.
Not long after they first entered, they saw a large stone door. Inazu assumed that beyond it was Boss Brolder. Once again, he was correct; the colossal Brolder leader was waiting for Mario and his comrades. The giant rock beast knew that Inazu had come because of what the Brolders did to the Sumo Bro Clan’s temple, but he also thought that he came for the artifact that “rightfully belonged to them.”
Craftia, whose curiosity reached its limit, asked what the artifact even was. Boss Brolder moved out of the way to answer the question. Inside a glass display case was a shimmering yellow rock, seemingly made of gold. Boss Brolder clarified that it was an ancient stone that had a past enshrouded in mystery. The original leader of the Brolder Clan, his father, had found it centuries ago (Brolders live for a long time.) The Brolder Clan willingly shared it with the Sumo Bro Clan, but the Sumo Bro Clan got too greedy and outright stole it. Inazu argued that the Sumo Bro Clan would never do something like that, but it was like talking to a wall. Boss Brolder said that the artifact belonged to them, and he wouldn’t give it up. At least, not without a fight. Yeah, you probably understand what happens by now.
Boss Brolder wasn’t playing around. Not only did he have a large pool of health, but he also hit like a truck. He’d summon Brolders soldiers to fight by his side, adding to the difficulty. In a way, it was similar to the Supergiant Piranha Plant. There was one key difference between the fights, though; Mario had gotten stronger since then. He discovered some consistent strategies that helped out tremendously, like using earth-shaking attacks like POW Blocks or Inazu’s Sumo Quake. His new Hurlhammer, which dealt large quantities of damage, also came in handy. In the end, Boss Brolder was defeated.
The burly Brolder was ashamed at his loss, but couldn’t bring himself to hate Mario and his friends. They had beat him fairly, and for that, he had to give them honor. Even after showing our heroes his respect, Inazu still couldn’t bring himself to forgive Boss Brolder for what he did. Tension filled the air, as the two glared at each other in silence. 
The tension was broken by a voice, unknown to Mario, Craftia, Flynona, Bubba, and Ankh, but all too familiar to Inazu and Boss Brolder. Another Sumo Bro stepped through the doors; he looked a lot like Inazu, but was clearly older with a long white beard. 
This was Master Bumu, leader of the Sumo Bro Clan.
Right away, Inazu, in a slightly out-of-character moment, ran to Bumu and hugged him, stating his happiness for the fact that he was alive. Master Bumu, while caught off guard, said that it was OK for even the toughest warrior to be vulnerable sometimes. He still had to ask Inazu to stop because he was crushing him, to which the Sumo Bro warrior complied. 
While the display was certainly heartwarming, the others had several questions. Why did he come to the Brolder Temple? Why did he have that map to it? Bumu explained to everyone the truth: he was done fighting for the artifact. He considered the feud between the two clans to be pointless, and would only lead to more conflict and death, all because of a dumb rock. He called the truce between the clans just so that they wouldn’t fight to oblivion. However, he was also going to tell the Brolder Clan that they could keep the artifact, but never got the chance, due to the Brolders’ surprise attack on their temple.
Boss Brolder took this to heart, and was racked with guilt for destroying the Sumo Bro Clan. Except…Bumu told him that he never actually did; they only destroyed their temple. The Sumo Bro Clan was still thriving, which put a smile on Inazu’s face. Master Bumu asked Boss Brolder if he could gather his troops outside, as he wanted to put an end to the feud, properly this time.
Later, Mario, his partners, Bumu, Boss Brolder, and all members of both clans stood outside. After so many centuries, the feud was about to end. Master Bumu and Boss Brolder said what was on their minds. “Never again will the two strongest and most resilient clans of the Mushroom World compete for a pointless purpose or material possession. Instead, they will fight by each other through trial and tribulation. The Thunder Plateau is big enough for both clans.” The two leaders shook hands, burying the hatchet. Both clans rejoiced, as the camera panned into the sky.
Then, the camera panned back down, as Craftia realized that they were still no closer to finding the Craft Moon shard. She tried again to pinpoint where it was, but quickly remembered that something was prohibiting that power. Craftia wished for a sign indicating what to do next.
She really should not have said that out loud.
Atop a ledge, the voice of a cloaked figure called out to the protagonists. Mario quickly recognized them as the figure in the pictures they received in the last chapter.
That person was none other than Visrica.
The shady sorceress gave her spiel, telling Mario and associates how their meddling could cost her “her greatest wish.” She was adamant on making sure Mario and those who supported him were brought to their knees, so she pulled out her two weapons of destruction. One of them was the artifact the two clans once disputed over. The second was the piece of the Craft Moon they’d been looking for.
No one quite understood what Visrica was trying to accomplish, so she spelled it out in black and white. The artifact wasn’t actually a stone at all; it was an egg. An egg that encapsulated a beast once thought to be extinct. Putting two and two together, it registered in Craftia that the egg was the reason her powers weren’t working right. Due to the egg’s magical powers, the fetus of the creature was in suspended animation, so it wasn’t much use to Visrica. At least, not without a power boost. That’s where the Craft Moon shard came in. Visrica poured the power of the shard into the egg, creating a dazzling yet horrifying light show. 
When it was over, the egg slowly began to crack open. Instead of a mere baby crawling out, though, a titanic purple-scaled dragon erupted from it, taking to the skies. Visrica introduced the do-gooders to the beast king of olden times, Craftail, before vanishing. 
Things were looking grim, at best. Everyone knew that they had to defeat Craftail, but they had no means of reaching it in the sky. Like usual, though, Craftia had an idea. She instructed Mario to use Supercraft on a nearby angel statue. This time, she only asked Mario to take off the wings. Our valiant plumber was confused at first, but once he understood what his fairy companion was getting at, he followed her orders. The power of Supercraft was able to give the wings magical flying abilities, turning it into a plane. Now able to confront the lunar dragon, they took off, engaging in their first Aerial Battle.
They closed in on their target, the deadly Craftail. Craftia gave Mario a brief lesson on how to work the aircraft. Once he understood, he went in to take out the winged beast. Unfortunately, its scales were too tough for his shots to deal any damage to. That’s when they noticed: the Craft Moon fragment was stored away in a bulb located on the tail. Craftia told Mario to aim there, but she really didn’t need to, as he went sicko mode soon after. This new strategy worked; they were now dealing damage. 
But Craftail wasn’t just going to sit around while they did. Between firing attacks, they had to dodge some attacks deployed by the dragon, from lightning bolts to its fire breath. This only got harder once they got it to half HP. Undeterred, they soon delivered the finishing blow, causing Craftail to explode.
Once our heroes safely landed, the Craft Moon piece fell before them. Everyone was a little disquieted by what just happened, especially Master Bumu and Boss Brolder. The former in particular now grasped the gravity of the situation, and had one last mission for his star soldier Inazu: to go with Mario to collect the rest of the shards. Inazu was taken aback at first, but acknowledged the request, and joined Mario’s cause for the long run. 
Now it was time to collect yet another Craft Moon piece. Once Mario did, the max HP of himself and his party members increased once again. With only five pieces left, they all had the aching feeling that it was only going to get harder from there on out.
***
Peach and Bowser, like the last three times, waiting at the window for Ninjen. However, she was definitely taking her time. They both began to worry about what may have happened to her.
But thankfully, the sly Ninji pulled through once again, appearing before the two. In fact, she did them something better: she was able to grab the key to their cell. She elucidated that she had her ways. “Gregory, a Koopa with a dream. Top of his class, graduated to become a strong Koopatrol. Nice guy. It’s a shame I had to knock him out to steal the keys.” Ninjen did have to eventually return them to their cells, though, to avoid suspicion.
With so many opportunities for their few-minute freedom, Peach and Bowser decided to extinguish the burning question they all had: what happened to Princess Pandora? Ninjen led them to the throne room to give them their answer. The purple-haired princess was still in the bubble from before, trapped in a state of both life and death. The arrogant Prince Zular sat on what was once her throne.
Visrica magically appeared beside him, angrily telling Zular that her efforts to stop Mario were futile, and he had gotten another piece of the Craft Moon. The prince was less than fazed, and continued to gloat. Zular’s show of hubris enraged Visrica, as she yelled at him for his laziness and his inability to take what was going on more seriously.
Visrica’s lashout was interrupted by an occurrence with the rune circle on the floor. One of the smaller outer circles had lit up, making three glowing circles and five yet to activate. Visrica tried to alert Zular about this, but he wasn’t listening. The cranky sorceress, noticing that she was getting nowhere, promptly teleported away.
After watching the scene play out, Ninjen told Peach and Bowser that she had to return them to their cell. They walked back over, as the Ninji locked the door to their chamber. Ninjen promised that she would find a way to free the two for real, and vanished in a puff of smoke.
***
Luigi, Kamek, and Koops were walking through Creep-Branch Woods. To make sure they wouldn’t get lost, Koops taught his two friends a trick. He placed some green flags on the trees, which would let them know that they had already been there. That way, if they got confused, they could use the flag trail to know where they’ve already been and not go down that path again.
Koops’s methods were put to the test when the gang walked straight forward into the fog, only to find themselves at the exact same place. Dumbfounded, they tried again, harboring the same results. It was clear that something was amiss. They weren’t just in any dark forest; they were in an advanced dark forest.
Before they walked themselves in circles to death, Kamek offered a suggestion. Seeing as the bizarre properties of the forest wouldn’t let them continue, he proposed that they turn back in an attempt to confuse it. This…did absolutely nothing. They just wound up in the same place again.
Luigi was shaking in his overalls, fearing that they would be trapped in the same flagged grove forever. As Koops tried to get him to calm down, the fog closed in on the three. Their vision obscured, they had to rely on their voices to ensure that the others were OK.
When the fog cleared up, they were in a completely different location. In front of them was an old mansion that looked like it was rotting to the foundation. Koops recognized this mansion, though, since it was where that monster attacked them. Luigi, not wanting a piece of whatever was inside, ran the opposite way, but he came back, as the fog was too thick to see through. They had no other choice but to go inside the mansion.
*** 
Like every other time, Mario and his crew warped into Toadex’s lab. The shroomy genius had already located the next Craft Moon piece, in the ice-cold Overfreeze Fields. Before they set off, they asked Toadex to find some information on Visrica. Surprisingly, he was able to find a good bit about her.
Visrica was once a normal person living in what is now Springbloom Village. She was the most beautiful girl the townsfolk ever laid eyes on. She was perfectly happy and content, until a terrible accident happened to her. The lack of medical knowledge back then meant that she only received subpar treatment. They were able to save her life, but at a great cost: she had gone from gorgeous to hideous. 
Everyone would either avoid her or make fun of her. This made her chipper attitude turn into one of unquenchable rage and resentment. She began to dabble in the dark arts, which made the citizens of Springbloom Village exile her. This only made her angrier, but it did nothing to stop her from researching the most vile spells imaginable. By this point, she was seen as a villain, so she decided to embrace the title and act like one. She terrorized every inch of the Mushroom World, always one step ahead of the heroes that tried to stop her. What little of her remaining morality crumbled. She was too far gone. 
This information would greatly assist Mario and co. the next time they encountered her. Thanking Toadex for his help, they headed back to Cascade Caverns to find the pipe that led to Overfreeze Fields. With Inazu's help, they uncovered a new passageway that took them to the pipe. You get the rest by now.
=== Chapter 5 - All That’s Cold Isn’t Gold ===
=== Chapter 6 - Mysteries of Creep-Branch Woods ===
=== Chapter 7 - An Undying Flame ===
=== Chapter 8 - Surprising Encounters in Superstar City ===
=== Chapter 9 - Unexpected Allies and Enemies ===
=== Chapter 10 - Take Back the Craft Palace! ===
== Gameplay ==
=== The Overworld ===
Action in the overworld works just like a normal Paper Mario game. Mario can walk around by moving the joycon around, and can run if ZL or ZR is held down. Mario can jump with the A button, and swing his hammer with the B button. Y allows Mario to access his item inventory; from here, he can use mushrooms or similar items to heal up or give him other effects. Pressing + or - opens Mario's menu, where he can equip badges, sort his party, or manage his weapons. Pressing R or L summons Craftia, who will remind him of his current objective and/or give him hints on how to proceed.
In some scenarios, Mario can use his partners' abilities by pressing B next to an important object. The partner who gets used depends on what Mario needs to do. Mario can also use healing items from his inventory to heal his partners up or recover partners who lost all of their HP in battle. He can only have one partner follow him at a time, but he can switch out partners in the overworld by pressing X and picking the desired partner to use. 
=== The Battle System ===
The battle system in this game is a bit different from most games. Rather than having to battle enemies in a straight line, enemies are lined up in a column of up to five. Mario can have up to two of his partners out on the battlefield beside him. In battle, Mario's side attacks first. First, Mario will pick a weapon or item to use. Then, Mario's partners will use one of their attacks. Mario and his partners can target any enemy on the field. If Mario desires, he can switch out one of his partners for another, though he will not be able to act if he does. Once Mario's side has finished attacking, the enemy side attacks. Enemies can target either Mario or one of his partners. Thankfully, Mario and co. can block to negate some of the damage, or with perfect timing, dodge to avoid damage altogether. Once the enemies have finished attacking, it will be Mario's turn again. This pattern will repeat until the battle's over. Once Mario wins a battle, he will get rewards in the form of coins, scraps, or other prizes. Mario will get additional rewards for doing things such as finishing the battle in one turn, not taking any damage during the battle, or defeating a boss. Sometimes, Mario will be caught up in a Wave Battle, where he has to battle multiple volleys of enemies. Winning in a Wave Battle will result in more rewards than a normal battle. Mario can also choose to run from enemy battles, but doing so nets no rewards, and isn't always guaranteed to work. 
While there is no FP system in this game, to avoid being too overpowered, Mario's partners have cooldowns for their attacks. If one of their attacks is on cooldown, it cannot be used again until a certain number of turns have passed. One attack for each partner will not have a cooldown, but these will be weaker attacks. Also, each turn, Mario and his partners charge their Ultimate attacks. Once their Ultimate attacks are fully charged, they can unleash them, dealing devastating damage. 
Much like in past games, there will be a mechanic allowing Mario to view the stats of an enemy, similar to the Tattle ability provided by Goombario and Goombella. To avoid repetition, though, it is done in a different manner. Mario will have an Enemy Encyclopedia that allows him to document the stats of an enemy. When Mario encounters an enemy he hasn't battled yet, that enemy's stats will be added to the encyclopedia. Mario can view the Enemy Encyclopedia in the menu.
Just like in Origami King, Mario's weapons will have durability (with the exception of his Boots and Hammer.) Every time Mario uses a weapon, that weapon's durability goes down. If a weapon's durability reaches 0, it cannot be used. Unlike in Origami King, however, weapons that run out of durability are not gone forever; they remain in Mario's weapon inventory. Mario can repair his weapons by using scraps he collects from defeating enemies. Or, if he doesn't have enough scraps, he can go to a smith's shop and have them repair all of his weapons...for a fee, of course. Items, on the other hand, can only be used once.
In battle, Mario, his partners, and enemies can be affected by buffs and debuffs. Buffs can help the target in battle, while debuffs hinder their ability to fight. Buffs are usually granted by items or badges. Debuffs, though, are usually caused by enemy attacks.
A list of status effects:
Icon	Name 	Description
 	Asleep 	The target is unable to attack, block, or dodge. The effect ends early if the target takes 10 points of damage.
 	Blinded 	The target has a 75% chance to have their attacks miss. Cancelled out by the Wet effect.
 	Burned 	Deals 2 damage to the target every turn. Cancelled out by the Wet or Frozen effect.
 	Confused 	When attacking, the target has a 50% chance to perform an unintended action, such as using a different attack than the one selected or attacking one of their teammates.
 	Dizzy 	The target has a 50% chance to have their attacks miss. The effect ends early if an attack that deals more than 6+ damage hits the target.
 	Empowered 	The target's attack is increased by 3.
 	Energized 	Reduces the amount of time it takes Mario and his party to charge their Ultimate attacks.
 	Evasive 	Allows the target to randomly dodge attacks.
 	Flipped 	A status effect unique to enemies such as Spinies, Buzzy Beetles, and Clefts. When flipped by something like a POW Block, they will be unable to move for a turn.
 	Foiled 	Prevents the target from being affected by any more status effects, regardless of whether it's a buff or debuff.
 	Fortified 	The target's defense is increased by 3.
 	Frozen 	The target is unable to attack, block, or dodge, but they take less damage from attacks while the effect is in place. Cancelled out by the Burned effect.
 	Infatuated	The target becomes hesitant to fight, having their attack lowered by 1. The debuff can stack up to three. If the target has a stack of three during the battle phase, they will leave the battle. Cannot be inflicted on bosses.
 	Paralyzed 	The target is stunned for a few turns, being unable to attack (they can still block and dodge.) The effect can be ended early if the target takes enough damage.
 	Poisoned 	Deals 1 damage to the target every turn.
 	Soggy 	The target takes additional damage from attacks. Cancelled out by the Frozen effect.
 	Thorny 	If the target is attacked with this effect in place, the attacker will take a small amount of damage in return. Cancelled out by the Burned effect.
Mario and his partner can use badges that they find to assist them in battle. Badges can grant Mario and his partners different abilities, such as more HP in battle, higher attack, less damage taken from enemies, a greater ability to dodge, immunity to certain debuffs, and more. Mario can equip up to three badges, while each of his partners can only equip one.
At the end of boss battles, an extra segment will occur: Finishing Blow. During this, a quick-time event will occur where a slider appears. Mario must try to aim toward the middle of the slider. The closer he hands to the middle, the harder he'll hit his opponent, and the more rewards he'll get. Regardless of where Mario lands on the slider, he will still win the battle once he delivers the hit.
If Mario's HP reaches 0 in a battle, the battle will automatically end, resulting in a "game over." Unlike past games, though, "game overs" will work in a similar vein to games like Super Mario Odyssey and Bowser's Fury. Once Mario's HP reaches 0, he will lose 150 coins and respawn back at the last Save Block he hit. If a partner's HP reaches 0 in a battle, they will faint, but the battle will not end. However, Mario cannot use that partner in battle or the overworld until they recover. Partners can recover with the help of special items or by being taken to a healer.
=== Things ===
Besides adding new features to the combat system, this game also takes a large risk by adding back Things as weapons in the combat system. Things are collected via searching certain areas, completing some side quests, and other means. To avoid fans getting upset, the way Things work has been changed. Firstly, Things are not needed to progress through the story in this game. They only serve the purpose of helping Mario in especially difficult battles. Secondly, Things cannot be abused in battle. Things will have a set durability, much like Mario's weapons. Once a Thing is used, its durability will drop to 0, and cannot be used until it is repaired. Unlike Mario's weapons, Things cannot be repaired by scraps; they must be taken to a smith's shop in order to become functional again. The cost for repairing Things is significantly higher than the cost for repairing weapons. Also, Things can only be used once per battle. Once a Thing has been used in battle, you cannot use anymore Things until you win the battle. In boss battles, you are allowed to use multiple Things, but once you use a Thing, you must wait eight turns before you can use another Thing. If a Thing has been used, Mario and his partners will not be able to act for that turn.
A list of Things:
Appearance	Name 	Description 	How To Get
 	Baseball Bat 	TBA 	TBA
 	Basin 	To this day, it's still being debated as to exactly what this is. The scientific community is divided between a giant food tray and an ancient kiddie pool. One thing they agree on, though: it's certainly heavy. 	Talk to Boss Brolder after completing Chapter 4.
 	Battery 	TBA 	Talk to Master Bumu after completing Chapter 4.
 	Bowling Ball 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Cake 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Cat-O-Luck 	This ginormous cat statue has baffled historians. They believe it was made to honor a god whose existence was left in the sands of time. 	TBA
 	Chainsaw 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Chopsticks 	The working theory for these strange sticks is that they're ancient stilts. But if you talk to any major stilt enthusiasts, they're likely to say that the theory has some flaws. 	TBA
 	Electric Guitar 	The loudest artifact ever discovered by scientists. This thing has been banned from concert use, due to the concern of hearing damage. Besides, Alloyica rocks out much harder than this thing. 	TBA
 	Fan 	TBA 	Defeat Captain Ringfin in Chapter 2.
 	Fire Extinguisher	One of the oldest theories revolving around what this might be is that it's an ancient whipped cream dispenser. Suffice to say, this was quickly disproven. Definitely a lot safer to use the traditional stuff for your sundaes. 	TBA
 	Fishing Rod 	TBA 	Talk to the old Toad in the lighthouse after completing Chapter 2.
 	Flip Phone 	For a long time, scientists tried to understand what this was and what it did. Their questions were answered on Bring Your Kid To Work Day, when a couple of teens used this device to prank call their teachers. The teens were awarded with the highest scientific honor...and were promptly grounded afterward.	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Frying Pan 	TBA 	Given to Mario by Chef Flantonio after completing all of his cooking lessons.
 	Golf Club 	TBA 	TBA
 	Hair Dryer 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Instant Camera 	Scientists recently figured out how to work this contraption. They may have blinded one of their members, but when an exact replica of that person was produced, they learned that it was a cloning machine. With this, princess kidnapping rates could go down by 35%! 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Lawn Mower 	It took scientists months to learn how to activate this ancient tank. When they did, though...yeah, it's better if we don't tell you. 	TBA
 	Leaf Blower 	TBA 	TBA
 	Paintbrush 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Pinball Machine 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Poker Cards 	TBA 	TBA
 	Plasma Ball 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Plunger 	TBA 	TBA
 	RC Car 	Since go-karting is a big deal in the Mushroom World, it was concluded that this was an ancient machine used for such events back in old times. The only problem with the theory is that you can't drive it yourself, but rather you need to use a remote control to do so, making it awkward to control. 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Recorder 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Refrigerator 	TBA 	TBA
 	Sewing Needle 	This huge silver-tipped weapon was most likely used as an arrow to strike down enemy aircrafts. Considering how big this thing is, you can only imagine the size of the ballistas used to fire it. 	TBA
 	Squirt Gun 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Stopwatch 	TBA 	Sold by Patt the Pianta.
 	Teapot 	TBA 	TBA
=== Supercraft ===
The new mechanic for this game is Supercraft, which allows Mario to turn one object into something completely new. If you see an ordinary object in the overworld with a strange purple shimmer on it, that means it can be used for Supercraft. Aesthetically, it is similar to the Paperize ability from Sticker Star, but has similar mechanics to 1,000 Fold Arms from Origami King. Most often, Supercraft is required to progress through the game, though sometimes, it can be used just to get a little reward for your troubles.
=== Aerial Battles ===
Introduced in this game is a unique new type of battle known as an Aerial Battle. In these battles, Mario takes to the skies to fight his opponent. By pressing the B button, Mario can fire at his enemy that go in the direction of a set of crosshairs. He can also line up the crosshairs with a certain element and press A, letting him auto-target it. Like in normal battles, the opponent will have an HP bar that can be dwindled by blasting the correct part of them. However, Mario must be careful, as whatever aircraft he's on only has 8 hit points.
=== Intermissions ===
Like in past games, at the end of each chapter, intermissions will occur. During the intermissions, the player cannot interact with anything beyond advancing through the text. Each intermission focuses on what Mario's friends are going through. First, it focuses on Peach and Bowser being trapped within the Dark Craft Palace, then goes to Luigi and Kamek going on their own quest to further help Mario.
== Characters ==
=== Main Characters ===
Appearance	Name 	Description
 	Mr. Mamma Mia Himself 	The hero himself. Mario is on a mission to save the world from Prince Zular and his cohorts. Along the way, he makes new friends and enemies.
 	Celestial Being Far From Home 	A wish-granting fairy from another dimension who got stuck in Mario's world after Prince Zular destroyed the Craft Moon. She realizes that the only way to get back is by teaming up with Mario to stop Zular and fix the Craft Moon. She is Mario's main partner, in a very similar vein to Kersti, Huey, and Olivia. Mario can call her to give information on the location and the task at hand.
 	Brotherly Helping Hand 	Mario's brother, who goes to the Craft Palace with him. After Prince Zular takes over the palace, he tries to find a way to help Mario from behind the shadows. Shares intermissions with Kamek.
 	Princess of Shrooms 	The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. During the game, she is held captive inside of the Dark Craft Palace with Bowser. Shares intermissions with Bowser.
 	Kidnapper in Distress 	The king of the Koopas. He usually kidnaps Princess Peach, but in a twist of cruel irony, he is held captive inside the Dark Craft Palace with Peach. Shares intermissions with Peach.
 	Inconvenienced Sorcerer 	An elite Magikoopa serving under Bowser. After Prince Zular takes over the Craft Palace, he tags along with Luigi in an attempt to help his boss. Shares intermissions with Luigi.
 	Mysterious But Benevolent Matriarch	A benevolent princess who lives in the Craft Palace, who invites everyone to the Craft Moon Festival. When the palace is taken over by Prince Zular, she is held captive inside. Notably, she is separated from Peach and Bowser.
=== Partners ===
Appearance	Name 	Description	Moveset
 	Aspiring Adopted Flyer 	A sassy but sweet Flopter girl who is a huge fan of Mario and his endeavors. She stays in a lab with her adopted father, Toadex. She joins Mario in the prologue, just for the sake of going on an adventure with him. As the game progresses, though, it slowly starts to become apparent that Flynona didn't always have such a glamorous life.
----In the overworld, she can fly across gaps to retrieve items or flip switches.
Base HP: 8	Float Stomp - Flynona flies upward and drops down on an enemy. Does not work on spiked enemies or lava enemies. (2 damage, 0 cdn)
 	Aspiring Adopted Flyer 	A sassy but sweet Flopter girl who is a huge fan of Mario and his endeavors. She stays in a lab with her adopted father, Toadex. She joins Mario in the prologue, just for the sake of going on an adventure with him. As the game progresses, though, it slowly starts to become apparent that Flynona didn't always have such a glamorous life.
----In the overworld, she can fly across gaps to retrieve items or flip switches.
Base HP: 8	Hover - Flynona flies out of the range of land-based enemy attacks for one turn. (1 cdn)
 	Aspiring Adopted Flyer 	A sassy but sweet Flopter girl who is a huge fan of Mario and his endeavors. She stays in a lab with her adopted father, Toadex. She joins Mario in the prologue, just for the sake of going on an adventure with him. As the game progresses, though, it slowly starts to become apparent that Flynona didn't always have such a glamorous life.
----In the overworld, she can fly across gaps to retrieve items or flip switches.
Base HP: 8	Blade Whirl - Flynona spins her blades really fast and attacks enemies with them. Deals extra damage to plant enemies. Does not work on lava enemies. (4 dmg, 2 cdn)
 	Aspiring Adopted Flyer 	A sassy but sweet Flopter girl who is a huge fan of Mario and his endeavors. She stays in a lab with her adopted father, Toadex. She joins Mario in the prologue, just for the sake of going on an adventure with him. As the game progresses, though, it slowly starts to become apparent that Flynona didn't always have such a glamorous life.
----In the overworld, she can fly across gaps to retrieve items or flip switches.
Base HP: 8	Retrieve - Flynona flies off the battlefield for one turn. She returns with a random item, which she gives to Mario. (5 cdn)
 	Aspiring Adopted Flyer 	A sassy but sweet Flopter girl who is a huge fan of Mario and his endeavors. She stays in a lab with her adopted father, Toadex. She joins Mario in the prologue, just for the sake of going on an adventure with him. As the game progresses, though, it slowly starts to become apparent that Flynona didn't always have such a glamorous life.
----In the overworld, she can fly across gaps to retrieve items or flip switches.
Base HP: 8	Coptwister (ULTIMATE) - Flynona generates a giant twister that hurts all enemies on screen. Any surviving enemy has an 80% chance to be inflicted with the Dizzy debuff. (10 dmg)
 	Perpetually-Happy Manta 	A carefree Jumbo Ray who enjoys making new friends. Mario and his partners first meet him in Captain Ringfin's dungeon. While it's unclear what personal reasons he has for joining Mario, he grows to really like Mario, and decides to stick around.
----In the overworld, Mario can ride on his back to swim across water, in a similar manner to Sushie and the Boat Mode.
Base HP: 12	Water Jet - Bubba spits a stream of water at an enemy. Has a 40% chance to inflict the Wet debuff. Deals extra damage to fire enemies and lava enemies. Deals reduced damage to water enemies. (2 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Perpetually-Happy Manta 	A carefree Jumbo Ray who enjoys making new friends. Mario and his partners first meet him in Captain Ringfin's dungeon. While it's unclear what personal reasons he has for joining Mario, he grows to really like Mario, and decides to stick around.
----In the overworld, Mario can ride on his back to swim across water, in a similar manner to Sushie and the Boat Mode.
Base HP: 12	Body Shield - Bubba moves in front of Mario, exposing his backside to enemies. If an enemy targets Mario, they will hit Bubba instead. During this, Bubba will take reduced damage. (1 cdn)
 	Perpetually-Happy Manta 	A carefree Jumbo Ray who enjoys making new friends. Mario and his partners first meet him in Captain Ringfin's dungeon. While it's unclear what personal reasons he has for joining Mario, he grows to really like Mario, and decides to stick around.
----In the overworld, Mario can ride on his back to swim across water, in a similar manner to Sushie and the Boat Mode.
Base HP: 12	Dizzy Rings - Bubba launches rings from his tails at an enemy. This attack will always inflict the Dizzy debuff on the target. (1 dmg, 2 cdn)
 	Perpetually-Happy Manta 	A carefree Jumbo Ray who enjoys making new friends. Mario and his partners first meet him in Captain Ringfin's dungeon. While it's unclear what personal reasons he has for joining Mario, he grows to really like Mario, and decides to stick around.
----In the overworld, Mario can ride on his back to swim across water, in a similar manner to Sushie and the Boat Mode.
Base HP: 12	Aqua Therapy - Bubba covers Mario's side with water, removing any debuff from him and his allies. (4 cdn)
 	Perpetually-Happy Manta 	A carefree Jumbo Ray who enjoys making new friends. Mario and his partners first meet him in Captain Ringfin's dungeon. While it's unclear what personal reasons he has for joining Mario, he grows to really like Mario, and decides to stick around.
----In the overworld, Mario can ride on his back to swim across water, in a similar manner to Sushie and the Boat Mode.
Base HP: 12	Crashing Wave (ULTIMATE) - Bubba releases a giant wave that hits every enemy on screen. Any surviving enemy has an 80% chance to be inflicted with the Wet debuff. Deals extra damage to fire enemies and lava enemies. Deals reduced damage to water enemies. (12 dmg)
 	Noble Thief of the Sands 	A Sand Siren, which is a very similar being to a Shadow Siren. Ankh is a thief that has spent years looking for the great treasure of Dust Rust Dunes to help her home, Ramu Bazaar, better itself. She joins Mario in the hopes of finding it.
----In the overworld, Ankh can turn Mario invisible, just like with Lady Bow and Vivian. While invisible, Mario can go unnoticed by enemies, and can even touch them without triggering a battle.
Base HP: 10	Sand Shot - Ankh launches a ball of sand at an enemy. Has a 40% to inflict the Blinded debuff. Deals extra damage to fire enemies and lava enemies. Does not work on rock enemies. (1 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Noble Thief of the Sands 	A Sand Siren, which is a very similar being to a Shadow Siren. Ankh is a thief that has spent years looking for the great treasure of Dust Rust Dunes to help her home, Ramu Bazaar, better itself. She joins Mario in the hopes of finding it.
----In the overworld, Ankh can turn Mario invisible, just like with Lady Bow and Vivian. While invisible, Mario can go unnoticed by enemies, and can even touch them without triggering a battle.
Base HP: 10	Dagger Toss - Ankh throws a dagger at an enemy. Does not work on enemies with heavy armor. (3 dmg, 1 cdn)
 	Noble Thief of the Sands 	A Sand Siren, which is a very similar being to a Shadow Siren. Ankh is a thief that has spent years looking for the great treasure of Dust Rust Dunes to help her home, Ramu Bazaar, better itself. She joins Mario in the hopes of finding it.
----In the overworld, Ankh can turn Mario invisible, just like with Lady Bow and Vivian. While invisible, Mario can go unnoticed by enemies, and can even touch them without triggering a battle.
Base HP: 10	Snatch - Ankh swipes at an enemy, stealing any item they're holding in the process. Does not work on lava enemies. (1 dmg, 2 cdn)
 	Noble Thief of the Sands 	A Sand Siren, which is a very similar being to a Shadow Siren. Ankh is a thief that has spent years looking for the great treasure of Dust Rust Dunes to help her home, Ramu Bazaar, better itself. She joins Mario in the hopes of finding it.
----In the overworld, Ankh can turn Mario invisible, just like with Lady Bow and Vivian. While invisible, Mario can go unnoticed by enemies, and can even touch them without triggering a battle.
Base HP: 10	Cloak - Ankh uses her ability to conceal her and Mario. Both her and Mario will not take damage that turn. Next turn, she will not be able to act. (4 cdn)
 	Noble Thief of the Sands 	A Sand Siren, which is a very similar being to a Shadow Siren. Ankh is a thief that has spent years looking for the great treasure of Dust Rust Dunes to help her home, Ramu Bazaar, better itself. She joins Mario in the hopes of finding it.
----In the overworld, Ankh can turn Mario invisible, just like with Lady Bow and Vivian. While invisible, Mario can go unnoticed by enemies, and can even touch them without triggering a battle.
Base HP: 10	Sandstorm (ULTIMATE) - Ankh creates a sandstorm that hurts every enemy on screen. The attack inflicts Blinded on every enemy. Deals extra damage to fire enemies and lava enemies. Does not work on rock enemies. (8 dmg)
 	Solemn Lighting Warrior 	A strong and pure Sumo Bro warrior who wanders around the Thunder Plateau. He was once part of a clan of Sumo Bro warriors, before it was destroyed by the Brolder Clan. He first fights Mario to see if he's worthy, then joins him once Mario proves his strength.
----In the overworld, he can generate an electric shock to activate important gizmos.
Base HP: 14	Bolt Strike - Inazu stomps, creating a lightning bolt that strikes an enemy. Has a 50% chance to inflict the Paralyzed debuff. Deals extra damage to flying enemies and water enemies. Deals reduced damage to rock enemies. (3 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Solemn Lighting Warrior 	A strong and pure Sumo Bro warrior who wanders around the Thunder Plateau. He was once part of a clan of Sumo Bro warriors, before it was destroyed by the Brolder Clan. He first fights Mario to see if he's worthy, then joins him once Mario proves his strength.
----In the overworld, he can generate an electric shock to activate important gizmos.
Base HP: 14	Counter - Inazu stands his ground. If the next attack that hits him is a physical attack, he will negate the damage and inflict it back on the enemy. Does not work on bosses or lava enemies. (? dmg, 3 cdn)
 	Solemn Lighting Warrior 	A strong and pure Sumo Bro warrior who wanders around the Thunder Plateau. He was once part of a clan of Sumo Bro warriors, before it was destroyed by the Brolder Clan. He first fights Mario to see if he's worthy, then joins him once Mario proves his strength.
----In the overworld, he can generate an electric shock to activate important gizmos.
Base HP: 14	Thunder Punch - Inazu punches an enemy with a charged fist. Has a 75% chance to inflict the Paralyzed debuff. Deals extra damage to water enemies. Deals reduced damage to rock enemies. Does not work on flying enemies or lava enemies. (5 dmg, 5 cdn)
 	Solemn Lighting Warrior 	A strong and pure Sumo Bro warrior who wanders around the Thunder Plateau. He was once part of a clan of Sumo Bro warriors, before it was destroyed by the Brolder Clan. He first fights Mario to see if he's worthy, then joins him once Mario proves his strength.
----In the overworld, he can generate an electric shock to activate important gizmos.
Base HP: 14	Shock Barrier - Inazu generates a shield of electricity around Mario. Any enemy that tries to attack Mario will be hurt, and has a 50% chance to be inflicted with the Paralyzed debuff. Deals extra damage to water enemies. (1 dmg, 6 cdn)
 	Solemn Lighting Warrior 	A strong and pure Sumo Bro warrior who wanders around the Thunder Plateau. He was once part of a clan of Sumo Bro warriors, before it was destroyed by the Brolder Clan. He first fights Mario to see if he's worthy, then joins him once Mario proves his strength.
----In the overworld, he can generate an electric shock to activate important gizmos.
Base HP: 14	Sumo Quake (ULTIMATE) - Inazu stomps the ground, causing it to shake, hitting every enemy on screen.Any surviving enemy has a 50% chance to be inflicted with the Dizzy debuff. Does not work on flying enemies. (14 dmg)
 	Icy-Hot Vigilante 	A hot-headed Outmaway living in Shiverdale with his girlfriend Misu. He is initially very toxic towards Mario and his party, only joining them because he had no other choice. However, behind his big ego lie some traumatic repressed memories of his past. After remembering these memories, he becomes much nicer towards Mario and co.
----In the overworld, he can kick hard-to-move obstacles out of the path, allowing Mario to move through.
Base HP: 8	Snowball Kick - Slyde kicks a snowball at his target. Has a 15% chance to inflict the Frozen debuff. Deals extra damage to fire enemies and lava enemies. Deals reduced damage to ice enemies. (2 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Icy-Hot Vigilante 	A hot-headed Outmaway living in Shiverdale with his girlfriend Misu. He is initially very toxic towards Mario and his party, only joining them because he had no other choice. However, behind his big ego lie some traumatic repressed memories of his past. After remembering these memories, he becomes much nicer towards Mario and co.
----In the overworld, he can kick hard-to-move obstacles out of the path, allowing Mario to move through.
Base HP: 8	Brace - Slyde stands his ground. If the next attack that hits him is from a shelled enemy (such as a Koopa Troopa or Buzzy Beetle,) Slyde can stop the attack and send the enemy flying out of the battle, essentially defeating it in a process. (∞ dmg, 2 cdn)
 	Icy-Hot Vigilante 	A hot-headed Outmaway living in Shiverdale with his girlfriend Misu. He is initially very toxic towards Mario and his party, only joining them because he had no other choice. However, behind his big ego lie some traumatic repressed memories of his past. After remembering these memories, he becomes much nicer towards Mario and co.
----In the overworld, he can kick hard-to-move obstacles out of the path, allowing Mario to move through.
Base HP: 8	Freeze Kick - Slyde kicks a super-frozen snowball at his target. This attack will always inflict the Frozen debuff on the target. Deals extra damage to fire enemies and lava enemies. Does not work on ice enemies. (1 dmg, 3 cdn)
 	Icy-Hot Vigilante 	A hot-headed Outmaway living in Shiverdale with his girlfriend Misu. He is initially very toxic towards Mario and his party, only joining them because he had no other choice. However, behind his big ego lie some traumatic repressed memories of his past. After remembering these memories, he becomes much nicer towards Mario and co.
----In the overworld, he can kick hard-to-move obstacles out of the path, allowing Mario to move through.
Base HP: 8	Ice Spike - Slyde stomps on the ground, creating icy spikes from the ground that skewer the target. Has a 15% chance to inflict the Frozen debuff. Deals extra damage to fire enemies and lava enemies. Deals reduced damage to ice enemies. Does not work on flying enemies. (5 dmg, 5 cdn)
 	Icy-Hot Vigilante 	A hot-headed Outmaway living in Shiverdale with his girlfriend Misu. He is initially very toxic towards Mario and his party, only joining them because he had no other choice. However, behind his big ego lie some traumatic repressed memories of his past. After remembering these memories, he becomes much nicer towards Mario and co.
----In the overworld, he can kick hard-to-move obstacles out of the path, allowing Mario to move through.
Base HP: 8	Mega Snowball (ULTIMATE) - Slyde summons a giant snowball that hits every enemy on the screen. Any surviving enemy will have a 50% chance to be inflicted with the Frozen debuff. Deals extra damage to fire enemies and lava enemies. Deals reduced damage to ice enemies. (12 dmg)
 	Guide From the Grave 	A Dry Bones who serves as the groundskeeper of Creep-Branch Woods. He's a bit of a lunatic, but he's still a nice guy. At first, he joins Mario's party just to guide them through the dark forest, but decides to stick around because he has nothing better to do.
----In the overworld, Mortimer can illuminate dark places with his lantern just like Watt. He can also use said lantern to light fires to solve puzzles.
Base HP: 6, but a few turns after fainting, he can revive with 4 HP.	Bone Throw - Mortimer throws a bone at an enemy. (2 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Guide From the Grave 	A Dry Bones who serves as the groundskeeper of Creep-Branch Woods. He's a bit of a lunatic, but he's still a nice guy. At first, he joins Mario's party just to guide them through the dark forest, but decides to stick around because he has nothing better to do.
----In the overworld, Mortimer can illuminate dark places with his lantern just like Watt. He can also use said lantern to light fires to solve puzzles.
Base HP: 6, but a few turns after fainting, he can revive with 4 HP.	Banish - Mortimer traps an enemy in magic chains and flings them far away, removing them from battle. Can only be successfully used once per battle, and does not work on bosses or enemies with more than 12 HP. (∞ dmg, 3 cdn)
 	Guide From the Grave 	A Dry Bones who serves as the groundskeeper of Creep-Branch Woods. He's a bit of a lunatic, but he's still a nice guy. At first, he joins Mario's party just to guide them through the dark forest, but decides to stick around because he has nothing better to do.
----In the overworld, Mortimer can illuminate dark places with his lantern just like Watt. He can also use said lantern to light fires to solve puzzles.
Base HP: 6, but a few turns after fainting, he can revive with 4 HP.	Dark Flame - Mortimer flings a fireball from his lantern at an enemy. Has a 50% chance to inflict the Burned debuff. Deals extra damage to plant enemies and ice enemies. Deals reduced damage to fire enemies. Does not work on rock enemies. Heals lava enemies. (5 dmg, 4 cdn)
 	Guide From the Grave 	A Dry Bones who serves as the groundskeeper of Creep-Branch Woods. He's a bit of a lunatic, but he's still a nice guy. At first, he joins Mario's party just to guide them through the dark forest, but decides to stick around because he has nothing better to do.
----In the overworld, Mortimer can illuminate dark places with his lantern just like Watt. He can also use said lantern to light fires to solve puzzles.
Base HP: 6, but a few turns after fainting, he can revive with 4 HP.	Mini-Bones - Mortimer builds three small bone golems that serve as small attacking units. Each bone golem has 1 HP, and they must be taken out before Mortimer can be attacked again. (1 dmg, 6 cdn)
 	Guide From the Grave 	A Dry Bones who serves as the groundskeeper of Creep-Branch Woods. He's a bit of a lunatic, but he's still a nice guy. At first, he joins Mario's party just to guide them through the dark forest, but decides to stick around because he has nothing better to do.
----In the overworld, Mortimer can illuminate dark places with his lantern just like Watt. He can also use said lantern to light fires to solve puzzles.
Base HP: 6, but a few turns after fainting, he can revive with 4 HP.	Cartilage Rain (ULTIMATE) - Mortimer tosses a ball of bones into the air, which splits into many different bones that fall on enemies. Each bone deals 2 damage, and each enemy can be hit with up to five bones. (2-10 dmg)
 	Explosive With a Fizzled Passion	A heartbroken Baboom that lives a lonely life of emotional denial on a hill in Goldflame Valley. He once wished to be a successful manhua artist, until the love of his life, Ai Huo, sacrificed herself to save Jin Huo from the evil Kitsunakuma. Once convinced, he joins Mario to get revenge on the monster that ruined his life.
----In the overworld, Jin Huo can fire a rocket to destroy boulders and cracked walls, in a very similar manner to Bombette and Bobbery.
Base HP: 8	Rocket - Jin Huo fires an explosive rocket at an enemy. Has a 40% chance to inflict the Burned debuff. Deals extra damage to plant enemies and ice enemies. Deals reduced damage to fire enemies. Does not work on rock enemies. Heals lava enemies. (3 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Explosive With a Fizzled Passion	A heartbroken Baboom that lives a lonely life of emotional denial on a hill in Goldflame Valley. He once wished to be a successful manhua artist, until the love of his life, Ai Huo, sacrificed herself to save Jin Huo from the evil Kitsunakuma. Once convinced, he joins Mario to get revenge on the monster that ruined his life.
----In the overworld, Jin Huo can fire a rocket to destroy boulders and cracked walls, in a very similar manner to Bombette and Bobbery.
Base HP: 8	Launch - Jin Huo launches himself at an enemy. The attack deals large damage, but hurts Jin-Huo in the process. Does not work on spiked enemies or lava enemies. (6 dmg, 3 cdn)
 	Explosive With a Fizzled Passion	A heartbroken Baboom that lives a lonely life of emotional denial on a hill in Goldflame Valley. He once wished to be a successful manhua artist, until the love of his life, Ai Huo, sacrificed herself to save Jin Huo from the evil Kitsunakuma. Once convinced, he joins Mario to get revenge on the monster that ruined his life.
----In the overworld, Jin Huo can fire a rocket to destroy boulders and cracked walls, in a very similar manner to Bombette and Bobbery.
Base HP: 8	Triple Rocket - Jin Huo fires three separate rockets at three random enemies. Has a 40% chance to inflict the Burned debuff. Deals extra damage to plant enemies and ice enemies. Deals reduced damage to fire enemies. Does not work on rock enemies. Heals lava enemies. (3 dmg, 4 cdn)
 	Explosive With a Fizzled Passion	A heartbroken Baboom that lives a lonely life of emotional denial on a hill in Goldflame Valley. He once wished to be a successful manhua artist, until the love of his life, Ai Huo, sacrificed herself to save Jin Huo from the evil Kitsunakuma. Once convinced, he joins Mario to get revenge on the monster that ruined his life.
----In the overworld, Jin Huo can fire a rocket to destroy boulders and cracked walls, in a very similar manner to Bombette and Bobbery.
Base HP: 8	Blast Radius - Jin Huo stands his ground. If the next attack that hits him is a physical attack, he will create a large explosion to severely hurt the enemy. In doing so, Jin-Huo's HP will drop to 1. Has a 50% chance to inflict the Burned debuff. Does not work on bosses. (12 dmg, 6 cdn)
 	Explosive With a Fizzled Passion	A heartbroken Baboom that lives a lonely life of emotional denial on a hill in Goldflame Valley. He once wished to be a successful manhua artist, until the love of his life, Ai Huo, sacrificed herself to save Jin Huo from the evil Kitsunakuma. Once convinced, he joins Mario to get revenge on the monster that ruined his life.
----In the overworld, Jin Huo can fire a rocket to destroy boulders and cracked walls, in a very similar manner to Bombette and Bobbery.
Base HP: 8	Fiery Festival (ULTIMATE) - Jin Huo fires multiple rockets into the air, which rain back down on all enemies on screen. Has a 75% chance to inflict the Burned debuff. Deals extra damage to plant enemies and ice enemies. Deals reduced damage to fire enemies. Does not work on rock enemies. Heals lava enemies. (14 dmg)
 	Curious Kawaii Artifact 	A Phanto that resided in the back rooms of Phanto Casino for quite some time. Upon reawakening, she steals a costume to build a makeshift body and takes off. She grows curious and fascinated by the new world around her, and eventually gets persuaded by Mario and the others to help stop Prince Zular.
----In the overworld, she can detach her mask (which is actually her true body) to squeeze past normally impassable walls, such as metal bars, and can use it to hit switches.
Base HP: 10	Darkness Beam - Phantasia fires a shadow laser at an enemy. Deals reduced damage to darkness enemies. (3 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Curious Kawaii Artifact 	A Phanto that resided in the back rooms of Phanto Casino for quite some time. Upon reawakening, she steals a costume to build a makeshift body and takes off. She grows curious and fascinated by the new world around her, and eventually gets persuaded by Mario and the others to help stop Prince Zular.
----In the overworld, she can detach her mask (which is actually her true body) to squeeze past normally impassable walls, such as metal bars, and can use it to hit switches.
Base HP: 10	Curse - Phantasia places a curse on an enemy, causing its HP to drop to 1. Can only be successfully used once per battle, and does not work on bosses. (3 cdn)
 	Curious Kawaii Artifact 	A Phanto that resided in the back rooms of Phanto Casino for quite some time. Upon reawakening, she steals a costume to build a makeshift body and takes off. She grows curious and fascinated by the new world around her, and eventually gets persuaded by Mario and the others to help stop Prince Zular.
----In the overworld, she can detach her mask (which is actually her true body) to squeeze past normally impassable walls, such as metal bars, and can use it to hit switches.
Base HP: 10	Maskerang - Phantasia detaches her mask from her body and strikes an enemy. During this attack, she also hits an enemy adjacent to the target. Does not work on lava enemies. (4 dmg, 3 cdn)
 	Curious Kawaii Artifact 	A Phanto that resided in the back rooms of Phanto Casino for quite some time. Upon reawakening, she steals a costume to build a makeshift body and takes off. She grows curious and fascinated by the new world around her, and eventually gets persuaded by Mario and the others to help stop Prince Zular.
----In the overworld, she can detach her mask (which is actually her true body) to squeeze past normally impassable walls, such as metal bars, and can use it to hit switches.
Base HP: 10	Cuddle - Phantasia hugs and nuzzles an enemy. This attack will always inflict the Infatuated debuff on the target, with a 50% chance to also drop its defense by 2 points. (5 cdn)
 	Curious Kawaii Artifact 	A Phanto that resided in the back rooms of Phanto Casino for quite some time. Upon reawakening, she steals a costume to build a makeshift body and takes off. She grows curious and fascinated by the new world around her, and eventually gets persuaded by Mario and the others to help stop Prince Zular.
----In the overworld, she can detach her mask (which is actually her true body) to squeeze past normally impassable walls, such as metal bars, and can use it to hit switches.
Base HP: 10	Nightmare Bomb (ULTIMATE) - Phantasia summons a ball of darkness that hovers toward the enemy side and explodes, damaging all enemies. Deals reduced damage to darkness enemies. (14 dmg)
 	Prince of the Koopas(SPOILERS!) 	Bowser's clown car-riding son. After his dad gets trapped in the Dark Craft Palace, he vows to help him in any way he can. He eventually catches up to Mario in Scorch-Stone Spire and joins his party.
----Just like in Bowser's Fury, Bowser Jr. can use his paintbrush to paint things labeled with a question mark in the overworld.
Base HP: 12	Fireball - Bowser Jr. spits a fireball at an enemy. Has a 35% chance to inflict the Burned debuff. Deals extra damage to plant enemies and ice enemies. Deals reduced damage to fire enemies. Does not work on rock enemies. Heals lava enemies. (2 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Prince of the Koopas(SPOILERS!) 	Bowser's clown car-riding son. After his dad gets trapped in the Dark Craft Palace, he vows to help him in any way he can. He eventually catches up to Mario in Scorch-Stone Spire and joins his party.
----Just like in Bowser's Fury, Bowser Jr. can use his paintbrush to paint things labeled with a question mark in the overworld.
Base HP: 12	Painbrush - Bowser Jr. smacks an enemy with his paintbrush. Has a 50% chance to inflict the Blinded debuff. (4 dmg, 2 cdn)
 	Prince of the Koopas(SPOILERS!) 	Bowser's clown car-riding son. After his dad gets trapped in the Dark Craft Palace, he vows to help him in any way he can. He eventually catches up to Mario in Scorch-Stone Spire and joins his party.
----Just like in Bowser's Fury, Bowser Jr. can use his paintbrush to paint things labeled with a question mark in the overworld.
Base HP: 12	Mechakoopa Deploy - Bowser Jr. summons a Mechakoopa to fight for him. The Mechakoopa has 5 HP, and it must be taken out before Bowser Jr. can be attacked again. (5 dmg, 4 cdn)
 	Prince of the Koopas(SPOILERS!) 	Bowser's clown car-riding son. After his dad gets trapped in the Dark Craft Palace, he vows to help him in any way he can. He eventually catches up to Mario in Scorch-Stone Spire and joins his party.
----Just like in Bowser's Fury, Bowser Jr. can use his paintbrush to paint things labeled with a question mark in the overworld.
Base HP: 12	Tantrum - Bowser Jr. flies into an enemy with his clown car. The attack deals half the amount of damage as Bowser Jr.'s HP, rounded down. If the target has more HP than Bowser Jr., then Bowser Jr. will be inflicted with the Dizzy debuff after doing the attack. Does not work on lava enemies. (? dmg, 7 cdn)
 	Prince of the Koopas(SPOILERS!) 	Bowser's clown car-riding son. After his dad gets trapped in the Dark Craft Palace, he vows to help him in any way he can. He eventually catches up to Mario in Scorch-Stone Spire and joins his party.
----Just like in Bowser's Fury, Bowser Jr. can use his paintbrush to paint things labeled with a question mark in the overworld.
Base HP: 12	Shadow Mario (ULTIMATE) - Bowser Jr. creates a clone of Mario using his paintbrush. The clone can jump on enemies and use a hammer like the real Mario. It has 20 HP, and it must be taken out before Bowser Jr. can be attacked again. The clone will despawn naturally after three turns. (? dmg)
 	Gold-Hearted Graduate 	An optional partner who becomes unlockable after Chapter 6. Meadow is a kind and quirky elf cleric who recently graduated from a prestigious magic university. Mario and friends find her on Ruined Island. No one knows why exactly she was there to begin with, but she doesn't want to stand around while Zular threatens the world. Ergo, she joins Mario.
----In the overworld, she can heal Mario's partners to full HP, and can help fainted partners recover, but needs coins from Mario to do so.
Base HP: 8	Shining Star - Meadow creates a miniature star that she launches at an enemy. Deals extra damage to darkness enemies. (2 dmg, 0 cdn)
 	Gold-Hearted Graduate 	An optional partner who becomes unlockable after Chapter 6. Meadow is a kind and quirky elf cleric who recently graduated from a prestigious magic university. Mario and friends find her on Ruined Island. No one knows why exactly she was there to begin with, but she doesn't want to stand around while Zular threatens the world. Ergo, she joins Mario.
----In the overworld, she can heal Mario's partners to full HP, and can help fainted partners recover, but needs coins from Mario to do so.
Base HP: 8	Cleric's Touch - Meadow heals one of her teammates by 4 HP. (3 cdn)
 	Gold-Hearted Graduate 	An optional partner who becomes unlockable after Chapter 6. Meadow is a kind and quirky elf cleric who recently graduated from a prestigious magic university. Mario and friends find her on Ruined Island. No one knows why exactly she was there to begin with, but she doesn't want to stand around while Zular threatens the world. Ergo, she joins Mario.
----In the overworld, she can heal Mario's partners to full HP, and can help fainted partners recover, but needs coins from Mario to do so.
Base HP: 8	Emergency Pouch - Meadow reaches into her bag and pulls out an item, which she gives to Mario. (5 cdn)
 	Gold-Hearted Graduate 	An optional partner who becomes unlockable after Chapter 6. Meadow is a kind and quirky elf cleric who recently graduated from a prestigious magic university. Mario and friends find her on Ruined Island. No one knows why exactly she was there to begin with, but she doesn't want to stand around while Zular threatens the world. Ergo, she joins Mario.
----In the overworld, she can heal Mario's partners to full HP, and can help fainted partners recover, but needs coins from Mario to do so.
Base HP: 8	Courtesy Bow - Meadow bows down, giving Mario an extra turn in exchange for her own. (5 cdn)
 	Gold-Hearted Graduate 	An optional partner who becomes unlockable after Chapter 6. Meadow is a kind and quirky elf cleric who recently graduated from a prestigious magic university. Mario and friends find her on Ruined Island. No one knows why exactly she was there to begin with, but she doesn't want to stand around while Zular threatens the world. Ergo, she joins Mario.
----In the overworld, she can heal Mario's partners to full HP, and can help fainted partners recover, but needs coins from Mario to do so.
Base HP: 8	Healing Circle (ULTIMATE) - Meadow creates a neon green circle around her and her allies, healing everyone by 3 HP each turn. The circle disappears after three turns.
=== Supporting Characters ===
(More to be announced.)
Appearance	Name 	Description
 	Toadex 	A brilliant Toad scientist who is also Flynona's adopted father. He enjoys creating gizmos and gadgets to improve everyday life. When Mario first visits him, he gives him the Enemy Encyclopedia, allowing him to document and view the stats of any enemy he defeats. In later chapters, he gives Mario the Warp Cap and the Online Trouble Center.
 	Shopkeepers 	Helpful shop-owning merchants that are located in various locations. They can sell Mario items, weapons, badges, blueprints, and on very rare occurrences, even Things.
 	Smiths 	Experienced weapon forgers that specialize in repairing damaged weapons. If Mario lacks the necessary amount of scraps to repair weapons on his own, he can visit a smith to do the repairs for him. However, it will cost Mario some money.
 	Healers 	Kind-hearted mages that can magically heal Mario's partners should they be injured or knocked out. They work in a very similar vein to the smiths, as they require money in order to do their jobs.
 	Covi N. Tymen 	A smart and athletic Koopa Troopa girl. She sometimes appears during certain chapters to provide helpful information on the area they're in, whether Mario and friends want it or not.
 	Old Toad 	An unnamed Toad who owns the lighthouse in Crystal-Tide Shore. He's actually a retired sailor who spent his life looking for a mysterious island with great treasure. For whatever reason, he also has the Fan Thing in his basement, and by talking to him later in the game, he will give you the Fishing Rod.
 	Clawford 	A money-hungry Crabber who owns the Crabcake Sweepstakes. Starting in Chapter 3, he can be encountered in Crystal-Tide Shore. If Mario pays him some coins, he will get a chance to spin a wheel for prizes.
 	Patt and Pete 	A pair of traveling Pianta brothers that sell their wares to anyone who's interested. Patt sells a plethora of Things at reasonable prices, as he always enjoys seeing a happy customer. Pete, on the other hand, sells every weapon in the game that Mario has not collected yet, but places absurd prices on them to make a quick coin. Patt and Pete will randomly alternate from different towns and cities, and will never appear in the same location together.
 	Master Bumu (SPOILERS!)	The wise leader of the Sumo Bro Clan. Inazu believed that the Brolder Clan eliminated him, but he actually survived the ambush. He wanted to end the pointless feuding between the two clans. Talking to him after Chapter 4 will prompt him to give Mario the Battery Thing.
 	Misu 	Slyde's chill and level-headed Outmaway girlfriend. During the events of Chapter 5, she is captured and dragged underground by the Ice Burrower and has to be saved by Mario, party, and the newly-recruited Slyde. Once the chapter is complete, Mario can visit her anytime back in Shiverdale. If he does, he can pay her a small amount of coins for her to give Mario a random item.
 	Chef Flantonio 	A renowned Volbonian chef residing in Shiverdale. If there's one thing he loves more than cooking, it's teaching others to cook. He is patient and gentle with his kitchen apprentices. He can give Mario cooking lessons, each being harder than the last. If Mario passes one, his "Kitchen Rank" will improve by one star. Once Mario reaches a five-star Kitchen Rank, Chef Flantonio will give him the Frying Pan Thing as a reward.
=== Antagonists ===
(WARNING: Contains in-game spoilers. Any entry that presents a huge spoiler is marked.)
Appearance	Name 	Description 	Fought In
 	Prince Zular 	The primary antagonist of the game. Princess Pandora's old fiance who decided to crash the Craft Moon Festival. He was granted magic powers by Craftia, but after being defeated by Mario once, he decides to get more power from the Craft Moon itself. His effort in doing so, however, ends up shattering the Craft Moon. During most of the game, he resides in the Dark Craft Palace, keeping Peach, Bowser, and Pandora captive.	Prologue, Chapter 10
 	Visrica 	A shady sorceress who teams up with Zular to unleash an ultimate power on the world. Out of the two, she tends to be the more devoted one, and often scolds Zular for not taking the situation more seriously. However, it does seem like she also has her own agenda... 	Chapter 10
 	Notorious B.A.D. 	A group of recurring villains who serve Bowser. Throughout the game, they continuously keep trying to rescue Bowser in overly convoluted ways, which usually inconveniences Mario and others in some way. They consist of:
-----Shyhard, the leader and "brains" of the team. He is an incredibly arrogant and overconfident Shy Guy who typically has trouble holding his own in battle. Despite his rude attitude, his teammates are like family to him.
-----Malice, a stylish Boo rebel who is pretty much never seen without a can of spray paint. She is the team's unit of stealth, though she doesn't really take the role seriously. Whenever Shyhard makes a fool of himself, she'll typically laugh at him. 
-----Buggs, a large and muscly Buster Beetle with a cracked shell who has a strange obsession with brick blocks, even for his kind. He is the strong one of Notorious B.A.D., and can pack quite a punch. While he's not particularly unintelligent, he can be a bit slow to catch up on things.	Chapter 1, Chapter 5, Chapter 8
 	Supergiant Piranha Plant 	A Piranha Plant that ate one of the pieces of the Craft Moon, growing to gigantic size as a result. Mario and his friends have to defeat it by having Flynona use Blade Whirl on it. 	Chapter 1
 	Captain Ringfin 	The Lochlady captain of the Blimey Bloops pirate crew. She first battles Mario over the second Craft Moon piece, and fights him again during the Ashpit Tournament. Once Mario defeats her for the first time, she starts to respect him. 	Chapter 2, Chapter 9
 	Klepto 	An all too familiar vulture that snatches up the disk Mario and his friends need to get into Rust-Sand Tomb. They need to defeat him in order to reclaim what's theirs. 	Chapter 3
 	Shadow Pharaoh 	The remnants of King Umbros, now wrapped in bandages and oozing black liquid. While it's lost to time if King Umbros was actually a tyrant or not, the liquefied remains of his body sure act like one, as they've lost all thought and reason. 	Chapter 3
 	Boss Brolder 	The leader of the Brolder Clan, long-time enemies of the Sumo Bro Clan. He's not actually that bad of a guy; he just believes that the artifact the two clans are fighting for belongs to them. After Chapter 4, he and Master Bumu decide to end the feuding between the clans, and he becomes an ally to Mario. Despite this, you do have to fight him again in the Ashpit Tournament. 	Chapter 4, Chapter 9
 	Craftail/Dark Craftail (SPOILERS!)	TBA 	Chapter 4/Chapter 10
 	Ice Burrower 	TBA 	Chapter 5
 	The Entity (SPOILERS!) 	TBA 	Chapter 6
 	Kitsunakuma 	TBA 	Chapter 7
 	Dr. Trapinsky 	TBA 	Chapter 7, Chapter 8
 	President Flyman (SPOILERS!) 	TBA 	Chapter 9
 	Craftuga (MASSIVE SPOILERS!) 	TBA 	Chapter 10
== Soundtrack ==
Go here.
== Credits ==
Nintendo for Mario, and by extension Paper Mario.
PaintedRealms9374 for creating the concept of this game.
Salutationary for some fine-tuning to the page.
Surzhik for the logo.
HumbleJoyeux-PrinceCast for partner designs.
Any credits that the creator may missed.
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