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Chapter 19: Sky Guy Takeover After one "wrong" turn in a direction of the Forever Forest by Boo's Mansion, Mario and his big entourage with Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity arrived at the entrance to said forest that lead back to Toad Town. They spotted Jr. Troopa outside of the dark, forest maze's perimeter, cheering wildly as he was no longer inside it. "Whoo hoo!" he said, falling to his knees and kissed the ground repeatedly. "Sweet, sweet, not-scary ground! I feel so alive!" The little Koopa ran off whooping loudly, disappearing to who knows where. "Ok, that kid is weird," Bow said. "Why did he want to pick a fight with Mario, anyway?" The plumber sighed, telling his take on how the eggshell-wearing Koopa Troopa picked a fight with him after he beat up Goombario's grandfather, vowing to get revenge against him and stopping him with Twilight, Goombario, Kooper, and Bombette after returning from defeating the Koopa Bros. in their fortress. "Goodness," Rarity said. "Doesn't he realize just how much trouble the Mushroom Kingdom is even in?" "Apparently not," Bow uttered. "And he's been a menace to my family for a long while," Goombario added. "Not as long as Red and Blue Goomba, but he's gotten a lot worse. I didn't even know he had wings." "So, does that make him a Paratroopa like Parakarry?" Twilight asked. "I don't know of any other Paratroopa who has bat wings," the mail carrier stated. "Does he even have a family?" "No idea, but I hope we don't see him again," Goombario muttered. "...Then again, my gut's telling me he isn't going to stop anytime soon." "Well, let's hope he doesn't get himself hurt if he's all on his lonesome," Rarity said, feeling a bit worried about the young Koopa's safety despite causing their group's setback from saving the kingdom. "Right now, I need a quick shower, then we can continue finding the rest of our friends and the other Star Spirits." Rarity continued onward toward the town, the others following her so she wouldn't end up getting lost. They passed the security outpost with the timid guard, quickly hiding upon seeing Bow with Mario's party, and crossed the bridge across the river. Things weren't as peaceful as they seemed as they could hear some panicked noises all over Toad Town. "AHHHHH! What are you doing!?" They stopped as they heard a voice come from inside the nearby house, which happened to be the home of one of the greatest Toad chefs in the kingdom: Tayce T. "No! That's my favorite frying pan!" "What is going on?" Kooper wondered. The door opened up, revealing a small red robed creature with a mask covering its face. In its hands was the frying pan that it stole from the chef. "What in Equestria is that!?" Pinkie asked, her shouting alerted the thief as it fled off in the direction of the pier. "Hey! That's stealing! Give back that frying pan!" "Shy Guys!?" Goombario exclaimed. "What are they doing in Toad Town!?" "'Shy Guys'?" Twilight questioned. "...Are they called that because of those masks?" "Yeah, but they're mischievous and love taking things that don't belong to them," Goombario explained. The door to the house opened again as a female, yellow-spotted Toad with curly white hair, looking distressed as she panted heavily. "Oh no. I can't believe that Shy Guy stole my frying pan," she said in despair. She looked over at the surprised group, running up to Mario upon seeing him. "Mario! Thank goodness you're here!" "We saw what happened, miss," Parakarry said. "Are Shy Guys really invading the town?" "They must be if one of them barged into my home," she said. "But without my frying pan, I just can't cook anything anymore." "Don't worry, Miss Tasty!" Pinkie said. "We'll find the Shy Guy thief and get back your frying pan! For the sake of delicious food!" "I think it's best if we split up and find more of them and keep them from stealing anyone else's stuff," Goombario said. "Good idea," Twilight agreed. "We'll split up in groups of three. I'll go with Kooper and Mario to the west side of town. Pinkie, you're with Parakarry and Bombette to the train station south of here. Rarity, Bow, and Goombario, check the northern end. We'll meet up in the center of town before the door to where Peach's castle used to be when we've dealt with any of them we can find and catch." "Can't I get cleaned up first?" Rarity whined. "You can take a spa day when the town isn't in peril!" Bow exclaimed. "Quit acting like a baby, live with it, and move your tail!" "Ugh. Fine," Rarity grumbled, the Toads in town in more trouble than her personal hygiene as everyone split up in their groups and headed off to take out the invading Shy Guys. —------------ Heading down to the station, Pinkie bounded alongside Bombette and Parakarry as they searched around for more Shy Guys. "So, where oh where can we find these Shy Guys?" Pinkie asked. "What do they like taking besides cooking utensils?" "I think they go for anything they can carry," Parakarry said. "I don't really deliver mail to any Shy Guys. Kind of afraid they'll take my whole bag of mail if I turn my back for one second." "And they also wear different colored clothes," Bombette said. "Not just red." Just as they spotted the railroad tracks and the station, they could see a couple Shy Guys messing around with the conductor while also running around on the tracks. "Speaking of, there's some blocking the railroad from here to Mt. Rugged!" The trio ran toward the tracks, Pinkie Pie letting out a ridiculous battle cry while holding her hammer in her mouth, alerting the pesky Shy Guys and the Toad conductors. Before the masked nuisances could react, they were tackled by the pink pony, smacked around by the wooden mallet as a cloud of dust formed around them. The conductors heard Pinkie grunting, heavy smacks of a hammer hitting the ground or one of the two Shy Guys, and the pained cries and panicked gibberish coming from the invading humanoids as limbs stuck out from the dust cloud and got sucked back in. One of the Shy Guys tried to crawl away, but a pink tail wrapped around its foot and began dragging him back in. "Oh no you don't! Get over here!" It let out a yelp as it was dragged back inside, desperately struggling to pull itself away with its short arms as they slid along the tracks. Parakarry and Bombette stood beside the other Toads as they all watched the dust cloud. "So, you guys got your train blocked again," Bombette said. "Only this time, not by rocks." "Are you and him going to jump in?" the conductor asked. He got his answer as both Shy Guys were smacked out of the cloud of dust, the dust fading away as Pinkie stood on her hind legs, her hammer held over her head ready to strike as she darted her eyes back and forth between the beaten invaders. Bruised and defeated, the Shy Guys got back on their feet and fled back up to the path back to town. "Yeah, you better run!" Pinkie shouted. "Tell your friends you got owned by a pink pony with a hamma!" "...Nah. I think she's got it under control," Parakarry said, answering the Toad's question. "Have you seen any other Shy Guys around here?" "No, just those two blocking the train," the conductor said. "We can finally get back on schedule...again." "Well, since there weren't any others down in this end of town, let's head back and see if the others need help." After saying goodbye to the conductors, the trio headed back into town to help deal with the other Shy Guys with the rest of their friends. —------------- Up at the northern end of Toad Town, Rarity, Bow, and Goombario could already see a few Shy Guys running amok in the area. Two of them were dancing and trampling the flowerbed around the wooden arch in the center, distressing a female toad with pink spots, braided brown pigtails, and wore an apron with a sprout on the front and gardening gloves. "No! Don't step on my flowers!" the Toadette exclaimed. "Please stop!" "Hey, get back here you little thief!" On the other side of the path across from the arch, a Shy Guy ran quickly past the trio as it stole a calculator of all things. The victim was a strange canine-like humanoid with a large round snout, shaking its fist in frustration. "Dang it! Now how am I supposed to keep a tally on my sales without my calculator!?" "Sorry, dad!" a younger male voice said as the canine's son walked up to him. "I thought I had that Shy Guy." "Wow, it's gotten pretty crazy already," Goombario said. He approached the frustrated dog, Rarity following after him while Bow floated off to slap the Shy Guys pestering the Toadette's flower garden. "Excuse us, Mr. Doogan!" "A 'Doogan'?" Rarity questioned at the name of what the two dogs were known as. "At least they aren't as bad as the diamond dogs by appearance." "Name's Rowf, kid," Rowf said as he introduced himself. "And this is my son, Rhuff." "Hi!" Rhuff said, waving to the Goomba and unicorn. "Those Shy Guys really caught us off guard," Rowf said. "Without my calculator, I can't keep my business open." "What kind of business do you run?" Rarity asked curiously. "We sell badges!" Rhuff answered. "And they're pretty special ones, too! Very expensive!" "Yes, but we won't be able to make a profit without that calculator," Rowf said. "We'll get it back for you, sir," Goombario said. "And everything else they're stealing." "Hey! Get back here!" Hearing the shouting come from the nearby post office, a Shy Guy bolting out the door and running past Rowf's store with a large sack of mail. "...Also including mail," the Goomba grumbled. "What compels them to take something like a bunch of mail?" They heard the Shy Guys trampling the Toadette's flowers let out a cry as a loud slap echoed in this area of town, slapped onto the road by Bow's powerful smacks. They soon fled down south, running out of sight. "I doubt they're going to pay for everyone's utility bills," Bow said, dusting off her stubby hands. "Those guys are heading back down south where we just came from. They're either going to run into Mario's or Pinkie's group and get even more of a beatdown." "Let's see if we can find anymore Shy Guys pestering the other Toads before we meet back with the others." Goombario, Bow, and Rarity continued searching around the northern side of town to kick out anymore Shy Guys. They kicked one of them out of the Toad House nearby, giving the Toad working their back his job as the Shy Guy was sent running for the hills. Another one took over the northern store as it drove the owner out, but one bonk on the head from Goombario sent him running, giving back the shop owner's store. Another stole a dictionary from the nearby library, leaving the librarian a bit miffed as it was a very special type of dictionary. With no other Shy Guys around, they headed back to the square where they'd meet up with the others, wondering if they ran into the ones that swiftly ran by them or were beat up into leaving. —------------- Mario, Kooper, and Twilight began making their way to the western side of Toad Town, heading off in the direction of the docks. There was another shop nearby, but as they passed through the door, they spotted one of the Shy Guys run off with a key. It began heading for the pier, but it ran up to an abandoned house not too far away, which might possibly be their hideout among the chaos they were creating. The group of three hurried after it as it ran inside. "Looks like we found out where these guys have been hiding on us," Kooper said. "Now we can get the jump on anymore that might be in there." "Let's knock them out and take back what they stole." With Mario taking the lead, he pulled out his hammer and barged through the door, Twilight and Kooper running in after him as they prepared to fight. "Alright, don't move, you-!" Twilight paused, the three of them seeing no sign of the runaway Shy Guy as they entered an empty house. There wasn't even any furniture, just an empty, abandoned house with a few crates placed in a corner, not even a busted window that showed the thieving, mask-wearing humanoid could have jumped out of to elude them. "...What?" "Where'd it go?" Kooper questioned, scratching his head in confusion. "This was the house it ran in, right?" They looked around, exploring what little there was to see in the unoccupied house. Twilight approached the crates, but they had nothing inside as they were clearly empty. While the trio wondered what was going on, the door opened up as a pink Shy Guy walked in, letting out a surprised noise as it spotted its enemies. Hearing it, the Shy Guy quickly slammed the door and fled. "Hey! Get over here!" Twilight called out as they ran outside, but they didn't see any sign of the Shy Guy around the area, or anyone else that was outside. "Darn it. They're so fast." "This is just puzzling," Kooper muttered. "One of them ran in this exact house, but there's no sign of it, any other Shy Guys, or the stuff they're taking. And that pink one walked in there, too, but ran off when we were inside..." Looking back at the house, the Koopa's mind raced with how suspicious it seemed for just being empty in a bustling town like this. Seeing there was more to the house than the small space they walked into, there weren't any windows on the back half to see inside. "With a house being this big, there had to be at least another room or two...So, where exactly is the door for it?" "...That is a good point," Twilight agreed. "Is there some sort of secret passage we aren't seeing?" As they pondered how they could get into the second half of the house, Kooper had an idea after their experience back when they snuck through Tubba Blubba's manor. "Hey, Twi? You think you can use your magic to make us invisible?" "I could, but I'm not sure if my magic has recovered enough." Deciding to test if some of her power had come back, Twilight lit up her horn and tried to cast an invisibility spell. It appeared to have worked as the alicorn disappeared between the plumber and Koopa Troopa. "Ok, it actually worked. Seems like I have recovered just enough, but I think only for myself." "Better than nothing," Kooper said. He moved his hand out to try to touch Twilight, hearing her yelp as he poked her ear. "Hey!" she exclaimed, smacking away his arm with an invisible wing. "I didn't turn myself intangible like Bow does!" "Sorry," he apologized. "At least you won't get caught. We'll hide out here for any Shy Guys that pass by, and while you're hidden on the inside, you can find out if there was any secret inside that gives others access to more of that house. It might even be their hideout where they're hoarding all the stuff they're taking." "Ok. I'll be right back." While still invisible, Twilight walked back inside the house, making it look like a ghost had opened and shut the door to anyone else. The alicorn sat patiently in one of the corners of the room and kept silent as she waited for any of the Shy Guys to enter. It didn't take long for the same pink Shy Guy that tried to walk in earlier. Seeing no one inside, Mario and Kooper keeping their distance outside so they didn't alert it, it hummed a tune in its odd language as it walked in the empty house. Twilight watched the Shy Guy walk over to the back wall, double checking to make sure no one else was here before looking back at the wall. Pushing one section of the wall, Twilight stifled a gasp as she saw a rotating doorway that blended in perfectly with the wall. As soon as the doorway stopped spinning, back to matching with the back wall of the house, she dispelled her invisibility spell and approached the same section of the wall. Pressing her hoof against it, it opened up to reveal the other section of the "abandoned" house. On the other end, there was a large gift box patterned with balloons on the yellow and orange checkered wrapping, a red spring sitting beside it, along with some decorations as if it was meant to be a party room. But aside from the discovery of this new room, there wasn't any sign of the Shy Guy that just walked in. "Where did it disappear to?" she asked herself. Curiosity taking hold of her, she wondered what was inside the mysterious present. Using her magic to lift the top off, she looked inside, only to find nothing. "Ok...This raises a lot more questions...I should probably tell Mario and Kooper about this." Making her way back outside, she regrouped with Mario and Kooper, telling them about the secret door to the back room and what was inside. "A large present with a spring...And you said there was nothing inside?" "Clearly. I didn't even see where the Shy Guy went. I mean, it's not like it jumped into the present and ended up in a completely different world that's actually their hideout." Mario and Kooper didn't say anything, the former not exactly surprised knowing there were hidden locations his enemies knew of in safe towns or cities. Twilight's ears drooped as she leered at Mario with a blank stare. "...You can't be serious. They have a hideout in one of this kingdom's towns, and one happens to be that close to where Peach's castle used to be where they could have invaded at any point in time!?" "Bowser could have teleported the hideout in that house with the power of the Star Rod," Kooper guessed. "Although, seeing how easily Koopa Village was invaded by the Fuzzies that day, I don't think it's a surprise to know anyplace can be overrun if there are annoying pests close by." Twilight groaned in annoyance. "Great. Now Toad Town's going to have a bunch of thieves run around on a daily basis." "Not unless we invade their hideout and show them a thing or two. Let's hurry and meet up with the others before we storm them right back." Not going back inside until they gather the rest of their friends, Mario, Kooper, and Twilight headed back to regroup with the others at the square. —------------- Hidden inside of the secret bunker of the wig-wearing Shy Guy she nicknamed Wiggy, Rainbow Dash grumbled in boredom. It felt like forever since she did anything useful, sitting around in a cramped space feeling claustrophobic while the fate of her friends out in the Mushroom Kingdom could be at stake. She had an itch to go out in this secret base of the Shy Guys, fly around now that her wings had recovered enough, and try to do something to stop whatever plans they had. It would mean running the risk of getting caught, but she could easily escape her pursuers in a blur of rainbow streaks whizzing by them, several times around them for the fun of it. And there was that lame costume Wiggy came up with that helped hide her, though she doubted it would work for long on General Guy, the leader of the Shy Guys. As she nibbled on a Mushroom, her wings twitching in agitation from being cooped up in this bunker, she heard the door open and quickly stood up, ready to defend herself. "Better stay away from here!" she warned. "I can kick your flank, even with an army behind you!" Instead of expecting an ambush, her pink Shy Guy friend, Wiggy, walked in, closing the door behind him. "Oh. It's just you, Wiggy. I thought we had a password planned out before you come barging in." Wiggy rushed up to the pegasus, making a lot of Shy Guy gibberish that Rainbow still couldn't understand, even after trying to be taught the most confusing language ever to learn. Having no clue what he was saying, Wiggy remembered he could write what he wanted to tell her. Quickly running over to his piles of blank paper and pens, he grabbed one of each and began writing excitedly, though it was hard to tell behind the mask he always wore. You have no idea what I just saw while I was outside of the toy box getting more Mushrooms for you to eat! But I was more worried at the fact that Mario was right in front of where this place is hidden from Toad Town! "You saw Mario!?" Rainbow exclaimed in surprise. "So he is alive, and he's on his way here?" Wiggy shook his head, making her groan. "You know, I'm sure if you told him you were a friend of mine, you wouldn't have-...Oh, right. He probably can't understand you, either." She sighed and sat down, picking up her Mushroom she dropped and bit into it. "I'm not sure if Twilight can understand your language within a few minutes if she was there." Wiggy let out a questionable sound and tilted his head. During Rainbow's stay in his secret bunker, she told him of her other friends, even drawing a picture of them to get a better understanding of how their appearances were compared to Rainbow Dash's. He approached his box of rainbow wigs and looked around for a specific one. Though they all had the same color scheme, each of them looked different by design. He even styled some of them to match the mane descriptions of Rainbow's friends, including a small stetson hat he found to match Applejack's look. He finally found the right one and put it on, matching the alicorn's hairstyle, bangs and all aside from color. He picked up his communicating tools and wrote down what else he wanted to say, pointing at his wig when he was done. I also caught a glimpse of one of your friends, but when I saw Mario, I bolted out of there before he attacked me. I think it was the one you like calling "Egg Head", the purple one with wings, like you, but also had a horn on her head. Rainbow nearly choked on her food at the mention of Twilight being there. "Twilight was with him!?" Wiggy nodded his head. "What about my other friends!? Were there there, too!?" Sadly, the Shy Guy shook his head. Even though only one of her friends appeared to be ok, she was determined to find out if she can help find the others. "The others have to be ok, too. I'm going out there and finding my friends." As she stood up, Wiggy panicked and grabbed one of her legs. He shook his head swiftly, warning her in his language for her not to go out there. He quickly wrote down his warning and showed her. You can't go out there! General Guy has already issued the invasion on Toad Town, and all the other Shy Guys under his command are already taking away everyone's belongings! If they know Mario is coming already, then they'll be all over the toy box to make sure he doesn't get any closer to headquarters for the Star Spirit held captive there! That means they'll try to catch you, too! "Well, I'm getting sick and tired of sitting around doing nothing!" Rainbow said in response. "And if your other friends are stealing stuff, then we need to get it back from them!" The Shy Guy groaned as the stubborn pegasus refused to stay put, but he knew that what his other former comrades were doing wasn't right, including holding one of the seven Star Spirits hostage. Despite how much danger Rainbow was in just by hiding here in his secret bunker, he knew how much she wanted to help stop General Guy and find her friends. "So, are you gonna join me, or keep hiding while playing with all your wigs?" Wiggy lowered his head as he was lost in thought. The General's words to him, saying he was a weak link to his whole army made him feel like he was worthless among his peers. He even felt worthless as he was outcasted by the others as well, not even wanting to be a part of the army in the first place. He could have left Rainbow Dash by herself and get captured by General Guy, overhearing some of the Shy Guys say they were on the lookout for her on Bowser's orders, but he helped her not just because of her rainbow hair, but to also save her from being caught the moment she headed toward their base. If he was different from his fellow Shy Guys, then he was no longer going to side with Bowser, or the General. He looked back up at Rainbow and nodded his head, quickly running back to his box of wigs to grab the hairpiece matching the pegasus's manestyle. "I'll take that as you saying, 'I'm coming with you,' then." Wiggy nodded his head in response. "Alright. Then let's get going." Grabbing a small pack, unsurprisingly colored rainbow like everything else in the Shy Guy's bunker, Wiggy packed some writing supplies to communicate with Rainbow Dash, along with some food in case they got hungry. Opening the door, the both of them peeked around to see if there were any Shy Guys around, slipping out while hiding the hidden bunker door as they snuck over to the train station. Even though there wasn't a train that ran from what Wiggy told her, she could easily fly around to the other stations in the large area that was known as a simple toy box. Once they reached the Red Station, the area she wound up in, Wiggy informed her to head down the tracks from the right side to Blue Station, where the exit and entrance of Shy Guy's Toy Box was located. Rainbow crouched down for the pink, rainbow-loving Shy Guy to climb on her back, and after he was settled, she flapped her wings and flew off over the tracks toward the station. Wiggy had to hold onto her mane tightly while keeping his wig placed firmly on his head with his other hand, never flying so fast in his life. They reached Blue Station in about ten seconds, not much changing in the environment with toys and building blocks around, but there were two different pathways instead of just one. "So, how was it to fly at speeds like that?" Rainbow asked Wiggy, the Shy Guy letting out an exhaustive sigh as he fell over on his side, leg twitching in the air as his adrenaline from the dangerously fast flight wore out. "Yeah, I thought so. I am pretty awesome, huh?" Before she could walk over to the red spring in the middle of the area, she heard something like a teleportation spell closeby. Looking over to where it came from, she gasped and hid behind the station, grabbing the semi-conscious Shy Guy as she spotted Kammy Koopa hovering in the toy box on her broom. "Oh no. It's that old hag that was with Bowser." Wiggy shook his head of the cobwebs as he peeked over the station steps with Rainbow, getting the mare's attention after writing down his thoughts. That's Bowser's right hand Kamek, Kammy Koopa. She's technically the brains to his brawn, though she's kind of getting on in years. I don't know why she's here either. "Then let's tail her and see what she's got up her sleeve," Rainbow whispered, Wiggy nodding his head in agreement. They both followed after the old witch, hiding behind giant toy blocks to avoid getting spotted by other patrolling Shy Guys. Wiggy also warned her about the other potential Shy Guys that were around that could be more dangerous than the typical ones: Groove Guys, Medi Guys, Sky Guys, Spy Guys, and Pyro Guys. Their names seem to say what their best at, though the last one was baffling as there were Shy Guys that were literally on fire as they wandered around, not even burning anything they come in contact with while on patrols. They soon reached the end of the pathway, hiding inside one of the toy houses with open spaces in the windows as they spied on Kammy. She hovered down to a treasure chest, one of the Shy Guys under General Guy's command placing a key it took inside it, closing it up for the witch. "You're free to go about your patrols," Kammy said to the Shy Guy, letting out a salute as it zipped off to another part of the toy box. As soon as it left, the old Kamek let out an irritated sigh. "I cannot believe His Highness was actually crazy enough to believe Peach could be helpful in stopping Mario. Putting simple grocery items down as guards was not a smart move. If we're going to stop Mario, we'll need to pull out all the stops before he gets the Star Spirit here." "I think you mentioned a Star Spirit earlier," Rainbow whispered to Wiggy. "What is that, anyway?" It's one of the seven powerful Stars Bowser captured from Star Haven, where he took the Star Rod. General Guy's holding one of them hostage here back at HQ, but with Mario on the way, he's going to be guarding it. "Ok, that explains things. So Mario's rescuing them, but what can they do to stop Bowser if he uses that Star Rod?" Wiggy shrugged his shoulders, having no clue himself as he was only told they were preparing to protect the Star Spirit. "Now, let's leave behind an actual guard to watch over this thing." Kammy raised her wand up, teleporting a Clubba in front of the chest. "You keep watch over this chest. Mario will be on his way, and I'll need you to do everything you can to stop him." "Yes, ma'am," the Clubba said with a salute. "Good. Now, onto the next two chests." The witch turned around and flew off, Rainbow and Wiggy quickly hiding as she flew past them. As soon as she left, they poked their heads out to see her fly off. Rainbow looked back at the Clubba protecting the chest, an odd creature in her opinion, but if it was one of the few strongest of foes she'll have set up for the next two places she'll put them, then Mario was going to be in for a rough time, along with Twilight. "We need to get out of here, find Mario and Twilight, and warn them about these strong guards," Rainbow said. "Come on, Wiggy." Grabbing onto her mane, the pegasus and pink Shy Guy flew back to the station, avoiding the other Shy Guys below them. As she stopped in front of the spring, she was a little unsure if a simple spring trampoline would help them escape the endless ceiling of Shy Guy's Toy Box, but growing up knowing of magic coming from unicorns or any other magical creature, she'll believe anything Wiggy told her about this spring as the exit. "Ok, so we just jump on this and it'll take us out of here, right?" The Shy Guy nodded his head, leading the way as he leapt off Rainbow's back and onto the spring, bouncing high until he couldn't be seen in the air. "Right. Let's do this." Jumping onto the spring, Rainbow yelped as it sent her flying through the air, letting it carry her and keeping her wings from stopping herself midair. —------------- After meeting back with the others, each group reported what damage the Shy Guys have caused and what they took. Mario, Twilight, and Kooper lead their friends over to where they saw the Shy Guys running toward with their "valuable" goods they stole or ran off after getting beaten from their annoying acts. They were surprised to know that their secret hideout was hiding in the middle of Toad Town when they passed through the revolving door hidden in the wall and found the large present on the other side. "Hey, the Shy Guys love parties!" Pinkie said as she noticed the decorations hanging on the ceiling. "Maybe all they need is a party, then they can stop taking things!" "Yeah, I don't think that's going to work, Pinkie," Goombario said. "And to think that such a safe place like Toad Town could have invading forces hiding in an empty house in the middle of town. If this means what I think it does, then this might be a place where Bowser hid one of the Star Spirits." "Hidden in plain sight," Parakarry uttered. "Pretty smart and bold move. But now we found their hideout, so now it's not so smart anymore." "So, how exactly are we supposed to get in there?" Rarity asked. "It's just a large box." She got her answer as the top opened up by itself, Wiggy jumped out as he went from being tiny to growing to his normal size, bouncing off the spring upon landing. He yelped when he was caught, surrounded by Mario, his partners, Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie. "Wait a minute, isn't that the same Shy Guy we saw walk into the house while we were inside?" Kooper asked Mario and Twilight. "I think...? And it's wearing a wig," Twilight said. "...Why?" A second later, the box opened up again as they heard someone yell as they came out. Growing to normal size, Rainbow Dash flailed as she was spat out of the toy box, landing belly first off the spring and bouncing toward the group, crashing into Mario and Twilight as the unexpected victims. As they groaned, Rarity and Pinkie gasped in surprise, recognizing the cyan coat and rainbow mane and tail. "Dashie!" Pinkie cried out, picking up the pegasus and pulling her into a deadly hug, her eyes bulging out as her cheeks turned a darker shade of blue from the lack of air in her lungs. "P-Pinkie!?" Rainbow wheezed, slightly surprised as she also noticed Rarity with her and Twilight. Pinkie let her go before she blacked out, coughing a few times as the oxygen returned to her lungs. "Y-You two are here, too?" "What in Equestria were you doing in there, darling!?" Rarity asked, hugging the pegasus as she was glad to see her safe. "I ended up in there some time ago after we got our plots handed to us," she said. Hearing Wiggy cry out in a panic as Kooper grabbed the Shy Guy, Rainbow broke away from Rarity as she approached the blue-shelled Koopa. "Whoa whoa, hey! Easy on Wiggy! He's a friend of mine!" "'Wiggy'?" Kooper questioned, looking down at the pink Shy Guy. "Wait, you're friends with a Shy Guy?" "Yeah. He saved my life after I randomly walked into their main base and got caught by the thousands of them in there," she said. "He even helped me hide in a secret bunker for the past week...He also has a thing for rainbows." Everyone stared at Wiggy, mostly at his rainbow wig that matched similarly to Rainbow's hairstyle. "...I thought that looked a bit strange on a Shy Guy." Mario and Twilight got back up after Rainbow rammed them, the alicorn glad to see her brash pegasus friend was ok. Kooper let Wiggy go, trusting one of Twilight's friends to the Shy Guy's relief. Now with Rainbow Dash back, Twilight informed her on their situation, the unknown whereabouts of Fluttershy and Applejack in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the reason they're collecting the Star Spirits. "Well, I guess there's a good thing those Shy Guys have one of those Star Spirits after all," Rainbow said. "So, this means we're going to ransack the toy box, beat up the leader, and start saving everyone, right?" "Yes, but can we trust...'Wiggy'?" Twilight asked, pointing her hoof at the Shy Guy. "What if it leads us into a trap and is actually tricking you?" "I just said he helped me," Rainbow argued. "And he's treated unfairly by every other Shy Guy in there. Besides, he knows that place better than I do, and I couldn't do much in there with my wings getting messed up thanks to Bowser." Wiggy nodded his head, pulling out his pen and papers, miming out writing on it to tell them he could communicate with them this way. "Not to mention he's probably onto you guys after getting three of those Star Spirits. That old hag of a witch is in there as we speak, setting up some tough guards for Mario to fight while they protect important chests. I only saw one of them before trying to find you guys, and that one's hiding a key with some weird green, big-lipped thing with a spiked mace guarding it." "A Clubba guarding a key?" Bow asked. "Wait, when we passed by the store next door, one of the Shy Guys swiped a key from the owner," Kooper said. "If Bowser's bringing in guards to protect some of those items, then they must be important in getting closer to the Shy Guy leader." "Yeah, sure. Useless everyday materials are important to breaching an enemy's stronghold," Bow said sarcastically. "How about we deliver them a pizza and a giant cake, too? Maybe that might be helpful in getting us closer to being best friends with the Shy Guys." Wiggy tilted his head in confusion at Bow's sarcasm while Rainbow looked at the others in bafflement. "Just don't mind her," Twilight said. "Bow is actually pretty helpful despite her...behavior." The alicorn looked at the friendly Shy Guy as Rainbow got to know the rest of the gang a bit more, who was writing up anything the others may have questions about his former leader, who they would be up against while inside the toy box, and warnings of any traps they don't know about. "Ok, Wiggy, if you're on our side, then you better not be throwing us into a trap." Don't worry. I'm definitely on your side. General Guy kicked me out of the army because of my rainbow wigs and wanting to stand out among the other Shy Guys. I don't actually know what he's planning, but I do know Shy Guy's Toy Box like the back of my mask and can guide you around...except we're going to need to find a toy train in order to get around the four different stations inside for those who can't fly. "...Well, ok. But I'm going to keep an eye on you," Twilight warned. As soon as everyone was ready, Wiggy lead the way, jumping back into the toy box via the spring as he shrunk inside with the top opening for him. "Let's hopefully get this done fast. Bowser will only keep getting stronger and I'm sure it's not going to get any easier if we're dealing with an army." "Alright!" Rainbow cheered. "Time to stop hiding and actually kick some tail!" She jumped onto the spring first, diving inside as her body shrunk, the others following single file inside to infiltrate Shy Guy's Toy Box, gathering all of the stolen items the Shy Guys took along with defeating General Guy and rescuing the fourth Star Spirit. —------------- My Note: Fan Art (use either (at symbol)G09F17R02 (would not save at symbol) to tweet on X or use the hashtags on DeviantArt for the story you want to post fanart of: (match spelling and casing) Yu-Gi-Oh Ouroboros: #YugiohOuroboros Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: #ZEXALMiraculous Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: A Loud Journey: #PokemonLoudZEXAL Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Legend of the Crystal Stars: #XC3andTTYD

The story is narrated from Lex Luthor's point of view, depicting him much differently than the ruthless, cGravesupt killer that readers are accustomed to. Luthor charitably invites a loyal employee to the grand opening of his Science Spire, a new Metropolis attraction under construction. Luthor watches footage of Superman engaging criminals with heat vision and wonders to himself why the public invests so much trust in an alien simply because he looks human. In Chechnya, Mercy Graves, one of Lex's operatives, leads a group of mercenaries in a raid to free a Russian scientist named Sasha Lionel, whom Luthor enlists in a new project. During a business meeting, Luthor learns the Science Spire has gone over budget. He stuns LexCorp executives by tossing out his previous business plan and undercutting union demands by making the project non-profit. In a LexCorp lab, he meets with his father Lionel and speaks with a woman named Lois, who is inside a vat. Lionel tells Luthor that the project

Products and services that have been expired, taken off the shelf Through competative marketing bias, collusion and sabotage Your favorite products no longer available in the store shelves Natural with no flavors, additives and strange chemicals removed Replaced by substitute garbage ingredients, products cheaper to make Something good for public consumption is not an option anymore Ingredients that are made in some foreign or third-world country Where cheap inexpensive chemicals and human labour are exploited Products made to make rich a brand name that cons the public Into believing their products and services are all safe and effective If people bothered to understand what they are reading on labeled ingredients? If people understood how safety and quality are second to profit! Companies barely regulated selling inferior and ineffective products Containing the toxic chemical substances laced inside what is natural Inexpensive ingredients chosen as only option to make a generic