Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

  Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

        Prologue: The Day the Sky Fell

It was a perfect day for Princess Peach to visit Mario's Pad, just outside of the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun was shining, the butterflies were fluttering around Mario's garden, and so she decided to pick some flowers until Mario came outside. But suddenly, the sky turned black and thunderbolts filled the sky. Peach stood up and looked around for Mario, unaware of a certain spiky-shelled, fire-breathing turtle hovering around above her in his Klown Kar. By the time Peach noticed Bowser it was already too late. He swooped down to where she was and grabbed her, prompting her to scream "HELP!!"

Mario had heard Peach's yell, and immediately ran off to save her. Bowser again, he thought. Doesn't he ever give up?

Mario followed Bowser's Koopa Klown Kar all the way to his castle, on the other side of Vista Hill. The castle, also known as Bower's Keep, was made out of gray stone and had black stone rings, similar to the Koopa King's studded bracelets, around the turrets. The only way to the huge wooden double doors was a long stone bridge and below was a Bowser's face carved into the rock.

As Mario approached the castle, the huge wooden double doors opened. "Hmm, he must be expecting me. Might as well accept his invitation," Mario said to himself as he ran inside. The doors then closed behind the heroic plumber.

Inside, Mario saw a corridor with a red rug (With Bowser's face where it began, of course) with a row of statues of Koopa Troopas holding hammers at either side of the path leading up to some similarly colored double doors. In the next room, he saw some more statues lining either side of the room, as well as a red carpet, and some Koopa Troopas wearing armor calling themselves Terrapins patrolling the room. One Terrapin saw Mario and immediately attacked. Mario could have jumped on the Terrapin, but discovered that one punch was enough to knock him out. Two more Terrapins came up to Mario, but he defeated them both, although one had managed to punch him. Mario took care of all of the others except the two guarding the red double doors to the next room, which called two others to the fight. Mario took out one Terrapin, but barely blocked a punch from the second, and took punches from the other two. He knocked out the second Terrapin, but only one of the other two fought back. The third one fell, and the last one punched Mario in the nose, or so he would have if Mario had not jumped up and landed on him.

With all of the Terrapins defeated, Mario proceeded to the next room, which contained a lava pit, but fortunately for him, two wooden bridges far above it. Living fireballs called Sparkies jumped out of the lava pit, but were too far to be any trouble. Mario had crossed the second wooden bridge, and suddenly an earthquake caused it to collapse. Mario wasn't worried, though, because he knew he could jump across it if he had to, and moved on the next room. Inside there was a red carpet leading to a doorway that was shaped like Bowser, except there was a door-shaped hole in the middle. Above him were two chandeliers and Bowser standing on one of them. Peach was tied up and was dangling from the ceiling on a thin rope. Mario gasped as he saw her, while Bowser laughed at him, thinking he was to high up for his enemy to reach him. But he wasn't laughing long, because Mario jumped up the chandelier next to his. And so Mario and Bowser began to fight for the Princess once again.

From where she dangling, Peach cheered Mario on. "Don't let Bowser's attacks bruise you, Mario."

But Bowser responded "Mario! Prepare yourself for the great beyond!"

Mario stated the battle by jumping on Bowser's head. Bowser countered with a slash form his claws. Mario jumped again, Bowser slashed again. Suddenly, Peach saw that the Chain Chomp has struggling to keep Bowser's chandelier in its mouth and yelled toward Mario.

"The chain! Mario, aim for the chain!"

Mario noticed the Chain Chomp as well and said Thank you for the tip, Peach." He threw a straight punch it and followed with an uppercut. But Bowser continued to slash at Mario. Mario finally made the Chain Chomp lose its grip on Bowser's chandelier with a jump kick to a weak link in the chain.

"What was that sound?" Bowser asked when he heard the yelp from the Chain Chomp. He looked behind him and realized what had happened.

"Oh, no. It's a chain reaction! HOLD ON KINKLINK!" But the Chain Chomp opened its mouth and dropped the chandelier, and Bowser with it. But the Koopa King did not give up.

"Coming, Mario?" he taunted, as he threw a hammer right at the Chain Chomp holding Mario's chandelier. Mario was shocked by the attack and almost fell down, but he grabbed the edge of the chandelier and got back up.

"Fight, Mario, fight!" called Peach as she watched.

"This should finish you." Bowser threw another hammer and Mario's chandelier was sent falling towards the floor. As the two chandeliers were falling, Bowser turned to Mario.

"Did you really think I was just going to GIVE her to you?"

"I was hoping you would, but then you just wouldn't be you, would you, would you?" was Mario's response.

"You're always ruining my plans," Bowser roared, as he was getting ready for one last attack. "This is it! This time I'm taking you out Mario!"

But as Bowser charged at him to make one last attempt to slash him with his claws, Mario jumped off of Bowser's head and straight up towards Peach.

"Fungah! Foiled again!" were the last words Bowser said before his chandelier crashed upon the floor.

Mario had jumped just high enough to reach the Chain Chomp that was once holding up Bowser's chandelier and climbed it to a very relieved Princess Peach.

"Oh, Mario! You had me so worried. Let's get out of here."

"Okey-dokey, just let me untie you so we can go-"

Suddenly the whole castle began to shake. Peach shrieked, "Mario! I'm going to fall!"

High above the castle, a giant sword with a face on its hilt broke through the clouds, surrounded by seven star-shaped objects. The sword spun around while hovering in the air, then it spun faster and faster as it descended towards Bowser's Keep. It mad a huge impact on the castle when it landed, sending Mario, Peach and Bowser flying in different directions. Unknown to anyone the seven star-shaped objects then also fell in different directions.
  Chapter 1: A Giant Sword and Heavy Hammers

Toad had just arrived at Mario's Pad, intending to pick up Princess Peach. As he wandered around the garden in front of Mario's house, Toad could not find the plumber or the princess anywhere. No voices where coming from inside, so he wondered where they could be. Suddenly, Toad heard Mario's voice from above. He looked up and saw Mario falling from the sky and into the green pipe that doubled as the chimney for his house. Upon hearing the loud crash Mario made when he landed, Toad ran inside. There he was, hanging one of the hooks where he usual kept his clothes. Toad said sarcastically, "I know you like going through pipes, but the preferred way to enter and exit places is by way of something called a 'door'." Mario just groaned, while Toad continued. "Seriously, though, I came over to take Princess Peach home, but I haven't seen her." After Toad left, Mario freed himself from the clothing hook and followed Toad outside.

"Toad, I'd hate to say this but-" Toad already knew what Mario was about to say.

"Bowser has kidnapped her again, hasn't he?"

Mario nodded.

Toad sighed and asked, "Look, would you go to Bowser's Keep and rescue her, as always?"

Mario nodded again and left for Bowser's Keep. When he had finally made it back, he was shocked to see a giant sword sticking out of the gloomy castle. The sword had also noticed Mario and glared down at him.

"Halt! Who goes there?" it said in a low, booming voice. It didn't give Mario a chance to respond. "A trespasser! Hear this, trespasser, I hereby claim this castle in the name of Smithy. It will be a perfect place for us, the Smithy Gang, to invade this planet, and we'd OWN this world if meddlers like YOU couldn't just walk in on us." Then the sword grinned evilly. "Let's see how you handle THIS!"

As the sword started laughing, it created an earthquake, which caused to bridge to collapse. Mario barely made it back on solid ground before it fell down the chasm below. With the bridge out and the gap between Vista Hill and Bowser's castle too far to jump, Mario could only take one last look at the sword before leaving.

When he came back to his house, Toad was surprised to see Mario back so early and without Princess Peach. "Did you forget something?" Toad inquired.

"Nope," Mario answered.

"What happened then?"

Mario jumped on a table. "I was on my way to the castle." He walked on thin air like it was the bridge to Bowser's Keep. "And then this sword claimed the castle for itself and destroyed the bridge." He jumped back on the table.

"The bridge is out now? Just great!!" Toad complained. "We MUST inform the Chancellor of this tragedy immediately!" He quickly ran out of the house. Mario soon followed, but ran right into a scared Toad running back to safety.

"Ow! That hurt!" Mario moaned

"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe one of these will make you feel better." Toad gave Mario one of the Mushrooms he had in his pocket. "Now why did I come back here?" Three Goombas, Bowser's weakest soldiers, walked in and one tried to attack Toad. "Ack! Now I remember," Toad said when he ran from the Goomba. "Mushroom Way is swarming with Bowser's troops! Would you take care of these three?"

"No problem," said Mario. He quickly disposed of the three Goombas, but two of them bit him before they were defeated.

"Good work, Mario!" Toad cheered after the battle. "Now why did I come back here for?"

Mario rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yeah! We have to inform the Chancellor about Peach right away. Take these three Mushrooms just in case." After that, Toad left. Mario felt a little tired, so he took a quick nap before departing for the Mushroom Kingdom.

As Toad had said, Mushroom Way was full of Bowser's soldiers. Goombas were lurking around, while red-shelled Koopa Paratroopas, also called Sky Troopas, flew low in the air. There were also some floating treasure boxes strewn about. Mario decided to open the boxes and found some coins inside. The Goombas were easily beaten, but the Sky Troopas were a bit tougher. Finally, Mario found Toad being harassed by a Goomba. Mario decided to attack, but two more came out of the bushes and helped him. After a quick battle, Toad walked up to Mario.

"Thanks a lot, Mario! I thought I was a goner! I had just found this when the Goomba attacked. Here, you can have it." He gave Mario a bottle of Honey Syrup, and ran off. Mario sighed, and followed him.

In the next area, there were steep hills with treasure boxes floating above them. The hills had no pith to walk on, and they were too high to jump onto. However, Mario found a red spinning flower among the normal blue flowers. Mario jumped on it, timed his jumps and was launched high enough to land on a hill. Inside the treasure box was a flower. He jumped off, used the spinning flower to get to the next hill and collected another flower after defeating the Goomba that was guarding it. Across the next hill, he saw Toad being carried off by a Sky Troopa. Mario quickly came to his rescue. Toad was very grateful and gave Mario a Flower Tab. However, he rushed off again. Mario went off the hill, found a Mushroom that instantly healed his wounds, and moved on to the next area.

He found a Lakitu throwing Spikeys down onto the ground The Spikeys were covered with sharp spikes on their backs, so Mario couldn't jump on them, but whenever a Spikey attacked, Mario could punch him in the face, which was not covered in spikes, to defeat it. He finally found Toad near the exit, but he was blocked by the Hammer Brothers. One of them spoke when he saw Mario.

"Yo! Are ya lookin' at me? My hammer and I don't like you."

"Yeah! We won't let ya go past us!" His brother added.

Toad warned Mario, "They definitely look mean. So be on your guard."

"Don't worry, they probably aren't as tough as they look," Mario responded.

He walked up to the Hammer Brothers, but as he got close, one hit him with his hammer, knocking him on his butt, and said, "So, ya wanna challenge us? We don't like that!"

"Now ya got our hammers angry! Ya shouldn't have done that!" Mario got back on his feet and the battle began.

Mario started by jumping on one of the Hammer Brothers, landing on his head, hard. That Hammer Brother came up to Mario and hit him with his hammer. The other one yelled, "Hammer Time!" and threw several hammers at him. Mario did a one-two punch combo on the Hammer Brother he had jumped on before and knocked him out. The second Hammer brother said, "You won't find me so easy to defeat. Vigor up!" a blue light surrounded him. Mario did his one-two punch combo, and found out what the Hammer Brother had meant. The Hammer Brother hit him with his hammer. Mario blocked it, and took a Mushroom to heal himself. The Hammer Brother hit Mario with his hammer, but Mario blocked it again. Mario jumped on the Hammer Brother, and the Hammer brother did his Hammer Time attack. Mario jumped on the Hammer Brother once more, and he fell unconscious.

"That was great, Mario!" Toad exclaimed when the battle was over. Then, he noticed a hammer that one of the Hammer Brothers had thrown and something sticking out of a Hammer Brother's shell. "Why don't you take these, Mario?" he suggested. Mario took the Hammer and the Flower Jar. "The Mushroom Kingdom's just past this route. C'mon, let's go!" and so they went.
        Chapter 2: The Frog (?) and the Crocodile

"All right, we're ready for takeoff," said a red humanoid creature holding an axe. "It's time for our invasion of this planet to begin." The many mechanical creatures, which include four different colored humanoid creatures similar to the red one, a creature wearing a red mask and riding on what seemed to be a mix between a sword and a pogo stick, a red-haired, cross-eyed creature shaped like a bow, a gray spear-headed creature wearing a red cape, and several lesser creature loaded onto the airship that was shaped like a giant axe before it took off toward a hole in the sky, which was a gateway from their world to Mario's world. As they flew through the dimensional gateway, the red humanoid put the airship on autopilot and began to address its fellow creatures.

"Our leader, the great Smithy, has given us these assignments, based on the description of the other world that Exor has given us. Mack," it addressed the creature on the pogo stick "You and your men will go for the kingdom closest to us. Bowyer," it spoke to the bow-shaped creature, "Your group will take the forest in the southwest. And Yaridovitch," it told the spear- headed creature, "You will secure the town in the southeast coast of this continent. The Axem Rangers and I are to ." it couldn't believe what its group's assignment was "take over the volcano just to the east of our base?! As well as take the others to their assigned locations and pick them up when they're done?!" The others laughed.

"What's the matter, Axem Red? Don't think you can handle such an easy assignment?" Mack taunted.

"Especially since greatest warriors in Smithy Gang, you claim to be?" Bowyer added.

"Yeah, everyone knows that I'm in highest esteem of our lord," Yaridovitch said.

Their teasing made Axem Red lose is temper, as he was known to do, but then his comrades spoke up for themselves and their leader.

"More like you are Lord Smithy's biggest brownnose, Yarid," the black Axem Ranger, who always wore sunglasses retorted Yaridovitch's remark.

"And unlike the rest of you, we have never failed to conquer a planet," a female Axem Ranger, clad in pink said.

"And besides that, we've always saved you whenever you have failed your assignments," the skinniest Axem Ranger, the one in green added.

"And besides, the five of us are a lot stronger than you, anyway," the second female Axem Ranger, the fattest one, clad in yellow, boasted. (Author's Note: in my story, Axem Yellow is female.)

"Stronger, eh?" challenged Mack. "You wanna try to beat me?"

They were about to fight when Axem Red spoke up. "Don't waste your energy fighting each other! We've already crossed the dimensional gateway. Mack, we'll arrive in your assigned area in just a few minutes. Prepare your troops and-"

"I don't need you to tell me what to do," Mack interrupted Axem Red. "Your group may be stronger than mine, but we have more experience, I'll show you how a REAL general of Smithy's army invades a world." With that, he signaled the smaller creatures on pogo sticks and jumped off the airship.

******************************************************************

It was nighttime when Mario and Toad finally arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom. The townspeople had gone home for the night. Mario and Toad went straight to the castle. Toad told Mario to wait while he told the Chancellor that he had arrived. As soon as he came back, he led Mario down the hallway to the throne room. "Mario, so nice to see you," greeted the Chancellor, "Sorry about my being nervous, but I had heard a huge noise earlier today. It was so loud I almost dropped my spores. Oh, by the way where is Miss Toadstool? She was supposed to return hours ago!" The Chancellor always referred to Princess Peach by her last name. Mario explained to him that Bowser had kidnapped her again.

"He has? Then you must go and rescue her immediately!"

"I can't," Mario replied sadly. He went on to explain that he had already went to Bowser's castle and defeated him, but as he was about to untie her from the ceiling, a giant sword crashed into to the castle; the great force of it ejected him from there. He had tried to enter the castle again, but the sword broke the only bridge. It was a sight to see as Mario somehow changed into Bowser and Peach and acted as they would.

"You mean that Bowser's Keep is inaccessible now? This is terrible! What can we do?"

"Wait a minute, you don't suppose that the force of the sword crashing into the castle also ejected Bowser and Peach?" Mario suggested.

"Then that would mean that the Princess is out there somewhere," the Chancellor said. "Please, Mario, go out and find Miss Toadstool. But before you go, please rest for the night in our guest room to the left of the entrance to the castle. You may also take whatever you may need in the vault in the morning."

Mario nodded, and began to leave. But the Chancellor called out his name, and he tripped on the stairs and took a tumble all the way down to the door. "Forgive me Mario, but please take this map. I don't know if it will be of any use, but take it anyway."

Mario turned toward the door, but the Chancellor said his name again. "I'm sorry, but it's just that I'm so worried about Miss Toadstool." With that, Mario went out the door and headed to the guest room. The servant inside told him to sleep well for his journey the next day.

The next morning, Mario woke up, showered, got dressed, and went straight down to the vault across from the guest room. The guard told Mario about the Flower Tab and Flower Jar he had found earlier, and that they were used to increase his Flower Points, used for his jumping ability. He also told him that groups of people used the same Flower Points when they travel together and had special abilities. Mario took a huge coin worth ten small coins, a Mushroom that healed him immediately, and a Flower from the treasure boxes. Finally he left the castle and heard someone yell, "Come back, here!" Mario saw a purple crocodile carrying a bag running away from a white puffy person. The crocodile skillfully jumped down from a small ledge, but the puffy guy fell on his face. The puffy guy continued to chase the crocodile, yelling, "Come back here!" The crocodile jumped back on the small ledge. The puffy guy tried to do the same, but failed miserably. When the puffy guy got back up and realized he had lost the crocodile, he started to cry; as soon as he did, suddenly, it started raining.

Needless to say, everyone outside, including Mario, got wet. Mario decided to talk to the puffy person and try to get him to stop crying. When the puffy guy stopped crying, the rain stopped.

"Geez, you're soaking wet, aren't ya mister?" The puffy guy said. "Nothing beats a good cry, but why was I crying?" Mario facefaulted.

"Oh, I remember! I was going to the store to buy some things for my grandpa. Oh, yeah! That thief stole my grandpa's rare coin! I tried to catch him, but he's way too fast." Just then a woman walked up to Mario.

"Show me how you're going to beat Bowser," she asked. The plumber jumped into the air, and the puffy guy was surprised.

"You're THE Mario?" he yelled. "I've heard of you. You can jump better than any frog I know. Will you please help me catch that thief?"

"Yes, I will," said Mario. "By the way what is your name?"

"My name is Mallow. I'm a frog; but, can you believe it, I can't jump too well."

Mallow didn't look like any kind of frog Mario had ever seen. He was white except for a single strand of purple hair, while most frogs were green. Mallow's legs didn't look like they were made for jumping like a frog, either. But Mario didn't tell Mallow that, and the two of them went on their way.

They decided to go to the store to tell the owner what had happened. The storeowner saw Mallow and greeted him. "Oh, hi, Mallow! I've been expecting you. I've already heard from your grandfather that you'd be arriving to pick up this pie."

"I'd love to," said Mallow. "But this thieving crocodile stole my grandpa's coin. But Mario's going to help me get it back."

"Crocodile? You mean Croco the thief? I heard he's been stealing all sorts of stuff from town lately. He's hanging out at Bandit's Way. But before you go, take one of these. You should also buy any other items you may need with any regular coins you may have." The storeowner gave Mario a brown bottle with a star on the label. The item was a Pick Me Up. Mario bought a shirt for himself, some pants for Mallow, and as many Honey Syrups, Pick Me Ups, Able Juices and Mushrooms as he could afford.

When Mario and Mallow left the store, a guard was calling to Mario. "I've seen the thief just a minute ago! He zoomed right past me."

Mallow asked the guard, "Why didn't you stop him?"

"Because I left my bazooka at home! Sheesh, gimme a break here!" replied the guard, and both Mallow and Mario facefaulted. A voice came from behind them "Come back here!" it yelled.

Croco taunted the men chasing him. "Har! Har! Har! Youse mugs'll NEVER catch me! A snail could outrun youse morons! Lata!" then he ran past Mario, Mallow and the guard, causing them to spin.

Mallow was the first to stop spinning. "Hey! That's HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM! C'mon, Mario, let's catch him!" and they chased after Croco.

******************************************************************

The two pursuers caught up with Croco at the entrance of Bandit's Way, where he was digging in his bag of stolen valuables. Mallow whispered to Mario that his coin was likely in the bag, but Croco heard him and turned around.

"Hey! Yer that kid I stole that weird coin from!" He said. "So you think you can catch me? Better go home to yer mommy before ya get hurt, kid!" As he said that, he snapped his fingers and two Spikies and a Frogog walked up from behind him and he ordered them to attack. Mario grabbed his hammer and pounded the Frogog, while Mallow punched a Spikey. The Spikies rolled into balls and both ran into Mallow. The Frogog opened its huge mouth and bit Mario. Mario tried to pound the Frogog but missed. Mallow threw his hands in the air, his upper body separated from the lower half, and suddenly a bolt of lightning came down, electrocuting the three foes. Mario stood there in shocked before asking, "How did you do that?"

"I don't know. It's just something I can do," Mallow answered. Then they realized that Croco had escaped during the battle. Fortunately, there was only one path along the way and they followed it to where Croco was yet again digging in his bag of loot. When Croco saw them again, he jumped on a hill and taunted them.

"You can't jump to save yer life, kid. And this cliff is to high for even Moustache-face to jump upon, so I guess this is goodbye!" Not wasting time, he ran onto a floating platform and grabbed a coin floating high in the sky. Mario spotted a spinning flower and grabbed Mallow as they jumped on it. When they were pointing to the hill Mario carried Mallow on his back and jumped. Then, when they jumped on the floating platform another platform circled it. They jumped form platform to platform, collecting the floating coins. They made it to another hill where they could jump down and follow the path.

Croco was surprised and angered to see them again. "Persistent little buggers, ain't ya?" He snarled. "But I'm 100 miles ahead of youse." He then ran away as fast as he could. The two ran after him, losing him in a crowd of Goombas, Spikies, and K-9s. Whenever they caught sight of Croco, he kept running. They chased him down the path until the saw him on a floating platform with another slowly circling it. They noticed that he was trying to reach a floating treasure chest. When Croco saw them He said to himself, "they just won't give up, will they? That treasure chest looks tempting, but I can't waste time trying to get it." With that, he got off the platform and ran, past a pack of K-9s. Mario wondered what was in the chest, and so he jumped onto the floating platform and waited until the other platform was under the floating chest. He jumped onto it, and grabbed an invincibility star form the chest. The K-9s, being attracted to Mario's flashing, ran towards him. Mallow was going to warn Mario, but was surprised to see the K-9s bounce off of Mario. More K-9s came, but each time one came close, it bounced off of Mario's body. This continued until the invincibility wore off. Mario and Mallow ran past the piles of unconscious K-9s and to where Croco was hiding. This time Croco had run into a dead end.

"Guess I have to go into hiding." He said when he saw his pursuers. He then ran behind a small hill.

"Let's sneak up behind him. We should be able to catch him," Mallow whispered. Mario nodded silently and they quietly walked around the hills until they saw Croco. Unfortunately he saw them first.

"What's this? You guys couldn't chase down a pumpkin," he taunted them before running behind another hill. Mario and Mallow walked quietly until they could sneak up on Mario. This time Croco didn't see them. But as soon as he felt something touching him, Croco turned around.

"At this rate, it'll take ya 100 years before you catch me," he said before he ran off. Mario and Mallow followed him silently, and almost caught him, but when he felt something touch him, he turned around.

"At this rate, it'll take ya 50 years before you catch me," he taunted them before he dashed off. Mario and Mallow decided to split up.

Mario found Croco and waited until he wasn't looking his way before trying to grab him. When Croco felt Mario touch him, he turned around and said, "You again? This is getting old. It'll still take ya." Just then Mallow came up from behind him and grabbed him.

"All right! All right! I give up! I'll give you back your coin."

Mario and Mallow looked at Croco as he dug into his bag to get the coin. But Croco sneered and said, "Did you really believe I would give you the coin back? I was lying!" Then he attacked them.

Mario began the battle by raising his arms in the air to gather power. Then he balled his right hand into a fist and fireballs shot from his hands. Croco yelped in pain as the fireballs slammed into him and burned his skin. Mallow followed up with a Thunderbolt. It didn't affect him as much as the Fire Orb attack, but he was still trying to put out the fire on his tail and unable to attack. Mario and Mallow used Fire Orb and Thunderbolt again. Croco recovered from the attack and threw a bomb at Mario. Mario was barely able to get back on his feet and was about to reach for a Mushroom, but he realized that a little rain cloud was floating in his direction. The little cloud rained on Mario and his wounds were healed. Mario then used another Fire Orb attack. Croco dug into his bag and pulled out a Mushroom. Some of his wounds healed. Mario attempted another Fire Orb attack, but suddenly couldn't. Then he remembered what the vault guard told him about how groups of people drew magic power from the same Flower Point supply. So he drank some Honey Syrup. Mallow used his Thunderbolt attack. Croco tackled Mallow. Mario used his Fire Orb attack while Mallow drank another bottle of Honey Syrup. Croco grabbed a bomb out of his bag and threw it at Mallow. Mallow healed himself with his rain cloud as Mario used one last Fire Orb attack. Mallow ran towards a very tired Croco.

"Give me back my coin or I'll belt you again!" the odd looking frog demanded before punching Croco. That caused Croco to drop the coin, as well as some other items.

"I'm gonna pay ya back in spades, kid!" Croco responded as he tackled Mallow. "Go ahead! Keep the grubby coin! I'm outta here!" After that, the thief ran away.

Mallow turned around and grabbed the coin. "We did it! We got my grandpa's coin back!" he said happily.

"He also dropped these," Mario added as he picked up a wallet and a Flower Tab.

"Anyway, I can finish my errand. Let's go back to town so I can buy that pie for my grandpa."

Suddenly, a trampoline fell from out of nowhere. They concluded that it was safe and used it to go back to the entrance of Bandit's Way and back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

******************************************************************

A group of mechanical monsters, which looked like Shy Guys, riding on pogo sticks, arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom. Lead by a huge monster, wearing a red mask, and riding a sword like a pogo stick, they wreaked havoc upon the town and the castle. Coming from Mushroom Way, they brought a shiny light blue star-shaped object with them as they went into the castle and took over.
   Legend of the Seven Stars

        Chapter 3: Panic in the Mushroom Kingdom

        When Mario and Mallow arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom, the streets
        were filled with strange bouncing creatures. Almost no Mushroom People
        were outside their homes, and the creatures, which looked like
        mechanical Shy Guys riding pogo sticks, were attacking what few people
        were around. One such creature was chasing the town guard. Mario and
        Mallow defeated the monster, and the guard gave them ten coins.
        Another Shyster, as the guard called the creatures, was attacking a
        young man. When Mallow and Mario defeated it, the man noticed the
        wallet they had. They gave it back, and he rewarded them with a Flower
        Tab. Yet another Shyster was bouncing repeatedly on and off the roof
        of a house, causing it to shake. This one went down as quickly as the
        other two. Mario and Mallow went inside to check if the people there
        were all right. The people inside were Raz and Raini, friends of
        Mario, and a young couple who had lived together for a while.

        "Hi, Mario," said Raini "Raz and I are finally engaged to be married.
        We even decided to have the wedding in Marrymore,"

        "That's great, isn't it? But no one can go outside because of the
        monsters," said Raz. Then he noticed Mallow, "Hello, what's your
        name?"

        "This isn't the best time to introduce right now, but my name is
        Mallow," the puffy would-be frog said.

        "Do you think you can get rid of the monsters, Mario?" asked Raini

        "I think Mallow and I can handle them," said Mario.

        "I hope you're right," said Raini. "Good luck, though."

        Mario and Mallow headed out until they heard screams coming from the
        two- story house south of the castle. A family was being terrorized by
        some Shysters were bouncing around in the kitchen. Mallow's
        Thunderbolt attack destroyed them all, but somehow didn't harm the
        house. The mother, the father, and the older son were relieved until
        the mother realized that the younger son was still upstairs. The
        father, Mallow, and Mario ran upstairs and found another Shyster
        bouncing on the little boy's bed. The father was too scared to do
        anything but hide in the corner, so it was up to Mallow and Mario to
        defeat the creature. When the Shyster was defeated, the father gave
        them a Flower Tab and told his son to grow up to be just like Mario.
        The boy, who had always admired Mario and practiced jumping on his
        bed, has thrilled.

        Outside, Mario and Mallow saw a trail of Shysters coming from Peach's
        Castle.

        "We've got to hurry, Mallow!" Mario said. "Toad and the others are in
        trouble!"

        Inside the castle, there were Shysters everywhere. They headed for the
        hallway between the guest room and the vault and found the guest room
        servant being attacked by two Shysters. After Mario and Mallow rescued
        him, the servant complained about the vault guard.

        "I came out here to save him, and he ran inside the guest room." They
        found the vault guard cowering in a corner. When they spoke to him, he
        muttered something about a gold coin. As they left, he yelled, "Wait!
        Here's something you can have, Mario." And he gave him a Wake Up Pin.
        After they left, they saw Toad running from a Shyster. Mario flattened
        the Shyster's head with his Hammer.

        "Thank you very much Mario, " Toad told him. " Everyone else except
        the Chancellor is in Peach's room. I tried to escape those monsters
        but one caught me. Let me take you to the others."

        Toad lead the two to the stairway to Peach's room, where two Shysters
        where waiting. Mario and Mallow took care of them and the three
        continued up the stairs. However, two Shysters were guarding the door.
        They stopped bouncing when they saw Mario.

        "Not so fast, pal!" the first Shyster said, bouncing as he spoke.

        "Look at him, can't even bounce," said the second one. "Hey, maybe we
        can bounce on his head!" Mario ducked as Mallow sent a Thunderbolt
        their way. With the guards defeated, Toad, Mario, and Mallow walked
        into Peach's room. The other servants and Peach's maid, Grandma,
        greeted them.

        "Toad! You came back!" one said.

        "Thanks to Mario, of course," said Toad.

        "What about the Chancellor?" a second one asked.

        "He's still in the throne room."

        "But now that Mario's here, he'll save the Chancellor from that big
        monster, right?" the third one asked.

        "Don't worry, leave him to me and my new friend," Mario reassured
        them.

        "All right!" everyone cheered. Then Toad spoke up.

        "Wait a minute, Mario, I want to give you something. He ran to Peach's
        dresser and pulled out a Flower Tab. He then brought it to Mario.

        "Peach would be glad to give you this," he told him. Mario took the
        Flower Tab, and then asked Grandma to heal him and Mallow.

        "Okay, just as long as you don't try to sleep in Peach's bed, because
        that would be rude" she said as she gave him the special type of
        Mushroom that healed wounds and restored Flower Points. After that
        Mario and Mallow went to the throne room, destroying any Shysters
        getting in their way.

        In the throne room they found six Shysters, the Chancellor shaking in
        the upper-left corner and the big monster the servants were talking
        about.

        "Well guys, it looks like that, Thanks to Master Mack, we have a new
        home," one of the Shysters said.

        "Yeah! And everyone here is too scared to stop us," a second one said.

        "That means that we can bounce around all day and all night," said a
        third.

        "And no one will dare to stop us!" said a fourth.

        "Yahoo! Let's bounce the night away!" a fifth said. And they bounced
        up and down contentedly until Mario and Mallow walked up to them. Two
        of the Shysters tried to bounce on Mario's head, but he ducked and
        they crashed into each other. The other four Shysters bounced around
        Mario and Mallow angrily. Then the huge monster addressed them.

        "Listen up!" Mack announced. "These two are trying to put an end to
        our party. What do you think about that?"

        "Oooh, you're in for it now!" the first Shyster said to Mario and
        Mallow as he bounced towards them.

        "You two are in real trouble!" said the second Shyster as he did
        likewise.

        "No one messes with Mack and gets away with it!" said the third.

        "How'd you like a fat lip to go with that ugly moustache?" threatened
        the fourth. And Mack and the four Shysters attacked.

        The Shysters bounced on Mario and Mallow's heads and Mack chanted a
        spell. A fireball flew above him and landed on Mallow. Mallow fell
        unconscious form the attack, so Mario had to use a Pick Me Up. When
        Mallow got back up he used his HP Rain to heal Mario. One Shyster
        bounced on Mario's head, another on Mallow's. Then the other tow sent
        Drain spells at Mario, which sent a small fireball at the plumber.
        Mack jumped up and disappeared. Mario pounded one with his Hammer, and
        Mallow used his Thunderbolt attack. The Thunderbolt destroyed them
        all. Mack reappeared and used his Flame spell at Mario. Mario used a
        Mushroom and Mallow used another Thunderbolt. Mack was stunned and
        took a Fire Orb and another Thunderbolt before recovering.

        "Let's see if you can survive this. FLAME WALL!" the spell sent a huge
        wall of fire, which burned both Mario and Mallow. Mario ate a Mushroom
        while Mallow cast HP Rain. Four more Shysters came from the ceiling.
        Mario used Fire Orb on Mack and Mallow used Thunderbolt on them all.
        When the four Shysters died, four more replaced them. Mario and Mallow
        each drank some Honey Syrup. Mack jumped up and disappeared and the
        Shysters attacked. Mario realized that if they killed the Shysters
        while Mack was fighting him and Mallow, he would have to wait until
        they stayed alive before he disappeared. He told Mallow to kill these
        Shysters, so Mack would reappear and to keep killing them when more
        came. Mallow used Thunderbolt on the Shysters, and Mack reappeared and
        cast his Flame Wall Spell. Mario and Mallow healed. And four more
        Shysters came. Mario used his Fire Orb while Mallow used Thunderbolt.
        Four more Shysters appeared and Mario and Mallow repeated their
        attacks. Mario used a Honey Syrup when their Flower Points became low.
        Mallow used his Thunderbolt one last time and not only did the four
        Shysters die, but so did Mack.

        Suddenly, a light blue star appeared from behind the throne. It flew
        around the room, stopped above Mario, and spun around rapidly before
        landing in Mario's hands. The last two Shysters in the front of the
        room saw this and spoke to each other

        "This is not good," the first one said.

        "This is not good," the second one repeated.

        "The mustachioed one in strong"

        "Strong, yes."

        "We must warn Lord Smithy."

        "Let's get out of here." And the two Shysters bounced out of the
        castle, and out of the Mushroom Kingdom.

        Mario walked up to the Chancellor, who jumped up when he felt him.

        "Egad!" the Chancellor exclaimed. Then he turned to see Mario. "Oh,
        it's you! Did you just get rid of those monsters?"

        "Yes, I did,' said Mario.

        "Saved by Mario again. How can we ever thank you enough?" said a very
        relieved Chancellor.

        The next day, everything in Peach's castle went back to normal. Except
        for the fact that Princess Peach was still missing. The Chancellor
        paced around worried. "First, Miss Toadstool gets kidnapped, then
        monsters come and take over the Kingdom. Whatever are we going to do?"

        "I know!" said Mallow.

        "Excuse me, but who are you?" asked the Chancellor.

        "I'm Mallow form Tadpole Pond, sir. I think Mario should come with me
        to ask my grandpa, the great sage Frogfucius, for advice. He knows
        everything."

        "Very well, then. If you're Mario's friend, you're our friend as well.
        Please, Mario, please bring the princess back to us as soon as
        possible."

        "Well, that's settled. Let's go Mario. But why did I come here in the
        first place?"

        "Did you have an errand to do?" said Mario.

        "Oh, yeah! Let's stop by the store now."

        At the store the shopkeeper asked Mallow, "So, did you get your coin
        back?"

        "Sure did, with Mario's help," answered Mallow.

        "That's great. Now keep this pie in a safe place so it won't be stolen
        or eaten or whatever, Okay?"

        "Okay, I will. Thanks again Mario. Grandpa will be delighted. Next
        stop, Kero Sewers." And with that the two travelers left the Mushroom
        Kingdom.

        ******************************************************************

        Could Mack, the sword-like creature who invaded the Mushroom

        Kingdom; have anything to do with the star that Mario found? Our
        heroes

        move on to Kero Sewers