Paper Mario: The Mechanism Mirror/Plot

==Story Intro==
The scene starts with a group of 3 archaeologists incepting some drawings on the walls of what appears to be a ruin of sorts. One of them begins to tell a story using the pictures:
“Ahem, today I shall tell you the story of the Mechanism Mirror... Long, long ago, before life as we know it existed, the world was reined by mechanical beings known as the Mandites... Nobody knows how they came into existence... but these living robots believed that the mechanical demon known as Melaravox was their creator as well as their leader... However soon, new life forms began to emerge like the ones we know today... and the Mandites were not willing to settle their differences with these people... and so a terrifying war broke out between the two sides... The Mandites clearly had the upper hand, and it seemed like there was nothing that could save the people from extinction... But in the hour of their most need, a great hero known as Martienus appeared and helped fight off the Mandite army. He used seven seals, made from the world’s rarest materials to trap Melaravox inside a sacred mirror known as the Mechanism Mirror. With their leader defeated, the Mandites fled back to their homeland and so the war was over. However, shortly after the battle Martienus strangle vanished, but the people were still eternally grateful. The same can be said about the Mechanism Mirror... to this day, no one body has managed to find it... that is... until now...”
One of the archaeologists then uncovers a metallic, black disc with strange patterns on it. “Could this be... the mirror?” He then stares into the mirror when strangely, his face in the reflection turns a dark black and his eyes go red. Before he can react though, the mirror suddenly unleashes a burst of darkness and two hands reach out the mirror to grab the archaeologist. After a few seconds the archaeologist transforms into a menacing robot-like creature, with the mirror attached to his body.
“At last... I am free” the robot figure says. He then tries to attack the other two archaeologists. He manages to possess one of them, turning him into a mechanical being as well. But before the attack can reach, the other archaeologist manages to avoid the attack and then runs away, escaping the ruins. The demonic machine then proclaims “This time, I will rein victorious.”
==Prologue: An Unnatural Disaster==
Our story begins at the scene of a late night in what seems to be nothing but a deserted wasteland. However a loud noise then echoes through the black skies and from distance emerges an long and ordinary train, traversing on its tracks. However, inside the train, sitting down are none other than Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth and Princess Peach. Peach gets up and says that shes going to get a quick snack.
However, meanwhile, outside of the train is an usually black figure floating in air above the incoming train. It’s hard to make out what it is but most notable is its glowing red eyes. The figure then creates two dark orbs from its pincer-like hands and in one huge display creates a blast which sends the innocent train hurling strait off its tracks.
Mario wakes up shortly after the crash and wonders what it is that just happened although he currently feels rather woozy. While passing through the fallen train, Mario notices many of the other passengers who are either unconscious or are stuck underneath the debris.
Mario then spots Luigi who is panting but seems to be okay. Luigi tells Mario to look for the others while he helps the passengers out. Mario agrees and then continues through the wrecked train carriages. After exiting one of the carriages, Mario comes out in an outside are where various bits of debris are lying about and the other train carriages appear to also be surrounding this small area.
“Master Mario! What a relief!” A familiar voice calls out. It’s Toadsworth who appears to be torn slightly (because it’s paper) but seems to be alright. “Please! The princess! She’s through this carriage here” he then points towards a carriage to the right which has one of those wooden blocks with eyes obstructing the entrance”. “Unfortunately, it seems there’s a block that is well, blocking the path... Who on earth brings one of these onto a train anyway? Never mind... anyway, we... I mean you need to find a way to get rid of these blocks... Hmm... say? Didn’t you bring your hammer with you just in case... well, now would be a good time to use it! ...what’s that... it was in your suitcase? Well there’s an obvious solution here then... Go and check your suitcase!!!” With that, Mario makes his way towards the wrecked carriage to the north side of the area. Once inside Mario spots a red suitcase with his trademark M on it. Mario quickly opens it and strait away reaches for his hammer.
YOU GOT A HAMMER!
With that, Mario makes his way back to the outside area where Toadsworth was and with a swing of his hammer, breaks away the block which was obstructing the carriage’s entrance, thus allowing him to pass on. Once inside the carriage he sees peach trying to help out the train conductor. Peach then spots Mario: “Mario! The conductor... he’s injured” The conductor coughs “Eh em... please... I’m fine... you should go with Mario, so you’ll be safe, and besides... I’m a toad, you’re a princess, and you need to get to safety” Peach stays quiet for a moment and then responds “okay then...” Mario and Peach then head out of the wrecked carriage where they meet up with Toadsworth again who is worried sick.“OH! Thank goodness! You’re okay!” Toadsworth reliefs. “I’m fine” Peach says looking around herself at the train “Hmm... how did such an event occur?” “I know right! They told us that these were the most study trains you could get! How the heck did it derail?! I’m gonna want a refund for this when all this is over!” Toadsworth shares with the group. Suddenly an evil sounding voice echoes from somewhere: “At long last, I have found you!”. “Who was that?” Peach wonders. Then a menacing and mechanical looking figure wearing a cape floats down from above and continues talking.
The figure also appears to have a strange circular plate in the middle of it’s mechanical body. “It’s been awhile since we last met!”.“Huh? Do any of you know this guy?” Toadsworth questions Mario shakes his head to say no. “I have no idea who you are” Peach states. The mechanical creature responds “Oh, you will soon enough, as soon as I awaken what will be your END! And I think that derailing this train was an excellent start in my book!”. “Wait, you were the one that caused all this? How could you do such a thing? Who do you think you are” Peach disgusts. The demonic robot introduces himself: “I am Melaravox, creator and overlord of the Mandites and soon the whole world shall know it! All I need is you Peach, so that I may break the seal that you once set upon me!”. Toadsworth panics “Oh, come on! There’s other princesses in the world you know, why is it always Peach?!” Peach becomes confused “Seal? I don’t even know you?”. Melaravox then hover forward ready to grab Peach but then, Mario jumps in front to stop him. Melaravox pauses “Huh? You! Mario is it? Or should I say... Martienus!”. Mario then gets confused as well. “Tell me, where are all your friends? You know the pink spotted toad and the skater kid? No? Whatever, no one shall stand in my way!”
With that a battle infuses between Mario and Melaravox. As the first battle in the game, Toadsworth will explain the basics of battle for you. After the battle Melaravox grunts as he is damaged slightly “Ergh! You are strong but definitely not as strong as I remembered you to be!”. Suddenly, Melaravox strikes Mario with a swift projectile attack which is so powerful that it ends up sending Mario packing over the land and into a distant wheat field. “Mario!” Peach screams. “Now I have you!” Melaravox chuckles as he draws towards Peach ready to take her, however before you can see what happens next... the screen fades to black...
The scene then goes over to Mario who is lying unconscious in a dry wheat field. At this point it is dawn as the sun is just rising. A young Toad with pink spots on her hat then approaches the unconscious plumber and looks around to in hope of finding some hint as to why he is there. Nonetheless, she begins dragging him and takes him into her house.
Later on Mario wakes up and finds himself lying on a bed in what appears to be a small wooden house. He speculates his surrounding which include various photographs of a toad family in picture frames that are hung on the walls as well ordinary house items on the shelves and cupboards. Suddenly a voice of southern drawl shocks Mario “Ah, I see you are finally awake” Mario looks towards a young female toad with pink spots on her hat Mario then asks where he is. The Toad explains “Well, I randomly found you lying outside in ma’ wheat field unconscious and well, it would be wrong to just leave you there. Anyway, I’m just wonder why the heck you were there in the first place!” Mario then jumps and remembers the train crash incident and Princess Peach and explains what happened to the young toad. The Toad then begins to ramble on “Wha? You say the Talon Express crashed last night and then you were attacked by a robotic creature of sorts? Okay, I think you need to rest a little longer, you’ve clearly been hallucinating and I know mushrooms are a common choice around these parts but SERIOUSLY?! A train crash?!” Mario then explains that he has to find Princess Peach. “Oh, were your friends involved with this as well? Well my bet is that they’d probably be in Cactown since that’s the closest town from here, it’s just north from this ol’ farm of mine”Mario then jumps, slips his shoes on and gets ready to leave when the young toad stops him abruptly “Hang on! You’re not exactly in the best position here! Tell you what! I’ll come with to Cactown, that way I’ll know you’re safe, sound like a deal?”Mario agrees and so the young toad introduces herself:
“The names Guss T.!” And with that: GUSS T. JOINED YOUR PARTY!
With that, the duo set out to Cactown! However as they are passing through the wheat field, a small pile of leaves is blocking their way. Guss T. Then explains her ability. “See this hat of mine? Turns out even simple hats like these can help us out in situations like this! Go wind power!” She then uses her mushroom hat as a sort of fan to blow the leaves away. “There we go! Good job I came with you ey?”
They then press onward. However, while passing through the wheat field, they come across a group of 3 suspicious looking Goombas wearing bandannas who are stealing a bunch of wheat and throwing it in a sac. Guss T. Then gets angry that they're stealing her crops and so a battle infuses (this would be a tutorial battle for Guss T. The Goombandits then drop the wheat sac and scurry off Guss T. Sighs “I’m getting tired of bandits sneaking onto this property, if only my dad still worked here... unfortunately he left the farm in search of a better job and became an explorer or something... anyway let’s press on, we’re near Cactown now!” Eventually, Mario and Guss T. Reach Cactown where the train station is at the entrance. Of course, there is no train since it derailed however, across from where Mario and Guss T. Are standing, is a small crowd of people on the other platform (the train track is in between them) From out the crowd, Mario spots Toadsworth who is getting annoyed from all the pushing and shoving “Hey, I wonder what’s going on” Guss T. Wonders. They then jump over to the platform where Toadsworth is to see what’s going on. Toadsworth notices Mario “Ah, Mario I see you are all fine and dandy, well, I SURE AM NOT!”. “What’s going on here? What’s with the crowd?” Guss T. Asks Toadsworth explains: “Well, after the train incident, I suppose these people are all pretty worried about their friends and family that may be hurt, either that or they just want a refund which... I ALREADY HAVE MINE! Haha!”.
Guss T. Scratches her head “Eh, you sure are happy for someone who was just involved with a train crash!”. “Yes, well I try not to let it drag me down” Toadsworth chuckles “Oh, that’s right Mario, you’re probably wondering about Princess Peach” Mario nods his head. “Alright, well it’s a little hard to describe but here I go” The game then goes to a flashback scene taking place at the train crash strait after Mario was flung away by Melaravox. Just as Melaravox is drawing towards Peach, a sudden projectile hits him knocking him back. “Huh?! What the mech!” Melaravox curses. Suddenly a character wearing colourful cloths and a scarf around their mouth shows up. She also appears to be holding some sort of blade as her weapon
“What? You! Senieka is it!? Looks like someone for saw my plans”. The woman’s face isn’t visible but she still speaks. “I don’t know how you know my name but either way, I won’t let you take Peach!”. “Wait now what’s going on?” Toadsworth panics. Senieka and Melaravox begin battling using their powers. "You can’t stop me! For this has been faited to happen for millenniums!” Melaravox states. Senieka refuses to belief his statement “You’re wrong! I can change your doings!” She then strikes Melaravox with a powerful attack, disabling him for a moment. “Peach, we need to get out of here! Quick, take my hand” Senieka orders
Though Peach is confused she takes her hand. Senieka then throws a smoke bomb of sorts and in flash, Senieka and Peach vanish. “WHA-? SHE SAVED THE PRINCESS JUST TO KIDNAP HER AS WELL!?” Toadsworth screams. Melaravox then gets mad: “ERG! That woman! ...The same one that was with Mario... it seems that it may be a while before my plans are fulfilled...”With that, Melaravox teleports away, leaving just Toadsworth who is completely speechless at what just happened With that, the game goes back to the present since Toadsworth is finished telling Mario what happened. “What? So some random ninja women just showed up?” Guss T. Seems puzzled. “Indeed, however I think that the woman was actually trying to help Peach by protecting her from that demonic robot and that’s why I am just a little calmer than usual... Although I am still very worried...” Toadsworth sighs.
“Hmmm...” Guss T. Thinks for a second “So what are you going to do now Mario? I mean presumably you’re going to try to save that princess but I dread to think where you can even start...” Toadsworth then suggests “Well, the only thing I can think of comes from a rumour I heard spreading around this town about paranoid archaeologist who thinks that a “mechanical demon” is after him, and to my mind, I think it may be related to that robot that we encountered at the train crash in some way. I heard that he lives in a house to the west side of town so you might want to check it out” “Archaeologist?” Guss T. Mumbles “Oh, erh, so how about we check about Mario?” Mario agrees and so the duo head to the west side of Cactown to investigate the house of the paranoid man...
Once they enter the house, it seems empty at first. Scattered around seems to be various high-tech gadgets and such along with many notes and books to do with technology and history. “Man, this guy sure knows his stuff, whoever he is” says Guss T. After checking around a bit, Mario randomly opens the closet and suddenly out if falls a man with green skin and a beige shirt.
“WHA!? NO! QUICK, SHUT THE DOOR! OTHERWISE HE’LL FIND ME!” the man cowers in the corner of the dark room. “What are you talking about?” Guss T. Curiously asks. “MELARAVOX!” The man screams “HE’S AFTER ME BECAUSE I KNOW TO MUCH ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED!”. “Calm down” Guss T. Replies “Argh, It’s no use, Mario! Give im’ a nice whck on the head won’t you!”. With that Mario pulls out his hammer and gets ready to swing, all while the man is screaming “OH, NO! YOU’RE HIS HENCHMEN ARN’T YOU! NOOOOO!!!!” Mario takes the blow and knocks the man out cold
“Hehe, well maybe you overdid it a bit but he looks fine” Guss T. Giggles “So, should we look around for clues?”. Mario then thinks about what he said about Melaravox when suddenly the man wakes up only this time he’s not paranoid. “Hey, what the? Why are you in my house? Oh, here to steal my great inventions I assume? Haha, IT WON’T WORK!”
Guss T. Gives a confused look and explains “Steal? No, we’re just here to see if you know anything about eh ...What was it again Mario?”. Mario explains the whole incident with Melaravox and asks what he knows about it. “Oh, I see” the man realises “Hmm... In that case, take a seat and I’ll explain everything! Thanks for that whack the head by the way! It sure snapped me out it... even though it did hurt quite a bit...”
Mario and Guss T. Sit down and the man begins to explain: “Firstly, allow me to introduce myself! My name is Bob! ...Nah, just joking, the names Edolan; the LEGENDARY INVENTOR! ...except without the legendary part...”
Mario scratches his head. “Anyway, I am also a skilled archaeologist! So, the other day, me and my fellow archaeologist colleagues were exploring some ruins in the stridal plains when my dearest friend Tedward uncovered a strange mirror... however, within second the mirror possessed him, transforming him into a Mandite!”. “Mandite?” Guss T. Wonders
“That’s right!” Edolan continues “Mandites! The mechanical creatures which once reigned this world! However, this was no ordinary Mandite, for the mirror had something far greater sealed within it... the creator of the Mandites himself... Melaravox... It seemed as though our presence had awoken the mirror and now I fear that something terrible is about to happen... and that would be me starving if I don’t have my lunch soon! ...Oh right, back to the story! Anyway, with Tedward now transformed into Melaravox, it used it’s dark powers to possess my other Archaeologist friend and so I ran for my life... erh, not because I was scared but... eh, because I just felt like it!
Guss T.: “...”
“...Okay fine!” Edolan admits “So I ran away, you would probably do the same thing if you were there!”. “Okay, but may I ask? Who was the other archaeologist?” Guss T. Asks. “Oh, that would be my dear friend, Invest T. Gate!”. “That! That’s my dad!” Guss T. Gasps . “Oh, I remember him telling me that he had a daughter, yes, I remember him saying about how he misses you... unfortunately now... he’s a Mandite...” Edolan sighs
“Mario!” Guss T. Begs “Please, I need to help my father, it’s been years since I last saw him, and I don’t want to live knowing that he’ll be a robot for the rest of his life, Please will you help?!”. Before Mario can reply, Edolan interjects: “May I ask? Are you by any chance on a mission to stop Melaravox?”
“Eh, well if it means saving my dad....”Mario then briefly explains that he has to save Princess Peach
“I see!” Eldon then explains “Well in that case, I may just be able to help you out! You see, the legend is that 7 seals shards were created during a great war between life forms and the Mandites to lock Melaravox inside what is known as the Mechanism Mirror, however, now that seal has been broken and it seems that all it needs now to fully break that seal and let out it’s true form is a strong mystical force... which is probably why it took Princess Peach. So, I suggest that you meet me at the Mechanism Temple: an ancient ruins to the north of Stridal Plains, there we should be able to find some clues as to where them seals might be”
With that, Edolan leaves the house and Mario and Guss T. Follow on. So, Mario and Guss T. Then head to the north side of Cactown to enter the Stridal Plains. After travelling through to the north side of Stridal Plains (enemies: Goombandits, Spiked Goombandits, Winged Goombandits), Mario and Guss T. Eventually reach a stone doorway/cave entrance leading down to an underground area. However, waiting at the entrance is Edolan who greets them
“Ah, I see you made it in one piece! Here, follow me into the ruins and I will show you the many secrets it may be hiding!”. Edolan, Mario and Guss T. Then head down into the ruins the investigate. Once in the ruins they see that it is full of murals that seem to display a battle between robots and life forms. The walls also seem to have a metallic texture to them as if they were mechanical
Edolan then gives the facts: “These ruins were created millenniums ago by the Mandites although I am unsure of it’s purpose. However after the battle of Talon took place (the war between Mandites and Life forms), the people of Talon, sunk the temple into the ground, possibly to hide the mirror in hope of preventing it from being discovered as they must have known that the seal would wear off eventually”
Edolan then walks up to a pedestal which looks like it should have something on it “This is where the Mechanism Mirror once sat” he says staring at the fine architecture “Hmmm... the seal shards... they were scattered by the people of Talon so that no one could use their great powers for evil... but it seems that the only way to stop Melaravox would be to collect the seal shards and use them to seal Melaravox inside the mirror for good...”
“Do we know where the seals are?” Guss T. Asks. “Well, why do you think they scattered them in the first place? So that no one could find them! DUH! Doesn’t take archaeology to figure that one out!” Edolan jokes “Although, I did hear about there being a “triangle shaped plate” of sorts located in Dutti Park, but I thought it was absurd... but thinking about it now... that triangle did remind me of how one of the seals looks on this mural” he inspects a mural displaying the 7 seals “So, I guess that Dutti Park could be a place for you to start! It’s just on the north west side of Stridal Plains!”
“Alright then, Mario how about it!?” Guss T. Joyfully asks. Mario agrees and with that Edolan wishes them look before they set of on their adventure. However, also before Mario and Guss T. Can leave, Edolan asks them a favour: “Eh, Mario, if it’s an adventure you’re going on then I’d like you to take this” He then hands Mario a grey DS-like device:
“It’s an invention I made called... THE V.3 DYNAMIC SCANNER!!!! ...or you can call it the V.3DS for short... Anyway, this device can do various things such as displaying a map and also being able to contact me at any time in case you are in need of my impeccable Archaeological skills!!! ...however, the thing that I want to be able to do is for it to scan any enemy that you come across so that people will always have an instant encyclopaedia! If I could do that, I WOULD BE RICH, I MEAN HAPPY... AND GREATFUL... Thing is, I just don’t have the time to go around recording every creature I come across, so I please ask that you record every enemy you come across, that way I can say something about that enemy which will then permanently be recorded as data for anyone to look up!”
Mario agrees and with that: YOU GOT THE V.3DS!!!
Edolan then wishes you luck and so Mario and Guss T. Set off at last to Dutti Park in search of the first Seal Shard in Dutti Park...
==Chapter 1: The Nerd-Jock Conflict==
Mario and Guss T. Set out with the task of retrieving the seven seal shards in hope of stopping Melaravox. There first destination is Dutti Park on the west side of Stridal Plains as Edolan suggested they go there. Once they get there, they come across a bridge overlooking a vast, narrow canyon (If you came here earlier, the bridge would be out). Mario and Guss T. Go across the bridge and onto a more grassy area where a metal gate stands as the entrance to Dutti Park. Mario and Guss T. Enter the park which at first sight, seems quite nice until they notice various bits of litter scattered about as well as the park being full of “hard” kids (bullies) which are constantly trying to act cool by either showing their skills or challenging people to fights. I should also state that this is a skate park
Most of them won’t take notice of Mario unless you go up to them but for the most part, the park isn’t too threatening... that is until they are stopped by gang of kids, all of which seem to own skateboards. A Koopa wearing a cap steps forward and starts dising Mario . “Yo, look what we have here, an old fat man hanging out with one fit Toad!”. Guss T. Is insulted “Excuse me? How dare you?”. A bully with a stupid hair cut in the shape of 2 horns then joins in: “Yeah, why not hang out with us instead of this old, fat man?”. “Shut up!” Guss T. Commands “Mario, show these idiots whose boss!” Mario steps forward and gets ready to fight but the bullies just continue taunting him. “Haha, seriously? You’re gonna try and fight us? Ha! You’re about to get battered, Yo! Nevertheless, Mario fights them
After the battle: “Ergh, looks like this guy could bang us out after all...”. “Sure showed you!” Guss T. Taunts. Suddenly another voice comes from behind the two bullies: “I’ll be the judge of that”. A large Beanish kid with a quiff, then steps in and takes a short look at Mario. “Hmmm... so this guy’s causing trouble huh?” he says “So, you think you’re bad huh?”. Mario jumps and points to himself, unsure of what the kid meant
“Tell ya what, show us your skateboarding skills and if they’re satisfying enough then I’ll let you past” says the Beanish kid “What? That’s ridiculous?” Guss T. Interjects. The Beanish kid then calls forward someone “Robby, let im’ borrow your skateboard so we can test this guys skills”. A bandit with a nervous expression who was standing behind the other kids the whole time then steps forward, gulps and lend Mario his skateboard. “Well go on then” the Beanish kid tells Mario “Show us yo’ skills” Mario and Guss T. wonder what to do as they are in an awkward situation. Abruptly, Robby interjects “Erh, hang on, Beatbean, I eh, just need to see these guys privately just to eh... show them what will happen if they break my skateboard”
“Haha, good thinking Robby” The Beanish kid (who we now know is called “Beatbean”) compliments as he pats Robby on the back. Robby then take Mario and Guss T. into a secret area within the tress behind them in which he quietly explains:
“Listen, just ignore those guys! They’re just idiots and I’m only hanging out with them so I can have more friends!”. “You call them friends?” Guss T. wonders. “Anyway,” Robby continues “If you want I can quickly explain how to skate? Don’t worry, I know you won’t break my skateboard!”. Mario agrees (or doesn’t if you already know) and so Robby gives a brief tutorial on how to play the upcoming skateboard minigame. After the tutorial, Mario, Robby and Guss T. Come back out and get ready to prove themselves in the skating minigame:
[Minigame: Skate and Rate]
This minigame consists of Mario on a skateboard, riding between 2 ramps and the goal is to perform at least 15 back flips before the 1:00m timer runs out. To perform a back flip, you just have to be tilting the control stick in the right direction depending on where Mario is on the ramp at that moment
After the minigame is complete, the jocks accept you “Not too shabby” Beatbean admits “Though I’m surprised that you didn’t break the skateboard when you stood on it!” (All the jocks start laughing except for Robby who does a pretend laugh). “This is ridiculous!” Guss T. complains “I thought we came here for some Seal Shard! Not to be disrespected!”
Robby overhears Guss T.’s words “Huh? Seal Shard? Isn’t that the thing the nerds are giving away as the prize of their competition?” Beatbean then gives a suspicious look to him“Why do you seem to know so much about this?”
Robby stutters “Eh... well, you see eh... I know this stuff because, erm... I’m planning to... break into that stupid Gaming Tent and steel that weird shard thing!”. “Ah! Nice thinking!” Beat Bean replies “that’ll put them downers in their place!”. Mario and Guss T. Also give a suspicious look “...Eh, come on Mario, let’s go and break into that geeky tent!”. Mario agrees though unsure of what he’s up to. After Robby takes them to a different part of the park, he explains:
“Listen, I’m not actually suggesting that we break into the Gaming Tent! After all... I am a bit of a nerd myself... BUT DON’T TELL ANYONE! KAY’? Anyway, I’ll take you to my house on the south-east side of the park since a have a pass there that’ll let us in to the Gaming Tent”
And with that: ROBBY JOINED YOUR PARTY!!!
After travelling through the park, while putting Robby’s skate boarding ability to use (enemies: Bullies, Goombullies and Kapas) the group reach a small districted area on the south east side of the park which has various houses and local shops. Robby takes you into a small avenue where his house supposedly is. However as he’s walking through the avenue, he hears a soft, familiar voice
“Hey Robby! What ya doing?” Robby then turns around to see a young, innocent-looking bandit girl. Robby’s checks then go bright red “Oh hey, Scarlett! Eh...em... how’s it going?”, “Fine!” Scarlett replies “And what are you up to?”
Robby begins to stutter “Eh, well... you see, I was going to erm... go and... ah, break into that geeky gaming tent and steal the grand prize! How cool is that?!”, Scarlett is discussed by this “What? That’s horrible? NOT COOL! You know, you don’t have to be bad to cool! And you don’t have to be cool to impress people”
Sharlette then walks off, out of the avenue. “DARNIT!” Robby curses “Man, why can’t I just get it right?!”. “Eh, maybe because your being a bit of a jerk? You could’ve just told the truth” Guss T. Answers. Robby sighs “Argh, but... she can’t find out that I’m secretly a nerd! Then I’ll never have a shot!”. “Well, what can I say?” Guss T. Rolls her eyes. “Whatever” Robby digresses “Let’s just get that pass so that we can head to the gaming tent, and we’re not really going to break into it!”
Mario, Guss T. And Robby then head into the house in which Robby quickly searches his bedroom for the pass. Once he’s found it, the group get ready and set off to the far west side of the park where the large Gaming Tent is located. Upon reaching the tent, Robby shows his pass to the security guard in which he grants Mario, Robby and Guss T. Access into the place. Once inside the tent, they see that there are lights everywhere as well as many arcade games set up throughout the tent. Also, the place is filled with nerds at every turn in which one of them notices Robby
“Hey Robby *snort* here to sign up for the competition?”. Robby notices him “Oh hey, Frank, yep that’s right!” Frank then takes a short look at Robby’s clothes and asks “What the heck are you wearing? OMG you look like a jock, man! *snort*”,“Oh, this eh...” Robby stutters again “Eh, this is just something I was wearing as a... disguise of sorts! Yeah that’s it!”,"Alright *snort* well then I suggest you go and sign up for the totally Hi-technicaaaaal competition quickly because they’re nearly out of places y’know *snort*”
Robby then thanks him for telling them and quickly rushes to a desk to sign up in which Mario and Guss T. Follow. “Ah! We were just in time” Robby is relieved. Just then, an announcer’s voice echoes from a large stage
“ALRIGHT NERDS OF ALL KINDS! GET READY TO GET GAMING FOR THE 30TH GAMING COMPETETION HOSTED BY YOURS TRUELY! CHUCK QUIZMO!” *All the nerds begin to cheer*Chuck Quizmo then comes up on the stage and gives the rest of his speech: “WHOEVER WINS THIS COMPETETION WILL BE AWARDED THE NERAINIUM SEAL SHARD! A GREAT MERCHANDICE! ...If I do say so myself! *More cheering*
Guss T. Then gets confused: “Wait, merchandise? What’s he on about?”. Robby explains “Well, its merchandise from a popular game called “The Rise of the Mandites” And it’s based on a legend from long ago about a war between robots and people! That’s right, I know my stuff! ...even though it was partly to do with my history homework...”. Chuck Quizmo then counts down “AND WE SHALL BEGIN IN: 3, 2, 1, BEGIN!”
All the nerds then run off to various different arcade games and Robby suggests that they start playing some of the arcade games as well since that’ll get them into the next round if they win
So, the way this next part would work is that Mario and Co. Go around to 5 different available arcade games in which they must complete a short minigame for each one. There is a certain high score for each minigame in which they must beat it in order to progress to the next round and if they lose a minigame 3 times then it’s a Game Over.
Here's abrief summary of the 5 different minigames: 
◾There’s a 1st person shooter-like minigame
◾There’s a puzzle minigame similar of sorts
◾There’s a remake of the original Super Mario Bros arcade game
◾There’s a Mario kart style racing minigame (You face Frank in this round
◾And finally, in the last round, you’re up against a familiar face in a typical RPG battle-like minigame
Who is this minigame up against? None other than... FRANCIS! “OMG! It’s you again!? How did you make it this far? You’re not High-technicaaaaaaal enough!” he taunts Mario and Co.
After the battle, Francis blasts “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! How could I lose to someone who was only a Level 10? I was a level 30? I SPENT HOURS OF MY LIFE RAISING THEM STATS! ARRRGHHHH! THIS IS SI UN-HIGH-TECHNICAAAAL!” He then storms off out of the tent. th that, Chuck Quizmo congratulates Mario and Robby “CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve just completed all the rounds of this year’s gaming competition! How do you feel?”
Mario opens his mouth as if he’s about to speak but before he can say anything, Chuck Quizmo buts in “HAHA! But it’s not over yet! To earn the prize, you must first complete one last test of your gaming skills! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE ULTRA DUNGEON SIMULATOR BETA 2.0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
*Geeks cheering*
The curtains at the back of the stage then unfold revealing a doorway leading into a room. Chuck Quizmo takes them into the room which is filled with computer screens and at the back of it, there are 3 high-tech chairs set up with a head gear thingy attached to it.
“What? They never said anything about a dungeon?” Guss T. Complains. The trio go with the flow and each sit down on the chairs in which the head hear thing comes down onto their heads and with the push of button, they’re teleported into a virtual 8-bit dungeon.
However, meanwhile, outside of the tent, Scarlett seems to be wondering around when she comes across Beatbean and his gang “Hey babe, how’s it going?” Beatbean flirts “Shut up, Beatbean” Scarlett orders “I’m looking for Robby”.“Oh, he said he was going to break into the Gaming Tent so, I’d assume that he’d done it by now... that is unless he wussed out!” Beatbean clutches his fist. “This was your fault wasn’t it?” Scarlett states “You being in this park have caused everyone to bow down in front of you! Robby doesn’t want to seriously break into the Gaming Tent! He’s just doing this because he doesn’t want to be seen as a nerd! But we’re all people, you can’t just do that!”
Beatbean chuckles “Ha! So, that scumbag lied to me? Ha, now he’s in for it!”, “No!” Scarlett shouts as Beatbean stomps up to the Gaming Tent
Anyway, back with Mario and Co. in the virtual dungeon, they must now complete a short, typical dungeon level with keys and such as well as putting your abilities to use (Enemies: Goombits, Winged Goombits, Spiked Goombits, Koopbits) Eventually, after collecting a “Boss Key” the group unlock a large room which at first glance, seems empty until suddenly, a giant, blue, 8-bit dragon known as Digitail appears and so the boss of Chapter 1 BEGINS!
After the battle, Digitail is defeated and so the group are teleported out of the dungeon and back into the real world. Mario, Guss T. And Robby jump out the seats in which Chuck Quizmo congratulates them and takes them out onto the stage where many people are cheering while others are just complaining that they’re better gamers than him
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE WINNER OF THIS YEARS GAMING CONTEST IS MARIO, ROBBY AND GUSS T.!!!!!... AND NOW FOR THE PRIZE”A person then brings forwards the Nerainium Seal which is concealed in a glass case. The person opens it and gets ready to give it to Mario when suddenly:
“There you are! You coward!”Beatbean and his gang then shove on through the crowd of nerds who back away in fear of him. He then jumps up on stage and confronts Robby who gulps. “So, you wanna try and explain to your nerd friends here that you’re secretly trying to be a jock, like us!?” Beatbean announces to the crowd
“WHAT IS THIS?!” Chuck Quizmo gasps along with the many nerds in the crowd “YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT ROBBY DOESN’T WANT TO BE A NERD?!”. Many of the nerd start booing at Robby “He doesn’t deserve the prize!”, “Yeah, he’s a jock!”, “I bet he used cheat codes!”, “YOUR NOT MLG!!!”
Robby is frozen due to what’s happening to him at this point, until he clutches his fist and suddenly shout “ENOUGH!!!”
The whole room then goes silent and Robby proceeds to give a heart-warming speech: “It’s true! ...sort of... Listen, it’s not easy living a life where people just can’t settle their differences! I just wanted more friends, and I’m sure we all do! And so, that’s why a secretly learnt how to skateboard so that I could hang out with the jocks as well... but now I see that none of that matters! I should’ve been happy with the friends I already had... So, yeah! I became a jock! But all of that has taught me a lesson... and that’s that it doesn’t matter who people think you are... but instead WHO you are...”
A few people from the crowd confess that they too are also secretly a jock and so the whole room fills with cheers of understanding for Robby. Scarlett also cheers. Robby feels relieved when suddenly Beatbean steps forward and abruptly punches Robby, knocking him off the stage – everyone in the room gasps and Scarlett rushes forward to help him out
“Yeah, don’t think that your stupid speech is stopping me from battering you!” Beatbean shows off when suddenly, 2 security guards grab Beatbean (who is struggling to escape) and go to kick him out of the Gaming Tent. “Are you okay?” Scarlett checks on Robby. “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little bruise, erg...” Robby tries to stand up. Chuck Quizmo then speaks “Well Robby! I think that you’ve deserved this!”. The person holding the Nerainium seal then steps forward, and gives it to Robby.
“Hey, Mario! Looks like we did it!”, Robby and Mario then hold the seal in the air for everyone to see, thus triggering the END OF CHAPTER! Sequence
===Chapter 1 Interlude===
Peach:
Starting with Peach, she wakes up and finds herself in a large wasteland with a camp fire and other resources set up. "Where am I? What happened?" Peach wonders when suddenly she hears a voice "You are a safe, he won't find us here!". Peach then turns to see the cloaked ninja woman from earlier. "Hey wait, we have you taken me here!?" Peach damands answers. The woman explains "I am Senieka and I will protect you from the grasp of Melaravox! That is why you here, in the Vlaggy Steppe; so that Melaravox does not break the seal on the Mirror...". Peach then wonders about Mario "What about Mario? Will he be okay?!", "I cannot promise anything..." Senieka replies "But if he is, then I sense that he is in seacrch of the 7 Seal Shards... seals that can lock Melaravox back into the mirror in whence it came!" Peach understands and Senieka tells her "At morning, we shall begin training!", "Training?!" Peach gasps "Yes, if we are to avoid Melaravox, then you must learn to protect yourself! But I suggest you take a rest before anything else..." Peach agrees, and so the interlude ends there.
Bowser:
Kammy Koopa walks up to Bowser's throne and reports "Lord Bowser! Your Hieghness-ness! I have word on the Princess!". "Go on" Bowser interests. "Well... you see... PEACH HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY ANOTHER VILLIAN YET AGAIN!!!!". Bowser is shocked "WHAT?! darnit! When are people gonna learn that only I am allowed to kidnap Princess Peach! GARGGG! What did this one look like then? And how was his prensentation?!". Kammy then thinks for a moment "...Well, actually, the guy... or robot... thing, managed to derail a train that Peach was on but before he could kidnap him, some ninja women jumped in and kidnapped Peach instead!". "RIGHT! THAT'S IT!" Bowser yells "WE'RE SETTING OFF TO WEAR EVER THOSE STUPID VILLIANS ARE, IMMIDIETLY!!!" Bowser then jumps in his Koopa Clown Cart and flies off with Kammy Koopa who is on her broom.
Melaravox:
The game then switches over to Melarvox who is in a ancient cave system of sorts made of blue crystals. A Toad-like Mandite then reports to him "Master, Martienus, eh, I mean Mario has collected the first Seal Shard from Dutti Park!". This doesn't seem to bother Melaravox much "Hmm... It matters not Investron, for even if Mario collects all the Seal Shards... fait has already decided that I will break the seal in the end anyway... Tis' simply a matter of time and fait...". The Toad-Mandite then looks down at the floor "Investron? ...I thought I was...-" Melaravox interupts "Forget who you used to be and look at who you will be... Hmmm.... I feel as if I should be making something happen... Mechatropolis... I  must take it back! Investron! Bring me, The Mandinator!!! "... (End of interludes)
==Chapter 2: City of the Ancient Future==
Previously, Mario, Guss T. Joined with their new companion: Robby obtained the first Seal Shard in Dutti Park. 
Robby tells Mario that he wants to go with Mario on his adventure because he wants to “learn to be a better person”. So, before the trio set depart from Dutti Park, Scarlett gives Robby a light kiss on the check (Robby blushes) and says “Just come back safely, okay? hehe” Robby gives his farewells and so the group head back off to the Stridal Plains.
On the way, Guss T. Wonders where they should go next “Hmmm, now what? Well, I suppose Edolan might know a thing or two about it, I wonder if he’s still in the Mechanism Ruins? How about we check?” Mario agrees and so the group head toward the Mechanism Ruins. Mario and Co. Enter but see no trace of Edolan “Looks like he’s not here... let’s check elsewhere” Robby interprets The group then get ready to leave when suddenly, the Nerainium Seal begins to glow and levitates towards the pedestal where the Mechanism Mirror once sat. The seal places it’s self on the pedestal in which Mario and Co. Rush up to see what’s happening. “What’s going on?” Robby is puzzled Then, strangely in the reflection of seal, an image of a great, technologically advanced city appears for a few seconds in which Mario studies it. “What is that? It’s like it’s trying to tell us something, but what is that place?” Guss T. Wonders Robby then thinks “Could it be? The Mandite City of Mechatropolis?” Guss T. Then suggests “Perhaps... whatever that is... but I think we should find Edolan first... perhaps he’ll be in his house” With that, Mario and Co. Head to Edolan’s house in Cactown in hope of finding him.
However, when they get there, all they find that the door is locked and there’s a note on the door saying: “For anyone who is in need of my amazing Archaeological and Technological knowledge, I’m on the east side of Stridal plains, investigating some Mandite ruins –Edolan” “It’s like he knew we’d be here?!” Guss T. States The group then exit from the east side of Cactown to head for East Stridal Plains (Enemies: Kooptus’, Monty Moles, Goombandits) Eventually, the trio come across a ruinous area with stairs leading down to an underground part (It has a similar look to the Mechanism Ruins). The group head down into the ruins where they instantly spot Edolan investigating some murals which almost look like train roots. Edolan then notices Mario “Oh, why hello there! I’ve been expecting you!” “Really? Well we’ve been searching all over the place for YOU!”Guss T. Angers Edolan gives a embarrassing smile “Hehe, sorry, but hey! Check this out! These ruins are actually an underground transport system stemming from here to Mechatropolis!”.
“Mechatropolis, hey that’s what the seal was showing us!” Robby point out “Oh! So, I see you have your first seal (*must take seal*) Well then, if you need to get to Mechatropolis then you can always use THIS!” Edolan then points toward a sleek and smooth pod with seats and random buttons on the dashboard “From the looks of it, it seems to sill be working fine, although some of the tunnels routes may have collapsed slightly... but go ahead, just hop on in and start that baby up!” “COOL!” Robby smiles and the group all hop into the pod “Wait, aren’t you coming Edolan?” Guss T. Asks Edolan replies “I’d love to, but I just HAVE to investigate more of these ruins before moving on to the next destination, so you go ahead and I’ll catch up with you later!” Mario nods and so he prepares the pod which when ready, blasts of at super high speed, thus starting CHAPTER 2: CITY OF THE ANCIENT FUTURE But first:
[Minigame: Pods and Hot Rods]
In this minigame, you have to take the correct turns down the right tunnels in the pod, otherwise, you’ll hit a dead end and loose a life. You have 5 lives but to avoid hitting dead ends, you have to remember the pod-route image, which the pod will stop at one every so often to refresh your memory of the turns you have to take and where (You can now replay this at the Gaming Tent)
After all that, The pod shoots out of the tunnel and into a more grassy land-type area in which the pod slows down, eventually coming to a nice stop. Mario, Guss T. And Robby jump out the pod and look around when suddenly, they see a huge mechanical metropolis, towering above the natural land. “Holy macaroni!” Guss T. Jaw drops Robby recites “Looks just how it did in the games... only with improved graphics!” The group step up to the city’s front door which appears to be an automatic door, however, the light above it is red and will not open no matter what (Keep in mind that the city is all indoors). “Looks like we’ll have to find another way in” Guss T. Concludes So, Mario and Co. Head back down the stairs and work their way down and around a small permiriter of the city until they find a pipe. Having no other option, they enter the pipe which takes them into an extremely dark set of rooms underneath the city.
Eventually they get out from underneath the city, via another pipe, and into the actually city itself. However, when they get there, all they see is complete chaos, with robots going mad everywhere and attacking innocent robot citizens. “What in the world is going on?” Robby questions A worried Fizzlit then backs up against the entrance door to the city which it knows it can’t escape while 3 Mandite robots get ready to attack her. “YOU ARE NOT A PROPER ROBOT!” one of the Mandites robotically speaks “FIZZLIT IDENTIFIED! CANNOT BE INFECTED WITH COMPUTOR VIRUS!!! MUST BE ILLIMINATED!” Mario, seeing that the Fizzlit is in desperate trouble, jumps into help “WHAT?! WHO ARE YOU!? HUMAN IDENTIFIED! MUST ILLIMINATE HUMAN!!!” They Mandites then attack, thus starting a battle. (The Mandites are a Mandisphere, a Podite and a Platech).
After the battle, the enemy robots switch off with no power. The Fizzlit who is breathing heavily, thanks Mario for helping her “Thank you... whoever you are... huff...” “What’s happening around here” Guss T. Asks “I’m not sure” the Fizzlit replies in a fizzy manor “But it seemz there’z a computer virus running loose around the city and it’z causing all the robot citizenz to become mindless puppetz...” “We need to help them Mario!” Robby says Mario nods to agree The Fizzlit then interjects “The city is dangerous for anyone who isn’t a Mandite, I myself am not one – I’m just a engineer who fixez broken mechanismz” “Well what would you suggest?” Guss T. Wonders The Fizzlit thinks for a moment “...The only thing I can think of iz Ampler” “Ampler?” Robby and Guss T. Both say “Yez” The Fizzlit continues “He’z an Amp elder who lives on the far east of the city in hiz own private area... However, he might just know a thing or two about the situation so that’z what I would suggest” “Okay, thanks for the tip” Robby thanks But then the Fizzlit stops them again “Wait! With the virus running loose, a lot of the electronicz are down meaning it could be hard for you to get through the whole city... Perhaps I should come with you!” Mario and the group agrees and with that the Fizzlit introduces herself: “Alright, my name iz Fizz by the way!”
FIZZ JOINED YOUR PARTY!!!
With that, Mario, Co. and his new companion Fizz make their way through the indoor city using Fizz’s ability to power things up and light up dark areas along the way (Enemies: Mandispheres, Podites, Platechs and Bombots) Eventually, the group make it to the east side of the city where thing strangely get a little dim (but still lit up) and the area seems completely empty “I think we’re nearly at Ampler’s place” Fizz interprets They then enter into the next room where they are confronted with a deep, mysterious voice from the back of the room (which is in shadows) “Who dares enter my property!” it echoes “I’ll let you know that you’re not infecting me!” Guss T. Tries to reason with him “Calm down, we’re just here t-” The voice ignore her “Silence! I’ll take you all down if I have to! Now leave!” Mario refuses and so the voice gets angry and so an old Amp with a lightning moustache steps forward “Haha! You asked for it!” A short battle then infuses between Mario, Co. And Ampler.
After the battle, Ampler lye’s head down in dishonour “Go on, just finish me! INFECT ME!” “Eh, you do realise we’re not even Mandites right?” Robby states Ampler holds his head up “Huh, what? Oh! Darnit! When am I going to get my new camera lens installed into my eyes!? These ones are outdated! Anyway, sorry about that! Why did you want to see me then?” “Isn’t it obvious” Fizz says “We need your help if we want to prevent this virus!” “I see” Ampler understands “Well then; my suggestion would be that you head up to the control room right at the very top of the city! As the name would imply, it controls the city so if there’s a computer virus then that’ll be the source... although I must wonder how such a bug could have got past our security software... argh, them stupid software downloads! They never help when they’re suppose to!” “Alright, so we should head of to the Control Room correct?”.
Fizz checks Ampler sounds uncertain “Indeed, but I fear that all of this could be the work of the Mechanical Demon: Melaravox... after all, we all stopped believing that he was our creator centuries ago... it seems he wishes to reclaim that title... that is if has returned” Mario then explains about the Mechanism Mirror “Oh I see!” Ampler is shocked “Hmmm, so the seal has been broken and you plan on restoring it?! Interesting... Well, you’ll be happy to know that there’s a Seal Shard right here in Mechatropolis!” “Really? How convenient!”Guss T. Joys “Indeed, it is held in the control room... I remember the people of Talon gave it to us to protect from Melaravox’s grasp... So, you must hurry to the Control Room! Well go on then! WHY ARE YOU STILL DILLYDALLYING AROUNG HERE!?” With that, the group quickly head out without questions and set off to the control room at the very top of the city.
Along the way, Mario gets a new boots upgrade: The super boots – now he can perform wall kicks in certain areas! Eventually, the group reach the very top of the city in the control room where they see a large, encased energy core in the centre of the room “We’re here at last!” Fizz informs them when suddenly, a robotic voice emanates from the other side of the room. Everyone then turns to see a huge muscular robot with a large red eye on it’s head “SO YOU ARE THE TROUBLE MAKERS AROUND HERE!?” It says “MUST ILLIMINATE ALL NON-MANDITE LIFE FORMS AS ORDERED BY MELARAVOX!!!” “Melaravox? So he’s responsible for all this!” Guss T. Adds up “I bet he sent this thing to install the virus so that it would take over the city for him!” Robby adds “AFFIRMATIVE! THIS CITY BELONGS TO THE MANDITE CREATOR: MELARAVOX AND ALL BARRICADES SHALL BE ILLIMINATED!!!” The giant robot then attacks in which Mario and Co. Get ready to battle the boss of chapter 2: The Mandinator.
After the battle: “N0! L0RD M3LARAV0X H7FG89 –I HaV3 FA1l3d U-u-u-y0-u- vhjiuw352ijda ERR0R! 3RR0R! 3-R0-R VJI23FR9---” The Mandinator then malfunctions and in great burst of light, explodes into tiny pieces of paper! Ampler then rushes into the room to check on what had happened and sees The Mandinator remains “Phew... glad that’s over! Now that the source is destroyed, the citizens can go back to being them... Hmmm... but It seems Melaravox is thinking ahead... perhaps because he knows of what’s to come...” Ampler thinks to himself Mario then remembers Melaravox and how he knew people name’s even though they’d never met and asks Ampler about it Ampler then explains “Hmmm... interesting indeed! Well, the legend to us Mandites is that Melaravox somehow created technology himself... but no one knows why and nowadays, we hate Melaravox as he bought war between us and the people of Talon... however, logically it doesn’t seem to make sense... he is a Mandite so... how did he create them? Who created him?”.
“There has to be an explanation behind all of this, right?” Fizz figures “There will be somewhere” Ampler answers “But an old legend says that Melaravox was created through time itself... although my intelligent systems fail to comprehend what such a thing could possible mean...” “Eh, excuse me but what about the seal shard?” Robby reminds them “Oh yes! That’s right, the Seal Shard is right here!” Ampler then randomly pulls out the Xiron Seal as if he had been keeping it the whole time “Wait? You mean you had it the whole time” Guss T. Is jaw dropped “That’s correct” Ampler smirks “You see, I knew that Melaravox would strike again some day... so I also knew that someone would rise to collect the Seal Shards to stop him... And so, I was really the one who kept the seal for safe keeping, but now that you’re here and we’re safe, please, take this” Ampler then hands Mario the Xiron shard thus triggering the END OF CHAPTER sequence!!!
===Chapter 2 Interlude===
Peach:
Peach is awoken early in the morning by Senieka who tells her "Wake up, are training begins now". Peach gets up and ready and asks what it is she needs to do. Seneika explains "We shall start by doing what Mario does best: battling. We'll start by finding some weak enemies, there I will teach you the basics of battle". Peach and Seneika (Who is basicly her party member) travel out into the steppe, putting Senieka's ability to use until they eventually come across some Goombandits. A battle infuses and so Senieka teaches her the basics of Peach's battle system (which is slightly different to Mario's). After the battle Seneika is proud "Well done, you have proved yourself worthy of great stregnth! Just remember what I teach you for if and when, Melaravox does find us! We'll head back to the camp" Peach and Senieka then head back to the camp area.
Bowser:
Bowser and Kammy Koopa arive at the crashed train site (Via the Koopa Clown Cart and Broom) and look around to find some clues. The train debris is currently being moved and fixed by services, Bowser aproaches one of the service toads "Hey! You there! I want some context! What caused this train to bust?". The toad, who doen't even recognise Bowser, replies "Acording to witnesses, a strange black robot creature wearing a cape was seen attacking passengers after the attack, but that's really all we know...". Bowser crosses his arms "Hmmm, wears a cape? BAH! How unoriginal! I'm a great villian and I don't need to wear a crown and cape to look menacing!". Kammy Koopa then interjects "Eh, your menacingness! Would it be wise for us to go and ask the witnesses themselves? aparently, a lot them are currently staying in a small nearby town called Cactown!". Bowser gives an evil laugh "Gwa haha!I'm no detedtive but that's not such a bad idea! Smell ya later!" he then jumps back in his Koopa Clown Cart and sets of for Cactown with Kammy following behind on her broom.
Melaravox:
Melaravox is in his underground lair obserbing the battle that had taken place between Mario and the Mandinator (The Mandinator's eye has a camera inside it). "Drat!" Melaravox curses "Nevermind... They'll be time for conquering Mechatrpolis later! Once Peach is located, the world will spin under the thrust of m feet... or eh, spiky things...". Investron then zooms in on the battle and notices Guss T. "Sir, that girl, she...". Melaravox interupts firmly "Remember who you are now! Perhaps you knew that girl... perhaps the person I possess knows your original form... but you are a Mandite now... There for you shall stand as one... In the meantime, we should be in search of the Princess...". With that, the scene goes back to Mario...
==Chapter 3: Conquering the Conquerors==
Previously, Mario, Guss T., Robby and their new companion, Fizz, retrieved the 2nd Seal Shard from Mechatropolis as well as learning more about Melaravox along the way. Mario and Co., who are getting ready to set off from the mechanical city, are thanked by the native Mandite robots for saving them from the virus. Fizz says that she wants to continue travelling with Mario and so they get ready to set off, but then, they are stopped by Ampler who suggests an alternate way of getting back to Cactown. Who leads you into a circular room with strange pads dotted around the edges of the room.
“These are old teleporter devices which connect to many parts of the surrounding area! However, over time they have lost connection with the other sides of the teleporter links... where ever they maybe, however, there do appear to be one that is still working: this one leads to Cactown! As for the other teleporters, if you can find the other sides to them, then you might just be able to reconnect the links, making them work again!”
With this information in mind, Mario and Co. Thank Ampler and so they enter the teleporter, thus teleporting them back to Cactown.
Once in Cactown, Guss T. Suggests that the group head back to the Mechanism Ruins, assuming that it might show them the location of the next Seal Shard, so the group do just that and head off to the Mechanism Ruins.
Once they get there, they meet Edolan who explains “Well, I heard that you had recovered the next Seal Shard and so I wanted to see how this device works! I remember you saying that it can show the location of the next Seal!”
With that said Mario steps up to pedestal and places the Xiron Shard onto it in which it begins to glow. “AMAZING!!!” Edolan screams in excitement. Then, in the reflection of the Seal, the image of a vast jungle appears with 3 large, stone pyramid temples peaking through the tall trees.
Edolan takes a closer look and instantly recognises the area to be “The ancient city of Tiantinalda in the Nozama Rainforest!”
“Where is it located?” Robby asks 
Edolan answers “It’s located to the south and we can get there by travelling through the south of Stridal Plains! Although I do warn you that this humid jungle is extremely dangerous due to the tribes and wildlife that live there... most notably is the Cocoknight Tribe! But not to fear! For I shall accompany you on your quest! ...temporarily... Anyway, I’ll meet you at the south east of Stridal Plains, for that is where the entrance to the jungle lye’s!” And before Mario and Co. Can even object, Edolan eagerly leaves and sets out to South Stridal Plains, so Mario and Co. Do the same.
After crossing through to the South East of Stridal Plains (Enemies: Kooptus, Monty Moles, Goombandits, Clefts), the group eventually reach the entrance to the Nozama Jungle where they meet Edolan who is waiting for them
“Ah, here at last! Listen, this jungles pretty dangerous and traversing through it will be no easy task, so that’s why I put my amazing knowledge to good use and built us a boat to traverse over the River Nozama, which will get us deep in to the Jungle with no problem!”
He then shows them a small wooden raft which tied on the banks next to the River Nozama
“A boat? Eh, aren’t you an inventor? Couldn’t you have made an actually boat, this is just a raft made out of tree logs and some rope?” Fizz criticizes 
Edolan is insulted by this “What’s that? You don’t want to travel on my beautiful boat that I but care and effort into building?! WELL THAT’S’ FINE BY ME!!!!”
“Alright, geez” Fizz mumbles
With that, the group hop onto the raft, Edolan pulls off the rope and so the raft begins drifting off down the river, thus starting CHAPTER 3: CONQUORING THE CONQUERORS
[Minigame: The River Rapidz]
This minigame involves tilting the wii remote or Wii U gamepad (depending on what you’re playing it on), in the direction you want the raft to go, to steer it away from obstacles such as rocks, Cheepiranhas, and currents. You can also collect coins along the way, but you lose coins when you get hit and if the raft is damaged 5 times then it’s a GAME OVER (You can now reply this minigame at the Gaming Tent with different stage setups)
After the minigame, Edolan will halt the raft and tie it to the river bank. The group jump off and Edolan tells them “We can walk on foot from here, we should already quite deep into the jungle so finding Tiantinalda won’t take long!”, so, Mario, Co. And Edolan set off deeper into the Nozama Rainforest (Enemies: Fuzzies, Cheepirahnas, Beetemples, Tribe Guys)
After travelling through the jungle for a while, the group are suddenly ambushed by a small group of Cocoknights who capture Mario, Co. And Edolan and take them into the ruined city, all while chanting a strange tribal song
The Cocoknights then bring Mario and Co. Forth in front of a large stone pyramid, where a Cocoknight wearing a feathered head-dress steps forward and takes a good look at Mario and Co. 
Edolan starts shouting “HEY! HANDS OF THE MERCHANDISE!!! THESE HANDS HAVE INVENTED MANY AWESOME THINGS!!! ...which you’ve probably never heard of! ...”
“Silence!” The Cocoknight orders “For I am the king of this sacred city! Cocozuma: The Great!!!” 
The Cocoknights begin to cheer
“Get a load of this guy!” Edolan nudges Mario and winks
“ENOUGH!” Cocozuma commands “Take them all up to the pyramid at once to be SACRIFICED!!!”
The Cocoknights begin to cheer again and so, Mario, Co. And Edolan are shoved up to the top of the crumbling pyramid all while Edolan proclaims “YOU CAN’T SACRIFICE ME! I’M TOO SMART TO DIE!!!”
Once at the top, the Cocoknights bring Mario forward and lay him on the alter (or table thing) and so, the priest steps forward with a gold dagger, ready to take the blow when suddenly, Mario’s body begins to shine and the 2 Seal Shards come out
The Cocoknights stare mesmerized by it “How could this be?!” Cocozuma wonders. The king then steps forward, lowers the priest’s dagger and announces to the tribe “Fellow Cocoknights! We are saved!!!”
The Cocoknights cheer while Mario gets up off the alter and wonders what’s going on
“Huh? Now they’re cheering for us? This is insane!!!” Guss T. Confuses
Cocozuma then calls “Cocoknown! Please escort our saviours to your tepee, there we can explain to them what’s happening!” 
A shaman Cocoknight walks up and agrees, and so they take the group down from the pyramid and into a small tepee, south of Tiantinalda. Mario, Co. And Edolan are then greeted, sat down and given some nice hot chocolate (made from coco beans :D) 
Cocoknown, the shaman, then begins to explain the situation: “Sorry about all that, I’m sure you have many question..”
“QUESTIONS!? Darn right I have questions!!!” Edolan bursts 
“Yeah, like why you were about to sacrifice us one moment and then you’re praising us the next!!??” Fizz adds
“No that kind of question, I mean questions like HOW DID YOU BUILD SUCH AMAZING PYRIMIDS!!!???” Edolan goes off into his own world again...
Cocoknown continues with what he was saying “They’ll be time for that later, for now, allow me to explain why you weren’t sacrificed like most intruders usually are: we didn’t realise who you were until we saw that you had the Seal Shards! You see, an ancient prophecy foretells that greedy conquerors with big moustaches will invade our ancestral city, rid it of all its goods and then destroy our tribe... needless to say, we cannot allow that to happen... however, the prophecy also foretells that a hero carrying to triangular plates, will rise against the conquistadors and stop them from destroying the city! And that hero, is you!”
“Eh, do you seriously believe what some stupid prophecy predicts?” Edolan disbelieves 
“How dare you question the prophecy!!!” one of the Cocoknights says, Cocoknown interjects “True, many have taken the prophecy to be untrue... but our messengers have recently spotted incoming ships from the south coast and with a hero now here who carries the 2 Seal Shards, it makes too much sense not be true! Thing is, the day the conquistadors are said to arrive is tomorrow! So, we must prepare! Please! Won’t you stay and help us!”.
“Eh, we’d love to but we have another Seal Shard to collect!” Robby points out
Cocoknown smiles “Just as I figured, you are in search of the other seals? Well, we have one right here in Tiantinalda! But we’ll only give it to you if you help us fight off the conquistadors! Sound like a deal?”
Mario, with no other choice, agrees and with that the Cocoknights cheer
“Thank you kind man! However, if the battle is tomorrow, then we must prepare our battlements quickly! And I shall accompany you on your quest!” With that, Cocoknown joins Mario
COCOKNOWN JOINED YOUR PARTY!!!
Mario, Co. And his new companion then step out the tent where Cocozuma tells them “We keep the battlements inside the west temple of Tiantinalda, however, the key to get inside it belongs to a priest who is at the east temple of Tiantinalda! So, get the key from the east temple first and then we can open up the battlements!” 
With that, Mario and Co. Set off from the south of the city and head to the east temple fighting a few enemies along the way.
Once at the east temple: “What’s that? They need the key, ah I see... here take this” The priest hands Mario the key and so, the group heads to the west temple to unlock the battlements.
Once at the west pyramid, they see that the pyramid is surrounded by Cocoknight soldiers who are raring to get their battlements. So, Mario and Co. Head up to the top of the pyramid and unlock the floor panel leading them inside. The soldiers then rush in and grab any weapon they come across until the majority of the weaponry is gone and all the soldiers are armed
The group then re-meet with Cocozuma outside the tepee where all the soldiers have set up the battlements and tents, preparing for the next day.
“Thank you Mario, and we hope that tomorrow will be a proud day!” Cocoknight says happily “You should get some rest for tomorrow, here, you can sleep in our tepee!” he then offers and with that, the group lay down in their animal skinned duvets, thinking about what may happen tomorrow...
The next day, early in the morning, Cocoknown wakes Mario and Co. Up and alerts them “They’re here!”
The group then rush outside the tent to see that the area has been surrounded by conquistadors from the waffle kingdom holding Spanish swords, ready to fight if necessary. 
A serious looking conquistador then steps forward and introduces himself proclaims “I am El Conquerō, leader of the Wafflish Armada! And we are here to do what are name says us to do, CONQUER! Why not surrender now? It’ll keep things tidy in the long run!”
“Did he really have to point that out?!” Edolan mumbles
Cocozuma steps forward from the crowd of armed Cocoknights and refuses to surrender “We will not fall to you men of great greed! For the prophecy has foretold it!”
El Conquerō smiles “As you wish... just remember though... it’s you funeral!!!” he then raises his sword in the air a battle cries “ARRRRHHH!!!” In which all the conquistadors do the same, and so the battle begins between the Cocoknights and the Wafflish Conquistadors.
Mario and Co. Just have to hammer away some of the conquistadors to fight them off until eventually, El Conquerō breaks through and kidnaps Cocozuma and then takes him to the central pyramid. 
“Cocozuma!” Cocoknown yells “Mario, we must stop him! He’s heading for the Cocoknight Temple!” The group then quickly make their way to the Cocoknight Temple (Central Pyramid) (Enemies: Conquistadors, Hound Chomps, Horsails). Once they reach the top of the temple, they see that the altar has been destroyed; revealing a stairway leading downwards and next to it is Cocozuma who is injured on the floor
“Cocozuma!” Cocoknown helps him out
“The Conquistadors... they’ve gone into Temple... you must stop them...” Cocozuma breaths 
Cocoknown hesitates “But sire, you-“
Cocozuma interrupts “Don’t worry about me! Listen, you can’t let them take the treasure of the temple! You must hurry and stop them!!!”
Cocoknown bows his head “But... Okay, come on Mario, we must stop them!”
Mario and Co. Then enter the Cocoknight Temple thus starting Chapter 3’s dungeon.
Once inside the temple, they see that it is swarming with deadly traps as well as many puzzles to solve before allowing you to progress (Enemies: Conquistadors, Maskocos, Boardocos, Tikocos)
After making their way through most of the dungeon, Mario and Co. Eventually catch up with El Conquerō
“You think you can stop me?! It won’t happen! I’m too handsome to be beaten by such fools!” El Conquerō flatters himself
Mario and Co. Jump forward and so, a battle begins. 
After the battle: “Ergh, It’s not like you’ve set me back! Haha, you’ve only stalled time for yourself, but in the end, your city will be nothing more than rubble!” El Conquerō then rushes into the next room in which, Mario and Co. chase after him.
They then meet him in a large, dark room where a giant head statue with giant hands, sits in the wall at the back of the room and a pedestal sits also sits in the centre of the room. However, on this pedestal is no other than the Coconite Seal!
El Conquerō then steps forward to grab the seal “Haha, At last it is mine! This fine plate is worth more than all the gold in the world!” he then goes to grab it, but when he lays his hand on it, the whole room suddenly begins to shake 
“No! You fool!” Cocoknown shouts
“What is this nonsense?!” El Conquerō questions
Suddenly, the statue at the back of the room’s eyes light up and the hands and head begin pushing out of the wall. A loud, omnipresent voice then beckons “WHO DARES TAKE THE TRESURE OF THE TEMPLE!?”
“What is that thing?” Robby asks
Cocoknown explains “It’s Quetzelcoaco, the Cocoknight God who protects the Coconite Seal!”
Quetzelcoaco then blasts a projectile at El Conquerō, sending him flying through the ceiling and strait out the temple
“NO ONE SHALL GET AWAY WITH TAKING THE SEAL SHARD FOR IT WAS GIVEN TO ME BY THE PEOPLE OF TALON TO PROTECT FROM INTRUDERS SUCH AS YOU! PREPARE TO BE PUNISHED!!!”
With that, the boss of Chapter 3, Begins!
After the battle, the ground begins to shake again and Quetzelcoaco beckons again “HOW IS THIS! ONLY THE HERO CAN DEFEAT ME AND TAKE THE SHARD.......... UNLESS... YOU ARE THE HERO!?” Quetzelcoaco then phases back into the wall where it was in the first place and the ground stops shaking
“YAY, we did it!” Fizz celebrates
However, Cocoknown seems troubled “We may have stopped El Conquerō and Quetzelcoaco but what about the other conquistadors?!”
Suddenly, Cocozuma enters the room and reports “Mario, Cocoknown, all of you! We did it! You stopped El Conquerō and the other soldiers and I were able to drive them conquistadors back into the sea in whence they came!”
Cocoknown is relieved and goes to pick up the Coconite Seal of the floor and presents it to Mario “Thank you Mario, thanks to you, our city is saved! And as I promised you, here is the Coconite Seal!”
Mario takes the seal proudly, thus triggering the END OF CHAPTER SEQUENCE!!!
YOU GOT A SEAL SHARD!!!
===Chapter 3 Interlude===
Peach:
Peach is awoken, late at night by Senieka who tells her "Peach, It's time to train!". Peach yawns "Ergh, why so late at night?!". Senieka then explains "Listen, Mario is on a quest to retrieve the Seal Shards... however, one of the Seals is located here in the Vlaggy Steppe!". "Yeah, and?" Peach is listening, "So, that means that Mario will ahve to come here at some point! However, the seal is buried in a sacred place underneath the Steppe... The Ignis Pit... What we must do is to set up a way for Mario to get into the Ignis Pit for when he gets here!", Peach understands and gets ready. They then set off to certain area, east of the Steppe, fighting enemies along the way. Eventually, they find a torch inside a brick cave which Senieka explains by recieting a ancient interspricture "Hell will rise when the beacons are lit". Senieka relises that they need fire to light the torch so, they have to head back, light a stick on the camp fire and then go back to light the torch! After that, Peach and Senieka head back to bed.
Bowser:
Bowser and Kammy drop into Cactown, and so they begin asking various townfolk about the train crash. Although some of them were victims, not many appear to be witnesses of what happened to Peach. Eventually they find out that Mario is being helped by an archeaolagist (Edolan) and so they find out where his house is. However, when they get to the house, they see that it's locked and there's a note on the door saying "Gone to explore the legendary city of Tiantinalda with Mario and his friends! if you are in need of my amazing knowledge, then I'll be back shortly! ...just as long as I'm not eaten alive by native tribes...". "WHA?" Bowser shouts "Grr! How dare he leave us hanging like that!", Kammy Koopa then suggests "So, should we just wait here?". Bowser disagrees "Are ya kiddin' me!? Do I look like I'm willing to wait all day for that einstine to get back here? Nah! How about we just head over to that city he was talkin' about and we'll bump into him there! Gwa haha!". With that settled, they both head of to the Nozama Rainforest
Melaravox:
Melaravox is in his secret lair plotting his next move "Hmmm... Mario needs no deeling with... all I need is the Princess... then I may be free from this prison!". Investron then walks in and reports "Sir! We've found clues as to where Peach may be hiding!". "Go on..." Melaravox smirks. Investron continues "Eh well, one of our Ruskogs spotted 2 women roming around in the Vlaggy Steppe! But we're unsure on weather it's actually them!". Melaravox thinks for a second "Hmm... Well then, send some Mandites and yourslef to investigate and then report back if it turn out to be them!". Investron agrees and leaves the room. (End of interludes).
==Chapter 4: When Omens Go Bad==
Previously, Mario, Guss T., Robby, Fizz and their new companion Cocoknown, had found the 3rd Seal Shard in the Nozama Jungle and are now getting ready to set off in search of the next one.
“Mario, I wish to accompany you on the rest of your journey! As my way of repaying you for saving our great city!” Cocoknown says, smiling
“Wait what? We’re leaving already?! Oh, but... Argh! I suppose I do still have some paper work... good bye... great city of my DREAMS!!!” Edolan holds his head in distress
With that, Mario, Co. And Edolan set off back to the Mechanism Ruins to find out the location of the next Seal Shard! However, As they exit the jungle, they meet a familiar face... Bowser! Along with Kammy Koopa!
“Gwa Haha! See, Kammy? I told you We’d bump into them if came here! And you suggested just waiting in the town!!!” Bowser chuckles
“Wh-what the? Could it b-be... Bowser?!” Edolan shivers
“Haha! Don’t you forget it! Now! How about I put an end to Mario here and then we’ll be taken Mr. Big-brain!” Bowser clutches his fists
“What!? Why do you need me?!” Edolan wonders
Kammy Koopa explains “Eh, you left a sign on your door saying that you had came here, so we figured we’d bump into you if we headed towards that ancient city... Now all we need to do is beat Mario and get the info we need out of you!” 
Mario then gets into a battle position and so a battle begins.
After the battle:
Bowser grunts “Grrr... That was a pretty bad idea... maybe we should have just waited for big-brain to be in town when he is alone and then get that info...”
Kammy accepts “Yeah, I think we should just call it quits for now...”
“Agreed!”, Bowser and Kammy Koopa then fly of rapidly
“Well that was... interesting...” Guss T. Stares blankly
Either way, the group continue heading to the Mechanism Ruins. Once they reach the ruins, the usual process begins and the Coconite Shard floats over to the pedestal. 
“Ohh! Where could the next Shard be!?” Edolan eagerly screams!
Then, In the reflection of the shard, appears the image of a gloomy valley at the scene of a large, full moon in the sky.
Edolan takes a good look at it at and realises “Ahah! That would be Omen Valley! Well, I’m afraid that I shall not be accompanying you on this journey!”
“Why not?” Cocoknown asks
Edolan explains “You see, the valley is known for being inhabited by evil witches which eh... I’m not scared of or anything but eh... *looks around at everyone* ...OH FINE! But seriously, DO I LOOK LIKE THE KINDA GUY WHO WANTS TO BE TURNED INTO A MOP!? NO! *Huff*... sorry about that, anyway, if you want to get to Omen Valley, then you can get there by heading through Foot Woods, just north of Dutti Park”
With that, Mario and Co. set off to Dutti Park.
Just at the entrance of the park, there’s a small, hidden passage way which they can uncover using Cocoknown’s ability which will then lead them into the Foot Woods. The actual woods are Fairley small (enemies: Hyper Goombas, Spiked Hyper Goombas, Para Hyper Goombas, and Hyper Clefts) however, as they’re traversing through them, the group cross paths with none other than Beatbean who looks rather lost...
“Huh, whose there?!” Beatbean cowardly turns around to see Mario and Co. “Oh no you don’t! Ha! Coming into my territory was the worst mistake you ever made! Now you’ll pay for what you’ve done to my park!”
“Your park?” Robby wonders “This park doesn’t “belong” to anyone! It’s our park! You need to learn that!”
Beatbean then insults Robby “Why would I want to learn from a dork like you! Your stupid speech has put me out of business! People no longer bow down to me and give me there lunch money!” 
“Consider that a good thing, If you consider other people!” Robby replies
Beatbean then gets angry and attacks Mario, thus triggering a battle.
After the battle:
“Ju- Just leave me alone!” Beatbean then runs off cowardly out of the forest. With nothing else to say, the group make their way towards the north of the forest where they eventually reach some mountains in which Omen Valley is within them. However, they can’t seem to get over the actual mountains, so they explore the area some more until they find an old Magikoopa waiting with his broom with a worried look on his face.
Mario and Co. Approach the troubled Magikoopa who panic when he sees them
“Halt! Do not come near me pillagers!”
“Pillagers?” Cocoknown confuses 
“Don’t think that I don’t know who you are! First you destroy Magikraft and know your after every last Magikoopa inhabitant! Well I shall inform you that you shall NOT have my head!” The Magikoopa stands 
Fizz then tries reasoning with him “Eh, I’m afraid we know nothing about any pillages, we’re just trying to find a way into the valley”
The Magikoopa then calms down “Hmmm... I suppose you don’t exactly look like pillagers... so, I’ll let you off... tell you what, I’ll make a deal with you! I’ll fly you into the valley on my broom IF you agree to help the village of Magikraft from those evil pillagers! Deal?”
Since it’s the only way into the valley that they know of, Mario accepts and so, the group on the broom with the Magikoopa and so they fly off into Omen Valley, thus starting CHAPTER 4: WHEN OMENS GO BAD!!!
The Magikoopa drops the group off in an area on the west edge of the valley which is a safe distance from Magikraft
“I wish you people luck! Although I’m afraid I must leave before I am discovered!” The unnamed Magikoopa then flies off back outside the valley, leaving Mario and Co. To do the dirty work.
The group travel through Omen Valley until they finally reach Magikraft which, just like the old Magikoopa told them, is being pillaged by hooded men holding pitchforks and torches. Houses set on fire, and bits of wooden debris scattered around the village. However, there doesn’t actually appear to be that many. Curious to find answers, Mario and Co. enter the village although many of the paths are being blocked by debris.
They come across a crowd of Pillagers shouting and chanting “BURN THE WITCH!” however, there’s so many Pillagers that Mario and Co. can’t get a good glance of what is happening on the other side of the crowd.
They then decide to ask one of the Pillagers about what’s going on and weather they know about any “Seal Shards”.
The Pillager replies “We’re bringing this village to its knees... if it even has knees to bring down...”
“But what for?” Guss T. Asks
“Why do thou think?” The Pillager says “thou know what witches do, they’re evil! We Pillagers have travelled village to village, hunting down witches to burn!”
“Eh, what makes these witches so eh, “Evil” Cocoknown questions
“Surely thou know what witches do to people?! They set curses upon thy soul!” The Pillager explains
“I see...” Cocoknown thinks to himself
Mario then asks about the Seal Shard and if he knows anything about it
“A what?! Well, thou are in a village of black magic! You’ll surely find something of that description lying about; I’m sure... tell you what! Why don’t you help us hunt down some witches we’ll we try to find their master’s lair! Keep an eye out though! Those witches could be hiding anywhere!”
Mario agrees although he’s unsure if it would be right to side with the Pillagers after promising the old Magikoopa that they met earlier that they’d help the Magikoopas...
Nonetheless, the group press onwards, however, since a lot of the pathways are blocked off by debris or crowds of Pillagers, there’s only one way they can go which is north of the village (which they get to by exiting the back door of a nearby house). The whole village (that you can currently explore) seems empty with only hostile boos as enemies. The group come across a wooden house which strangely has no door. However, by using Cocoknown’s ability, they manage to uncover the door, thus allowing them to head on inside. No one appears to be in the house at first, but once they go upstairs, suddenly a rattling noise emanates from downstairs.
“What was that?” Guss T. wonders and the group rush downstairs to see what had happened. 
However, all they find is some books lying on the ground in front of a large bookcase. All Mario has to do is interact with said bookcase (by pressing in one of the books) and the bookcase flips open, revealing a staircase leading downwards. Mario and Co. travel down the stairs, which leads them into a narrow, linear cave.
However at the end of the cave is scared Magikoopa dressed in white. 
She then notices Mario and Co. “No! Please I beg of you! I want to live!” she screams
“Calm down, we’re not Pillagers!” Robby informs her, however the Magikoopa doesn’t believe her “Don’t think I’ll fall for that! I’ll fight you if I have to!”
“Eh, you really don’t needz to do thatz” Fizz says
However, the Magikoopa still won’t listen “Right that’s it! I warned you!”
A short battle then infuses between them
After the battle, the Magikoopa falls to the ground “Go on, just do it, burn me already...”
“We don’t want to burn you!” Robby explains
“Huh what? So... you’re not Pillagers?” She asks 
“Nope” Robby says “We’re just ordinary people who are searching for a Seal Shard!” 
The Magikoopa is relieved “Oh, phew... I thought I was a goner! Hmmm... Seal Shard? What’s that?”
“Eh, it’z like a metal, triangular plate. Kind of lookz like a futuristic Pizza?” Fizz describes.
“You know I might just know of something that fits that description... but... I’ll only tell you where to find it IF you help out us Magikoopas from them EVIL pillagers!” She smirks
Mario agrees to help them since he believes that the “Witches” aren’t so evil after all
“Huh? Really? You’d really help us?! Thank you so much!” She jumps with joy
“Yeah, but what will the pillagers think if they see us helping witches? They’ll probably burn US instead!!!” Guss T. mildly panics 
“Perhaps...” Kammilia thinks “But then again, I’ll be helping you along the way! With my invisibility spell, they’ll never know you’re helping us! Listen, there are about 20 witches in the village, some of them might not have been captured yet, but we need to save them all, and then I’ll tell you where to find that Seal Shard thing! Deal”
Mario agrees and with that: KAMMILIA JOINED YOUR PARTY!!!
With they settled, Mario, Co. and their new companion Kammilia, set out into the village to save all 20 witches!
Using Kammilia’s ability to turn invisible, Mario and Co. can now simply walk through the Pillagers that we’re originally blocking off some of the pathways. The first 4 witches Mario and Co. save are strapped to a pole with twigs at the bottom, ready to be set on fire, but before one of the Pillagers can set the twigs alight, Mario and Co. jump into help and so a battle infuses with a few of the pillagers. After the battle, the pillagers run away and Mario and Co. untie the Magikoopas from the pole. The Magikoopas are incredibly grateful but wonder:
“Where can we go to be safe?”
Kammilia then comes up with a solution “There’s a small grotto to the far north of the village! It’s pretty obscure so it’s unlikely that the Pillagers will be able to find it”
“Looks like we’ll have to escort these Magikoopas to the Grotto” Guss T. assumes
“Wait can’t you just use your wands to turn invisible like Kammilia did?” Robby asks
One of the Magikoopas interjects “I’m afraid not. Each time they capture us, they confiscate our wands so that we can’t defend ourselves”
“Lookz like it’z time for an ezcort!” Fizz adds up
So...
[Minigame: Escort to Exit!]
(This is a much longer minigame than others) This is essentially a stealth mission. Each time you save/find a Magikoopa, you must escort them to the grotto at the north end of the village. However, if any Pillagers spot you, a battle may infuse, but be sure to beat them quickly, because the Magikoopas your escorting can get re-captured and then taken back to the area where you first saved them. You and the Magikoopas will have to hide behind things to not get spotted but also Kammilia will be needed to turn Mario invisible so that they can plan out a clear and safe path for the Magikoopas to take. (Just like all minigames, you can reply this in the gaming tent, with different stage setups and settings)
(Btw: you don’t have to save each Magikoopa individually; you’ll often be escorting multiple Magikoopas at once)
Once all 20 Magikoopas are saved in the grotto, Mario and Co. are showered with praise of their thankfulness. 
“We can’t thank you enough Mario!” Kammilia smiles “Well, the pillagers aren’t exactly gone yet... but I suppose I did promise you that I’d tell you where that Seal Shard is located so, allow me to inform you that the Shard is located inside Merletic’s Lair!”
“Who is this Merletic you speak of?” Cocoknown questions
Kammilia explains “Merletic is the leader of our village... however, he is rarely seen as he spends most of his time in his sinister cave, east of the valley...”
“This village has a leader? So how come he hasn’t helped any of you out? Does even know of what’s going on?” Guss T. asks question after question
“Unfortunately, I am unsure...” Kammilia bows her head “However, another thing we have to worry about is that Merletic’s lair is separated from the rest of the village by a small canyon, so getting over there won’t be easy...”
“Any bright ideaz?” Fizz raises her head
Kammilia does have one suggestion: “Well, we could try visiting Merlystic, she lives in a house north-east of the village, but she doesn’t like being bothered... but I guess we don’t have choice...”
So, the group head to Merlystic’s house, but along the way, Kammilia notices that the Pillagers aren’t there anymore and wonders if they’ve retreated. Once they reach Merlystic’s house, they enter and find Merlystic is calmly meditating on the floor
She then notices Mario “I see thou hath finally came...”
“Huh? Did she know we would be here? And how did she not get captured?” Robby scratches his head
Merlystic replies “Thy foretold that thou would arrive here... And hath thy casted a spell which lured the Pillagers away from thy home...” 
“What? Why couldn’t you use that spell to help the other Magikoopas out? Ergh, never mind” Kammilia digresses “Anyway, since the Pillagers appear to be gone now, we came to ask about a way of getting over to Merletic’s Lair”
“I see...” Merlystic whispers “If thou wishes to meet Merletic in his lair, then thou shall get across the canyon using the breeze...”
“Eh... what?” Robby is confuses
“Here, use thy balcony as thou starting point...” Merlystic show them out onto a small lookout upstairs
Guss T. then realises “Oh, I get it! We’ll use thy... eh, I mean MY hat to glide over there!”
“Indeed...” Merlystic sits calmly 
So, on the high up ledge, Mario uses Guss T.’s ability to glide over to the other side of the canyon.
Merlystic wishes Mario and Co. luck, and so the group head up to the cave entrance that is Merletic’s Lair...
The group enter and so the dungeon of Chapter 4 begins! However, as they begin exploring the lair, they soon find that the place is swarming with mysterious traps, puzzles and many other torturous devices. But more interestingly, they find that the place is also swarming with PILLAGERS!
After the first encounter with them, Kammilia realises “Oh no, they’re after Merletic! So, that’s why they left the village!” with that said, the group press onwards through the rest of the dungeon and along the way, Mario finds himself the Ultra Boots! Now he can perform triple jumps to get up to higher ledges!
After making it through most of the dungeon, Mario and Co. meet up with a suspicious looking Pillager who introduces himself
“Thy am Pilgrit! Leader of the Pillagers!”
“So, you’re the one behind all this!” Kammilia becomes enraged
“Thou could it that way... but the real enemy is whom in which we seek” Pilgrit replies
Mario and Co. become confused but before they can say anything, Pilgrit attacks with a few of his Pillagers and so a battle infuses
After the battle, Pilgrit and his Pillagers race into the next room, swearing “Thou shall not stop thy master!”
Although these words confuse Mario and Co., the group chase after them, in which they then enter what appears to be Merletic’s room.
The room has wands hung up on the walls and a large cauldron in the centre of the room. However, at the back of the room, hung up on the wall, is none other than the Millennium Seal Shard. 
Pilgrit then steps forward and dumps the bag of wands that they had taken from the village and then calls out “The deed is done...”
Suddenly, a demonic laugh screeches “Gwehehahahe!!! Excellent!” 
Then, from out the shadows, appears a menacing shaman
“Merletic! What are you doing?!” Kammilia exclaims
“Wehehe! So, you thought that these pillagers were here to hunt me? Haha! That is not so!” Merletic then picks up the back of wands and pours them in to the cauldron which he then sets alight with the flick of his finger “Now the land shall know that I am the strongest wizard in the entire world!”
Kammilia is disgusted “Wait, you mean, they were working for you!? So you’re really the one behind all of this?!”
“Gwehehe! That’s right! These Pillagers are merely my puppets! They don’t know what they’re really doing to your village! But it has been worth to the end of every second!!!”
Merletic then pulls out a wooden spoon which he then uses to stir the cauldron up until the wands are a thick soup-liquid. Mario and Co. try to stop him but then, suddenly a swarm of Pillagers crowd around Mario, stopping him.
Once the cauldron is done, Merletic pulls out a glass bottle which he scoops up and pleasingly drinks it.
“NO!” Kammilia screams, then, in a huge burst of magical energy, Merletic transforms into a tall, demonic wizard in a brown cloak
“Gwehehe! At long last it is done! I am now the strongest magician in the world! Haha! Now nobody can leave up to my strength!!!”
“Is that what all of this was about!? Just for power!? You disgust me!” Kammilia angers
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I scare you back there in the village? Well, all I really wanted was the wands so that I could extract their magical energy, but the burning down of houses was a nice addition in my book... And just a taste of what is to come!!!”
With Merletic ready to unleash havoc upon Omen Valley, it seems as if there’s nothing our heroes can do to stop him...
However, Kammilia then thinks of an idea “Mario, the cauldron! If you can drink some of that then we might just have a chance of beating Merletic... but how are we going to get over there?” 
Mario then comes up with an ingenious addition to the plan: Mario uses his Ultra boots to jump in the air and then uses Guss T.’s ability to glide over and drop Mario into the cauldron... And by “into the cauldron”, I mean that literally...
A moment of silence occurs where everyone waits to see what Mario’s fait of jumping into the cauldron is... suddenly, the cauldron begins bubbling up and in a burst of light, Mario transforms into MEGA MARIO!!!
“What? Argh! A wise plan I must say... but it will be all for nothing in the end!!!” Merletic proclaims
With that, the boss of Chapter 5 BEGINS! ...Although, this battle is a little different...
[Minigame: Mega Melee Mash]
This is essentially a Paper Mario version of the giant battles from the Mario and Luigi series! Although still a bit different... Mario can jump or use his hammer to inflict damage; however, Mario’s party members are still regular size so they serve as special attacks! Guss T. allows Mario to perform a spin attack of-sorts, Robby allows Mario to rush through all enemies on his skateboard, Fizz can electrify Mario so that Merletic’s attacks also damage him, Cocoknown can raise Mario’s attack power and Kammilia can recover Mario’s HP. Merletic has similar moves and can also summon Pillagers to hinder you. (And as always, you can replay this minigame at the game tent)
After the battle, Merletic and Mario, turn back into their normal forms and Merletic stands in defeat
“No... how could I loose with such power on my side? You will pay for this!” Merletic threatens
All the Pillagers then wake up since Merletic is no longer controlling them and wonder just where they are
Then, Merlystic enters the room “Thou hath betrayed us all Merletic... thou who uses magic for evil shall be punished...”
Pilgrit then steps forward and agrees “Yeah, burning witches isn’t what we were made for! There’s good in everyone y’know! And I’m mad that thou used thy as a puppet for thou dirty work! If anyone deserves to be burned it should be YOU!”
Merlystic calmly speaks “Merletic... thou know pay a price... seal him upon fire...”
All the pillagers then rush up to Merletic and surround him in flames from their torches. 
“Good morrow Merletic...” Merlystic then fires a beam of magic through the at Merletic which then engulfs him in flames
“ARGH! YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIIIIIISSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!” Merletic screams as his body is reduced to ash in a sudden puff of smoke
With that, all the Pillagers begin cheering that he’s gone
Merlystic then thanks Mario “Mario, we owe thou and thy shall always be grateful for stopping that monster...”
“Wait, did you know that he would betray you?” Guss T. asks 
“Perhaps thy foretold that he would turn...” Merlystic bows her head “But now that he gone, thy shall lead the village of Magikraft safely... and as thy promised thou, here’s the Millennium Shard” she then unhooks the seal from the back of the room and hands it to Mario, thus triggering the END OF CHAPTER sequence
YOU GOT A SEAL SHARD!!!
===Chapter 4 Interludes===
Peach
Peach is awoken early in the morning once again by Senieka who tells her that "It's time to light the second torch". The duo then set off to an area west of the steppe with an ignited stick. The fire on the stick will blow out eventually, however it can be used to light other torches along the way as a checkpoint of sorts. They eventually reach the cave with the torch inside however, as they approach the cave, Senieka spots a Ruskog (A cog enemy) and quickly but silently rushes into the cave with Peach before it can spot them. "Don't make a sound..." Senieka whispers. Once the Ruskog has gone Senieka explains "This is bad... If there's Mandites here then that must mean that Melaravox knows we're here... we have to be careful that no Mandites spot us on the way back to the camp". They then light the torch and head back to the camp, weary of any Mandite enemies.
Bowser
Despite their defeat, Bowser and Kammy Koopa head back to Edolan's house where they bust in his room and Bowser demand's answers "Tell us where Peach is! NOW!". Edolan falls off his seat and panics "Wh- What!? I don't know where Peach is! I- if I did then surley Mario wouln't be on his current quest!". Kammy then steps forward and says "Listen! We heard you may know a thing or two about Peach's kidnappers, and everyone knows that only his Kidnapfulness is allowed to steal Peach!". Edolan calms down for a moment "You mean, Melaravox? Well, (let's see here, what info would a villian want to know...) Ahah! His power source is the Mechanism Mirror which he holds in his chest!". Bowser grunts "Eh, weaknesses are useful but they'd be more useful if you'd tell us where his evil lair is!". Edolan thinks for a second "Well... I don't know where is "lair" is but a place to start would be the Mechanism Ruins, North of Stridal Plains... it's not his base, but it may offer clues to what is!". Bowser gives an unsatisfying "thanks" and so he and Kammy leave the house. "Phew... good job they didn't touch any of my great inventions..." Edolan puffs  
Melaravox
Melaravox is in his crystal lair thinking when Investron enters the room followed by a Ruskog. "Sir, we think we may have found more evidence that Peach is in the Vlaggy Steppe" Investron reports. The Ruskog then plugs itself into one of the computors and displays an image it took and zooms in on what appears to be the tip of Peach's head when she was rushing towards the cave to hide. "Hmmm, Interesting! I sense we are getting closer by the second... Investron, send a few more Mandites to investigate and find out if it really is Peach! Oooh... so, long I have waited for this... and yet it has happened an ifinate amount times before now..."
==Chapter 5: Brawl of the Worlds==
Previously, Mario, co. and their new companion Kammilia retrieved the 4th Seal Shard from Omen Valley. Mario and Co. are thanked by the Magikoopas and Merlystic says that she shall become the new leader of the valley. With that, Mario set off back to the Mechanism Ruins to find out the location of the next Seal Shard. Upon arrival at the Mechanism Ruins, they meet Edolan who is eager to see the where the next location is: “Come on! This better be a place that’s adventure proof!” Edolan shouts. The Millennium Shard levitates over to the pedestal and in the reflection of it, appears a rich and luxurious city. Edolan automatically recognises it: “That’s it! Where the battle of Talon took place... or so it is said! That’s Talon City!” “So this is where that big, crazy, mechanical battle took place?” Robby astonishes. “That’s right!” Edolan swings his arm “I’ve been to this city many times, and so I know the place of the back of my shiny head! However, while it is famous for its battle as well as many UFO sightings being spotted there, to me it’s just a stupid money grabbing city where all anybody ever wants to do is eat in 5-star restaurants or just going boring-old cloths shopping! If I had that money, I’d be giving my inventions out like candy!”.
Kammilia gives a blank stare “Eh, yeah... so how do we get to this city exactly?” Edolan turns dramatically “By taking... THE TRAIN!!!”. Guss T. thinks for a second and remembers “Wait... didn’t the train crash when Mario was on it? So... how do we take a train that’s completely destroyed? You got an invention for that too?”. “Oh, I wish I did...” Edolan smirks “Bu lucky for you, the train was just recently repaired! ...well... actually, that might be a bit of a stretch because... they really just imported a new train over here... as the other train... they probably can’t be bothered tidying the rest of that up... anyway, the train should be waiting in Cactown, so if you buy some tickets (which are probably gonna cost a fortune) then you’ll be on your way to Talon City in no time!”. With that, Mario and Co. set of to the south of Cactown where the train station is and sure enough, there’s a new luxurious train there! The train conductor then notices you and asks “Are you planning to go on our new Talon Express? Well I suggest you get your tickets quick because we’re leaving in a minute or two! You buy the tickets on that stand” *points to a counter where a toad is selling train ticket*. Mario rushes over to the counter and buys his ticket for... 200 COINS? (Edolan wasn’t kidding). Anyway, with the tickets, Mario and Co. jump on the train and so it departs to Talon City at last! Thus starting CHAPTER 5!!! BRAWL OF THE WORLDS!!!
After a long and relaxing train journey, Mario and Co. arrive in Talon City which is swarming with rich and wealthy citizens (wearing all that posh clothing). Mario and Co. step off the train and wonder what they should do first, when a posh, English Brock wearing an orange strip that says “Mayor” on it approaches the group. To their surprise, the Brock recognises Mario “Hahaha! How I never expected you to come here! Oh, how I am delighted to have Mario stay in my wonderful city! I welcome you all with open arms!”
Fizz thinks for a second “Thiz iz your town?” she wonders. “Well yeah!” Guss T. interrupts “Couldn’t you read the ribbon on him that says “Mayor!?”. “Az a matter of fact, no... I can only read onez and zeroz...” Fizz reveals. A short moment of silence breaks when the Mayor interjects “Anyway, I’m just wondering what an icon like you is doing in a place so far away from the mushroom kingdom? Aren’t you usually out saving your Princess? I’m Mayor Brockworth by the way!”
Cocoknown answers Brockworth’s question “Actually... we still are trying to save the princess... we came here in search of something called a Seal Shard, you wouldn’t to know anything about it would you? Strangely, Brockworth stutters “Eh... no... But eh... our city is famous for having many UFO sighting so you can find out more at the observatory! ...that and the battle that took place here...” with that, Brockworth leaves with an guilty look on his face. Either way, the group head into the city, presumably heading to the observatory on the west side of the city. However, along the way, they see a strange cloaked character whose face is covered and is walking up to random citizens warning them: “Something terrible is going to happen tonight! You have to believe me! They’re coming tonight!!!” Interested, Mario and Co. approach the cloaked character, curious as to what they are warning them about. 
When they approach him, he warns you like he did to the other citizens, when Guss T. interjects “Yeah, yeah, yeah, CAN IT! We wanna know what you’re warning everyone about! What is it?!”.
The cloaked character bows his head down more to hide his face and speaks “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you...”. “Okay, trust me, I think we’ve all been through some pretty weird stuff, so it’s likely that whatever you’re warning everyone about is believable” Kammilia informs him “Very well then” the cloaked character says “Tonight... Martians from a distant planet, will invade your peaceful city, and make it a living hell on earth! Still believe me?” Everyone stares blankly in shock and wonder, especially Kammilia “Eh... yeah... that thing that I just said about believing it... scratch that one”. “Just remember that it’s your own life you’re putting at risk...” the cloaked character then walks away “Man that guy creeps me out” Guss T. shivers “Anyway, how about we go over to that observatory?” With that, the group head to the observatory to the west of the city. Once there, they meet the astronomer and ask him about the “UFO sightings”. The astronomer explains: “Indeed, this city is known for being the site of many extraterrestrial UFO spottings!” He then shows some pictures of the UFO sightings
Robby then asks “But why is it that they seem to show up in this one location the most?”. The astronomer continues “Well, there’s an old legend surrounding it. You know about the battle of Talon right? Well, they say that after the battle, they used 7 shards to seal Melaravox inside the mirror!”. “Eh yeah... we’re pretty clear on that” Guss T. says, giving an uninterested look. “Hold on I’m not done yet” the astronomer continues “Anyway, the people of Talon needed to hide the Seal Shards so that they couldn’t be used for evil. However, an ancient legend says that the people of Talon made a deal with aliens from another planet known as Planet Zerk. The deal was that the aliens traded with the people of Talon; the aliens swore to protect the Seal Shard and in return, the People of Talon would protect the alien’s most sacred possession: a red orb known as the Crimson Breath that controlled the balance of nature on their planet...”
“So what you say is that the Seal Shard is not our planet entirely?” Cocoknown checks. “Possibly... It’s also said that the Crimson Breath still lies here in Talon City somewhere... although it has yet to be discovered... say, have you heard?” The astronomer gets slightly off topic “We’ve predicted that there’s going to be a comet passing over us today, late at night, I highly suggest you stay around until then, although you might want to get some rest at the hotel first... around 2 O’clock it’s at” With that, Mario and Co. decide to book a night at the hotel (east of the town) and for a high price! Anyway, with it getting late and with not much else to do, the group decide to get some sleep until 2 O’clock. After taking a good sleep, Mario and Co. wake up at midnight, where hear crowds of people outside in the city centre. So, Mario and Co. leave the hotel to find out what’s going on.
Once in the town centre, they meet Brockworth who informs them “Any second now, a comet will come racing across the sky!”
“I just wondering how all this is going to add up” Kammilia wonders. Suddenly, a voice from the crowd shouts “LOOK! THERE IT IS!!!”
Everyone then looks at the beautiful night sky to see a comet striding across it. However, the astronomer then looks closer and notices something “The comet... It’s drawing closer! It could land here!” The comet goes out of sight once it goes too far to the west, when suddenly, a huge explosion is seen in the distance... it appears the comet has landed...
Everyone gasps, mesmerised by such a strange event, as is the astronomer: “Oh my! It landed in west Mortal Moor (a large over world that surrounds Talon City)”. Brockworth thinks for a second while pulling a slight look of guilt on his face “... we should go and investigate it... make sure families stay here with their children... not only could the moor be dangerous but just as much could the asteroid...”. Several people then get their stuff ready and go with the mayor to West Mortal Moor. Kammilia then suggests “We should go to; we might just find something of interest!”. With that, the group, as well as some citizens, exit west of the town and explore West Mortal Moor (Enemies: Gloombas, Para Gloombas, Spiked Gloombas, Crazy Daizies, Amazee Daizies)
After reaching the crashed Meteor, Asteroid, comet... or WHATEVER THE HECK YOU WANNA CALL IT! You meet the Mayor who is gathered with a bunch of crowded people, still mesmerised at the huge rock. The astronomer then takes a closer look and realizes something “Wait a second... this isn’t an asteroid... it’s manmade... I mean... Martian Made...” He then rubs away some of the dust of the cylinder and reveals that it’s all made of metal. Suddenly, a noise begins projecting from inside the cylinder in which everyone stays silent, scared of what it could be. Then, the top of the cylinder begins to turn, unscrewing until it falls off, down onto the floor, creating a large thud. “What could it be?” Cocoknown shakes. Suddenly, a long tentacle-like mechanical arm emerges from the cylinder and observes the people surrounding it. As it turns, the light projecting from seemingly makes it appear as if it is scanning the people, looking for someone. However, when the light detects Mayor Brockworth, the arm goes “BEEP” and switches off suddenly.
Brockworth shivers “Why did it stop on me? Oh no... This is bad...”. The arm quickly retreats into the cylinder and suddenly, a huge mechanical leg unfolds (because it’s paper) from the cylinder, and smashes its foot into the ground. Then another leg emerge, crashing down on the other side of the cylinder, all while people panic, some running away, others still hypnotised by its unfamiliar presence. Finally, the 3rd and final leg emerges and lifts the full machine out of the cylinder, revealing itself as a huge alien Tripod with blinding lights, more tentacle-like arms, and laser guns mounted on the sides. The machine then lets out a huge robotic howl as it stands tall amongst the fields. The machine the begins charging its power and when ready, unleashes a reign of laser beams upon the people.
“RUN!!!”, “WHAT IS THAT THING!?” shout the people, doing just that. Mayor Brockworth then panics “Everyone! Get back to the city! Just RUN!!! ...what have I done” he then rushes away. “Come on! Why aren’t we running?!” Robby screams. Mario and Co. then rush back to Talon City while being chased by the huge Martian Tripod while it shoots laser beams which turn people into crystals (like the ones in Mario galaxy), as well as grabbing people with its arms to take them into the tripod. Once back in the town, the citizens are swarming the streets, panicking from the alien invasion. Mario and Co. then notice that the Tripod isn’t the only alien machine that has arrived; the city is now under attack from UFOs as well. Abruptly, 2 UFOs stop Mario and Co. in their tracks, in which an alien jumps out of each of them.
“Aliens?! Why are they here?” Guss T. screams. One of the aliens chuckle “(Mwehehe, do not worry, as soon as we have what we’re looking for, we’ll leave everyone alone!)”. The other one adds “(However, the more people we get out of the way, the less time we’ll have to spend searching, so I’m afraid we’ll have to take you down!)”. With that, a short battle infuses. After the battle: “(Wha? How did we loose with such technology! Argh, let’s just look for him like master order us to!)” The aliens then jump back n their UFOs and retreat further into the city. “Come on! We need to stop them!” Robby encourages when suddenly, the Tripod step behind them and observes them with its blinding eye of light while letting of its deathly howl. Kammilia shakes “...R-RUN FOR IT!!!”
Mario and Co. then rush into the city with an unclear objective. A lot of the areas a blocked off by debris, so you can only explore certain areas of the city. After fighting your way through the city, all while avoiding the Tripod (if it catches you, you have to do a quick button combination to escape, otherwise it’s an instant game over), you reach a back alley way, where it appears to be a dead end. The Tripod closes in, knowing that Mario and Co. are nearby, and UFOs are also searching from above, all while Mario co. hide behind a dumpster, it seems all hope is lost... “Don’t make a sound...” Cocoknown whispers. “But you just didz” Fizz replies, “Shut up all of you!” Kammilia says shivering. Then, the Tripod bend it’s a tentacle arm around the corner and into the alley. However, just as it is about to spot you, a miniature UFO appears and attacks the arm, making it retreat. A voice then calls Mario and Co. “You! Over here!” he says holding a door open to let them in.
Mario and Co. hurry towards the door without question and the shadowy character slams the door behind them who then leads them downstairs into an underground shelter of sorts. Many citizens are hiding in here, including the Mayor. “Man, thankz for saving uz! Who are you anyway?” Fizz then turns around and sees that the one who had just saved them is the cloaked man from earlier. “Wha?! You!? YOU!? Right, who in darnation are you anyway?!” Guss T. demands answers. The cloaked character gives a grinning pose and says “You could call me one of them...” he then takes off the cloak and reveals himself to be a 3-eyed alien. Everyone gasps and backs away, afraid that he may bring harm. The alien tries to settle them down and explains “My name is Torges and yes, I am an alien from Zerk, the planet in which these aliens come from. However, I am not here to bring harm to you, I, unlike the others, come in peace”.
Cocoknown then realises something “Wait a second, this is what you were warning people about earlier, you knew this would happen!”. “Y’know, you could’ve been a little more... proof-worthy when you came to persuading people!” Guss T. suggests. Torges apologises “Sorry about that, I just didn’t think that people would be so keen to listen to a 3-eyed alien!”. “I don’t think people were that much keener in listening to a creepy cloaked guy either!” Kammilia adds. “Listen, I’m sorry!” Torges states “I’m trying to help you here, listen, these aliens are only here for one person, once they have that person, they’ll leave!”. Brockworth overhears this and silently pulls another guilty face. “Listen, I too want to stop these aliens, I know I’m one of them, but it’s not right for them to do this! You seem strong Mario, we’ll find a safe way out of here and think of plan alright!”
Mario agrees and with that: TORGES JOINED YOUR PARTY!!!
So, the group search the crowded bunker for anything helpful. Eventually, they uncover a hidden door with Cocoknown’s ability, which leads them into the Talon Sewers. After exploring the sewers for awhile, Mario, Co. and Torges find a strange, ancient looking room, where a pedestal stands in the centre, although there’s nothing on the pedestal. “What iz this?” Fizz gasps. Torges stares at the pedestal “This... is why the aliens came here...”. “Huh? What are you saying?” Robby wonders. “Do you know what the Crimson Breath is?” Torges questions “This is where it once lay... on this pedestal... The Crimson Breath is a powerful device which protects and restores the nature on our planet... millenniums ago, the people of Talon made the deal with the Zerk inhabitants that they’d each protect a prized possession which could not fall to the ways of evil... The aliens swore to protect the Zyonite Shard on their own planet, as long as the people of this world protected the Crimson Breath... but it seems that pact has been betrayed... someone has taken the Crimson Breath from its shrine... and whoever has taken it... is the one the aliens want...”
“Hmm... but who could have taken it?” Cocoknown clutches his jaw. Suddenly, a voice comes from behind them “It was me...” Everyone then turns to see Mayor Brockworth looking extremely regretful. “It’s true... Me and my workers discovered this place a few weeks ago... at first I was unsure if the orb was what I really thought it was... since then, more UFOs sighting began showing up; they’ve been watching us the whole time! The Crimson Breath is currently in a private room in my work place... I’m sorry everyone... listen, this is my fault, I doubted that alien’s existence... If it’s me they want... then they can take me... as long as they leave the rest of the city alone...”. Torges gives a harsh look but understands nonetheless “Are you sure you can go out there and face this? You deserve this! We aliens doubted the existence of your kind at one point... I just want you to know that you’re not alone on this...” A moment of silence breaks when suddenly, part of the ceiling breaks and the tactical-like arm spots Brockworth and instantly attempts to grab him. However, Mario quickly jumps in and stops the arm with his hammer.
While the arm is down, Torges tells Mario, Co. and Brockworth “Quick, into this room” the group then rush into another room within the sewers, which has a bunker-basement look to it. Anyway, now it’s time for a new stage of a familiar minigame!
[Minigame: Escort to Exit]
Similar to the Chapter 4 minigame in the sense that you have to stealthily make your way through from point A to B, this minigame has a few differences. This time, you’re only escorting one person: you have to escort Mayor Brockworth away from the Tripod arm and to the other side of the basement, while various aliens that are searching the sewers for you.
Once you get to the other side of the sewers (this would be where the minigame ends) Brockworth is still unsure “You don’t have to do this...”. “I’ve lived under their reign for years... I’ve hated every second of it... they need to know how I feel, how all these people feel... Empress Xerainia needs to know this...”. Then suddenly, the ceiling breaks and the tripod arm swiftly reaches into grab Brockworth, only this time, it succeeds. The aliens retreat from the basement, and the Tripod walks off projecting its deadly howl, now that it has what it came for. “NO!” Torges exclaims “I’m not letting this happen. Mario, we need to get out there, I have a plan to stop them!”. Mario and Co. then exit the sewers (via a pipe which was original being guarded by an alien). Once out the sewers and in the city again, Torges looks at the Mayors building and notices the overlook room at the top of the building “The Mayor’s building! We need to get there!” Mario and Co. then fight their way through the City, until they reach the Mayor’s building.
Torges orders the rest of Mario’s party members “Find the Crimson Breath! Meanwhile, Me and Mario will finish this!”, Mario’s party agrees and so Mario and Torges rush to the top of the building where Torges sets up his miniature UFO. “Ready for some space invaders” Torges grins confidently. And so begins another minigame!
[Minigame: Martian Madness!]
This minigame is essentially a first-person shooter type minigame, where you use Torges’ UFO to shoot down the enemy Tripod and other UFOs. The aliens will attack you with their own lasers which you can block by shooting them. The main target is the Tripod though; You need to keep shooting at its giant eye, all while avoiding the other hazards. If you get hit 3 times then it’s an instant GAME OVER and once the Tripod is taken down, the minigame ends. (As usual, you can replay this minigame in the Gaming Tent).
After all that, the tripod breaks down in the city centre, and so Mario and Torges rush out to check if Brockworth is okay. However, as they are leaving, your party members show Torges something: “We found it! The Crimson Breath!” Kammilia applauds, handing it to Torges. “Alright!” Torges smiles (even though he has no mouth) “Quick, let’s get to that Tripod!”. “...a thanks would have been nice...” Guss T. sighs. Anyway, the group carefully approach the Tripod, when suddenly, the hatch opens, smashing into the ground, but no one seems to be there... “Come on... let’s go... be careful...” Torges huffs. The group cautiously enter the Tripod which is unlighted due to the damage it took. Suddenly, the Tripod shakes and group quietly enter the next room where the aliens controlling the Tripod are attempting to rework it. Mario then spots Mayor Brockworth being held by one of the aliens, however, all Mario and Co. can do is stay silent. Suddenly, the Tripod begins vibrating as if the engines are back on
“Yes! I got it working again! Now, back to home!” Cheers one of the aliens. The legs off the tripod then fold in and the bottom of the tripod begins spewing fire and within seconds, it takes off into the distant skies where an unfamiliar planet rests in the background. The tripod then lands with a huge THUD! And the aliens celebrate that they’ve returned with Mayor Brockworth. “Hehe! I swear I’m going to get a raise for this!” Says one of them. “Hey, we all captured him, we should all get a raise!” says another. “See what king of daily rubbish I have to put up with on this planet?” Torges facepalms. The aliens then overhear this and peak around the corner to see Mario and Co. With no choice left, Mario and Co. jump out to fight the aliens off.
“Ohh! So it appears we have a traitor!?” One of them directs at Torges. “MHEHE! Get Mayor-scum over to Empress Xerainia while wez take care of thezzzeee!!!”. “Hey! Only I’m allowedz to doz the Z-thing!” Fizz enrages. A short battle then infuses. After the battle, the aliens retreat but this makes Torges feel weary “They know we’re here! Listen, we have to get over to Empress Xerainia’s palace! Before they harm Brockworth, come on!”. Mario and Co. then make their way through chapter 5’s dungeon on Planet Zerk itself which is covered in strange red plants... y’know, like “Red Weeds”:D! Eventually you enter Xerainia’s palace which is heavily guarded by aliens, Along the way, Mario finds the Gravity Hammer! Which he can use to change the gravity in order to walk on the ceiling and walls. Eventually, Mario and Co. reach Xerainia’s throne room where they confront Xerainia herself!
“Eh... so... where’z the Empress?” Fizz asks. “I’M THE EMPRESS YOU FOOL” an alien women the steps out of her throne. “That thing... IS FEMALE?!” Kammilia gasps. “Ew, what is that thing!?” Guss T. grosses out. One of the guard aliens then interjects “How dare you lay eyes upon the beauty that is Empress Xerainia and then make fun of it!”. “You... call that beautiful?” Robby confuses. “Are you kidding me?” the alien says, she’s the most beautiful women on Planet Zerk!”. “He’s right you know!” Torges adds (directing it at Mario and Co.). “SILENCE!!!” Xerainia screams “So, you’re the ones who have been causing trouble, trying to disrupt my plans... Oooh, well I have plans for you... Torges! Not only have you betrayed our objectives, but you’ve also sided with THEM!!! YOU SHALL ALL BE PUNISHED FOR THIS INSOLENCE!! RIGHT NOW!!! GUARDS!!!”. Torges steps forward “I’ve lived under your curse for far too long to make me want to turn back! This isn’t fair! The Mayor didn’t know the consequences! You don’t need to call out a full scale invasion!!!”. “ENOUGH!” Xerainia commands “I will dispose of you here and NOW!!!”
And so begins the boss of chapter 5: Empress Xeriania
After the battle: Xerainia huffs “Huff... h-how did you acquire such strength... How did I lose to the people of the Mushroom World? ...Torges... why do you seek such vengeance upon us?” Torges gulps “Because... all my life... I’ve looked at their world, and seen happiness, morality and respect between people... but here! ...it’s just... so dark and dull... and you choose to do nothing about it! I’d gladly help anyone who would wish to defeat you... I know they promised to protect the Crimson Breath and Brockworth betrayed that... okay... but remember when we used to think that no other life existed on any other planets?! We were just as blind! We cannot blame him for that! Xerainia, you’ve harmed many innocent people on that planet... I just hope that you’ll come to your senses and finally understand...”. “I see...” Xerainia breaths out “But if they don’t protect what we wanted them to... then why should protect THIS for them?!” she then pulls out the Zyonite Shard from behind her back. “The Zyonite Shard!” Cocoknown says, waiting for the events to unfold.
“Xerainia then stares deeply into the Seal Shard and sees the pain and suffering of all people in the reflection of it. She then comes to an epiphany “Take it” she throws the shard onto the floor for Mario to take “Perhaps this is my fault... perhaps it’s a bit of everyone’s fault... but I want to make this right. Perhaps it would be best if we re-traded our possessions, back when we first traded, our technology wasn’t nearly as advanced, we couldn’t risk such a valuable thing... I am truly sorry for what I have done and I hope that one day we can fix the trust between our worlds!”. Torges smiles with immense happiness and walks up to Xerainia, giving her the Crimson Breath “...Protect it as if it was your child...” he says. Torges then picks up the Zyonite Shard and gives it to Mario “Mario, I am truly thankful for what you have helped us to achieve! Please, take this!” he then gives Mario the Zyonite Shard, thus triggering the END OF CHAPTER sequence.
YOU GOT A SEAL SHARD!!!
===Chapter 5 Interlude===
Peach:
Peach is awoken at night again by Senieka who tells her "We must now light the 3rd torch". Peach gets ready, and so they travel east of the wasteland to find it. However, along the way, they are spotted by Investron and his Manidtes, in which a battle infuses. After the battle, Investron and his Mandites retreat however, Senieka worries since Melaravox will now know that they're here. Peach and Senieka hurry to light the 3rd torch and head back to camp, unsure on weather this will be a safe night anymore...
Bowser:
Bowser and Kammy are investigating the Mechanism Ruins, though unsure of why Edolan suggested they come there. "BARGH! This is boring! What's so interesting about this place!?" Bowser rambles on. Kammy takes a good look at the murals "Hmmm... if you ask me, I'd say these drawings are depicting a great war of sorts... say... look here! there's a big castle!". "Did someone say... CASTLE!?" Bowser runs over and looks. Bowser then recognises one of the people in the murals "Wait a second... is that, MARIO?!". "Huh?" Kammy Koopa wonders "Hey, yeah, it does kind of look like him... meh, it's probably nothing... say, how about we try heading to that castle, wherever it may be... it sure looks interesting. Bowser agrees, and so they leave the ruins.
Melaravox:
Investron busts in the room to report "Sir! We can now confirm that Peach is indeed in the Vlaggy Steppe!". "Ah!" Melaravox is pleased "And well? did you capture her?". Investron stutters "Eh well, you see, it's that women sir, she's too strong!". "ARGH!" Melaravox curses "Well make sure it's done!". "Eh, yes sir, I'll see to it right away!" Investron then goes to leave the room when Melaravox stops him "Wait! Tell the others to take care of that... I have another assignment for you" Melaravox then takes Investron into a room with a pedestal at the back of it with an arch which looks like it should contain the Mechanism Mirror. "Investron, I need the Portal Chip... for that is what will power this device when all is in place...". "Where is the chip?" Investron ask, Melaravox turns "On Tidehouse Island..."
==Chapter 6: Tidying up Some Tidy Buissness==
Previously, Mario and Co. retrieved the 5th Seal Shard from Planet Zerk, after a slight misunderstanding... and by slight I mean, a full out war or... brawl... As a form of apology, Empress Xerainia kindly takes Mario and Co. back to Earth in her ship. The group arrive in the town centre where Xerainia apologises to the citizens of Talon City. “I am deeply sorry for what we have done here; I swear this won’t happen again! Hmm, perhaps it would be best if... we kept the Crimson Breath to ourselves... after all, your hero has now came to reclaim the Seal Shard, and after all this, I think it’s best for both our worlds. I do hope we can maintain a cooperative bond between our worlds in the future, but for now, let’s just focus on our own worlds...” Empress Xerainia then walks back into her ship and gets ready to set off. One of the alien grunts then notices Torges “Eh, hey! Torges! Aren’t you coming back to Zerk?!”. Torges then looks around for a moment and thinks “Well... if it’s okay, I would like to stay here in the Mushroom World for awhile! After all, I sure like the green fields you see on this planet! All ours are red!”. The alien grunt understands “Alright then! See ya!” He then walks into the ship and so it sets off back to Planet Zerk! Fizz then looks towards Torges and wonders “Hey, Torgez? How come you’re staying here?”. Torges smiles (despite having no mouth) “Truth is, I wanna travel with you guys! You all seem to have had a lot of fun on your journeys (as scary as the previous one was for you) either way, adventuring just isn’t something I’m used to, or at least not on foot or on ground. So, what d’ya say?” Mario agrees to let him join and so they set off back to the Mechanism Ruins to find out the next Seal Shard location.
Once in the ruins, Mario and Co. meet Edolan who seems rather mad: “Darnit, Darnit, and DAG NABBIT!!! I just saw on the news that something actually INTERESTING happened in Talon City! AND I WASN’T THERE! Well, since you’ve got that new Seal Shard, how bout you give it a spin?”. Mario nods and so he places the Zyonite Shard onto the pedestal and so it begins to glow! Then, in the reflection of the Seal appears the image of an old sea town, rainy, cloudy and stormy. “Hmmm... where could that be?” Robby wonders. Everyone then turns to Edolan, surprised that he has not yet lectured the group with his knowledge of the area. Strangely, Edolan is just standing there frozen with a face that makes look as if he’s trying to throttle someone. “Eh, hello! Zerk- I mean EARTH to, eh... *looks towards the others* what was his name again?” Torges communicates “Why the heck are you pulling that face?!” Kammilia asks, concerned about him. Edolan then drops his head and sighs “Why... why... WHY!!!!!”. “What’s wrong? Do you have a back-story concerning this place?” Cocoknown wonders. “NO!” Edolan shouts “It’s just! BORING!!! That my friend, if you must know is the Swayey Docks on the coast of the Tidey Sea!”. “Yeah... so?” Guss T. squints her eyes. “SO, THAT MEANS I HAVE NO INTENTION OF COMING WITH YOU!” Edolan exclaims “And I was really hoping that this next area would be somewhere that I actual want to visit!”. Guss T. then points out “Eh, excuse me but, didn’t you do the same thing with our previous location? I mean you said you weren’t interested and then when we returned you found out that Talon City was invaded by aliens! What’s not to say that wouldn’t happen again?”
Edolan smirks “Pfff Oh gimmi a break! This is a seatown we’re talking about! A SEATOWN! What’s the most interesting thing that could happen there eh? Gets attacked by giant Kraken? Or by robot pirates or something else out of the ordinary that just WOULDN’T happen there! The best you’re gonna get is maybe the whole town starving because they can’t catch any fish! Well! Why don’t you be on your way so that we can get that 6th Seal Shard and hope that FINGERS CROSSED!!! .... That it will be an interesting area! Okay? Ta-tah!With that, Mario and Co. set of to the Swayey Dock, located South-East of Mortal Moor! However, along the way to the town, the group bump into a familiar face: Beatbean, who is once again, looking quite lost. “What!? You again! Ergh... *sigh* for some reason I just don’t have it in me anymore...”. Robby Gasps “Beatbean!? What the flutter are you doing all the way out here?”. Beatbean clutches his fists “Huff... I’ve been thinking... I used to think I was the boss of the park, and perhaps that... people looked up to me like a role model... now I see that I was just a huge jerk... you’re the real heroes... but me... well now, I’m just a nobody...”. A sad expression grows on Robby’s face “That’s the thing... you gotta think about others and not just yourself...”. Beatbean then gets angry “Think about others!? Well you didn’t do a very good job of that when you changed Dutti Park! Because now I’m JUST A LOST NOBODY WITH NOTHING TO GAIN BY GOING ANYTHING!!!! So I might as well... MAKE THE MOST OF IT!!!” Beatbean then charges at Mario, thus starting a fight. After the battle: “huff... I don’t even know what I’m doing with my life anymore... just, just leave me be!” Beatbean then scurries off like a coward while Robby stares wondering if he’ll be okay. "Is it just me? Or has Beatbean somehow improved his vocabulary?” Guss T. suspects.
Anyway, the group then head towards Swayey Docks thus starting CHAPTER 6: TIDYING UP SOME TIDY BUISSNESS!!! Once in the town, it’s not long before Mario and Co. notice that all the townsfolk seem miserable for some reason, complaining that they’re “hungry” or “starving”. Curious, Mario and Co. make their way down to the actually docks where they are stopped by one of the sailors who tells them “I’m afraid it is unsafe for you to come down here”. Mario and Co. are confused as to why but before anyone can ask, the sailor continues to talk: “Say, you don’t seem familiar to me, what brings you here? Because if it’s food then I’m afraid we can’t help you”. Kammilia then asks “Why? What’s going on around here? Why is everyone so miserable?”. The sailor bows his head and sighs “You see, our town relies on us: the sailors. We are the ones that go out into the sea to catch fish which provides te town with food! However, unfortunately the tides and weather have been unpredictable and extremely insane lately, so much in fact that we can’t even set sail to catch fish; it is far too dangerous! But all of this means that we just can’t catch anything!”. Torges Pities him “Tough times huh? We had similar problems back on my planet, but what could be causing such a strange phenomenon yo occur?”. “I’m afraid that I can’t be sure but I get the feel it may have something to do with the Tidehouse” The sailor adds up. “Tidehouse? Don’t you mean lighthouse?” Robby confuses. “Nope” The sailor confirms “I know what I said! You see, we do have a lighthouse but on a distant island we have an ancient device of sorts known as the Tidehouse! It’s like lighthouse only it controls the tides and waters of the Tidey Sea rather than guiding boats”.
Cocoknown then buts in “Sorry to break the subject but may I remind you of the Seal Shard we came here for?”. The sailor looks suspicious “Seal? I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong seatown...”. “WHAT!!!???” Guss T. screams “We came all this way JUST TO FIND OUT THAT WE DIDN’T HAVE TO COME ALL THIS WAY!!!!???”. “Well, here we catch fish, crabs and the occasional lobsters but if it’s seals you want then you probably wanna try heading to the poles...” The Sailor lectures. Everyone then thinks for a second and realises that he’s talking about the wrong kind of “Seal”. “NO!” Cocoknown face-palms “Like a key kind of seal NOT the animal! You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it? It kind of looks like a metal pizza”. “Oh I see now!” the sailor realises “Well I might just know something that fits that description! There’s an old Blooper that lives in a small house on those hills to the north; he has collected many treasures from the Tidey Sea and also might know a thing or two about the whole Tidehouse business!”. With that, the group head of to the cliffs/hills north of the docks where Mario and Co. find the small remote house which looks rather old. Once inside the house, they instantly spot the Aquoise Shard hung up on the wall at the back of the room.
“There it iz! The Zeal Zhard!” Fizz jumps with joy when suddenly voice and figure emerges from the shadows: “And just what d’ya think yer doin’ in my bounty?”. “Erh, it’s that Shard you have there, we need it!” Robby says. “Oh I get it! Here to steal my treasure eh? Go! Scurry before I tear ya a new one!!!” The shadow threatens. Kammilia tries to reason with him “What? No! We just-” Cocoknown interrupts “We want to know about the Tidehouse and what’s going on”. “Oh I see...” The figure then emerges from the shadows and reveals himself as the blooper they were told about “The name’s Captain Bloop-beard! As you may know I’m quite the sailor or at least I used to be, now I’m just a lonely guy in the cliff tops... anyway what is it you wish to know and why?”. “Well the truth is we need that Seal Shard you have on your wall but we’re also interested in the Tidehouse” Guss T. explains. Bloop-Beard squints “Bwahaha! You think you’re gonna get that Shard I found in the ocean? Pfffff! Nice try! But I’ll gladly tell you about teh Tidehouse! You see teh Tidehouse was there long before this seatown even came into existence; you see teh Tidehouse is actually of Mandite origins; It’s thought that during teh battle of Talon, teh Mandites needed supplies from distant lands and so they constructed teh Tidehouse to help guide their own ships and such!”.
“Manditez?! So they’re linked to thiz area as well...” Fizz adds up. “Right!” Bloop-Beard confirms “However, that Tidehouse hasn’t been in Mandite control in over 1000s of years so, us sailors have taken care of it and used it to help other sailors catch their fish without any tidal problems! That is until now... You see, every 3 months, we send 3 new sailors over to Tidehouse Island to keep watch and just a few days ago we sent teh next 3 of them over to teh island and brought the old 3 back. However, that’s when all of this started! That’s when the light from teh Tidehouse suddenly started going out of control and so teh Tidey Sea has been insanely rough lately... I just wonder what could be going on over there... Regardless of what it it, the fact remains that this town is starving and if it continues for much longer then this seatown will be a ghost town!”. “Hmmm... if only there were some way we could help...” Guss T. twiddles her thumbs. “As a matter of fact, there is! In fact, that gives me an idea! So, you want this Shard right? Well, I’ll gladly give it to ya if you can get over to that island and sort out whatever madness is taking place there!” Bloop-Beard chuckles. “Wait, why has no one else tried going over there to sort it out?” Torges wonders. Bloop-Beard explains “Well, that’s the thing, no one can get over to teh blasted island due to all these storms we’ve been having... but thankfully, I have a backup plan!”. “Huh?” Robby is pulled in by this.
“Haha, you see not all Mandites are able to fly! There were some that stood on their feet like you do! Even lord Melaravox himself!” Bloop-Beard continues. This confuses Mario since he remembers Melaravox not having legs. “Anyway, teh Mandites needed some way to get over to Tidehouse Island quickly and so they constructed a light-bridge! Using the power of teh light-chips!". “The light what?” Robby confuses further. “Teh light-Bridge! A huge holographic bridge of sorts that leads strait over to teh island! However, teh bridge can only be produced using teh Light-Chips, which have been scattered throughout all these years around teh docks and town... however, they all have a stone device which makes them work and them too are scattered throughout teh docks and town! So, all you need to do is find teh chips, put them in teh stones and VWALA!”. “Alright! Sounds simple enough!” Torges eagerly prepares. Bloop-beard rubs his head with his tentacle “Yeah, only it’s not... You see each Light-Chip also has the ability to control the tide to a different level and so it’s going to be quite a puzzle trying to put them all in at once so... tell ye what! Hows abouts I join you! I can help you with swimming in the docks but ONLY in the docks! We must not leave them!”
With that, BLOOP-BEARD JOINED YOUR PARTY!!!
Mario and Co. then get ready to leave just after Bloop-Beard quickly grabs the Aquoise Shard because “I don’t want anyone to steel it while I’m gone!” And so, Mario and start their fetch-quest to retrieve the 3 Light-Chips! The first one is located near the lighthouse and must be retrieved by playing a fishing minigame!
[Minigame: Fishing Frenzy]
This minigame involves using the Wii Remote as a fishing hook in order to retrieve the Light Chip. Of course, many fish will cling onto the fishing line before you actually find the Light-Chip. When you get a bite, just pull the Wii remote in the opposite direction until it pops out where you can then real them in. (you can also sell the fish you catch at a high price in the shops nearby) (You can of course, also reply this at the Gaming Tent).
Once Mario and Co. have the first Light-Chip, they place it in the nearby stone device which changes the tide to a high-tide, which they can then use to reach the next Light-Chip located south of the town and docks. However, along the way, they run into a suspicious Mandite, Robot-Pirate wearing a red bandanna and is holding the 2nd Light-Chip in his hand. “Aha! Could this be it? Haha! Haven’t seen this in thousands of years!” the pirate sways, but then, he notices Mario and Co. “Wait a second... processing memory data... I know you! You’re them trouble makers who are trying to stop lord Melaravox!”. “Oh no! He’z a Mandite working for Melaravox! Then that meanz, they must be up to something here!” Fizz realises. “Aha! That’s right but I’m afraid I’m now a few steps ahead of you since I have this Chip here! Which doesn’t make sense considering I have no legs so eh... I’m a few... hovers ahead of you... Why ya looking at me like that? Ah, forget it! Taste my... pirate clicheness!!!” with that, a battle infuses. After the battle, Ruffaze panics “Ergh... No! Not now! Not when I have the Portal Chip!”. “The Portal Chip?” Kammilia wonders “No, that’s the Light Chip you have there!”. “The wha?” Ruffaze becomes confused “Oh, well in that case I have no need for this!” he then tosses the chip onto the ground and floats of saying “I guess the Portal Chip must be on Tidehouse Island then...”. Bloop-Beard then wonders “Wait, did he just say Tidehouse Island, Ergh! I’ll bet ya he has something to do with all this stormy business!”
Mario then picks up the second Light-Chip. Torges then realises something “Hey, didn’t Edolan kind of unknowingly predict all of this? It was just a joke but he mentioned Robot Pirates and the whole town starving! But the only thing left is the Kraken!!! Oh no! This could be bad!”. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a coincidence...” Robby calms him down. Mario and Co. then continue until they reach the top of the south hill where the second stone device is located. When placed inside the stone, the tide to be low, only, it doesn’t... You see, since the high-tide chip is placed in the other stone at the same time, the cancel each other out and instead change it to a mid-tide. So, what Mario and Co. has to do now is head back over to the 1st stone device and remove the light-chip which changes the tide to a low-tide. Using the low-tide, Mario and Co. explore the lower parts of the docks (since you can practically walk on the seabed of the docks).
While Mario are down there they find a pair of Mega Boots which allow Mario to perform long jumps to get across small gaps. With these new boots, Mario and Co. eventually find the final Light Chip. They later find the stone for outside the south-east end of the docks but there’s no way over to it since the water level isn’t at the right level. SO, Mario and Co. have to backtrack and take out the low-tide Chip from its stone and put the high-tide chip back in the other stone! With the high-tide, Mario can use Bloop-Beard’s ability to get over to the final Stone-device and place the Light Chip inside! This brings it to a Mid-high tide (half way between high and medium). However, since Mario took out the low-tide Chip, not all of the chips are in at once like they should be so... Mario has to use the new tide level to get over to the 1st Stone device and put back the light chip in it.
However, they need a mid-tide to be able to get over to the first stone-device SO, Mario and Co. have go back and take out the high-tide chip AGAIN to make it at the right level so that they can get over to the 1st Stone and finally get the Low-Tide chip back in! However, they still don’t have all 3 chips in at once since they took the high-tide one out SO, they have to put that back. However, they have to take a different route to get there since the tide is now mide-low (half way between low and medium). After ALL that is finally done, Mario and Co. FINALLY have all 3 chips placed in all 3 stones at once!!! But for some reason... nothing seems to be happening...
“ALRIGHT! WE FINALLY DID IT!!!” Torges is relieved. “But nothing is happening?” Cocoknown notices. Bloop-Beard then adds up “All we need to do is head to the light house, north-east of the docks!” so Mario and Co. do just that! The group enter the light house and head up to the top where the giant light bulb is. Bloop-Beard then tells them “there’s sure to be a hidden button or something around here...”. So, by using Cocoknown’s ability, Mario uncovers a hidden switch block which activates the light bulb! The stone device all then fire beams of light at the light house which deflects of the giant light bulb, into the ocean when suddenly, a huge bridge of light appears and leads the way straight over to Tidehouse Island in the distance! “We did it! Now all we have to do is make our way over there!” Bloop-Beard cheers, ready for what may be to come... Mario and Co. then leave the lighthouse and head onto the light bridge which leads the way to Tidehouse Island. However, as they’re going across the bridge, they run into another Mandite Pirate who is wearing a blue bandanna. "WHA??? Y-you made the light bridge!? GENIUS!!! Eh, I mean ALERT! ALERT! There’s an intruder!!!” he then floats to the island and so Mario and Co. continue with caution. However, many Mandite enemies then start appearing on the bridge as well. Eventually, Mario and Co. reach the end of the bridge when suddenly, Ruffaze, the pirate with the blue bandanna and a 3rd pirate with a captain’s hat all appear and get ready to fight. “ARGH! Ye landlubbers oughter start scramming before we put a cork in ya!” The captain threatens. “No way! Not after we’ve came this far!” Guss T. says uninitiated by them. “Nice try but I’m afraid we have friends in high places...” The Ruffaze then looks towards the lighthouse in which Mario and Co. do the same, only to see a shadowy figure who destroys the bulb, thus destroying the entire light bridge with it! With nothing to stand on, Mario and Co. fall down into the waters below... “I’m so glad I don’t have legs” The blue Bandanna pirate chuckles until he looks down and sees his wooden led “Well, it’s not like I ever use it!”
Anyway, meanwhile, Mario and Co. wake up later inside a cave which appears to still be on Tidehouse Island. “Come on! We av’ ta get to teht Tidehouse quickly! I’m sure they’ll be a way out of these caves!”. Mario and Co. then make their way through Chapter 6’s dungeon (Enemies: Crabites, Bubbots, Torpedo Ted). Part way through the dungeon, Mario and Co. run into Ruffaze: “Argh! Not ye again! That’s it! I’ll dispose of you myself!” and so a short battle infuses. After the battle: “Argh! I knew I had to be more cliché!” and so he scurries off. Mario and Co. then continue through the dungeon until they finally get out of the caves and onto the outsides of the island. However, as they’re making their way up, they run into the Blue Bandanna pirate who happens to be holding the Aquoise Shard! “Hahe! Looking for something?”. Bloop-Beard gets angry at this “HEY! That’s my treasure you’ve got there! Give it back you... you... pirate...”. “NOT HAPPENING!!! Lol! Wait, what did I just say?” With that, a battle infuses
After the battle, Bobort scurries of taking the Seal Shard with him. “We gotta stop him!!!” Bloop-Beard orders, and so the group make their way up to the flatland area of the island. However, the light from the Tidehouse begins acting like a search light which will summon a bunch of enemies if Mario gets caught in it so; Kammilia’s ability is recommended here. Once Mario and Co. get inside the actually Tidehouse, they see it’s full of turning cogs which they must platform across in order to reach the top. Once at the top, they enter the watch room where they see Ruffaze and the Captain there with a mysterious 4th Mandite character who looks a bit... rusty... “Well, well, what do we have here?” the 4th Mandite asks suspiciously. “Who are you!?” Guss T. demands answers. “I know not who I am, but only who Lord Melaravox tells me to be. My name is Investron” he replies. “Investron? ...In... Vest...” Guss T. thinks about his words when Invvestron interrupts “Captain Beadeye! Take care of these scoundrels want you!”. “Yes sir!” The Captain replies, and so a battle infuses
After the battle, Investron gets angry “How did not manage to take out a puny eh, how do you put it? Landlubbers?”. Then suddenly, Bobort busts through the door and reports “Hey! Investron! I found that Portal-Chip tingy that you were lookin’ for!”. “What is this? You found it? Great work! Melaravox will be happy! But what is that other thing you are holding?” He questions. “What this? It’s that Seal Shard ting! Y’know the one Mario was looking for!” Bobort answers. “Hmmm...” Investron thinks “Lord Melaravox did not ask us to bring him the Seal Shard... he only wanted the Portal Chip...”. “Huh? But those were tings that Martienus used to seal him in the first place? Surley it would make sense if-” Investron interrupts “Melaravox has nothing to gain by hindering Mario’s progress, even I do not know why... all I know is that he believe fait is on his side...”. “That’s enough!” Guss T. commends “It’s time we settle this!”. “Oh how right you are!” Investron rubs his claws together “You know what to do Beadeye! Call in the Whopper!” Torges panics at what this could mean “The Whopper? Oh no! It’s that Kraken Edolan was talking about!!!”. A break of silence occurs and the 4 Mandites stare at Torges when suddenly, they all burst out laughing. “BWAHAHA!” Investron cries “HA! Nice one!”. Torges, though unsure of why they are laughing, just decides to join in anyway, until the room is filled with an awkward laughter. However, the laughter is broken when Guss T. points out to Torges “You know they’re just laughing because THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A KRAKEN!!!”. “Haha! That’s right!” Investron agrees “Which is pretty weird considering we live in a world full of robot pirates and aliens from other planets, ahahaha!”. “Sure is dad!” Guss T. laughs out until she retraces her words “Wait? Dad!?”. Investron then snaps out of it “Eh, never mind! In case you forgot Beadeye, you were suppose to be releasing the Whopper!?”. “Oh yes sir!” Captain Beadeye then pulls out a remote control in which he presses a button on it and suddenly! A huge mechanical crab creature crashes down from the ceiling and so the boss of chapter 6 BEGINS!!!
After the battle, King Whopper begins to malfunction and inevitably explodes which also ends up knocking hurting the 3 pirates standing too close to the explosion, causing them to fall to the ground. Investron then panics and says “Ergh! Forget it! I have what Lord Melaravox sent me here for, I’m done here!” he then flies off out the Tidehouse window while Guss T. quietly says “What has happened to you father? ...”. Bloop-Beard then looks at the 3 pirates who are no longer pirates anymore or even robots! They’re just 3 people who Bloop-Beard then realises “This is them! Teh 3 sailors that were meant to protect teh Tidehouse... Doesn’t look like they did a very good job of it... Them Mandites must of attacked and turned them against us! I bet they were using teh Tidehouse has a distraction while they searched for that Chip ting of theirs... I just wonder what they could have needed it for...”. Bloop-Beard then picks up the Aquoise Shard and presents it to Mario “Just as I promised you, you’ve helped save this town so here! Take my greatest treasure!” Mario takes the Seal Shard thus triggering the END OF CHAPTER sequence. YOU GOT A SEAL SHARD!!!
===Interludes===
Peach
Peach is awoken suddenly by Senieka who tells her "We're too late! The desert is now swarming with Mandites who are in search of us!". Peach wonders "So, what should we do?". Senieka replies "only one thing we can do... we need to get to the Ignis Pit and fast!". This confuses Peach "But there's still one last torch!", Senieka thinks for a moment "We don't have time to light it... however, Mario will be here soon so, we should leave him a note so that he knows what to do and where to go!". Peach then writes a quick note and hides it in the sand and so Senieka and Peach set off to the north of the desert...
Bowser
Bowser manages to find himself and Kammy looking around in the famous Martienus' Palace where they are looking for clues as to why Mario's face was on that mural. The palace was originally filled with tourists until Bowser showed up. However, since the guards also ran away, Bowser is able to access a door which takes them into an empty room. However, Bowser then leans on the wall by accident and it falls, revealing an elevator... "What the hey?". Bowser and Kammy take the elevator downwards which leads them down into a crystal blue caver... the same one where Melaravox supposedly is...
Melaravox
Melaravox is in his Cavern, when Investron reports "Sire, I have recovered the Portal Chip in which you desired!". "Excellent work! Now all I need is Peach... I need you to go and help the other out in the Vlaggy Steppe... without the Princess, out plan is nothing...". However, observing all of this is Bowser and Kammy who are peaking through the doorway. "You hear that? Peach is in the Vlaggy Steppe! Wherever that is..." Bowser jumps with joy when suddenly, Investron overhears him and attack "INTRUDERS!" he then strikes a laser beam attack which sends Bowser and Kammy Koppa flying out the caverns and into the sky!. Meanwhile Melaravox stands infront of the pedestal after inserting the portal chip which causes it to light up... "At long last... I am here again... at this very same point in history..."
==Chapter 7: Into the Frying Pit==
After acquiring the 6th Seal Shard from the Swayey Docks, Mario and Co. joined with their new companion Bloop-Beard, set out to find the location of the final Seal Shard... just after a short talk with the 3 sailors: “We apologise for all the trouble that happened” the first sailor sorrows. “Its fine I say! It’s good to know teh towns catchin’ fish once again!” Bloop-Beard says. “Yeah, I can barley even remember what happened! We were just in the Tidehouse, minding our own business, when suddenly, that rusty-looking robot showed up and then! ...well, I don’t really know what happened then... apparently we were turned into robot pirates?” the 2nd sailor recalls. Guss T. then has a bit of a fit... “What did you say? RUSTY? HOW DARE YOU TALK THAT WAY ABOUT MY... OLD ...Man........” The 3rd sailor scratches his head “Eh, what did you just say? Your old man?” Guss T. then realises what she said “Wait, what? Why am I saying these things? No, it can’t be... but...”, “Eh, Guss T.? You okay there?” Robby checks. Guss T. then snaps out of it “Eh, never mind! I say we head over to them ruins and find the final location so that we can finish things once and for all!!!”. “Not sure where the whole courageous attitude has come from all of a sudden but hey, I can’t disagree with that one: It’s been ages since I last had a Cocoa bean hot chocolate!” Cocoknown chuckles and with that, Mario and Co. set off to the Mechanism Ruins to find out the location of the final Seal Shard.
However, along the way, the group run into Edolan who is rather annoyed: “Wha!?!! Darnit! And I really wanted to see them Mandites! Urgh! I guess you were right... I should have just come instead of boasting... ALRIGHT! Whatever the next and final location is, I’m coming! Regardless!” with that Edolan scurries back to the ruins and so Mario and Co. follows. Once at the ruins, Mario and Co. meet Edolan and begin the usually but final drill. The Aquoise Seal levitates onto the pedestal and in the reflection appears the image of a large savannah-like wasteland which the group take a good look at. “So that’s our final location huh? ...where is it?” Torges wonders. Edolan stares at it intriguingly “Hmm! So it seems the final Seal Shard is located in the Vlaggy Steppe! .......” A small moment of silence breaks when Kammilia says “Go on, what’s your excuse this time?” Edolan then tries to cover up his opinion “Huh? What!? Eh, nothing! Nothing what so ever! It’s just... That place has a pretty dark past... the area is deserted because it’s said to be “forbidden”! Eh, I... I’m not s-scared, it’s just eh...” Edolan then pulls a tight face and then blurts out “THAT’S IT! NO MORE EXCUSES! I’M COMING WITH YOU REGARDLESS!!! ...you can get to the Vlaggy Steppe by travelling north of Mortal Moor! I’ll meet you there!” And with that, Mario and Co. set of to the north of Mortal Moor where the way to the Vlaggy Steppe supposedly is! ...only when they get there, it turns out that there’s a huge ridge separating Mortal Moor from the Vlaggy Steppe!
“Eh... oh yeah, I forgot to tell that there’s ridge separating the two areas... whoops” Edolan shrugs.
“Now what?” Kammilia asks. “Any bright ideas, ey?” Bloop-Beard adds. “Yeah, now might be a good time for one of those wacky inventionz of yourz!” Fizz piles on.This then gives Edolan an idea: “Hmmm! THAT’S IT! I’ll create something to launch you over there! Like a catapult or something! Well, luckily, I just so happened to have brought with me, a device which can do just that! BEHOLD!” Edolan then pulls out a small box which unfolds into a canon! “Like it? I call it the Blasta-Masta 5000!!! By the way, the 5000 doesn’t mean anything, it just sounds cooler...”. “Wow! Looks like you did think this through afterwards!” Cocoknown praises 
“Indeed I did! Best part, its electricity powered as well!” Edolan sucks up. “Cool stuff!” Torges is impressed “But wait, doesn’t someone need to work the canon? Which means one person will have to stay behind?” Edolan’s hand clutches his chin “Hmmm... so it seems... well, I know I said that I’d come but you’ve all probably got more usage then I will, even with my inventions, they’re mostly intended for my own stuff, so I say you all hop in the canon and get that final Seal Shard! I’m counting on you!”. “Oh... Well, it’s ashame you can’t come... well then, let’s go!” Guss T. encourages, and so the group hop into the canon ready to blast off!
“Good luck out there!” Edolan grants and with that, Mario and Co. are blasted into the distant desert.
Edolan then wiped the sweat of his face and is relieved “Phew! That worked plan went well! There was no way they were getting me to go into that desert!” Anyway, with Mario Co. blasted into the desert, thus starts CHAPTER 7: INTO THE FRYING PIT!!!
The group arrive on the south edge of the desert, and begin exploring immediately. However, it’s not long before the group start coming across rusty-looking machine-structures set up by Mandites who are also swarming the desert! Because of these structures, Mario and Co. have to travel to the south-east side of the steppe (where Peach and Senieka lit the first torch) and use it to find a way around the structures. This then takes the group to the camp where Peach and Senieka were staying. “A camp site of sorts? That means someone was staying here...” Cocoknown adds up. “Hmmm... I say we search the place a bit...” Robby suggests, so the group do just that. Eventually, they find the note buried underneath the sand using Guss T.’s ability. Mario take a look at the note and reads it silently: “Mario, assuming that you find this note, I have left this here to warn you that me and a woman called Senieka are travelling north of the Vlaggy Steppe to get away from the Mandites, where a place called the Ignis Pit is buried: the Ignis Pit is also the location of the Pyrite Seal Shard which I’m aware that you are in search of. However, the only way into the Ignis Pit is to light 4 torches scattered around the desert. Me and Senieka have already lit 3 of the torches but we didn’t have enough time to light the final one, so, you need to do that first. Please don’t worry too much about me, just worry about the Mandites and what they may do – Peach”
Everyone is surprised by this note: “Oh my! So Peach has been here all this time?” Guss T. interests, “It appears so!” Bloop-Beard says. “So, she told us to find the last torch but... where is it?” Kammilia wonders. “I guess we’ll just have to explore to find out...” Torges adds up, and so the group leave the camp to explore the desert further. There’s 3 paths going off from the camp: 1 is the way they just came from, another one goes north-east, however, it’s being blocked off by more Mandite structures, so the only way they can go is west. This takes the group North-East of the desert where Peach and Senieka lit the 2nd torch. However, the group eventually find a way to the south side where they finally find the cave with the unlit torch! However, there also happens to be a group of Mandites (Ruskogs) guarding it. “What’s this?! Oh! They’re here! Quick! Get ready!” With that, a short battle infuses. After the battle, the Ruskogs are weakened but boast: “Ergh, Hehe! Go ahead then! Light the torch! Oh wait! You don’t have anything to light it with! Hahaha! You see the torches in this area, when light, cannot be put back out, so all we can do now is stopping you from lighting the final one while Melaravox and Investron search for the princess!” Cocoknown then remembers that Mario found the Flame Hammer in the Cocoknight Temple and suggests that Mario uses that. However, when he uses it on the torch, the flame is put out instantly. The Ruskog laughs “HAHAHA! Only the fire from the Vlaggy Steppe itself can work the torch! And we’ve put out all the checkpoint torches set up by Peach and Senieka and we’ve now set up wind-producing machines that you’ll have to pass through to get here, SO! You have now way of getting any fire over to this torch! Hehehe! Good luck! Hahaha!!!” The Ruskog then flies away.
So now, Mario and Co. have to find a way to get fire over to the torch. They can use the torches that are already lit or the one back at camp, but either way, they’ll have to go back to camp to find the stick which they can ignite. Just like with the Peach Interludes, the torch will blow out after awhile but the checkpoint torches can still be lit. However, because of the machines set up by the Mandites, there are fan-like machines that will blow out the flame on the stick if you go near them, and they’re all set up in such a way that they can’t get through to the final torch. SO, they have go AROUND to the other side of the machines and use Fizz’s ability to overload the machine, destroying it. After all this, Mario and Co. light the final torch! “WHAT!? BUT HOW!!! NOOOO!!! ARGH! Melaravox is going to be furious at me!” The Ruskog blasts. With that, the ground begins shaking uncontrollably and in the distance, north of the desert, emerges a colossal tower morphed into the rocks. “There it is! The Ignis Pit!” Robby cheers “Time to head north of the Steppe then!” so, Mario and Co. do just that. They can get there by taking the 3rd path at the camp site which leads north-east of the desert where the structures that were previously blocking the path have now been destroyed due to the shaking of the ground. This takes the group to the area where Peach and Senieka lit the 3rd torch and eventually leads the group centre-north. However, along the way, they meet a familiar face... Investron. “So I see those wind- machines weren’t enough to stop you! Not surprising though... Hahaha! Well, I can at least slow you down while Melaravox searches for Peach! BEHOLD!!!” Investron then activates a large conveyer belt full of enemies and electric wire running with currents...
[Minigame: Crazy Conveyer Game!]
This minigame involves you having to run up a moving conveyer belt (moving against you) to get to the very end. However, the conveyer belt is also carrying various enemies and electrical currents which you must avoid. The enemies can be taken out via a hammer attack or a jump but the currents can only be avoided. You have the same amount of HP that you have got from levelling up and will take a considerable amount of damage when hit. You will also occasionally come across gate barriers which have to be overloaded using Fizz’s ability but you have to slow down the conveyer belt by whacking certain switches along the way with your hammer. As always, this minigame can be replayed in the Gaming Tent with different stages and difficulties.
After the minigame, Mario and Co. confront Investron. “Urgh, you just don’t quit do you!? Hmm! Fine! I’ll take care of you myself!”
And so a miniboss battle infuses! After the battle Investron curses “ARGH! ENOUGH OF THIS! I should have at least given enough time for Melaravox to locate Peach so it’s going to be a close call for both sides!” Investron the flies off to the Ignis Pit. However, Guss T. then shouts “Wait!!! Please stop this!!!” But Investron ignores/doesn’t hear her. With no choice left, the group head to the Ignis Pit. After going up the large stone-staircase, the group finally head inside the Ignis Pit... Once inside, they find themselves in a large room where nothing but flames lie at the bottom, while a large, stone bridge leads the way across to the side of the room. However, on the other side of the room is Peach and Senieka! Peach notices Mario and shouts, relieved “Mario!” she then tries to move forward but Senieka stops her “Wait!”. Mario and Co. then move across the bridge when suddenly, Melaravox appears and attacks! “So it has been a while since we all last met huh? Nice to have the family back together! Hahahahaha!!! I’ve tried to explain this thousand times: it’s impossible to stop me! I will capture Peach and rid of the seal she once set upon me!”. “What seal? I never even knew before all this!” Peach wonders. “Melaravox chuckles “Grahaha! I guess for you it just hasn’t happened yet... But you’ll see in time... You too Martienus!” He looks at Mario in whom Mario becomes confused “But enough blabber about things you have yet to understand, it’s time I made my goals happen!” Melaravox then fires a dark orb at the bridge that Mario standing which causes the bridge to fall into the flames below, taking Mario and Co. with it...
“NO! MARIO!!!” Peach screams... “Now it’s your turn!” Melaravox turns to Peach and Senieka and strikes with another dark orb attack, however, Senieka blocks it with her force-field ability and makes a quick escape with Peach...
However, as Mario and Co. are falling to their doom... they are quickly caught by a shady but familiar figure that then carries them onto a platform lowdown near the flames. The group then look at the figure who to their surprise is actually... Investron! However, he says nothing... Guss T. then tries to speak “Y-you.... saved us? I don’t understand... could it really be you?” Investron bows his head still silent but when Guss T. tries to approach him, he flies off without saying anything... Guss T. then clutches her fists “We need to stop Melaravox before it’s too late!” and so the group begin making their way through a dungeon of sorts, at the bottom of the Ignis Pit. After making their way up the tower, the group eventually find a pipe which takes the group up to the room where they first entered, but this time on the other side of the bridge where Peach and Senieka were. The group then continue making their way through the rest of the dungeon where more Mandite enemies begin showing up and the dungeon becomes a lot more complex! Eventually Mario and Co. reach a narrow corridor where at the other end, Peach and Senieka are trying to get away from Melaravox who is also there... Melaravox then notices Mario “Hmmm... Here at last are we? Haha, I didn’t expect to dispose of you when I broke that bridge; I merely did it to stall time, but it seems that too wasn’t enough...” Senieka then shout to Mario “You need to stop Melaravox and catch up with us so that you can use the Pyrite Shard on him!” Peach and Senieka then try to leave the room but then, Melaravox creates a barrier to prevent them from escaping. “I’m not done with you yet!” He says, with Peach and Senieka now surrounded in Melaravox’s dark flames “Mario... Oh, how I loathe you... What you did to me... what you WILL do to me... I am trap in this world for eternity because of what YOU did to me! This mirror... the Seal Shards... all created for the purpose of stopping me!”
“Well maybe ya shouldn’t have started that huge war of yours!” Bloop-Beard informs.
Melaravox, however, shrugs and gets angry “THIS is precisely the reason I started the war! Because of what YOU people did to me! There’s nothing I can do stop you but I must do this regardless... otherwise time itself will not flow properly...”
“I don’t understand? Mario and I never even heard of you before the train crash! We’ve never done anything to you!” Peach reasons but Melaravox continues to boast about the “past”. “You will do it in time... for your future is my past... But let me explain just how you’ve affected me and the rest of my Mandites... this place: The Ignis Pit is a dark reminder of what happened after the battle of Talon... You see, the Vlaggy Tribe once lived in the desert outside and took part in dark ancient rituals to sacrifice anyone who entered their lands... However, when the people of Talon were trading with people to protect the Seal Shards, they came here to the tribe and asked them to protect the Pyrite Shard but in return they gave them the remains of the destroyed Mandite Army to dispose of from their lands... The Vlaggy Tribe happily took the Mandite Corpses and so they awakened the Ignis Pit... They say it comes from another dimension entirely... Anyway, the tribe disposed of the Mandite Corpses by throwing it into this fiery abyss... this pains me so much... they were my Mandites... my children essentially... destroyed in such a way... Please, I beg of you: next time I am slain, please do not harm the other Mandites after the battle...”. “I-I don't understand...” Kammilia thinks. Melaravox angers further “Can’t you see: Mandites aren’t just machines: we are living machines, WE TOO HAVE EMOTIONS!!! Thankfully to me, the Vlaggy tribe we’re later overcome by the presence of the Mandite’s vengeance and so they drove themselves into the flames of the Ignis Pit... Though they tried to bury the Ignis Pit back beneath the sands, it was not enough...”. “Man... I didn’t realize he felt so zeriously about thiz...” Fizz understands.
However Melaravox only gets even angrier and start charging up a dark orb “THIS! IS FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME!!!” Then, suddenly, from behind the door way where Mario and Co. entered, Bowser steps in: “GWAHAHA!!! Mario! I see you’ve come to rescue your princess from that other villain over there! But not for long! BOWSER’S HERE!!!” Everyone then turns around and Robby gets frustrated “What? Bowser? You gotta be kindin’ me!? This really isn’t the time right now!”. “Pfff! Like I care what time is on your watch! Now prepare yourselves! However, Melaravox then finishes charging his dark orb and attacks with a furious wrath of dark Mandite energy “NOW! PAY!!!” However, at the other end of the corridor Bowser opens his mouth ready for fire breathe attack “Time to turn up the heat!”
However, with Melaravox’s attack coming from the other end, Mario and Co. quickly jump to the side causing the attack to carry on and go straight into Bowser’s mouth... “Grruurrgh!!! Ergfhh!!! WHAT WAS... THAT!?” Bowser coughs at the disgusting taste when suddenly, he transforms into a giant robotic looking Bowser and breaks through the floor and walls, revealing the flames below... “GRRRAAHHHH!!!! WHOA! I DON’T KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED BUT I FEEL GREEEAAAATTTT!!!!! NOW WITH THESE RANDOM NEW POWERS, I’LL CRUSH YOU ALL!!!! GRAHAHA!!!”, “What!? ARGH! This wasn’t supposed to happen! Grrr... I let you deal with this...” Melaravox blasts and then chases after Peach and Senieka. Mario and Co. with no other choice, make a run for it as well through the rest of dungeon, all while Mandite Bowser is following slowly behind shooting fire balls at them. Eventually the group catch up with Peach and Senieka in which Senieka is battling Melaravox when suddenly, Senieka takes a blow and is knocked to the floor. “Peach!” she shouts, using her remaining powers to create a protective barrier around Peach “Run! And get the where the Pyrite Seal Shard is!” Although Peach hesitates at leaving Senieka, she mutters “okay...” and quickly leaves the room. Melaravox then goes after her and Mario and Co. quickly rush forward to catch up when suddenly, Mandite Bowser busts through the wall in the centre of the room, destroying the pathway. So, Mario and Co. have to use the falling platforms to make their way over to the other side while avoiding Bowser’s attacks and occasionally having to hide from him behind walls.
Eventually, Mario and Co. catch up to where Senieka is and help her up as she appears weak. “Ergh... Melaravox he... he needs to be stopped quickly...” Senieka finds the strength to stand up. “Right! Peach needs us and she needs you as well! Are you okay to continue?” Torges helps her out. Senieka nods her head confidently and with that... SENIEKA JOINED YOUR PARTY!!! So, using her ability to create force fields around Mario whiling moving, the group make their way through dangerous obstacles (such as fire and falling rocks) until they eventually reach a large bridge which appears empty but Bowser is coming up from behind. “Peach should be this way! Hurry!” Senieka orders and the group rush to the other end of the bridge. However, meanwhile, with Peach, she has nearly made it to where the Pyrite Seal Shard, however, her barrier has wore of and Melaravox has caught up with her and there’s no way out. “There’s no escape now princess!” Melaravox grins. Peach then tenses up but remembers her training with Senieka “No! I can fight back now!” and so a battle infuses between Melaravox and Princess Peach. After Peach takes down about 30HP off Melaravox’s HP, the battle comes to a halt when Mario, Co. and Senieka catch up and get ready to help out. “Melaravox! Stop this madness! I don’t know what your deal is here but whatever it is I’m not letting you lay a finger on her!” Senieka threatens. Melaravox only smirks and says “Foolish people! Can’t you see I HAVE to do this!? There’s no way around it or escape this fait of mine!” However, the conversation is disrupted once Mandite Bowser shows up from the side of the bridge and then boasts “GRAHAHA! Move it ya wanna-be-villain! Only I’m allowed to kidnap the princess!” This angers Melaravox “I think not reptile-breath, but I must say... you’d make an excellent puppet...” This confuses Bowser “Eh, what? Speak up ya doo-hicky!”. “Melaravox smiles at everyone’s confusion “Enough of this! I’ll take both your sides down and then we’ll decide who takes Peach from this area!”. “You’re on!” Bowser challenges, and so a rather unique, 3-way battle between Mario, Peach and Co. against Mandite Bowser AND Melaravox.
What’s different about this battle is Bowser and Melaravox will sometimes attack each other as well, damaging them for you. You also get an additional turn because Peach is fighting in this battle as well. After the battle, all sides are weak, particularly Bowser who looks like he could fall down at any second. However, Melaravox is still keeping it together “Argh... I see... you’ve regained the strength I remember you to have Martienus” Mario gets confused once again “But you must learn to accept fait as I have!” Melaravox then attacks Mario, Co. and Peach with his projectile attacks, knocking them back but also making Peach fall over. Melaravox then quickly swoops in to grab Peach and flies up to Mandite Bowser. “Peach! No!” Senieka yells. “Melaravox stares at Mandite Bowser who’s Mandite powers are becoming out of control, and so Melaravox says “Time to put them powers to good use!” and then takes control of Bowser with his powers. “Mario! We need to stop him!” Senieka warns, and so Mario tries to step forward, although unsure of what he can do. With Melaravox now in control of Bowser he commands Bowser “Now! Destroy these fools!!!” and so Bowser follows by blasting a huge, dark, Mandite fire ball at Mario and Co., too large to avoid, when suddenly... Investron swiftly comes out of nowhere and jumps in front of the blast to protect them. After taking the hit, Investron falls to floor and morphs back into his true self: Invest T. Gate. Guss T. panics at the sight of this “NO! DAD!” and runs over to help him on the floor.
Melaravox then shrugs silently and walks off with the possessed Mandite Bowser and Peach, straight out the walls of the Ignis Pit and into the Vlaggy Steppe. “Peach! ...No... we’re too late...” Senieka falls in disappointment. However, the rest of the group are gathered around Investron, trying to help him up. “Dad!? Can you hear me? Please just say something!”Guss T. cries.
Invest T. Gate’s eyes then open slightly and he mutters “Guss T... It’s really you!”.
The group then try to help him stand up while Guss T. wonders about what happened to him “Please don’t leave the farm again...” Guss T. hugs her dad. Invest T. mutters promises “I won’t leave you like I did... I never should have left you and the farm... I guess... I just wanted to seek out new adventures...” Guss T. understands, however, Senieka firmly interrupts “I’m sorry to break up your reunion but Melaravox has just got away with Peach! All he even needs now is to get to Martienus’ Palace and he’ll unleash his true form onto the world! We need to hurry and stop him! Quickly, get the Final Seal Shard and then we leave!” Though harsh, Invest T. agrees “She’s right, Melaravox is a huge threat at hands... you should go get that Seal Shard” and so, Mario walks over to the pedestal at the back of the room, lifts off the Pyrite Shard, thus triggering the END OF CHAPTER!!! Sequence
YOU GOT A SEAL SHARD!!!
===Chapter 7 Interlude===
(This is all the Peach, Bowser and Melaravox interlude at once) As the giant Mandite Bowser strides across the landscape in Melaravox’s control, this section is a minigame where you play as Mandite Bowser and basically just walk through everything, destroying it. You walk past various different terrains along the way, since you start of in the Vlaggy Steppe and then later cross Mortal Moor until you finally reach the destination: Martienus’ Palace. Once there, Melaravox discards Mandite Bowser and so Bowser shrinks back down to his original form. Melaravox seems weak and silent and only says “No one can understand what I’ve been through until they experience it themselves...” and so he walks off heading to Martienus’ Palace... Meanwhile, Kammy Koopa locates Bowser and tries to help him up “Lord Bowser!? Your Fail... issness? So, how did your plan to swipe Peach in the Vlaggy Steppe go?” Bowser grunts “How d’ya think it went? Same way it always does... only this time it was that stupid hunk of trash that stopped me rather than the usual Mario...”. “Oh!... I see... so what now?” Kammy asks. Bowser thinks “Hmmm... I dunno... I’m not really in the mood for any more kidnapping right now so... I think I’ll head back to the castle with you and there we’ll begin preparing our next plan! Right!?”. “Sounds like a plan, your smartisness!” and so the interlude ends there...
==Chapter 8: A Mechanism's Set Back==
Previously, Mario and Co. had just collected the final Seal Shard from the Vlaggy Steppe but through an unfortunate chain of events, Melaravox finally managed to capture Princess Peach and is now heading to Martienus’ Palace to finally release his true body. We now meet Mario, Co. and Invest T. Gate outside of the Vlaggy Steppe where they meet up with Edolan who seems happy to see them (assuming that everything went well): “So! How did it go? Did you collect the final Seal Shard at last!?” Robby scratches his head “Eh... yeah but now we’ve got even bigger problems...” Invest T. then steps forward “Edolon old friend! Sorry to be so quick about this but Melaravox now has Peach and so it’s only a matter of time until he unleashes his wrath unto the world.” Edolon then has a bit of a moment “INVEST T. GATE???!!! IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU OLD CHAP!!!” Guss T. then interrupts reminding him “I know how you feel but now is not the time! Did you hear anything else that my dad just said to you!?” Edolon apologises “Sorry about that, you know how I am... Anyway, on the more serious note, you really need to get over there to that palace and stop Melaravox ASAP!!!” Kammilia then wonders “Wait, if the palace belongs to Martienus then what would be there that Melaravox needs so much?” Senieka explains: “The palace did not belong to Martienus; it was merely a palace built in honour of Martienus after the Battle of Talon. I can’t be certain of what buissness he holds there but I have reason to believe that it’s the location of the device needed for him to free himself.”
“Listen, you should get over to that palace as quickly as you can! I do however suggest you make some preparations such as items before going there: you never know how long you could be in there or what might go down...” Invest T. Gate suggests. “Right! The palace is located east of Mortal Moor: just follow the path okay? Me and Invest T. here will head to the Mechanism Ruins to see if we can try and find a link to all of this somehow!” Edolan adds. “Good luck out there Guss T., we’re counting on you” Invest T. wishes them luck. “Don’t worry!” Guss T. says determinedly “We’re gonna stop that evil hunk a’ junk for sure!” With that, Edolon and Invest T. Gate set off to the Mechansim Ruins while Mario and Co. set off to the Martienus Palace. However, along the way to the palace in east Mortal Moor, the group soon find that various Mandite enemies have begun swarming the area and so Mario and hurry to the palace, battling some along the way. But as they’re approaching the palace, the group run into a familiar face once AGAIN! It’s Beatbean... Robby wonders what he’s doing here as usual “What the?! Beatbean!? What are you doing here? Can’t you see this place is under attack?!”. “That’s exactly why I’m here!” Beatbean answers “After our last sorry encounter, I decided I wanted to find out a thing or two about what the heck you’re actually trying to do on your so called “journey”! “Urgh! We don’t have time to explain! We just need to stop the Mechanism Mirror from destroying us all! Okay? I’ll tell you later when it’s all done!” Robby and Co. then rush forward to the palace, although this angers Beatbean: “Huh? NO ONE JUST WALKS OFF LIKE THAT FROM ME!!! ... Ergh... why am I even still at this... hmmm... that mirror he was talking about... it reminds me of that place... yeah! That place!” Beatbean then rushes in the opposite direction to the place looking as if he has a plan of sorts...
Back with Mario and Co., they instantly rush into the palace only to see that it too is swarming with Mandite enemies. “What the heck be goin’ on er’?” Bloop-Beard openly asks. A man then walks in from the side explaining “I am zee caretaker of zis fine palace since it’s quite a spot for tourists but... all of a sudden, zeeze flying robots began attacking everyone from out of nowhere! I have no idea vhy or anything!” Senieka then suspects “They must be trying to hold the place down... Melaravox must’ve known we’d be here”. "Do we even know where we’re going?” Torges brings up. The caretaker then points to a large door underneath the staircase of the foyer but strangely, 4 blue mechanical chains have been strapped over the door so that it can’t be opened. The caretaker then tells them: “Zee robots! Zay sealed zat door very tight with their chains, non? But I don’t understand vhy!? Zat room behind zee door is completely empty!” Kammilia then suspects “The Mandites must be hiding something behind there then”. Fizz then looks at the chains and being an electrician herself adds up “Theze chainz are a bit like electrical wirez, but they have a strange Mandite energy flowing through them... However, theze chainz also seem to be connected to other areas of the palace which must be there source! Zo we zhould follow the chainz which will then take uz to the zource of their energy which we can then destroy!” Mario and Co. agree and so they begin exploring the ancient palace in search of the energy sources, following the wires and using all of Mario’s party members to get around. There’s a generator at each corner of the palace (all on different floors) and can be destroyed by overpowering them with Fizz’s ability. There are also many civilian-tourists in the castle who are under attack from the Mandites and will give Mario useful items for saving them. Once all 4 generators are destroyed, Mario and Co. head back to the main room to see that the chains are now all gone and thus they can pass on through the door. However, just as the caretaker said; the room is completely empty, no light or anything.
“Check for a hidden switch or something: There has to be a reason Melaravox didn’t want us to get this far” Senieka searches the room. After searching enough, they eventually find a hidden switch using Cocaknown’s ability which then causes the wall infront of them to open up revealing an elevator! “So this is what they were hiding...” Cocoknown thinks “But where could it possibly lead?”. “Only one way to find out!” Torges nudges and so the group hope in the elevator and are slowly taken down into the depths of the castle... Once the elevator opens, Mario and Co. come out in an area underneath the castle which has strange blue crystals which illuminate the area. “What be this place? I was expecting some sorta’ robot base?” Bloop-beard confuses. Senieka then looks around “Could this be... Crystal Caverns? I thought it was only a myth”. Abruptly, Mario gets a call from Edolon on his V.3DS: “Hello there! How goes the mission?”. “Eh... okay so far but we appear to be in a strange underground cavern of these weird blue crystals” Robby sums up. “I see...” Edolon thinks for a moment “Hmmm, the V.3DS seems to be detecting large amounts of Mandite energy and those crystals seem to be the very source of it! It’s like it contains the Mandite life force itself! Astonishing! I’ll call you back if anything interesting happens. No joke this time by the way; I’m getting serious now so eh... Rock on in those caverns right! ... that right there... was horrible... BYE!!!”
“He’s right, that was a horrible joke” Torges chuckles. “I’m just wondering why a Mandite-linked area is built right underneath the palace built in honour of their worst enemy: Martienus” Cocoknown wonders but Senieka reminds them to stay focused: “Come on! Whatever this place is, it has to be where Melaravox is residing so we need to find before he can use Princess Peach to free himself from the mirror!” With that, the group get ready to explore the strange Crystal Caverns. But meanwhile, deep within these very caverns is Melaravox in his lair but his cape is torn and his skin rusting... strangely, tubes containing Mandite bodies and trays containing samples of the Mandite crystals are all set up around the room. Melaravox then asks one of his minions “So, are all the samples set up?” The minion answers “Yes sir! The Mandite bodies and rock samples are all in place!” “Good” Melaravox then turns to the pedestal at the back of the room “Now! Begin the extraction device!” The minion then presses a switch which turns on a machine with Peach lying in the centre and the machine appears to be absorbing her energy. “I sincerely apologise for what I am about to both start and finish...” Melaravox says as he stares at Peach...
Back with Mario and Co. who are making their way through the Crystal Caverns battling powerful Mandite enemies along the way. At one point they even have to make their way through a huge dark maze! But eventually they come into a room where they are randomly welcomed in by a Mandite: “WELCOME LIVING ORGANISMS!!! I’m your nameless host and welcome to the 01101th Trivia Quiz!”. “What the? Wasn’t expecting this!” Kammilia is surprised. “This is just a stupid distraction!” Senieka grunts. “LET’S BEGIN!!!”
[Minigame: 01101th Trivia Quiz]
This is quite a basic minigame really: You’re up against 3 other Mandites in a competition at answering questions to do with the Mandites themselves. Here are the 8 questions he will ask you:
#Where are we right now? (Crystal Caverns)
#What came first: The palace above or the Caverns below? (The Caverns)
#How was Martienus’ appearance described as by eye witnesses during after the Battle of Talon? (A fat plumber)
#Why did Melaravox capture Princess Peach? (Because it’s fate)
#What created the Seal Shards and The Mechanism Mirror? (Time)
#What number question is this? (6)
#How did Melaravox become the leader of the Mandites? (The first Mandites awaited his return)
#What will happen in the future? (The past...)
You need to get at least 5 questions correct to pass, if not then you’ll be faced with an miniboss against the 3 Mandites who were partaking in the quiz. (As always, this minigame can be replayed in the Gaming Tent, only the questions are about the general game).
“And the winner of the quiz is... MARTIENUS!!!” the nameless host exclaims. “Why do they keep calling you Martienus? It’s not like your were there at the Battle of Talon right?” Guss T. tries to make sense of it. Anyway, the Mandites then disappear allowing Mario and Co. to press onwards until eventually; they reach the final area of Crystal Caverns where Melaravox’s Lair is... The group enter the final room where they confront Melaravox: “At long last you come... I have long awaited this moment... And at last it shall occur!”. “Melaravox! You won’t get away with this! We WILL stop you no matter what it takes!” Senieka stands strong. Melaravox laughs “Arhaha!!! Don’t even try to act like you can stop me now! What must be done MUST BE DONE!!!” Melaravox then attacks thus starting a short battle. (Melaravox has very low HP due to the damage he took in the previous battle. Also, no Edolan tattle this time) After the battle, Melaravox’s body starts to malfunction with electric sparks popping out and mini explosions until the Mechanism Mirror then discards its body causing the body to fall to the floor and then transform back into Edolan’s other colleague: Tedward, however, he’s unconscious. The Mechansim Mirror then proclaims “NOW! IT IS FINALLY TIME!!!” and then floats over to the pedestal ready to receive its true form. Senieka then shouts “Hurry! The Seal Shards! Seal the mirror before it’s too late!” Mario then quickly pulls out the 7 Seal Shards ready to use them but then, The Mechanism Mirror quickly turns around and creates a big blast knocking Mario and Co. backwards.
“HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU!? YOU CAN’T STOP ME!!!” The Mechanism Mirror then clicks into the ring-shaped pedestal... “NO!!!” Senieka screams. Suddenly, the mirror begins swirling up like a portal, faster and faster! “Quick! The Seal Shards!” Cocoknown reminds Mario in which Mario quickly pulls out the 7 Seal Shards again I which they all create a spinning circle which swiftly zooms over to seal the mirror for good but then... suddenly, before the Seal can be placed on the mirror, a huge robotic hand quickly charges out from the portal but only the hand since the Seal Shards are keeping the rest of the body on the other side of the mirror. “Iz- iz that M-Melaravox?!” Fizz shakes.“Now what do we do?” Robby yells. Senieka then holds out her blade and says “There’s only one thing we can do! We need to battle it while the Seal Shards hold off the rest of its body!” Mario then gets into battle position and with that begins the battle against Mario, Co. and Melaravox’s... hand... After the battle, Melaravox’s hand is knocked back inside the mirror and so the Seal is finally set upon it... A moment of silence occurs with everyone wondering if it’s finally over... “We did it...YES! We did it!!!” Guss T. celebrates in which everyone else follows along. “I’m just glad I didn’t have to see that things full true form!” Robby wipes the sweat from his head. Mario then goes over to help Peach out of the extraction device in which wakes up. “Mario? Mario! I’m so glad to see you! Hate to say it again but... Thank you for saving me!”
Then, an unfamiliar voice is heard from behind “Yes! You all did splendidly well! And I must thank you too personally for saving me as well!” Everyone then turns around to see that Tedward is awake now! “Well, I’m just glad it all turned out well in the end!” Kammilia joys. However, Torges then looks over to Senieka and notices that she of all people doesn’t seem in the least bit happy with their accomplishment. What’s wrong Senieka? Aren’t you happy that we beat him finally?” Senieka squints her eyes searching around “Something doesn’t feel right... I feel as if... Melaravox is still present...”, “What!?” Cocoknown gasps. Then, suddenly, the ground begins shaking uncontrollably and then, the Seal on the mirror breaks and the portal opens up once again only this time, the portal begins sucking everything around it “WHAT BE THIS!!???” Bloop-Beard yells but then, the force from the mirror is so strong that everything in the room gets sucked into the mirror... the tubes with the Mandites inside, the rock samples, random pieces of debris, but most importantly, Mario, Co., Tedward and Peach are sucked in there with it... What could this possibly mean?
Meanwhile, in the Mechanism Ruins with Edolan and Invest T. Gate are incepting the murals when suddenly, the murals and patterns light up in a dim white light, revealing other images on top of those that were seen before...“What the?! What is this!?” Edolan astonishes. Invest T. then takes a closer look at the murals and sees that it’s depicting Melaravox unleashing his reign of terror unto the world... “Oh no... Could it be that Mario and his friend have failed to stop Melaravox?”...
==Final Chapter: The Battle of Talon==
Previously, Mario and Co. had just defeated Melaravox... or so they though... after they won the battle, they were suddenly and bizarrely sucked into the mirror itself... but where could it have possibly taken them? But first, a short cut scene unravels: The mirror appears through a portal in a dull landscape where it then opens up and releases all the rock samples and Mandite bodies that were in the tubes. The mirror then creates a small blast of energy causing the 4 Mandites to activate in which they stand to the mirror. “Now, listen closely my fellow first Mandites!” The mirror orders while the 4 Mandites look confused “I am your creator and overlord: Melaravox, and you will be the first of what will be a create civilization! On this spot, you will build the great city of Mechatropolis and it all begins with these crystals here” the Mandites attend to blue rocks beside them. These are however, a mere sample of what is needed to create such a population, and so using these to start you off, you must go south from here where the Crystal Caverns are located. Using that unlimited energy source, you will prepare me the greatest city in the world! Do you understand!?”, “Yes sir, Melaravox!” The Mandites salute.
“Good. I promise I will return a thousand years from now. But by then, I want you to have prepared a full army of Mandites for me, just in time to destroy the people of Talon!” with that, the Mechanism Mirror teleports back, leaving the clueless Mandites to get to work... We now go back to Crystal Caverns, although, there are no machines to be seen anywhere now. Then, a ripple in time and space appears, and then appears the Mechanism Mirror which then spits out Mario, Co., Peach and Tedward (who are all unconscious) and then levitates out the room after turning to Mario and saying “At the temple I will wait”.
Once the mirror leaves the room, Mario and everyone wakes up wondering what happened: “Urgh, were we just sucked through some alien portal?” Kammilia swipes the dirt off of herself. “You don’t a think about alien portals” Torges wittily replies. “Enough of that, where’s Melarvox?” Senieka reminds them once again. “I think the better question would be why we’re here? Weren’t we already in these Crystal Caverns before hand? Something’s not right here!” Robby adds up. Tedward then looks around “Yes, but... there’s no sign of any technology here...”, “We should explore further and see what we can find!” Peach suggests, and so Mario and Co. make their way through the caverns (which are pretty empty), but come across some tools such as mechanical drills and pick-axes. Tedward then wonders “I wonder if the Mandites were once mining here... but where are they now?”.
Eventually, Mario and Co. exit the caverns via a small cave entrance, but when they look around, there’s no sign of the Martienus’ Palace: not even any ruins or bricks, just the blue caverns’ rocks. Tedward then gets suspicious “What is this? No palace? ...The question is no longer where we are, it’s when we are...” Then, abruptly, a static sounds is heard in which Mario pulls out his V.3DS and sees that Edolon is trying to contact them. “Edolon!” Tedward is relieved. “H- O-d ch-p... i- j—t Yo- u ne-d t- g-t a b-t—r s-gn-al...sign-l ...” the V.3DS then cuts off randomly. “No! Edolan wait! Ergh... could anybody make out what he was saying?” Tedward curses. Cocoknown then steps forward “I do believe he was saying something about the signal; perhaps we need to be closer to where he is?”, “Signal? Hmmm... say, I was going to assume that- no, but surely not... how can there be? Hmmm... never mind, lets head west from here since that’s where the Mechanism Ruins are”. With that, Mario and Co. head west under the grey skies of what is essentially Mortal Moor, until they eventually, they come across an usually town/city: a seemingly medieval one with stone towers around the perimeter and wooden houses for its poor townsfolk.
“Where we be now?” Bloop-Beard ponders, taking in his surroundings.
Mario and Co. then decide to look around and ask some of the townsfolk who all seem sad and depressed saying that all they can do is hope and pray that the Mandites don’t destroy their city. Tedward then adds up “I do propose a hypothesis but... it seems absurd, even to me... but, could this be the city of Talon, in the past?”, “In the past?” Guss T. gasps “It’s a reasonable explanation” Senieka gives her thoughts “I’m just wondering why Melaravox would have brought us here...” Abruptly, the V.3DS stats static-ing up in which Mario take it out to see that the signal is a lot better now. “Guys! Good to see you’re okay!” Edolon relieves “Okay, for once, I have no idea what’s going on but, somehow, I’m able to communicate with you even though your location hasn’t shown up on my map. Tell me, where are you right now?”. “Well, I want to say we’re in Talon City in Mortal Moor but... we seem to be stuck way back in the past or something?!” Tedward is unsure. “I see... so, this is Melaravox’s doings eh? Just great! By the way, you might want to know that the murals in the ruins have randomly lit up somehow and well, I don’t want to sound absurd here either but, there’s gotta be some connections here... Listen, I’ll call you guys back and tell me if anything interesting happens”.
“Hmmm... Come on! Let’s head to the Mechanism Ruins! It’s our only option!” With that, Mario and Co. get their stuff ready (since now’s a good time to get some items and such from the shop), and with that, they set into East Mortal Moor. However, not it’s not long before they come across some Mandite enemies and other machines which means only one thing: Melaravox is close by. The group also come across various soldiers from Talon City in which a lot of them will mock Mario for his appearance. Regardless, eventually, the area gets super-cloudy and stormy and the surrounding area stops being just fields and large Mandite structures (like defence walls, tower and stuff like that) start appearing. Edolon calls Mario again at one point claiming “Mario! I think I’ve figured something out! Those Mandite structures that you’re working around! It’s them that allowing me to communicate with you! It seems that they also have some sort of time trait, almost like an energy source if that makes any sense? Or perhaps the Mechanism Mirror itself is letting of this temporal energy! I’ll call you back!”
With that, Mario and Co. make their way down off the structures all while battling strong Mandite enemies and saving soldiers along the way until they eventually reach the REAL battle, where hundreds of soldiers are fighting of the seemingly invincible Mandite army. “We gotta halp em’ Mario!” Guss T. yells, Peach then thinks to herself “Say, where’s that legendary Martienus guy? Wasn’t he supposed to help during this battle?”, “Yez but, didn’t Melaravox and hiz minionz keep calling Mario Martienuz?” Fizz reminds them. “True...” Cocoknown ponders. “Well how about we go ask the guy in person and then kick his butt! Surely the ruins can’t be far from here?!” Robby encourages. “You’re right” Tedward agrees “Only; they won’t be in ruins at this point...” With that, the group make their way through the final hazards of the battle and what is essentially the final dungeon of the game, all while battling powerful enemies and solving puzzles to progress onwards until they finally reach the Mechanism Temple itself.The Temple is a large mechanical plated floor with patterns and light similar to the murals back in the ruins. But with everything set, Mario and Co. step onto the temple where they confront the Mechanism Mirror, which is floating just above the pedestal, ready to begin releasing itself.
“Oh no you don’t!” Guss T. steps forward determined “There’s no way you’re escaping that mirror!” The mirror laughs “Ha! I’m afraid there’s no way that you can stop me! As I say, it is fated to happen!”. “I think I’m starting to get the jist of his “faited” hints...” Cocoknown epiphanies. “Please! You must stop this chaos! Surley you can see the pain and suffering of not just the people but also your own Mandites!” Peach shouts, warning him. “You just don’t seem to get it do you... I HAVE to be here, I never wanted to cause any of this... at least not now. But alas, I cannot stop it! Therefore I can only try... but it will always fail! NOW BE GONE!” The mirror then attacks causing a battle to infuse. After the battle the mirror appears weak with cracks and chips missing, but it’s still levitating. “Ergh... You... fools...” The mirror blasts in agony. “Now! It’s time to Seal it once and for all! Mario, do the honours!” Senieka commands with certainty. But then, as Mario is pulling out the Seal Shards, the Mirror creates a large blast, striking everyone down, and so the mirror goes over to the pedestal and gives his final words before being released: “At last I can be myself again... but if only I could be who I wanted to be...”
“No... we were too late...” Senieka accepts defeat as the mirror attaches to the pedestal, lighting up, but then, the screen blacks out... Meanwhile, in the present, Edolon and Invest T. Gate are inspecting the ruins further when suddenly, the murals glow brighter this time in a bright blue, making the images much clearer than before. “What is this? How is it possible that the past is linking with the present?” Guss T. stumbles. Edolon then listens carefully and hears something: “Wait, do you hear that?” Edolon then quickly runs outside the ruins in which Invest T. follows behind. However, when they get out, they see that skies have begun turning a dark grey with faint rain drops falling, but it is obvious that it is just the beginning of the coming storm... “My word... We could be in grave danger very shortly” Invest T. stares at the black clouds, only hoping for the best in what’s to come... Back with Mario and Co. at the Mechanism Temple, tension builds as Melaravox true body slowly emerges from the mirror. First a hand, the same as the one they fought in the caverns, breaks through and slowly drags the rest of the body out from the mirror, with a second hand emerging, holding a golden staff, a foot then smashes into the ground with force. Then the other foot, until the mechanical giant finally stands up revealing itself as the true form of Melaravox.
“At last I am free!” Melaravox embraces, adjusting to his new form. “No... now what can we do?” Torges panics. “I- I don’t... know... It appears all hope may be lost for us...” Senieka loses her faith. "Hahaha! Oh, I wouldn’t worry about yourselves” Melaravox reinsures “It’s your friends in the present that should be worrying about”, “Argh! Enough of this riddle talk!” Bloop-Beard angers. “You’ll see soon enough!” Melaravox grins evilly. But back with Edolon and Invest T. Gate, the murals on the walls suddenly turn a bright red and suddenly, the ground begins to shake uncontrollably. “What on earth is going on!?” Invest T. yells. Edolon then carefully steps over to mirror’s pedestal and notices a small wavy rift where the mirror would go and realises something: “It’s the mirror... the energy form it, it’s leaking into our present world or... using the energy from the earth itself! We need to warn them!” Back with Mario and Co., they still stand in front of the Melaravox, feeling that they are now helpless. But then, Mario gets a call on his V.3DS from Edolon who then informs them:
“Mario! You’ll never believe what’s happening here in the present but... somehow, the mirror’s time travelling trait has somehow caused a leak here the present! It’s like it’s using up the world’s energy to power Melaravox and then sending back all the harmful and unwanted energy, causing the world’s natural makeup to spin out of control! If this carries on for much longer, it could potentially destroy the present world!”. “What!?” Tedward gasps “Wait, then that means... Melaravox knew this would happen!”
“Perhaps, but regardless, Mario! You need to stop him before he becomes too powerful! You need to battle him again! And quick!” Edolon count on Mario, and so Mario and Co. prepare to battle. “Melaravox! Surely you must know that you could destroy the future world at this point!?” Robby warns, but Melaravox only laughs “Hahahahaha!!! I know! This was the whole purpose of my plan! But if you want to stop me, knock yourself out!” With that, a battle infuses against Melaravox. However, during the battle, Melaravox is completely invinsible and cannot be harmed by anything, and so the battle comes to a quick end”. “It’s no use... he’s too strong” Senieka sighs angrily.
Kammilia then wonders “I don’t get this, why did you bring us here? And why do you want to destroy the present world?” Melaravox then explains: “Perhaps it’s about time I explained the true substance of my plan and essentially my entire life. It’s hard to know where to begin, because I truly have no beginning or end for that matter. But when I took you back in time from Crystal Caverns, before bringing you here, I went back to thousands of years before now, and released all of them rock samples and Mandite vessels which were in the room where we battled. Because these were essentially the first Mandites, as they had no data about anything before then, I made them believe that I was their creator and ruler, and so I left them with the samples which they then used to build the great city of Mechatropolis and indeed, the entire Mandite population. And so that brings us to now"
“I told them to await my return at this exact moment, and thus they constructed this temple as a mechanism for me to break the seal on this mirror which is why I needed Peach to break said seal. But now that seal is broken, I am here at the battle of Talon, but believe when I tell you that I wished not to start a war, but without one, the future cannot be the way it is now, and thus I promise you that at the end of this battle, I will be defeated... but if I was to change the time loop that I have created, then the paradox wouldn’t allow the future me and you to exist the same, and so our world would be destroyed anyway”.
“This is all starting to make sense suddenly...” Guss T. understands.
“As for the mirror and Seals, they, just like me, have no beginning or end; they have been created through time itself, and I have lived through this moment and all the previous and future events, an infinite amount of times, each time with things happening slightly differently, but alas, the outcome will always be the same: I will be slain. But this time, I have decided to make people pay in a different way: as much as I would wish to destroy you, I have simply allowed the mirror’s connection to the present to slowly cause the destruction of your future world, so while I may be defeated at the end of it all, you will have no world to go back to afterwards”. “That’z horrible! But what about you?” Fizz wonders. “I won’t exist in the present remember? I am here now, and when I reach the future again, I will only be sent back here before the events that are currently occurring in the present”. “This is all very confusing to me...” Bloop-Beard confuses. “I understand it” Torges pulls an angry face “You won’t us to pay after the battle instead because you know your efforts will be pointless”, “And this was why you knew us all before all of this even happened” Peach adds.
“That is correct, see, now you know who I really am and why I did this stuff. I’d ask for forgiveness, and I’d try to change it but I have done this for so long now that I now regret nothing! Everything around me is now worthless to me!”. “To think we’re just standing here while heaven knows what’s going on in the present...” Guss T. mutters... Meanwhile, in the present itself, Edolon and Invest T. are running around trying to find answers but are powerless to anything. "Old friend, I... I think this is goodbye...” Invest T. bows his head. Edolon stares, almost unwilling to accept it “I... I think... you might be right... just... tell my pet goldfish... that he’s absolutely useless to my work.” “Haha! Guess you couldn’t go out without a witty remark, even though you don’t even have a goldfish!” Invest T. chuckles, trying to ignore the chaos around him, when suddenly, a voice is heard from the entrance to the ruins: “Hey! You’re not just giving that easily are you?” The 2 archaeologists then turn to the entrance of the ruins to see that Beatbean of all people is standing there. “Well? You’re not just gonna let the world end are you?” Beatbean questions. Edolon then recognises him (from his tattle) “Hey, aren’t you that stuck up bully from Dutti Park? And what would you know about the situation?”
Beatbean then walks forward confidently “I was once a bully but now I truly regret my actions, and thus I set out on my journey. Though mostly out of curiosity of what Robby was doing, that curiosity lead me to do some research on the Mandites as well as these very ruins! And that was the first form of homework I ever did!”. “Your back-story is irrelevant!” Invest T. replies “Do you really have anything that could help us?”, “No...” Beatbean admits “But you do! And so does Mario and Robby!”. “Robby isn’t the only person travelling with Mario y’know...” Edolon openly throws out there. Beatbean continues “The Seal Shards remember? Regardless of whether or not they seal Melaravox, the seals can at least stop the leaking time rift right? Not to mention, if that’s where Melaravox is getting his power from then by sealing the mirror, he’ll no longer have that power, giving them the perfect chance to defeat Melaravox!”. “Wow! I’m impresses you came up with all that! Right, we should warn Mario and Co. just like you said!” Edolon agrees, now enthusiastic. Back with Mario and Co., Mario gets the call from Edolon who informs them “Mario! Listen! Not all hope is lost! Listen, you need to use the Seal Shards! If you can block the mirror, you’ll block Melaravox’s power source, and thus you’ll have a chance of beating him, and the saving the present world!”
Senieka, however, has doubt “But we already tried using the Seal Shards! He’s too powerful! Surely he’ll just shake them off again”
But then, suddenly, the 7 Seal Shards all come out forming a circular plate, only this time, they’re all shining bright and faint voices can be heard from them. “What is this?” Cocoknown wonders. Then, each of the seals reflect an image of the area they were found in and the people they met in that area begin cheering Mario on through strange portal that have appeared in each area. “Come on Robby! I’m counting you! You promised me you’d make it back safely! Please do!” Scarlett wishes in Dutti Park. “Hey Fizz! Remember that not all Mandites are evil! There are those such as we who will fight alongside the people!” Ampler gives his words in Mechatropolis. “Cocoknown and Mario! If any prophecy is to be true, then it is surely the one I’m about to make up right now! You WILL save the world! And we Cocoknights sincerely grant you our strength in battle!” Cocozuma encourages in Tiantinalda. “Oh, Mario and Kammilia, thy and the village of Magikraft grant you our strength for thou must stop the evil that hath awakened!” Merlystic grants in Omen Valley, praying with the other Magikoopas and the pillagers.
“Oh dear Mario! Surely you’ll break through as you did with the aliens! We’re depending on you!” Mayor Brockworth in Talon City praises when suddenly, Empress Xerainia shows up in her UFO and adds “I’m sure they will; this may not be our world but we surely complement each other! And with Torges by their side, they are sure to break through!”, “We may not know you that well, but Bloop-Beard was an old friend of ours and with the help you gave us at the Tidehouse, you better be nothing less than that now!” cheer the 3 sailors from the Swayey Docks. And the final Seal Shard goes to not the Vlaggy Steppe, but to Edolon, Invest T. and Beatbean in the Mechanism Ruins: “Oh! What is this? The Pyrite Shard? But why here?” Invest T. wonders. “It must want us to cheer for them as well... alright GO MARIO!” Edolon yells “And Robby! Remember when I used to beat you up? Well, keep that in mind when battling! Because if you don’t destroy that hunk a’ junk, I’m-a batter you! Okay? Hahaha!” Beatbean adds in joking way. “What? No! I won’t allow it to be this way again!” Melaravox curses as the 7 Seal Shards form an arrow-like shape which then begins spinning around, faster and faster until all of a sudden, it fires strait towards Melaravox, weakening him greatly.
Edolon then contacts Mario once more “Mario! Now’s your chance! With Melaravox weakened, you need to quickly make your way round to the mirror and place the seal on it to stop the time leakage, okay?” With that, Mario and Co. get ready as the final minigame in the game begins!
[Minigame: The Path to Finale!]
This minigame is a simple case of making your way to towards the mirror all while being attacked by the Mandite army, which you can simply defeat by hammering them or using some of your partner’s abilities. Melaravox will also try to attack but the attacks can be used to your advantage if you dodge them, since they can take out the Mandite enemies themselves. (As usual, this minigame can be replayed in the Gaming Tent).
Once the minigame is over, Mario and Co. quickly place the Seal Shards onto the mirror, finally stopping the leakage in time. 
“Urgh! Haha! That Seal won’t last long you know!” Melaravox taunts. Edolon then calls again saying “He’s right; while you may have sealed the mirror and potential stop our present world from ending, you still need to deal with Melaravox himself. But you must quick about it, because those Seal won’t hold forever until Melaravox s finally defeated!”. “It looks like this is it Mario” Tedward looks towards him. “The final battle!” Senieka readies her blade. “Mario!” Peach holds her hand to her chest “Please save the present world. I know you can do it!” With Mario and all of his party members now ready to battle Melarvox gives his final words: “I should have known that it would end the same way as it always has... perhaps another time... but now, I still have the chance! You will pay for what you have done! FOR WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DO TO ME! I WILL END YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!”
And with that, the final battle between Mario, Co. and Melaravox BEGINS! After the long and epic battle, Melaravox kneels in defeat “So this is how it ends... grrrr... but to think this is just the beginning for me... Perhaps this wasn’t your fault, but alas, my only purpose was to keep time stable...”. “Mario! It’s time to deliver the finishing blow!” Guss T. says, determinedly. “Now Mario! The Seal Shards!” Senieka orders and so the 7 Seal Shards begin their arrow formation and shoot straight into the heart of Melaravox! Knocking him right back into the Mechanism Mirror in whence he came. However, Melaravox isn’t giving in without one last struggle, as his hand and head still resist the force of the Seal Shards. “Peach! Remember what Melaravox was saying!” Senieka brings up “Apparently you set the seal on him; that’s now! You need to use your powers to finish off the sealing!” Peach stares but then pulls a mean and determined face “Okay then!”. “Quick Mario! Attack him once more to knock him back into the mirror!” Tedward yells “And Peach! Now!” and so Mario rushes his forward with his hammer in hand, jumps up high in the air, raising his hammer up high while slowly drop it as he descends and then finally gives the finishing blow, all while Peach creates a blanket of energy from her powers to force Melaravox backwards and with all of the force at once, Mario and Peach knock Melaravox back far enough, thus vanquishing Melaravox back into the mirror of oblivion just after Melaravox shouts his final words “CURSE YOU MARTIENUS!!!!!!!!!!”
..........
A moment of silence occurs as the thunderstorm stops and then sun begins peaking through the light grey clouds. Senieka then smiles for once “We did it... Yes! We did it!”. “Wow! I’ve never seen you this happy Senieka!” Peach joys in which Senieka gives a sweet smile back. “Well it looks like in the end it all turned out fine, right?” Kammilia adds. The soldiers of Talon then gather around Mario and Co. as a group of men begin asking questions “That was amazing! How did you did it!?”, “And with no armour either!”. “We are forever in your debt dear moustached hero! Please, what be your name?” Mario then opens his mouth when suddenly; the mirror begins swirling up, starting to suck Mario and Co. back into the mirror. “What be going on?” Bloop-Beard shouts Tedward explains “I suppose it’s time to return to the present!” Suddenly, Fizz remembers something “Oh yeah! We need you to protect and scatter these Seal Shards., Oh, and when you go to the Vlaggy Steppe, don’t sacrificed the Mandites!” “What?” the Talon man confuses “Just, you’ll see when it happens!” Torges adds. “It’s time for us to leave now!” Robby bids his farewell, and so the group walk towards the mirror, but then, the man shouts “Wait! You didn’t tell us your name!”
Mario then says “Mario!” but the man doesn’t quite hear it “What? I can’t hear you over the sound of that mirror!” Guss T. then repeats “His name is Mario!”, “Huh? Mar-ius?” The man hears “No! Mario!” Peach clarifies “Martio? ...or Martius!?” The man still doesn’t hear. However, the mirror then finally sucks the group into the mirror sending them back to the present while Guss T. shouts “MARIO!!!!” Thus leaving the people of Talon to ponder about the events that just occurred: “I think he said his name was... Martienus? Yeah, that sounds right!”. Back in the Mechanism Ruins, Mario and Co. are spat out through a rift-like portal where the pedestal is. “Mario! You’re back!” Edolon is relieved. “Guss T.! Everyone! You did it! You saved us all! I knew you could do it!” Invest T. celebrates cheerfully “Thank you dad! You helped to” Guss T. hugs her father and then looks around “We all helped each other! As a team!”, Beatbean then steps forward to Robby and gives him a grinning look “Not bad, not bad at all for a geek! Hahaha!” Beatbean lightly pats Robby on the back “Just kidding, I’m so done with all that nerd and jock stuff, from now on there’s just people!”
“Not quite!” Fizz intervenes “There’s people and there’s Mandites, but either way, we’re still living things right?”, Robby smiles “Hahaha! You’re right! And glad to see you’ve finally moved on Beatbean!” Edolon then walks up to murals on the wall (which are no longer lit up but the hidden images are still there) “Hahaha! It all makes sense now! After the battle you just had, the people of Talon sunk these ruins into the ground with the mirror with the hope that no one would find it! And so they scattered and protected the Seal Shards which then lead to all of these other events! Hahaha! I never would have assumed that a time loop was the answer to all of this!” Kammilia then wonders “Wait, so... what happens to the Seal Shards and the Mechanism Mirror now?”. Torges then answers for Edolon “I suppose that just like Melaravox, they won’t ever exist past the point where we went back in time, so, I suppose there’s no need to worry about it anymore right?”
“Right!” Edolon chuckles “Haha! Even though I didn’t do much... actually that’s not true, I think I helped a lot on this adventure, but either way, it has been a fun time no? But enough about the past, it’s time to look towards to the future!” Invest T. then asks Guss T. “Speaking of which darling, what do you plan to do now that it’s all over?” Guss T. thinks for a moment “You know, perhaps I want to be an adventure like you and Mario! I mean, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life on a farm so... yeah!”. “Argh!” Bloop-Beard winks “I love a happy ending!”. “Yep!” Torges crosses his arms “As cheesy as they can get!” With that, the camera zooms out into the over world and so begins... THE CREDITS!
During the credits, you get to see what each party member does with their life afterwards such as Guss T. exploring wider places, Robby going on a date with Scarlett, Fizz making a full-on job of her engineering skills, Cocoknown making up more prophecies with Cocozuma, Kammilia returning to Magikraft to see that the pillagers and Magikoopas have worked together to fully rebuild the village, the aliens and the citizens of Talon city working together in their everyday lives, Bloop-Beard sets off to sail the seas once again and Senieka well, she is found praying all alone in the Vlaggy Steppes, thanking her ancestors for her success but after that, she goes on to become a normal person since she no longert has to worry about the fate of the world! Oh, and also, even Edolon gets rich after Mayor Brockworth buys his V.3DS invention saying he wants to manufacture it! And that’s the end, of that chapter!
The End.
Category:Paper Mario (series)
Category:Paper Mario Games
Category:Paper Mario: The Mechanism Mirror/Tattle
Category:Paper Mario: The Metora Kingdom
Category:Mario (series)
Category:Scorching Cliffs
Category:Paper Mario: The Mechanism Mirror/Plot
Category:Paper Mario: The Mechanism Mirror