Super Paper Mario 2: The Tribe of Darkness (Complete + Art Project)

[Reading]

WARNING: Do NOT read this if you haven't beaten Super Paper Mario.

So here's my first fanfic. Actually, it's not my first fanfic, considering I've co-written two 120-page books that are fan fiction, but it's my first one here, and it's called Super Paper Mario 2: The Tribe of Darkness. Now, you may already know about a fan-made SPM sequel in the Forum Games section, so I guess I'd better explain myself.

I got Super Paper Mario the day it came out, and I absolutely adored it. Except for the fact that it was a bit too easy for my tastes, it's everything I've ever wanted in a Mario game: creative and original gameplay, interesting new characters, a slightly darker plot, clever puzzles, etc, etc, etc, etc. But as soon as I completed the game, I started thinking about what a good idea it would be if they made a sequel. Who wrote the Dark Prognosticus? How did Count Bleck's minions get their abilities? Was the Chaos Heart truly destroyed, or was it just deactivated? In my opinion, these questions, while not essential to the storyline, deserve to be answered. Now, no Mario game in existence has been a direct sequel to another. So I figured, since there's a 99.99% chance we won't see a Super Paper Mario 2, at least not one that's a continuation of the original, why not make it?

Having Flash MX, I'm starting out in making my own games. But here's the thing; my moral conscience tells me not to make SPM2 as a game. Why? Because it's a direct sequel to an official game. If I made a game like this, it just wouldn't be right, since it would be like "I'm just as good as Nintendo because I continued their game!". And something inside me tells me that just isn't the right thing to do. So I feared that SPM2 would be forever trapped inside my imagination, never to see the light of day.

One day in this forum, I saw a topic called "Super Paper Mario RPG: Finding Tippi". I thought, wow, there's other people who like SPM as much as I do? Then I thought, this could be my chance to make SPM2 a reality!

If anyone has questions/comments/suggestions/etc, feel free to post them, as long as they're constructive; since I'm writing a sequel to what is, in my opinion, one of Nintendo's greatest masterpieces, I don't want to fail them.

I'm currently writing 1-1, but I'm having trouble making it...long enough. How do I describe an average SPM level in a story, making it a good length, but without making it too boring? Also, I'm not sure where Chapters 2 and 3 are going to take place yet (I know all the others), but I'm focusing on Chapter 1 for now.

So here we are. It's SPM2: The Tribe of Darkness, it's my fanfic, here you go.

(I have to make the Prolouge and the Introduction seperate posts because of the 20,000 character limit.)

EDIT: Removed some unneccesary things.

[Reading]

SUPER PAPER MARIO 2
The Tribe of Darkness

PROLOGUE
The Awakened Memories

"Why do you think you deserve this?" asked Jaydes.
"Because I've changed my ways," replied the jester-like creature before her. "I regret what I did before my game ended. I've come clean."
Jaydes thought for a second. "What did you say your name was?"
"Dimentio."
"Well, Dimentio, I'm afraid I can't allow you to enter The Overthere. The sins you commited during your game are too heavy. You tried to destroy all worlds! You should be ashamed of yourself."
"Reeeeeally!" said Dimentio, exaggerating his tone.
"Yes. Feel free to explore The Underwhere, but that's it."
"Reeeeeally..." repeated Dimentio. "I think you'd be saying something very different if you knew about what just happened to me."
Jaydes was unafraid; she dealt with liars and smooth-talkers trying to enter the Overthere all the time. "Oh?" she asked, doing a bad impression of being interested.
"When my game ended, I suddenly remembered something. Something about myself that had been cleared from my memory."
"And...what does this have to do with you entering The Overthere?"
"More than you think!" Dimentio used his exaggerated tone again. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, and red bolts of energy condensed around Jaydes. She tried frantically to shake them off.
"Jaydes," announced Dimentio, "Grant me life once more!"
The energy bolts had a strange effect on Jaydes's mind. "Yes...Master...Dimentio," she uttered, not sure why she was saying it. She then began a strange chant about Game Overs and Continuing. Soon, a glowing star appeared above Dimentio, and he was drawn into it. He found himself standing in front of the purple door on Flipside Tower.
"Excellent," the jester snickered to himself. "Now to find Count Bleck. Or, if he prefers...Blumiere!"

Suddenly, the world seemed to invert. Lord Blumiere and his wife, Timpani, were pulled into some kind of vortex, and before they knew it, they were standing on the third floor of Flipside. "Huh? What just happened?" asked Blumiere.
"Why, I'll tell you what just happened," said a familiar voice besides him. "I spent forever searching for you, Blumiere, so I could bring you here. I didn't intend for Timpani to come here as well, but I suppose it doesn't matter."
Blumiere turned his head to the side. "D...Dimentio?" he uttered. "What are you doing here? And...alive?"
"I have changed my ways, Lord Blumiere," explained the jester. "I was granted a second chance, and I wanted to apologize for what I've done."
Timpani, silent during this time, noticed something. "If you wanted to apologize," she began, "why didn't you just come to where we were instead of taking us to this place?"
"Ah ha ha ha...you've clever, Timpani. But not clever enough!" With that, he snapped his fingers, and the red lightning bolts surrounded Blumiere. Timpani jumped back in fright while Blumiere struggled.
"'EY!" cried another familiar voice. A burly man jumped into the confusion and shouted at Dimentio. "Whattya think yer doin' to me boss?"
"O'Chunks!" exclaimed Dimentio. "I must admit I'm surprised to see you here. Why, I'm just doing him a favor."
"It look more like yer harmin' 'im in some way to me! And an enemy o' Bleck be an enemy of mine, Dimentio!"
O'Chunks charged at Dimentio. Quickly moving out of the way, Dimentio snapped his fingers once more, and a lightning bolt came down right on his attacker. "Ah ha ha! You're about as intelligent as asparagus is tasty, pathetic minion. Attacks like that won't work against me."
"Must...defend...count..." mumbled O'Chunks, in too much pain to move. He looked at the Heart Pillar beside him. Somehow, he got the feeling that the Pure Heart was in danger. He took it out of the pillar.
Just then, the energy constricting Blumiere vanished, but he seemed different then before his struggle. "Blumiere! Are you well?" asked Timpani.
Blumiere then did something Timpani never would have expected. He drew his staff, and it produced a blast of energy which sailed toward Timpani at a supernatural speed. Timpani shrieked, and then collapsed to the ground.
"Excellent, Count Bleck!" applauded Dimentio. "And we haven't even started lessons yet. You're doing a fantastic job."
"Thank you...Master Dimentio," said the count.
"What in blazin' bog rats is goin' on 'ere!?" said O'Chunks. "Count! Snap out of it!"
"Count Bleck," started Dimentio. "Your first task...end O'Chunks's game!"
"Whaaaaa!?" shouted O'Chunks. "Bleck! What did I ever do to yeh?"
Before he even finished speaking, Count Bleck again used his magic energy attack, sending O'Chunks flying off the edge of the third floor. "You did well," said Bleck's new master, "but you need to focus on ending his game, not sending him flying."
"I'm...chunked!" O'Chunks sobbed, down on the second floor. He then noticed a blue pipe next to him. "Mmm...oh, that's right! This pipe's the one goin' to Flopside, innit? Nastasia'll know whatta do!" He jumped down the pipe.
Bleck and Dimentio had just descended to this level. "Where is he?...wondered Count Bleck."
O'Chunks traveled to the third floor. "'Ey! Nastasia! Dimentio's over 'n Flipside an' Bleck be tryin' to end me game!"
"What? Slow down, O'Chunks."
"Slow down!? They probably be lookin' for me right now!"
"Dimentio's in Flipside and the Count is trying to kill you?"
"That's what I seen!"
"Um...I think you were just dreaming, since Count Bleck is somewhere we don't know, and Dimentio's game is over."
"I swear! I saw 'em over on the third floor o' Flipside! You gotta believe me! Please!"
She sighed. "All right, O'Chunks, I'll see what I can do about it." What has this guy been eating?
"Thanks, Nastasia! I knew I could count on yeh."
Nastasia and O'Chunks returned to Flipside. After walking in the direction of Flipside Tower for a few moments, nothing happened.
"See, O'Chunks? They're not here. You were just dreaming."
"But...but...but..."
"I'm leaving, 'K?"
"You're not going anywhere, Nastasia," came a familiar voice from behind her. Nastasia turned around. Standing before her and O'Chunks were Count Bleck and Dimentio.
"See!" cried O'Chunks. "I told yeh! It's them! In the flesh!"
"Nastasia, I would like for you to try something for me," said the Count, sounding very benevolent. Nastasia, never one to disobey Count Bleck, stepped forward.
"No! Don't yeh see? It's a trap!" Just when Bleck was about to zap her into oblivion, O'Chunks came running from behind and tackled her legs, sending them both toppling under the bolt.
"Count!" exclaimed Nastasia, shocked. "What are you doing!?"
"He is my servant now!" announced Dimentio.
Nastasia was puzzled, but simply asked "If you're trying to kill us, why'd you have to make the Count do it?"
"THAT is a secret I will keep to myself at the moment."

Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser came out of the green door atop Flipside Tower. "That was a fun space-swim," remarked Luigi.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Peach.
"Forget you guys!" Bowser stomped off. "I'm going to the arcade, baby!"
The other heroes sighed and followed Bowser down the elevator. For a moment, when they emerged, they thought they were dreaming. O'Chunks and Nastasia were standing before them, being attacked by Count Bleck!
"What the heck!?" uttered Bowser. "What's going on here?"
"I, Count Bleck, am putting the beginning stages of Dimentio's master plan into motion!"
"What!?" Bowser noticed Dimentio behind Count Bleck. "You!?"
Count Bleck bowed. "Yes, me...Count Bleck!" He began to speak in a formal tone. "The one who has been brought to this dimension...is Count Bleck! The current assistant to Master Dimentio...is also Count Bleck! And the ender of the games of his former minions...is again Count Bleck!"
The heroes were too shocked to tell the count that they were between dimensions, not in one. They stood there, mouths hanging open, unable to comphrehend how Dimentio or Count Bleck could have returned.   
"I'll tell you who doesn't make even a little bit of sense...Count Bleck!" repeated Bowser.
"Master Dimentio!" exclaimed Bleck. "Leave this...to Count Bleck! He will destroy his former minions...and the heroes, too!"
"Very well. If you fail, you'll need more training."
"What is going ON?" sputtered Luigi.
"I'll tell you what's going on," said Dimentio. "When my game ended, a part of my memory that had been erased came back to me. I used this knowledge to escape from the aftergame and bring Count Bleck to this dimension. Count Bleck and I will reactivate the Chaos Heart...and use it to destroy all dimensions!"
Mario, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "First of all, how did you turn Count Bleck...like this? Second, why do want to kill Bleck's minions? Third, didn't you already fail to destroy all dimensions before? And speaking of which, fourth, how do you think you're going to reactivate the Chaos Heart? Even if you do, we'll just take the Pure Hearts and defeat you again!"
"Oh, but you can't just run up and take the Pure Hearts. That would make it a bit too easy now, wouldn't it? I have already scattered the Pure Hearts across the dimensions! You have no hope of reaching them all before the Chaos Heart consumes all worlds."
"What!? You mean we have to search for the Pure Hearts again?"
"If you wish to stop us, that is, which I wouldn't even bother trying. Your time is up, heroes-and Count Bleck's former minions! Bleck, take them down!"
"Yes, Master Dimentio!" Dimentio vanished.

BOSS
Count Bleck

"Count Bleck thinks he will destroy you first," said the count, pointing with his staff at Mario. "You're the most dangerous of them all!" Without warning, he performed the energy blast again. Mario, having done things like this before, jumped out of the way and landed on Count Bleck with his mad jumping skillz. "All right, maybe you've still got it in you...admitted Count Bleck. But can you stand up to this?" He produced a strange hole, similar to The Void, and Mario was sucked in. After a few seconds, Mario reappeared, having taken damage. "Now is Count Bleck's chance!" He waved his staff, and odd, perpendicular lines started forming across the area where Mario was.
"Mamma Mia! Is this some sort of new attack?" Not knowing what the lines were, Mario moved to the middle of one of the squares the lines formed. As it turned out, he had correctly guessed what to do, because at that moment, blue-hot lightning bolts flashed across the lines Count Bleck had produced. Once they ceased, Mario again took his chance and leaped upon Count Bleck repeatedly until the count could stand it no more. He wrestled free of Mario's stomps and flew to the left of the elevator leading up to the top of Flipside Tower. He fired another magic blast, this one being more compact than the rest. When it hit the ground, it suddenly exploded in eight different directions! Most of the blasts flew through the air, but one managed to hit Mario and another put a local Flipside resident out of commission.
"Count Bleck will end your game now! And once he does, he will move on to the rest of you! Have fun in the Underwhere!" Count Bleck fired another magic beam at the tired Mario. But since Mario is always full of energy, he managed to jump the attack and nail Count Bleck a final time. The weakened count staggered a bit, then addressed Mario and the others. "You may have managed to best Count Bleck this time, but he will annihilate you the next time you meet! Dimentio will not allow you to get the Pure Hearts...and once the Chaos Heart is unleashed once more, you will regret you ever tried to stop Dimentio...and Count Bleck!" A box enclosed Bleck, and he flipped out. Out of the area, that is.

Merlon's head was buried in the Light Prognosticus. He was investigating something at the bottom of the last page he had previously assumed to be unimportant. "...and upon the return of an powerful enemy..." he read aloud to himself. "...revelations will occur, treachery will spring forth, and the four-"
"MASTER MERLON!" A Flipside resident burst through the door. "You see, um...uh...um...err...uh...that guy! Those guys! Them! People! Population! Popcorn! Popsicles!"
"Slow down! Calm yourslef, lad. Now, who?"
"You see...um...that guy, you know, the guy who killed Mario and those others?"
"Is that...Dimentio? First of all, he didn't kill them. Second of all, didn't he die?...Actually, that was probably the first thing."
"I swear I saw him! Over by the Heart Pillar! The one on the third floor! And there was this...shadowy guy with him and some lady! And then they went down to the second floor, and then Mario started fighting him in front of the elevator!"
"Really? Well, it seems like something I should check out." Merlon and the boy left the house. The action had already calmed down, although Nora desperately needed hospitalization. "Oh ho! It seems our four heroes and two former minions are here as well. Pray tell, was Dimentio here, along with a 'shadowy guy' and 'some lady'?"
Peach responded. "Yes! We saw Dimentio and Count Bleck, and they were going to end Bleck's minions' games, and Bleck was working for Dimentio. I don't know why, but Dimentio said that when his game ended, he'd regained memories he'd lost, and then he somehow forced Count Bleck to serve him. He wanted to kill Count Bleck's minions, and he said he'd reactivate the Chaos Heart, and that he's scattered the Pure Hearts across the dimensions so we can't stop him."
"Interesting..." mused Merlon. "I just so happened to be reading the Light Pr-say, what about the lady?"
"A lady? We didn't see any-"
"Oh! That's right!" interrupted O'Chunks. "Timpani! When Dimentio brought Bleck 'ere...she was with 'im! And Bleck knocked 'er out 'er somethin'!"
"Goodness, we have to get to her aid immediately!" announced Merlon. The group began walking toward the elevator to the third floor.

"How are you feeling, Timpani?" asked Merlon, after a few minutes had passed.
Timpani's vision cleared until she saw Merlon, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, O'Chunks, and Nastasia standing before her. "I...I'm fine." In her true form, Timpani resembled Peach somewhat; slender, with a similar hairstyle, but with red-orangeish hair and a shorter, white dress. Generally, she looked less like a princess, and more like a girl ready to get into action.
Luigi started, "Gee, I can see why Blumiere fell in love w-" but Mario clamped his hand over Luigi's mouth before he could finish his sentence.
"Blumiere!" Timpani uttered suddenly. "He...Dimentio came and he did something to him! And he..."
"Yes, Dimentio somehow forced Bleck to serve him," answered Merlon. "To quote Peach, 'We saw Dimentio and Count Bleck, and they were going to end Bleck's minions' games, and Bleck was working for Dimentio. I don't know why, but Dimentio said that when his game ended, he'd regained memories he'd lost, and then he somehow forced Count Bleck to serve him. He wanted to kill Count Bleck's minions, and he said he'd reactivate the Chaos Heart, and that he's scattered the Pure Hearts across the dimensions so we can't stop him.'"
"That's exactly what I said!" remarked Peach.
"When you spend your days reading passages from ancient books, you acquire a good memory," Merlon explained. "Now, I just so happened to be reading the Light Prognosticus. There was something at the bottom of the last page I found. It told that since the union of a fair princess and a monster king caused the Chaos Heart to be unleashed, the Chaos Heart can be deactivated if this union is dissolved."
Except for Bowser, the heroes were startled, and then they remembered; Peach was still married to Bowser! "Whoa, whoa, WHOA there!" shouted Bowser. "Peach and I are staying married, and THAT'S THAT! Can't we just use the Pure Hearts like we did last time? Without me having to forsake my lovely wife?"
"Yes, but you are missing the bigger point here. If Dimentio hadn't forced Bleck to serve him, then Bleck could've just cancelled the marriage if Dimentio managed to activate the Chaos Heart. But now that he's with Dimentio, that's not an option."
"Well, I'm glad about it!" huffed Bowser.
"So that's why Dimentio did it," realized Timpani. "So what should we do to stop Dimentio?"
Mario had been waiting for this moment. "First things first, we should look for the Pure Hearts that Dimentio stole. Once we have them all, we'll be able to stop Dimentio."
"But how do we do that?" asked Peach. "We have no idea where Dimentio put them, and the doors won't help us anymore."
Merlon spoke up. "This brings me to another thing I was going to say about the Light Prognosticus. I read that when a Pure Heart is placed in a pillar, it automatically creates a door leading to the Pure Heart of the next successive color-Red, Orange, Yellow, and so on. The doors will, in fact, lead you to the correct dimensions. Also, I read something else of significance: "Upon the return of an powerful enemy," he recited, "revelations will occur, treachery will spring forth, and the four-hang on, wait one minute." Merlon looked at the page again, and after a few moments, he finished, "...and the four heroes will become nine." He closed the Light Prognosticus.
"So there's going to be nine heroes?" asked Luigi.
"That's what it seems like..." Merlon's voice trailed off into the distance. "Now, we need the Pure Hearts, but we need to find the red one before the doors will even appear. And we don't know where the red one is!"
O'Chunks suddenly remembered he was carrying the Pure Heart with him. "'Ey, it's not lost. It's right 'ere!" He displayed it proudly.
"O'Chunks! Why do you have it?" asked Merlon.
"I dunno! I got the feelin' it was in danger, so I took it!"
"Excellent! Now, heroes, place the Pure Heart in the Heart Pillar on the third floor to create the red door. Your search for the Pure Hearts starts here!"
"Well, wait a second," started Luigi. "How do we know Dimentio isn't just making an empty threat? He could really have no way to reactivate the Chaos Heart and just sent us on a wild goose chase."
"I was thinking that, too, but...if he was able to hyptonize Bleck like that, and with these passages in the Light Prognosticus, it seems like Dimentio is a true threat."
"Wait," said Timpani as the heroes were about to leave. "I must do anything I can to bring my husband back."
"Do you intend to travel with them?" asked Merlon.
"Yes. I'm going to do whatever I can to defeat Dimentio. Please, grant me some kind of power...Turn me back into a Pixl...Anything, anything, to rescue Blumiere."
"Hmm...I am a bit rusty in my old magic skills, but I'll see what I can do." Merlon gathered his strength, and as it turned out, he was still proficient enough with magic. Timpani disappeared, only to be replaced by a multicolored butterfly of sorts. "I have granted you the power to become a Pixl or a human at will so that you can benefit the heroes on their journey."
"Thank you, Merlon..." replied Tippi.
"Now, heroes, take the Pure Heart and began your quest!"

PURE HEART GET!

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and Tippi walked out of Merlon's house to the right and took the elevator up to the third floor. Mario placed the Pure Heart in the Heart Pillar, causing strange pulses of energy to occur. Odd red patterns appeared, and meanwhile, the red door was drawn into existence atop Flipside Tower. Taking the elevator down to the second floor and then up to the top of Flipside Tower, Mario and the others entered the red door.

-END OF PROLOUGE-

[Reading]

29 views and no comments? Surely someone has something to say...

I'm going on vacation for slightly more than a week starting tomorrow, so I'll hopefully be able to work on this while there, and I'll try to have a batch of new chapters ready by the time I return.

Anyway, here's 1-1.


Once again, Mario and his friends set out to save all worlds, questions ringing in their heads. How did Dimentio plan to reactivate the Chaos Heart? How did Count Bleck become his ally? Why did he want to kill Bleck's minions? Mario, though, eager to begin a new adventure, wasn't bothered by these unknown answers. "C'mon!" he encouraged. "The first...err, second Pure Heart should be around here somewhere." And so our heroes started their journey to find the eight Pure Hearts once more.

CHAPTER 1-1
A Rough Start

A line was drawn.

Joining this line were several others, short vertical lines that came in pairs of two. Above these lines, several rather pointy lines appeared and joined the pairs of lines they appeared above, forming what seemed to be pine trees. Whispy clouds appeared in the sky, followed by a sun whose position indicated it was middle-late-afternoon. The ground became colored green-and-brown, areas of green colored the trees, and the sky took on a blue hue with the sun becoming yellow and the clouds being white with an ever-so-slight orangish hue. The white thingies on either side disappeared, the red door was drawn into existence, and before they knew it, our heroes were standing in the middle of a forest.

"I feel the Pure Heart in this dimension..." announced Tippi. "But, like always...it's still far away."
Bowser groaned. "Why can't we just get these Pure Heart thingies right away so we can stop that lunatic? Wouldn't it make things a lot easier?"
"Be patient, Bowser," scolded Tippi. "It's no use complaining about the inevitable."
"HEY! Little butterfly things that lecture the great Koopa King don't have very pleasant futures."
"Bowser, it's no use," said Mario. "Let's just get this going."
Bowser turned to face Mario. "SHUT UP! You don't lecture me either!"
Luigi figured he might as well say something. "Bowser, you're the one who should be quiet. Let's get on with our search without distractions like these."
"Why, you...get over here!" Bowser looked raging mad.
"Bowser, stop griping and get on with it!" ordered Peach.
"Yes, my lovely wife."

While he no longer was accompanied by any of the Pixls, Mario still had ever-powerful skills. He walked to the right, jumped on a Goomba, did a stylish move, hit some ? Blocks and Brick Blocks, got a few mushrooms, and so on and so forth. After walking through the woods for a while, our heroes came upon a door, which they entered.

They emerged in another part of the woods, and they could hear water rumbling. "Is there a waterfall here or something?" asked Peach. Her question was soon answered, for as they took a few more steps, the forest abruptly ended at a cliff overlooking a lake that was being fed by a tall waterfall. A wooden bridge spanned the lake, but it seemed to have broken in several places.
"We'll have to be careful as we cross this bridge," warned Mario.
"Did you really need to point that out?" complained Bowser.
Mario jumped across the gaps until the bridge seemed to end, although it had another section that lay above them. He couldn't jump high enough to reach it! Oh, wait. He performed his trusty A-Button-Flip-Into-3D technique, and a spiral ramp appeared that took him to the above section, where he flipped back into 2D. He continued jumping across the bridges, occasionally using the conveniently placed Koopa Paratroopas as stepping stones. Eventually, he reached another cliff where the woods began again. There were a few pipes and Piranha Plants here, but they posed little trouble to Mario and friends.

The first disaster of their quest came not long after that. Our heroes were walking calmly among dense trees, although they could see and hear the waterfall not far away. Some of the trees stuck out of the ground at odd angles, making it difficult to avoid falling into the raging waterfall without weaving carfully through the branches. Mario, leading the group, came upon an area where he could look down and see the mighty waterfall break into a series of interrupted falls far down the cliff. He stared upward, having no clue where the water was coming from in the first place.
Luigi read Mario's face. "You're sure dumb-", he started, but it sounded like he wasn't finished.
Mario turned to where Luigi's voice came from. "Why, you-" he shouted, but then he realized Luigi wasn't there. "Huh?"
"I WAS SAYING 'DUMBFOUNDEEEEEEEED!'" The other heroes looked in the direction of the voice. Apparently, Luigi had stepped on a loose branch, sending him careening over the edge of the cliff, precariously hanging onto a small branch.
"I'll get you," encouraged Mario. He weaved through the trees back to where Luigi was hanging.
"Come on, bro, I'm not sure I can hold on for much long-" Suddenly, the branch snapped, sending Luigi tumbling down the falls!
"I'll get him!" announced Mario. He jumped down.
"Oh no," worrried Bowser. "What are we going to do without them?" He turned to Peach. "Yeah! Now, my lovely wife, let's enjoy life without-"
"Bowser, if Mario jumped down there to save Luigi, chances are it'll be safe to jump if we land in the water. So I'm going too." She jumped down the falls.
"Oh, great," grumbled Bowser. "Well, if Peach is doing it, I might as well." He followed suit.
Tippi shrugged, which was pretty hard to do considering she had neither shoulders nor arms, and floated down.

Luigi was kicking and screaming (as if that helped him at all) as he cascaded down the waterfall. Just before hitting the lake below, he closed his eyes, mumbled a quick prayer, and plummeted into the drink. Soon afterward, Mario, Peach, and Bowser followed. Tippi soon came down as well, floating above the water's surface.
Luigi frantically thrashed in the water until he was free of the waterfall's crushing influence. "Help!" he cried, bobbing to the surface. However, he wasn't able to recieve it; the current in the small lake pushed him away from the waterfall and toward another, luckily smaller, waterfall. Luigi observed the others crashing down the cliff, and yelled "Help!" again, but it was too late. He was sent crashing down another waterfall, the other heroes quickly following him.
"You're OK, Luigi?" asked Peach once they had drawn closer together.
"I think so."
"So how do we escape?" asked Bowser.
"It looks like the waterfalls empty out into a lake," explained Mario. "We might just have to wait until we get there, and then we can resume our search."
"What!? MORE wa-"
"AAIIEE!!!" shrieked Peach as she fell over another waterfall onto a large rock stuck in the river.
"Peach! Are you OK?" asked Mario. He attempted to reach over to where she was, but the current pulled him and the others away from her.
Peach groaned, clearly in pain. She gently pulled herself back into the water, being as careful as possible, now floating several yards behind the others. "I've got to help her," explained Bowser. "I'll slow myself. You two go ahead."
"But-" started Mario.
"Just leave! I'm going to take good care of her."
Mario and Luigi, reluctantly, wordlessly agreed with Bowser and continued down the raging river. Bowser took Peach's hand. "Is everything fine, dear?"
"I don't need help! I'm fine!" replied Peach, obviously just to get away from Bowser.
Bowser apparently didn't get the hint. "Hmm...you look a little scraped, but aside from that you're fine. Say, when we're done with th-" Another waterfall shot Bowser away from Peach, who soon followed.

Eventually, our heroes reached a calmer lake that they floated into. "Looks like we're safe," noticed Luigi.
Tippi had caught up with them. "Actually, I think that fall down the river might have been a good thing. I sense the Pure Heart more strongly here. It might be somewhere across that beach," she continued, referring to the beach in front of them.
"All right, then let's explore this beach and continue our search," announced Mario.
The group climbed out of the lake, Peach having some difficulty. Mario gently helped her out of the water and onto the grassy ledge. In front of them, a slope led down to a sand-covered beach. It had been some time since they had started their journey; the sun was lower in the sky, which was starting to acquire faint red and orange streaks, turning the water a multitude of colors. It was truly a sight to behold.

-END OF CHAPTER-

[Reading]

Well, I'm back. I've gotten up to and including Chapter 2-1, so here it is. Comments please. ^_^


Having survived their first trial, our heroes walked out onto the nearby beach. The water sparkled before them as their shoes touched the sandy ground. They were undoubtedly closer to the Pure Heart, though where it could be was still a mystery. "Let's go this way," advised Tippi. "I feel it more strongly over here." The heroes followed her across the beach.

CHAPTER 1-2
A Sunset Stroll

Our heroes strolled along the sunset beach, Tippi leading the way. As they walked, jumped on Goombas, hit ? Blocks, and so on, a few small clouds gathered on the horizon.

Our heroes continued walking ahead until they came to a slight uprise. "After all the flat terrain we've been traveling through, this is a big surprise," noted Luigi.
"Well, nothing like a little change to liven things up," reassured Mario.
"Yes!" exclaimed Bowser. "I was getting SO bored! This slight uprise just made things interesting again! THANK YOU SLIGHT UPRIIIIIIIISE!!!"
If Bowser was that excited over a "small uprise", he was sure to be having the time of his life as the group traveled on. The road ahead of them became increasingly rugged, taking them up hills and around bends. The ground became less sandy and more rocky, and large rocks littered the landscape, making walking along the ledge difficult. It was almost the same as being in the forest, except with rocks instead of trees.
"These rocks are hard to get around," complained Bowser, who apparently wasn't having the time of his life.
"Just be careful not to fall down into the water again, Luigi," jokingly warned Mario.
"You're sure dumb-"
"Why, you..."
Luigi was pretending to fall off the cliff. "Just kidding, Mario!"
"Don't scare me like that!"
"Why not?" asked Bowser. "I'm having the time of my life!"
"I thought you were frustrated by the huge boulders blocking our way."
"Well, I was, but you two brought all the humor back! In fact...why don't you really fall off-"
"Bowser, this trip would be a lot easier without you at the Mario Bros.'s throats all the time," commented Peach.
"Yes, my lovely wife."

After some time of this, the ground suddenly dropped, forming a cliff, and the flat, sandy ground continued away from it. "NOW what do we do?" asked Bowser.
"Well, you could try to climb down using jutting rocks or something," suggested Tippi. Mario took her suggestion and began slowly climbing down.
"That's easy for you to say!" griped Bowser. "You can just float down!"
"I don't see any other way," Tippi replied.
"I guess you're right," Bowser grumbled. He began climbing down, very slowly. After a few seconds, though, his grip slipped and he plummeted toward the ground below. "WHAAAA!!!"
"Mamma Mia!" exclaimed Mario, who was toward the bottom of the wall. Before Bowser could crush him, he jumped to the side, and he and Bowser both fell into the sand below, making large splashes.
Luigi was laughing, but Peach was concerned. She slowly climbed down herself, Luigi following, and watched Mario and Bowser struggle to lift themselves out of the sand. Mario pulled himslf out after a few seconds, but Bowser, being bulkier, was having quite a hard time. After he remained stuck for a few seconds, Luigi said "You think we should help him out?"
"Um...sure," agreed Mario. They each grabbed one of Bowser's feet and pulled until Bowser popped out of the sand. He looked around.
"Oh yeah! I got ouuuut of the saaaaand all by myseeee-" He noticed Peach was giving him a disapproving glare. "Sorry, my lovely wife."
"I'd appriciate if you'd stop calling me that."
"OK, my wife."
Peach sighed.

While they walked some more, the small clouds along the horizon grew, and eventually they covered half the sky with a pinkish blanket. A man became visible as they drew closer to him. He wore a sailor's hat, blue clothing, and large boots.
"Looks like rain," he said to himself. "And that means that Yo Ho Joe certainly won't be back before tomorrow. Oh, why me!"
The man didn't seem to notice the five to the side of him. Tippi hesitated for a few moments, then spoke. "Um, excu-"
"WAAH! Who are you guys? You must be pirates!"
"No, no, we're not pirates. We just want to know...have you seen anything resembling a large, glowing heart around here?"
"No. I haven't seen anything like that. Why do you want it?"
Tippi considered what to say and what to leave out for the sake of time. "We must collect seven of them, all hidden somewhere in different dimensions, in order to stop an evil madman from destroying the universe."
"Really? Well, gee, that's pretty serious. Would you mind telling me your names?"
"I'm Tippi. The one with the red hat is Mario, the green-hatted one is Luigi, the big one is Bowser, and the remaining one is Peach."
"Always glad to meet new friends. My name is Chip Ahoy. I welcome you to this beach, even if I can't help you find what you're looking for."
Tippi thought for a moment. "There must be some way you can help us...hmm. Who is this Yo Ho Joe you mentioned earlier?"
"He's my friend. He was once a pirate, but he was exiled on this beach some time ago because he didn't like plundering other ships. One day we found each other, and we've been friends ever since."
"And he's off somewhere?"
"Yes. There's been some mysterious earthquakes around here lately, and since he's spent most of his life at sea and is more experienced than me in ocean travel, he went to check out what he thinks might be the source of the earthquakes, out in the water, toward the area we call the Dusky Shallows."
"The Dusky Shallows?"
"Yes. It's an area of water riddled with small land masses that has very high and low tide levels. He went out there to check it out, as I said before, since he has more experience so I wouldn't be put in danger. What a pal, huh?"
"Hmm. Strange earthquakes?" Tippi turned to face the heroes. "It's unlikely, but the Pure Heart might be out there somewhere in the Dusky Shallows..."
"You think so?" asked Chip Ahoy. "Well, you'd better stay here for the night and wait until Yo Ho Joe gets back so we can look together and see if he discovered anything."
"We really don't have time. We should start now."
"Now? You don't even have a boat! Few have survived going into the Dusky Shallows without a ship."
While Tippi thought again, Luigi spoke. "You don't need to worry, Chip Ahoy. Mario's a well-known hero where we come from. He can get out of practically any bad situation unharmed. I'm not kidding."
"Except when he rescues Peach," protested Bowser. "He just creates trouble then. Trouble for me, that is."
"Truly? Well...I guess I won't stop you. But I've got to warn you, it's dangerous out there!"
"We know, but time is of the essence," replied Tippi. "Are we ready?"
"I'm ready for anything!" assured Mario.
"Well, OK," agreed Chip Ahoy. "To reach the Dusky Shallows, just head out into the ocean that way," he finished, pointing.
"All right," said Peach. "We'll see you later."

-END OF CHAPTER-

[Reading]

As our heroes waded out into the Dusky Shallows, the pink clouds began to cover the sky from horizon to horizon, turning the sky pink around the horizon with a faint blue hue near the top of the sky. Soon, just as Chip Ahoy predicted, a light drizzle began falling. "We should see if we can find Yo Ho Joe," advised Luigi. "He might have learned something that could help us find the Pure Heart."
"Sounds like a good idea," agreed Tippi. "Let's look for a boat." But doing that would be harder than the five had expected, for as Chip Ahoy had warned, the Dusky Shallows was a dangerous place to be without a ship...

CHAPTER 1-3
Wet or Dry?

Mario and the others plunged into a portion of deep water. The water was surprisingly warm, a welcome comfort in this area.
"I don't see a ship anywhere," observed Bowser.
"Well, it's likely he's farther into the water," explained Mario. "We're sure to see him sometime."
They still hadn't seen him after more swimming. Chip Ahoy was right once more by saying that the Dusky Shallows was a treacherous area if you didn't have a ship. Dagnerous-looking fish swam around the small landmasses and sandbars, making maneuvering difficult, although they did not actively pursue the group members. As if that wasn't enough, large waves began crashing into the sea, tossing our heroes back and forth. "I'm starting to think we should have waited after all," remarked Luigi.
"You know what we should do?" asked Mario. "We should all lock hands, forming a circle, so that we don't drift away from each other. It's too shallow here for us to dive and avoid the waves."
"What?" asked Bowser, who had been swept fifteen feet away from the other heroes.
"We should lock hands so that we don't fall apart from one another," repeated Luigi, after he had drifted somewhat closer.
"Good idea," agreed Tippi.
The four heroes of prophecy locked their hands so that they couldn't be pulled apart. For a while, this stabilized them. However, as the waves grew ever choppier, the group was tossed and turned amongst the vicious waves. The interlocked circle of heroes was sent forward and backward, although their struggles to move forward resulted in a gradual forward movement. That is, until a particularly large wave appeared. "Whoa, this wave is a huge one!" remarked Bowser. And huge it was. It slammed into our heroes with full force, sending them spinning and flying backwards over the ocean. Finally, they touched down on a small section of a sandbar that rose above the surface, where they lay for a few minutes, breathing heavily. They couldn't stay there for too long, though, since the light drizzle had grown heavier. It wasn't quite a downpour, but it was enough to make our heroes want to get out there and find Yo Ho Joe as soon as possible...or just give the whole thing up. "This is crazy!" shouted Bowser. "What are we doing out here in the middle of nowhere looking for some guy that got lost? We should've stayed onshore for the night, instead of having to endure this!"
"You're probably right," said Tippi. "But there's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to press on."
"Fine."
Tippi came up with a new group strategy. "You four should lock arms this time, and form a line rather than a circle. You won't be as easily pushed around that way."
"Let's try it," agreed Peach. They followed Tippi's instructions, moved forward, and the position indeed had benefits. The heroes continued onwards, still battered by waves but more stable.

After some time, they encountered a landmass emerging from the water. If not for the rain that was now coming down hard and fast, it would be a sanctuary from the ever-treacherous waters except for the fact that its sides sloped steeply upward, forming a near-vertical wall that was impossible to climb. "This is strange," observed Peach. "Why is this pillar of land here out in the middle of nowhere?" She turned back in the direction they had come from, and she could just barely see the landmass they had swam away from. "We've come a long way from shore," she reflected.
"Hey, what's this?" observed Luigi. He pointed at a point underwater. The others looked, and saw the entrance to an underwater cave going beneath the island. "You think we should go in there?" asked Tippi.
"Well, it MIGHT be a safe haven from all these rain and wind and waves," said Bowser. "But we'd better find some air in there."
"That's not an issue," said Mario. "We can stay underwater as long as we want to because...uh..."
"Quick! Change the subject!" exclaimed Peach. "Yes! Let's go in there!" The rest of the group followed her advice and ducked into the cave.

It was dark in the underwater cave, but not pitch-black because the area was lit up by several electricity-producing, jellyfish-like Jelectros. They floated in place, zapping anyone who dared to come too close.
"These things look extremely dangerous," cautioned Tippi.
"I know," replied Mario. "I've encountered them before." He and the others nimbly swam through the schools of Jelectros in the winding passageways of the tunnel. After a few turns, the tunnel split in two, forming a passage going up and another one going down.
"Which path should we go down?" asked Mario.
"Well, you can only go down one of them," responded Luigi. "Just kidding with you. Hmm...I think we should go up. Let's see if this storm has stopped yet."
"I agree," stated Bowser. "Let's get out of this grotto." They started up the passageway, climbing up through the tunnel, and eventually, they emerged in the open. The rain had calmed down a bit, as had the waves, although they were still quite strong. The area was surrounded by small landmasses, but the most obvious aspect of what they saw was the small boat not far from them.
Tippi was relieved. "This must be where Yo Ho Joe is! Let's go and see him." The heroes treaded across the water to the boat. "Hello?" greeted Tippi.
The person on the boat turned around. He was certainly Yo Ho Joe; he wore a pirate's hat and clothing that matched. "Eh? You're all out 'ere without a ship? Not very wise choice. How did you make it all the way 'ere?"
"Well, we didn't really have a choice," explained Tippi. She briefly described their situation to him, including how they met Chip Ahoy on shore.
"What a yarn! You're being honest about all that? Well...I 'ave noticed the earthquakes seem to come from over there." He pointed further in the direction they were traveling. "It's a place called the Dusky Temple. They say it was created to imprison a fearsome sea monster."
"An underwater temple?" asked Tippi, since there was no readily visible temple in sight.
"Aye. I 'ave a hunch that monster is angry. An' perhaps hungry."
"Hmm...you think it has something to do with the Pure Heart?" asked Bowser.
"It might be so."
"You're probably right," agreed Tippi. "I feel the Pure Heart's energy more strongly here than ever before. It's sure to be nearby."
"You plan on entering the Dusky Temple?" asked Yo Ho Joe. "It's probably mighty treacherous. You'd best avoid that accursed place."
"We have no choice. If the Pure Heart is there, we have to find it at all costs."
"Sure about that? Bad things happen down there in Davy Jones's locker."
"We can get through it. They're the heroes of prophecy, after all."
"Ehhhhh...I guess. Maybe you could pull it off...well, no use sitting 'ere and talking. The entrance is down in that cave over there. Where the path splits, take the lower path. I 'ave to tell you, though, there's a door at the bottom of that shaft, and it's locked."
"A locked door? It's probably the entrance to the Temple..."
"Aye, that's probably so. I got no clue where in the seven seas the key could be, though."
"Well, it seems we should look for it."
"It might not be 'round here...in fact, it could be anywhere."
"We must find it if we're looking for the Pure Heart."
"Well, if you must."
Mario and company didn't know where to start looking, so they simply plunged below Yo Ho Joe's boat into the waters, which were calmer still, but the rain persisted. They surveyed the ocean floor, but after looking all over the nearby area, they couldn't find a thing except some fish. "So what should we do?" asked Luigi. "Look somewhere else?"
Mario thought. "It probably is somewhere else. Gee, where could it possibly-" A thought hit him. "Wait a second." He flipped into 3D, and a chasm appeared in the right side of the area. He dove down it at full speed, careful to avoid the fish, and lo and behold, the key was resting in a small depression on the sea floor. Mario grabbed it, swam to the surface, flipped back into 2D, and rejoined his friends. "I found the key!" he announced, displaying it.
"Never thought it would be near 'ere," reflected Yo Ho Joe. "Go look for your Pure Heart, and let me know if you make it out alive."
"We will," promised Tippi.

Back in the cave, our heroes descended the narrow passageway until all they could see was blackness. Just when they thought they would be plummeting forever, they abruptly hit rock bottom. Luigi was so startled, he yelped.
Mario felt around for a door, and eventually found one in the darkness. He carefully inserted the key into the lock, and the door opened, revealing another tunnel. Apparently, they were still some way from the Dusky Temple.
"There's a light at the end of the tunnel," noticed Peach. "No, I mean literally. There's a light at the end of the tunnel!" The others looked, and there was indeed a brighter area at the end of a tunnel that confronted them. They walked over to it, and came out in a larger area illuminated by hundreds of Jelectros. What's worse, there were more of those dangerous-looking fish in this area.
"Oh, great," mumbled Bowser.
They tried to weave through the fish and Jelectros. They were successful at first, but soon, a rather large fish crashed into Mario, sending him backwards, just inches away from being electrocuted!
"Eek!" uttered Peach. She switfly moved over to where Mario was and pulled him away from the Jelectro, just before he would have been zapped.
The five continued in the room until they came to a large door. "This must be the entrance to the Dusky Temple," noticed Tippi.
"I'll handle this," announced Bowser. He gathered his strength and charged for the door. His body crashed against it, but the door didn't budge. "Darn. Looks like a tough one." He tried ramming into it several more times, but was fruitless in his efforts.
"Let me show you an easier way," said Peach. She calmly walked up to the door, turned the knob, and gently opened it. The heroes and Tippi went inside, Bowser having an embarrased expression on his face.

-END OF CHAPTER-

[Reading]

Bowser still embarrased, our heroes delved into the Dusky Temple. The corridor started to look less natural, and more like it was carved by human hands. The walls were lined with white bricks with intricate purple designs. "An underwater temple," remarked Peach. "This place is incredible!" "The Pure Heart is ever closer," announced Tippi. "I think we may have to confront this 'monster'..."

CHAPTER 1-4
A Light in the Dark

As soon as Tippi finished her sentence, the entire temple shook. "Whoa!" exclaimed Bowser. "This is one of those earthquakes!" Just then, the group thought they heard a roar in the distance.
"That must be the monster..." observed Tippi. "Perhaps the Pure Heart has awakened it after years of slumber?"
"It's possible..." said Mario. "Let's go and find the Pure Heart."
They swam through the dark corridors and down an even darker shaft. Eventually, they reached a door, the first of several.

The Dusky Temple was like most of the typical Castles and Fortresses our heroes had visited, except that it was completely underwater. A spiked ball, attached to a chain, orbited around a point embedded in the bricks below. Mario, who know all about this stuff, explained. "Since we're underwater, we'll move slower, and thus this spiked mace will be harder to dodge. Be careful, everyone." Looking past the obstacle, our heroes could see that the next door in their path, located at the top of a few steps leading up, past the ball, was locked, and they hadn't seen a key anywhere.
"Oh great," complained Bowser again. "Another locked door that needs a key that's lost somewhere."
"The last one was right near us," pointed out Tippi. "This one might be, too..."
A sudden thought hit Mario. "Your surroundings are often the clue to whatever obstacle confronts you. This spiked mace, since it rotates around a point contained within these bricks, seems to be going right through the bricks. However, it might not actually be going through the bricks. It only looks like that, because we're in 2D."
"If we're in 2D," started Bowser, "how did Luigi fall down the waterfall? And how did we go around twists and bends on the beach? And how did Luigi notice the entrance to the cave?"
"Um...uh..."
"Quick! Change the subject!" shouted Peach. "Yes! It only looks like that! So...continue on."
"Right. So, everyone, stay right here. I'm going to get the key." He flipped into 3D, and the spike ball was indeed rotating around a path that took it through a hidden hollowed-out section in the staircase that had a door at the far side. He quickly entered the door before he began to take damage from being in 3D too long.

The room he entered looked like a long corridor with nothing in it, but Mario wasn't decieved. He swam to the other side, expecting some kind of trap to activate. A trap indeed activated, but not quite what he expected. After he had reached about the midway point, a spear suddenly extended from the floor, narrowly missing him. Whoa! I've got to be on my guard.. His assumption was correct, for as he continued, more spears targeted him from the floor and ceiling, but he managed to stay ahead of them. Suddenly, one appeared from the ceiling right in front of him, knocking him back. Just then, another extended from the floor, forcing him to move further backward. The assault continued. Whoa. I'd better do something about this. He flipped into 3D again, making the spears much easier to dodge. However, they continued appearing at different 3D points, making them a maze to navigate through. Near the end of the tunnel, a treasure chest, presumably containing the key, rested. Figuring the spears were almost done, Mario flipped back into 2D. Just as he was about to reach the chest, another spear appeared from the ceiling and caught Mario right between the back of his overalls and his shirt. He tried to push forward until he figured out what had happened. Oh great. He dropped down toward the floor, attempting to reach the chest this time, but a small part of his overalls were still caught. Just then, one last spear appeared just in front of him, making it impossible to sink any lower. Now what do I do? In a desperate move, he seperated his legs, pulled them up until he resembled a contortionist, and then slowly lowered his upper section until he was free of the spear and upside-down. Relieved, he flipped right-side up, banging his head and his feet against the two spears. This just isn't my day. He finally opened the chest, got the key, and swam back through the now-spearless corridor, his head and feet throbbing.

Reuinited with his friends, Mario put the key in the door. Our heroes emerged in a very dark room.
"I can't see a thing in here!" uttered Luigi.
"Hmm..." Mario had been in dark rooms before, but getting through them always required different methods. He swam through the darkness for a few instants, and then his head smashed against something, triggering light from a disco ball above. This is just totally not my day.
"Hey, we can see now!" rejoiced Peach. They all swam ahead, Mario delaying a bit. As they continued, another earthquake occured, and the ground shook heavily. Another roar echoed through the temple.
I'm not sure if it's the Pure Heart or ME that's waking this thing up.
The disco ball gave light to the room, and as they proceeded through, they reached a door that was blocked by a wall. Naturally, Mario flipped into the third dimension, but he saw only a wall, and an up arrow was painted on it. He looked up, and there was indeed a passageway through the ceiling. He flipped back into 2D.
"There's an up arrow on the wall," said Mario.
"So...what are you saying?" said Bowser.
"Up? That's my specialty, bro! Let me try!" said Luigi. So he..."Oh, wait, we're underwater. We can just...swim up there, right?"
They all swam upwards, Bowser finally figuring out why, and faced another one of those strange fish. Bowser roasted it with his breath.
Attempting to dodge Bowser's flames, "OWW!" Mario hit his head on a ceiling.
Luigi suddenly looked contemplative. "Hey, how did Bowser use his fire breath underwater?"
"Quiet!" yelled Bowser on Peach's behalf. "We've got to find a way past this ceiling!"
"Hey guys, are you coming?" said Mario, who was going down a path that was plainly in front of them.
"Yeah, you oafs!" ordered Bowser. "Let's MOVE!"
"Did you just call me an oaf?" asked Peach.
"Uhh, I mean, Louie, you oaf! Was that your name?...Oh yeah, Luigi! Get over here!"
They swam down the path. Eventually, they found a large switch in a cage.
"How do we get into this cage?" asked Tippi. Mario flipped. He found a switch. When he pressed it, the vertical bars on the cage disappeared, but not the horizontal ones.
"Is there another switch we have to hit?" asked Peach.
"There doesn't seem to be anything else around here," observed Luigi.
Tippi began to search the room."Hmm...I sense a door..." Suddenly, a door spontaneously seemed to appear. They walked through the door, and after scorching Cheep-Cheeps, Bloopers, and the occasional giant kelp, they found another switch. When it was hit, the horizontal bars on the cage disappeared, but the vertical bars came back. When they gathered by the cage again, they were puzzled.
"I don't sense anything else out of the ordinary in this room..." said Tippi.
"Hmm, if the switches activate a certain set of bars, maybe we have to hit them both at the same time," said Mario.
"Sounds like a plan! said Luigi. "I'll hit the one in that other room, and you hit the one in here because you can flip."
"Good plan, but how do you know when to hit it?" asked Peach.
"We're brothers," said Mario. "We know."
"Okay, I guess you know what you're doing," said Tippi. Luigi went through the door. Mario waited, then flipped and hit the switch. Sure enough, they hit the switches at the same time, and there were no horizontal or vertical bars blocking their way. "How did you know when to hit the switch?" Bowser asked Mario.
"I know my brother. Actually, I made an educated guess based on the width of the room and-"
"Don't bore me with all that science stuff, OK? So let's hit this big switch." When they did so, the temple shook again, but there was no roar.
"What just happened?" asked Bowser.
Mario knew what it was from the start. "It's certainly that door down there that was blocked by a wall. It's open now." They swam back through the corridor and to that door near the up arrow sign, and the wall blocking it was indeed gone. They entered the door.

When they emerged, they were in a well-lit room that seemed to be crumbling apart. The first half was like the rest of the Temple, but it became progressively more cracked and dented, and in a few places, the dirt was visible. Not much was in this lonely room except for yet another door. As they were about to enter it, the Temple shook once more, much more violently than before, and a loud roar again echoed through the temple. "The Pure Heart is near..." announced Tippi. "Very, very near..." They entered the door, not knowing what to expect.
They came out in an underwater room that looked nothing like the Temple; it was underground with walls of dirt. It was also very large. There didn't appear to be a door of any sort in this room. "Where are we...?" wondered Tippi.
Suddenly, an earthquake occured, more powerful than ever before, accompanied by a roar of equal magnitude. Slowly, something orangeish-yellow emerged from the far side of the room. It had gigantic spiked tentacles that thrashed about, and from this distance, it looked like an oversized Blooper. But if this monster was a Blooper, it was some mutated freak of nature. As well as its other distinguishing features, it had huge red eyes with compound sections like an insect's, and strange extra appendages along its sides that looked like claws. It unleashed another mighty roar, shaking the room once again, and spying our heroes, extended its spiked tentacles and attempted to choke them to death.

BOSS
Monster Blooper

"Look out!" shouted Tippi. Our heroes dived out of the way just in time. "That...thing. It has the Pure Heart. I'm certain of it! We must find some way to defeat it!"
"How can we do THAT!?" exclaimed Peach. "That thing's the hugest Blooper I've ever seen, and it doesn't seem to have any obvious weak points!"
Luigi ducked out of the way of a tentacle swipe. "We can't attack it without getting its tentacles out of the way, but we can't attack the tentacles because they're covered with spines!"
Bowser had an idea. "We can attack them. Or rather, I can, because I can attack indirectly!" He unleashed his firey breath on one of the tentacles, and it shriveled and dropped, the Blooper roaring again. It extended four of its tentacles to try and crush the heroes. Bowser managed to attack three of them before they caused any damage, but one of them managed to smack Mario against a wall.
"Mario!!!" exclaimed Peach. She swam over to him. "Are you fine?"
"I...think so. It hurts, but I'm not down. I can live with it."
"Stay there, plumber," advised Bowser. "I'll show this monster and all of you how the Koopa King gets the job done." He continued burning the Blooper's tentacles. When there was only one left, Bowser tried pulling off a stylish move while using his fire breath, but his delaying caused him to be the victim of the tentacle he was trying to destroy. "Waah!" He was too smacked against a wall. The Blooper roared again, and tried to use the tentacle to put Mario out of commission. While Peach tried to protect Mario, Luigi came up with a plan while the beast was distracted. He moved underneath it and unleashed his Super Jump, aiming right for the beast's eye and dealing a large amount of damage. The monster recoiled, and then performed its usual routine of roaring. It used one of its claw-things to grab Luigi and start squeezing the life out of him. "Haaaalp!" he yelped. Bowser had since recovered, so he swiftly swam to the claw and tried to pry it open. The monster noticed this, though, and brought another claw over to Bowser, attempting to give him the same fate as Luigi. Just before it did, Bowser managed to loosen the first claw enough to let Luigi out. He crept underneath the Blooper and Super Jump-damaged it again, making it release Bowser. It was quite weakened now. Mario and Peach, having not done much during this time, swam over to where the action was. The Blooper was trying to use its remaining tentacle to attack Luigi. While Bowser destroyed it, it brought another claw over to where Luigi was. Mario, feeling the need for some heroism, swam over to the claw and kicked it out of the way before it could grasp Luigi. Distracted by the others, the monster didn't notice Bowser sneaking up along the floor. Without warning, Bowser delivered a finishing blow of fire for several seconds. The monster gave a roar of defeat (what else), slowly sank, and then crashed to the ground with a defeaning quake. Its carcass remained motionless.

In a flash of light, the orange Pure Heart appeared in front of our heroes. "Here it is," announced Tippi. "The second Pure Heart."
"Gee, I guess that monster turned out not to be so tough after all, huh?" observed Bowser.
"Chip Ahoy and Yo Ho Joe didn't think we could do it," started Mario, "and, I must admit, even I had my doubts. But we prevailed in the end."
"I wouldn't have expected anything less from the heroes of prophecy," congratulated Tippi. "So let's take the Pure Heart and get back to Flipside. We're one step closer..."
Mario swam up to the glowing Pure Heart and took it in his hands.

PURE HEART GET!
-END OF CHAPTER-

And so our heroes prevailed through their first trial to find the second Pure Heart. Through a dense forest, a sunset beach, a stormy ocean, and finally defeating a large monster, they were successful in their mission. They were one step closer to being able to defeat Dimentio and Count Bleck...but, of course, six Pure Hearts still remained. Six Pure Hearts located in unknown dimensions were still waiting to be collected. The adventure had only begun, and it wouldn't be over anytime soon. Meanwhile, Dimentio and Count Bleck are aware of the heroes' actions...

[Reading]

"Well, Count Bleck, you're doing a fine job so far."
"Count Bleck says thank you, Master Dimentio," thanked Count Bleck, meeting with his master in Dimentio's newly refurbished castle.
"You're welcome. But you alone might not be enough to stand up to the heroes. They have already managed to find two Pure Hearts."
"Then we should do what I once did," advised the count. "Make sure they don't find them."
"Exactly. I will be looking for good minions-in-the-making. Also, I will go to the dimension the next Pure Heart is in and protect it from the heroes. You continue your training here."
"Yes, Master Dimentio."
"Now, I will be off. Besides searching for potential minions, I will also continue trying to kill your minions. Once you are powerful enough, you may join me."
"Yes, Master Dimentio."
"That is all. I'll now be off." Dimentio vanished.
"Count Bleck will now train!" Count Bleck flipped out.


"General O'Chunks! The soldiers are ready to battle."
"Excellent! Send 'em out, and we'll get rid of all o' them."
"We're doing nicely so far."
"Right. So..."
"Hey, wait a second!"
"Wha!? What's goin' on 'ere!? We're losin'!"
"Didn't one of your advisors-"
"I'll be chunked! They've all fallen!"
"This is not good. Not good at all..."
"I'm ruined..."


"What's happening, O'Chunks?" asked Nastasia.
O'Chunks snapped out of it. "Well, yeh see...I was thinkin' about my old army days. I was the greatest general in all the land, an' one of my advisors sold me out. All o' my men fell to the enemy."
"Oh. Well, I'm sorry to hear it. You tried the best you could."
Out of nowhere, Dimentio appeared next to the base of Flipside Tower. "Ah ha ha! You seem to be hanging out here, am I correct? And it looks like Mimi has joined you as well. All the better, for now is your final hour!"
"Huh?" wondered O'Chunks.
"Not you!" exclaimed Mimi.
"Not me? How could I be anyone but me? Me, here to demolish all of your hopes and dreams...and all of YOU!"
"What do you want?" asked Nastasia. "Why do you want to harm us?"
"Look inside yourselves, pitiful minions. You all have special talents. Talents that will work for my benefit."
"That ain't makin' even a wee bit o' sense!" shouted O'Chunks. "Yeh want to use our talents, but yer tryin' to end our games? How do yeh think all this is gonna come togetha?"
"That is a secret I will keep to myself at the moment. Now, calmly allow me to end your games."
"No way, Mr. I'm-going-to-destroy-the-world!" exclaimed Mimi. "We won't let you do that!"
"Your resistance, it is as foolish as a person who would willingly pay 599 coins for a video game console! If you won't calmly accept your fate, I'll just have to force it upon you!"
O'Chunks walked up to Dimentio. "Yeh two, hide somewhere safe! I'll take care o' this wacko!"
"You think you can stand up to me? Very well. Prepare to enter the aftergame!"

BOSS
Dimentio

Dimentio hovered towards Merlon's house and fired a ball of energy at O'Chunks. O'Chunks dodged the assault. "Yeh think yeh can best O'Chunks with somethin' like THAT?" he taunted. He leaped into the air and nailed Dimentio with a ground pound. The jester vanished, only to reappear above O'Chunks. Dimentio fired another energy ball at his target, and this time O'Chunks wasn't as prepared. He was hit by the energy and knocked back. Dimentio charged up for another assault, but O'Chunks swiftly charged for the enemy and hit him with a large jump. He vanished again, and reappeared behind the unaware O'Chunks. He was hit again, and his stamina wasn't quite what it was before. "Feeling a bit out of it, O'Chunks?" teased Dimentio. He once more unleashed his energy attack, squarely hitting O'Chunks and putting him out of commission, at least for now. "I'm chunked!"
Mimi and Nastasia, who had been watching from a not-very-far distance, hurried to rescue O'Chunks. Thinking quickly, Nastasia dragged him off to the inn.
"So you're the only one to stand up to me now," Dimentio taunted Mimi. "I'll dispose of you just like I did your friend."
"I'm not going to fail like he did! You'll never get away with your plan! TRUE MIMI, COME FORTH!" Mimi tilted her head until her neck cracked. She rotated her head until it was completely upside-down. A chiming sound played for no apparent reason, and then Mimi's head grew and became moldy and wrinkly. Long, spidery legs extended from Mimi's upside-down head, and as she raised her new head, her right shoulder dislocated, leaving her normal body hanging uselessly from her giant head, and before I could get any more descriptive, her transformation into a giant spider was finished.
Dimentio, undaunted, quickly flew in the direction of the inn where O'Chunks was being healed. He prepared another energy ball attack, but Mimi was too smart for him. She ducked the attack and fired a sparkling red Rubee from under Dimentio (I don't even want to know where it hit). As per usual, the jester vanished, but when he reappeared, two of him reappeared. The pair of Dimentios moved to opposite sides of the arena and fired their energy blasts. One of them flew over Mimi, but the other nailed her square in the head. To further confuse her, the two Dimentios flew to equally random parts of the battlefield and repeated the attack. Mimi was hit again. The Dimentios vanished again, and while they were gone, Mimi pulled her legs up and attached herself to the ceiling. When he reappeared, only one of him this time, Mimi was ready. She produced another Rubee and hit Dimentio's head. When he reappeared again, there were two of him again. Their combined stealth did Mimi in. She collapsed to the ground and returned to her normal form.
"Does anyone else dare to challenge me?" dared Dimentio.
Nastasia quickly ran in and dragged Mimi to the inn as well. When she returned, Dimentio seemed amused. "You think you can stand up to me? You're just a lowly secretary! In fact, I'll give you a free shot. Here, try to hit me!"
Nastasia tried to do just that. However, Dimentio quickly produced an energy ball and sent it her way, knocking her back. "HEY! You said you'd give me a free hit!"
"Did you really believe me? Ah ha ha! Foolish minion, I'll defeat you as well, and then I'll kill all of you!" He vanished and reappeared with a duplicate. They readied their energy attacks, but Nastasia ran up to one of them and kicked him right in the face.
"So you've got something. But you won't...uh...survive my next assault!" Dimentio seemed weakened.
"I can stand up to you any day, 'K? You're just about finished."
Dimentio's clone disappeared, and the real Dimentio hovered up near the ceiling and snapped his fingers. Nastasia knew what was coming, and she quickly jumped out of the way before she was enclosed in a glowing yellow box that soon produced a massive explosion. Dimentio repeated the attack, but Nastasia knew what to do. She jumped on top of the box, jumped toward Dimentio, and delivered another kick to the face.
"What!?" Dimentio exclaimed, weakened and unable to fight any longer. "I've lost to...these minions?"
"There were three of us, and only one of you," pointed out Nastasia. "We'll make sure you never manage to end our games, 'K?"
Dimentio grumbled. "Fine! You may have won this time, but I'll back! I'll be back for your lives! Until next time...Ciao!" He disappeared.

Mario and friends came out of the red door and used the elevator to descend to the second floor of Flipside. They saw O'Chunks, Mimi, and Nastasia standing there, looking quite exhausted. "What happened?" asked Tippi.
"You missed the whole thing," reported Nastasia. "Dimentio attacked us, but we fended him off."
"Dimentio attacked you? It makes me wonder why..."
"He said that he'd use our talents for his benefit. But we don't understand how he's going to do that if he ends our games."
"Hmm...well, we managed to find the next Pure Heart."
The commotion had made Merlon exit his house. "Well, well, it's the heroes. I trust you've found the next Pure Heart?"
"We did," reassured Tippi. She related all the events that had happened to Merlon. "Intriguing," he finally mused. "If Dimentio ends their games...he...they...oh, it's just so confusing! Hmm...I have a thought. Do you think Dimentio killing Bleck's minions has anything to do with him reactivating the Chaos Heart?"
Tippi thought. "It's possible...but I don't really see how it could happen."
"Well, it was just an idea. Well, now that you have the second Pure Heart, go ahead and place it in the next Heart Pillar. I'll continue checking the Light Prognosticus and seeing if there's anything I missed."
"OK."

Tippi and the heroes walked to the outskirts of Flipside, a wild place with weeds growing in several places. They had traveled this path before, so they needed no instructions. They descended a pipe to the right and emerged a floor below, where they walked to the left, flipped (at least Mario did) and moved further into the outskirts. They walked to the left again, where Princess Peach used her parasol to float across the floating stone blocks. At the end, there was another Heart Pillar. They placed the Pure Heart, and the strange patterns appeared again and the orange door appeared atop Flipside tower. Walking back to that spot, our heroes walked into the orange door to begin looking for the third Pure Heart.

[Reading]

Dimentio's attack made everyone wonder. What did he hope to accomplish by killing Bleck's minions? Hopefully, they could continue to fend him off while our heroes were away. They had collected two Pure Hearts so far, and now they were on their way to find the third. What awaited them behind the orange door? "I'm feeling kind of hot..." complained Tippi as they stepped into the new dimension.

CHAPTER 2-1
Cacti and Cowboys

A line was drawn.

Joining this line were a few others, pairs of lines that formed the bases of cacti. Needles were drawn on the cacti, giving them an intimidating appearance. Crooked lines were drawn on the ground, making it cracked. The sky was barren except for a few small clouds that were not going to rain anytime soon.
Dull tan filled the parched ground, the cacti became green, and the sky took on a light blue hue that indicated it was midday. Small weeds appeared in cracks in the ground. The orange door was drawn into existence, and the heroes stepped out into the desert.

"Looks like we're in the middle of a desert," observed Tippi.
Bowser was about to say You just figured that out? but he changed his mind at the last second.
"The Pure Heart should be somewhere around here..." mused Tippi.
"Which direction should we go?" asked Mario.
Before Tippi could respond, everyone heard the sound of hooves pounding. Dust appeared in the air, and a large brown horse stopped in front of them.
"Are y'all lost?" came a voice from above the horse. Our heroes looked, and on the horse was a full-blown cowboy, complete with hat and lasso.
Tippi spoke. "Well...we're looking for something called a Pure Heart. I can sense when it is near, so I guess we aren't really lost."
"Really, then. Well, I reckon y'all should come to town. We've got refreshments and everything you need to continue your journey." He pointed. "It's over in that direction. Well, see y'all later! Giddyap!" He sped away on the horse.
"Well, do you think we should try to reach the town?" asked Tippi. "Or should we focus on the Pure Heart?"
"I say we go for the town," suggested Bowser. "I'm burning over here!"
"Me too," agreed Luigi. "We'll be able to rest there before resuming our quest."
"The town it is, I guess. Let's go."
Our heroes began walking in the direction of the town. After a while, they began to feel very hot and dry. "I'm glad we decided to travel to the town," said Peach. "I don't know if I can survive the trek without water."
"I would've collapsed on the spot," said Luigi.

When the town came into view, our heroes were even more glad they had decided to walk there. They walked past townspeople, bought some water at a store, and sat down outside to refresh themselves.
"This hits the spot!" exclaimed Bowser.
Tippi noticed something. "Well..." she started, "I think coming here was a good thing in more ways than one. I sense that the Pure Heart is closer here. Maybe we should ask the townsfolk if they've seen it."
"Really?" asked Peach. "Sounds like a good idea."
When they were finished with their water, Tippi spoke again. "We should split up. Mario, you can search from the edge of town to the saloon. Luigi, you should take the saloon to the general store..." She continued assigning parts of the town to the heroes. "...and I'll take the rest."
"We should meet back here at a certain time," pointed out Luigi.
"Oh, yes. Let's come back here in...half an hour, is that good? Yes, that's plenty of time. Well, I'll see you all then." Tippi and the heroes split up and went to their respective parts of the town to ask.

"Excuse me," said Mario to a passing resident. "Have you seen or heard about a glowing heart-shaped object?"
"In fact, I have," he replied. "Just recently it appeared here in town, out of thin air. But then...there's this group of troublemakers who live over there." He pointed. "They call themselves the Ruff Ruffians. They rode into town, took it, and carried it to their hideout."
"So these Ruff Ruffians took it? It is something I need, so...thank you."
Though they had been given half an hour, Tippi and our heroes felt the urge to return after only a few minutes.
"It's over there!" Mario blurted out, since no one else had said anything. He pointed. "I talked to a few people, and they said it was right here in town. These guys that call themselves the Ruff Ruffians took it. Their hideout is over there."
"That's exactly what I heard!" agreed Tippi.
"Me too!" excalimed Luigi. "So we should go look for these Ruff Ruffians?"
"Well, if their name is any indication, they could be dangerous," explained Peach. "We may have to fight them for the Pure Heart."
"Dangerous?" scoffed Bowser. "There's no such thing as dangerous when I'm around!"
"Why would they want the Pure Heart, anyway?" asked Mario. "Last time I checked, 'Ruff' guys would never associate themselves with heart-themed objects."
"I was thinking about that, too..." said Tippi. "Why would those guys want it in the first place? They thought they could sell it for good money? Or something?"
"If they were going to sell it, wouldn't they have already done it?" asked Peach. "If they brought it back with them, it doesn't seem like they wanted to sell it."
"That's a good point..." Tippi thought for a while. "Well, I can't think of any reason they would want it, other than if they just liked it and wanted to keep it...which doesn't seem likely."
"Whatever the reason, it doesn't really matter," said Bowser. "We'll just find those guys, kick their butts, and get the Pure Heart."
"If we have to fight them, that is," said Peach. "If we can get it from them without getting into a fight, that would be good...but I know, it doesn't sound likely. So we go for their hideout?"
"Right," agreed Tippi. "Let's go."
By now, the sun had shifted into a mid-afternoon position. The heat was even worse than when our heroes had been walking to the town. "It's a long walk," announced Bowser. "Why don't we get some more water?"
"Sounds good," agreed Mario. They did just that.
"OK, are we ready?" asked Tippi once they had reached the edge of town.
"We're ready," assured Mario.

Our heroes, once more, walked across a stretch of desert, barren except for cacti, tumbleweeds and other small prickly plants, and the occasional lizard. They drank from their water frequently to avoid dehydration. "Come on, where's the place?" complained Bowser. "We should pick up the pace."
"If we go any faster, we're going to die from heat stroke," cautioned Peach. "It's best to take it slow and steady in the desert."
They were quite relieved when the headquarters of the Ruff Ruffians came into view. It looked quite large.

-END OF CHAPTER-

[Reading]

New chapter. I edited the first post, in case "completed" was too vague. And like I said: Come on, I need some comments! They give me motivation! ;)


As our heroes drew closer to the headquarters of the Ruff Ruffians, the hideout appeared to consist of a central building completely surrounded by a green fence. Eventually, they drew close enough to find that the green fence was actually made of the sharp branches of cacti, wrapped around each other in a way that made them impossible to climb.

CHAPTER 2-2
Finding the Ruffians

"How are we supposed to get over this wall?" asked Tippi.
"How do the Ruff Ruffians get over it?" asked Luigi.
"That's a good question." Tippi scanned the cactus wall for any possible way over it, but it appeared to have no openings or anything else that would allow one to get into the central area. "I don't see any way in..."
"Oh, come on!" griped Bowser. "You forget that I can destroy any obstacle!" He released his firey breath on the wall, which soon burned and crumbled. "You better not forget again!"
Our heroes walked into the central area of the hideout. Aside from the central building, there appeared to be nothing here besides a stable. Mario crept up to one of the glassless windows of the building and peeked inside.
"But what was that thing anyway?" asked a man who was undoubtedly one of the Ruff Ruffians.
"Who knows?" replied another. "We just had to trust that guy."
"Speaking of trust..." began yet another. The conversation was about something unrelated to the Pure Heart.
Mario turned to his fellow heroes. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Yes," replied Peach. "That was probably the Pure Heart they were talking about."
"Who was 'that guy' they were trusting, though?" asked Tippi. "You didn't see the Pure Heart, did you, Mario?"
"Nope."
"Should we ask those guys about it?" suggested Luigi.
"They are called the Ruff Ruffians," pointed out Tippi. "They probably won't let go of it without a fight."
"Well, fight or not, we've got to get the Pure Heart," announced Mario. "Come on, let's find the door." Our heroes walked around the perimeter until they found a door. They opened it, and were met with angry stares.
"HEY!" shouted one of them. "Whaddya want, evildoers?"
"Evildoers?" asked Tippi. "We're just looking for something called a Pure Heart. It's glowing-"
"THAT'S THEM!" shouted another. "LET'S GET 'EM!" He immediately jumped up and started beating Mario over the head with his fist.
"Mamma Mia! What's this all about?"
"What's going on!?" exclaimed Tippi. "Stop fighting Mario!"
"We ain't letting you get the Pure Heart, you weaklings!" shouted a another Ruffian. He started fistfighting with Luigi.
"QUIET, ALL OF YOU!" bellowed Bowser. He expelled a warning blast of fire, and the Ruffians backed away in a corner. "Mommy!" one of them uttered.
"OK, all of you troublemakers," started Bowser. "Give us the Pure Heart, and I won't roast you all."
"Never!" said one of them weakly. "It ain't here, anyway!"
"Then where is it?"
"We're not telling ya! Come out and fight us on horses, and we'll see who'll roast!" All nine of them jumped out the window.
"On horses?" asked Bowser. "This'll be fun! He walked outside where the Ruffians were saddling their horses. "All right, you guys wanna fight? I'll give you a fight!"

MINIBOSS
The Ruff Ruffians

"C'mon! C'mon! I can take you all!" dared Bowser.
"Giddyap!" the Ruffians shouted. Their horses charged at Bowser. He once again blew his trademark ray of fire, but all of the horses jumped the attack. "Whoa. You guys are smarter than I thought. All right, here's where you feel the wrath of Bowser!" He charged toward one of the horses, knocking it and its Ruffian clear out of the headquarters.
"Are you sure you can take this by yourself?" asked Tippi. This is animal cruelty!
"I'm fine!" replied Bowser. "Just leave it to-"
At that moment, one of the horses rammed straight into Bowser, causing him to fall over. "Ow! Fine, you want to play dirty?" He ducked into his shell and spun aroud, knocking out several more Ruffians. Only four remained.
"Jump on 'im, boys!" shouted one who appeared to be the leader. The others ordered their horses to jump, and Bowser was crushed under the weight of four horses.
"We've got to help him," announced Tippi.
Mario walked over to where Bowser was, but before he could do anything, the leader ordered for the assault to be repeated. Mario began slowly pushing Bowser away, and when they attacked, Bowser was narrowly missed.
"Wha?" uttered Bowser. "Why, uh, thanks. Now..." When they charged him again, he performed another shell spin in place, and put the rest of the Ruffians out of commission.
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Bowser. "I knew I could do it! Oh yeah! Go me! Who da man? Who da man?"

Mario walked over to the leader. "Now tell us where the Pure Heart is."
"Never! We must protect it!"
"We've, well, he's defeated you fair and square. Tell us where it is."
"We don't have it!"
"Then where is it?"
"Our leader has it. He's over on Mt. Maim. If you wanna find it, tough luck! We ain't telling ya!"
"I can kick your butts again!" warned Bowser.
"Um...err...uh...it's the largest mountain over there." He pointed.
"You're not the leader?" asked Mario. "Fine, I'll find this leader of yours. We need that Pure Heart to save the world."
"Oh, shut your mouth with your dang lies! We know you want it for evil!"
"No, we don't. Come on, guys."

Once more, our heroes walked through the desert, in search of Mt. Maim.
"Why did the Ruff Ruffians think we wanted to use the Pure Heart for evil?" asked Tippi. "Come to think of it, aren't they evil?"
"They're just troublemakers, they're not evil," answered Peach. "But I do wonder. Did someone tell them we were coming?"
"It's possible...we'll just have to press on."
"And I was the one who got us through!" beamed Bowser.
"You were rather violent," complained Mario.
"So what? You're the one who interrogated that guy. You were more of a villain than I was!"
"We had to learn where the Pure Heart was! It's on Mt. Maim!"
"If its name is any indication, it's probably dangerous," remarked Luigi.
As they walked, the landscape begame more rugged and craggy. Just like at the beach, they needed to weave in and out of random rock formations. When they reached a place of flat ground again, they realized they were at the top of a huge cliff. The landscape had changed from a flat, cactus-filled, tumbleweed-ridden desert into a series of large rocky mountains. "This looks like an easy place to get hurt," observed Tippi. "It's no wonder it's called Mt. Maim. He said it was the largest mountain here..."
"It's that one!" exclaimed Luigi. He pointed at the tallest mountain.
"Then let's go there," agreed Tippi.
As they continued walking, they passed through hills and valleys. Just when they were about to reach Mt. Maim, our heroes heard a faint rumbling sound. "What's that rumbling?" asked Tippi.
Luigi looked up, and was instantly terrified. "Look up, everyone!" he shouted.
They all did, and were startled by what they saw.
"ROCKSLIDE!!!" yelled Bowser.

-END OF CHAPTER-

[GiftedGirl]

Oh no, a rock slide!!! What will become of our heroes???

... For some reason, I can't stop thinking about Dimentio just randomly singing Suffragette City for no reason. XD You hafta be me to get it.

[Reading]

Thank you SO much! Finally I get a comment. ^_^

Well, I'm afraid SPM2 is on a temporary hiatus as I deal with some of my other projects, but I hope to have a new chapter ready in the next few days.

[Reading]

Rockslide! The huge boulders tumbled down the slopes of Mt. Maim, rushing straight toward them with a loud rumbling sound! Was this the end? It was all over for our heroes! Or was it?

CHAPTER 2-3
The Chase

"Every man for himself!" shouted Bowser, running away from the mountain.
Peach, looking quite annoyed, responded "No, I think we should help each other."
"Like me?" asked Luigi, who was about to be flattened by a giant boulder. Mario quickly dive-tackled his brother out of the way, but in doing so, the brothers were unable to move for a few moments. In that time, another large rock came careening down the slope toward them! "Run!" shouted Luigi. They quickly ducked to the side.
"Let's go in front of this mountain," advised Tippi. "We can avoid the rocks there!"
The others carefully followed her until the mountain shielded them from the oncoming rocks. However, they were safe only for a few moments, for after a few moments, the rockslide completely stopped.
Peach began, "Well, it looks like we're s-"
"LOOK OUT!" shouted Mario. Peach narrowly dodged the falling boulder.
"What!?" exclaimed Bowser. "There's falling rocks here, t-OOF!" Before he could finish, a huge rock landed on top of him.
"I'll get him!" announced Mario. "You guys see if there's any more safe spots. ...And try not to get crushed!" Mario walked over to Bowser and tried to release him from the boulder's crushing weight. "This rock is heavier than you, Bowser!"
"Keep your insults to yourself and just get me out of here, got it?"
Mario hadn't even realized he had insulted Bowser, and was about to apologize, when he managed to slide the boulder off. "Uh, thanks, Mario. Now let's get going."
They followed the others, eventually reaching a narrow ledge.
"Uh oh!" uttered Luigi. "How are we going to get across this? We'll either be crushed on the ledge or speared on the rocks below! Probably both!"
"Why don't we just go back to where we started?" suggested Tippi. "The rocks aren't falling there anymore."
"Good idea," agreed Mario. Tippi and the heroes went back to the valley and walked toward Mt. Maim. But as soon as they did, rocks began falling again!
"This can't be a natural rockslide!" remarked Mario. "The boulders seem to appear wherever we are!"
"Who is doing this?" wondered Peach.
"Maybe the Ruff Ruffians on Mt. Maim are trying to stop us!" shouted Luigi, almost smashed by a particularly large stone.
"That must be it," agreed Tippi. "But how can we get there?"
"Wait for their rocks to run out!" answered Mario.
The other four looked at Mario like he had a screw loose. "What?"
"I said, wait for their rocks to run out. They can't have an infinite supply of them, can they?"
"Hey, you have a point!" supported Peach.
They continued dodging rocks, but after a while, they grew tired of it. "We've been doing this forever! Do they have an infinite supply?" inquired Luigi. Just as he finished speaking, the rockslide stopped. "Well, I guess not!" he exclaimed cheerfully. He began calmly strolling up the slope, when suddenly he was tripped and flipped over backwards by a sudden assault of millions of small rocks! He flew backward and crashed into Mario, and the two were overrun by the stones.
"Yes!" cheered Bowser. "We won't have to worry about THEM anymore!"
Mario and Luigi, with difficulty, managed to stand up in the rockslide. "Oh, darn it!"
"We can't wait this one out!" announced Peach. "There's just too many of them!"
"Then what do we do?" asked Bowser.
Tippi thought. "We've got to make a mad dash over the narrow ledge over there. Once we run, they'll realize we moved, and send boulders down over there, so we've got to be fast!"
The other four looked at Tippi like she had a screw loose. "What?"
"I said...oh, you heard me, right? It's certainly safer than waiting this one out."
"I must admit, she does have a point," agreed Mario. "Let's do it."
As fast as they could in the raging rockslide, our heroes scrambled over to the other mountain and reached the ledge. Their backs to the wall, they carefully sidestepped as fast as their fear would allow. Soon enough, the rocks began falling, but our heroes were close to where the ledge ended, so they were safe. But just as Peach was about to step off of the ledge and onto firm ground, a stone hit her and she fell, gripping onto the ledge with one hand!
"Peach!" exclaimed Bowser. "My about-to-die-if-I-don't-do-something-fast wife! I'll help you!" He ran over to Peach and gradually pulled her up, watchful of more rocks. When she was safe, the heroes quickly ran around the perimeter of the mountain, toward Mt. Maim, dodging boulders all the way. When they reached the valley in which they had originally walked, they saw that the boulders had stopped, even as they hiked further up Mt. Maim. "They must have run out," said Tippi.
"We may have, but we're still not letting you take it!" came a voice from above them. Our heroes looked up, and saw what appeared to be the leader of the Ruff Ruffians, along with several henchmen, on horses. They were camped on a ledge above them.
"You're the leader of the Ruff Ruffians, aren't you?" demanded Bowser. "I just took out all of your cronies back at your base! You should've SEEN the carnage!" He did a tough-looking pose.
"There goes our chance to recover the Pure Heart through diplomatic means," lamented Tippi.
"Why not?" asked Mario. "We need that Pure Heart to save all of the worlds!"
"You can't fool us! We were told you guys would come here to steal it and use its power to get rid of us!"
"Get rid of you? We've never even heard of you until we came here looking for it. Who was it that told you?"
"This strange guy. He had a black-and-white mask and purple and yellow clothing, and he gave it to us. Who knows who he is, but he sounded like he knew what he was talking about!"
"Dimentio!" shouted all five of the group simultaneously.
"Dimentio? Do you know that guy? He must be a rival of you guys or something. Anyway, we're not letting you take this!" He displayed the yellow Pure Heart.
"We're not using it for evil!" shouted Luigi. "We need it! Now, please hand it over!" He jumped up to the ledge, and the Ruff Ruffian's leader quickly pulled the Pure Heart out of Luigi's reach.
"Still want it? Fine, you'll just have to catch us! Let's flee, y'all!" They sped off on their horses, away from the heroes.
Mario began running after them as fast as he could, but the horses were too fast for him. He huffed back to the others. "What do we do now?"
The others thought for a few moments. "Well, since they're heading down the mountain," Tippi began, "they have to travel in a spiral path since the mountain is so rugged and because they're on horses. But since we're on foot, maybe we can wait at a certain section of the mountain and just jump down, and maybe we can catch them."
"Well, I don't know how you intend to 'catch' them," remarked Bowser, "but it sounds like a plan. Let's see what they do." Our heroes observed the Ruff Ruffians, who were indeed traveling in spirals down the mountain. When they neared the bottom, Luigi observed, "This seems like a good time. Let's slide down!"
The other four looked at Luigi like he had a screw loose. "What?"
"Well, how else do you think we're going to get down?"
"It's called Mt. Maim for a reason," noted Mario. "Still, I don't see what choice we have, so...let's go, I guess!"
They jumped down the nearest ledge and started sliding down. Before long, though, the slope abruptly ended, forming a cliff that had several sharp rocks below it!
"Whose bright idea was this?" asked Bowser.
Tippi and Luigi looked at each other.
"Jump over here!" yelled Mario, pointing to a small, flat ledge near them. They jumped with all of their force and managed to land on the ledge. Mario looked down. "There they are!" he pointed. The Ruff Ruffians were just below them. The leader noticed their presence.
"You guys just don't give up, do you?" he demanded. "Fine, then! Let's see you chase us now!" He and his men ducked into a small alcove in the rock, and it took the heroes a few moments to realize they had gone into a tunnel within Mt. Maim. Climbing down, they noticed a hole in the rock, hidden by crags and boulders, that they never would have noticed had the Ruff Ruffians not climbed into it.
"A cave?" asked Peach. "Hopefully it'll be safer in there."
"Yes," agreed Tippi, "with any luck, they'll run into a dead end in there, and we can do what we can to get the Pure Heart from them. Not a very smart move of them, I'd say." Our heroes walked into the cave, unaware of how very wrong Tippi was.

-END OF CHAPTER-

[GiftedGirl]

Yay, they made it past the rockslide! *does a hero dance* I loved the Bowser fat joke. XD

Oh, and if Dimentio needs any of his own minions, I know some Piders from Mars who'll be willing to work for cheap if that's hunky dory with him. Then again, that space oddity might prefer some scary monsters or diamond dogs to help him defeat the "heroes"... Okay, I'll stop now. ^^;

[Reading]

Descending into the depths of Mt. Maim, our heroes found it increasingly difficult to see. The path ahead of them had many bends and turns, and it was difficult to move at times. "This place is just as dangerous as the mountain above it," reflected Tippi. "Let's hurry and find them. This place makes me nervous..."

CHAPTER 2-4
Twisting and Turning

The heroes continued through the winding tunnel. They soon found themselves descending deeper below the surface, but it was not completely dark due to the small lamps hung on the walls.
"Someone's been here before," observed Mario. "Maybe this is their true hideout?"
"Gee, they have a fake everything," noted Luigi. "A fake leader, a fake hideout, a fake...a fake...uh..."
After a few more minutes, the narrow tunnel suddenly widened into a larger room that seemed to have no exits. "Now where are they?" asked Tippi.
Our heroes stood there, silent for a few moments, when they heard a faint fluttering sound, and...
"AIIIEEEEE!!!" shrieked Peach, nearly in hysterics. Dozens of bats had descended from the cave ceiling and were flying around the heroes. "Get these things away from me!!!"
"C'mon!" urged Mario. "Let's..." But Peach was too hysterical to answer.
"Stop trying to comfort my wife," ordered Bowser. "I'LL comfort her. You two look for a way out of this place."
"Fine."
Mario and Luigi walked around the room, wary of the bats, trying to find any possible exit. The room seemed to be deserted, and there was no hint of an exit besides the passageway from which they came. "You think we've hit a dead end?" asked Tippi, who had moved toward them.
"We can't have," protested Luigi. "The Ruffians came through here, so there must be some kind of exit. Hmm..." His gaze shifted to what seemed to be an upside-down U shaped crack in the rock on the right wall. "I wonder..." He examined this area closely. The longer he looked at it, the less it seemed like a crack, and the more it seemed like a rock covering a hole in the wall. He tried to pull the "rock" out, but didn't get very far. "Here's the exit!" he announced.
"OK, good," said Bowser. "Excuse me, Peach." With his mighty strength, he pulled the rock out of the hole, revealing a passageway. "They must have covered it up."
"Yes!" uttered Peach, running into the exposed passageway.
The others followed. There were only a few lamps here, making the area much darker. Our heroes walked for a while in this darkness. After a while, Bowser grew bored. "How long is this pass-WHOOAAAAA!!!" Our heroes suddenly felt themselves being pulled downwards. Apparently, the tunnel abruptly sloped down, and our heroes were sliding down, down, down!
"Let's hope there's not anything dangerous at the bottom!" wished Peach. "Or even worse, more bats! Ugh!"
Unfortunately, after they had slid for some more time, Mario, who was at the front, noticed what seemed to be the slope's end, and blocking it was several large stones. Worse, though, was the intensely sharp rock that was set into the rubble in such a position that it would tear right through the heroes when they reached the bottom.
"It's a sharp rock!" announced Mario. "Duck as low as you can!" The others obeyed, and when they reached the end of the tunnel, they fortunately weren't speared, but Mario was slammed into the rock by the others. Fortunately, his body hit the rock, and he didn't suffer a concussion. "Looks like a job for Bowser!" the Koopa king announced. He slammed into the rock, careful to avoid the sharp one, but nothing happened. "This rock pile must be thick if I can't even bust through it!"
"What can we do?" asked Tippi.
Mario thought for a while, and then got an idea. "Stay here, everyone. I'm going to try something." He flipped into 3D, and noticed small space between the wall and the rocks on the left side. He flipped sideways (so I guess you could say he was in 2D) and squeezed through the hole to the other side. There was an opening to another room, but in front of that was one of those handy blue switches. He jumped on it, and the rocks disappeared.
"Whenever you see a blue switch, it's good news," reflected Mario as the others joined him and walked into this new room. It had several passageways leading out of it, and no indication of which one was correct.
"Which way should we go?" asked Mario.
"Well, I guess we should just try every path until we find the correct one," suggested Tippi.
They walked down the path closest to them. It ended at a dead end, so they went to the next one. Almost immediately, the passageway became a slope. "We probably shouldn't go down there," advised Tippi. The others, remembering what had happened last time, agreed. The third hole also lead to a dead end. The final passageway ended with another room.
"Is this a dead end too?" asked Luigi, for there was no apparent way out of this room.
"There's got to be some way out," assured Bowser, looking at the walls.
After a while of looking around the room, there appeared to be no way out. "How do we get out of here?" wondered Peach.
Luigi had a sudden thought. "There's no way to go in this room, and the first and third passageways were duds. But we never went down the second passageway, the one with the slope."
"I'm not going down there!" stated Peach. "You know what happened last time."
"But there's no other way. If we don't go down there, we'll be trapped here forever."
The others mulled over what Luigi had said. "Hmm...well, I suppose we could try it," supported Mario.
"Yes," agreed Bowser. "I'll go first this time, 'cause I'm the toughest." So they walked back to the tunnel with the slope, Bowser leading the way, and began sliding. At the bottom of the tunnel, there were no rocks, which was a relief to our heroes. They walked out of the tunnel and into a very large room, well-lit by several lamps.
"I can't believe they made it here!" shouted the leader of the Ruff Ruffians. He and his fellow Ruffians were standing in the center of this room, holding the Pure Heart.
"They're heroes," explained Tippi. "They never fail. And we need that Pure Heart. We'll fight you if we have to."
The leader stepped toward them. "All right, 'heroes'! Who's the leader here?"
Everyone stared at Mario. "Um...I guess I am," he sputtered.
"All right, then. Come here, and face me! I'm just warning you, I'm called the Ruffer Ruffian around here. I'm the roughest of them all, and you wouldn't be very wise to pick a fight with me!"

MINIBOSS
The Ruffer Ruffian

"Taste this!" the Ruffer Ruffian challenged. He pulled out a lasso and aimed it at Mario, but Mario, being more agile, dodged the weapon. The Ruffer Ruffian tried once more, and this time he caught Mario off guard. Snagged in the lasso, Mario was whirled around in the air. "Not so much of a hero now, are you?"
"I've worked my way out of situations worse than this," explained Mario. With effort, he slipped out of the rope holding him, and "OOF!" fell five feet to the ground. He immediately got up and did a backflip, in case his enemy was preparing any attacks.
"So you've got some skill," admitted the Ruffer Ruffian. "But can you survive this?" He pulled a knife from his pocket and hurled it at Mario, who jumped and dodged the weapon.
"You aren't trying to kill me, are you!?"
"If I must do it to prevent you from getting the Pure Heart, so be it!" Apparently, he had several of those with him, as he quickly pulled out two more and aimed them at Mario. He dived to avoid the higher one and then jumped to avoid the lower one. Three more knives came from the Ruffer Ruffian's pocket, all targeted at Mario. He dodged the first two with expert precision, but the third one came straight at his face. Not knowing what else to do, Mario performed the Matrix so that the knife sailed over his head.
"Darn! That was my last knife!"
"Are you giving up now? You really should give us the Pure Heart."
"Never!" He pulled out his lasso once more, twirled it around especially fast, and whipped it in Mario's direction. It hit him squarely across the back.
"YOWCH!" yelped Mario. He stumbled.
"Are you giving up now?" demanded the Ruffer Ruffian.
"I may be in pain, but there's no way I'm giving up!" Mario dodged all of the remaining lasso swipes.
"Grr...you're tougher than I thought, I'll give you that. I guess it's time to pull out the last resort."
"The last resort?"
"The person you call Dimentio gave this to me as a last resort. I'd like you to meet him!" He pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. Suddenly, the ground began shaking. Before long, a huge, black, unmoving horse emerged from the ground!
"Do you like him? He's the Robo-Horse, the ultimate weapon for us! With this remote, I can control his every move, and make him destroy all of you! Giddyap, mechanical horsie!"

BOSS
Robo-Horse

"We've got to help Mario," suggested Tippi.
"Good idea," agreed Peach.
The Robo-Horse charged for Mario, who ran out of the way quite easily. It charged again, faster this time, and would have crushed Mario if Bowser hadn't pulled him away at the last second. "I'll take care of this mechanical menace!" Bowser announced. He unleashed his firey breath on it, which didn't harm its metal surface at all. It ran straight for him and sent him flying into the wall. "OOF! Man, that thing must be made of solid metal!"
"You just figured that out?" asked Peach.
The Robo-Horse than charged for Luigi. He recoiled in fear for a second, then got an idea. Just as it was about to hit him, he jumped up and landed right on top of it. "Hey guys, you should see the view from h-WAAGH!" The horse bucked him, and he landed facefirst on the floor. It was about to charge again, but Bowser ran up to it and clawed its leg.
"Pick on someone your own size!" His attack crippled its mechanical leg.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" announced the Ruffer Ruffian. He pressed another button, and the horse looked straight at Bowser and fired two eye lasers!
"Whoa, so it does do more than just run around," observed Bowser. He ducked into his shell, and the lasers did no harm.
The horse then aimed its eye lasers at Mario. He did some pretty cool action moves and dodged every one.
"Let's crank it up a notch," stated the Ruffer Ruffian. He pressed yet another button, and one of the horse's metal horseshoes detached and flew through the air like a boomerang. It sailed past Bowser and hit Peach before reattaching itself.
"Peach! Are you OK?" asked Bowser, running toward her. Before he could reach her, the horse summoned two of its horseshoe boomerangs and aimed them straight at Bowser. "Hey! You aren't stopping me from seeing how my lovely wife is doing!" He attacked both of the horseshoes with a mighty punch, sending them flying back at the Robo-Horse. They collided with its midsection, causing a large explosion. "That'll teach you not to mess with the Koopa King!"
"Bowser, are you talking to a robot?" asked Peach.
"What? Uh...maybe. Why?"
"It looks like it's weakened!" noticed Mario. "Let's get it!" It charged for the Mario Bros., and they repeated the maneuver that Luigi had used to climb onto it. They rushed to the part where the explosion had occured and started tearing apart the wires and all the other mechanical stuff. The horse soon bucked them off, but they had done serious damage.
"I can't climb up there," said Bowser. "Peach, we'll do a duo attack. I'll send you up there, and you deliver the final blow!"
"Me? How are you sending me up there?"
"Like this!" Bowser grabbed Peach's arm and sent her flying toward the Robo-Horse. She'll probably yell at me for this, but I hope I can convince her that I did it out of love! Then maybe she'll want to stay with me!
"Ugh! I can't believe he'd throw me like that! And he probably thinks he did it out of love, too!" Nevertheless, Peach reached her target and slammed her fist into the damaged area with full force. She dropped down from the horse, which sparked like a 4th of July fireworks show gone haywire. It blew apart with a deafening explosion.

"NOOO!" shouted the Ruffer Ruffian. "You've defeated my last resort!"
"That's because they're heroes," explained Tippi.
"How could they have? They must have superhuman strength if they could defeat that thing!"
"Well, they're heroes."
The Ruffer Ruffian eyed our heroes curiously. "Are you really heroes?"
"Yes. They are. And they need the Pure Heart to save all worlds."
He looked at the yellow Pure Heart, and then back at the heroes. "Well...if you could defeat that thing, then maybe you really are heroes."
"They are."
He paused for a moment, and then picked the Pure Heart up and walked toward them. "Well, I've decided. You guys certainly were heroes. And I'm not sure if I should've trusted Dimentio anyway. Here, take the Pure Heart."
"Really? You're giving it to us?"
"Yes. Isn't that what you want? It is rightfully yours. Take it, and do what you wish with it."
"Thank you. All right, Mario, take the Pure Heart!" He did just that.

PURE HEART GET!
-END OF CHAPTER-

Dimentio had tricked the Ruff Ruffians into believing that Mario and his friends wanted the Pure Heart for evil...but in the end, they proved they were heroes and recieved the Pure Heart. With three Pure Hearts now in our heroes' possesion, five still remain. There is no time to celebrate. Our heroes must find the other five-and quickly, for who knows what sinister plot Dimentio has planned next?

[Reading]

"I assume you have done well?"
"Yes, Master Dimentio. Count Bleck believes he is much stronger than before. May he aid you now?"
"Not yet. Continue your training, and I will decide when you are strong enough."
"Yes, Master Dimentio. Did you manage to find any minion candidates?"
"I am afraid not. But I am still searching. Rest assured, I will have a a new minion before the heroes find the next Pure Heart. If they manage to find it, that is, for I have already gone to its dimension and made sure it's safe from them."
"Good plan, Master Dimentio."
"Good, but tiresome. Once I find minions, I'll let them do the dirty work. All right, you continue your training. I will attend to some...business."
"Yes, Master Dimentio." Count Bleck flipped out and Dimentio disappeared.


"I'm in worse shape then I ever coulda imagined. I've wandered for days..."
"'Ey, what's this? No one's home...maybe I oughta see if they 'ave any food or anythin'..."
"Yes, stealin' is wrong, but I'm starvin'!"
"'Ey? What's this? This looks like it'll make me nice and full."
"Whaaa? What's 'appenin'!?"
"YOU!"
"'Ey? Me?"
"Yes, YOU! I was just about to use that magical device to create a Pixl, and now you've eaten it!"
"What's gonna 'appen to me now!?"
"Well, you're nice and burly, I'll give you that. But that device took years to make, and you've eaten it! Oh, you..."
"No! Don't end me game! Please! I beg ya!"
"Spare him!"
"What?"
"You heard Count Bleck. Spare him!"
"But...but..."
"Spare him, and Count Bleck will spare you!"
"Yikes...now that's an intimidating weapon."
"O'Chunks, I am Count Bleck. How would you like to get a second chance?"
"A second chance? Yeh can give that to me?"
"Yes. Swear complete loyalty to me, and I will make your dreams come true."
"..."
"All right. I'm doin' it!"


"You seem rather contemplative again, O'Chunks," came Nastasia's voice.
"Yep...I was thinkin' about the day Count Bleck enlisted me. This fella was goin' to use a device to create a Pixl, but I was hungry, an' I ate it...it made me all tough. The man tried to end me game, but the Count came in an' saved me game. That's why I joined 'im."
"Ah ha ha! Who's talking about his secret backstory in public now?"
Count Bleck's three minions whirled around in the direction of the voice. "Not you again," uttered Nastasia.
"Indeed, it is I, Dimentio, the ender of your games!"
"We beat you once, we can beat you again!" said Mimi.
"Oh? Fine then. See if you can stand up to me!"
"We'll take yeh on all at once!" blurted O'Chunks.
"We will?" asked Nastasia.
"Of course! If we work togetha, we can take 'im down! Right?"
The other two were silent for a while, but then Mimi agreed, "Right!"
"Very well. Come and fight me, and we'll see who's the stronger!"

BOSS
Dimentio

While Mimi assumed her spider transformation, Dimentio vanished and reappeared with a clone. They flew to opposite sides of Flipside Tower and fired their energy blasts at the minions, which were dodged. O'Chunks ran up to Dimentio and did a ground pound right on his face. He fell right through Dimentio's body and crash-landed on the floor.
"Your foolishness, it is as ample as the population of animals at a small water hole during dry season in the savannah!" cried the other Dimentio. Too absorbed in his excessive description to notice what was happening behind him, he didn't notice Mimi's Rubee coming for him until it was too late. Only slightly injured, he flew high above them, prepared his attack, and fired two energy balls at once. He repeated the attack several times, and both Mimi and O'Chunks were hit. "Not so high and mighty, are you?" the jester taunted. He snapped his fingers, and a glowing square formed around Mimi. Before it could unleash an explosion, Nastasia dive-tackled one of Mimi's legs, causing her to tumble out of the explosion range. She then jumped on top of the box and gave Dimentio a good smack.
"Your feminine ways of fighting aren't going to work against...magic!" He snapped his fingers again, and a bolt of energy leaped out of his hand and struck Nastasia.
"Are yeh OK?" asked O'Chunks, rushing to Nastasia's aid.
While O'Chunks was distracted by Nastasia, Mimi crept near Dimentio, withdrew her legs, and surrounded her head with Rubees. She spun her head through the air to hit Dimentio with the sharp stones.
"You're sneaky, I'll give you that. But I've got more tricks up my sleeve." He hovered slightly away from Mimi and fired an energy ball, pink instead of the usual white. When he fired, Mimi moved away, but the blast bounced off the floor to hit the underside of her head.
O'Chunks, after seeing that Nastasia was fine for the most part, walked up to Dimentio. He performed a strong uppercut that did plenty of damage to the jester.
"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!" He created several large glowing boxes that surrounded O'Chunks, but did not enclose him. Knowing that he was blocking all escape routes for O'Chunks, Nastasia once again climbed the boxes and kicked Dimentio in the stomach. Startled, he deactivated the attack.
"Can't you fight better than that?" taunted Dimentio, though the others could tell he had lost a considerable amount of health. He descended to the ground and began firing energy balls in all directions. However, Mimi had attached herself to the ceiling, and she summoned a wave of Rubees that hit Dimentio squarely.
"All right. I assume you want me to pull out the big guns?" Dimentio disappeared, and reappeared with a duplicate again. The two jesters again flew to opposite sides of the tower, and fired two pink energy balls at once, so the minions now had to evade four. Mimi managed to avoid them, but Nastasia and O'Chunks tried to jump over one and were hit when the blast ricocheted off the ground. The Dimentios prepared for another assault, but Mimi, still on the ceiling, walked to the left Dimentio and fired a Rubee that sailed right through him. Quickly, O'Chunks jumped for the other one and gave him a hearty pound just as he was about to deliver his attack. He staggered, weakened.
"What? I've lost again to minions?"
"Your attacks just aren't enough for us," explained Mimi, returning to her normal form.
"I'll be back. And when I do, I'll be so powerful I'll obliterate you all in a second! Farewell, minions...but not for long!" He again vanished.

Mario and friends came out of the orange door and used the elevator to descend to the second floor of Flipside. They again saw O'Chunks, Mimi, Nastasia, and Merlon.
"Did Dimentio come here again?" asked Tippi.
"He certainly did," explained Nastasia. "But we managed to defeat him again."
"I assume you found the next Pure Heart?" Merlon asked the heroes.
"Yes," said Tippi.
The others noticed how O'Chunks looked withdrawn. "Is something on your mind, O'Chunks?" asked Merlon. "Please tell us what's wrong."
"Well...eh...yeh see..." O'Chunks related the story of how Count Bleck enlisted him. "I was thinkin' about it today, and I thought about how he betrayed me just now."
"I see. Well, never let the burdens of your past trouble you, I say. Look forward to the future."
"I will."
"Now, heroes, go and find the next Heart Pillar, and then continue your quest."

Mario and the others retraced the path they had taken last time, except instead of flipping a second time, they walked left into a pipe. To the far right of the room they entered, Mario flipped into 3D and flipped sideways again, finding the Heart Pillar. Placing the yellow Pure Heart inside it, the yellow door was created atop Flipside Tower. The heroes walked back to the elevator, rode up, and entered the yellow door to search for the fourth Pure Heart.