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Super Mark 64

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by Zunar » June 3rd, 2010, 8:05 pm

This story is a fiction story about two teenagers experiencing Super Mario 64. It's really old and riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes (I first started writing this in my early teens, so that's understandable), but I decided to give it a face-lift and work on it a bit.

Note: Some chapters are in a different point of view than others. The point of view is specified in the chapter title. Sometimes a point of view will change in the middle of a chapter, and I'll make their name stand out so you'll know it's switching to their point of view.

Table of Contents: show

CHAPTER 1: THE PARTY (Mark)
Hi! I'm Mark. I'm 13 years old and I had an interesting summer last year and I want to talk about it if you're all ears. It's pretty long, but I'll try to separate it into chapters for you. Ok, here we go.

It was a peaceful day and I was riding my bike back from the park. Suddenly I turned onto a street and saw a kid lose control of his bike and crash into a ditch. I felt bad about it and went over to help him.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," the boy replied.

"What happened?"

"I hit a rock and lost control," he explained. "Then I almost fell off, but instead I crashed into this ditch."

He looked over at his bike.

"Oh no! My bike's ruined! How am I going to get home?"

"I'll help you," I offered. "Get on the handlebars of my bike and direct me to your house."

"Okay," he replied.

He got onto the handlebars of my bike and I took him to his house.

"Hey, thanks dude. By the way, my name's Luis."

"I'm Mark," I replied.

"Thanks again, Mark! Maybe we could be friends?"

"Sure Luis! Anyway, I gotta get back to my house. My mom's gonna kill me if I'm late for dinner."

"Well, bye Mark!" Luis said as he headed into his house and I rode away on my bike.

The next day, my mom informed me that the River Mansion not too far from our house was having a party and I was invited. I asked if I could bring a friend and she said yes, so I got my bike and rode over to Luis' house and told him. He agreed to go with me and we both headed towards the River Mansion. Once there, I got off my bike, locked it, and knocked on the door. The door was opened by a young girl, not too much older than me.

"Hi, I'm Callie," the girl said, motioning for us to come in.

"Hi," I said and I walked in, with Luis right behind me. We sat down on a couch and relaxed.

Callie walked up to us and gave us each a gadget that looked a lot like an I-Pod Touch. She then walked to the center of the room and started talking.

"I see that everyone's here, so let's begin. First off I'll explain about the party, for those of you who are not in the know." She glanced over at Luis and me. "This is a party about Super Mario 64. The reason for this is that we were in a national Super Mario 64 championship to see who could get all 120 Stars fastest and we won! So we are celebrating that by having a party. Now, in order to spice up the party, I asked an expert painter to paint all the Super Mario 64 paintings and we all placed them around the mansion."

Callie turned to Luis and me. "I gave those two each Super Mario All-in-one Gadgets, or SMAGs for short. Mark and Luis, you'll figure out how to use them eventually. Now, I would suggest checking out that room over there." She pointed to a nearby door.

"Alright, thanks," I responded, getting up. Luis and I went into the room that Callie pointed to.

CHAPTER 2: BOB-OMB BATTLEFIELD (Mark)
We opened the door and gasped in amazement. There, on the wall, was a perfect replica of the Bob-Omb Battlefield painting from Super Mario 64!

"Wow," I said, amazed. Luis and I went over to examine it.

"Whoa." Luis put his hand out to touch the painting, but instead he fell through!

"Luis!" I was surprised but worried at the same time. I looked up to see the painting shaking like it did in SM64.

"That's weird," I said to myself. I wasn't sure if I believed it or not, but I needed to save Luis, so I backed up and jumped through the painting.

I fell for a few seconds and then landed, but what was weird was that I bounced back up a bit. I realized the floor was bouncy, like a trampoline. When I regained my balance, I saw Luis standing not too far away.

"What is this place?" I asked him, looking around.

"I dunno," Luis replied, "but I saw something over there."

He pointed to a nearby hallway and I walked over there. I saw six levers on the wall but all but the far left one were covered with a steel box. A name was written above each lever, but again, all the names but the far left one were covered up with something. I pulled the far left lever and a trapdoor opened beneath me, and I fell.

I landed a few seconds later and I looked around.

"No...freaking...way...," I though aloud, my jaw dropping open. I was in Bob-Omb Battlefield! I looked down at the grass and realized I was wearing brown shoes.

"That's odd," I said, "I was wearing my favorite green shoes when I pulled the lever." I then looked at my hands. "Gloves?! Since when did I have gloves on?"

Suddenly, something hit me and I fell down.

"Ouch," I said, rubbing my head. I looked behind me.

"What...the...crap...," I said, amazed. I saw Luigi getting up and dusting himself off. He suddenly stopped and looked himself over, like he didn't realize what was going on.

"What's going on?" the boy asked.

"Luis?! Is that you?!" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Luis replied. He looked up and saw me. "Mark...?"

"Yes, it's me. You look like Luigi!" I answered.

"And you look like Mario! Cap, mustache, overalls, everything!" Luis replied.

"Really? Same thing with you, except you look like Luigi," I said. "This is really weird." I reached into my pocket and pulled out my SMAG. It showed:

x0
Course #1: Bob-Omb Battlefield
King Bob-Omb on the Mountaintop

"Huh," I said. "It shows how many stars I have and what course and star mission we're in."

Luis looked at his SMAG and it showed the same things.

"Okay, so I'm guessing we need to get to some King Bob-Omb that's on a mountaintop of some sort," I said. I looked around and saw a tall mountain far away.

"That must be it," Luis stated, as if reading my thoughts.

"Let's go," I answered.

We walked up the bridge ahead of us and followed the path past a weird ball looking-thing that had eyes and a mouth, and was attached to a wooden pole by a chain. We walked over a wobbling bridge, through a field, and made our way up the mountain. When we got to the top I saw a big black ball with eyes, arms, legs, and a big mustache. By the crown on its head I assumed this was the thing the mission name was talking about.

I walked over to it and it turned around.

"I'm King Bob-Omb, lord of all blasting matter, king of kabooms the world over! How dare you scale my mountain? By what right do you set foot on my imperial mountaintop? You may have eluded my guards, but you'll never escape my grasp and you'll never take away my Power Star. I hereby challenge you, Mario! If you want the Star I hold, you must prove yourself in battle. Can you pick me up from the back and hurl me to this royal turf? I think that you cannot!"

"I'm dressed as Mario, so he must be talking about me," I said to myself.

King Bob-Omb started stomping toward me.

"What the?" I said, surprised. I ran over to Luis. "Luis, go back down the mountain! I'll take care of this thing!"

Luis nodded and he started running back down the mountain.

I turned back to King Bob-Omb. "You're going down, buddy!"

I ran around him and picked him up from behind.

"He's a lot lighter than I thought he would be," I said to myself. I tossed him to the ground and he groaned in pain, getting back up. But he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice; when I ran around him, he quickly turned around. I kept trying to run around behind him but he turned around too fast. I was so focused on trying to run around him that I didn't notice I ran right in front of him and he used that chance to grab me.

"Hey! Let me go!" I shouted, struggling.

He spun around a few times and then threw me. I landed hard on the ground, but it didn't hurt as bad as it should have.

"Oof," I groaned as I got back up. "Wait, I'm dressed as Mario. Maybe I can jump as high as Mario can?"

I ran straight at King Bob-Omb but jumped over him before he could grab me, confusing him. I used that time to grab him and throw him to the ground again. He was MAD. Now, no matter what I did, I couldn't grab him. Even jumping over him didn't help, because he just turned around. When I was just about to give up, I knocked his crown off when I was jumping over him.

"No!" he yelled, hobbling over to his crown. I ran to him and grabbed him.

"NOOOOOO!!!" he shouted as I tossed him to the ground.

"Whaaa....Whaaat? Can it be that a pipsqueak like you has defused the Bob-Omb king? You might be fast enough to ground me, but you'll have to pick up the pace if you want to take King Bowser by the tail. Methinks my troops could learn a lesson from you! Here is your Star, as I promised, Mario. If you want to see me again, pull the same lever in the mission selection room. For now, farewell."

He exploded, and a star appeared. I heard someone running back up the mountain and looked over to see Luis, panting and sweating.

"Did you beat him?" Luis asked.

"Yup," I replied.

I walked over to the star and grabbed it. Suddenly, I felt as if I were pulled up into the sky by a reverse gravity, and then I blacked out. The next thing I knew, I landed on the floor in the BOB painting room.

"Wow, that was weird," I said.

Something hit me in the back and I tumbled over.

"Ouch!" I groaned, getting to my feet.

"Sorry," Luis apologized.

"Dang that hurt," I replied.

My SMAG beeped and I looked at it. The

x0 changed to

x1.

"Hmm, I guess when we get a star it automatically registers in the SMAG," I said.

"Guess so," Luis said, "because it did the same thing on mine."

"Well anyway, let's get some more Stars," I said and jumped through the painting, with Luis following me. When I landed in the mission selection room, I went through the hallway and noticed that the second lever from the left was now exposed and the name was uncovered. It said "Footrace with Koopa the Quick".

"Luis, we can select another mission!" I said as I walked over to the lever and pulled it. A trapdoor below me opened and I fell through, landing in Bob-Omb Battlefield. I walked forward to avoid Luis falling into me. Luis landed behind me a few seconds later. I noticed that there was a weird turtle that was standing on it's hind legs. It noticed me and started waving it's arms.

"Hey, Mario! Over here!" it said. I walked over to it. "Hey, Mario! Is it true that you beat King Bob-Omb?" it asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Cool! You must be strong. And pretty fast. So, how fast are you, anyway? Fast enough to beat me...Koopa the Quick? I don't think so. Just try me. How about a race to the mountaintop, where King Bob-Omb was?" it asked.

"Sure!" I said. I crouched and got ready to race. "Luis, stay here!" I said.

"Ready?" Koopa asked.

"Yep," I answered.

"On your mark...get set...go!" Koopa said.

I started off at a dead run, dashing up the bridge, and avoiding Chain Chomp. I vaulted over the wobbling bridge to save time and I sprinted across the field toward the mountain as fast as I could. I followed the path up the mountain, dodging the metal black rolling balls.

When I got to the top, I stopped to catch my breath. My heart was racing and my side was burning like crazy. "I've...never run that fast...in a long time...," I panted. A minute later, Koopa the Quick came up the mountain.

"Hufff...fff...pufff... Whoa! You...really...are... fast! A human rocket! Here you go--you've won it, fair and square!" Koopa said. He tossed me a star and I caught it in the air. After a few seconds, I landed in the BOB painting room. Luis came through behind me.

"You won, right?" he asked.

"Yep," I said, "That's 2 Stars."

"I thought so," Luis replied. We jumped back into the painting.

Another lever and name were exposed when we came in. I also noticed that the missions that we've completed have a big green checkmark beside the name. I also noticed a completely black box that blended into the wall next to the far right lever, which was covered by a steel case.

"I wonder what that is," I thought aloud.

"Dunno," Luis replied. I pulled the third lever from the left (which was labeled "The Floating Island") and after a few seconds I landed in BOB.

Luis landed behind me and I looked at my SMAG. "The Floating Island, huh?" I said to myself.

"Must be talking about that floating island over there," Luis said, pointing. I looked at what he was pointing at and agreed.

"But, how do we get there?" I wondered aloud.

"I can help you with that." I turned to who said that.

"Yikes! A Bob-Omb!" Luis said and he backed away.

"Wait! I won't hurt you. We Red Bob-Ombs are peace-loving and only fight when needed. But I overheard you wondering how you get to the floating island up in the sky," the Bob-Omb said.

"How do we get to the floating island?" I asked.

"Hold on just a minute," the Red Bob-Omb said, and it walked over to a control panel. After a minute, it came back. "Done. Just jump into the cannon. I'll aim you towards the floating island and when you're ready, say 'Fire", ok?" explained the Bob-Omb.

"Sure," I answered. I turned to Luis. "Luis, come on. Watch me."

Luis walked over and I jumped into the cannon. The cannon aimed toward the floating island. "Fire!" I shouted. I was blasted out of the cannon and I neared the floating island. I landed safely onto it and walked over to the side. A few seconds later Luis landed onto the island. I looked around and saw a floating block. I went under it and punched the bottom of it. It broke open, revealing a star.

"Come here Luis. I'll let you grab this one," I said. Luis came and grabbed it. When we came out, went back in, and pulled the middle lever (Five Silver Stars).

When we went into BOB, I saw a silver star on the top of one of the trees in front of us. I climbed the tree and grabbed it. My SMAG beeped and it showed a new gauge showing Silver Stars: 1/5.

"Hmm...five to get...," I said. I climbed back down the tree. "There's four more Silver Stars to get. Let's split up. I'll get into the cannon and go up there," I pointed up to our left. "And you take the path." I pointed to the path.

"Got it," replied Luis. He started running up the path.

"Hey, Red Bob-Omb!" I said, walking over to the nearby red Bob-Omb.

"Yes?" it asked.

"Can you aim me over there?" I asked, pointing.

"Sure, hop into the cannon," the bob-omb replied.

I jumped into the cannon and it was aimed where I wanted. "Fire!" I yelled. I was blasted up a cliff and I landed on top of it. I jumped on top of the Goomba and a Silver Star appeared. I grabbed it. "Three more," I said. I looked at my SMAG and it said Silver Stars 3/5.

"Guess Luis found another one," I said to myself. I put my SMAG in my pocket and walked toward the mountain to find more Silver Stars. I walked up the mountain and saw a Bob-Omb. I grabbed it and threw it and it exploded, relinquishing yet another Silver Star. "Two more," I said. I walked more up the mountain and I found another cannon and Red Bob-Omb.

"Can you aim me over to that floating island, please?" I asked the Red Bob-Omb.

"Sure! Hop into the cannon!" the bob-omb replied. I got into the cannon and when he was aimed where I wanted, I yelled "Fire!". I grabbed a tree on the island to stabilize myself, climbed it and grabbed the Silver Star on top of it, and climbed back down. "Okay...now how am I supposed to get off of here?" I asked. I saw a cannon but no bob-omb. I saw a red block and punched the bottom of it. A red cap with wings came out. I put it on and I felt lighter. I jumped and dived and realized that I could fly! "I CAN FLY!!!" I shouted in delight. I turned and landed near Luis.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Luis asked, his eyes wide.

"Tell you later. Now, how many Silver Stars have you gotten?" I asked.

"Two," Luis replied.

"That means we have all five!" I said in delight. I saw a glow to the right and I turned. "The star!" I cried out. I ran to it and grabbed it. When we came back in, I selected the next star mission, which was "The Eight Red Coins".

"I guess there's eight red coins here," Luis said.

"Yeah, guess so," I replied. I walked along the path, with Luis following me. There was one right off the side of the path and I grabbed it. "Alright Luis. I'll go this way," I said pointing to the nearby field, "you go that way." I pointed to a path that leads in the opposite direction.

"Ok!" Luis said and he headed onto that path. I saw another red coin and I grabbed it. Then I went over to the cannon and realized that there was no bob-omb nearby, but there was a control panel. I figured out how to aim the cannon way up the sky so I can land on the floating island nearby. After I landed, I grabbed the red coin there and blasted over to the mountain. I ran halfway down and saw a slide and I slid down. There was a red coin on it and I grabbed it on my way down. I walked a little farther and bumped into Luis. "Oof! You ok, Luis?" I said.

"Yeah," Luis replied. I noticed something and looked a little to my left.

"The star!" I cried. I ran over and grabbed it. The next star was "Mario Wings to the Sky". This time, when I fell in, Luis didn't follow me. I heard a voice come out of my SMAG and I pulled it out.

"Mark! Mark, are you there?" It was Luis.

"Yeah I'm here," I replied.

"Where are you? When I jumped into the trapdoor I just got thrown out!" Luis said.

"Maybe because the star is 'Mario Wings to the Sky' and I'm Mario," I replied.

"Maybe so," Luis replied.

"Well, I need to figure out what to do here," I said. I put away my SMAG and looked into the sky. "Coin rings...," I said to myself. Suddenly I heard a voice: "When one collects the middle of five, the treasure appears." "That's it!" I said. I made my way to the floating island, bashed the block for a flying cap, set the co-ordinates on the control panel, jumped into the cannon, and was fired. I grabbed three coins and missed the fourth and fifth. I circled back and grabbed the fourth, but I didn't have enough momentum to get the fifth. I landed back on the floating island and blasted high enough to grab the final coin. A star formed way on the ground below. I flew into it so I wouldn't get hurt from the landing.

The next star was "Behind Chain Chomp's Gate" and we both were able to go in.

"You don't suppose that Chain Chomp is that black ball shaped creature over there?" Luis asked, pointing.

"It is," I replied. "I'll go see what I can do. You stay back." I sprinted towards Chain Chomp as fast as my legs could carry me. I saw a gate and a star behind it. "I'm lucky that Chain Chomp is chained to that pole," I said to myself. Then it hit me. "So THAT'S why Chain Chomp is angry!"

I saw a hammer nearby and proceeded to hammer down the pole enough to release Chain Chomp. I had to stop and jump up out of the way several times because Chain Chomp lunged at me.

Meanwhile, Luis bashed a red block like the one I bashed to get wings. A flower came out and floated to the ground. Luis grabbed it and suddenly felt weird. He looked at his hands, or rather, through them. His body had become translucent! He ran towards the gate and attempted to jump through and grab the star. It worked! Luis went straight through the gate and grabbed the star out of midair. Both of us were teleported back to the mansion.

When we landed outside the painting, I was still holding the hammer. I looked at Luis.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"I jumped through the gate and grabbed the star!" Luis replied proudly.

"No way," I said, eyes wide. "That gate is solid steel!"

"I don't know how I did it, but I bashed a block and got a flower, and then I became translucent. Then I just ran towards the star for no reason and jumped through the gate and grabbed the star!" Luis replied.

"Well, we've completed Bob-Omb Battlefield for now. Let's go see what other places there are," I suggested.

"Good idea, but it might be better if we split up," Luis answered.

"I think you're right," I said. We exited the room. "You go in there," I said, pointing to a room, "and I'll go over there." I pointed to a different room. "Once you get all the stars in that course, go back to the lobby and wait," I said.

"Agreed!" Luis replied. Luis went into that room while I went into the other.

CHAPTER 3: WHOMP'S FORTRESS (Luis)
After me and Mark split into different directions, I entered a room and I saw a replica of the Whomp's Fortress painting. "I guess I'm doing Whomp's Fortress," I said to myself and I jumped in. The "mission selection room" was exactly like the Bob-Omb Battlefield one, except only one of levers and names where uncovered. I pulled the lever marked "Chip off Whomp's Block" and I fell through a trapdoor and landed in Whomp's Fortress. "I remember this star mission," I said, recalling the last time I played Super Mario 64. I used my knowledge of Super Mario 64 to avoid the enemies and make my way to the top. When I got close to the Giant Whomp on top of the fortress, it turned to me. "It makes me so mad!" it boomed. "We build your houses and your castles. We even pave your roads and you STILL walk all over us. Do you ever say thank you? No! Well you're no going to wipe your feet on me! I think I'll crush you just for fun! Do you have a problem with that? Just try and pound me, wimp! Ha!"

Whomp fell over and tried to crush me, but I rolled out of the way. "No way I can slam down on him like I can in Super Mario 64!" I said to myself, worried. Then I remembered something that happened right before Mark and I split off in different directions...

"Luis, take this. I found it near the gate and thought you might need it," Mark said. "But Mark, this is your hammer!" Luis replied. "You need it more than I do," Mark replied, offering his hammer to Luis. "I-I don't know what to say...," Luis replied, taking the hammer. "Take good care of it," Mark said and headed off to another door.

I put my hands together and my hammer appeared and I slammed it down on Whomp's back. Whomp let out a huge grunt and got back onto it's feet. I tricked Whomp into trying to crush me and I slammed my hammer on his back again. "Man, this guy is easy to trick," I said to myself. I repeated the tactic. "No! Crushed again!" it cried. "I'm just a stepping stone after all. I won't gravel, er, grovel. Here, you win. Take this with you." Whomp blew up, revealing a star. I grabbed it. I got back in and selected the next star mission: "To the Top of the Fortress". I climbed back up to the top but there was a fortress instead of Whomp. After I fell down a few times, I eventually got the star. The next one was "Shoot into the Wild Blue", but I noticed that one of the other lever boxes was damaged, like someone had tried to hack into it. I was able to get my hand inside the box and pull the lever. A trapdoor opened beneath me and I landed in Whomp's Fortress. I looked at my SMAG and it displayed "Unknown Mission". "Weird," I said. I searched around and found a wooden box. I smashed it with my hammer and saw a switch under there. I stepped on it and I heard something far off and what sounded like a Star. I ran towards the sound and found a Star encased in a glass sphere. I smashed the sphere open and grabbed the star.

When I went back into the Mission Selection Room, the Switch Star of the Fortress lever and name were uncovered. Also the lever and name to left of it were uncovered. It read: "Blast Away the Wall". I pulled it and landed in Whomp's Fortress. "I remember playing this one." I climbed up and walked over to the cannon, which was covered by a plate with a Red Bob-Omb on it. "Ugh!" I grunted as I tried to move the plate. Then I tried to smash it with my hammer. I heard a voice and whirled around. "I can open that for you," a Red Bob-Omb said. I moved aside and the Bob-Omb just stared at the grate and it opened. "How'd you do that?!" I asked, bewildered. "Can't tell you that. But where do you wanna go, Luigi?" the Bob-Omb asked. I turned toward the Bob-Omb and was about to explain that I wasn't Luigi but I stopped myself. He wouldn't believe me anyway, I thought. I looked around and saw a crack in a nearby wall. "Over there," I said, pointing. I hopped into the cannon and was blasted towards the wall. Once I was blasted out I realized how stupid that was. "I'm gonna crack my head open!" I realized. Before I could react, I slammed into the wall. The wall broke off, but I wasn't the least bit hurt. "I guess it's like Super Mario 64," I said to myself. But I fell from high above, so when I landed, I got hurt. "Ouch," I said, rubbing my bottom. I got up and saw that there was a Star where the wall broke off. I climbed up there and grabbed it.

The next star mission I chose was "Shoot into the Wild Blue". I got back up to the cannon and looked around. There was a star on an overhang that was about level with the ground the cannon was on. The trouble was, the path sloped downward as it approached the overhang, and it was too high to reach. I told the Red Bob-Omb where I wanted to go and jumped into the cannon. I was blasted towards the overhang and I landed on a platform just above the star. I slid down the nearby pole and grabbed the star.
The next star mission was "Red Coins on the Floating Island". I went around Whomp's Fortress, grabbing Red Coins and then I grabbed the Star once it appeared. The fifth star mission was entitled "Fall into the Caged Island". When I landed in Whomp's Fortress, I looked in the sky and saw a floating cage that held a star. How am I going to get up there? I thought. A bird flew off the nearby tree and started talking to me. "Hey, do you want to get that star up there?" the bird asked. "Yes," I replied. "Then grab my feet. I fly you up there," the bird replied. I did what the bird said and we went soaring into the sky. When we flew over the star, I let go and dropped right onto the star.

I landed back in the mission room, but I thought I had done every mission. There was a sign on the wall, saying "100 Coins", but it had no lever. "I have to collect 100 coins?! Great, this will take a while...

CHAPTER 4: JOLLY ROGER BAY (Mark)
I landed in Jolly Roger Bay, recalling the last time I played Super Mario 64. I didn't remember much about Jolly Roger Bay, except that it had tons of water. "I hope I can hold my breath for a while," I told myself. "If it's the same as in Super Mario 64, I can hold my breath for 40 seconds." I looked around and I started to remember what Jolly Roger Bay was like. "Well, this star mission is 'Plunder in the Sunken Ship' so I have to dive!" I told myself. I took a deep breath and dove in. Then I realized that, without goggles, I couldn't see underwater! Where am I going to find goggles? I thought. I surfaced and looked around. "Nothing," I said. I got an idea and dove again. I opened my eyes underwater and what I saw was amazing! Awesome, I can see underwater without goggles! I swam around for a bit and saw the sunken ship. I was about halfway there when I realized I was running out of air. I quickly swam to the surface, took another deep breath, and dove again.

I saw down and saw an eel resting in a hole in the ship. Oh great, it's that eel. How am I going to get past it? I swam above it and it swung its head back and forth, then came slithering out. Yes! He's gone! But the only problem is...can I hold my breath long enough to get the treasure inside this ship? I surfaced, got some more air, and dove in, swimming into the hole. I saw four chests. Just my luck. I have to pick which chest. I pulled open a chest and out came bubbles and a number. A one? What the heck? I pondered this for a few seconds but then realized I needed air. I swam over to the hole but for some reason it was blocked! Oh no! I'm going to drown! I looked all around for a way to escape, but saw none. Suddenly, the bubbles that came out of the chest came over, touched my mouth, and burst. But then I realized something: I had more air!

Since I had gotten some more air, I opened another chest. Out came more bubbles and a two. Another number. What's up with these numbers?! The next chest I opened had even more bubbles and a three. What is this, numbers in treasure boxes day? The fourth chest I opened had only bubbles, but an instant after I opened it, the whole ship started to shake. What is going on?! I looked up and realized that water was draining out of the ship. Fast. I swam over to the slanted wall and grabbed one of the platforms just as the water drained down below it. "Finally!" I said joyfully. Near the top of the wall was a box, hanging in mid-air. I climbed the platforms all the way to the top and bashed the block from underneath, like I did in Bob-Omb Battlefield. "A star!" I said. I grabbed it.

The next star mission was 'Can the ell come out to play?'. I dove into the lagoon and saw that the ell had taken up residence in a horizontal hole. I swam below it and it came out. Then I saw something. There's a star on the end of its tail! I touched the star and it flew away from me. What the heck? The star finally stopped going away and floated in the water, spinning. I swam over and grabbed it.

The next mission was “Treasure of the Ocean Cave”. When I had dove down to chase the eel for that last star, I had noticed a cave at the bottom of the lagoon, so I dove down and entered it. I looked around and saw what looked like columns, but when I approached them, the stalactite part fell over and tried to crush me! Luckily I moved out of the way in time. I turned around and saw a green box, floating in the air. “I wonder what’s in it?” I thought aloud. I went under it, bashed it open, and out came a metal cap. I put that metal cap on and I turned into metal! “Amazing! This metal suit isn’t heavy as you might think! And it also has an air supply with it too, which is cool!”
I ran all the way down the cave, forgetting about the columns. When one hit me, I was awestruck to find out that I was invincible! “This is the best thing ever!!!” I told myself. A few seconds later, I realized my metal suit had disappeared! “Oh crud, I guess it isn’t permanent,” I thought to myself. At the other end of the cave were four chests and a sign that said that I must open the four chests in order to get the treasure within. I opened the closest one and I just an electric shock. “Ouch. Guess that’s not it,” I said. My SMAG beeped and I looked down at it. It had a pie graph with 2 pieces missing, and it had the name “Power” at the top. “Guess that’s like my health meter,” I said to myself. I went around, trying to open each chest, when I suddenly felt exhausted. “Why am…I so… tired?” I asked myself, panting.

I looked at my SMAG and realized that I only had a fourth of my health left and if I opened another wrong chest, something bad would happen. “How can…I recover…health?” I asked myself. I started touching some options on my SMAG and found a file that explained that you can grab coins to get health and air. “Coins are food and air? How much crazier can this place get?!” I told myself. I jumped on a Goomba (look that up if you don’t know what it is) and it dropped a coin. I touched it, it disappeared, and I felt like I got some of my strength back. “Alright! Let’s try again!”

I opened the top chest first, then the left, then the right, and finally the bottom. “Did I get it?” A star popped out of the bottom chest. “Awesome!” I said, and I jumped up to grab the star.

--LUIS'S POINT OF VIEW--
After I had gotten 100 coins, a star appeared above me. I grabbed it, but I wasn’t transported out of the world. “Hey, I wonder what happens if I…” I started running and jumped. “Jump off the side like thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!” I found myself lying on the floor in front of the painting. My SMAG beeped and I looked at it. It said: Lives – 1. Luis x 3. “I guess I have three more lives,” I told myself. “So… now that I’m done with that, what now?” I walked out of the room and happened to wonder right into the Jolly Roger Bay room, right as Mark fell out of the painting prior to losing a life. “Mark!” I cried. I ran over to him. “Ugh, what happened?” Mark groaned, and got up. “You fell out of that painting!” I explained. “I guess that’s why my back hurts,” Mark replied, rubbing his back. “You go rest a while. I’ll get the rest of these stars for you,” I volunteered. “No, Luis. It’s too dangerous,” Mark replied, “I’m ok, I’ll go back in.” He walked a few steps, but then fell down to his knees from the pain in his back. “No, you’re injured. Go back to the lobby and tell them about your back. I’ll get the rest of the stars in Jolly Roger Bay,” I insisted. Before Mark could reply, I jumped into the painting. “Good luck, Luis,” Mark said, and then he crawled out of the room.

When I landed in the mission room, I saw that Mark had gotten four of the stars, and the next one was “Blast to the Stone Pillar”. I pulled the lever and dropped down. Far off in the distance, I saw the star. It was floating above a little overhang. “Weird, the mission says ‘Stone Pillar’ but that looks more like a ‘Stone Overhang’. Oh well,” I said to myself, shrugging. I looked around and saw a cannon, and that it was open. “Mark must’ve opened it,” I thought to myself. I inputted the co-ordinates of the overhang in the control pad nearby and jumped into the cannon. Boom! I was blasted over there and right into the star. Strangely enough, when I hit the star, I stopped going forward and just went straight down.

Next mission was “Through the Jet Stream”, but by that time, I was tired from all the adventuring that I went down the slide that was in the room and ended up sliding right out of the painting, just what I wanted to do. I walked back into the lobby, flopped down on the couch, and went to sleep.

CHAPTER 5: BOWSER IN THE DARK WORLD (Mark)
After my back felt better, Luis and I decided to take a break from getting stars and started exploring the castle. We went up the stairs and entered the door on the far right, and found ourselves in a small circular room with two stained glass windows of Princess Peach, and a lone door at the end. I entered the door and saw a replica of the SM64DS painting of Sunshine Isles. “Luis, come over here!” I said. Luis came through the door and saw the painting. “I don’t remember that painting in SM64,” Luis replied, thinking hard. “Because it’s not; it’s in SM64DS.” I stated. “SM64DS? I don’t remember that game,” Luis responded, scratching his head. “Well, this is a painting in that game,” I replied. I backed up and started running at the painting. “Geronimo!” I said as I jumped into the painting. Luis followed suit.

“Just as I thought! It’s Sunshine Isles!” I said when I looked at my SMAG. “There are five Silver Stars here. We find them all, and we get a star!” “Awesome! Let’s look!” Luis replied, and then he ran off. I looked around, taking in the beauty. There were five islands in total, one in the middle and four around it. The funny thing was, the water was low enough between the islands that we could run between the islands. I started towards the big island in the middle, climbed it, and grabbed the Silver Star upon it. I saw Luis trying to get the Silver Star from the condor that was circling around the islands, and I jumped over to a tree on a nearby island and climbed it for another Silver Star. I turned around and saw the third Silver Star tucked in an alcove behind the big island, so I grabbed it. The fourth Silver Star was in plain sight on one of the islands, but Luis was too busy chasing the condor to notice it, so I grabbed it. By that time, Luis had smacked the condor with his hammer and stole the Silver Star. All five Silver Stars fused together and made a Power Star appear on the island we started at. We grabbed it at the same time.

We explored some more and Luis accidentally fell through one of the stained glass windows! I jumped in and we had landed in Princess Peach’s Secret Slide! So we raced each other down the slide and we both made it down in less than 21 seconds, which made a star appear. Luis grabbed that one, and I grabbed the one that was in the switchbox floating above a nearby platform.

“So Luis, were to next?” I asked him. “I have no clue,” Luis replied. “Hey, I think I know! Let’s go beat Bowser!” I said. “Heck yeah! I’m with you!” Luis replied. We headed up the stars and to the far left door, which was like two automatic sliding doors that would slide open if we had enough stars, which we did. Inside, we walked forward until we found a trapdoor and feel through the floor. We entered and landed in a room with a door at the other end and a notice above the door. It said, “Know this: only one may enter here. The one whose cap and shirt is red; the plumber Mario!” “So I guess only you can enter, huh Mark?” Luis asked. “Yup, seems so,” I replied. I looked around and saw a spring. “Luis, jump on that spring. That will get you out of here,” I said, pointing. “Ok!” Luis replied, and he jumped on the spring. I heard a big “BOING!” and Luis screaming in delight. I entered the door to Bowser…

When I went through the door, I found myself in a strange place. It was just platforms floating in the air and nothing else. I happened to glance to my right and saw a Red Coin. “If there is one Red Coin here, there must be eight in total!” I told myself. “But I can’t reach that one!” I kept walking and saw a green switchbox, like the one that was in Jolly Roger Bay. I bashed it and turned metal. Then I dashed forward and stopped when I saw a Red Coin. I had realized too late that I was standing in front of a flamethrower, and prepared myself to get burned. But I didn’t. My metal suit had stopped the flames! “So this metal suit can withstand fire! That’s good to know!” I told myself as I walked to the edge of the platform. I hadn’t noticed a purple switch until I stepped on it, and that switch created a platform under the Red Coin I was after. “Cool!” I said. I looked back to the other Red Coin and saw that there was a platform leading out to that Red Coin, so I ran back to grab it. I had just grabbed it when the platform started flashing. “Uh-oh!” I said, alarmed. I quickly jumped, diving for the main platform. The platform I was standing on disappeared right after I jumped, and I grabbed the edge of the main platform and pulled myself up. “That was close!” I said, wiping sweat off my forehead.

I continued past the flamethrower and saw a big steep slide. “I don’t think I can make it up there,” I told myself. I noticed a path going around the slide, so I walked up it. I walked about halfway up when a flamethrower shot some flames, which were only inches away from me. “Holy crap!!!” I yelled when I saw the flames. “I almost got burned!” I said, wiping sweat off my forehead… again. The flamethrower stopped shooting flames and I quickly ran up the path to the top of it.

When I got to the top, I noticed a ferris wheel type-thingy that was floating in the air and spinning. I jumped onto it and rode it to the other side, then jumped off. There were a couple of Goombas over here, but they were easy to get rid of. I bashed the floating switchbox and out came a green mushroom. It didn’t look like a real mushroom, but I knew it was a mushroom because I recognized it from the Mario games. I grabbed it and ate it. “Mmm, yum! Tasty!” I said. My SMAG played a little 1-Up chime and I looked at it. “My lives have increased by one. Interesting.” I continued on.

I walked across a nearby bridge and started walking up the sloped path nearby. “Crystals growing out of this path? This is getting weird,” I told myself. I spotted another Red Coin and grabbed it, and then kept walking but I received an electrical shock. “Ouch,” I said once I recovered. I saw a little black ball orbiting around one of the crystals. The ball was electrified, and that was what got me. “Floating electrified balls? That’s even weirder!” I told myself.

I kept walking and saw a platform that was sliding in and out of another platform. I ran and vaulted over the sliding platform and managed to grab the edge of the middle platform and pull myself up. There was a switchbox that had lots of coins in it on top. I dropped down onto the other end of the sliding platform, saw a Red Coin, and grabbed it. By that time, the platform was sliding back in so I pulled myself up onto the middle platform and waited until the other platform slid back out, then jumped on it.

Nearby there were diamond-shaped platforms that moved around in a square. A Red Coin floated in the air close by, so I jumped onto the platforms and grabbed the Red Coin. Then I jumped on the other set of diamond platforms and finally onto a stable platform with a Goomba. I jumped on the Goomba and looked around. There was a roulette-shaped platform that was connected by a skinny pathway to the platform I was standing on, so I walked over there and was glad I did. There was a Red Coin there. I carefully walked back and saw two seesaw platforms. I got past them and saw a Red Coin hovering over a small edge of the wall, so I sidled against the wall and over to the Red Coin.

I sidled back and climbed up to the purple floor switch. I turned around and saw the final Red Coin on one of the overhangs that were above the seesaw platforms. I started running and jumped as far as I could. I was just barely able to grab the closest overhang and climb up. I vaulted over to the other and grabbed the Red Coin. I heard what sounded like a star appearing and jumped down to the seesaws. Then I made my way back to the purple floor switch. When I stepped on the switch, I heard a ticking noise and the steep slope nearby became a staircase, so I climbed up and saw the star, floating and spinning. I grabbed it, and then jumped into the nearby pipe.

I landed on a large circular platform and I was approached by a huge turtle that was walking on its hind legs. “Mario! Tough luck, Princess Toadstool isn’t here, so you might as well just give up! And return those Power Stars! My troops in the walls need them! Gwa ha ha ha!” the turtle boomed. “Cliché much?” I asked, and I started thinking. “Hmm… how do I beat this guy? I think I remember… Oh yeah! I have to grab him by the tail and swing him around! That’s it!” I ran around him and grabbed his tail. “Wargh?!” the turtle bellowed in surprise. I started spinning and spinning and spinning. “Whoa, I’m getting dizzy here…,” I told myself. I got to the point where I was so dizzy I had to let go of the turtle’s tail. And fortunately, it crashed right into a spike ball and crashed in the middle of the platform, groaning in pain. “Argh! How can a plumber like you defeat me?! I cannot be defeated!!!” And he disappeared and left a key. “More clichéness, huh? I guess that’s to be expected, because it IS a Mario game,” I told myself. I ran over and grabbed the key.

CHAPTER 6: COOL COOL MOUNTAIN (Luis)When I bounced out from under the trapdoor, I decided to go explore more of the castle instead of twiddling my thumbs waiting for Mark to return. I entered a door that he had not yet entered and found three paintings. “Three paintings?! Wait, they’re the same painting! Why have three?” I asked myself. I jumped toward the one on the right and instead of falling through it, I hit it and bounced back. “Ouch! Hey, what gives?!” Since that one didn’t work, I tried the one on the left. Same result. Then I tried the one in the middle, and I went through! “I guess the middle one is the real one,” I thought to myself as I fell down to the mission select room.

The first mission was “Slip Slidin’ Away”, but I also saw a sign that read “Beware, cold temperatures!” and there were a couple of coats hanging next to it. I grabbed one and found that it fit perfectly. Then I pulled the lever and was transported to the world. When I landed, I realized that sign wasn’t lying. “Brr, it sure is cold here!” I said, shivering a little. I looked around and saw a small building with a big chimney built into the mountain. The only way inside was down the chimney, as there were no doors or windows, so I jumped down it.

When I landed, I saw that the building was closed in by three sides and the open side was a winding icy slide. I walked to the edge and looked down over the edge of the slide. All I saw was darkness. “I really don’t want to find out what’s down there,” I told myself. I sat down and pushed myself onto the slide. I had to lean a lot to make it around the corners, but other than that, the slide was easy. There was a point where there was a line of coins that went straight into the wall, and when I slid right through them (all the while pocketing the ones I could reach), I went straight through the wall! “I went through a wall!!! Awesome!!!” I said in delight.

I kept sliding and pocketing coins and I grabbed the two green mushrooms I found on the way too. At the end, I slid into a part of the wall that was extended out enough for me to have foot room to walk on it. I walked over to the switchbox and bashed it. “Another green mushroom, eh? I’ll ask Mark if he knows what these things are,” I told myself, and then I jumped down to the floor below. There was nothing else I could do but exit through the nearby door. When I went through the door, a star appeared and flew over to a nearby location. “That was easy,” I told myself as I ran over to it and grabbed it.

The next mission was “Lil Penguin Lost”. After I landed, I heard the cries of an animal, so I climbed the nearby cliff and found the source of those cries. It was a baby penguin! “How’d a baby penguin get all the way up here? And where is its mother?” I asked myself. I grabbed the penguin and it started squirming and crying out. “I think its mother is the big penguin I saw at the bottom of the mountain when the last star appeared!” I thought to myself. I decided to have some fun and jumped off the edge of the cliff. “Weeeeee!!!!!” I said in delight. Luckily we landed in some snow, so it didn’t hurt.

From the ledge we were at, I jumped down to some ground nearby (which had little snow on it and hurt when I landed), and then jumped down to the mother penguin. The penguin was crying happily so I guessed it was happy that I found its baby. It handed me a star. “Thanks!” I said as I grabbed the star.

The next mission was “Big Penguin Race”. “I’m pretty sure I remember this mission from SM64. The race is down the slide I slid down to get the first star,” I told myself, and then I jumped into the chimney of the cabin. Sure enough, the mother penguin was waiting for me there. It saw me and turned around, then jumped onto the slide. I jumped after it and gained an early lead. “This might be hard since I went through the wall last time and that’s cheating,” I told myself as I slid down the slide. I curved around the coins and managed to get around the steep turns up ahead. I made it past the penguin again at the last turn and beat it across the finish line. My prize was, you guessed it, a Power Star!

The fourth mission in this world is “Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins”. The first Red Coin was above a tree in front of where I landed. The second was near the little penguin. For the third, I jumped down the side to the ledge I jumped down to in the second mission, and there was a Red Coin waiting for me. The fifth was on a broken bridge not too far from the fourth coin. Then, I dropped down to the bottom of the mountain and spotted the sixth coin. I then walked around to the edge of the mountain and saw the seventh. Finally, I rode the nearby lift up into the final coin. Using my knowledge of SM64, I located the star and grabbed it.

The fifth star mission was “Snowman’s lost his Head”. I used my knowledge of SM64 to find the “snowman” it was talking about. I slid down the outer slide (the slide that goes all the way around the mountain, not the one in the cabin) and it followed me, which was what I wanted it to do. I slid all the way down, and stood near a disembodied snowman head. By the time the snowman body that was following me got here, it was pretty big. And it crashed right into the snowman head behind me, creating a snowman. The head’s frown turned into a smile and a star appeared in front of it. I grabbed it.
The sixth star mission was “Mario’s Famous Wall Kick”, and I was Luigi so I couldn’t do that, apparently. So, in light of that, I decided to go ahead and collect 100 coins on this course. After I got 100 coins, a Power Star appeared right above me, so I grabbed it.

Afterwards, I walked back into the lobby to find Mark waiting for me. “Hey Mark, guess what? I got some stars in Cool Cool Mountain!” I told him. “Cool! But why didn’t you get all of them?” he asked. “Because I need your help with some of them!” I replied. “Ok, lead the way!” he said, walking towards me. I led him to Cool Cool Mountain and showed him the next star mission. “Ok, let’s go!” I pulled the lever and we landed in Cool Cool Mountain.

"This mission is 'Mario's Famous Wall Kick", and since I'm Luigi, I can't do that," I told Mark. "Ok. Now where do we have to go?" he asked. "I don't know. I don't remember this star mission," I replied. "Wait, I remember. It's like the 'Wall Kicks will work" mission in SM64," Mark said. "Oh, ok! I remember that! Follow me!" I jumped down the mountain and came to a cannon. "Dang, it's sealed," I said, stomping it. "How do we open it?" Mark asked. I looked around and saw a Pink Bob-Omb on a floating island above us. "Wait here," I said, and I hopped on the nearby lift. Then, when the lift got close to the island, I jumped over, and barely made it. I asked the Pink Bob-Omb to open the cannon for us, and it did. Then, when the lift came back down, I jumped onto it and rode it back down.

"What is that?" Mark asked, referring to the Pink Bob-Omb. "Dunno. All I know is that it will open cannons for us," I replied, "Anyway, you use the cannon, and I'll try another way over there." Mark jumped into the cannon and I rode up to the floating island. From there, I took a running long jump, and managed to grab the edge of the platform we were headed to. Mark had fired himself at a nearby tree, and grabbed onto it, then slid down it. We walked further on and found a narrow walkway that was pressed against the wall. It was barely wide enough for us to walk across and not have to sidle on. After that, we each took a running long jump across the gap in front of us. "Now Mark, you have to get way up there," I pointed above us to a platform where the star us, "by bouncing off the walls." "It's not going to be easy," Mark replied, "but I'll do my best." Mark ran and bounced off the first wall, then he triple jumped off the second platform and bounced off, but just missed the platform. He fell down next to me, and got hurt from the fall.

"Are you ok, Mark?" I asked, worried. "Yeah, I'm fine," Mark replied, regaining his balance. "Here, let me try something. Boost me up to the second platform," I said. Once I was up there, I told Mark to wall kick up here. "Now, do like you did last time, but I'll help you this time. On your third jump, jump onto my hands, and I'll launch you up high," I explained. That was done, and Mark made it! He grabbed the star, and we both disappeared, and reappeared outside the painting. "Awright! Now, where to next?" I asked. "YOU take this and go downstairs," Mark said, handing me a key, "and go into one of the three courses down there. I'm going to go into the backyard and enter the next course." "Why can't I come with you?" I asked. "Trust me, you don't want to," Mark replied, and then he ran out the door.

I followed him and he showed me where the door to the basement was. I looked behind me and I saw... "A ghost!!! Argh!!!" and I ran for the door, unlocked it, and went through as fast as possible. "Thought so," Mark replied, and ran after the ghost, as it had turned around and was flying away towards the backyard.

CHAPTER 7: BIG BOO'S HAUNT (Mark)I ran after the ghost, following it to the backyard. Once there, I found that the whole backyard was infested with ghosts! I took a deep breath, and recalled the last time I played Super Mario 64. “Let’s see… Aha! I remember!” I ran towards the big ghost, over in the northwest corner of the backyard. On my way, I vanquished a ghost and it dropped a Red Coin. “A Red Coin? What the heck?” I picked it up and pocketed it. “If there’s one Red Coin here, that means there are seven more around here somewhere!” I told myself. I eventually found the other seven Red Coins, and they fused together to form a Power Star. I grabbed it, and then headed back toward the big ghost. When I looked straight at it, it disappeared. That’s when I saw it: A small round cage! It was inside the big ghost, and I intended to get it out. I ran past the cage and turned around, and that’s when the ghost reappeared. I took that chance to whack the ghost in the back, and it vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the cage behind. I stepped toward it, and jumped. In midair, I started somersaulting and shrinking!

I landed on a small platform with a couple of control panels sticking out from the floor. I went over to the left-most one and its screen said “Go on a ghost hunt”. “A ghost hunter! That sounds like a job for me!” I said to myself as I pressed a button. A trapdoor opened beneath me, and I fell into the next course: Big Boo’s Haunt. Once I landed, I noticed a HUGE, spooky-looking mansion not too far ahead. I turned around and ran, but then smacked into the cage bars. “Ouch,” I said as I got up. Then I remembered that I was in a cage! I face palmed and turned around. I looked down at my SMAG, and it had an option to “Exit Course”. “No turning back now! I’m goin’ in!” I said to myself, and then I started walking towards the mansion. I eventually made it to the top, and then I started having second thoughts. But I ignored them and pushed open the door.

Inside, it wasn’t as spooky as it looked from the outside, but I had an uneasy feeling that this was no ordinary mansion. I entered the first door to the left, and looked around. “Ok, this isn’t so bad,” I told myself. I saw a piano, and walked over to it. When I touched it, it started moving and flapping open and closed. “AHHHH!!!!!!!” I screamed, and I quickly ran out the door, out of the mansion, and smacked into the cage bars again. “You’d think I realize I was in a cage by now,” I said, rubbing my head. “This time, no piano is going to scare me!” I said as I ran toward the mansion.

Once inside the mansion again, I ran past the door to the piano room and went into the door right past it. In this room, I saw two chairs and two bookcases. When I approached the nearest bookcase, a book came out, with gnashing teeth. I kicked it into the bookcase and it popped, releasing a Blue Coin. “Awesome! I’ll save that for later!” I said to myself as I pocketed it. The other bookcase was the same, containing a book with gnashing teeth that I kicked for a Blue Coin.

As I approached the chairs, they rose into the air and spun around. I took cover behind a bookcase as they came flying at me. Luckily they slammed into the bookcase and disappeared. There was also a blue block, so I punched it and out came a flower. “A flower?! What the heck is a flower doing in a box?!” I grabbed it, and then instantly felt a lot lighter. I was able to float around like a balloon for a little while, and then I dropped to the ground. “Cool!” I told myself, and then I walked out of the room. Suddenly, my SMAG started beeping. I looked down and saw Luis. “What do you want, Luis?” I asked. “Mark, help! I’ve been captured by a…” Click! “Luis? Luis!” I said.

I heard a evil laugh and turned around to see a big ghost. “Whoa!” I said, and I fell down. “Mark, help me!” “Wha?” I said. Then I noticed: It was holding Luis! “Luis! Hold on!” I said, and I got up. The ghost laughed and floated up to the top floor. “Maaaaaaaark!” Luis said as the ghost took him through a door into a room on the second floor. “No one, I repeat, NO ONE kidnaps my friends and gets away with it!” I said, and in a fury, I ran for the top floor and, on the way, I did something I never knew I could. I jumped once, then twice, and on my third jump, I did a somersault and went really high. In fact, it was high enough to reach the second floor!

I dashed into the room the ghost took Luis. “Where’d that ghost go?!” I said, looking around. “Maaaaaaaark!” “Luis! Where are you?!” I asked. “Heeeeeeeeelp!” Luis screamed. It was coming from the floor above, and I noticed a platform above me. I triple jumped up to it, and ran through the door. This time, Luis was not there. I happened the glance to the left and saw a painting of Luigi! I jumped into it to save my friend.

I landed in a small room that had part of the floor spinning around like a carousel. I heard some spooky carousel music, and then an evil laugh. I followed the laugh through several rooms and finally reached a room where I heard no laughing. To the right of me was a block that looked like it was made out of bricks that were black. I tried to break it, but failed. I eventually said "Screw it," and over the nearby bridge. Although, when I went onto the bridge, it started collapsing, and I fell before I realized what happened! "Argh!!!" I yelled, falling down into the blackness below. Next thing I knew, I landed on the floor in the carousel room. "Whoa. At least that's the only thing that happens," I told myself, and I went back to the room I was in.

This time, I ran across the bridge as fast as I could. On the way, I saw a green-and-white speckled thing that looked like a mushroom. I grabbed it, and when I got to the other end, I made sure it wasn't poisonous, and then ate the whole thing. "Nom nom nom..." I said, chewing the mushroom. My SMAG played a little chime, and I looked down to see it displayed a "1-UP!" message, and my lives increased by one. "Awesome! I should eat those mushrooms when I can!" I told myself. I looked around and saw three platforms; one to the left, and two above. I rode them all up to the top of the wall that was in front of me, and then I saw a square hole. "Well, this is it. Geronimo!" I said as I ran toward the hole and jumped in. I landed in a square room with a mirror, and a few coins on the side. I recalled that coins refilled my life meter, and I looked at my SMAG. "Full," I said, looking at the pie chart life meter. I put my SMAG away and walked up to the mirror. "Hmm," I said, fussing around with my hair. Suddenly, my reflection changed into Luis! "Luis?!" I said, surprised. But, the reflection did everything I did! While I was pondering how this was possible, the big ghost that had taken Luis appeared and laughed its evil laugh! "I am the King Boo! I kidnapped your little friend, and you can't get him back without defeating me! But you'll die of fright before that happens! *Laughs evily*" "You're goin' down, King Boo!" I said. That sounded so cliché, I thought to myself.

King Boo started floating towards me, and I went around him and punched him in the back. He flipped forward, shook a little, and then disappeared. I looked in the mirror to find him, and he appeared in somewhere behind me, but when I looked, there was nothing there! Looking closer, I noticed a small round shadow. That must be King Boo, I thought. I circled around the shadow and punched. In the reflection, I saw King Boo get hurt. Then he disappeared. I waited for a little while, and there was no reflection! I turned around, and I was face-to-face with King Boo! "Whoa!" I yelled, running. I ran right smack into the mirror, and I was dizzy from that. Regaining my sense, I ran around and punched King Boo. He disappeared, and I heard a voice, "You did well, Mario! I never thought you would be able to defeat me! Take this key, it will open the door that I locked Luigi behind. But I'll be back, because ghosts can't die!" And a key appeared. I grabbed it, and the next thing I knew, I was in mid-air in the backyard of the castle.

"Now, King Boo said something about a door he locked Luis behind... where could that be..." I said to myself. As I was thinking, a ghost (which I assumed was called a Boo since I fought a big one named King Boo) came up and bumped into me, knocking me over and decreasing my health. "You little...! DIE!" I said, angrily, as I quickly defeated it. I went back into the castle and up the stairs to the main hall. Then I went up some more stairs, and entered the door that Luis and I went through to head to Sunshine Isles. This time, I noticed another door. "Luis? Are you back there?" I asked. I heard something back there, but I couldn't tell what it was. I inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. Luis was bound and gagged on the floor. I quickly cut the ropes binding him and removed his gag. "Mark!" Luis said. "I'm here, Luis," I replied, helping him up. "Thanks for rescuing me. That was scary!" Luis said. "What happened?" I asked. "OK, I'll tell you.

"I was headed downstairs, and trying to figure out where to go. I eventually saw a painting of a face made out of flames, and that scared me, so I ran from that, and then I eventually ran into that big ghost. It grabbed me, and took me to the backyard, where you were headed. Then we went into a cage, and into a spooky mansion. And then, you saw it and came after it. We went up to the top floor and went into a painting with a picture of Luigi. Don't ask me why it was there, but anyway. We started flying through rooms super fast, and eventually we ended up in some kind of room with a mirror. And that's all I remember until you found me here, bound and gagged."

"Interesting. But anyway, let me guide you downstairs and show you the way," I said. We went downstairs and I showed him the way to the next course. "A pool of gunk?!" Luis said as we entered a room with a pool full of black shimmering gunk. "Yeah. It sounds disgusting, but trust me," I said. "No. I refuse to go into that- Argh!!!" Luis said as I pushed him into it. He fell straight through it, not making a splash or anything. "Cool," I said, and then I made my way back up to Big Boo's Haunt.

When I went back to Big Boo's Haunt, my intention was to get the star of the first mission. In case you forgot, it's "Go on a ghost hunt". I went into the mansion and opened the northwest door. Inside, there was a Boo and a big eyeball. "Weird," I told myself. I defeated the Boo and a voice said, "Ghosts...don't...die! Can you get out of here ALIVE?" I started running around the eyeball and it followed me for a little bit, but then started spinning crazily and then dissipated into a puff on smoke. I exited and went to the door to the left. Inside was a small walkway that collapsed just like when I was headed for King Boo, so I ran across as fast as I could and vanquished another Boo. In the room beyond, there was yet another Boo. I defeated it, and then tried to recall where the other Boos were. I remembered and ran out of the mansion. Then, I ran around to the back of it. Sure enough, there was a back door. I went through it and there were two Boos. I defeated them, and a voice boomed, "Here comes the terror: The Big Boo!!!". I ran back to the front and entered. The Big Boo was waiting for me in the lobby, so I treated it like it was King Boo, except that it couldn't disappear using a mirror. Once I defeated it, the Power Star appeared and flew up to the second floor. I got ready to triple jump up there when some stairs rose up from the floor. "Stairs will make going up there much easier... and faster!" I told myself as I climbed the stairs to the Power Star.

The next mission was "Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round". This time, instead of going to the big mansion, I entered the small shed off to the side of it. Inside was an eyeball and an elevator. The elevator went down, and I entered the door on the floor below. Inside the door was a small barrel-like corridor, and another door at the end. I went through it, and heard carousel music, but with a spooky feel to it. I walked around the room until I found a door, and went through it. Inside was a circular room where the floor was spinning like a merry-go-round. After a few seconds, Boos started coming out of one of the many Boo pictures. After I defeated all them, Big Boo appeared again. The fight was the same, except now the floor was spinning. It wasn't too much harder though, and I defeated Big Boo again without too much more difficulty. Once the Power Star appeared and flew over to one of the two doorways, the floor stopped spinning. That made it a little easier to go grab it.

The next mission was "Secret of the Haunted Books". I went into the mansion and up to the second floor. The second door to my left after I got to the second floor was where I went, and inside there was like a library. But when I stepped in front of the bookcases, books came flying out! "Whoa!" I said, stepping back in surprise. Then I decided to run as fast as possible to avoid books. I did that, and got hit a few times, but not a whole lot. Eventually I came to a dead end. There was a bookcase in front of me, and two beside me. Suddenly, three books stuck out from the bookcase. "Hmm, looks like they're about to fall out," I said to myself. I slid one back in, and I heard a chime. What's that chime for? I wondered. I pushed another book back in, and heard a buzzer. Then I smacked in the side with a flying book. "Ouch! Where'd that come from?!" I asked myself. Then I noticed that the books that I pushed in came back out! "Get back in there!" I said. I pushed the three books back into the bookcase in this order: Top, Bottom, Middle. Then, the bookcase in front of me slide away, revealing a secret door! "Awesome!" I told myself. I went through the door and saw my prize: A Power Star!

The next mission was "Seek the Eight Red Coins".I went into the mansion and into the room with the piano. This time, I was expecting the piano, so it didn't scare me as much. Behind the piano, I spotted a Red Coin! I managed to quickly grab it and get away before I got hurt. In the next room (the one with the bookcases and flying chairs), there were two Red Coins; one on the top of each bookcase. In the next room over (with the Boo and eyeball), there were no Red Coins at first glance, but then I looked up. There was a Red Coin on the wire frame rafters above! So I exited, climbed the stairs, and entered the door above. I jumped across the rafters and grabbed the Red Coin. On my way back, I fell down to the first floor. That was OK by me, because I remember that there was one more Red Coin on the first floor. I entered the door on the right wall, and jumped to the middle platform to grab a Red Coin. I almost fell down into the blackness below, but I managed to regain my balance and get out of the room safely. Then I went up to the second floor. In the far left door, there was a room with coffins in it. When I walked into the door, once of the coffins opened up, and inside was a Red Coin. Then I found another coffin with a Red Coin in it. After that, the Red Coins fused together to make a Power Star, and it flew towards the foyer. I backtracked, and the star was spinning not too far from the door! So I grabbed it.

The fifth mission was "Big Boo's Balcony". I went to the top floor where Luis's painting was, and I went through the nearby double doors. Outside was yet another Big Boo. Once it was defeated, the star flew up to the roof. I jumped on top of the nearby switch box, and then up onto the roof to get the star. The sixth mission was "Eye to Eye in the Secret Room". I went inside and up to the second floor. On the second floor, I noticed a blue switch box hovering above a platform way off to the side, and I took a running jump over to it. I bashed the block, and out came a funny-looking cap. It was almost phasing in and out of existence, so I grabbed it, put away my cap, and put on the phasing cap. I looked down at myself and realized that I was phasing, like Luis was in Bob-Omb Battlefield! So I quickly made my way up to the top floor, and found what I was looking for: A Boo picture. I was able to run straight through it because I was phasing, and then I turned back to normal. There was an eyeball in here, so I ran all the way around it several times to defeat it, and it gave up a star, which I grabbed.

The seventh mission was "Switch Star of the Basement". I took the elevator in the shed down to where the merry-go-round is, and I saw another block like the one in Luis's painting. Nearby, I saw a hammer. It was like the one I gave to Luis, but I could tell it was stronger because it was made of steel, and the one I gave Luis was made of bronze. I picked up the hammer, and smashed it against the bricks. They broke, revealing a star-like switch with an exclamation mark. I pressed it, and heard a sort of timer ticking. I ran all the way around the path, and saw a star encased in a glass sphere. The timer was ticking really fast, so I dove into it to grab the star, and barely got it! The sphere exploded when I touched it, and I grabbed the star.

When I was in the mission select room, I saw a sign that said "100 Coins", but it had no control panel. "100 Coins?! That'll take a while. Well, better get started!" I told myself. I went to the "Seek the Eight Red Coins" control panel, pushed the button, and fell down to Big Boo's Haunt.

CHAPTER 8: HAZY MAZE CAVE (Luis)When Mark pushed me into the pool of gunk, I was surprised that I didn't splash and get dirty. Instead, I fell right through and landed in a small cave. Luckily I managed to flip around and land on my feet, and not get hurt as much as I would have if I hadn't flipped. It was similar to the other mission select rooms, except that there were no levers or trapdoors. There was just holes in the floor, with signs explaining what mission it was. Some holes have grates over them and their signs covered up.

The first mission was "Swimming Beast in the Cavern". I jumped down the hole and landed on a small platform. To my right was a green switch box. I punched from the bottom and out came a metal cap. I took my Luigi cap off and put the metal cap on. Suddenly, I felt heavier. I looked down at myself and I had turned to metal! In light of that, I ran down the path to the right and found that, while metal, I was invulnerable to enemies! I had to dodge the holes in the floor (I'm not invulnerable to pits) and eventually came to a pit I had to jump over. Just as I touched the ground on the other side, some fire came out of the hole in a straight line. "That was close!" I told myself. I then realized I was flashing. Then, I wasn't metal anymore!"I guess I can't be invincible forever," I said to myself as I put my regular cap back on.

I went through the nearby door, saw a pole, and slid down. Bad decision. The pole didn't go all the way down, and I had dropped off before I realized that. I landed, and my SMAG beeped. Once the pain in my legs stopped, I looked at it. "Man, that fall took 3/8 of my life! Not to mention it hurt my legs," I said to myself as I rubbed my legs. I looked around and saw a passageway. I went down it and jumped on a small platform, which started floating upward. "Cool! It's like an elevator!" I told myself. When it stopped, I saw a door. I went through and, in the room beyond, saw a big hole in the floor. The ground around the hole was cone-like and if something fell onto it, it would slide down into the hole. Luckily I was standing on a platform that extended out from the wall. I followed it to the end, which was close to a sloped pathway. Right before I jumped, I saw a huge brown rolling boulder roll down the pathway and fall into the hole. "I don't want to find out what's down there," I said to myself. I backed up, and took a running jump to the pathway.

I went up the pathway, dodging rolling boulders that were coming down. Eventually I got to the top, where the boulders fell down onto the pathway via a hole in the ceiling, and saw a door. Inside that door was a room half closed off by a big wire frame grate. Behind that wire frame grate was a Power Star. "Wish I could get that," I told myself. I saw one of those elevators embedded in the floor, and I stepped on it. This one went down instead of up. I rode this elevator down to the bottom floor, and bashed the green switch box nearby, which held a cap that turned me metal. I ran down the nearby path, ignoring the Goombas. When I got to the water, I sank to the bottom, because I was metal. While metal, I didn't need to breathe, so I could stay underwater as long as I was water. There was a path underwater, so I followed it to an underwater floor switch. I pressed it down, and then I turned back to normal. Glad I took swimming lessons, I thought to myself. I swam to the top and found what I thought the switch did. There was a door, and two square wire frame grates. Sure that the switch moved the grates, I went through the door.

Inside, I could see a Power Star. But to get to it, I had to leap over two pits. It seemed easy enough, so I ran and vaulted over the first pit. Then I realized something. The middle platform wasn't long enough to get a good running start! I went to the edge of the platform and jumped as far as I could. I reached out my arms... and barely missed the edge. I smacked into the wall and fell into the blackness below. The next thing I knew I was flying out of the gunk pool and then I landed on my back. "Apparently that Power Star requires more skill to get. Let's go for another one," I told myself, and I was about to jump in the pool again when I remembered something. That was the only star mission open! So I decided to come back to that course later. I went out the door and looked for another place to explore. There was the flaming face painting, which scared me, but that was the only painting I saw down there. So I closed my eyes and jumped in.

CHAPTER 9: LETHAL LAVA LAND (Luis)
The mission select room was less scarier-looking than I assumed. It was basically like the others, except that the floor was painted red to look like lava. The first mission was "Boil the Big Bully", and when I fell down to the course, I realized why this place had such a painting. There was lava everywhere. There were platforms sticking out of it, but if you fell off, you got burned by the lava! I slowly made my way across the first platform, jumping over the gap between it and the second. On the second, there was a split in the path. Left goes through an archway and up to a higher platform, and straight leads to a black block. I decided to go left. When I was walking down the pathway to the nearby stairs, some fire hopped out of the lava and bounced across the platform. "Yikes!" I said as one almost touched me. I didn't know what would happen if I touched one, but I didn't want to find out. I kept walking down the path, and it split. Left or right? I asked myself. I decided to go to the left.

There was a drawbridge type thing that kept going up and down. I crossed it, and found another mysterious eye monster. I ignored it and continued on. The next platform was tilting up and down, so each end would dip into the lava, and then the other end. Past that, there was a puzzle-type platform. It had eight red coins, and parts of the platforms kept sliding everywhere. The red coins were tempting, but I had a mission: Boil the Big Bully. I kept going and found a spinning tower that spat fire. I jumped over the fire and onto the next platform. It was similar to the previous tilting platform, except it sank into the lava. When it stopped moving, there was barely enough platform for me to stand and not burn myself on the lava. On the next platform, I found the Big Bully. It charged at me, and I jumped out of the way. I kicked it in the face, and it fell into the lava. "That was easy," I said. A star appeared and flew up to the top of a higher structure nearby. Right about then, some platforms appeared. I used the platforms to climb up and grab the star.

The next mission was "Bully the bullies". I made my way back to the Big Bully, and then noticed a platform way off with some bullies. I jumped onto a grate nearby, and it floated over to th platform. The bullies were easy, all it took was a couple of punches and they were in the lava. After I knocked them into the lava, another big bully fell down from the sky. "Oh crap!" I said, as it almost squished me. I dealt with it the same as the previous big bully, and then star appeared in the middle of the platform. I grabbed it.

The third star mission was "8-Coin puzzle with 15 pieces". I assumed it was talking about the puzzle I found in the earlier missions, so I headed there. Collecting the red coins was really easy, and I got the star in less than 30 seconds. The fourth star mission was "Red-Hot log rolling". I saw the log it was talking about behind a cage, a little ways off from where I start. I was about to make my way around the cage when I realized there might be an easier way. I turned around and jumped to a lone island behind the starting point. There was a red switch box, and I opened it. Inside was a flower, and when I grabbed it, I turned invisible. I took a running jump across the end of the second platform and grabbed the edge of the cage. Because I was translucent, I was able to go right through the bars and grab the star.

Mission #5 was "Hot-foot-it into the volcano". "I gotta go into a volcano?!" I thought aloud. I looked around and saw the volcano in the middle of this hot, burning land. I made my way to it (via platforms and such), and jumped in. To my surprise, I landed on a molten rock platform. "Whoa, weird," I told myself as I looked around. Way up high, I saw the hole in which I fell through. "It's too late to go back," I told myself. I hopped across the molten rock platforms, and onto the path that spiraled up and around the edge of the volcano. There was platform that I was on, and then next platform was pretty high, so I started a triple jump, and right when I was about to jump the third time, a part of the wall came down on me! There was blackness for a few seconds, and then the wall rose up. "Ouch," I said. I looked at my SMAG and it showed that the wall had taken one-third of my life away. "Man, that hurts," I told myself. I climbed up onto the high platform and continued on. Eventually I reached some poles. I climbed the first pole, and jumped off it to grab the next. Then I jumped off that one and grabbed the final pole. After jumping off that pole, the star was only a few steps away.

The sixth star mission was "Inside the Volcano". I went back into the volcano, but this time I noticed a platform not too far above me. I accidentally jumped into the lava ("Ouch! Hot hot hot!") and when I touched the lava, I when sailing upward, and managed to land on the platform. "That hurt, but it was handy," I said, brushing myself off. The platform floated over to a pole, and I grabbed it. At the top of the pole, there was a platform. On that platform was a green mushroom and a 1-Up. I ate the green mushroom and my SMAG played a chime. I looked down and it said "1-UP!" in big letters and my lives increased by one. "Cool!" I told myself. I climbed the next pole and saw the star. I jumped across the small floating platforms and grabbed it.

The final star mission was "Flaming Silver Stars". I walked forward to the dead-end and saw a black block. I knew I couldn't break that, so I started collecting 100 coins. Then I waited for Mark to return.

Chapter 10: Shifting Sand Land (Mark)
When I left Big Boo's Haunt, I went downstairs to see how Luis was doing. I met him halfway, and he told me about what he had found, and that he needed my help. I followed him into Lethal Lava Land and he showed me the black block. "Stand back!" I said. I pulled out my hammer, and smashed the block to pieces, revealing a turtle shell. "Thats IT?!" Luis and I said in unison. "Well, I guess my work here is done," I said. "Wait! I have an idea!" Luis said. "Yes?" I asked. "How about you get this star and I'll go to the next course and start collecting stars!" Luis suggested. "Works for me," I said. "Alright, see you later!" Luis said, and he disappeared.
I jumped onto the shell and, without much effort, started sliding across the lava. "Awesome!!!" I said. I could lean to one side and go that way, so it was easy to control. I saw some silver stars and slid right through them. I found four out of the five and then slammed into a platform. My shell disappeared, and I fell into the lava. Flailing and screaming, I landed on a nearby platform. "Hot hot HOT!!!" I screamed. I stopped, dropped, and rolled to put out the fire, and it worked. "Real life skills DO help after all!" I said, getting up and brushing myself off. I found the final silver star, and the star appeared. I grabbed it. Afterward, I collected 100 coins.

Once Lethal Lava Land was finished, I was pretty tired. "I'll leave a note for Luis, I guess. Actually, can I send him a message?" I searched through the SMAG functions and found an option to send a message. I sent him the message and headed upstairs.

--LUIS'S POINT OF VIEW--
When I entered Shifting Sand Land, I saw sand. Sand as far as the eye can see. "With a name like 'Shifting Sand Land', that's to be expected," I told myself. I walked forward and grabbed a Bob-Omb. When I touched it, the fuse lit. "Whoa!" I said. I quickly tossed it, and it blow up, destroying a nearby enemy. "That's kinda cool," I said. I walked forward and saw a strange structure, and I ran under it. "Man, it's hot out here!" I said, wiping the sweat off my forehead. There were a couple of Goombas, but I made quick work of them. I also smashed the crates, and one held a red coin. "Cool! I'll have to remember that!" Past the structure was a kind of maze, or that's what it appeared to me. There were grey platforms rising out of what looked like quicksand. "I DON'T want to fall in there. No telling what's going to happen!" I told myself. It's going to be hard, I thought. There were these weird boxes flipping across the platforms. They had strange faces on each side. But then I noticed that one side was open. That's how I'll get past them! I ran onto the platforms and right under the first box as the open side was coming down. The box flipped over me, not hurting me in any way. "Awesome!" I said.

I made my way to the end of the "maze", and there was a pool of water. "Couldn't have come at a better time!" I said. I splashed some water on my face to cool off, and then I remembered something. I reached into my pocket and pulled out an empty water bottle. "I almost forgot about this. I put this in my pocket this morning, just in case I needed some water. I drank it all in the earlier courses." I dipped the bottle in the water and filled it up, and then grabbed the red coin that was in the water just for the heck of it. I looked into the sky and noticed a bird. But it wasn't just any bird, it was a condor. Plus, it was holding a star! "C'mere, bird!" I said. I grabbed a rock and threw it at the bird. "Not even close," I told myself. I spotted a pillar nearby and ran to it. "Now... how to climb it?" I had a crazy idea and backed up. "Here we go!" I ran forward and up the pillar. "Holy crap, that actually worked!!!" I said, surprised and triumphant. The condor flew close enough that I thought I could hit it, so I pulled out my hammer and cracked it on the noggin. It reeled back, dropping the star, which flew over to a nearby line of coins. "Ha! Take that, stupid bird!" I said, laughing. I then jumped off the pillar and dove for the star. I missed, landing head-first in the sand. I pulled myself out and shook my head to shake the sand off of it. The bird was looking at me like "Ha ha, you fell into the sand!" "Shut up," I said. Then I grabbed the star.

When I landed back in Shifting Sand Land, my SMAG beeped. I looked down and it said "NEW MESSAGE FROM MARIO!". I opened the message and read it. It was from Mark, saying that he was tired and going to the lobby to take a rest. "Ok, I'll meet him there later," I told myself as I put away my SMAG. I was doing the second mission, Shining atop the pyramid. There was no possible way you could miss the pyramid. It was huge, and right in the middle of this place. I made my way back over to the oasis and continued along the path, although there really was none. I made my way to the front of the pyramid and saw a small hole near the tip. I couldn't see what was inside, but I guessed it was the star. I triple jumped up to the hole and managed to climb up, and grab the star.

The third mission was "Inside the ancient pyramid". I made my way back to the front of the pyramid, and found the entrance. I entered. Inside, I walked forward and saw that there was a strangely colored structure in the middle of a square of sand and quicksand. "Whoa, this is weird," I told myself. There was much toil and hardship getting up to the top, but I finally made it... only to fall all the way to the bottom. "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!!!!!!" I yelled as I was falling down. I finally made it all the way up and, carefully, I grabbed the star.

By this time, I was really tired, so I went back to the lobby and rested.

CHAPTER 11: DIRE DIRE DOCKS (Mark)
After I took a long and refreshing nap, I decided to let Luis finish Shifting Sand Land and go on to the next course. I went down to the basement, and turned left. There was a big red door with a star on it. I held up my SMAG and it flashed. The door opened, and I went inside. "Whoa!" I said. The room I was in had a pool of water, but here's the weird part: It was vertically up like a wall! "Totally weird," I said. I walked into the wall, and instead of swimming, I fell through the floor. The mission select room was similar to the others, except that I landed in a pool of water instead of a floor. The first mission was "Board Bowser's Submarine", so I walked over to it, and noticed something. There was no lever or control panel, just a smaller version of the water "wall" and a sign on the wall next to it. I entered the "wall", and fell down to the next course, Dire Dire Docks.

Right off the bat, I fell into a deep pool of water. There was no land or anything to get out, so I took a deep breath and dove. Underwater, I saw a whirlpool, a couple of chests, and a lot of fish. I also saw a hole, like the one in Jolly Roger Bay, so I swam into it. It was a small pathway that went up, over, and then back down. I went to the top, because I could surface and get more air, and then I dove back down. The pathway led to a big open room with a submarine. I surfaced and saw a small wooden platform that circled about half of the room, so I swam to it and pulled myself up. I ran down the platform and saw a purple floor switch. I stepped on it, and some crates appeared. I used those crates to get on top of the submarine. Floating above the submarine was the star, and I grabbed it.
Once I got that star, the water wall moved back, uncovering a small raised platform. I walked over to it and it had a hole in the middle of it. "Well, I think I'll leave that for later, and continue Dire Dire Docks," I told myself. I walked into Dire Dire Docks.

The second mission was "Chests in the current", and I guessed they had to do with those chests I saw in the last mission. I saw down to them and started opening them. I must've either got the order right or there was no order, because once I opened the third chest, and star appeared. I swam over and grabbed it.
The third mission was "Pole-Jumping for Red Coins", but there was a note under the sign: "Impossible to obtain until Bowser is defeated twice". "Hmm... I guess I'll check out that hole then," I told myself. I touched an option on my SMAG (Exit Course), and I fell to the ground in the room with the water wall and the pedestal. I jumped down the hole.

I landed in a strange place. I was on a platform surrounded by lava, and that lava was everywhere. Platforms were sticking up out of the lava, too. I walked forward, and a part of the platform started moving! "So THAT's how I'm going to get there!" I told myself. There were a couple of platforms I had to jump onto because I would've been knocked into the lava. One of them had a 1-Up mushroom, and I ate it. When I got to the other end, there was another 1-Up waiting for me. Past that platform was some platforms that sank into the lava, and then came back up. I jumped onto them and crossed when they were coming back up. The next platform had a grating leading off of it, and I could see a few coins up there, as well as a red one. I climbed up the grating and grabbed all the coins, and then came back down. There were a couple of Goombas, but I took care of them. I continued down the path and there was another sinking platform, but it had a pole sticking out of it. I climbed the pole and jumped off the top of it to the next platform (which was floating above the path I was just on). I grabbed the nearby red coin, and kept going to another pole.

I climbed up it, and came up into a small structure. I grabbed the red coin, and there was a weird platform inside a square vertical passageway. "That must be an elevator," I told myself. I stepped on the platform and stepped off, and sure enough, it went up. I was glad I did that, because under the elevator was another red coin! I couldn't reach it, and decided to do a daredevil move. I jumped down and grabbed the coin, and then landed on a lone Goomba to soften the fall. I climbed all the way back up to the elevator and rode it up. At the top, there was a fire breather and a platform that moved back and forth. To save time, I took a long jump over them, and then climbed the sloped platform past that. There was a nearby path that sloped up to a platform, and on top was a round black thing with horns and a red coin. I grabbed the red coin and ignored the enemy, and then jumped down. I continued up the path and saw that the structure stretched up, and then compressed back down! I climbed up it, and then it stretched so far up that the paths were too steep to climb, but I could grab a nearby red coin, so I did. When it came back down, I ran up the slope. I found out that the platform stretched above and below a floating pathway! I jumped onto it and ran up to the next section.

This final section had a long row of sinking platforms, and a couple of fire breathers. I crossed as quickly as I could, grabbing the Red Coin on my way. I ran through a heart on the ground, which spun around and restored my health. There were some of those sinking platforms with the poles, and after the first one I had an idea. There was a wall in front of me, and a wall behind me, not too far up. I jumped, bounced off the first wall, bounced off the second, and managed to grab the top of the first wall and pull myself up. Easy! I thought. There was a 1-Up, and the final red coin. The star appeared nearby, and I grabbed it. Then I noticed something: It was a floor switch in the shape of a star, and it had an exclamation point on it! I pressed it down, and I heard a ticking sound. A couple of platforms back, a star appeared in a floating glass sphere! "Cool!" I told myself. I jumped down to the sinking platforms ("Ouch!") and went across as quickly as I could to grab the star. Then, I made my way back to where I was. Past the switch was a collapsing bridge, and a big bowl-like thing. I ran across the bridge and jumped into the bowl.

At the bottom, I was warped to some strange place. The big turtle was there too, and he said some stuff I couldn't understand. "Speaking in Japanese, no doubt," I told myself. The turtle then jumped up and when he landed, and whole platform tilted! "Holy crap!!!" I said, trying to run up the platform. I slid down, but the platform tilted back just before I fell into the lava below. I grabbed the turtle's shell, and threw it toward a spike. I missed. The turtle came back up, and then tilted the platform again. I tried throwing him into a spike ball, and I missed again, because I didn't throw it far enough. I started running around it to try to grab its tail when it disappeared, and reappeared behind me! "Whoa!" I said, it surprising me. I sped up now, quickly running around it. After a few minutes, I finally grabbed its tail, and threw it into a spike ball. It landed on its back, said some more stuff I couldn't understand, and vanished, dropping a key. I grabbed it. "I got a key!" I said, holding it up. Then I was warped out of there, and jumped out of the hole in the room with the Dire Dire Docks portal.

I took it back to the lobby to show Luis, but he was fast asleep. I went up the nearby stairs and unlocked the door, but I didn't go in. "Wait a second. If that place had a star-shaped switch thing, then shouldn't that first place have one too?" I told myself. I ran back to The Dark World, and sure enough, up by the pipe was a star switch. I pressed it and ran to the star.

I was exhausted by then, so I headed back to the main room to nap.

CHAPTER 12: SNOWMAN'S LAND (Luis)
When I woke up, I saw Mark sleeping on the couch. I didn't see of the people around that were at the party yesterday (I assumed I slept until the next day, because it looked like sunrise), so I thought that was weird. Now fully awake, I remembered that I hadn't finished Shifting Sand Land. So I headed back there to finish up.

The fourth mission was "Stand tall on the four pillars". I had noticed the four pillars before, and ran up one of them to get my hat back from that crazy bird. There were two pillars near the start, but I was only able to run up one because the other had quicksand surrounding it. I ran to the other two pillars, over where the bird is, and then I came back. When coming back, I noticed some stuff on top of that structure at the beginning, so I triple jumped up on top of it. Up there was a red and an orange switch box. I busted open the orange box, and out came a shell, like the one in Lethal Lava Land. I jumped on top of it, and in an instant, I was surfing the sand on the shell. All I had to do to turn was lean in that direction! It was super-easy to control, so I led it over to the pillar surrounded with quicksand. Sure enough, the shell surfed right over the quicksand. It even went right up the pillar!

When I reached the top of the pillar, the top of the pyramid broke off, started spinning, and exploded. I jumped onto the grey stone platforms, and surfed all the way to the front of the pyramid. Then I slammed into a wall purposely to get rid of my shell, and I triple jumped up to the top path. In the middle of the now-flat top of the pyramid, there was a hole. I jumped into it.

I landed in a cage. After a second, it started moving down. Once it stopped, I was in front of the weird-colored structure, and I found that I could enter it. I jumped in, and the path sloped downward to an area below. I dropped down, and saw a bench-like structure in front of me. "Great! I could use a little rest," I told myself. I sat down, but then the bench split apart into hands. "Whoa!" I said, jumping up and turning around. A voice came from above... "Who walk here? We ancient ones no like intruders! Now battle...hand to hand!" The hands started attacking me! "Holy crap!" I said, running. I almost fell off the edge before I realized I couldn't go back. "Great...," I told myself (sarcastically, of course). I turned around and saw that one of the hands was sitting still, with its eye open, and the other one was heading my way. I charged towards the still hand, but it closed its eye before I could reach it. I assumed the eyes were the hands' weak point, so every time they opened their eye, I attacked it. Eventually I had defeated one of the hands, and the other hand charged at me with its eye open. I punched it and it blew up. "Wha? We crushed like pebble! You take star of power. We sleep...darkness..." And the star appeared. I grabbed it.

The fifth star mission was "Toy Box Switch Star", but it had a notice: "You must have a lot of strength to complete this mission", so I exited and went back to the lobby. Mark was just waking up. "Hey Mark! I need your help with something," I said. "Just a minute...," Mark said, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "I need you and your hammer for a mission," I explained. "Let's explore (yawn) the mansion so more," Mark suggested. "Well, ok. But afterwards, you'll help me, right?" I asked. "Yeah, sure," Mark replied, still rubbing his eyes. "Let's go!" I said. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Mark said, getting up off the couch. I led Mark up the stairs to the second floor, and to a locked door. "This leads to the third floor, I think," I told Mark. Mark took out a key and inserted it into the lock of the door. It opened! Behind the door was a spiral staircase, and we climbed it to the third floor.

As we came out into the third floor, we saw a big painting of a spider-like creature sitting on top of water. "Oooook... that's a little weird...," I said. We walked around and saw a couple of doors, some more paintings, and a staircase leading farther upstairs. "Ok... now can you come help me out?" I asked. "Yeah, sure," Mark said. I led him back to Shifting Sand Land.

--MARK'S POINT OF VIEW--
Luis showed me what he needed from me, and we entered Shifting Sand Land. "Now... where is my hammer needed?" I inquired. "I don't know," Luis replied. "You don't know?!" I said in surprise. "Nope. I came to get you when I saw that sign about needed strength," Luis responded. "Well, let's just find where my hammer is needed," I said. We eventually found a black block like the one in Big Boo's Haunt, and I smashed it. "Thanks, Mark," Luis replied. "Don't mention it," I replied, "Any other missions I am needed?" "I dunno," Luis replied. "Well, why don't you just head on to a new course, and I'll finish this one off, OK?" I suggested. "Sounds good to me," Luis replied, and he exited from the course. Under the block was a star-shaped switch, and I pressed it. Way off in the distance, I saw the star appear in a glass sphere. I made my way over there and grabbed it.

The next mission was "Pyramid Puzzle". Since the word "Pyramid" was in the title, it must've had something to do with the pyramid I noticed in the middle of the world. I found the way into it, and went inside. I climbed all the way to the top, and saw a blue star. "That's not what I came for. It's blue," I told myself. I looked off the side of the platform and there was a silver star on a small square-shaped floating platform. I jumped down and grabbed it. Then I noticed that there was two more, and I grabbed them. Eventually I landed in a "river" of sand. I waded down it, and grabbed two more silver stars. When I grabbed the last one, a star appeared at the end. I grabbed it. The next mission was "Free Flying for Eight Red Coins". Great, a red coin mission. When I landed, I looked around, and saw a Red Coin floating in the air. How am I supposed to get that? I wondered around and finally found a block with a feather in it that allowed me to fly. I collected all the Red Coins and got the star.

I went upstairs, and explored for the next course. I entered a room with a mirror in it. I looked to the sides and I saw two walls; one blank, and one with a duplicate painting of Jolly Roger Bay. I touched the duplicate of JRB, but nothing happened. Guess it's just a regular old painting. The other wall was empty, but what was really strange was that in the reflection of the wall, there was a painting of Cool Cool Mountain on it! "That's mondo weird," I told myself. I reached out to examine the wall, but I fell through it! "What the?! Argh!!!" I yelled as I fell. I landed in a mission selection room not really any different from the others, except the wallpaper was snow themed.

The first mission was "Snowman's Big Head". I had gotten used to the cold in Cold Cold Mountain, and Snowman's Land wasn't any colder, so the temperature wasn't a problem (Thank goodness!). I looked around and saw a weird ice-block thingy to the left, that held a star. "Well, that has nothing to do with... HOLY :censor:

!" I saw the BIGGEST snowman I had ever seen! It had to be one story tall, if not higher! I happened to look at it's head, and I was pretty sure I could see a star way up on top of it. So I searched around for a way to climb it. While searching, I saw a blue big bully on a platform above some ice, but I ignored it, because I was searching for a way up the snowman.

I eventually found a pond, with some platforms and enemies in it. On a long stretch of platforms, the snow piled up in hills and slid toward the end. It seemed to me like a security system, but it was easy to conquer; all I had to do was double and triple jump over the hills. I eventually made it to where the hills were coming out, and I climbed onto the path above. I trekked along that path until I got to an icy path that was in front of the snowman's face. When I stepped onto it, a voice came out of nowhere: "Who's walking on me? Is it an ant or a snow flea? Whatever it is, it's bugging me! I think I'll blow it away!", and icy wind started coming out of the snowman' mouth. There was an adult penguin waddling across the path (for whatever reason), and it wasn't affected by the wind in any way.Maybe I can get it to help me,. When it came close, I went to its side (opposite the snowman's face), and walked with it that way. The penguin made all sorts of weird steps (including moving backward), but finally got close to the edge. I took my chances and ran across to the end as fast as I could. It worked! From there, there were a few platforms that I used to climb onto the snowman's head, and there it was. What I came for: A Power Star!

The second mission was "Chill with Chief Chilly", and I assumed "Chief Chilly" was that blue big bully I saw earlier. I ran to the platform and quickly knocked him off. He sank into the water below, relinquishing a star. The third mission was "In the Deep Freeze". For some reason, it seemed to me like the "Deep Freeze" was the ice-block sculpture thingy to the left, so I headed over there. I jumped in, and saw a platform above me. I climbed up it, and then another platform and I was on top of the sculpture thingy. Then I dropped down into a hole nearby, and landed right on the star. The fourth mission was "Whirl from the freezing pond". I went back to where the snow hill things were, and touched the water. "Ouch!" I said, retracting my hand and rubbing it, "That's cold!". I looked around and saw a wall a little ways from the end of the platform, and I jumped into the water, right onto an enemy, and bounced high enough to grab the edge of the platform. I pulled myself up, and slid down the hill. There were two orange switch boxes, and I bashed the nearest one. Inside was a star.

The fifth mission was "Snowman's Silver Stars". I made my way back to where the fourth star was, and bashed the other switch box out of curiosity. Inside was a shell! I jumped on it, and started surfing the snow. Up a hill nearby was a silver star, and I grabbed it. Continuing down that path was another one, and I grabbed it, then I jumped down. Under Chief Chilly's platform was another silver star, and I grabbed it. Unfortunately for me, I ran into a rock and lost the shell. When I touched the water, it was so cold that I flew up into the air like I had touched lava. Luckily I made it onto the snow before I froze to death, and I continued looking for silver stars. I eventually found them and grabbed the star.

Mission number six was "Into the Igloo", and I eventually found the igloo. It was off the beaten path, and impossible to reach without the use of a shell. I crawled into the igloo (being that it was so small). Inside, I fell down to a small caged floor, and under it was the star. "There's the star. Now how do I get it?" I wondered aloud. I looked around and saw a blue switch box. Inside was a strange cap. I put it on, and I became translucent, like Luis did in Bob-Omb Battlefield! I ran over to the caged floor, fell through, and grabbed the star. Mission number 7 was "Shell Shredding for Red Coins". I got the shell and surfed around the stage, collecting red coins. After that, I collected 100 coins.

CHAPTER 13: WET-DRY WORLD (Luis)
After I left Shifting Sand Land, I decided to go to a course on the second floor, other than continue Hazy Maze Cave. I figured I would need Mark's help to do that, so I went up to the second floor. I jumped into the painting with the spider on the water. The mission select room was half full of water, and I had to swim over to a door to enter this course. The first mission was "Shocking Arrow Lifts!". I landed on a wooden platform that floated on the water, and I looked around. I jumped into the water and swam over to a curved path that dipped down into the water and led up onto a higher platform. When I was on top of the platform, I looked around again, trying to figure out where to go. I finally saw what I thought to be the "arrow lifts" mentioned in the mission title, but I didn't see any other way of getting it besides trying to jump to a nearby floating platform, and it was really far away. I decided to try something else, and I climbed up to a platform floating high above the platform I was on, and I took a running jump toward the platform. I made it, but I got hurt from the height of the fall. I rode the arrow lifts over to a structure with an orange switch box, and I bashed it. Inside was a star.

Mission 2 was "Top O' the Town", and was easy to get. I climbed all the way back up to the floating platform that I jumped from in the last mission, and jumped onto some nearby platforms up to an orange switch box, and bashed it. Inside was the star. Mission 3 was "Secrets of the Shallows and Sky". It was pretty easy, I just went around the course, pushing stuff and bashing blocks, and eventually the star appeared. When I started Mission 4, the world was changed. The water level was just above the ground, and I hurt myself falling down to the wooden platform. I wonder how that happened. The mission named was "Express Elevator--Hurry Up!", and I looked around, and flashed back to what I had done in the mission when I played Super Mario 64. I jumped down and broke open the nearby block, and ran over to a pale-shaded structure. I stood in a corner made by it's two walls, and I teleported on top of a high structure nearby. I looked around, but didn't see a Red Bob-Omb that could open the nearby cannon. I decided to take a running jump towards the wooden structure that the third star had appeared on. I landed on a higher platform near it, and used it to jump to my destination.

From my destination, I took a running long jump to the slope I ran up in mission one. I made it, and ran up. From there, I stepped on a nearby floor switch and some boxes appeared that allowed me to climb up a nearby caged structure. At the top, I jumped down on a wooden platform protruding out, and it started going down. Halfway down, I dropped to the ground and to the inner part of the cage. The wooden platform eventually stopped, and I jumped onto it. It carried me all the back back up to the top, where the star was.

The fifth mission was "Go to Town for Red Coins", but I had no idea what the "town" was. Luckily, I had put a Player's Guide to Super Mario 64 in my backpack! I pulled out the guide and flipped to the Wet-Dry World section. "Ah-ha! I have to get into that cage over there! ...but how?" I kept reading. "A cannon? Wait, I saw a cannon where I teleported in the last mission! But how do I open it?" I read on, and it said there was a Red Bob-Omb atop a high floating platform, and I looked around. I found it, and asked it to open the cannon. After a few seconds of looking toward the tall structure, it said "Ready for blastoff! Just jump into the cannon!". I made my way back to the cannon and shot myself into the wall above the cage, resulting in me falling into it, as it was open at the top. I took a deep breath and dove into the water, swimming through an underwater tunnel.

I eventually came out of the tunnel and saw a point where the water was low enough that I could surface. I came up and looked around. Nothing much here. I dove back down and touched a rainbow-colored diamond floating in the air. It started spinning and the water level drained down to the floor. Ah-ha! That's how I'm going to get around here easier! I looked around and saw some boxes on top of a grey brick wall, and I searched for a way to get on top of the wall. There was a break in the middle of it, so I ran through it, and climbed up onto a higher platform. There was a box there, so I took out my hammer and smashed it open. Inside was a red coin. Awesome! I climbed up to an even higher platform and jumped on top of the wall. I carefully made my way along the wall, smashing open the boxes and grabbing the red coins they contained. I walked back to the last platform I was on, and looked around at the buildings all around me. I spotted one that I thought I could climb up to, so I backed up to the edge of the platform, started running, and leaped off the edge of the platform, reaching out for the building. I grabbed the edge, but I only had one hand on it, and I couldn't pull myself up. So I dropped down (losing some health in the process) and looked for another way to get on top of the buildings.

After searching for a while, I found two buildings that were really close together, so I decided to try out something that Mark did in an earlier course. I jumped to the side of one building, bounced off of it, flipped around, and bounced off the other building. I repeated this pattern until I landed on the roof on one of the buildings. On each building was a box, and guess what was inside each? After that, I jumped down to the grey brick wall (ouch) and walked to the end, near a short building. I jumped onto it, smashed the box on top it, and grabbed it's red coin. Then, I saw a nearby building that I thought I could reach, so I backed up as far as possible and took a long running jump toward the building. I barely made it, and pulled myself up. That was only seven coins, so I was missing one. I eventually found it, and the star appeared in a small church-like building on a high platform. I climbed up and grabbed it.

The sixth mission was "Quick Race Through Downtown!", so I made my way back to town and drained the water. I read in my player's guide that I had to become invisible and get through a cage in a corner of the town (which I saw it in the last mission, so that's not a problem), so I found a switch box with a special cap that turned me translucent, and I quickly ran through the cage. Inside the cage was a strange structure, and I climbed it. At the top, the star was waiting.
The final mission (not including the 100 coin star) was "Soaked Silver Stars", and was pretty easy. All I did was go around Wet-Dry World, collecting silver stars, and I grabbed the star. I then went back into Wet-Dry World for the final time, collecting 100 coins.

CHAPTER 14: TINY HUGE ISLAND (Mark)
After Snowman's Land, I decided to go to another course, since I was still full of energy. I walked around and saw a small painting of a mountain with mushrooms. It was really small; so small in fact, that I couldn't fit in it! I continued exploring and saw a plain old door, and I went inside. I saw a painting right on front of me, so I toward it and jumped into it. But instead of going into the painting, I hit the wall and bounced back! "What the :censor:

?! Why can't I go into the painting?!" I asked myself. I turned around, but just as I was about to leave, I saw another painting to my right. It was just big enough for me to jump into, so I did. ~More coming soon~