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Description
  I have to say, I've put in a lot of effort to prevent this from being just another cliché World 1. At first, back when I first started making Paper Mario: Double Darkness, I thought adding a farm would be enough to separate it from all the other grass worlds out there. But I kept messing around with it anyway. I changed the boss, I changed the partner, I added a cloud level at the end, I changed the boss again, then I completely re-did the story to fit all the revisions. In the end, it really ended up more memorable and unique than it was before.
    By the way, I struggled with naming the chapter for a while. I was planning to name it "The Full Monty", but I changed my mind at the last second because A) I didn't think enough people would get the reference and B) if they did, it's a reference to an old movie where a bunch of guys quit their jobs to become strippers. I don't think any of us can imagine a Paper Mario chapter named after that. So I went with something more generic.
    The description for Chapter 1 starts here. WARNING: Really, really, absurdly high levels of reading ahead.

Characters (from left to right):
Koko: The country Koopa who owns Moo Moo Gardens. Despite the recent terrible weather and the Monty Moles constantly being a nuisance, she remains optimistic that she’ll be able to protect her crops somehow. Having lived an incredibly rural life, she’s largely unfamiliar with and fascinated by even the simplest technology.
Specteira: The ruler of the Nox Empire. After being dumped into the present by the portal in the Shadow Spire, she joins Mario’s quest to recover all of the portal pieces in hopes of making it home and saving her empire from Darkblot. She acts as the game’s tattle, and can cast spells in battle which work more or less like special moves.
Mario: If you don’t know who this guy is already, I recommend you go and play some Paper Mario games before you continue reading this.
Molissa: An old-fashioned Monty Mole girl who moved away from Topsoil Town and took a job at Moo Moo Gardens to find a reliable source of food. Mario’s second partner (what, you expected a Koopa?), with the ability to dig through soft ground, similar to the Bros. Drill in Mario & Luigi games.
Mayor Molston: The leader of Topsoil Town. Lakithunder convinced him to encourage his fellow Monty Moles to raid Moo Moo Gardens in order to improve the town’s financial situation, although he probably caused the problem to begin with just by getting paid too much.
Lakithunder: Cool-guy cloud jockey and boss of Chapter 1. Responsible for terrorizing Moo Moo Gardens, manipulating Molston, and generally being an obnoxious jerk.

--PROLOGUE / CHAPTER 1 TRANSITION--
    When we left off in the Prologue, Mario confronted Darkblot in the Shadow Spire ruins, but failed to prevent him from escaping to the Nox Empire and tearing the portal machine apart before he could give pursuit. Mario and Parri, along with an unidentified Nox girl who got thrown out of the portal, return to the Mt. Mushroom Observatory to consider their next move, only to find that Infinnah T. already has an idea.
    It turns out that Infinnah T. found the portal’s base outside the observatory after Darkblot broke it. Based on the readouts from the Celestial Cannon, eight more small objects fell in various areas of the Mushroom Frontier at the same time. If Mario can recover all of the pieces, Infinnah T. thinks she can repair the portal and he’ll be able to chase down Darkblot.
    Of course, there’s still the matter of tracking them down. Unfortunately, Infinnah T. isn’t quite sure how to accomplish this, but she thinks their best bet is to record the magic signature of something from the Nox era and use the Celestial Cannon to scan the Mushroom Frontier for a match. Mario and Parri temporarily leave the Nox girl in the custody of Infinnah T. and head back out to the dig site to find a suitable artifact, where they learn a Paper Flip ability that allows them to slip through thin spaces. They use this to get to an old-looking spellbook sitting on top of a rock outcropping.
    Mario brings the spellbook back, and Infinnah T. is about to place it under her scanning mechanism when the Nox girl suddenly exclaims something (still in her own language) and rushes at Infinnah T. in an attempt to take it. They fight over it for a few seconds until the Nox girl pulls away with the book, opens it, and chants something.
    Then, she demands- in English- an explanation of what’s going on and why they want her spellbook so much.
    Infinnah T. in turn asks the Nox girl who she is. She introduces herself as Specteira, empress of the Nox, and explains that now that she has her spellbook, she has cast a spell that allows her to understand what they’re saying. Then she repeats her own questions, and Infinnah T. fills her in on what’s going on. At first, Specteira takes the news about the fate of the Nox Empire badly, but she perks up a bit after hearing their plan to stop it. She gladly contributes some dark energy as a magic sample, and Infinnah T. starts scanning for a match.
    She gets results almost immediately. It looks like one of the portal pieces is somewhere on Highrise Hill, a grass-covered mountain at the far side of Moo Moo Plains. Mario doesn’t know where that is, so Infinnah T. lends him another one of her inventions called a GamePad Positioning System (because it looks like a Wii U GamePad), which finally gives him access to the world map. Also, just as Mario and Parri are leaving, Specteira asks to go with them so she can help protect her empire, adding that her spellcasting abilities will be a great help to them. Mario accepts, and Specteira joins him on his quest (not as a partner, though; she works sort of like Kersti in Sticker Star, except not as annoying and unlikable).
    With a new ally and new equipment, Mario is all ready to set out. He uses his Paper Flip ability to slip through a fence he wasn’t able to get past in the Prologue and follows a path to Moo Moo Plains.

--CHAPTER 1--
    After Mario and company collect their first Star Sphere (the collectibles that mark the end of a level in PM2D) in the Mushroom Frontier, they arrive at Moo Moo Plains (World 1-1). At first, Specteira’s a bit doubtful that they’re even in the right place. She recounts that back in the Nox Empire, the area was home to huge plantations where the people grew their food. In fact, the magically enhanced soil made it a paradise for all kinds of crops. And yet, it doesn’t look like anyone’s here to enjoy its benefits anymore.
    Actually, not too long into the first level, Parri points out a single farm off in the distance. But they don’t get to look at it for very long before they also see a tornado headed in their direction! They have to retreat back a couple areas to avoid getting sucked away. On their way back, they find that the damage has created a new path heading toward the farm.
    Mario follows the path to Moo Moo Gardens (World 1-2) and is met at the gates by Koko. After exchanging their greetings, she asks what brings all of them out into the countryside, but when Parri explains they’re on their way to Highrise Hill, she freaks out a little bit and suggests that they just stay as far away from it as possible. They ask her why, and she sighs and reluctantly invites them into the farmhouse for an explanation.
    When they get there, Koko introduces them to Molissa, one of her farm hands. She explains that Molissa used to live in Topsoil Town, a Monty Mole village on Highrise Hill, so she knows a lot more about the area than herself and can help fill them in. Anyway, Koko explains that once the wild magic surges started all over the Mushroom Frontier, tornadoes have been regularly forming over Highrise Hill and tearing across Moo Moo Plains, causing incredible damage to the farm. Molissa adds that the Monty Moles living in Topsoil Town have been pestering Moo Moo Gardens for a while. However, out of nowhere the mayor officially endorsed the practice. Since then they’ve regularly been raiding the crops. Koko is still hopeful that she can pull off a decent harvest, but she’s not really sure how...
    At that moment, a Koopa farmer bursts in on the conversation to alert Koko that the Monty Moles are launching an attack! Mario is ready to leap into action and defend the farm, but Molissa stops him and insists that it’s her fight. Mario, of course, isn’t going to back down so easily, so then she offers to work together instead, and becomes Mario’s second partner.
    To stop the assault, Mario has to find and defeat all the groups of Monty Moles attacking the farm. Most of them will hide underground when you get close, so you have to use Molissa’s digging ability to get at them and start the battle. Others are in hard-grounded areas that don’t lend themselves well to that tactic, and will simply try to run. Once Mario has given them all a good stomping, they regroup in front of the farmhouse and start terrorizing the Koopa farmers hiding out inside. Mario is wondering how to take them all on at once when it hits him: He’s got a hammer, and they’re moles.
    One whack-a-mole minigame later, the Monty Moles finally retreat and Mario heads back inside the farmhouse. There, he receives plenty of gratitude from Koko (as well as a few items), and agrees that he could probably handle whatever is on Highrise Hill. She shows Mario and company to the back gate of Moo Moo Gardens and unlocks it. However, they barely make it out of the farm before being ambushed by more Monty Moles. Molissa identifies a green one at the front as Mayor Molston, and it’s immediately obvious that neither like each other very much. A mini-boss battle against Molston and three regular Monty Moles ensues.
    As expected, Mario gives him a good stomping, but Molston is suddenly rescued by a Lakitu with a mohawk. Lakithunder (as Molston calls him) tells Mario to stay away from Highrise Hill and out of his and Molston’s business, or else. He then lays out their plan in classic bad-guy fashion: He has been using his cloud powers to summon tornadoes to rip through Moo Moo Gardens, and he recently convinced Molston to have Monty Moles attack it as well. Soon, they’ll take over the farm, claim it for Topsoil Town, and turn the small village into a major agricultural producer, thus netting both of them tons of political power. Lakithunder once again tells them not to try to stop them, and wisely leaves before Mario can engage.
    Despite the recent developments, Molissa is still stuck on being angry at Molston. Specteira asks Molissa why she hates him so much. She explains that Molston is trusted as the mayor of Topsoil Town to keep his citizens happy and in good shape. But, he’s given himself so many raises that he almost singlehandedly ruined the village’s economy, and now many of the Monty Moles living there are poor. She herself had to take a job at Moo Moo Gardens so she could feed herself, for which Molston considers her a traitor. And worst of all, he’s too clueless to realize it’s his fault, so he’d rather team up with some stranger and lay waste to Moo Moo Gardens than take a pay cut.
    There are two Star Spheres in Moo Moo Gardens, meaning two possible ways to reach Highrise Hill. Grainy Pathway (World 1-3) is a fairly straightforward level containing extra-tall grass and a couple windmills, although nothing very noteworthy gets introduced here. Yoshi Grove (World 1-4) also starts out pretty normal, but about halfway through Mario comes across a Yoshi egg. While riding Yoshi, Mario can move faster and grab distant objects with Yoshi’s tongue. (And of course, this won’t be the only level with Yoshi in it.)
    The ends of both levels link up to the same destination: Highrise Hill (World 1-5). Now all that’s left is to track down the Portal Piece. Topsoil Town seems like the obvious place to look, so the party walks there along the base of the mountain. After turning up with nothing in most of the village, they decide to check in the town hall. Eventually, they find themselves searching Molston’s office when they hear him coming!
    Mario uses his Paper Flip ability to turn sideways and hide, and they begin to eavesdrop on Molston. Apparently, he’s pretty worried about the possibility that Lakithunder is planning to double-cross him. After all, why would a guy who only showed up in the Mushroom Frontier a week or two ago care about the well-being of Topsoil Town? In fact, it turns out that he was worried his salary might be too high until Lakithunder showed up and convinced him that it wasn’t causing any problems.
    Eventually, Mario’s cover is blown when Molston heads over to his desk, which Mario is hiding right next to, and notices him. Predictably, he’s even more enraged than before, and demands to know what Mario’s doing in his office and what he has to gain by messing with his political business in the first place. When they mention the Portal Piece, though, Molston has an idea and calls Lakithunder on his speakerphone. He explains to Lakithunder that Mario’s after “that thing”, and maybe if he just brought it over and gave it to him, he would go away and let them go on with their plan. Of course, it’s never that easy: Lakithunder adamantly refuses to part with “that thing” and hangs up.
    Molston turns back to Mario and company and explains that their description of the Portal Piece matches a thing Lakithunder found on Highrise Hill not too long ago. But, he’s unusually attached to it and there’s no way he’ll ever give it up. Either way, what they’re looking for isn’t anywhere near Topsoil Town... so GET LOST!
    After being escorted out of the town by some Monty Mole bodyguards, Mario and company now know they need to find Lakithunder but have no idea where to look for him- until they receive a perfectly-timed call from Infinnah T. on their GamePad Positioning System (which also works as a communicator). Apparently, when Lakithunder found out Mario was after his stuff, he decided to hide it a little farther away: in the clouds directly above Highrise Hill. At this point, Infinnah T. sends him an updated world map (since it’s digital, this can be done pretty easily), with the clouds added and the Portal Piece icon moved there.
    The rest of the level focuses on getting to the top of Highrise Hill. Mario eventually climbs all the way to the clouds and unlocks the final level in Chapter 1: Cumulus Heights (World 1-6). The big threat in the game’s first full-length dungeon is the platforming. The level has pitfalls all over the place, and wind currents frequently threaten to blow you off course. Darker clouds can be hammered to make them rain out some of their mass and float upward on your way toward the highest point in the area.
    Mario finally reaches the top of the level and confronts Lakithunder. Unfortunately, he’s still not willing to give in. He exclaims that he actually can’t stand country folks and is absolutely sick of people like them standing in his way of making the world more hip and awesome. He then reveals his real plan: Once he and Molston have taken out the farm, he’ll switch sides and blame its tragic destruction on Molston, robbing him of the little political power he has. That will leave him as the only one in charge of Moo Moo Plains, and then he’ll turn the whole place into one huge, futuristic city designed for cool people like him. As for the Portal Piece... well, he found it, which means it’s his, and NOT theirs. But as always, Mario’s all too happy to fight for it.

LAKITHUNDER
Tattle Entry #25
That’s Lakithunder! He’s the cool-guy Lakitu who’s been trying to take over Moo Moo Plains. Well, he thinks he’s a cool guy, anyway... but he’s not. Maximum HP is 50, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. He’ll still throw Spiny eggs at us like any ordinary Lakitu, but he’ll also blast us with lightning and electrically charge himself. When he’s charged, we won’t be able to touch him directly... maybe we could throw something at him? Anyway, I don’t think there’s a single person in Moo Moo Plains who likes him, so we don’t have to hold back. Let’s show this guy what happens when you mess with people for no good reason!

  Even after being defeated by Mario, Lakithunder still doesn’t want to give up his Portal Piece. He complains that the fight was unfair, reminds them who the coolest guy ever is (himself), and he’s just about to escape again when none other than Molston shows up. At first, he’s relieved to have some backup- and then out of nowhere Molston chucks a rock right at Lakithunder’s face and accuses him of deceiving him. Lakithunder drops a folded piece of paper with a Shadow Spire design on it, just like the first Portal Piece, except this time it’s green.
    But Lakithunder is too panicked to notice. He quickly turns and flees in the other direction, and Molston jumps into a nearby cloud to pursue him, leaving Mario and company to claim their prize...
    *** YOU FOUND A PORTAL PIECE! ***

--LUIGI INTERLUDE--
    Back at Mario’s house, Parakarry comes by with a letter for Luigi from Toadsworth. Inside, he gives Luigi some terrible yet completely predictable news: The princess has been kidnapped! Obviously, Toadsworth says, the only solution is to ask Mario to come back from the Mushroom Frontier and defeat Bowser. But Luigi won’t hear it- he’s waited long enough to be Player One. He heads over to the central plaza in Toad Town. Once he’s there, you can walk around freely and talk with random Toads about things such as the recent kidnapping, why do you wear green all the time, et cetera.
    Eventually, Luigi bumps into Toadsworth, who is not at all pleased to find that the safety of the princess lies in the hands of Luigi. After some humorous dialogue and a bit of cane-whacking, Luigi just snaps and exclaims that he deserves a chance to prove himself. Toadsworth becomes slightly intimidated, points Luigi in the direction of Bowser’s Castle, and backs away slowly.
    Meanwhile at Bowser’s Castle, Bowser Jr. and Kammy Koopa are both worrying that Mario might come back and ruin Bowser’s plans again, when Bowser Jr. suddenly decides he’s going to go to the Mushroom Frontier himself and make sure Mario stays busy. Kammy Koopa thinks that’s an awful idea- not only is he doing it without Bowser’s consent, all it will do is get Mario more involved. Bowser Jr., however, is already convinced that he’ll receive great rewards from his father for keeping Mario out of the way, which gets Kammy’s attention. She retorts that that will never happen, because Bowser likes her more. Bowser Jr. answers that Bowser would never choose as his favorite a minion who won’t attack Mario. At this point, Kammy Koopa is angry enough to magic-blast Bowser Jr.’s clown car so he has no way to get to the Mushroom Frontier, hops on her broomstick, and tells Bowser Jr. that he’ll see who’s the favorite once she pummels Mario herself...

Description
  I have to say, I've put in a lot of effort to prevent this from being just another cliché World 1. At first, back when I first started making Paper Mario: Double Darkness, I thought adding a farm would be enough to separate it from all the other grass worlds out there. But I kept messing around with it anyway. I changed the boss, I changed the partner, I added a cloud level at the end, I changed the boss again, then I completely re-did the story to fit all the revisions. In the end, it really ended up more memorable and unique than it was before.
    By the way, I struggled with naming the chapter for a while. I was planning to name it "The Full Monty", but I changed my mind at the last second because A) I didn't think enough people would get the reference and B) if they did, it's a reference to an old movie where a bunch of guys quit their jobs to become strippers. I don't think any of us can imagine a Paper Mario chapter named after that. So I went with something more generic.
    The description for Chapter 1 starts here. WARNING: Really, really, absurdly high levels of reading ahead.

Characters (from left to right):
Koko: The country Koopa who owns Moo Moo Gardens. Despite the recent terrible weather and the Monty Moles constantly being a nuisance, she remains optimistic that she’ll be able to protect her crops somehow. Having lived an incredibly rural life, she’s largely unfamiliar with and fascinated by even the simplest technology.
Specteira: The ruler of the Nox Empire. After being dumped into the present by the portal in the Shadow Spire, she joins Mario’s quest to recover all of the portal pieces in hopes of making it home and saving her empire from Darkblot. She acts as the game’s tattle, and can cast spells in battle which work more or less like special moves.
Mario: If you don’t know who this guy is already, I recommend you go and play some Paper Mario games before you continue reading this.
Molissa: An old-fashioned Monty Mole girl who moved away from Topsoil Town and took a job at Moo Moo Gardens to find a reliable source of food. Mario’s second partner (what, you expected a Koopa?), with the ability to dig through soft ground, similar to the Bros. Drill in Mario & Luigi games.
Mayor Molston: The leader of Topsoil Town. Lakithunder convinced him to encourage his fellow Monty Moles to raid Moo Moo Gardens in order to improve the town’s financial situation, although he probably caused the problem to begin with just by getting paid too much.
Lakithunder: Cool-guy cloud jockey and boss of Chapter 1. Responsible for terrorizing Moo Moo Gardens, manipulating Molston, and generally being an obnoxious jerk.

--PROLOGUE / CHAPTER 1 TRANSITION--
    When we left off in the Prologue, Mario confronted Darkblot in the Shadow Spire ruins, but failed to prevent him from escaping to the Nox Empire and tearing the portal machine apart before he could give pursuit. Mario and Parri, along with an unidentified Nox girl who got thrown out of the portal, return to the Mt. Mushroom Observatory to consider their next move, only to find that Infinnah T. already has an idea.
    It turns out that Infinnah T. found the portal’s base outside the observatory after Darkblot broke it. Based on the readouts from the Celestial Cannon, eight more small objects fell in various areas of the Mushroom Frontier at the same time. If Mario can recover all of the pieces, Infinnah T. thinks she can repair the portal and he’ll be able to chase down Darkblot.
    Of course, there’s still the matter of tracking them down. Unfortunately, Infinnah T. isn’t quite sure how to accomplish this, but she thinks their best bet is to record the magic signature of something from the Nox era and use the Celestial Cannon to scan the Mushroom Frontier for a match. Mario and Parri temporarily leave the Nox girl in the custody of Infinnah T. and head back out to the dig site to find a suitable artifact, where they learn a Paper Flip ability that allows them to slip through thin spaces. They use this to get to an old-looking spellbook sitting on top of a rock outcropping.
    Mario brings the spellbook back, and Infinnah T. is about to place it under her scanning mechanism when the Nox girl suddenly exclaims something (still in her own language) and rushes at Infinnah T. in an attempt to take it. They fight over it for a few seconds until the Nox girl pulls away with the book, opens it, and chants something.
    Then, she demands- in English- an explanation of what’s going on and why they want her spellbook so much.
    Infinnah T. in turn asks the Nox girl who she is. She introduces herself as Specteira, empress of the Nox, and explains that now that she has her spellbook, she has cast a spell that allows her to understand what they’re saying. Then she repeats her own questions, and Infinnah T. fills her in on what’s going on. At first, Specteira takes the news about the fate of the Nox Empire badly, but she perks up a bit after hearing their plan to stop it. She gladly contributes some dark energy as a magic sample, and Infinnah T. starts scanning for a match.
    She gets results almost immediately. It looks like one of the portal pieces is somewhere on Highrise Hill, a grass-covered mountain at the far side of Moo Moo Plains. Mario doesn’t know where that is, so Infinnah T. lends him another one of her inventions called a GamePad Positioning System (because it looks like a Wii U GamePad), which finally gives him access to the world map. Also, just as Mario and Parri are leaving, Specteira asks to go with them so she can help protect her empire, adding that her spellcasting abilities will be a great help to them. Mario accepts, and Specteira joins him on his quest (not as a partner, though; she works sort of like Kersti in Sticker Star, except not as annoying and unlikable).
    With a new ally and new equipment, Mario is all ready to set out. He uses his Paper Flip ability to slip through a fence he wasn’t able to get past in the Prologue and follows a path to Moo Moo Plains.

--CHAPTER 1--
    After Mario and company collect their first Star Sphere (the collectibles that mark the end of a level in PM2D) in the Mushroom Frontier, they arrive at Moo Moo Plains (World 1-1). At first, Specteira’s a bit doubtful that they’re even in the right place. She recounts that back in the Nox Empire, the area was home to huge plantations where the people grew their food. In fact, the magically enhanced soil made it a paradise for all kinds of crops. And yet, it doesn’t look like anyone’s here to enjoy its benefits anymore.
    Actually, not too long into the first level, Parri points out a single farm off in the distance. But they don’t get to look at it for very long before they also see a tornado headed in their direction! They have to retreat back a couple areas to avoid getting sucked away. On their way back, they find that the damage has created a new path heading toward the farm.
    Mario follows the path to Moo Moo Gardens (World 1-2) and is met at the gates by Koko. After exchanging their greetings, she asks what brings all of them out into the countryside, but when Parri explains they’re on their way to Highrise Hill, she freaks out a little bit and suggests that they just stay as far away from it as possible. They ask her why, and she sighs and reluctantly invites them into the farmhouse for an explanation.
    When they get there, Koko introduces them to Molissa, one of her farm hands. She explains that Molissa used to live in Topsoil Town, a Monty Mole village on Highrise Hill, so she knows a lot more about the area than herself and can help fill them in. Anyway, Koko explains that once the wild magic surges started all over the Mushroom Frontier, tornadoes have been regularly forming over Highrise Hill and tearing across Moo Moo Plains, causing incredible damage to the farm. Molissa adds that the Monty Moles living in Topsoil Town have been pestering Moo Moo Gardens for a while. However, out of nowhere the mayor officially endorsed the practice. Since then they’ve regularly been raiding the crops. Koko is still hopeful that she can pull off a decent harvest, but she’s not really sure how...
    At that moment, a Koopa farmer bursts in on the conversation to alert Koko that the Monty Moles are launching an attack! Mario is ready to leap into action and defend the farm, but Molissa stops him and insists that it’s her fight. Mario, of course, isn’t going to back down so easily, so then she offers to work together instead, and becomes Mario’s second partner.
    To stop the assault, Mario has to find and defeat all the groups of Monty Moles attacking the farm. Most of them will hide underground when you get close, so you have to use Molissa’s digging ability to get at them and start the battle. Others are in hard-grounded areas that don’t lend themselves well to that tactic, and will simply try to run. Once Mario has given them all a good stomping, they regroup in front of the farmhouse and start terrorizing the Koopa farmers hiding out inside. Mario is wondering how to take them all on at once when it hits him: He’s got a hammer, and they’re moles.
    One whack-a-mole minigame later, the Monty Moles finally retreat and Mario heads back inside the farmhouse. There, he receives plenty of gratitude from Koko (as well as a few items), and agrees that he could probably handle whatever is on Highrise Hill. She shows Mario and company to the back gate of Moo Moo Gardens and unlocks it. However, they barely make it out of the farm before being ambushed by more Monty Moles. Molissa identifies a green one at the front as Mayor Molston, and it’s immediately obvious that neither like each other very much. A mini-boss battle against Molston and three regular Monty Moles ensues.
    As expected, Mario gives him a good stomping, but Molston is suddenly rescued by a Lakitu with a mohawk. Lakithunder (as Molston calls him) tells Mario to stay away from Highrise Hill and out of his and Molston’s business, or else. He then lays out their plan in classic bad-guy fashion: He has been using his cloud powers to summon tornadoes to rip through Moo Moo Gardens, and he recently convinced Molston to have Monty Moles attack it as well. Soon, they’ll take over the farm, claim it for Topsoil Town, and turn the small village into a major agricultural producer, thus netting both of them tons of political power. Lakithunder once again tells them not to try to stop them, and wisely leaves before Mario can engage.
    Despite the recent developments, Molissa is still stuck on being angry at Molston. Specteira asks Molissa why she hates him so much. She explains that Molston is trusted as the mayor of Topsoil Town to keep his citizens happy and in good shape. But, he’s given himself so many raises that he almost singlehandedly ruined the village’s economy, and now many of the Monty Moles living there are poor. She herself had to take a job at Moo Moo Gardens so she could feed herself, for which Molston considers her a traitor. And worst of all, he’s too clueless to realize it’s his fault, so he’d rather team up with some stranger and lay waste to Moo Moo Gardens than take a pay cut.
    There are two Star Spheres in Moo Moo Gardens, meaning two possible ways to reach Highrise Hill. Grainy Pathway (World 1-3) is a fairly straightforward level containing extra-tall grass and a couple windmills, although nothing very noteworthy gets introduced here. Yoshi Grove (World 1-4) also starts out pretty normal, but about halfway through Mario comes across a Yoshi egg. While riding Yoshi, Mario can move faster and grab distant objects with Yoshi’s tongue. (And of course, this won’t be the only level with Yoshi in it.)
    The ends of both levels link up to the same destination: Highrise Hill (World 1-5). Now all that’s left is to track down the Portal Piece. Topsoil Town seems like the obvious place to look, so the party walks there along the base of the mountain. After turning up with nothing in most of the village, they decide to check in the town hall. Eventually, they find themselves searching Molston’s office when they hear him coming!
    Mario uses his Paper Flip ability to turn sideways and hide, and they begin to eavesdrop on Molston. Apparently, he’s pretty worried about the possibility that Lakithunder is planning to double-cross him. After all, why would a guy who only showed up in the Mushroom Frontier a week or two ago care about the well-being of Topsoil Town? In fact, it turns out that he was worried his salary might be too high until Lakithunder showed up and convinced him that it wasn’t causing any problems.
    Eventually, Mario’s cover is blown when Molston heads over to his desk, which Mario is hiding right next to, and notices him. Predictably, he’s even more enraged than before, and demands to know what Mario’s doing in his office and what he has to gain by messing with his political business in the first place. When they mention the Portal Piece, though, Molston has an idea and calls Lakithunder on his speakerphone. He explains to Lakithunder that Mario’s after “that thing”, and maybe if he just brought it over and gave it to him, he would go away and let them go on with their plan. Of course, it’s never that easy: Lakithunder adamantly refuses to part with “that thing” and hangs up.
    Molston turns back to Mario and company and explains that their description of the Portal Piece matches a thing Lakithunder found on Highrise Hill not too long ago. But, he’s unusually attached to it and there’s no way he’ll ever give it up. Either way, what they’re looking for isn’t anywhere near Topsoil Town... so GET LOST!
    After being escorted out of the town by some Monty Mole bodyguards, Mario and company now know they need to find Lakithunder but have no idea where to look for him- until they receive a perfectly-timed call from Infinnah T. on their GamePad Positioning System (which also works as a communicator). Apparently, when Lakithunder found out Mario was after his stuff, he decided to hide it a little farther away: in the clouds directly above Highrise Hill. At this point, Infinnah T. sends him an updated world map (since it’s digital, this can be done pretty easily), with the clouds added and the Portal Piece icon moved there.
    The rest of the level focuses on getting to the top of Highrise Hill. Mario eventually climbs all the way to the clouds and unlocks the final level in Chapter 1: Cumulus Heights (World 1-6). The big threat in the game’s first full-length dungeon is the platforming. The level has pitfalls all over the place, and wind currents frequently threaten to blow you off course. Darker clouds can be hammered to make them rain out some of their mass and float upward on your way toward the highest point in the area.
    Mario finally reaches the top of the level and confronts Lakithunder. Unfortunately, he’s still not willing to give in. He exclaims that he actually can’t stand country folks and is absolutely sick of people like them standing in his way of making the world more hip and awesome. He then reveals his real plan: Once he and Molston have taken out the farm, he’ll switch sides and blame its tragic destruction on Molston, robbing him of the little political power he has. That will leave him as the only one in charge of Moo Moo Plains, and then he’ll turn the whole place into one huge, futuristic city designed for cool people like him. As for the Portal Piece... well, he found it, which means it’s his, and NOT theirs. But as always, Mario’s all too happy to fight for it.

LAKITHUNDER
Tattle Entry #25
That’s Lakithunder! He’s the cool-guy Lakitu who’s been trying to take over Moo Moo Plains. Well, he thinks he’s a cool guy, anyway... but he’s not. Maximum HP is 50, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. He’ll still throw Spiny eggs at us like any ordinary Lakitu, but he’ll also blast us with lightning and electrically charge himself. When he’s charged, we won’t be able to touch him directly... maybe we could throw something at him? Anyway, I don’t think there’s a single person in Moo Moo Plains who likes him, so we don’t have to hold back. Let’s show this guy what happens when you mess with people for no good reason!

  Even after being defeated by Mario, Lakithunder still doesn’t want to give up his Portal Piece. He complains that the fight was unfair, reminds them who the coolest guy ever is (himself), and he’s just about to escape again when none other than Molston shows up. At first, he’s relieved to have some backup- and then out of nowhere Molston chucks a rock right at Lakithunder’s face and accuses him of deceiving him. Lakithunder drops a folded piece of paper with a Shadow Spire design on it, just like the first Portal Piece, except this time it’s green.
    But Lakithunder is too panicked to notice. He quickly turns and flees in the other direction, and Molston jumps into a nearby cloud to pursue him, leaving Mario and company to claim their prize...
    *** YOU FOUND A PORTAL PIECE! ***

--LUIGI INTERLUDE--
    Back at Mario’s house, Parakarry comes by with a letter for Luigi from Toadsworth. Inside, he gives Luigi some terrible yet completely predictable news: The princess has been kidnapped! Obviously, Toadsworth says, the only solution is to ask Mario to come back from the Mushroom Frontier and defeat Bowser. But Luigi won’t hear it- he’s waited long enough to be Player One. He heads over to the central plaza in Toad Town. Once he’s there, you can walk around freely and talk with random Toads about things such as the recent kidnapping, why do you wear green all the time, et cetera.
    Eventually, Luigi bumps into Toadsworth, who is not at all pleased to find that the safety of the princess lies in the hands of Luigi. After some humorous dialogue and a bit of cane-whacking, Luigi just snaps and exclaims that he deserves a chance to prove himself. Toadsworth becomes slightly intimidated, points Luigi in the direction of Bowser’s Castle, and backs away slowly.
    Meanwhile at Bowser’s Castle, Bowser Jr. and Kammy Koopa are both worrying that Mario might come back and ruin Bowser’s plans again, when Bowser Jr. suddenly decides he’s going to go to the Mushroom Frontier himself and make sure Mario stays busy. Kammy Koopa thinks that’s an awful idea- not only is he doing it without Bowser’s consent, all it will do is get Mario more involved. Bowser Jr., however, is already convinced that he’ll receive great rewards from his father for keeping Mario out of the way, which gets Kammy’s attention. She retorts that that will never happen, because Bowser likes her more. Bowser Jr. answers that Bowser would never choose as his favorite a minion who won’t attack Mario. At this point, Kammy Koopa is angry enough to magic-blast Bowser Jr.’s clown car so he has no way to get to the Mushroom Frontier, hops on her broomstick, and tells Bowser Jr. that he’ll see who’s the favorite once she pummels Mario herself...