This chapter's crossover is a fun indie platformer! It's definitely become one of my favorite indies; it's got challenging levels, cute characters with neat lore, epic classic-inspired music, it was such a blast! And it's got certain similarities with Hat in Time~
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Kids Next Door mission…
Operation:
F.R.O.G.U.N.
Fearless
Renata
Obstructs
Golden
Underling
Nuisance
Loading transmission…
The large spiders skittered away as Abel Pines lowered via her grappling hook. "Passing the bright and snowy winter-scape, we descend to the next layer of the Beelzebub Ruins." she spoke into her recorder, smirking. Abel had dark-blonde hair in a ponytail drooped over her left shoulder. Sector GF's leader wore a blue vest with a green shirt marked with a white pine tree, darker blue jeans, and light-brown hiker's boots. "We can only wonder what biome we'll see next."
"Didn't I say every place on Mushroom has a little of every biome?" Goombria remarked from Abel's backpack. A Goomba archaeologist, she had puffy brown hair and distinct eyelashes.
"Even has its own indoor sky." Hilda said, hanging onto a higher part of the rope. The British-toned explorer had blue hair and a red sweater with matching boots. "The wonders of ancient architecture…"
"Oh, just about every ancient culture is profound with magic and access to Nature Crystals." Alfur inputted, a white Minish with a red pointed cap and tunic hanging onto Hilda's ear. "Indoor sub-dimension environments are quite common for mages, I'd say."
"But is it true that a demon was sealed away in here?" David asked timidly. He wore an orange sweater, black shorts, and light-brown hair. Aside from his beady eyes, he seemed the most plain and average of his team. "I thought we were done with demons…"
"They're more frequent than you think." Frida replied. The sector's witch had dark skin, puffy black hair with a light-brown highlight, black pants, and a light-purple hoodie.
"Well, if you believe the article," Goombria said, "that 'demon' was recently dealt with."
Like many areas on Mushroom World, much of the architecture in the ruins were blocky and specially lain out for expert jumpers and platformers. The areas were suspended over a seemingly endless abyss, existing in their own space with varying biomes and skies. On their way down here, the operatives swam across small pools full of Crocofish, jumped rolling boulders, large lily pads over a poison swamp, slid down icy slopes for momentous jumps, and other such platforming maneuvers on their journey down.
Sector GF couldn't turn down a good adventure when it popped up on the KND's forums. Goombria from GKND wanted to go on an expedition to the Beelzebub Ruins on Mushroom World, calling for any sector that wanted to come. Magical ruins were up GF's alley, so why pass up the offer? It was sure to be a nice outing, a relaxing and steady dive into-
"GERONIMOOOOOO!" A certain raccoon Faunus came zooming down the grapple rope, pushing the operatives down and flattening them at the bottom. "Oi, look at all those huge spiders! Let's go see if we can jump on their webs!" Jason Dimalanta raced off. As Sector GF lay dazed, the end of the grapple hook fell and bonked Abel in the crown.
"Wuh…who am I…" Alfur moaned. Frida tapped him with an anti-amnesia spell.
"Sorry, guys!" Isabelle Rivera, Jason's first mate, surfed a spiral Song Road down to their level, immediately dashing after landing. "Wait for me, Captain!"
"You just had to tell Isabelle we were going here, didn't you?" David asked.
"I didn't think Jason would be interested in old ruins." Hilda shrugged.
"Except the rumor about a pirate burying his gold here." Frida noted.
"Perhaps I should've left out that part."
Sector V's leader and "captain" had nothing better to do, especially with most of his teammates out on their own errands. There were some occasions when Hilda would go with him and Isabelle on adventures, so when they readily asked to tag along on this quest, she didn't see much harm in that. Until now.
"JASON! HEY!" Abel hurried down flights of stairs, jumped parts of the wall that tried to push her down the abyss, and grappled across gaps to catch up with them. "If you're gonna tag along, you should at least stay beside me! I'm the only one with a full team!"
"Boo! Oi lead from the front!"
"But we already had to follow behind you for the pirate race!"
"Abel, just let them run." Goombria said. "We have tablets to study."
"I know, I know." Abel halted and turned toward some ancient writing on a wall, shining her flashlight on it.
"'Our lord only feasted on the most rotten and decayed matter, but his appetite became so ravenous that no food was to be spared for us. We toil to grow crops only to let them grow moldy and rotten for his appetite. Alas, I fear our starving bodies were on his menu.'"
"Okay, I'm gonna go back to camp." David turned back.
"David!" Frida grabbed his shirt.
"Sounds like your standard demon fair." Hilda commented. "It only eats rotten food… I'm starting to see a connection with the-"
"LOOK! Intruders!" a buzzing voice shouted. A small swarm of giant flies buzzed above them. Some were skull-like and emitting poison and others were bigger and purple.
"-giant flies." Hilda finished.
"They're the ones who took out the Bois upstairs! I bet they're with the golden man! Swat them!"
"'Guess we're going again!" Abel declared. She latched the Fly Bois with her grappler to yank them down before kicking them senseless. She could pull herself to the Big Bois and kick off them into others. Frida cast a spell to sweeten the Venom Bois, so their gas wouldn't pose a nuisance as Hilda latched them down with her own grappler. David shot the Bois with a G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. while Frida took out others with attack spells. "Whoever built these ruins should've hired better security!" Abel said with a twirl of her grappler.
"They're better security than the flies I'm used to." Alfur mentioned.
"What was that about a golden man?" Goombria wondered.
"'Tis another mystery to be solved." Abel hummed.
"HOT! HOT! SO HOT!" Isabelle's voice bellowed down the chasm.
Sector GF rushed to catch up with the two Sector V operatives. Before they knew it, they were at the foot of a volcanic region, with magma cracks along the ground, large Magma Slugs, and platforms rested on magma spouts. It was unfortunate that Isabelle's bare feet had to meet the volcano the hard way, riding on Jason's shoulders now. "Haha, this makes up for not goin' on that H.O.T.S.T.U.F.F. mission!" Jason laughed. "It's so HOT in here!"
"Gone from frost to fire, huh?" Frida asked. "That's why a witch prepares. Drink up, everyone!" She passed out Fireproof Elixirs to everyone. "Patented Hyrulean recipe. Won't protect you from lava though, sooooo," she cast a pair of magic shoes over Isabelle. The Shandian frowned.
"It don't beat Flurp though!" Jason had a swig of his favorite drink. "WAHOO!" He proceeded to merrily bounce his way across a line of Magma Slugs; their tops were safe enough to fulfill such a need. "Huh? Whoa, Isabelle, check out THAT beauty!"
"Yeah?" Isabelle looked up where he pointed. "Whoooa!" A giant dragonfly with flaming wings graced the red "sky."
"Hey, since we got Fireproof Potion, we should ride it!"
"Haha, why not? Let's see if I can call it down." Isabelle strummed a song and sent the notes up to the dragonfly.
"Uh, I'm not sure that's a good-" Frida tried to say.
The dragonfly heard the song and glanced down. He wore a black leather jacket that matched his hair. "Yo, who the heck're those kids? They friends of Frog Girl?" He flew down.
"Heheh, this is gonna be fun!" Jason formed a Light Chain and threw it up at the dragonfly's neck.
"WHAT THE-?! GET OFF!" He shook and spun to rid himself of the nuisance.
"IT TALKS!" screamed the kids.
"Was that gold?! Are you the one who cursed Wintry and the others?! Oh, you're done for, brat!" Scorchy flipped back and dove at Jason like a flaming meteor, the boy swinging a kick that sent Scorchy flying off course. "You little-!" He returned, this time with a line of fireballs at his sides, the kids dodging as Jason swung an arched Light Fist to bash his spine.
"Jason, stop hurting him!" Hilda yelled. "This is a misunderstanding! We didn't curse anyone! Let's talk for a second!"
"How about THIS?!" Scorchy zoomed circles around the group and willed flaming shockwaves to close in.
"Jump!" Frida yelled. "The potion will lose its effect faster the more we touch fire!"
"Some potion!" Isabelle yelled.
"I had to make several of them and they're mostly designed for volcanic heat!"
"He won't survive MY heat!" Jason mimicked Scorchy's technique and dashed in circles with a streak of light, spreading out the Light Ring and knocking Scorchy out of the air. The dragonfly lay momentarily dazed.
"Alright, that's enough." Hilda stated scoldingly. "We're sorry for Jason's behavior. If you stop attacking us, we'd like to help you with whatever's bothering you."
"Huh?!" Before Jason knew it, what felt like a frog tongue latched his back. A girl pulled herself over with it and, "WHOA!" performed a clean forward flip and Jason with her, slamming his head on the ground.
"Hey! Why're you attacking Scorchy?!" The girl had brown hair in pigtails and an orange, froglike archaeologist helmet with twin headlamp "eyes." She wore an orange hooded vest, similar boots, a green skirt with blue shorts underneath, and white gloves. She had no nose over her bucktoothed mouth and her limbs seemed rather wavy like a classic cartoon character.
"Scorchy?" Abel asked. "Is that thing your pet?"
"I'm nobody's pet!" Scorchy shouted.
"AH!" Isabelle was yanked over by a tongue and grabbed by a boy.
"Renata, I got this one!" he exclaimed. He had a ragged green shirt, tan shorts and gloves, and a dark-pink bandanna with yellow eyes, its color matching the "snake" around his left arm. There was a patch on his right cheek.
"Nice, Jake! Now, what're you all doing?! You aren't the ones who've been attacking the ruins, are you?"
"No, we aren't!" Goombria approached them. "We're KND operatives, we were just here on an expedition."
"What?"
"Heh heh, you really got me there!" Jason sported a laugh, standing and rubbing his head. "'Guess we ain't the only adventurers down here!"
"We're Sector GF from Earth." Abel said. "Er, most of us. Are you guys Mushroomian operatives?"
"No. I'm Renata, an archaeologist. He's Jake, a thief."
"MASTER thief. Whoa!" Isabelle suddenly flipped above and caught his neck in her legs.
"Looks like I mastered the master thief!"
"Renata?" Goombria repeated. "Renata Hopps? From the article?"
"Glad you heard!" Renata twirled her froglike gun.
"Then that must be the Frogun!"
"Pleasure to meet you, ribbit!"
"IT TALKS!" screamed the ops.
"What about me and Snatch?" Jake smirked.
"I… think there was a footnote about you?" Goombria recalled.
"Awwwww."
"Well, I ain't heard of them." Jason scratched his noggin.
Scorchy burned back to life and took to the air. "Then perhaps a history lesson is in order."
A forsaken country teeming with insects and critters, Mosquia was the domain of Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies. A tyrant who possessed great sorcery, the people of Mosquia revered him like a deity. He gigantified flies and other critters to carry out his will and ensure the people obeyed him without question. The Mosquians waged war with the neighboring Frog Clan, but the Frog Clan helped them realize Beelzebub's true desires: to one day corrupt all the critters of the world and turn it into a planet of pests. They banded together and used powerful magic to seal the demon within his own temple.
But Beelzebub's reign did not end; it was merely confined to the temple's walls, reduced to only his army of critters. He deemed us, the strongest critters, as his generals. Including me, Scorchy~. But we were his only subjects to boss around, for centuries. We lived in an invisible cage, fearful of Beelzebub's magic… until one fateful day, the demon was destroyed.
"Ke-e-e-e-e-e-e-e…" David hugged his knees and quivered. He thought flies were only a nuisance, but now…
"Hah, so much for that drongo!" Jason laughed. "Did the Mario Bros. beat him? Or the Mario Sisters? Did they use a giant fly swatter?"
"Just my Frogun." Renata winked.
"Ah. …OI, IT WAS YOU?!"
"This little squirt is our hero!" Scorchy said. "Even after Beelzebub ordered us to stop her, she still saved us! 'Course, I always knew she would, so I went easy on her."
Renata shot him a glare. "But just two days ago, a group of intruders broke into the ruins. My parents went ahead to investigate, but we haven't heard from them since."
"Well, gang," Abel declared, "sounds like we got another mystery on our hands!" Her teammates shot a glare toward her and her obvious reference. "Say though, isn't that Frogun of yours basically a grappling hook?"
"I guess you could say that. My parents invented it! And they got the Frog Sage to cast a charm and allow it to talk."
"I'm sort of a grappling hook afficionado myself." Abel twirled her weapon.
"You don't say."
"Doesn't beat old Snatch though!" Jake boasted. "I could out-grapple both of you!"
"Is that a challenge?" Abel cocked a brow.
"A RACE IT IS!" Jason exclaimed. "Pirates and bandits are sworn rivals!"
"You're on!" Jake said.
"But I'm not a pirate!" Abel argued.
"And I'm not a bandit!" Renata followed.
"Funny though," Hilda began, "something about Renata and Jake rings familiar. Don't you think, Isabelle?"
"Oh, yeeeaaaah." Isabelle pictured their two heads, next to the heads of two certain pirates. The girl had pigtails, the boy had a black hair and bandanna, and she fused the heads with their counterparts.
"Where are we even racing?" Abel asked.
"Just follow me." Scorchy flew ahead. "We'll go to my crib."
"Strewth! Last place has ta buy us snacks!" Jason was off! (Play "Rival Fight" from Frogun!)
The racers jumped through rotating firebars and latched their guns (and Jason's Light Chain) onto posts to fly between the fires. They sprung up a stairway of Magma Slugs, but the Angry Slugs at the top erupted, Jason unfortunate enough to step on it and get burned, allowing the others to pass him. The kids reached a row of lava spout platforms before a wall, needing to jump and push it downward until the gap in the wall was available. When Jason caught up, he expedited the sinking for his platform with a strong Ground Pound, gaining the lead on his rivals again.
"So, does GF stand for girlfriend?" Jake asked Abel. "Is it 'cause you're all girls? That's just dumb."
"It stands for Gravity Falls and we have two boys!"
They had a break from the magma and raced through a tar swamp. "Hmmm…" Jason tar only large bubbles of tar leading across, but were they safe to jump on? Renata demonstrated by Frogunning the bubbles, each one popping upon her impact as she quickly tongued the next. Jason couldn't manage the same with his technique, so he ran back to build momentum and Tail Glide over the tar pit. Afterwards, they had to latch onto dragon totems breathing fire, only moving when their flames went out. Numerous tar bubbles led the way upward, so the grapplers latched their way up to return to the volcano. "Oi, not fair!" Jason had no room to build up for a jump, having to manually jump or glide to his own available bubbles.
The racers grappled up escalating totems, dodging flame rings above each one. This was followed by a roadway of flaming tornadoes. "Well, that's more original than boulders!" Abel said. After dodging around the tornadoes, they grappled some points to reach a higher platform, followed by grappling points kept afloat by the tornadoes. "Whoa!" A misaimed shot resulted in Abel's fall. By the time she could make her way back up, Renata and Jake would have the race in the bag.
"WOO! Beat you again, Jake!"
"At least you improved on your diagonal shots."
They waited for Jason and the other operatives to catch up. "Looks like grappling just isn't your thing, Captain." Abel remarked. "You'll be buying our snacks, right? I'll take Smile Dip."
"Isn't that candy illegal?" Alfur asked.
"Isn't Jason a pirate?"
"Alright, that's enough playtime, squirts." Scorchy said. "Look. This is what I was talking about." (End song.)
The operatives curiously gazed at a trio of large gold statues. One depicted a round, spiky thing, one seemed like a four-legged ant with a cap, and one seemed round with a sharp-cornered mask and owl beak. "They're… pretty." Hilda said awkwardly.
"They're not pretty!" the dragonfly outbursted. "Only Wintry's pretty!" He noted the masked statue. "But she, Prickly, and Kicky were turned into this by those intruders!"
"Solid gold…" Frida rubbed Wintry.
"It couldn't be a Gold Flower, could it?" Goombria wondered. "That's a very rare Power-up."
"I don't know." Scorchy replied. "But when I find whoever did this, I'll melt their skull out of their skin!"
"If they can turn things gold," Jake began, "I bet they're heading for the Golden Foundry."
"What's that?" Isabelle asked.
"A city of gold at the bottom of the-"
"CITY OF GOLD?!" Jason screamed. "Isabelle, we're makin' us a new gold ship after this!"
"It's gonna sink, Captain!"
"Let's hurry down." Renata ushered. "If these three wound up like this, then my parents…"
"Are fine, I'm sure they are." Isabelle smiled. "I can hear heartbeats inside these statues. They're still alive, we just need a way to save them."
"…Haha!" Renata's spirits lightened. "Then we better not keep them waiting!" (Play "Jungle" from Frogun!)
The 5th layer of the ruins was almost pitch-dark. The kids had to bounce Spooders, large spiders that dangled from above. At this point, David merely relied on Hilda to carry him; he wasn't setting his shoe on no spider! When they reached an abyss too wide to jump or grapple, some blue blocks mystically appeared before them. "These blocks get me a lot." Renata said. "They only appear when you're close."
"I don't like transparent bridges…" David said.
"Yeah, magic's a pain, ain't it, kid?" Frogun asked.
"Isn't magic the reason you're alive?" Hilda wondered.
They bounced white Bat Spirits over a seemingly barren part of the chasm, the invisible blocks only showing after a leap of faith. For that reason, Jason and Isabelle were first to make the jumps, using their gliding to safely judge where to land. Their next obstacle came in the form of floating skulls; some with spikes on the sides, to prevent, and some with spikes on top, which required grappling. The skulls would spring them and vanish for a few seconds, so they had to land on or grapple the next skull quickly. "Ow!" Renata hurt herself on a spike. "I always have trouble with these."
"You're tellin' me!" Abel scratched herself twice on the skulls.
"How long have you been at this, Renata?" Goombria asked. "You seem like a pro!"
"My parents have been taking me on adventures since I was three! We've been to lots of places like Hooktail Castle, Tostarena, the Earth and Water Vellumental Temples… One time, they wanted to visit Crumbleden, but I was too scared of it, so they didn't. But I bet I won't be scared of it now!"
"My mom and I are archaeologists, too! Do you explore other worlds or stay on Mushroom?"
"No, I've never been off Mushroom."
"If you ever think about it, I can recommend some good sites. Like the Wumpa Islands on Mobius!"
"Oh, I've heard of those. I heard they have valuable relics that are really hard to obtain."
"You have no idea."
"As for me," Jake began, "I'm sort of a self-taught thief. Though I was inspired by the legendary bandit, Nabbit-"
"BIG SPIDER!" Jason shouted the attention away from him.
"It's Hexy!" Renata exclaimed.
Hexy, a spider of purple and teal, waved her arms and conjured lightning bolts, striking a man in gold armor with a pig mask. He passed out alongside another man in the same suit, but there were two more. Hexy raised a magic shield as they shot golden bullets at her. It cracked with each impact, and when it shattered, one soldier prepared to shoot her head. "Stop!" Renata shot Frogun at his back and pulled herself toward him, bending her legs upward to kick him on impact. Sadly, he only stumbled from the impact and followed up by sending her flying with a punch. "Ow!"
"Child!" Hexy gasped.
"Oi, you're gonna pay for that, swine face!" Jason punched a Light Fist, but it bounced off the golden armor. "Huh?!"
"Hey, isn't that the Pirate King's son?!" the Pigmask asked.
"What's he doing here?! We need to report back to G!"
"No, dude, let's get him! Imagine the reward we'll get!" The soldier switched out for a minigun to blast Jason, the young captain evading swiftly.
"If my bending can't break through your armor, Ah'll beat ya the old fashioned way!" Jason dashed up, socked the Pigmask in the gut, then in the head, knocking him down. However, he recovered and engaged Jason with golden gauntlets. Jason only took one punch to the nose while evading the rest, dealing two punches back, kicking him off his feet, and slamming both fists on his head.
The other soldier pulled back and shot bullets at the other operatives. Abel was the one to approach him, donning two wristbands. "Chains of Judgment!" Both bands extracted five solid holo-chains, which seized the Pigmask as she slammed him around the ground. He drew a sword to slice them off, but Frida quickly shot him with Fire Spells and David a S.P.I.C.E.R.. Despite his golden armor, he withstood the fire and ran to punch both kids in the jaw. Jake Snatched his way to him with a punch, Renata leapt for a classic Mushroomian jump attack, while Isabelle strummed Music Notes against him. The Pigmask shot bullets and grazed Renata, but found himself entrapped in Hexy's web. Abel once again seized him in her chains and tightened the grip until he passed out.
"Blimey, me nose is bleeding!" Jason rubbed it. "Since when do faceless minions hurt so much?"
"You're telling me…" David wept, he and Frida fearing their jaws dislocated.
"Are you alright, Renata?" Hexy asked. "Let me bandage that wound."
"Thanks, Hexy. Are there any more of these guys?"
"The rest of these crones already made it to the foundry. We haven't been able to get close… their leader is able to bend the gold at will!"
"You mean… a goldbender?" Abel asked.
"Incredible!" Alfur gasped. "Even metalbenders can rarely get a grasp on gold's pure chi! My, this will truly be one for the notebook."
"Hey, three of your friends were turned into gold statues." Jake said. "Can you do anything about them?"
"I was working on a cure before those goons attacked me. Unfortunately, I'm missing a crucial ingredient: a Gold Flower."
"A certain someone mentioned that being super rare." Abel said.
"There's one buried somewhere among Beelzebub's horde, I'm sure of it. I told your parents all this earlier, but I haven't seen them since-"
"Let's go!" Renata rushed ahead, stricken with worry.
"Don't be reckless, child!" Hexy shouted.
"Oi, that's what we do best!" Jason was quick to join the fellow adventurer.
In the darkest depths of the ruins, there was light: gold as far as the eye could see. Coins that softly rained around, piles of it along with colored jewels, round floating jewels, and green and purple blocks that beeped in and out with a rhythm. Jason couldn't stop himself from drooling, and not even his teammates could contain their selves. "Ho…ly… lifetime supply of sweaters." Abel gawked.
"You'd be richer than the Toadstool family with all this!" Goombria said.
"Yeah, but I don't remember it looking like that before." Jake said.
"Solid gooooold… Solid gooooold…!"
A large area of the foundry was transformed into a gala with gold fountains, a drinking bar, and a stage. The Pigmasks were partying as three feminine Pigmasks were singing onstage, which displayed a large "G" at its backdrop. "IT'S GOLD, IT'S GOLD, IT'S GOLD, IT'S GOLD, solid gold, baby!" One of the soldiers was spinning his comrade above him. "IT'S GOLD, IT'S GOLD, IT'S GOLD, IT'S GOLD, solid gold, baby! Yeeeaaaah! He's got the Midas touch… but he touched it too much!"
Renata shared a bewildered glance with Jason. "Hey, Goldmember… Hey, Goldmember… He's got a golden pad… He's super bad! Hey, Goldmember… Hey, Goldmember…"
"Who breaks into Beelzebub's treasure stash and does THIS?" Jake asked.
"Good evening, everybody!" the leader singer announced. "And welcome to Studio 69! Here he is, ladies and gentlemen: IT'S GOOOOLDMEMBERRRR!"
A skinny man presented himself atop the upper walkway, greeting his fans with a laugh. "Golololold!" He wore a bright, gold-white sleeveless top and gloves, with short gold shorts that highlighted his thighs, tall socks with gold top stripes, and gold shoes. "Hey, everybody! I love Mushroom Kingdom! I feel sho HIGH!"
The soldiers laughed. "He's got the Midas touch… but he touched it too much!" He jigged his legs and skied along the walkway on roller-blades. "You're gettin' down tonight… you're dynamite!" As he came down onstage, he bent his right leg up. The sensation looked painful to watch as the kids cringed, but the man spun while holding his leg bent.
"'Cause that's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, he likes it, uh-huh uh-huh!" He rolled offstage, followed by a troupe of lady Pigmasks. "Goldmember, Goldmember." The audience cleared away, giving him passage to the operatives. "He loves it, he loves it…" He stopped before them, linked his fingers, and waved his arms as the backup dancers mimicked. "'Cause that's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, he likes it, uh-huh uh-huh! Goldmember, Goldmember!"
He performed a perfect splits, the operatives tensing as they imagined the pain. "He's got the Midas touch… but he touched it too much!" He bent over to kiss his right thigh. He bent up his left leg in that position, followed by his right, wrapping arms around them, leaving the group in more mental pain. "It's gold, it's gold, it's gold, solid goooooold!"
"Welcome to my new domain, Kidsh Nexht Door." He stood and stretched his arms. "I hope the way down here was not too arduoush." Some Pigmasks brought him a gold robe.
"These ruins aren't yours!" Renata shouted. "Who do you think you are?!"
"You shee, children…" He wagged his fingers and telekinetically raised a coin to his eyes. Its hue reflected off his irises. "I love GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALD. The look of it, the tashte of it, the SHMELL of it, the texture. My minionsh are gold, my clothesh are gold, my chi is gold… and even my groin is gold. Hence the name: Goldmember."
"Gross." Isabelle said.
"Of all the people in the universe who could be a goldbender, it had to be some weirdo." Goombria said. "King Midas would be ashamed."
"Yesh, King Midash… the only known goldbender in history." Goldmember stepped to his left, staring into his gloved palm. "They shay he could turn anything into gold. How I alwaysh dreamed of shuch power… sho, I got it!" He removed his glove, exposing the golden hand. "By eating the Human-Human Fruit, Midash Model!"
"A Devil Fruit?!" Alfur exclaimed. "That's hardly noteworthy at all!" (Play "Boss Battle" from Frogun!)
"Oi don't care what you are!" Jason spun a large Light Fist and fired; Goldmember deflected it with his palm and punched Jason back. "YOWCH! Whoa!" The floor liquefied beneath their feet. The grapple-hookers grabbed onto someone and hooked the top of the left wall to pull their selves free of the gooey gold, but Goldmember molded a fist from it and sent it their way. Jason punched the fist away and swung a Light Kick, making it whirl around Goldmember to conk his head. "Isabelle, give me a hand!" Jason rode on her Song Road and circled Goldmember as he tried to swing Light Fists around multiple directions, but the villain deflected them with gold shields, some bouncing off his gold-coated Pigmasks.
Isabelle strummed up Song Stomps, conjuring giant legs made of chi to flatten Goldmember, but though he withstood, his shields were knocked away. With him exposed, Abel jumped down and snared him in Judgment Chains, but her efforts to squeeze him were met with laughter. "Golololold! My golden bonesh will not be bent by the likesh of you!" He waggled his fingers to raise four coins and shoot them at Abel, breaking her grip.
"Then Oi'll BREAK them!" Jason Ground Pounded the villain, but Goldmember submerged in the liquid gold on impact. "Huh?! OOF!" Goldmember splashed out and eclipsed Jason's face with his fist, the captain smashing into the wall.
"Golololold! Do you shee, children?" Dozens of coins levitated around him as they seemed to dissolve. "Gold ish the mosht powerful forche!"
Jason wiped the blood off his nose. "K. Rool punched harder than that! And I'll punch-?!" He tried to walk, but his legs were encased in gold. "AAAAAAAH! IT'S MIDAS' CURSE!"
"G! G! THERE'S THE G!" cheered the Pigmasks. "G is the G-O-A-T!"
"But can you still bend it after it loses its luster?!" Frida shot Fire Spells at Goldmember, but was sent flying by a Gold Fist from the ground. "Ow…"
"There's way too much gold here, that'll never work!" David said.
"Um…David?" He looked toward Hilda and Goombria, their bodies slowly converting to gold.
"But he didn't even touch us!" Goombria said. "What the heck?!"
"I-I can't move… I…" Hilda fully solidified.
"Hilda!" Alfur gasped. He had jumped off his friend, which seemingly spared him from goldification. "…David! You, too!"
David's SPICER was converting, along with the rest of his arm. "AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa!" His beady eyes stretched in and out as she desperately tried to shake the gold off.
Isabelle lifted Jason onto her Song Road to evade Goldmember's Coin Bullets, but her captain felt notably heavier. The villain waved his arms and mustered a surfboard from the ground, along with a golden wave to surf after the duo. He endured Isabelle's notes and deflected Jason's Light Fists before thwacking them out of the air with his board. "Gol?" There appeared to be a frog leg on his tongue.
"YAH!" Renata flew up and shoved him off his surfboard, but she would be immediately wrapped in his flexible legs and thrown over to Jason and Isabelle.
"Where are my parents?! You better not've hurt them!"
"Parentsh? Oh, yesh, you mean my two new shtatuesh. Bring them in, Shtebinski."
"Solid gold…" A Pigmask pulled out a cart from backstage, carrying two statues with what seemed like archaeologist costumes. The man had a mustache and the woman had long, curly hair. "Mom…Dad…" Renata welled up with tears. Her sadness became anger as she aimed Frogun-
"HEY!" Jake grabbed her from behind. "We shouldn't go near him, we'll get goldified!"
"I need to do SOMETHING!"
"Let US lend a hand!" Scorchy graced the sky like a comet, crashing in the center of the Pigmask crowd.
"You need to find it, child!" Hexy was suspended on a magic floating web, casting magic flames over the soldiers. "You know what you must do!"
"We need to find the Gold Flower." Jake whispered. "She needs it for the cure."
"You're right… What if my parents know something?"
"Is your brain already gold?"
"No, maybe they left some sort of clue! Jake, we gotta get to their statues!"
"Alright then. Follow my lead."
"You DRONGO!" Jason spun his fist and rushed the villain, despite the heaviness in his legs.
"Captain!" Isabelle shouted.
"Even I wouldn't stuff me enemies into trophies!" He threw the giant Light Fist, but it flew right past Goldmember. He knew it was going to circle back while Jason tried to throw another one in uppercut form. He deflected the uppercut, but Jason bent the giant fist to loop overhead and directly punch Goldmember's face directly. His head reeled back at a tight angle, and Jason would then lift himself to a high-enough jump and smash his gut into the ground.
"You learn nothing, boy!" Goldmember sank again and grabbed Jason's ankles, dragging him into the substance.
"JASON!" Abel threw her chains to catch his arms and haul him out to safety. She succeeded and nearly fell over trying to catch him. "WAH!"
"AAAAHH!" Jason was in panic over his goldified body. "TREASURE! How could you betray meee-?!" His head was the last to go before he was completely frozen.
"Golololold! I guessh the Prinche of Piratesh could not comprehend the power of gold. What a shad day, Captain." He twisted the ground and liquefied it. Abel panicked and grappled away, despairing as Jason sank into the treasure.
"Crud!" Abel combined the five chains on each hand into chain whips, lashing at the villain, but could find few gaps through his gold shields. Goldmember molded his own chain and lashed it, wrapping Abel and swinging her against the ground. Isabelle clapped Goldmember in a repetition of giant Song Hands, distracting him enough for Abel to shake free. Unfortunately, her legs were already goldifying.
Renata and Jake snuck behind the bar and made their way onstage, discretely pushing her parents' cart backstage amidst the chaos. "Jake, look!" Her mom's statue was holding a knife behind her back, and there were carvings on the back of her coat. "She cut out a map! It must've been when they were attacked."
"How'd she cut a decent map like this on her back in the middle of that?"
"'Cause my parents are the best! She has the knife pointed on this spot."
"Then let's check it out."
"Do you think they'll be okay?" Renata peeked out. "They're having a hard time…"
"They'll have a harder time if we don't get that flower!"
"Mmm." Renata nodded, determination filling her. Her parents left that map for her, trusting her to follow it. She couldn't let them down.
"Happy birthday, Renata!" Lily Hopps handed her daughter a green present with orange ribbon.
"Wow! My own Frogun!" The 8-year-old happily raised the device. "Hello, Froggy!"
"Hey, Renata. Ribbit."
"The Frog Sage even sent us a Cricket Pie, too!" said Tod, her Mustachioed father. "Can this day get any better?"
"Um…there is something else I want."
"What's that, sweetie?" Lily asked.
"I wanna lead my own adventure!"
"You do?"
"Well, what's wrong with that?" Tod asked. "She's learned a lot!"
"I suppose… but let's pick something easy."
"Ummm…how 'bout Belome Temple?"
…
"AAAAAH!" Renata was devoured whole by Belome, a monstrous four-eyed dog with four narrow blue eyes, red swirls on his yellow fur, four hornlike protrusions, and a long tongue.
"MY LITTLE TADPOLE!" Lily shot her Frogun at its tongue, yanking it to make Belome spew Renata out, soaked and shuddering in saliva.
Renata had a second chance at the Dry Dry Desert Ruins. A Pokey Mummy was coming, so she shot Frogun's tongue to try and catch its segments and shoot them back. The child kept missing, so as the Pokey got closer, Tod tongued the Pokey's head and let the body crumble.
Renata later led an adventure into the Kiwano Temple on Prism Island, but the poor thing wound up with one too many punctures. "I'm sorry these last few trips didn't work out, sweetie." Lily said, bandaging the upset child. "But you'll get the hang of it someday. Until then, just keep practicing."
As she tried to lay to sleep that night, her glum eyes fell to her Frogun. Renata almost thought it a rite of passage to receive one. She wanted to prove herself. But first, she had to practice. She left the tent and began tonguing the local Spinies, shooting them at each other. She incurred their wrath as they Spun Dashed her, the youth jumping and dodging while aiming to snatch them. She tripped and got her leg punctured, her cry waking up her parents. But from then on, Renata kept training.
"Why can't I come?" the 10-year-old asked.
"This journey sounds a bit more dangerous this time." Tod answered. "They say there's an actual demon in those ruins. Just stay at camp, sweetie. We promise not to be long. You have several days' worth of food."
"We'll see you soon, Little Tadpole." Lily pecked her daughter on the forehead.
Renata loved her parents. She didn't want them to worry. But she didn't want to be left out. Two days passed and they hadn't returned. Renata was worried. Someone had to check on them. She had to find them! She had to prove she was just as good as them! The young archaeologist grabbed her Frogun and charged in!
Renata slid-jumped off sloped platforms, timed jumps between the Beep Blocks, and hitched a ride on a giant grasshopper over vastly wider jumps. She saved her parents once and she would do it again!
"Hey, Scorchy!" Isabelle yelled up at the dragonfly. "Is there any ground beneath here? Jason just sunk in the ground, he could've fallen out the other side!"
"I'll look, but I can't make any promises!"
…
Jason's statue landed on a floating ground 100 meters in the abyss. He lay still and helpless… until he began to rumble. "Ghhk!" The gold cracked. "Ghhhhhhhrrrrrrrr, HRAAAAAAHHH!" Jason shattered his prison with sheer will, but bits of gold still coated him. "HAHA! Take THAT, Midas! Blimey, where'd everyone go…" He looked around and stared skyward. "Don't tell me all the way up THERE? Crikey, 'guess I better start climbing. Ugh…" It was frustrating that he couldn't crack that freak's gold. Has he never had to deal with reflective surfaces like that? His mom sure never mentioned this could happen. Jason knelt and placed his hand on the solid gold ground. It was so bright. He could really see himself in it.
"…" Jason lit his hand, the light reflecting off the surface. "Y'know, if Oi can change the direction of me Light Fists, why am I letting these shiny gits bounce them away? Why can't ya stay ON?" Jason punched a volley of fists at the floor as they bounced away. "HUH!" He firmly held his arm in place, willing that Light Fist to stay against the floor. He pressed down and watched it flatten against the gold like spreading water. "?" His expression lit as he moved the light around along the floor. He walked and kept guiding it to the edge of the platform, moving it off and beneath, though it could only stay out of sight for a second before shooting back out, down the abyss. "Haha! Reflectionbending! Refractbending? Oi, wot do they even call it? Maybe Ah'll ask Gold Freak after I SOCK HIM with me new trick!"
"Hey! Ringtail!" Jason looked up and saw Scorchy flying down. "Huh, you really DID fall down here. And you're free, too! How'd ya do it?"
"Perfect, Oi needed a ride! Get me back up there!"
"Geez, no one taught you any manners. Whatever, grab on. Not my fault if that guy kills you this time."
Jason leapt on, "Yowch-ouch-ouch!" but his tail would burn the whole flight.
Up above, David went to tend to Frida, dragging her to a safer spot as she faintly woke up. "David… your arm!"
"We're in a bad spot, Frida. He even took out Jason!"
"I noticed something when he was goldifying you guys." Alfur said. "There were tiny gold particles around the air, formulating around you. I saw him dissolving those coins in the air earlier."
"I see." Frida said. "He isn't just transforming us like magic, he can only do it with the gold he has available. Which still doesn't change anything, there's still so much of it here. At this point, we should just try to get everyone and escape."
"At least we have some extra help now." Alfur smiled.
The most Abel could do now was help Hexy take down the other Pigmasks in her half-gold position. She heard something crack beside her and turned to Hilda's statue with a gasp: a pointy stone nose poked out! Her prison shattered as her body parts slightly widened and hardened into a stone form. "Huh! Oh, the sun's gone down." Hilda figured. It was quite hard to tell down here.
"Hilda, can you get Goombria out of here?" Abel asked. "We're thinking of retreating."
"Only if I can take you, too." Hilda picked her up in the left arm and Goombria under the right.
…
Renata and Jake reached an island with nine holes, each with coin piles. "Must be under one of these." Renata shuffled three of the piles, "Aha!" and found a box under the third one. They hauled it out and opened it.
"A bunch of power-ups!" Jake beamed. "And the Gold Flower!"
"Better keep it hidden from him. We can use the other powers against him though!"
"But he doesn't look Mushroomian, would he be able to use it?"
"Outsiders can use them if they have matching elements." Frogun answered. "Which, rare as it is, this guy does."
"I just hope it can fix everyone." Renata stashed the power-ups in a magic sack. "Let's go, Jake!"
…
Isabelle's harp had been turned gold and left unplayable, only able to rely on her vocal singing to make Song Roads. After hearing Alfur's analogy, she had to keep moving so Goldmember wouldn't be able to focus his goldification on her too much. "OI! Golddrongo!" Isabelle was delighted to hear her captain's voice, riding in—and burning—on Scorchy. "YIE!" He leapt off the dragonfly first chance he got. "That's the last time I ride a dragonfly!"
"You have eshcaped my prishon." Goldmember acknowledged. "Remarkable, Captain Jashon. I shee it will take more to make you my trophy!" He raised dozens of coins and made rapid flicking motions to shoot them at Jason, the captain spinning his arms to deflect as many as possible. When they passed, Jason spun a Light Fist and cast it. "And yet, you never learn." Goldmember raised a shield to deflect it. "?" The villain was confused why it didn't deflect. Jason willed the refraction to go around the shield, shooting out to sock Goldmember's skull. The girls were in awe; Jason quickly dashed for a Light Kick, which Goldmember blocked with his leg. The villain liquefied the floor, but Jason shot a Light Chain at Hexy's hanging body, "At least ask permission before you-"
Jason swung circles from her and built up a Light Ring. Goldmember completely covered himself in a gold bubble. "Crikey, I don't think I can make me light go through the gold."
"But I can!" Scorchy did a wide somersault, built up speed and fire, and blazed straight through the gold bubble. It slowed him down considerably, but he managed to pull Goldmember out, met by the villain's Gold Fists. Jason released from Hexy and flew toward them, carrying the spinning Light Ring. He managed to slam the ring on him with terrific power, but the captain kept flying.
"Uh-oh!" He was doomed for another fall in the abyss. "Huh!" Luckily, a frog's tongue was there to save him!
"Got ya!" Renata reeled him up. "Sorry to keep you waiting! We got power-ups!"
"So did I, sorta!"
They quickly platformed their way back to the stage. Goldmember goldified Scorchy's face, and he began setting to work on the exhausted Hexy. Renata grabbed a Rock Shroom from her sack and rolled at Goldmember as a boulder. He saw it in time to bend up a ramp, causing her to fly over, but she shot Frogun down-backward to grapple toward and ram him! Jason spun his way up with two conjoined Light Fists outstretched, slamming a solid blow to the villain. Goldmember submerged underground and emerged inside another defense bubble. Gold Fists would thrust in and out from it to pummel the kids, Jason rapidly countering with his own. "Surprise!" Jake swallowed a Spring Shroom. He kept bouncing until he sprung several meters in the air. Jake got above Goldmember's bubble and Ground Pounded to press the central part of it in, in turn crushing Goldmember.
Goldmember pushed and stretched it straight up, but Jake's Snatch kept a hold on the tip, causing the spring to rubber band right back with just as much force and smash him again. "BAH!" Goldmember ripped the bubble open, revealing himself half-submerged in the gold. "You will not bursht MY ballsh!" He spun and rose, his split legs encased in two huge balls.
"Solid gooooold!" sang the lady Pigmasks.
"Golololold!" Goldmember morphed the area into a wide boxing ring with flexible ropes. He began to ricochet around the ring in attempt to ram Jason and Renata. The pirate tried to dodge between the balls and use refractbending to punch Goldmember's jaw. Renata used her boulder form to bounce around the ring as well, and Jason's efforts would cause Goldmember to fall and hang forward. Renata was able to ram his head directly! Jason took advantage of his dizziness for his own Ground Pound. Goldmember thrusted up two Gold Fists to blast the two away, disabling Renata's power-up. "Perhapsh I need a new pershpective!" Goldmember spun up a gold surfboard and took to the sky, along with a storm of coins.
Renata swallowed a Bubble Flower. "Jason, jump on my back!" She blew bubbles up around the air and quickly Frogunned to each of them, relying on the captain to fling away oncoming coins. He could do this while also spin-charging his Light Fist, punching up against the bottom of the surfboard and refractbending it to punch Goldmember's leg. He lost footing on the surfboard and plunged. The kids dropped down as Jason lightened Renata's fall. After landing, Goldmember flung a coin at Jake and disabled his Spring Shroom. Goldmember created another bubble shield and liquefied the floor, hoping to sink his foes and sloshing waves to ensure this.
Renata swallowed an Ice Flower, allowing her to freeze stable footing on the liquid gold and let Jason join her (shuddering from her presence). Jake at a Boo Shroom, becoming a round ghost. He could grapple Goldmember's bubble and, as he reeled to it, he came invisible to phase through, then became tangible to ram Goldmember against the inside. Jake tried this a few more times, annoying Goldmember into sinking his bubble below the gold and maneuvering it around. The kids could still make out his position: Jason threw Renata up in the air over and over as she Frogunned the area above Goldmember's bubble, each impact releasing a burst of ice. Eventually, Goldmember stopped moving purely from cold.
"Now we got 'im!" Jason declared. "Sorry, 'exy, gotta borrow you again!"
"Do what you must."
"Don't leave me out!" Renata swallowed a Drill Shroom. Jason took her hand, Light Chained Hexy, and began to spin vertically. They built great momentum before releasing right above Goldmember's trajectory. They smashed clean through the frozen gold and pushed Goldmember through the bottom.
"SOLID GOOOOOOOOOOLD!" He fell with blinding speed, his eyes dazed with gold. The villain crashed onto the very island Jason landed on before. What was most unfortunate about their victory was that he lost his shorts, the unconscious villain's namesake a bright sun in this abyss. (End song.)
"GOLDMEMBER!" cried the ladies. "NOOOOOO!"
"Darn it!" There were only six Pigmasks left standing. "They beat G! They got the GG!"
"What should we do, bro?!"
"We got a job to do! They're weakened, we can finish this!"
"Oi don't think so!" Jason and Renata pulled up with the latter's Frogun. "Oi ain't tired at all!" The excited captain shot Light Fists at the soldiers, bending the refractions over their eyes to confuse them before pummeling them with direct punches. Renate Frogunned the Pigmasks and drilled them. Once the kids had them KO'ed, they showed no mercy to the singers.
"Phew…we barely survived that one." Abel sighed. "Alright, we got a cure to make."
"I don't know if I have the strength for it now…" Hexy sighed.
"Let me help!" Frida offered. "I'm a mage, too!"
"Yes, you two get to work on that." Hilda said. "The rest of us will haul these crooks out of here."
"So tirrrrreeeeed." Jason fell flat as soon as there were no villains left.
"You're a model, Captain." Isabelle said.
With the help of a few ruins flies, they hauled Goldmember and the Pigmasks all the way up to the ruins entrance. They called Mushroomian authorities to arrest them, all while Hexy and Frida crafted the Gold-to-Mold Potion. It involved mixing a Gold Flower with a Poison Shroom and other ingredients to nullify any gold-transformation effects. It was successful in melting Prickly, Kicky, Wintry, and Scorchy free of their prisons.
"Wintryyyyy! Babyyyyy! I was so worried about ya!" Scorchy nuzzled up to her. "I kept ya safe this whole time, and I gave that crook a burnin' he deserved!"
But then Scorchy was trapped in a frozen prison.
Goombria, David, and the others were restored, and finally, Tod and Lily Hopps. "Mom! Dad!" The child grabbed them in a hug.
"Renata! I-Is everything…"
"We beat the villain! Me, Jason, and Jake!"
"That's my tadpole!" Lily cheered.
"WAHOO!" Tod waved his fist.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Renata waved hers with extra ferocity.
"YAHOOOOOOOO!" And Jason's were like spinning suns!
"PARTY!" Jake exclaimed. (Play "Rival Fight" from Frogun!)
The operatives were invited to the top of the ruins, a zone where bugs came to party! Isabelle played with the Biddles, a band of violin-strumming beetles that produced musicbending shockwaves! Hexy taught Frida a few of her spells; Alfur rode Twig (who was guarding the ship outside) and raced David riding Kicky.
"So, wait, how did you turn into that?" Renata asked Hilda.
"I'm a Stone Troll hybrid! I become like this at night!"
"And Oi can get WICKED sunny during the day!" Jason beamed, getting drunk on what the bugs passed for beverages.
"Are you really the Pirate King's son?" Jake asked.
"Aye, but don't tell anyone!"
"Well, you really saved our skin!" Renata danced. "Thank you so much!"
"You weren't so bad yourself!" Abel said.
"Yeah, it sucks I didn't get to see it!" Goombria replied.
"Say, Goombria, have you ever heard of Goombella?" Renata asked. "She was my parents' inspiration!"
"Uh…she's my mom. Did I forget to mention?"
"HUUUUUH?!"
"Did I hear that right?!" Lily and Tod zoomed over. "You're the Great Goombella's daughter?!"
"I, uh, shouldn't have said anything." Goombria blushed.
"Yeah, who is she, Prince Martio?" Jake asked.
"Haha, I can't believe I met so many neat people today!" Renata jumped. "Mom, Dad, I wanna lead WAY more expeditions from now on! I hope we can go to other worlds, too!"
"Haha, we might just consider it, dear!" Tod cheered.
They all partied the night away with new friends. Both the Hopps and operatives alike looked forward to more victories, more adventures, more new friends to come!