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Description
  Well, the bad news is this took me almost until midnight to finish this, meaning I'll feel like a zombie tomorrow at school. The good news is it'll be the last day before spring break, which will hopefully meliorate my pain a bit.
  Unlike most of the other chapters, the main story of Chapter 2 isn't too different than it started out as three years ago; instead, it's had about a zillion minor tweaks. Sal T. and Hydrohydra have had their designs redone, World 2-1 got changed up a couple times, I came up with the Hammer Throw upgrade for Mario's hammer, I've added some side quests that show up in World 2 later, an OC from the old version of Chapter 7 was revived as MC Mahi, and so on.
  The one part that did change substantially was the partner. Anyone who's been following my work for a while will probably agree that Blooke wasn't a very interesting character, so I decided to scrap him. Originally, it was just going to be a cosmetic change, but Blooke's field ability was being able to ride him in the water, and you'll notice the new partner (Cap'n Blooty) doesn't look especially rideable. So I gave him an entirely original field ability, and now Mario will have to wait all the way until Chapter 7 before gaining water travel.
    From here on out is the description for Chapter 2. WARNING: Really, really, absurdly high levels of reading ahead.

Characters (from left to right):
Sal T.: The head chef of the Supersurf Shanty Bar and Grill. She’s always hard on herself about making her food as good as possible, but everyone else seems pretty satisfied. She will cook dishes for you using one of your items as an ingredient (or two, after bringing her a cookbook you find in Chapter 5).
Cap’n Blooty: A super-tough Blooper explorer. He was the only person other than Mario to take Mahi’s job, but later decides to work together with him instead and becomes Mario’s third partner. He can use his saber to slice ropes, vines, wires, et cetera.
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.
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.
Hydrohydra: The ancient sea monster who’s occupying Fort Flood and making it too dangerous to sail in the Supersurf Shore area. Boss of Chapter 2. His heads tend to talk to each other, which can make conversation a bit awkward.
MC Mahi: A ridiculously famous Cheep-Cheep rapper who was living in Fort Flood until recently. He’s currently staying at Supersurf Port, and is offering a huge reward to anyone who can kick Hydrohydra out.

--CHAPTER 1 / CHAPTER 2 TRANSITION--
    Previously, in Chapter 1, Mario uncovered Lakithunder’s plan to take control of Moo Moo Plains, defeated him, and recovered the second Portal Piece. Now, after receiving thanks from everyone at Moo Moo Gardens for rescuing the farm (and a reluctant promise from Molston to finally take a pay cut), the party returns to Mt. Mushroom to figure out where to search next.
    Back at the Mt. Mushroom Observatory, Infinnah T. welcomes them back and leads them up to the Starchives. There, she places the Cloudy Exhaust Pipe (the Portal Piece Mario found in Cumulus Heights) under her scanner and records its magic signature, explaining that she can use it to improve the Celestial Cannon’s searching capabilities- and the more Portal Pieces they bring back, the easier it will be for the cannon to find them.
    Thanks to its new data, the Celestial Cannon quickly pinpoints a new Portal Piece right off the southern coast of the Mushroom Frontier, and automatically updates the area on Mario’s world map. The formerly blank beach sprouts palm trees, beach umbrellas, and piers, as well as a town toward the left. Finally, a stone tower topped with a giant glass dome appears in the ocean right next to the Portal Piece icon.
    Specteira recognizes the tower right away as Fort Flood. She elaborates that back in her time, the Nox used it as a weather-control dome, keeping the skies exactly how they wanted them. But, considering all those tornadoes in Chapter 1, it’s obviously not working normally. Something is going wrong, and finding out what is all the more reason to check it out.
    Of course, they still need to figure out how to get there. Infinnah T. tells them they should go to Supersurf Port, the harbor town on the left side of Supersurf Shore, and one of the most popular vacation spots on the Mushroom Frontier. Since it’s the usual spot for traveling to and from the colony by sea, someone should have a boat they can borrow. Infinnah T. also asks Mario to excuse her for a moment as she calls up Sal T., one of her many friends, and fills her in on Mario’s plans. She then turns back to Mario and tells him that once he’s reached Supersurf Port, he should look for a restaurant called the Supersurf Shanty Bar and Grill, where Sal T. will have gathered up some potential navigators for them.
    Now that he knows where to go and what to do, Mario is all ready to set out for Supersurf Shore. A bridge leading there was previously uncrossable thanks to wild magic damage, but after Chapter 1 it was repaired, allowing Mario to take a new path out of Mt. Mushroom.

--CHAPTER 2--
    Supersurf Shore is a good deal farther away from Mt. Mushroom than Moo Moo Plains was, so Mario can’t just reach it right away. The Star Sphere only takes him as far as Rocky Ridge (World 2-1), a gravel path leading down Mt. Mushroom. The level involves some battles with Koopas, Paratroopas, and Red Fuzzies, but there’s not anything out of the ordinary.
    The path leads to Supersurf Shore (World 2-2). There, Mario is met by none other than Kammy Koopa, who decided in the last Luigi Interlude to head to the Mushroom Frontier and beat up Mario to secure her position as Bowser’s favorite minion (apparently, it doesn’t matter that she’s doing it without Bowser’s consent). A battle starts, and not too surprisingly, Mario and friends win with little trouble. But then, your active partner lets on that they’re on their way to Supersurf Port, and Kammy, being the incredible poor sport that she is, decides to tear out the bridge that leads there before fleeing back to Bowser’s Castle.
    After looking around the level for a while, Mario finds the bridge on top of a palm tree, and a few solid hits from his hammer is enough to knock it down. In one of the adjacent areas there’s a large wooden target on a ledge, connected to a few pulleys with a wooden platform on the other end. Mario has no way to hit the target yet, but it will become important later.
    Mario returns to the area where he fought Kammy Koopa, replaces the bridge, and goes through one last stretch of the level before reaching Supersurf Port (World 2-3). The peaceful harbor town contains all the usual establishments for a Paper Mario town, as well as a fish market, a few docks, and of course, the Supersurf Shanty Bar and Grill, which is where Mario goes now. He’s greeted by Sal T., brought over to a vacant table, and informed about how the search for a navigator is going: Not well.
    Apparently, Infinnah T. wasn’t aware that some kind of sea monster recently took up residence in Fort Flood. Every ship that has gone near the place was destroyed, so a lot of sailors are reluctant to leave port at all. Unfortunately, the chances of finding someone willing to sail right into the monster’s lair aren’t too good. When Mario asks for more details, Sal T. points out a yellow Cheep-Cheep talking to an intimidating-looking Blooper at a nearby table, saying the Cheep-Cheep lived in Fort Flood before the monster.
    When Mario talks to the Cheep-Cheep, he introduces himself as the ultra-famous rap sensation, MC Mahi (and is a little put off that Mario hasn’t heard about him). He explains that he was in the middle of a recording session when he heard something smash through the wall of his fort, and before he knew what was happening, a three-headed eel-like thing was chasing him out of his house. He then headed to Supersurf Port, and started looking for a bounty hunter tough enough to drive it off. He’s offering anyone who succeeds tons of coins, plus they can keep any treasure they find that doesn’t already belong to him... such as the Portal Piece.
    This seems like the best deal he can hope for, so Mario offers to take the job. Unfortunately, Mahi says he already found someone, and introduces them to Cap’n Blooty, the Blooper that he was just discussing his terms with. Cap’n is looking forward to some serious spoils and warns Mario to stay away from his money. Mario doesn’t want to cause a scene inside the restaurant, so he backs off, but just after doing so he overhears Mahi and Cap’n making plans to meet at Overlook Gulf.
    Mario and company decide they have to get Mahi to change his mind, because if Blooty does get to Fort Flood, he’s likely to keep the Portal Piece for himself. When they leave the restaurant, they find a Toad fisherman trying to catch a seagull that carried away his tackle box. When the Toad sees Mario’s hammer, he asks if Mario could try throwing it at the seagull. Mario tries it, recovers the tackle box, and learns the Hammer Throw ability. When the Toad asks if there’s anything he can do in return, Mario asks for directions to Overlook Gulf.
    With the Hammer Throw ability, Mario can now go back and hit the suspicious target in Supersurf Shore. When he does, the platform it’s connected to drops into the water, creating a new path that leads to Overlook Gulf (World 2-4). The party climbs to the top of the lookout, where they run into Mahi handing over a small treasure chest to Cap’n, who apparently wanted some of his reward up front. When Cap’n notices Mario, he again assumes his money is in danger. He pulls out his sword, points it at Mario, and declares that if he wants to steal his job he’ll have to fight for it, which Mario is completely prepared to do. But just before a fight actually breaks out, they’re interrupted by the ground shaking and Mahi screaming for help. Everyone rushes back to the lookout just in time to see Mahi fall into the ocean below and get carried back to Fort Flood by... something.
    The good news is, Cap’n realizes the sea monster he’s after is more dangerous than he first thought and is finally willing to strike a deal with Mario. Depending on how well Mario haggles he might net a few coins at the end of the chapter, but the important thing is he’ll get to keep the Portal Piece. Blooty agrees to the terms and becomes Mario’s third partner.
    With the problem of competition out of the way, it’s time to figure out how to reach Fort Flood to save MC Mahi and get the Portal Piece. Blooty was apparently planning to swim there (being a Blooper), but that won’t work for Mario. For now, they decide to head back to Supersurf Port and see if they can figure out some arrangement.
    The port is still basically the same as before, but this time Mario has access to Blooty’s field ability. He can slice down ropes that hold up crates containing items throughout the level, as well as one keeping a drawbridge up. Slashing it allows Mario to cross the drawbridge and reach the nearby warehouse. Inside, they find another Toad trying to use a crane to stack boxes, rather unsuccessfully. The Toad notices Mario and company, and asks if they could try for him, offering to let them keep one thing from the boxes if they succeed. Mario agrees to give it a shot.
    The minigame that follows consists of stacking groups of irregularly shaped boxes into perfect squares. If Mario ever puts a box in a spot where it won’t balance, it collapses and he has to start the whole set over. If Mario stacks all 6 sets correctly, the Toad lets him look around the warehouse for a prize. Eventually, he comes across a Diving Helmet. It looks like he’ll be able to swim to Fort Flood after all!
    Continuing past the warehouse brings Mario to another Star Sphere that unlocks Long Plank Pier (World 2-5). Except for the beginning, the level is just a really long dock, the end of which should make for a good entry point into the ocean. There’s some basic platforming and battling involved, but it’s not too hard reaching the level’s end. There, Mario walks to the edge of the dock, puts on his Diving Helmet, and jumps into the water- only to land right on a sleeping Cheep-Chomp. The angry Cheep-Chomp leaps onto the dock, starting a mini-boss battle. When the fish is defeated, it flops away and leaves behind the Star Sphere.
    Mario is now free to jump down to the Ocean Floor (World 2-6). The area’s hazards include spiky coral and fights with Cheep-Cheeps, Bloopers, and Sea Koopas. Mario moves slower underwater but can also jump higher, adding control complications to the mix. There are two rusty levers near the gate to Fort Flood; only after Mario finds and flips both does the gate open, allowing him to finish the level.
    At last, Mario and company have reached their final destination: Fort Flood (World 2-7). It’s time to confront the monster and get the Portal Piece- almost. A few areas into the dungeon, they find MC Mahi being held in a cage suspended over a pit of spikes. He begs Mario to break him out and adds that they’ll never be able to reach the glass dome at the top where the monster is living without his help.
    The tricky part of this dungeon is that while most of it is underwater, some rooms have pipes that can pump the water in or out. Many of Fort Flood’s puzzles revolve around which of the two sets of platforming mechanics you need to use. Mario must use both wisely to find five valves placed around the level. Each one dispenses some water into the spike pit under Mahi’s cage. Once Mario has completely filled the pit, he can use Blooty’s ability to cut the rope holding the cage up.
    After Mahi is freed, he leads the party to and unlocks a door which leads further up the fort. He then asks if they could escort them back to his in-home recording studio. For the next few areas, Mario must defend Mahi from Bloopers, Cheep-Cheeps, and other hazards. If he makes it to the recording studio unharmed, Mahi rewards the party with a couple items and a Fortress Key, and gives them directions to get to the dome.
    Mario says goodbye to MC Mahi for now and uses the Fortress Key to continue climbing Fort Flood, until finally he reaches a pair of springs that launches him into the glass dome. The sea monster is already waiting for them. Once Specteira sees the monster, she exclaims that she knows what it is from the Nox era- but that’s all she can get out before it attacks.
HYDROHYDRA
Tattle Entry #79
Woah!... That’s a Hydrohydra! I can’t believe these are still around, but here it is! It’s a terrifying, eel-like sea monster that dates back to the Nox era. It must have been attracted to the Nox energy in Fort Flood, so it decided to move in... and kick Mahi out! Maximum HP is 20, Attack is 5, and Defense is 0. And by the way, that’s 20 HP per head. As long as it has at least one of its three heads left, it’ll keep fighting. Hmm... I’d say, if you have anything that can attack multiple enemies at once, this is a good time to use it. Also, since it’s clearly a water-based creature, you’ll probably want to avoid water or fire attacks. On the other hand, do we have anything that water is especially vulnerable to?
    By making good use of multi-target attacks and the vulnerabilities of water creatures (i.e. electricity), Mario brings down Hydrohydra. For a few moments, he and his party are alone in the glass dome. Then Mahi appears through the spring hole.
    First, he congratulates the party on defeating Hydrohydra, explaining that he heard the whole battle from his studio (and even recorded it to use as percussion in his next album). Then, he drops a giant treasure chest full of coins on the ground for Cap’n Blooty. Finally, he walks up to Mario... and pulls out the Portal Piece. Apparently, he found it right in his recording studio, but he wanted to make sure they would defeat the monster before he handed it over- after all, that was the deal he made with Blooty. Mario walks up to Mahi and claims his reward...
    *** YOU FOUND A PORTAL PIECE! ***

--LUIGI INTERLUDE--
Since Mario’s off adventuring in the Mushroom Frontier, it falls to Luigi to rescue the princess this time. His first stop on the way to Bowser’s Castle is Breezy Hills, an Alpine-style grass area. Luigi’s system of exploration works pretty much like Mario’s, but battles take place in the overworld like in Super Paper Mario. As expected, this level is pretty easy, and in part is just a tutorial for playing as Luigi. After a few screens, Luigi arrives at an area containing some buildings, and a generic Toad comes up and welcomes him to Toad Village.
    Luigi looks around and, sure enough, everyone there is a Toad. Luigi asks why no other species live here, The Toad replies that the other species are all Bowser’s minions, and he and Luigi get into an argument about whether that’s really always true. (This, of course, is making fun of the incredibly uncreative NPC design in recent Paper Mario games.) Unfortunately for equal rights, the Toad proclaims himself the winner when a horde of Goombas loyal to Bowser attacks Toad Village. Still, Luigi is happy to fight them off for the Toads, and he receives a Hammer for his efforts, which he’ll get to use in the next Luigi Interlude.
    Meanwhile, on the ocean between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Mushroom Frontier, Kammy Koopa is returning from her defeat when she crosses paths with Bowser Jr. The encounter is brief, but long enough for Bowser Jr. to ram into Kammy Koopa with his clown car, knock her into the ocean, and laugh as he heads to the Mushroom Frontier for his turn to pick a fight with Mario...

Description
  Well, the bad news is this took me almost until midnight to finish this, meaning I'll feel like a zombie tomorrow at school. The good news is it'll be the last day before spring break, which will hopefully meliorate my pain a bit.
  Unlike most of the other chapters, the main story of Chapter 2 isn't too different than it started out as three years ago; instead, it's had about a zillion minor tweaks. Sal T. and Hydrohydra have had their designs redone, World 2-1 got changed up a couple times, I came up with the Hammer Throw upgrade for Mario's hammer, I've added some side quests that show up in World 2 later, an OC from the old version of Chapter 7 was revived as MC Mahi, and so on.
  The one part that did change substantially was the partner. Anyone who's been following my work for a while will probably agree that Blooke wasn't a very interesting character, so I decided to scrap him. Originally, it was just going to be a cosmetic change, but Blooke's field ability was being able to ride him in the water, and you'll notice the new partner (Cap'n Blooty) doesn't look especially rideable. So I gave him an entirely original field ability, and now Mario will have to wait all the way until Chapter 7 before gaining water travel.
    From here on out is the description for Chapter 2. WARNING: Really, really, absurdly high levels of reading ahead.

Characters (from left to right):
Sal T.: The head chef of the Supersurf Shanty Bar and Grill. She’s always hard on herself about making her food as good as possible, but everyone else seems pretty satisfied. She will cook dishes for you using one of your items as an ingredient (or two, after bringing her a cookbook you find in Chapter 5).
Cap’n Blooty: A super-tough Blooper explorer. He was the only person other than Mario to take Mahi’s job, but later decides to work together with him instead and becomes Mario’s third partner. He can use his saber to slice ropes, vines, wires, et cetera.
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.
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.
Hydrohydra: The ancient sea monster who’s occupying Fort Flood and making it too dangerous to sail in the Supersurf Shore area. Boss of Chapter 2. His heads tend to talk to each other, which can make conversation a bit awkward.
MC Mahi: A ridiculously famous Cheep-Cheep rapper who was living in Fort Flood until recently. He’s currently staying at Supersurf Port, and is offering a huge reward to anyone who can kick Hydrohydra out.

--CHAPTER 1 / CHAPTER 2 TRANSITION--
    Previously, in Chapter 1, Mario uncovered Lakithunder’s plan to take control of Moo Moo Plains, defeated him, and recovered the second Portal Piece. Now, after receiving thanks from everyone at Moo Moo Gardens for rescuing the farm (and a reluctant promise from Molston to finally take a pay cut), the party returns to Mt. Mushroom to figure out where to search next.
    Back at the Mt. Mushroom Observatory, Infinnah T. welcomes them back and leads them up to the Starchives. There, she places the Cloudy Exhaust Pipe (the Portal Piece Mario found in Cumulus Heights) under her scanner and records its magic signature, explaining that she can use it to improve the Celestial Cannon’s searching capabilities- and the more Portal Pieces they bring back, the easier it will be for the cannon to find them.
    Thanks to its new data, the Celestial Cannon quickly pinpoints a new Portal Piece right off the southern coast of the Mushroom Frontier, and automatically updates the area on Mario’s world map. The formerly blank beach sprouts palm trees, beach umbrellas, and piers, as well as a town toward the left. Finally, a stone tower topped with a giant glass dome appears in the ocean right next to the Portal Piece icon.
    Specteira recognizes the tower right away as Fort Flood. She elaborates that back in her time, the Nox used it as a weather-control dome, keeping the skies exactly how they wanted them. But, considering all those tornadoes in Chapter 1, it’s obviously not working normally. Something is going wrong, and finding out what is all the more reason to check it out.
    Of course, they still need to figure out how to get there. Infinnah T. tells them they should go to Supersurf Port, the harbor town on the left side of Supersurf Shore, and one of the most popular vacation spots on the Mushroom Frontier. Since it’s the usual spot for traveling to and from the colony by sea, someone should have a boat they can borrow. Infinnah T. also asks Mario to excuse her for a moment as she calls up Sal T., one of her many friends, and fills her in on Mario’s plans. She then turns back to Mario and tells him that once he’s reached Supersurf Port, he should look for a restaurant called the Supersurf Shanty Bar and Grill, where Sal T. will have gathered up some potential navigators for them.
    Now that he knows where to go and what to do, Mario is all ready to set out for Supersurf Shore. A bridge leading there was previously uncrossable thanks to wild magic damage, but after Chapter 1 it was repaired, allowing Mario to take a new path out of Mt. Mushroom.

--CHAPTER 2--
    Supersurf Shore is a good deal farther away from Mt. Mushroom than Moo Moo Plains was, so Mario can’t just reach it right away. The Star Sphere only takes him as far as Rocky Ridge (World 2-1), a gravel path leading down Mt. Mushroom. The level involves some battles with Koopas, Paratroopas, and Red Fuzzies, but there’s not anything out of the ordinary.
    The path leads to Supersurf Shore (World 2-2). There, Mario is met by none other than Kammy Koopa, who decided in the last Luigi Interlude to head to the Mushroom Frontier and beat up Mario to secure her position as Bowser’s favorite minion (apparently, it doesn’t matter that she’s doing it without Bowser’s consent). A battle starts, and not too surprisingly, Mario and friends win with little trouble. But then, your active partner lets on that they’re on their way to Supersurf Port, and Kammy, being the incredible poor sport that she is, decides to tear out the bridge that leads there before fleeing back to Bowser’s Castle.
    After looking around the level for a while, Mario finds the bridge on top of a palm tree, and a few solid hits from his hammer is enough to knock it down. In one of the adjacent areas there’s a large wooden target on a ledge, connected to a few pulleys with a wooden platform on the other end. Mario has no way to hit the target yet, but it will become important later.
    Mario returns to the area where he fought Kammy Koopa, replaces the bridge, and goes through one last stretch of the level before reaching Supersurf Port (World 2-3). The peaceful harbor town contains all the usual establishments for a Paper Mario town, as well as a fish market, a few docks, and of course, the Supersurf Shanty Bar and Grill, which is where Mario goes now. He’s greeted by Sal T., brought over to a vacant table, and informed about how the search for a navigator is going: Not well.
    Apparently, Infinnah T. wasn’t aware that some kind of sea monster recently took up residence in Fort Flood. Every ship that has gone near the place was destroyed, so a lot of sailors are reluctant to leave port at all. Unfortunately, the chances of finding someone willing to sail right into the monster’s lair aren’t too good. When Mario asks for more details, Sal T. points out a yellow Cheep-Cheep talking to an intimidating-looking Blooper at a nearby table, saying the Cheep-Cheep lived in Fort Flood before the monster.
    When Mario talks to the Cheep-Cheep, he introduces himself as the ultra-famous rap sensation, MC Mahi (and is a little put off that Mario hasn’t heard about him). He explains that he was in the middle of a recording session when he heard something smash through the wall of his fort, and before he knew what was happening, a three-headed eel-like thing was chasing him out of his house. He then headed to Supersurf Port, and started looking for a bounty hunter tough enough to drive it off. He’s offering anyone who succeeds tons of coins, plus they can keep any treasure they find that doesn’t already belong to him... such as the Portal Piece.
    This seems like the best deal he can hope for, so Mario offers to take the job. Unfortunately, Mahi says he already found someone, and introduces them to Cap’n Blooty, the Blooper that he was just discussing his terms with. Cap’n is looking forward to some serious spoils and warns Mario to stay away from his money. Mario doesn’t want to cause a scene inside the restaurant, so he backs off, but just after doing so he overhears Mahi and Cap’n making plans to meet at Overlook Gulf.
    Mario and company decide they have to get Mahi to change his mind, because if Blooty does get to Fort Flood, he’s likely to keep the Portal Piece for himself. When they leave the restaurant, they find a Toad fisherman trying to catch a seagull that carried away his tackle box. When the Toad sees Mario’s hammer, he asks if Mario could try throwing it at the seagull. Mario tries it, recovers the tackle box, and learns the Hammer Throw ability. When the Toad asks if there’s anything he can do in return, Mario asks for directions to Overlook Gulf.
    With the Hammer Throw ability, Mario can now go back and hit the suspicious target in Supersurf Shore. When he does, the platform it’s connected to drops into the water, creating a new path that leads to Overlook Gulf (World 2-4). The party climbs to the top of the lookout, where they run into Mahi handing over a small treasure chest to Cap’n, who apparently wanted some of his reward up front. When Cap’n notices Mario, he again assumes his money is in danger. He pulls out his sword, points it at Mario, and declares that if he wants to steal his job he’ll have to fight for it, which Mario is completely prepared to do. But just before a fight actually breaks out, they’re interrupted by the ground shaking and Mahi screaming for help. Everyone rushes back to the lookout just in time to see Mahi fall into the ocean below and get carried back to Fort Flood by... something.
    The good news is, Cap’n realizes the sea monster he’s after is more dangerous than he first thought and is finally willing to strike a deal with Mario. Depending on how well Mario haggles he might net a few coins at the end of the chapter, but the important thing is he’ll get to keep the Portal Piece. Blooty agrees to the terms and becomes Mario’s third partner.
    With the problem of competition out of the way, it’s time to figure out how to reach Fort Flood to save MC Mahi and get the Portal Piece. Blooty was apparently planning to swim there (being a Blooper), but that won’t work for Mario. For now, they decide to head back to Supersurf Port and see if they can figure out some arrangement.
    The port is still basically the same as before, but this time Mario has access to Blooty’s field ability. He can slice down ropes that hold up crates containing items throughout the level, as well as one keeping a drawbridge up. Slashing it allows Mario to cross the drawbridge and reach the nearby warehouse. Inside, they find another Toad trying to use a crane to stack boxes, rather unsuccessfully. The Toad notices Mario and company, and asks if they could try for him, offering to let them keep one thing from the boxes if they succeed. Mario agrees to give it a shot.
    The minigame that follows consists of stacking groups of irregularly shaped boxes into perfect squares. If Mario ever puts a box in a spot where it won’t balance, it collapses and he has to start the whole set over. If Mario stacks all 6 sets correctly, the Toad lets him look around the warehouse for a prize. Eventually, he comes across a Diving Helmet. It looks like he’ll be able to swim to Fort Flood after all!
    Continuing past the warehouse brings Mario to another Star Sphere that unlocks Long Plank Pier (World 2-5). Except for the beginning, the level is just a really long dock, the end of which should make for a good entry point into the ocean. There’s some basic platforming and battling involved, but it’s not too hard reaching the level’s end. There, Mario walks to the edge of the dock, puts on his Diving Helmet, and jumps into the water- only to land right on a sleeping Cheep-Chomp. The angry Cheep-Chomp leaps onto the dock, starting a mini-boss battle. When the fish is defeated, it flops away and leaves behind the Star Sphere.
    Mario is now free to jump down to the Ocean Floor (World 2-6). The area’s hazards include spiky coral and fights with Cheep-Cheeps, Bloopers, and Sea Koopas. Mario moves slower underwater but can also jump higher, adding control complications to the mix. There are two rusty levers near the gate to Fort Flood; only after Mario finds and flips both does the gate open, allowing him to finish the level.
    At last, Mario and company have reached their final destination: Fort Flood (World 2-7). It’s time to confront the monster and get the Portal Piece- almost. A few areas into the dungeon, they find MC Mahi being held in a cage suspended over a pit of spikes. He begs Mario to break him out and adds that they’ll never be able to reach the glass dome at the top where the monster is living without his help.
    The tricky part of this dungeon is that while most of it is underwater, some rooms have pipes that can pump the water in or out. Many of Fort Flood’s puzzles revolve around which of the two sets of platforming mechanics you need to use. Mario must use both wisely to find five valves placed around the level. Each one dispenses some water into the spike pit under Mahi’s cage. Once Mario has completely filled the pit, he can use Blooty’s ability to cut the rope holding the cage up.
    After Mahi is freed, he leads the party to and unlocks a door which leads further up the fort. He then asks if they could escort them back to his in-home recording studio. For the next few areas, Mario must defend Mahi from Bloopers, Cheep-Cheeps, and other hazards. If he makes it to the recording studio unharmed, Mahi rewards the party with a couple items and a Fortress Key, and gives them directions to get to the dome.
    Mario says goodbye to MC Mahi for now and uses the Fortress Key to continue climbing Fort Flood, until finally he reaches a pair of springs that launches him into the glass dome. The sea monster is already waiting for them. Once Specteira sees the monster, she exclaims that she knows what it is from the Nox era- but that’s all she can get out before it attacks.
HYDROHYDRA
Tattle Entry #79
Woah!... That’s a Hydrohydra! I can’t believe these are still around, but here it is! It’s a terrifying, eel-like sea monster that dates back to the Nox era. It must have been attracted to the Nox energy in Fort Flood, so it decided to move in... and kick Mahi out! Maximum HP is 20, Attack is 5, and Defense is 0. And by the way, that’s 20 HP per head. As long as it has at least one of its three heads left, it’ll keep fighting. Hmm... I’d say, if you have anything that can attack multiple enemies at once, this is a good time to use it. Also, since it’s clearly a water-based creature, you’ll probably want to avoid water or fire attacks. On the other hand, do we have anything that water is especially vulnerable to?
    By making good use of multi-target attacks and the vulnerabilities of water creatures (i.e. electricity), Mario brings down Hydrohydra. For a few moments, he and his party are alone in the glass dome. Then Mahi appears through the spring hole.
    First, he congratulates the party on defeating Hydrohydra, explaining that he heard the whole battle from his studio (and even recorded it to use as percussion in his next album). Then, he drops a giant treasure chest full of coins on the ground for Cap’n Blooty. Finally, he walks up to Mario... and pulls out the Portal Piece. Apparently, he found it right in his recording studio, but he wanted to make sure they would defeat the monster before he handed it over- after all, that was the deal he made with Blooty. Mario walks up to Mahi and claims his reward...
    *** YOU FOUND A PORTAL PIECE! ***

--LUIGI INTERLUDE--
Since Mario’s off adventuring in the Mushroom Frontier, it falls to Luigi to rescue the princess this time. His first stop on the way to Bowser’s Castle is Breezy Hills, an Alpine-style grass area. Luigi’s system of exploration works pretty much like Mario’s, but battles take place in the overworld like in Super Paper Mario. As expected, this level is pretty easy, and in part is just a tutorial for playing as Luigi. After a few screens, Luigi arrives at an area containing some buildings, and a generic Toad comes up and welcomes him to Toad Village.
    Luigi looks around and, sure enough, everyone there is a Toad. Luigi asks why no other species live here, The Toad replies that the other species are all Bowser’s minions, and he and Luigi get into an argument about whether that’s really always true. (This, of course, is making fun of the incredibly uncreative NPC design in recent Paper Mario games.) Unfortunately for equal rights, the Toad proclaims himself the winner when a horde of Goombas loyal to Bowser attacks Toad Village. Still, Luigi is happy to fight them off for the Toads, and he receives a Hammer for his efforts, which he’ll get to use in the next Luigi Interlude.
    Meanwhile, on the ocean between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Mushroom Frontier, Kammy Koopa is returning from her defeat when she crosses paths with Bowser Jr. The encounter is brief, but long enough for Bowser Jr. to ram into Kammy Koopa with his clown car, knock her into the ocean, and laugh as he heads to the Mushroom Frontier for his turn to pick a fight with Mario...