The Seaside Kingdom was mostly what Mario and Cappy had been expecting.
A pale beach lined the mainland, a sprawling sea of turquoise before it. Cliffs towered over the ocean, jutting out from both the shore and several tiny islands dotting the water. To one side, a small resort house rested against the pale ground.
At the center of the area known as Bubblaine, the pride and joy of the kingdom stood tall. The Glass Tower rose out of a rocky island, the intricate glass and bronze design glittering in the sun as usual. The hat had read all about the special properties of the chalice, especially the topic of the liquid contained - the soda-like Sparkle Water that was home to the seaside settlement.
But both of them could say for sure that neither of them expected a giant octopus monster.
"What on.... What is that thing?" The plumber looked up at the rim of the Glass where the lilac beast sat, its tentacles wrapped around the glass. From its bearded mouth protruded a lengthy straw, one that stretched to the bottom of the chalice. The water was completely drained from the glass, and yet the cephalopod continued to suck up the bubbly liquid as best it could.
"I... what... the brochures didn't say anything about an octopus!" Cappy yelped in return. "And where are the streams of water feeding the cup? What's going on here?"
"I'll tell you what's going on," a French-accented voice spoke up from beside him. Mario turned to see a strange mustachioed snail, its blue eyes glaring up at the creature. "Le poulpe just showed up one day, beard and all, and just started sucking everything up! Best part is, we can't do anything about it. At all. Believe me, we've tried, but us Bubblainians can't exactly reach it as it is right now."
"But what happened to the fountains-" Once again, the Bonneter was interrupted.
"Plugged up. All four of them. Some heavy-duty corks, chains and everything! The turtle wasn't kidding when he said he would make sure the Sparkle Water would be his and his only. In a way, it is true - he's the only person who can drink it, now that he's got some and le monstre is up there."
"Oh, of course. Of bloody course it's Bowser..." sighed Cappy. "Well, we did this whole routine in Shiveria. Now we just gotta do it again."
"You have any idea where the Moons could be this time?" Mario inquired. "The cave over there looks good right now." Without even waiting for his partner's agreement, he rushed off. The hat squeaked, but both of them knew it was useless trying to stop the young man.
The entrance guided him through a gentle incline and a steady onslaught of not-so-gentle rolling shells, their silvery spikes threatening the plumber at every turn. A group of rather unlucky Goombas frantically scurried around near the opening, too busy trying not to get squished to notice him. Thankfully, neither of the two adventurers ended up meeting the same fate that the mushroom-like creatures ran from.
Once they were at a higher level, the source of all the strange shells revealed itself - a hole in the wall that practically had "Bowser's work" written all over it. A shabbily stacked wall of crates blocked the way to the first Moon. Cappy knocked them out of the way, and the violet crescent appeared.
With the Moon pocketed and its contraption smashed to pieces, a nearby barrier deactivated as well, revealing a Ground Pound switch underneath. One slam later, a nearby lump of rock jutting out the sea began to shake, the chains holding a cork back slowly sliding off. Without the steel ropes holding it back, a spray of water emitting from the rock blasted the cork out, nailing the octopus on the head to a chorus of amazed gasps.
"What was that?" A single roar from the bearded purple creature silenced all the citizens. It looked around for a few moments, rubbing the spot on its head where the cork had made contact with. When its amber eyes settled on Mario, it began to rant in a rage. "So it was thou who did that, huh? Does thou think thoust can stop me? I, Brigadier Mollusque-Lanceur III, Dauphin of Bubblaine, will not allow that to happen!"
A sickening hiss sounded from the Glass Tower. When the young man looked up again, the cephalopod's head was completely covered in lava, the molten stone somehow not spilling over the to the sides. Spiked shells not unlike the ones in the cave flew out from his mouth, crashing into the waves below and exploding. The Bubblainians were absolutely terrified now, most of them ducking under the closest cover or into the resort house.
"Great. And now we're going to have to worry about Bri... uh... what was the octopus guy's name again?" Mario asked.
"It doesn't matter. Let's get this show on the road." With that, the two rushed off again.
This time, the surprisingly short lighthouse was their next target. They had already spotted the Moon on top, but there didn't seem to be a way up for for anything that wasn't a snail. Luckily, there was a back entrance for fish and other things that could breathe underwater, like a captured Cheep Cheep.
The well in the ground led to a deep underwater chamber, littered with holes in the walls. As soon as he came close to any of them, a bright red eel would come flying out, jaws snapping at his fishy form. Once he had their attack patterns figured out, the mustachioed fish just decided to stay away from holes in the walls and anything that remotely resembled one.
Eventually, he found a pipe at the end of the long cavern. This one led to the roof of the lighthouse, and the second Moon was pulled out of its contraption. Chains broke in the background, and the cork flew out, hitting the purple octopus on the head once more.
The good news was that they were halfway done with undoing Bowser's damage. The bad news was that neither of them knew where the other Moons were. Skipping across the surface of the ocean, avoiding shells, and swimming around in general led to a small island on the side - one covered with steaming lava.
"What are we going to..." Mario paused for a moment, and a nearby octopus-like creature blasted him with a jet of water from inside its bubble. "Never mind. I think I figured it out."
Another cap throw granted the plumber the abilities of the smaller octopus. It appeared to have the ability to squirt water jets about, allowing him to travel at high speeds across the water and even fly. Their abilities seemed to rely on the bubble of water surrounding them, but even the giant bubble didn't protect them from lava as he had hoped. Instead, he had to clear the lava by blasting it. Thankfully, the Moon at the bottom of a lava-covered lake healed him up rather quickly, and its seal was shattered as well.
Now with this new ability, the mustachioed octopus sped back to the Odyssey, exploring the cliffs above. He found a violet crescent not too far from the airship, only several dozen feet above it. It didn't seem to be connected to anything, though, like the one he got in the shop earlier - and neither was the other Moon he found.
Captain Toad wasn't exactly a fan of his new look, but once Mario had un-captured the octopus and explained everything, the little explorer was willing to give him the Power Moon he found. After wishing the plumber good luck with the much bigger octopus, the little Toad began packing up for the next kingdom ahead.
Cappy was just about to re-capture the strange octopus - he called it a Gushen - when it slipped back into the ocean. "Oh dear."
"I guess... it's time to jump, then?"
"No."
• • •
The Princess peeked out the window at the vast expanse of water below. Though it had only been a day or two since they seen land, it felt like an eternity. "It's going to be a long ride."
"Did you leave Mario another note or something?" the Bonneter at her side asked.
"I'm afraid not," Peach sighed. "But I did manage to leave him something else. I just hope he finds it this time. I tried my best to make it float on the water, but if it sinks... well, I think the Broodals' life rings should work."
"How far do you think they are now? I haven't seen the Odyssey once after that scuffle in the clouds," sighed Tiara.
"You... you don't think they're..." The blonde gasped. "What if they didn't..."
"N-no! My big bro is tough. I'm sure he made it. We have to believe they did." The spirit flew over to Peach, giving her an affectionate bump. "They're still out there!"
Just then, a black bat soared past the window, a letter clenched between fanged jaws. The Princess blinked. "What is that?"
"Hey, listen. Bowser's talking," whispered Tiara. Both girls snuck over the window, opening it all the way and peeking out.
Footsteps. Loud, crashing ones. The Koopa King proclaimed his arrival with a groan. "How's Dragon Boy going? Has he replied yet?" A paper unfolded and a bat squeaked. "Oh, boy. Yeah, I can't read this. Get the green guy."
A "yes, sir" and a few minutes later, Topper's voice once again rang out. "Boss."
"The dragon guy sent me a return message, but the thing is, he's kind of really bad at writing. You have experience with dragon writing?"
An incomprehensible grumble from the bunny. "Boss, it says dat he's willing to do it for a bunch of Moons for a power-up just in case. He'll be at the rendezvous point in two to three days. At least, that's what I can tell."
"Good." There was another bat squeak, and a low chuckle from the Koopa. "Very good, indeed. Tell him his deal is accepted. Plumber boy's going down, baby!" Topper let out a very forced laugh at that.
A flap of wings announced the exit of the dark messenger. Peach slammed the window shut. "Okay, that seals it. We are telling Mario about this, and the second we get a chance, we are getting off this ship."
• • •
The final barrier fell. Mollesque-Lanceur snarled as the cork slammed into his head. "Oh, that is it! Thou hath just sentenced thyself to a beatdown!"
"Yeah, right," Cappy mumbled. "Here we go."
With a burst of lava and spiked shells, the bearded octopus landed in the water. Mario quickly utilized the Gushen's abilities to get away from the blasts, flying into the air. Being careful not to get hit, the little octopus headed to just above the larger beast and changed the direction of his jet stream, until a yell from below notified him of his success. When he dropped back down, the molten rock had disappeared from the Brigadier's head.
As he went in for another attack, however, the giant cephalopod began to spin, the force of his tentacles knocking Mario all the way back to the beach. A group of snails - including the one that introduced him to the kingdom - surrounded him, desperately trying to help. The hat popped off the young man's hair, panicking.
"This man is in critical condition. Do you hear that? We need to help him, and now." the brown snail from earlier barked at the others. "He is fighting Mollesque-Lanceur - non, we cannot let this hero go down! Do we not have anything left?"
"Here," a pink Bubblainian said, pushing her way to the front of the crowd. "I found this drifting around in a life ring out there." In her hands was a Life-Up Heart pulsing with power. "I don't know how it got there, but if he needs it..."
"Thank goodness!" Cappy pushed the heart into Mario's hands, who quickly accepted the power-up. He got up once again, practically glowing from the extra boost, and captured the Gushen.
Once again, they zipped across the surface of the sea, dodging projectiles - but with the rapid spinning attacks, it was hard to get close. Instead of approaching the octopus monster head-on, the mustachioed Gushen decided to take a different approach, and began to fly upwards. Once he was suitably close, the young man hopped out and leapt towards the beast, Ground Pounding on his head.
Mollesque-Lanceur let out another roar, knocking the duo back onto the ocean surface. A round of spiked shells landed around them, each one exploding one after the other. The Dauphin of Bubblaine followed up with a red drill-like shell that flung the plumber all the way back to another island.
Another Gushen was quickly captured, but even with the speed of the little octopus, Mario couldn't get close without taking another hit. Finally, he took to the air once again, and sprung out of the small bubble of water. A dive, a cap throw and bounce, another dive, and he landed the last blow.
With one last screech, Brigadier Mollesque-Lanceur III, the now-former Dauphin of Bubblaine slumped over, unconscious. From his humongous head, Mario stumbled down - right into one of the four fountains, which now let out a steady stream of clear water. Luckily for him, the Glass Tower had a floating platform of cork inside it. A Multi Moon floated above the ground, its violet aura healing up whatever damage he had taken - but not restoring the extra energy the Life-UP Heart had given him.
Cappy gave the three crescents a once-over. "You don't think...?"
"He's going to try another manoeuver like the Cloud Kingdom, isn't he, with all these Moons practically out in the open?" the plumber replied. "Yes. Yes, I'm pretty sure he is. And unlike the Bubblainians' situation," he sighed, "there is no way we can avoid it this time."