Part 7: Update Seven: Hello, Crooks and Koopas!

Kind of a short update, but for two in one day, what more do you want? Anywho, last time, we found Mallow's home, discovered he's not actually a tadpole, and I avoided a minigame that confuses and scares me. Today, we're heading through another dungeon and seeing a few familiar faces. So, let's get to it!



We've entered Rose Way now and this note is nailed to some leaves right here at the entrance. All it says is that you can only jump off the blocks when they're yellow. If they're yellow, jump on them, they'll turn blue, and move you around somewhere new.



Like so.



Generally, most blocks only move to two different spots, but there are a few that'll head to another spot, allowing you to nab things like that Flower over there.



There was a Mushroom there, but I picked it up. Which apparently purified the water or something.



Hopping back on the other block there (while you may be tempted to think that the other block will take you to the Flower, it'll actually only take you back to the entrance), we move forward to the next block.



Which takes us to the block on that island. It takes us over to the Flower.



Anyways, heading back to that block, we encounter two new enemies in this area. Starslaps and Snapdragons. The Starslaps, true to their names, will slap you for piddly damage, while the Snapdragons will whip you with their vines, in addition to having a sleep spell that never hit. Starslaps take it like the French, while Snapdragons, being slightly tougher, are the bigger pain here. However, they all fall in the end.



A fair amount of experience points, too. My real question here, though, is where did that Mushroom come from?



Moving into the next area, we can see my favorite enemies of this area.



Crooks. They only have 38 HP, die in one hit from either character, and slap you in the throat for--



--better damage than I've seen from bosses. They also have an attack where they just fling a knife at you, but they never used it against me. Good thing, too, since I'm sure that hits even harder. However, they're fast enough to move before either character and usually flee before you even get an action. So why do I like them so much?



Look at all that delicious EXP and Coinage. If it weren't for their unfortunate habit of running away, they'd be great for farming. Remember, it's only 9999 EXP to max level, so getting 1/1000th in a single shot is pretty significant. As OFS pointed out, it's two-million some odd points for Cloud of FF7 to reach level 99.



Here we see what happens when Shy Guys screw over their bookies.



They're fairly tough, with 78 HP, but their attacks are pretty weak and it only takes two hits to put them down. However, they only drop 2 experience and 1 Coin, so they're a little disappointing for grinding.



At the end of this area, we head through the exit and move on to another block area.







Down here is the exit to the second to last area of this "dungeon", which actually has some treasure.



There are five treasure chests floating around here. Each has a Shy Guy on top. This one held a full restore Mushroom, while the other four hold five Coins each. If you need cash quick, this wouldn't be a bad area to come grab it.



Meet Arachne. I'm fairly certain this wasn't the chick that Athena hated, but who knows how Greek mythology lines up with the Mario Universe? These guys has 82 HP, with pretty good Attack and Defense, but they go down just as easy as the other enemies around this place. They're weak to Ice, but we don't have access to that at the moment.



Also, their expression when they get hit amuses me.





While called "Venom Drool", it's more of a loogie that poisons. It is the most dangerous thing they can do, but it's just not enough.



Isn't that the same color that Violet Beauregarde turned after that gum?



But, let's get out of here.



That's a lot of Goombas.



No, this isn't Mario donkey-punching Mallow (please, no fan art). He's pulling him back, instead of letting him wander out in front of...



...what's left of the Koopa Troop. We've crushed two out of three of these platoons before, but I'm not sure how we'd stack up against Magikoopas.





Their magic might be more effective than previous enemies magics.



The Goomba does...Something here, which makes the screen flash red. I have no idea what it's supposed to be. Kaioken?







Bowser snaps his fingers and they march off. Good luck to 'em, I guess. If they take care of Smithy, then all we gotta do is beat up Bowser again, which was easy enough the first time.



: Come on! Rose Town is just ahead.



But first, Mallow, there's one tiny area we didn't go through. It'll only take a minute.



There must be a reason why these two Shy Guys have taken residence up on these swinging platforms.



Just jump up and crush 'em. There's treasure at the end.



This jump, for me at least, is always a massive pain in the ass. Somehow, I got this one on the first try.



The only reason I'm showing you this is to show the Snapdragon's Pollen Nap spell, which is supposed to put someone to sleep. It never worked, which is good. It puts a character out of commission for three turns, until they get physically whacked, or we cure the status. All in all, not very dangerous.



This is Doom Reverb, which the Shy Guy's can cast. It inflicts Silence, which can be a problem. Fortunately, on Mario, it's not much of an issue. His physical power more than makes up for it.



Aside from the Shy Guy here pulling back for his slingshot attack, it looks like Mario is trying to autofellate himself.



And finally, in the HP bars up top, the Silence status effect puts a big ol' "X" over the character's mouth.



After nabbing that Frog Coin, we're ready to roll out.



But, before we get too far, Mario snags a level up. His bonus this time is +3 Special Attack and +1 Special Defense.





Next time, we go find out exactly what's wrong in Rose Town and we might even pick up a new character. Until next time, folks!