Sunday, August 17, 2014

Super Paper Mario -- Chapter 3-4: The Battle of Fort Francis

Mario, Peach, and Bowser had scaled the tree and defeated Dimentio. The exhausted heroes were relieved to finally see the ivory towers of Fort Francis. Was Tippi safe? Was the next Pure Heart really waiting for them ahead? Their only answers were the strange voices carried on the wind from inside the fort...

Outside Fort Francis, Bowser asks if this is where the dweeb Francis lives and what his castle has over his. Peach is worried about Tippi. Inside the fort, Tippi is being held in a cage and Francis is photographing her. He calls her "hi-technical" and says she's an undiscovered digibutterfly species. He must document her and tells her to shake her thorax. Tippi calls to Mario. The digibutter.nerr forum will be jealous when he posts the pictures.

The door to Fort Francis is locked. The sign says no entry into Fort Francis unless you're a super genius or a hot girl. Flip and you'll see a pipe hidden behind a small wall. Pick up a block with Thoreau and hit the switch with it to get a Fort Key. Use it to unlock the door. On the inside is a Save Block and another door. I will now you the fast way to get through the fort. Flip in this hallway. There's a space between the door and the wall so you can go behind the door. There's a pipe back here. Go through it to the fort's basement. Flip to find flip blocks near the long row of spikes. Use these to reach a ledge so you can go over the spikes. Check out the writing on the wall. It says, "For room on right: 2323. For room on left: 2828." Keep that in mind. On the other side of the spikes is a cage with a Pixl. Pound the nearby switch with Thudley to open the cage. The funky music starts playing. The Pixl thanks them for freeing her. She's been shut in the cage forever and wants to repay the heroes. First, it wants to see if they are on the same page as her. She asks what their first impression of Francis was: greenish/ nerdy/ awesome. Next, she asks if anything else about him caught their eye. He's: a photo fanatic/ into butterflies/ irresistible. Finally, she asks what they think about him. He's a: monster/ tech geek/ stallion. Regardless of what answers you pick, she'll agree with you, even if you call Francis an "awesome, irresistible stallion". She says they'll work together perfectly and joins. This is Carrie. She folds up into a box and allows the heroes to move around faster and cross spikes and other hazards safely. Go left over the spikes and back through the pipe.

Go through the door and you'll find some of Francis's Meowmaids, robotic servants that ensure Francis enjoys a relatively stress-free fanboy lifestyle. They remove commercial breaks from his television shows, organize his comics, tell him when various items on his wish list can be purchased, and secure the fort. There's a cat-shaped door in the middle of the room. Look through the keyholes and you'll see Francis photographing Tippi. Go through the door on the right. Flip to find some gray stairs leading up. At the top of the stairs is a Surprisemeow, that shoots Meowbombs. Flip to avoid them and go through the door.

The door leads to a room where there are two doors hanging from the wall. Pound the ground underneath them with Thudley to make them drop. These are the left and right rooms the note in the basement speak of. If you did this the normal way, you can only go through the left door and make any progress. Once you have Carrie, both doors are at your disposal. Go through the left door and flip to find a gray platform. Stand on it, then jump and hover with Peach to the right. Flip to find stairs and a door. There are robots here called Airmeows. They will dive-bomb you. Pick one up with Thoreau and use it to hit the switch. A large bridge will appear to another tower. Go through the door on the other side and you'll find a Securimeow. It guards the door to a private room and has True/False security questions to verify identity. All of the questions should be answered True:
1. Videogame soundtracks are totally hi-technical.
2. Episode 127 of "The Grodus Chronicles" is pretty much the schweetest thing ever.
3. One day, I will own all of the "Starship X-Naut" Series 3 collectible action figures.
After this, enter the passcode 2828. If you get it wrong, a trapdoor will open and you'll fall into a room where there is a Chomp and a block to use to hit a switch. Stand on the switch as well to make a pipe appear. When you go through the door, you'll see part of Francis's collection, which includes many things related to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and some from Paper Mario. There's a Bigmeow patrolling the room. Bounce off of it to reach the chest on the shelf. It contains a Fort Key. The item block contains a Mushroom.

Go through the right door and use Carrie to cross the spikes. The door at the end leads to another Securimeow. It has more security questions that must be answered "True".
1. Starship X-Nauts comics are never to be removed from their plastic sleeves.
2. Role-playing games should be no less than 180 hours long, not counting sidequests.
3. Fanny packs are both practical and stylish.
Enter the code 2323 and the door to the elevator to the secret lair opens. There's a Super Shroom in the item block and more collectibles in the room. Jump off the Bigmeow to reach the chest with another Fort Key.

Return downstairs and save. Place the keys in the cat-door's keyholes, then switch to Peach. Check out the door and it says only Francis and hot girls are allowed inside the room. Being Bowser or Mario when this happens will make the door shoot lasers when this happens. The door will ask questions to check Peach's compatibility with Francis before letting her through. They should all be answered "True".
1. Videogames and hot babes are totally hi-technical.
2. If it's limited edition, buy it!
3. I have bought games that I have never played.
4. If it's got fierce giant robot on giant robot combat, it's an insta-buy!
5. They're NOT DOLLS, they're ACTION FIGURES WITH REAL FIRE-PUNCHING ACTION!
6. I have dumped a friend over an argument about Starship X-Naut propulsion technology.
7. A schweet cover illustration is way more important than the storyline.
8. Never pull the top copy from a pile of comics. Find the mint-condition one.
9. My first love was an anime character.
10. I love going on message boards and complaining about games I've never played.

After that, the door opens. Francis is startled, asking who is sneaking into his room and why. Peach says she's been looking all over for him. Francis starts freaking out that there's a hot girl in the room, which is, somehow, "hi-technical". He's too excited and he's started sweating. He can't talk to girls, so he gets out his laptop from his fanny pack and boots up "swoon.exe" and activates the "Nerr2Babe" interface mod with real-time wooing.

The interface boots up and Francis welcomes Peach to his castle. Peach is confused. He says he boots up the interface when it's time to talk to the ladies and it's time for the program to work its magic. He first asks her name. Any of the options work. His passion levels up. He looks at her, complimenting her on being cute like a princess from an anime or videogame. Her feistiness adds to her charm. Pick an option, and his passion will level up, and possibly his ego. He decides to give her a Pink Princess signed poster. Again, select an option that looks interesting. Francis starts talking about the future, saying they are destined to be together and get married. After choosing a selection, Peach asks who's choosing the answers for her, as she's not marrying this dork. She shouldn't be having this conversation in the first place and is here to save Tippi. Francis sifts through the program's options, not finding a Tippi command. Peach has had enough and uses Boomer. Francis calls out in despair about his graphics card. He says that was the only known copy of the Nerr2Babe patch, which is now gone forever. He probably should've made a copy or backed it up. He says real girls are scary.

Tippi notices Peach. She was worried and asks if she's here to save her. Francis understands now that Peach raided his fortress to steal Francine, but he won't let her. (He came up with the name on his own.) He thought it was weird that she could talk, but the forum's reaction was that she was hi-technical. She's also his only offline friend. The cage lowers and Francis says they'll feel the wrath of the jilted X-Naut in the season finale of "The Grodus Chronicles". Feel free to switch characters. As a chameleon, Francis can appear and disappear at will. He'll quickly disappear after launching an attack, so listen for him to appear and attack quickly. He'll use the bright flash of his camera to blind them temporarily and disappear. He'll shoot out his tongue to pick up the hero, then spit them out. He'll also pull out his laptop to summon Meowbombs from the ceiling, so be careful. They will explode after a short while. Once you defeat him, he'll cry and run out of the room.

Tippi is freed from the cage and thanks the heroes for coming to her rescue. She's happy and starts glowing. A green Pure Heart appears from her. They wonder how that happened. Peach thinks Tippi's heart burst with happiness and released a Pure Heart. The heroes take it and the Pixls dance.

End Of Chapter
The fourth Pure Heart appeared in a dazzling flash of mysterious light. What made it appear? The group was puzzled by this and many other riddles. "...So you're not hurt?" asked Tippi, full of concern. Somehow, Tippi seemed different than before. She had started to change. Mario simply shook his head and started the long journey back to Flipside...

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