"So this is Goombaba Castle?" The trio was in front of a large and imposing castle.

"Huuum... It's a little scary"

"Get those spirits up, we'll be fine." Dante slapped him on the shell.

"Yeah, come on, it's not even a dark cave, we'll be done right away"

Koopatricia smiled at her group's support, however, she resisted the urge to shiver at the sight of bones within the castle.

"I can't believe there are bones scattered everywhere" The Goomba felt pity and disgust

"He's careless or sick, either way, we won't be part of his collection." The others nodded at his words.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Why are there Koopa Troopas living in a slayer dragon's castle?" He looked at fellow tortoise as she kicked a red-shelled one to flip it over.

“I think… I think that some are expelled from their villages and others just presume that they are bad for coming here.” She tried to give the best answer with the rumors from her village.

"Don't judge us" A Paratroopa adjusted his sunglasses before being knocked down by Goomarina.

“We only doubt his intelligence”

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

"These shoes, they make a strange noise." Dante was trying on a piece of equipment that he found in a chest, just what he was looking for.

“Why is there such a weird thing here?” The archaeologist did not understand

"I-I think they're cute, they sound like a frog." The girl in the shell seemed to be the only one who sincerely liked them.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“Aaah!”

In an adjoining room, Koopatricia screamed at the sight of a particular pile of bones wearing blue boots.

"These remains remind me of my father... What if it's my dad?!" It seemed that she was going to enter a crisis.

"Calm down, you can't be sure, besides we don't see your brother, they could be trapped somewhere" To Dante all corpses looked the same, but that wouldn't help.

"He's right, you shouldn't lose hope" The Goomba didn't want to believe that it was the remains of her partner's father either.

"Sniff, thanks, guys," she wiped away the tears that were beginning to run down her face.

It seemed strange to the blond that the letter about defeating Goombaba was not there.

(I guess he had a quicker death this time... I hope that was less painful)

During this talk, a pile of red bones, which was blocking the next room, began to shake.

"Those who come to this castle, do not appreciate life" A sinister voice came from the bones

"Th-is that pile of bones talking to us?" If the tortoise was alone she would start screaming like crazy.

“This is the end of your road, I will turn you into… a pile of bones!” The red bones began to assemble into a complete skeleton, as if that wasn't scary enough, more living skeletons rained down from the ceiling.

“AAAAAAAH!” Koopatricia couldn't take it anymore and she started to scream, at least she resisted the urge to pass out.

“Where did all these skeletons come from!?” Although she was ready to fight, Goomarina also got a little scared

"I don't know, but they're going to fall!" Seeing this was one thing, but living it is another, Dante also struggled with panic.

"There are too many!" The archaeologist found it difficult to move, the multitude of bones pressing them together.

"I have an idea! You girls be careful" The blond with his transformation powers turned into a yellow Thwomp and began to crush the skeletons several times.

"Dante according to my book, we must defeat all the Dry Bones before finishing with the red one or it will rise again absorbing the life force of the others!" Goomarina screamed as she searched for other useful information, next to her Koopatria defended her despite being terrified.

“Goomarina the POW!” Dante had come prepared, he knew that it wouldn't be so easy without the limitation of the enemy team, unfortunately the store didn't sell fire flowers… which was logical, in a paper world, fire must be your worst nightmare.

(I still remember the face of the store clerk) He imagined what it would feel like to go to a store on Earth and ask for a flamethrower or a missile launcher.

"Right, help me Koopatricia!" She took out some POW blocks and they started to activate them.

The recurring tremors brought down the bone army, except for the red leader.

“Until next time” The Thwomp completed the job by grinding the bones to dust.

"We-we did it, I can't believe it!" The Koopa this time cried with happiness.

"Yes and you helped" Dante returned to normal and gave him another slap on the shell

"I-Is that true?" It seems that he just realized it.

"Of course, you activated the POW blocks and gave me time to search for information on the enemy" seconded his partner.

The turtle hid her arms in her shell and was embarrassed.

"By the way, I will never question how you invest money again" Goomarina winked at her, when they were shopping, she asked: why would we need so many POW blocks?

"I always like to be prepared" he replied her winked and smiled

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

"Why does a dragon have such a complicated castle?" Dante hoped that at least he didn't build it.

"I have no idea, I used to think that this trap with spikes coming down from the ceiling was a joke among archaeologists"

"W-Why are there such weird elevators?" The group discussed their impressions of the castle as they entered another room.

"What do we have here? I never thought I would have company in a place like this" This time they were received by a white mouse with a mask, heels and a tail that ended in a heart shape.

"Who are you?" Goomarina did not give a good feeling about her.

"Me? I'm Lupina, a thief who travels the world." She blew them a kiss.

"I came to this castle, because I heard that they keep valuable medals, your turn, what are you doing here?"

"We have come to face Goombaba and recover the Crystal Star" The turtle answered, obviously the others told him what they came to look for

Goomarina gave her a look of: don't tell her that!

“That is interesting information” The mouse pondered

"Oh, excuse me!" Koopatricia was ashamed of her carelessness.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious, just be careful next time." It wasn't a catastrophic matter.

"We won't give it to you!" The Goomba defended his position

"It doesn't matter, you guys seem to want to get it a lot and I already have the medals I came for, enjoy your Crystal Star" she approached the group without fear.

"Huh?"

"What do you want?" The Koopa and the Goomba were getting ready to fight, one more determined than the other.

Cheeky, she gives Dante a peck on the cheek and jumps over the edge of a window.

“Jujuju, I have to go, sweetie… and it's a shame because we haven't had time to get to know each other”

"How daring!" Koopatricia blushed just looking at it and Goomarina couldn't believe it.

"A piece of advice, in the castle there may be a medal that will help you against that dragon... see you again, my dear little blonde" She blew one last kiss before jumping out the window.

"That was... an experience." That's all Dante's impression.

"Who is that thief?" The archaeologist thought she was very presumptuous.

"I don't know, but he was overflowing with confidence" The tortoise would like to have half that courage constantly

"Soon you too will be able to have that confidence" Koops could why not her?

"You really think so?"

"You just faced an army of skeletons, if it's not a good first step, I don't know what is"

The constant support of her team made her feel warm inside.

"Changing the subject, you could have been more attentive." The Goomba pointed at Dante.

"How?"

“She walked up to you and kissed you on the cheek”

"Right, only you can do that" joked the blonde, he knew that he was not in danger, but he understood the concern

"No! She could hurt you!"

“Y-you kissed him too?!” Koopatricia did not know that they were so close

"Not in that sense!" She didn't need to graduate to imagine what she thought.

Dante clapped his hands.

"Let's leave the comic routine and search the room"

(Will I absorb the sunshine as if it were stellar energy?... Why hasn't anyone taken it or does it regenerate after a certain time?) The yellow block was easy to visualize.

“We will continue later” No one would take advantage of her team in her guard

"Okay." The tortoise had never kissed anyone other than her father, she wondered how different it would be.