Chapter 2 (part 6)

Now comes the sixth part of Chapter 2 of Paper Mario Darkness in Time, and with that, the appearance of a new boss. A new special boss. You'll see what I mean when you read this. For now enjoy.

Chapter 2: Across the Vast Desert Hills (part 6)

After a long time inside the Pyramid and fighting Boos, Buzzy Beetles, and Hot Foots, Mario and his friends find themselves in a strange hall with many Hieroglyphs on the walls.

Murry: “What do they all say?”

Shycan: “Hold on, let me scan them.”

Shyca began scanning the walls. After a while, he spoke out.

Shycan: “The Hieroglyphs tells about the Time Gear!”

Shelby: “Really!?”

Shycan: “Let me read it to you: ‘Since the beginning of time, the fabled Time Gears has kept all of time stable. Each Time Gear is located in different parts of the world, keeping time in their regions stable.’”

Murry: “Whoa, talk about deep.”

Shycan: “‘However, many thieves tried to steal the Time Gears, hoping to use their power to rule the world. Their plan backfired as the region became frozen in time the moment they take just one Time Gear, freezing the thieves in time as well.’”

Shelby: “How horrifying…”

Shycan: “‘That’s why the Time Gears are protected where they are. But the guardians of time predicted that time would become unstable, even without the Time Gears being taken. So they waited for thousands of years for the hero’s arrival to collect the Time Gears and use them to save all of time.’”

???: “That’s correct.”

Everyone leaped a little by the sudden voice. Mario turned around to find something even HE didn’t want to see: a four-legged green creature with a big leaf on its head. It’s the same creature that attacked Mario at Mushroom Castle!

???: “So, Mario. We meet again.”

Mario stood where he is, but backing off a little. His friends caught sight at what Mario’s doing and wondered.

Shelby: “Um, Mario? Why are you acting this way?”

Mario told his friends that this creature was the one that attacked Mario before.

Shycan, Shelby, & Murry: “WHAT!?”

???: “That’s right. I’m the ‘creature’ that attacked Mario before. Allow me to really introduce myself. My name is Alex, and I’m a Temporal Knight.”

Murry: “Alex…? Temporal Knight…?”

Shycan: “Alex, why are you here!?”

Alex simply smiled before answering.

Alex: “The same reason why I’ve came to this world in the first place. I’m looking for the Time Gears.”

Everyone was shocked by what Alex said.

Shelby: “You’re WHAT!?”

Murry: “Are you trying to steal the Time Gears to rule the world? Because if you are, then we’ll stop you!”

Alex sighed at Murry’s remark.

Alex: “Simple minded Monty Mole. You really don’t know what’s going on. You ALL don’t know what’s going on in this world. Time is being unstable. So unstable, the Time Gears are losing control over it.”

Mario stood where he is, saying that Alex must be behind it. Alex sighed once again.

Alex: “Mario, Mario, Mario. Do you really think that I’M behind time being unstable? If you do, then you’re even more foolish than I thought. I don’t have THAT kind of power, and even if I do, I wouldn’t be using it to damage time itself. The cause lies elsewhere.”

Mario became a little confused about what Alex said.

Alex: “But enough about that. If you really want to fight, knowing about our last encounter, then I’ll fight you.”

Mario stepped forward to face Alex, but Shycan intervened.

Shycan: “Mario, wait! He’s too strong to face alone!”

Murry: “Yea! Let me help!”

Mario shouted out that he wants to face Alex alone, to prove that he can handle it.

Shycan: “I know you wish to fight Alex alone, but he’s too strong for even you. We need to work together to get through this!”

Mario took a while to think, but ultimately agrees to let Murry help.

Murry: “Thanks Mario. With the two of us battling, we CAN’T lose!”

Alex: “Decided to face me with help, huh? Good, because you’ll need it.”

Alex, Mario, and Murry held their positions, ready to fight. Shycan began scanning Alex.

Shycan: “That’s Alex, the mysterious creature that attacked you before. He says he’s a Temporal Knight. I wonder what that is. Max HP is 30, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. Scans show that he can ram into us or launch super-fast, super-sharp leaves at us. That attack is hard to guard against, so be careful. He also got that same beam that KOed you last time. That beam requires charging, but once it’s fired, it does a LOT of damage. Guarding will have no effect on it, so that’s a problem. He seems to know a lot about time being unstable.”

Murry: “Let’s just take him down.”

Mario starts off with a Hammer attack, doing 2 HP of damage on Alex. Murry uses his Rock Throw on Alex, doing 3 HP of damage due to being powered up from the Super Block.

Alex: “Not bad, but not good enough.”

Alex walked toward Mario and rammed into him. Mario guarded against the attack, so he only took 3 HP of damage. Mario countered it with another Hammer attack, doing 2 HP of damage on Alex.

Shelby: “Yea, Mario! You got this!”

Murry: “That’s right! We can handle this!”

Murry uses his Rock Throw on Alex, doing 3 HP of damage on him. Alex stepped back, but smiled again.

Alex: “Interesting. You seem to be stronger than last time.”

Alex whipped his leaf around and 5 fast moving leaves came out of it, all heading for Mario. They were so fast that Mario couldn’t guard against them, so he took a total of 5 HP of damage.

Shycan: “Mario! Are you OK?”

Mario nodded, then uses a Jump attack on Alex, doing 2 HP of damage. Murry followed up with another Rock Throw, doing 3 more HP of damage on Alex. Alex ram into Mario again, doing 3 HP of damage since he guarded.

Murry: “We got this!”

Mario uses his Hammer on Alex, followed by Murry’s Rock Throw, doing a total of 5 HP of damage.

Alex: “Enough of this! Time to show you my power!”

Alex began absorbing energy into his leaf. Mario remembers the last time he did this. Last time he did this, he unleashed a powerful beam attack that KOed Mario. Mario told the others what Alex’s doing.

Shelby: “He’s charging his beam attack!?”

Murry: “Mario! You got to heal! You can’t survive that attack!”

Then Shycan remembered something.

Shycan: “Mario! Use the Time Gear!”

Murry and Shelby didn’t understand what Shycan meant, but Mario did. He took out the Time Gear that he got from Father Clockwork. The Time Gear soon glowed and shines its light on Mario, healing his HP by 6.

Alex: “That’s the Time Gear’s power!”

Murry uses his Rock Throw on Alex, doing 3 HP of damage. Alex, however was still focused on Mario.

Alex: “He used the Time Gear’s power to heal. But it won’t matter! TAKE THIS!”

Alex unleashed a small beam of light upward. Soon after, a gigantic beam of light crashed down on Mario, doing 10 HP of damage. Mario’s HP was down to 5! He could barely stand.

Shycan & Shelby: “MARIO!”

Mario slowly got up, saying that he’s OK.

Alex: “How did you survive my SolarBeam!?”

Mario told Alex that no matter what, he will never give up.

Shycan: “You tell him, Mario!”

Shelby: “Go Mario!”

Murry: “Let’s finish this!”

Mario uses his Power Smash on Alex, using 2 FP and dealing 4 HP of damage on Alex. Murry followed up with a Rock Throw attack, doing 3 HP of damage on Alex and defeating him. Alex could barely stand after taking so many hits.

Alex: “I… I lost…”

Shycan: “You see, as long as we don’t give up, we’ll never lose!”

Mario agrees.

Alex: “I… I see. You never gave up, even at the face of danger. You may be the one I’m looking for.”

Mario asked what he’s talking about, but Alex simply smiled.

Alex: “You’ll find out soon enough. But for now, beyond this room is an item that will help you out here. We’ll meet again. I know we will.”

And with that, Alex disappeared.

Murry: ‘Whoo, talk about a tough fellow. Glad we pulled through.”

Shycan, however, wondered.

Shycan: “Alex… He really does seem to know why time is being unstable.”

Mario wondered that as well.

Shelby: “He also said that there’s a helpful item beyond this room.”

Mario and his friends headed to the next room to find a chest. Mario opened the chest and found the Super Hammer.

Murry: “WOW! That’s a Super Hammer! With that thing, you can destroy stone blocks.”

Shelby: “You know, we’ve found some stone blocks here. Let’s check them out.”

Mario agreed and headed out of the room, along with Shelby and Murry. Shycan, however, stayed behind.

Shycan: “Alex… Did YOU leave the Super Hammer here for us?”

Shycan then headed off to join the others.

Yea, the mysterious creature is back, and he's a lot stronger than before (which is saying something considering he already KOed Mario on the last encounter). Here are his stats:

Alex

HP: 30

Attack: 4
Defense: 0
Moves: Headbutt (4), Razor Leaf (1 per hit, 5 hits), Solarbeam (10, requires charging)




There's still many things about Alex we don't know about. I can tell you one thing, this isn't the last we see of Alex, and this isn't his full strength.

Chapter 2 (part 5)

Here's part 5 of Chapter 2 of Paper Mario Darkness in Time. It's here that you'll see just how overpowered Shycan's Multibounce is. Other than that, enjoy.

Chapter 2: Across the Vast Desert Hills (part 5)

After beating the Bandit Boss and ended the Bandit outbreak, Mario and his friends ventured into the Lost Desert once again. It took a long time of exploring and battling, but they finally reach the Pyramid. It was a tall, triangular structure with a look of ancient history everywhere you look.

Shelby: “So THIS is the Pyramid.”

Shycan: “Looks like it. Now that we got the Solar Stone, let’s head on in.”

But before Mario can enter, a Magikoopa randomly flew out of nowhere on a broom. Mario recognized the Magikoopa as Kammy Koopa, one of Bowser’s elite Magikoopas.

Kammy: “Well, well, if it isn’t Mario. Surprised to see you here.”

Murry: “Um… Who IS this old hag?”

Kammy: “OLD HAG!? I’m a beautiful Koopa with a beautiful name: Kammy Koopa!”

Shycan: “What are you doing here!?”

Kammy: “Lord Bowser’s orders. I’ve come to steal the legendary treasure that sleeps inside the Pyramid. With the power of the treasure, we would RULE the WORLD!”

Shelby: “Rule the world with the treasure? Then it MUST be a Time Gear.”

Kammy: “So sorry to do this to you, not really, but I really must go, so prepare for a quick beating!”

Kammy, still on her broom, engaged Mario in a battle. Mario and Shycan prepared for battle, with Shycan scanning her.

Shycan: “Scan complete. That’s Kammy Koopa, one of Bowser’s advisors. She was with Bowser during the Star Spirit event and the Thousand-Year Door event. Max HP is 25, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. She can launch a Magic Blast at us, but the real problem is her raising her Attack by 2 and healing by 4 HP. She does got a few tricks up her sleeve.”

Mario started off with a Jump attack, dealing 2 HP of damage on Kammy. Because of that, she fell off her broom and into the ground.

Kammy: “Ouch! My broom! You’ll pay for that!”

Shycan uses 4 FP to use his Multibounce, bouncing on Kammy 5 times, and doing a total of 6 HP of damage (the first hit did 2 HP of damage).

Kammy: “Oof! You certainly got some fight in you. So TAKE THIS!”

Kammy launch a Magic Blast toward Mario, who guarded and took only 2 HP of damage. Mario uses his Power Smash, using 2 FP and dealing 4 HP of damage on Kammy. Shycan uses his Multibounce once again, bouncing on Kammy 6 times this time, and doing a total of 7 HP of damage. Kammy’s in trouble now.

Kammy: “OUCH! Now I’m really mad!”

Kammy held her wand up and healed 4 HP. Mario, however, countered with his Power Smash, using 2 FP and taking away 4 HP from Kammy. Shycan finishes her off with a Multibounce, bouncing on her 5 times and doing 6 HP of damage. Kammy was defeated.

Shelby: “That was WAY too easy.”

Kammy slowly got up, steaming mad.

Kammy: “TOO EASY!?  Just you wait, Mario, one of these days, the Koopa Troop WILL DEFEAT YOU!”

And with that, she got on her broom and flew off.

Murry: “HA! Running away from us? You’re no different from those blasted Bandits!”

Shycan: “Careful, Murry. This isn’t the last time we fight the Koopa Troop. They’re bound to come back.”

Shelby understood that real well, remember the battle with Goomander. Mario also understood that well.

Shycan: “In any case, let’s head inside!”

Mario inserted the Solar Stone in the hole on the door, and, soon after, the door moved open. Mario and his friends headed inside. The interior was similar to the Clockwork Ruins in a sense that there are enemies and traps around every corner. Another typical Mario dungeon. They soon find themselves facing 3 Boos. Shycan took the liberty of scanning the Boos.

Shycan: “That's a Boo, strange ghosts that likes to sneak up on people and scare them. They're rather mischievous. Max HP is 5, Attack is 1, and Defense is 0. They can sneak up on you and damage you, but they can also turn themselves and others invisible, making sure all of your attacks will miss. You really can't stop them from doing that, so you'll going to have to wait it out."

Murry: “Just wonderful…”

Mario started off with a Hammer attack on the first Boo, since it’s hovering close to the ground. The attack took away 2 HP off of the Boo’s health. Shycan did his Bounce attack on the first Boo. Due to being powered up by the Super Block from before, even his Bounce attack is powered up, allowing it to do 4 HP of damage on the first Boo, defeating it easily.

Shycan: “Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!”

The second Boo caught sight of what Shycan did and decided to turn invisible.

Murry: “What!? COWARDS!”

The third Boo float up to Shycan and attack, doing 1 HP of damage since he couldn’t guard. Mario used his Jump on the third Boo, doing 2 HP of damage. Shycan uses his Bounce attack, doing 4 HP of damage on the third Boo, also defeating it. The second Boo float toward Mario and attack. Mario guarded against the attack, however, and took no damage.

Shycan: “The Boo is still invisible, so we can’t attack it. Let’s wait.”

Mario and Shycan both defend themselves. They can’t attack the Boo, but they can make sure that the Boo can’t do damage no matter what. The Boo attacked Mario, but due to Mario defending, the attack didn’t do anything. Afterwards, the invisibility wore off, allowing the Boo to be damaged.

Shycan “Let’s finish this, Mario!”

Mario and Shycan used their Jump and Bounce attacks on the Boo, doing a total of 6 HP of damage and KOing it.

Shycan: “Now, let’s move on.”

Mario and his friends continued to travel through the Pyramid. However, they came to a stop upon seeing a gate.

Shelby: “How are we going to open it?”

Soon, Murry finds something on the ground.

Murry: “Ah-HA! Found it!”

Mario, Shycan, and Shelby looked at the ground where Murry found something, but only see a plain ground with an X symbol.

Shycan: “Ok, we found an X symbol. So what are we supposed to do with it?”

Murry: “This is no ordinary X symbol, it marks a way into an underground tunnel.”

Shelby: “Really?”

Murry: “That’s right. There must be a switch inside that tunnel. However, only Monty Moles can go to these underground tunnels. So let me go in there.”

Mario gave Murry the OK. Murry soon began digging through the ground. Inside the ground was a narrow maze of tunnels.

Murry: “Now then, where is that switch?”

Murry so came across a weird button.

Murry: “BINGO!”

Murry hit the switch with his claws and the switch moved back. Back with Mario, the gate opened up. Murry soon came out of the ground.

Shelby: “You did it, Murry!”

Murry: “That’s Murry MOLE! But thanks.”

But before Mario can head through the opened gate, they are ambushed by 4 Buzzy Beetles. Mario and Murry prepared to battle while Shycan scans the Buzzy Beetles.

Shycan: “Scan complete. That’s a Buzzy Beetle, a turtle-like creature with a hard shell. They’re mostly active in caves and ruins. Max HP is 3, Attack is 2, and Defense is 2. Those hard shells grant them high Defense, but if you can flip them over, then their Defense drops to 0. They can immediately get back up, however.”

Murry: “Defense, huh? Mario, let me go first.”

Mario asked why.

Murry: “Because I got an attack that can handle them. Let me go first.”

Mario allowed Murry to go first.

Murry: “Now, let me show you what I can do.”

Murry dug through the ground. Seconds later, he popped up underneath the first Buzzy Beetle. Despite the high Defense, that attack did a full damage of 3 HP, KOing the Buzzy Beetle easily.

Shelby: “But how?”

Murry: “My Dig attack ignores Defense, so I’m able to do full damage. Plus it’s stronger than my Rock Throw. Of course, it uses up 3 FP.”

Shycan: “Then why couldn’t you just do that on the Bandit Boss!?”

Murry: “Don’t you remember? YOU told me you can handle it.”

Shycan: “… Oh… right…”

Mario uses his Jump attack on the second Buzzy Beetle. The first hid didn’t do damage, but it flipped it over, allowing the second hit to do 1 HP of damage. However, the second Buzzy Beetle soon got up immediately and used a Shell Toss on Mario, doing 2 HP of damage since Mario didn’t guard. The third Buzzy Beetle uses another Shell Toss on Mario, who was able to guard against this attack, only taking 1 HP of damage.

Murry: “Lucky you got me here, huh?”

Lucky indeed, as Murry uses another Dig attack on the third Buzzy Beetle, using 3 FP and dealing 3 HP of damage on it, KOing it as well. Mario uses another Jump attack on the second Buzzy Beetle. The attack flipped over the Buzzy Beetle and did 1 HP of damage, but it soon flipped back up again, allowing it to use another Shell Toss on Mario. Mario guarded against the attack, only taking 1 HP of damage. Mario uses the Jump attack once more, doing 1 HP of damage after flipping the Buzzy Beetle over, defeating it.

Shycan: “Interesting. That Dig attack was helpful.”

Murry: “Told you.”

Mario and his friends continued on, finding another Super Block along the way.

Murry: “You know the deal, Mario. Power me up!”

Mario hit the Super Block; which allows it to power Murry up, increasing his HP and Attack, and granting him a new attack.

Murry: “Now we’re talking!”

With Murry powered up, the group continues through the Pyramid. However, they have yet to find the strange person that the Bandit Boss told them about. Perhaps the person’s deeper in the Pyramid. Perhaps the person is already at the end. What they don’t know is that the person is actually waiting for them… waiting to fight them…

Here we got a new boss:

Kammy Koopa

HP: 25
Attack: 3
Defense: 0
Moves: Magic Blast (3), Power up (raise Attack by 2), Recover (heals HP by 4)

And new enemies:

Boo

HP: 5

Attack: 1

Defense: 0

Moves: Sneak Attack (1), Invisible (afflict self or allies with Invisible status)

Buzzy Beetle

HP: 3
Attack: 2
Defense: 2
Moves: Shell Toss (2)

Hot Foot

HP: 3

Attack: 3
Defense: 0

Moves: Ram (3, causes Burn), Jump (3, causes Burn)





Next time, a return of an adversary...

Chapter 2 (part 4)

Well, here's part 4 of Chapter 2 of Paper Mario Darkness in Time. I got nothing else to say, so enjoy.

Chapter 2: Across the Vast Desert Hills (part 4)

After crossing the opening under the strange rock, Mario and his friends wondered where they are.

Shelby: “Where are we?”

Shycan: “I don’t know. Perhaps some sort of hidden area.”

Just then 2 Bandits and an orange Bandit with a pack came out of nowhere, facing the group.

Bandit #1: “Hey, how did you find this place!?”

Bandit #2: “This is not good. They found our secret hideout!”

Orange Bandit: “So what if they find this place? We’ll just make sure they don’t live to tell the tale! Attack!”

The 3 Bandits began to fight the group. Shycan begins scanning the orange Bandit.

Shycan: “Scan complete. That’s a Junk Bandit, a Bandit who has only been able to steal trash.”

Murry: “In other words, a worthless Bandit! Ha!”

Shycan: “They can use the junk to their advantage, however, which is why they work for the Bandit Boss.”

Murry: “More talk about the Bandit Boss. Great…”

Shycan: “Max HP is 6, Attack is 2, and Defense is 0. Not only can they throw trash at you, but they can also throw Bob-ombs at you. These Bob-ombs can also sometimes fight alongside them. Take out the Junk Bandits quickly.

Murry: “Wait, it can throw BOB-OMBS AT US!? HOW!?”

Shycan: “Just worry about taking out the Junk Bandit.”

Mario uses his Jump on the Junk Bandit, doing 2 HP of damage. Murry uses his Rock Throw on the Junk Bandit, doing 2 more HP of damage. The 2 Bandits ram into Mario, one after another. Mario was able to guard against both hits, however, taking no damage.

Junk Bandit: “Let see if you can handle THIS!

The Junk Bandit searches for something in its pack. Unfortunately, it pulls out a Bob-omb and threw it at Mario, doing 3 HP of damage since Mario couldn’t guard.

Shelby: “Are you OK, Mario?”

Mario nodded.

Murry: “Blasted Bandits, WHY CAN’T YOU FIGHT FAIR!?”

Mario uses his Jump attack on the Junk Bandit, doing 2 HP of damage and KOing it. Murry wants to attack, but Shelby intervened.

Shelby: “Switch with me, Murry. I can take them out with a Power Shell.”

Murry: “It’s Murry MOLE! But fine…”

Murry switched with Shelby, but it used up their turn, so that allows the 2 Bandits to attack. Luckily Mario guarded against them again. Mario uses a Quake Hammer, followed by Shelby’s Power Shell, using up 5 FP total, but doing a total of 4 HP of damage to both Bandits.

Bandit #1 & 2: “OUCH! We may be goners!” Mario’s Hammer and Shelby’s Shell Toss finished off both Bandits.

Murry: “Finally!”

Shycan: “We’re not out of the woods just yet. We’re in the Bandit Hideout.”

Mario agrees and told them that they got a Bandit Boss to find.

Shycan: “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

The group continues through the Bandit Hideout, taking on Bandits, Junk Bandits, and Bob-ombs, until Murry spots something.

Murry: “HEY EVERYONE, LOOK AT THIS!”

The others rushed to him to find out what he found. What he found was a strange floating block with a blue orb inside. Mario recognizes it as a Super Block.

Murry: “That’s right, Mario. If you hit one of these things, one of us will be upgraded. However, it only works once, so choose wisely.

Mario thought for a while, until he hits the Super Block. Then, 3 small orbs popped out of the big orb and flew to Shycan, causing him to feel stronger. Shycan was upgraded!

Shycan: “Thanks, Mario.”

Murry, however, was not pleased.

Murry: “WHAT!? Why didn’t you use it on me!?”

Shycan: “Maybe on the next Super Block, Murry.”

Mario, Shycan, and Shelby continued on through. Murry stood there for a while before going with them.

Murry: “… It’s Murry MOLE…”

The group continued on, easily taking out many Junk Bandits now thanks to Shycan. They pressed on forward until they reach a door at the end of the Hideout. Mario warns the others that the Bandit Boss may be behind the door.

Murry: “Finally! I can’t wait to take this Bandit Boss down!”

Shycan: “Don’t forget that I’M battling beside Mario.”

Murry: “I know, I know. I just wish that it was me…”

Mario and his friends stepped through the door. Behind it was a rather large Bandit, sitting on a throne-like chair.

Murry: “HEY! Are you the Bandit Boss?”

The big Bandit chuckled.

Bandit Boss: “Indeed I am. I’m the leader of the Bandit gang. I’ve sent my Bandits out on Oasis to steal as much goods as they could.”

Shelby: “But why would you steal as much goods as you can? It’s just not right!”

Bandit Boss: “I’m the leader of the Bandit gang. I get to do whatever I want. And soon, I’ll be the KING of Desert Hills!”

Shycan: “Not if we got anything to say, Bandit Boss.”

The Bandit Boss got off of his chair and stood, ready for battle.

Bandit Boss: “Then show me what you got. I wouldn’t mind stealing some of your stuff.”

Mario and Shycan stood where they are, also ready for battle, while Shelby and Murry backed off. Shycan took the liberty to scan the Bandit Boss.

Shycan: “Scan complete. That’s the Bandit Boss, the leader of the Bandit gang. He’s the leader because of his mastery of thieving. Max HP is 25, Attack is 3, and Defense is 1. His basic attacks are similar to Shy Guys, but due to his size, he does more damage when he jumps. His mastery at thieving allows him to steal one of our items, but instead of running away, he’ll immediately use the stolen item. You’ll need to guard to keep him away from our items.”

Murry: “Stealing items? Arggg! I hate those blasted Bandit!”

Mario starts off with a Power Smash, using 2 FP and dealing 3 HP of damage to the Bandit Boss. Shycan uses his new move, Multibounce, on the Bandit Boss, using up 4 FP. He bounced on the Bandit Boss 6 times, doing a total of 6 HP of damage on him. The Bandit Boss is already taking heavy damage.

Bandit Boss: “Oof, not bad. Now it’s my turn!”

The Bandit Boss rushed into Mario, who manages to guard, only dealing 2 HP of damage. Mario uses his Power Smash on the Bandit Boss, using 2 FP and doing 3 HP of damage. Shycan uses his Multibounce again, using 4 more FP. He bounced on him 4 times this time, doing a total of 4 HP of damage on the Bandit Boss.

Bandit Boss: “What?! I can’t be losing THIS easily! I guess it’s time to use my ace!”

The Bandit boss ran up to Mario to steal an item. Mario failed to guard, however, so he took 3 HP of damage and loses one of his Mushrooms.

Bandit Boss: “Hmm? Well, it isn’t much, but it’ll have to do.”

He uses the stolen Mushroom to restore 5 HP.

Murry: “DIRTY, STINKING BANDITS!”

The Bandit Boss simply ignored that comment.

Shycan: “Mario, we better be conservative of our FP since it’s getting low.”

Mario agreed, who uses his regular Hammer attack, doing 1 HP of damage to the Bandit Boss. Shycan uses his Bounce attack, doing 2 HP of damage.

Bandit Boss: “HA! Is that the best you can do? Let me show you a real attack!”

The Bandit Boss leaped into the air and slammed into Shycan, doing 3 HP of damage since he guarded.

Shelby: “This is getting nowhere! Use a Honey Syrup!”

Mario did just that and uses a Honey Syrup, healing 5 FP. Shycan used this opportunity to use a Multibounce, using up 4 FP. He bounced on the Bandit Boss 7 times, doing a total of 7 HP of damage.

Bandit Boss: “What!? No fair!”

Murry: “You’re the one stealing items! YOU weren’t being fair!”

Bandit Boss: “I’ll show you not being fair!”

The Bandit Boss rushes to steal one of Mario’s items. He failed, however, since Mario guarded, taking 2 HP of damage.

Bandit Boss: “Oh NO!”

Mario uses a Power Smash on the Bandit Boss, doing 3 HP of damage. Shycan finishes the fight by using s Bounce attack, doing 2 HP of damage. The Bandit Boss couldn’t take it anymore and dropped down.

Bandit Boss: “Owww… I can’t believe I lost…”

Shycan: “Now that we won, it’s time to set up a compromise.”

Murry: “Right. First off, return all the stuff you stole from Oasis Camp, INCLUDING MY GOODS!”

Bandit Boss: “I guess I got no choice. I’ll order the Bandits to return the stolen goods back to Oasis Camp.”

Shycan: “Now, there’s also something we need to talk about. Do you know about the Pyramid?”

Murry: “The Pyramid? What do you want to know about it?”

Mario tells Murry and the Bandit Boss about why he’s here at Desert Hills.

Murry: “Ah, I see. You’re looking for these strange relics called Time Gears. Saving the world in the process, huh?”

Bandit Boss: “Indeed, I know about the Pyramid. In fact, I know how to get in.”

The Bandit Boss pulls out a strange sun-shaped stone.

Bandit Boss: “This Solar Stone will grant anyone who holds it the ability to enter the Pyramid. I intended to use it to steal the treasure inside, but since I lost, I’ll give it to you.”

The Bandit Boss gave Mario the Solar Stone.

Bandit Boss: “I should tell you, there were actually 2 Solar Stones under my possessions, but then a strange creature came in and demanded that I give one of them to him. He even requested that I give the other one to you if you beat me.”

Shelby: “Odd. Did he tell you who he was?”

Bandit Boss: “Not really, but he does seem to have an other-worldly feeling about him.”

Mario can’t help but think that this strange person seem familiar to him.

Bandit Boss: “In any case, you’ll likely find this person in the Pyramid.”

Shycan: “Then let’s get inside the Pyramid fast! This person may be after the Time Gear!”

Mario thanked the Bandit Boss for giving him the Solar Stone and rushed out of the Hideout with Shycan, Shelby, and Murry. Mario finally has the means to entering the Pyramid, but, according to the Bandit Boss, so does someone else. Mario may find this person at the Pyramid, so he better be ready to battle if this person is after the Time Gear.

Now we are introduced to Super Blocks. Super Blocks are used just like Paper Mario 64. They are how you're going to upgrade your partners. As always, an upgraded partner has their HP and Attack increased and they gain a new move. You're want to upgrade your partners if you want to make it through this game. There are some Super Blocks in completely hidden locations, some of which are in locations that you have already been, but you couldn't get to them until later in the game. There are some limitations, just like in Paper Mario 64. Super Blocks are single use, meaning if you used one, you can't use the same one ever. You also can't upgrade a partner that's already Super-rank until later in the game.

Now that I got that out of the way, here are the new enemies:

Junk Bandit

HP: 6

Attack: 2

Defense: 0

Moves: Junk Throw (2), Bob-omb Throw (3), Bob-omb Reinforcement (summons a Bob-omb)

Bob-omb

HP: 4
Attack: 1
Defense: 0
Moves: Tackle (1), Bomb (4, only if attacked)





And of course, a new boss:

Bandit Boss

HP: 25
Attack: 3
Defense: 1
Moves: Charge (3), Thief (3, steals and use a random item from your bag), Slam (4)