The 'Shroom:Issue 203/Palette Swap
Director's Notes
We made it through the first month of the year, and now it's time for February! Welcome to The 'Shroom!
Things have been pretty quiet from Nintendo so far. They shadow-dropped the Princess Peach Showtime-themed pink Joycons, but I think most of us are hoping for news of a Direct coming soon. We can keep our fingers crossed! In the meantime, I'll be waiting for Princess Peach Showtime and working through my pile of books, some of which you shall see in Book Review this year. Let's get something good, Nintendo!
We've got our lineup of regulars for you this month, with extra-big comics from our artists and new chapters from our writers! They've worked hard to bring everything to life, so I won't keep you up here any longer!
Happy reading!
~FunkyK38
Section of the Month
It's time to see who won Section of the Month! First place this month, once again, is winstein (talk)'s The ? Panel with a big lead! In second is Waluigi Time (talk)'s Waluigi Time Comic, and following that is his and Ninja Squid (talk)'s collab on Shmaluigi, Private Investigator. Thank you to everyone who voted, and please keep it up this month as well!
| PALETTE SWAP SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | The ? Panel | 19 | 52.78% | winstein (talk) |
| 2nd | Waluigi Time Comic | 8 | 22.22% | Waluigi Time (talk) |
| 3rd | Shmaluigi, Private Investigator | 5 | 13.89% | Waluigi Time (talk) and Ninja Squid (talk) |
The ? Panel
Mario: Here we are guys, a field full of flowers! Perfect to find some flowers for the princess!
{Mario picks some carnations}
Mario: These are a classic pick for a bouquet!
{Luigi picks some daisies}
Luigi: She will love these! Especially a certain someone.
{Waluigi picks some roses}
Waluigi: Nothing better than roses, to stop and smell.
Wario: {Points to a flower} Ha! That's nothing! This flower here will impress her!
{Wario grabs a flower, but the flower appears to be stuck}
{Wario struggles to pull the flower}
Wario: Stu... pid... flo... wer!
{Wario successfully pulls out the flower}
Wario: Yah! Here we go!
{Wario sees an angry, red Wiggler who stares at him angrily}
{Wario turns to see that the flower was uprooted from Wiggler's head, who has no more flower on its head}
{Wario puts back the flower on Wiggler's head, haphazardly, surprising the Wiggler}
Wario: Heh-heh...
{Wario gets tackled by the charging Wiggler}
SFX: BONK
{While the Wiggler dashes, the charging Wiggler collides Waluigi, causing him to drop the roses he was holding}
SFX: ZOOOOM
Waluigi: Yeowch!
{Mario and Luigi are holding flowers to put them in a basket; Mario holding a carnation, Luigi holding a daisy}
Wario: WAAAAAH!
Waluigi: Ah-wa-wa-wa-wah!
{Luigi and Mario turns to see Wario being chased by the Wiggler, while Waluigi is saddled on that Wiggler}
Luigi: Oops-a-daisy!
Mario: What in carnation!?
{Red Toad and Purple Toad are nearby; Purple Toad takes a picture of the incident}
Toad: Dude, you spelled Wiggler wrong!
{Purple Toad smacks his head with his hand; Not seen: Wiggler was spelled "wigger"}
Shmaluigi, Private Investigator
Written by: Waluigi Time (talk) and Ninja Squid (talk)
Tidal Terror: Part 3
So there I was, face to face with one of the most dangerous international criminals and a gaggle of armed mooks, totally defenseless. And I was sitting in a trash can. Appropriate enough, I suppose. After all, this situation was hot garbage.
"So you're the one who's been snooping on my operations in this city. I can't say I'm impressed," Kreep said, staring down at me with an eye full of malice. It was unusual for me to be towered over like this, considering I'm pretty tall... Perhaps now wasn't the best time to be musing about trivialities like that.
"Snooping? No, there must be some mistake," I said, hoping to weasel my way out of this.
"Don't play dumb with me, detective. You may have slipped past my associate, but I knew you were eavesdropping the other night at the docks. I've had my men keeping an eye on you ever since."
Crud.
"Since you are so keen on sticking your bulbous nose where it doesn't belong, allow me to explain," the Kremling continued. "I am sure someone like you is already well aware of my fearsome reputation. Your city is an ideal location to use as a hub for shipping my goods elsewhere, so I am expanding my operation here. Not to mention the clientele in the surrounding area has already proven to be quite lucrative. Soon, the criminal element of this city will be in the palm of my claw..."
I felt like the hero in a spy movie, tied up while the villain monologues and then leaves their nemesis to die in an unsupervised yet easily escapable contraption. "And you're telling Shmaluigi all of this, because?"
"I can see you take me for a fool, detective. I'm not like those idiots with loose tongues you see in the movies," he said with a grimace. Yikes, he's insightful. "I haven't gotten this far by leaving loose ends, and I plan to cut this one off personally."
Kreep then unsheathed two very large and very sharp katana-like weapons. I didn't think there was much I could do at this point, but at least it would be quick? Hopefully? Boy, staying alive is hard...
Thankfully, if you can really say that in this situation, my demise was temporarily stalled by a sudden voice from behind Kreep - the Sticky Warrior. "Hmpf. What's going on..."
"Oh? I didn't expect you to be joining us for the execution, Warrior."
"Well, I am the one in charge of your operation in New Wikisburg, Kreep. It would be idiotic of me if I didn't keep a certain level of awareness of what's going on. Furthermore, I am curious, who's the-" the Sticky Warrior said, abruptly stopping midsentence as we locked eyes.
I didn't care if I was in the most compromising position possible, I had to say my piece. "You! How dare you work with this-"
"QUIET, detective. Don't waste your few remaining breaths," Kreep snarled back.
"I see... So, that's him?"
"Yes, the eavesdropper from the docks. An inconsequential pest, clearly, but you don't get as far as I have by leaving loose ends."
"I understand. Well then..."
"So, you really have turned over then, eh? You have no idea what storm you've unleashed on yourself, Sticky Warrior."
"Hmm... How disappointing," he replied.
"Just wait until-"
"Do you two always insist on running your mouths so much?" Kreep interrupted, beginning to raise his voice in frustration. "Silence while I finish this!"
The Kremling swung his weapons, unleashing a beam of energy headed directly towards me. As I prepared to face the music, it suddenly stopped short, blocked by the Sticky Warrior's katana.
"My, you are slower than I thought..."
"What... What are you doing, Warrior? What is that supposed to mean?" Kreep asked, clearly caught off guard.
"Are you thick? I was talking to you, Kreep," the Sticky Warrior said, turning to face the Kremling. "Come back to reality, Kreep. I never was by your side! I'm disappointed that you haven't already found that out by now."
Kreep was visibly shocked by the reveal of Sticky Warrior's betrayal, which quickly gave way to boiling anger. Meanwhile, I was just confused about what he was up to this whole time, after everything that happened.
"In fact, I made sure Shmaluigi was able to find your secret spot. JojaMart proved useful, and so did the spy glasses I managed to get from your associate that you ended up killing," he continued, then began to laugh. "How funny! I made sure to sabotage all of their efforts so that I could take up the lead of your business here in New Wikisburg. But I never would have thought that I could managed to grab up so much information without you noticing."
"You DARE double-cross me, you deplorable cephalopod?" Kreep said, looking like he was about ready to explode. "What makes you think you could take me?!"
"Well, maybe you should have figured by now. After what you all did in Inkopolis way back then, the thought of someone trying to get revenge on you wouldn't come into your skull? Anyway, I am tired of all the crap. You're going down Kreep, and I am not taking it lightly."
"Very well, then you will die like this pathetic detective and all the rest who have stood in my way!"
"Well, here I am! If you are more skilled with a weapon than with your brain, then take me on! Let's see who will get away from here alive Kreep!"
Only now did Kreep's goons turn their attention from me to point their own weapons at the Sticky Warrior, only to be stopped by their boss raising a sword in their direction.
"NO. I will deal with this myself."
I could only hope that his pride would get the best of him...
Kreep was thoroughly infuriated by now, and rushed at the Sticky Warrior, clashing with the Inkling vigilante's katana. The swordfight that followed reminded me of those pirate movies Shmwario likes to watch, only ten times over on the drama. Kreep's minions proved to be a rowdy bunch, cheering their leader on and almost drowning out the sound of steel against steel as their weapons connected time and time again. I will say this, it was a testament to the Sticky Warrior's own combat abilities that he was able to hold his own against an adversary over twice his size and packing double the weaponry.
The fight continued on, escalating when the Sticky Warrior backflipped away and Kreep responded with another energy beam from his swords. The Sticky Warrior was able to block the attack with his katana once more, then countered with, by my estimations, what looked to be the finishing move - rapid swings of his katana sent beam after beam of his own surging through the building, filling the room with nearly blinding light. Judging from several cries of pain, I assumed that more than a few of Kreep's minions got caught in the crossfire, and I felt very much like a sitting duck in this trash can. I wasn't about to get out and face that though. A real frying pan or the fire situation here.
Unfortunately, a finishing move it was not. Once I could clearly see what was going on again, I realized Kreep was just standing there, apparently unharmed. Even the Sticky Warrior seemed surprised as he got back up.
"Is that all you've got?" Kreep asked in a mocking tone. "Allow me to show you true power."
The Kremling dashed toward the Sticky Warrior in the blink of an eye, with such precision and swiftness that it almost looked as if he had stopped time. Thankfully, the Sticky Warrior escaped with incredible reaction time, only receiving some nicks on his armor courtesy of Kreep's swords. Responding in kind, the Inkling assumed a much larger kraken-like form and spun circles around Kreep with increasing speed, conjuring up a whirlpool of red ink. The reptile struggled to escape, but did so nonetheless. Clearly, he was a tough cookie to take down, if that wasn't obvious enough already, and being absolutely covered in ink of that particular color made him look even more monstrous.
As the Sticky Warrior returned to his humanoid form, Kreep vanished into thin air, then quickly reappeared, striking with his blades and being blocked by the Inkling's katana once more. Then he relented, taking a step back, and the Sticky Warrior took the opportunity to leap into the air and strike Kreep with his katana - only to be intercepted by Kreep grabbing his leg and hurling him across the room. At least he was agile enough to land on his feet instead of slamming into a wall...
Returning to the offensive, the Sticky Warrior jumped up again and hurled a device at Kreep that unleashed another rapidly growing sphere of ink. But once again, the Kremling emerged from the torrent and lunged at the Sticky Warrior, the two of them locking their blades together. By now, I could tell that the battle was taking its toll, and the Sticky Warrior was starting to look like he was on the verge of exhaustion.
"GRAHAHA! Face it, you imbeciles are nothing to me! You're far from the first to stand in my way and be destroyed... and you will not be the last."
I assumed the Sticky Warrior was frustrated by Kreep's taunting, because at that moment, he shoved the Kremling backwards with his katana.
"Ugh... This is taking way too long already... And at this rate... Well... I dunno if I should do that, but if I don't..." the Sticky Warrior looked at me, seeming unsure, then back at Kreep. "Fine then! Time for the forbidden act of the Trinity! LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH!!"
The Sticky Warrior plunged his katana into the ground, and I don't really know how to describe this, but it almost seemed like it was pulling energy out of him and from the very ground itself. Then he began shouting as if it was taking a toll on him, and... collapsed into a puddle of ink on the floor. I had to imagine I was just as confused by the unusual sight as Kreep was, but then, three spirits emerged from the sword - a Koopa Paratroopa, the masked swordsman Meta Knight, and the Sticky Warrior himself.
"What is this?!" Kreep shouted. "Your feeble tricks won't save you, traitor!"
The spirits replied in unison. "As the Trinity of the Statistics, we are the one choosing your fate. Sorry Kreep, but your application to go on living... has been REJECTED!"
Then they just went absolutely nuts on the unfortunate Kremling, the Paratroopa shell-bombing him and the other two going at him with their swords. Just round after round of a relentless flurry of attacks, it was probably the most impressive combat manuever I've ever seen. If Kreep was able to withstand this, he had to be immortal, or something. Finally, the Sticky Warrior dealt the final blow, plunging his ethereal katana directly into the villainous reptile's chest.
The Kremling gasped for air, seemingly accepting his fate as he looked directly into the Sticky Warrior's eyes. "If you think... this is over... people like me... cast long shadows..."
With those final words, the life went out of Kreep's one good eye, and he collapsed onto the floor. Seeing their boss meet his end in such magnificent fashion was enough to send the remaining minions that didn't end up as collateral scrambling, tripping over each other as they fled the building. Meanwhile, the spirits returned to the Sticky Warrior's katana, and the vigilante himself reformed from the ink puddle.
"Phew... This is more exhausting then I remembered it! Anyway..." the Sticky Warrior said, moving over to check on Kreep. "It... It worked! The beast is finally out!"
He whispered something to himself, but from this far away, there was no way I was hearing it. As for me, I still had a hard time wrapping my head around everything that had happened the past few days, and that chaotic showdown unleashed a tornado in my cluttered brain. As I pulled myself from the trash can, I couldn't think of much else to say at this point. "Seriously, what was all this?!"
"Huh?" he exclaimed, turning back to look at me. "What do you mean Detective? Also, are you hurt?"
"No, Shmaluigi's fine, but... This! Kreep, the hospital, everything! How could you work with someone like him?!"
"I feel like I should correct you Detective. I did not work for Kreep! Well... actually... Well, let's just say it was not my intention at the very least..."
I said nothing in response, only giving the Sticky Warrior a gruff look that heavily implied the need for elaboration. I almost felt like I was dealing with a child. A heavily armed, kind of scary child, that is.
"It all started when I found out about Kreep's whereabouts during one of my former odysseys in the Beanbean Kingdom. I realized that he was going to New Wikisburg for an important operation. I knew who Kreep was long before that, from the time when I was in Inkopolis in fact!" he said, then took a pause. He took a deep breath, as if he was unsure if he wanted to reveal anything further. I knew it well, if only because I saw myself in him at this moment. "Look, I'm not too keen on talking about personal matters, and I never mentioned this to anyone before but... Kreep was the reason behind why close relatives of mine vanished when he attacked Inkopolis in the past, and I will spare you the details of what he did. No one would want to know the horror..."
He looked down at the floor, seemingly ruminating over the past as he continued. "I knew for a long time I wanted to get revenge on him. When Kreep was seeking New Wikisburg for an operation, on that moment I just decided that it was time to take care of him personally! It was pretty much a spur-of-the-moment decision, as the simple mention of that name is nauseating..."
"So that's the story, then..." I replied. I could certainly relate to that, a lot more than I would have liked, to be honest. But even if I could sympathize with the Sticky Warrior's motives, his methods still left a lot to be desired in my book. "That makes a lot of sense, actually. But still, joining the guy's operation? There's better ways to take down someone like this than helping them."
Even though I was trying to convince the Sticky Warrior otherwise, I wasn't sure if even I believed what I was saying, although I hated to admit it. I glanced over to the Kremling lying lifeless on the floor and couldn't help but think about my own arch-nemesis still being at the top of his game years later. Maybe a moral compass wasn't all it cracked up to be.
"I did not exactly help him. In fact, I gained access to his operation in New Wikisburg as a newbie, but all I did was sabotaging the work of the mid-boss and got him killed in the end. I managed to take over the operation and got as close as possible to Kreep. However, things were more difficult than I first thought. Kreep was awful, and that's an understatement. I couldn't have a good take at him during my time, so I just made myself into the persona of the good minion doing menial tasks. Yuck!" he said, shuddering with disgust. "After that point, I tried to get my own associates to try and get you to investigate Kreep and made sure that you and your connections at the NWPD could stop him. That's why you saw me at JojaMart and entering Kreep's secret hideout. That's why you found the spy glasses, and that's why you got the visit of Ms. Mowz at your home. However, not everything went exactly as planned. We were not aware that Kreep already knew that you were spying on him."
Finally, everything was starting to make sense. "So you were planning this the whole time... That Goomba was an associate of yours too, wasn't he?"
"Yes, we planned this several days before our meeting at JojaMart, and indeed he is. Though, Goomer isn't his real name. The poor guy was so anxious that it wouldn't work but it was funny nonetheless. Speaking of how Kreep found out about you, well, as he already told you here, he noticed your presence at the dock where I was speaking with him. I didn't know you were there, so let me tell you that he was pretty sharp. After that point, I felt that Kreep was acting weird, and he tried to keep up at distance, and that is when the whole thing with the hospital happened. I went there to see the damage done, and all I understood is that Kreep simply did that to taunt you and the NWPD of how powerful he could be. For him, destroying the hospital like he did is meaningless. He could have done much worse than that. By that point, you were indeed followed. He told you the truth. He doesn't say things like that if it wasn't true, let me assure you Detective!"
"If that's the case, we should be thankful that nothing even worse happened, then..." I replied solemnly. "It seems like things didn't quite go to plan for either of us, but all's well that ends... somewhat well-ish."
"You can count yourself lucky that you end up here by your own decision, Detective, and that I was here too, otherwise... Well, I prefer not to think about it! With you ending up here, and with Kreep planning on killing you, the only decision I could take was to kill Kreep. Nothing less than that... After the incident with..." he trailed off and went quiet, then angrily mumbled to himself with an expression that I could only describe as terrifying. "Well, I simply refuse having another innocent life taken by wretched fools because of my own choices! I'll kill them... and..."
I wasn't sure that I wanted that train of thought going wherever it was headed. "Yeeeah, you're right, we shouldn't think about that."
"Oh, sorry about that... All these corpses may have taken its toll on me... Well, oh, right! Detective, I have some important matters I need to speak to you about."
"Alright, shoot." I paused for a second, considering that may not have been the best wording... "Erm, not literally, though."
"With Kreep gone, someone else is going to pick up the slack. I think we already know that, though, the operation won't be working as well as before, but... During my time around Kreep, I managed to grab some interesting stuff that may be worth investigating, and I think I'll take the time alongside my own associates to check everything that will probably be worth it. It's regarding a codename that I have no clue of what's the meaning behind it, but it was definitely important and Kreep was consistently talking about it. It's 'The Circle of Six'. Does it ring a clue or something to you?"
I placed my hand to my chin, deep in thought. The name itself wasn't familiar, nor could I think of what it might mean. "No, no it doesn't... Can't help you there, unfortunately, unless you're interested in baseless speculation."
"Not really... Figured. I will have to check Kreep's notebooks a bit more, and thankfully I will have the time to spy everything without him to bother me," he said, pointing his katana in Kreep's direction. "Oh, notebooks! Right, this one will probably interest you Detective! At one time, I managed to sneek in Kreep's office and saw an old notebook with Monty Brando mentioned in there. I know Monty is a big name around here, so that's probably worth investigating! For all I know, Kreep and Monty did work together in the past."
"That's not too surprising that there's a connection, someone like Brando would be able to get a lot of use out of Kreep's wares. Maybe there's some threads Shmaluigi could pull at there..."
"Cool! Well, in that case, I will take the time to clean up the mess here, destroy Kreep's body, and start my investigation regarding these two leads. If I find something valuable, I'll pay you a visit! Oh, and Detective..." he paused, and with a serious expression, moved towards me with katana in hand. "No one should be aware of what happened here... Understood?"
"Like it never happened," I replied. At this point, what was one more Dry Bones in the closet?
"Booyah! Well, it seems we came to an understanding," he said, returning his katana to its sheath. "Oh, and here! This is a ticket with the number for my personal merchant. Consider that an apology for what I did. Well, time for me to get to work, see ya around the corner! Oh, and please Detective, stay safe out there!"
"You too. As best as you can, anyway."
Yeah, I was right. He probably would get a kick out of being stuck in a Killing Game.
With everything more or less settled, I returned home. This whole mess was very mentally taxing, and I was long overdue for some much needed downtime by now. At least I could sleep peacefully finally having all the answers.
As far as anyone else was concerned, my investigation into Kreep's activity in the city ended up inconclusive and was left to be forgotten. I was sworn to secrecy after all, and, well, it's not like anyone really needed to know what happened. No one would be hearing from Kreep again, and I trusted that the Sticky Warrior would make good on sweeping up the broken pieces that remained of his operation.
Thankfully, news reports indicated that the devastation at the New Wikisburg General Hospital resulted in minimal casualties at this time. Obviously, a number no higher than zero would have been ideal, but circumstances being what they were, it could have been so much worse. The NWPD investigation into that would certainly be... interesting, though. Perhaps I would have to leave them an anonymous tip.
As for myself, I had a feeling that I'd have more work to do very soon...
The End
Thank you for reading the end of this arc, and of course a very special thank you to my co-writer and Sticky Warrior dialogue provider Ninja Squid! We hope you enjoyed it, we had a lot of fun collaborating on this. That's all for now, so... see you next month!
Sport Report: The Movie
Written by: ClawgripFan9001
World 1: The Great Rescue Operation Begins - Part 2
Meanwhile, ClawgripFan9001 and Company had arrived in Dreary Moors as they proceeded to dock their ship in a seaside town at the edge of the land and proceeded to get off their ship. ClawgripFan9001 gave his Lakitu cameraman the sign to continue filming.
“Ahoy, mateys, an’ welcome back ta me coverage o’ the Mushroom World Games! Unfortunately, the Games were crashed by some panic provokin’ warlord that be callin ‘imself General Zellon, an’ ‘e took all o’ the athletes that were gonna compete at the Games t’day, along with all o’ the audience members! But don’t worry or feel sad, fer me an’ me mateys ‘ave set out ta rescue the athletes an’ audience members, so rest assured that the Games will be continuin’ on as we rescue everyone!” ClawgripFan9001 spoke into the camera as him, Winston and the cameraman made their way through the seaside town.
“Yeah, we’ll be doing whatever it takes to allow the Mushroom World Games to continue, and we’ll be allowing you to join us on our journey to rescue the athletes and audience members, so we hope you’ll enjoy as we bring you this unexpected quest surrounding the biggest sports event of the Mushroom World!” Winston chimed in.
As the party continued making their way through the seaside town, they were suddenly ambushed by a group of Phillip’s troops; Goomba-like creatures known as Ziddlies.
“Halt! We’re on the orders of Commander Wonga Phillip Zellon to stall your progress, so you won’t be going any further than this!” One of the Ziddlies spoke firmly.
“An’ what will it take fer ye ta allow us ta pass?” ClawgripFan9001 asked with a raised eyebrow.
“If you wish to pass, you have to challenge us to a match of 100m Sprint!” Another one of the Ziddlies replied.
“If that’s what it takes ta pass, I’ll gladly oblige ta yer wee challenge, ye scallywags! Off ta the runnin’ track we go!” ClawgripFan9001 declared before he, along with Winston, the cameraman and the Ziddlies proceeded to get beamed towards the running track.
“In Line Number One; ClawgripFan9001!” An announcer spoke as the audience booed ClawgripFan9001 as he waved towards the audience.
“In Line Number Two; Private Zachary!” The announcer spoke as the audience cheered for the Ziddly as he happily jumped up and down.
“In Line Number Three; Private Beckham!” The announcer spoke as the audience cheered for the second Ziddly as he did some stretching.
“And in Line Number Four; Private Ericson!” The announcer finished as the audience cheered for the third Ziddly as he happily spun around.
“On your marks…Get set…” The announcer spoke before a starting shot was fired as ClawgripFan9001 and the Ziddlies proceeded to boost forward as they ran as fast as they possibly could to get to the finish line first, with ClawgripFan9001 being the first to cross the finish line.
“That’s the match! ClawgripFan9001 takes first place!” The announcer concluded as ClawgripFan9001 grinned and gave a thumbs up as the Ziddlies proceeded to disappear as they had been defeated. ClawgripFan9001 and Company were then beamed back towards the seaside town.
“Well, that be an easy win! Now let’s continue our journey ‘cross this land ta try an’ rescue the heroes that are bein’ ‘eld captive ‘ere.” ClawgripFan9001 grinned as him, his cameraman and Winston continued to walk through the seaside town.
Sometime later, ClawgripFan9001 and Company had left the seaside town and were now walking through a forest when they were suddenly ambushed by more of Phillip’s troops. This time, the troops were hippopotamuses akin to Koopa Troopas; Zellon Troopers.
“Where do you think you’re going, Mr. Pirate and Company? Commander Phillip has said that your type isn’t allowed around here, so this is where your journey ends!” One of the Zellon Troopers told the party firmly.
“How about this; Let’s settle this in a sports match. If I win, my friends and I are allowed to pass. If I lose, we turn back, never to return to this land. Deal?" Winston tried to bargain with the Zellon Troopers.
The Zellon Troopers looked at each other before looking back at Winston and nodded in agreement. “Alright, stranger. You got yourself a deal. Let’s settle this in a game of Long Jump.” Another Zellon Trooper replied before everyone proceeded to get beamed away towards the stadium where the Long Jump was going to be held.
Winston waved to the crowd as he was about to perform the Long Jump, but the crowd booed him. This didn’t wear Winston down a bit though, as he began clapping for the crowd to build up inspiration, and the crowd began clapping alongside him, and upon having inspired the crowd enough, Winston began making a sprint for the jumping line, and upon having jumped over the line, Winston flew quite a distance before landing in the sand. A Ziddly walked over and proceeded to measure where Winston had landed.
“8.9 meters!” The Ziddly spoke as Winston happily cheered and jumped up and down. The Zellon Troopers that Winston was competing against failed to score as high as Winston did, so the Zellon Troopers were promptly defeated, and ClawgripFan9001 and Company were beamed back to the forest they previously found themselves in.
“Hey, I won! Neat!” Winston beamed as he happily jumped up and down.
“Aye, ye sure did, laddie! Now let’s continue on with our journey an’ get o’er ta where’er this Commander Phillip be ‘oldin the heroes captive!” ClawgripFan9001 grinned as him and the group continued on their way.
After walking for about two hours, ClawgripFan9001 and Company arrived at a large rocky wall with a Warp Pipe in front of it. Other than that, it seemed to be a dead end.
“Well, needless ta say, but I believe we’ll ‘ave ta take a trip down this ‘ere pipe if we wanna continue our journey, yar?” ClawgripFan9001 asked Winston and his cameraman.
“Apparently so. Let’s hop down this pipe and see where it’ll lead us.” Winston replied as the group went down the Warp Pipe and ended up inside an underground cavern. They then began making their way through the cave, with ClawgripFan9001 having his cutlass out while Winston was armed with a slingshot.
Suddenly, the group was ambushed by a Velociraptor-like being; Vinniesheraptor. “Hold it right there, travelers. I’m under the command of Commander Phillip to guard this area from trespassers, and I don’t believe that you guys are authorized to enter here.” Vinniesheraptor warned the group.
“Yar, it don’t be lookin’ like we give the slightest shred o’ care, don’t it, lassie? Now let us through or ye’ll ‘ave me blade ta answer to!” ClawgripFan9001 demanded as he pointed his cutlass at Vinniesheraptor.
“So that’s how you want to play it, huh? Very well. How about we settle this in a Fencing match? You get to pass if you win, but you’ll have to leave this cavern if you lose.” Vinniesheraptor suggested as she pulled out a pair of fencing lances, tossing one to ClawgripFan9001.
ClawgripFan9001 looked at his fencing lance and nodded. “Aye, that be soundin’ like a fair deal ta me, lassie. Let’s head o’er ta the fencin’ stadium!” He declared as the group was beamed towards the fencing stadium where the match was going to take place.
A Zellon Trooper was overseeing the fencing match, and he held up his arms as the match was about to commence. “En garde!" The Zellon Trooper declared as ClawgripFan9001 and Vinniesheraptor took their stances. “Allez!” The Zellon Trooper exclaimed as the match began, with ClawgripFan9001 and Vinniesheraptor parrying, thrusting and swinging their fencing lances at one another, trying to gain more points than each other to come out on top in the match. After a bit of a struggle, ClawgripFan9001 won the match against Vinniesheraptor, after which she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Halte!” The Zellon Trooper exclaimed. ClawgripFan9001 happily snapped his claws in the air in victory before him and his group were beamed back to the underground cavern they previously found themselves in.
“Aye, that went ‘bout as well as could be expected, didn’t it?” ClawgripFan9001 remarked to the rest of the group.
“I’d definitely say so, ClawgripFan. Now let’s get on our way once more!” Winston agreed as the group continued on their way. After walking for another while, the group soon found themselves at a lava river.
“Hm, I wonder how we’re going to cross this river over here…?” Winston wondered out loud.
“Aye, I be wonderin’ the same thing, laddie…I don’t ‘zactly see any steppin’ stones fer us ta make our way cross this river…” ClawgripFan9001 nodded in agreement.
“Perhaps I could help. If I extend my cloud, the three of us could ride across this river in it.” The Lakitu cameraman suggested.
“Aye, ye be a genius, me boy! Let’s get in that cloud an’ get movin’!” ClawgripFan9001 beamed as the cameraman proceeded to extend his cloud for ClawgripFan9001 and Winston to ride in, after which the two of them hopped in and the party began to make their way across the river, before suddenly being ambushed by a Blargg-like creature; A Ggralb. It proceeded to roar at the group.
“Hei-ho! What the heck is this thing?!” Winston exclaimed in shock.
“I dunno, laddie, but it don’t be lookin’ ‘appy ta see us! Looks like we’ll ‘ave ta beat in it in an event ta get by!” ClawgripFan9001 told him before the group proceeded to get beamed away to a river, where the party was going to participate in a Rafting match.
“Guess we better get rowing if we wanna have a chance of making it to Commander Phillip’s stronghold.” The Lakitu cameraman observed as him and the others began rowing down the river while collecting Coins along the way. Halfway through the course, the party was ambushed by Zellon Troopers throwing bombs at them, but the party proceeded to run evasive maneuvers to dodge the bombs, continuing to make their way down the river as they did so. Eventually though, the group had managed to make their way down to the bottom of the river, where the Ggralb from before was waiting for them.
The Ggralb roared once more as it began spitting fireballs out of its mouth at the party. “Yar, we be under attack! Use yer paddles ta knock those fireballs back at that sea monster!” ClawgripFan9001 exclaimed as the group began doing just that. Eventually, the group managed to defeat the Ggralb as it let out an agonized screech before retreating back into the water. The party was then beamed back to the lava river.
“Woohoo! We managed to fell that beast!” Winston cheered.
“Aye, but we can’t be lettin’ our guard down just yet. We better get o’er this river quick b’fore any more o’ those beasts show up.” ClawgripFan9001 suggested as the group quickly made their way to the other side of the river and making their way through the Warp Pipe that was there.
And that's it for Part 2 of the first chapter of ClawgripFan9001's adventures in the Dark Lands! In case you're wondering about the sporting events featured in this chapter, they all originate from either the Wii version of Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games or the 3DS version of Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. All events that are featured in this section are going to originate from those games, though some of them may feature elements from other sports games if I see it fit. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you next month with Part 3 of the first chapter!
| The 'Shroom: Issue 203 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Poochy's Picks • Poll Committee Chairperson Election • Credits |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
| Specials | The 'Shroom's Special Saga |
