High in the sky back at Bowser's castle, Kammy flew into Bowser's chamber and told him about the defeat with the fairies and he got furious. She advised that they take a more subtle way of taking out this kid and flew off cackling that she knew just the person to do the job.

Jimmy walked pleasantly from the Boo's Mansion onto the dusty path of Gusty Gulch. He looked at the sun high in the sky and felt great not to be in either a dark or a cutsy poo forest. "This air is really good! I feel great!" He backed to the side to let Bombette and Kooper pass. Jimmy looked at the windmill and asked. "What's with the windmill?"

"We had to defeat the heart of Tubba Blubba in there, it's just for Boo Village now." Goombario followed him and jumped in front of him and walked backwards, so he could face him. "So you know Parakarry's here?"

"Yeah! He had mail to deliver here. He was the first person I ever saw in this world." Jimmy replied. "He helped me to the Mushroom Kingdom and showed me to shooting star point."

"What did you guys do there?" Goombario wondered.

"I found a cute little star named Twink and he told me that I was summoned here and that I had to rescue Peach, Mario and Luigi. He even told me that you were supposed to be my protector while I go on this quest." Jimmy recalled. "Parakarry had to leave when he got priority mail, too bad. I think he liked me."

"That was irresponsible of him to leave you..." Goombario thought. "Oh well..." Suddenly Goombario tripped over a rock and he tumbled into a rock wall, the shock caused a pebble to fall into his gills, it got wedged there. "Uh?!"

"Oh man! Are you all right?" Jimmy asked as he rushed over to him. "You shouldn't have been walking like that!"

"...um..." Goombario blushed a bit. "There's a pebble in my gills. Can you please remove it?"

"I'll try." Jimmy nodded as he looked at the gills. "Here it is, Hmm, it seems to be stuck in here..." He tried pulling at it but Goombario opened his gills and the pebble fell in deeper. "Uh oh..."

"Uh oh what?" Goombario groaned.

"It went in deeper..." Jimmy said. "Is that bad?"

"Well, you'd better go in there and take it out or else I'll be in pain for days." Goombario winced. "Remove it quick!"

"I'll try, here goes." Jimmy said as he looked at the interior of Goombario's cap area and was getting closer to the back of his head. "Hey, the wound that fairy siren gave you seems to have healed."

"Ugh...Biew Tee healed it with her fairy magic." Goombario groaned. "Found the pebble yet?" He could feel his cheeks getting more red from embarrassment.

"What's this?" Jimmy wondered, looking inside Goombario's cap at the back of his head. "It looks a little swollen, could the rock be wedged in there? Or maybe that's the stone...?"

"No it isn't!" Goombario replied sharply, totally embarrassed, his face was completely red from blushing. "That's not it! Keep looking."

"Okay...?" Jimmy mumbled as he looked towards the side of Goombario's head. "Here we go!" Jimmy reached into his cap gently and removed the pebble and flicked it away. "There!"

Goombario flipped over and he closed his gills, he was still blushing a little. "Thank you! THAT was humiliating! I'm glad no one else was here to see that..."

"What was?" Jimmy asked intently.

"Nothing..." Goombario turned away and started walking. "I promise to watch where I'm going from now on. Let's find Parakarry."

"Let's catch up to the others." Jimmy said but then smirked. "Maybe you'd like me to carry you so you won't trip and trap any more rocks in tender places? I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I'm fine!" Goombario said sharply and blushed a little. "You just watch where YOU'RE walking!" He ran up to the others.

"What a weird thing to say..." Jimmy mumbled, a little perplexed and then ran up to the others as well. "At least we've been treading on a smooth path." Suddenly a mole popped out of the ground and chucked a rock at Jimmy. The rock hit Jimmy on the shoulder and he was knocked to the ground. "OW!! What do you think your doing, you little rat?"

The mole laughed and three more appeared. They began chucking rocks at everyone and Goombario took a rock in the cheek for Jimmy. Jimmy took off his feather and swished it to the side, turning it into a hammer. Kooper checked it out and commented. "Wow! The feather can change into things!"

"I'll get you rats!" Jimmy growled as three more Moles poked up from the ground. He then began pounding the hammer down on the moles as they surfaced up. The moles however submerged when the hammers came down on them. "Come ON! Hold still!"

"That's not going to work!" Bombette said. "...But it does look fun, can I have a turn after the time limit expires?"

"You must aim carefully! If you hit the golden one, you'll get three points instead of one!" Kooper cheered. "Come on! GO! GO! GO!"

"You have to get them in their holes or else you'll only get a game over in this arcade game. Hit them with something that could spread out in their holes!" Goombario knowledgeably said. "Use the Fire Orb spell!"

"FINE!" Jimmy growled and took out the fire orb spell badge and put his hand to the dusty ground. From his hand shot a summoned a spread of flames that caused the Monty Moles to jump out of their holes, screeching. They ran around the area trying to douse their tail fires. Jimmy picked up his mallet and shouted. "You're mine!!" He hunted down the little rats and crunched them with his hammer one by one. He wiped sweat from his brow and leaned on his hammer, placed on the ground and laughed out loud. "HA!" Everyone stared at him with tiny anime dot eyes and had anime sweat drops on the backs of their heads. Jimmy then blushed and smiled, embarrassed. "Um...I'm sorry everyone! I didn't know WHAT came over me!" In response, they all collapsed in an anime way.

"Well...now that we've put that behind us..." Kooper said. "Guess what? We're at Boo Village!"

The village was used by people many years ago but now it's run down and Boos live there. The Boos here have a brownish tinge to them unlike the fair forest boos. The village itself was falling down but there was an item store and a Toad house here. Parakarry was sitting in the shade enjoying a honey syrup. He flew up when he saw Jimmy and saw the other approach behind. "Hey Jimmy! How'd you get here? The forever forest was taken over by strange forest nymphs."

"We cleared up the problem there and now we're here!" Jimmy replied kindly. "How have you been doing? Did you deliver the letter?"

"Yeah I did, it was a scare letter to Tubba Blubba apparently. What a waste of time delivering it." Parakarry said. "I'm so sorry I couldn't be there to protect you but here I am now! I'm happy to be your protector for the rest of the journey!"

"You don't have to worry about it, I'm Jimmy's protector." Goombario proudly stated.

"Excuse me, but I'm far better at protecting than you." Parakarry commented flatly and Goombario shot a shocked and angry look at him. "I can carry Jimmy over long distances and all you can do is headbutt people and talk."

"I can do more than that!" Goombario protested sharply. "I've done a great job of protecting him!"

"Yeah right!" Parakarry replied skeptically.

"Excuse me..." Jimmy frowned and mumbled and took a step forward.

"You don't have any authority to tell everyone that I'm no good at protecting him because you've never seen me. You NEVER protected him so you wouldn't be any good at it!" Goombario shouted angrily. "Back off!"

Parakerry shook his fist and shut his eyes tight, growling. "I'm sure you did an okay job of protecting him..." Then he turned to him. "But I'm taking over!"

"No you're not!" Goombario growled and then glared at him and took a fighting stance when Parakarry did. "The job is MINE!"

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Bombette asked Bow.

Bow looked at her and smiled mischievously. "No, I want to see this..."

"Hey!" Jimmy protested and glared at Goombario and Parakarry. "Stop it!!" They both dropped their stances and glared at one another but then looked away. Jimmy stomped up to them and said. "Don't fight with one another!"

"But can I...?" Goombario asked sharply. "Can I please teach this overbearing jerk a lesson?"

"You're the very definition of overbearing, you motor mouth!" Parakarry shot back and they both glared at one another, everyone could almost see sparks of anger flying between the two.

"Parakarry, you knock it off right now!" Jimmy scolded. "You really don't have the authority to mark Goombario's abilities." Goombario smiled, slightly smug. Jimmy continued. "And you, Goombario. You're no better, Goombario...you are supposed to protect me from enemies not pick fights with friends! I want you both to apologize to each other now!"

"Sorry!" They both said to one another with venom in their tones and then they turned away from one another.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I yelled at both of you." Jimmy said sincerely. "Please forgive me."

"Whoa, you need to let off some steam once and awhile." Bow told Jimmy. "It's healthy for you."

"Well I don't like to yell at people..." Jimmy mumbled and then went into the Toad house. "I just want a to spend a little time alone. See you in about an hour." He closed the door and the Toad walked out.

"You really should listen to the guy." the Toad said warmly as he walked into the shop. "I think he really cares about all of you."

Bombette and Bow were talking and Parakarry and Goombario were busy ignoring each other. Bow turned away from Bombette and grinned mischievously at the two. "Hey guys..." In response, they both turned to her and she continued. "I think you guys should do something for Jimmy."

"What could we do?" Goombario and Parakarry asked.

"How about you guys get a Whacka's Bump?" Bow suggested and her eyes gleamed. "You know about a whacka don't you?"

"Yeah, they're creatures that occur rarely in mountains and if you hit them, they produce a lump that changes into a doughnut that is highly nutritious and delicious." Goombario replied with wisdom.

"Right! And let's make it interesting!" Parakarry suggested, smirking. "Whoever finds one first and gives it to Jimmy will be his right hand. The loser has to become a badge that Jeremy can keep with him with regards to switching allies."

"You're on!" Goombario heatedly accepted and they both ran in opposite directions.

When they were gone, Bombette approached Bow and asked. "Are there even ANY Whackas in gusty gulch?"

"Nope!" Bow replied naughtily. "They've been sent on a wild Whacka chase. But don't worry, the futile scavenger hunt'll let them vent their energy more positively than fighting."

"I see..." Bombette commented. "But what if they realize there are no Whackas and you've set them up?"

"They can be quite dense...so they won't probably won't realize it." Bow replied, sure of herself and she floated over to some boos to strike up a conversation.

"Why would they do this anyway?" Bombette asked to Kooper.

"Dunno." Kooper replied while lying in the shade. "They're kind of fun to watch though."

Goombario went the east way and checked the areas for any Whackas but couldn't find any he used his knowledge that they often surface near water so he went to find some water. Parakarry looked all over the right side of the gulch by air and also couldn't find anything that looked even close to a Whacka. After about 15 minutes Goombario and Parakarry met up with each other and they both glared and shot the words. "Eat my dust!"

Meanwhile, Jimmy was resting on the bed in the Toad house and he had his hands tucked behind his head. "I wonder what everyone's doing right about now?" He suddenly felt cold but the windows weren't open so why was he feeling chilly? He suddenly squinted at the ceiling and his eyes grew wide. "What in the?" He suddenly rolled to the side as a koopa dressed in black jumped down onto the bed, he was wielding a knife. Jimmy jumped out of the bed and the bandit like creature swung a series of deadly knife strokes. Jimmy just dodging by a hair. Jimmy opened the door and ran out, stumbling and Bow, Bombette and Kooper jumped from the startle.

"We've got to fight!" Jimmy shouted. "There's some sort of assassin in there!"

The assassin burst through the window and landed tumbled gracefully, ending in a chuck of 4 gleaming ninja stars at Jimmy. Jimmy deftly dodged them and jumped back and waved his hand, countering by summoning with a vicious blast of wind that caught the masked intruder and slammed him against a boo house. He sneered at Jimmy and shouted. "Well met! But don't thing it ends here!" He chucked down a smoke bomb and vanished.
 

Jimmy was breathing hard and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Hmm...That was close!"

"How did that assassin come in?" Bow asked.

"I don't know. Where's Goombario and Parakarry?" Jimmy asked loudly. "They could be in danger!"

"...It's my fault they aren't here. I sent them on a wild Whacka chase." Bow confessed. "I'm sorry."

"Now's not the time for apologies. We need to find them quickly!" Jimmy said but then smiled in relief when he saw them approach, all dirty and bruised.

"We can't find the Whacka anywhere..." Parakarry panted. "I did find a fight between two Monty Moles..."

"I couldn't find it either." Goombario groaned. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you the bump."

"Why would you get me that anyway?" Jimmy asked.

"I wanted to get you a present to tell you that I'm sorry for those things I said to Parakarry." Goombario turned to Parakarry. "I'm sorry I called you an overbearing jerk, I'm sure you would make a good protector."

"Then you'll let me protect him?" Parakarry asked. "Are you going to admit that I can protect him better than you?"

"Hey!" Goombario protested but Jimmy cut him off.

"I'm just glad your both safe." Jimmy said.

"Oh I wouldn't go that far..." A familiar voice mumbled. Everyone looked around and saw him peek out from behind a Boo house. It was the same assassin that attacked earlier. "Miss me?"

"You were only gone for like 5 minutes!" Jimmy commented, annoyed. "That's a stupid question!"

The ninja brandished his sleek assassin's blade and jumped up. He came down came down onto Jimmy but not before Jimmy took out his feather and put it in front of him, the feather grew into a large shield that easily repelled the assassin's attack. The assassin got forced off the shield and he tumbled to the ground but landed gracefully. Bombette, Goombario and Parakarry jumped up to the front line and everyone took on a fighting stance. "Give up and we'll let you go!"

"Ha!" The Assassin laughed scornfully and his eyes started to glow and suddenly he spilt in half and then in half again and now there was four of them. "I'd better multiply my odds first, seeing there's so many of you now!"

Goombario turned to Jimmy and said. "This guy is called Shinobo. He's fast but very weak. When he divides like this, you should use an attack that targets them all. Only one is the real one."

The Ninjas jumped around and they surrounded the group. Jimmy took out the Gusty Blast and the Dizzy attack badge and said to them. "Hope this works...GUSTY DIZZY!" Jimmy commanded and everyone instinctively scattered.  Jimmy started to spin faster and faster and faster. The Ninjas were all sucked into his vacuum and they were spit out the top. Not only were they all dizzy but they all landed hard on the ground. Three dissipated and one remained. "Okay everyone! Now!"

Goombario jumped up and did a hard headbutt attack. Parakarry and Kooper ducked into their shells and slammed into the dizzy assassin. Bombette then got wound up and jumped into the assassin, exploding. He groaned and staggered about but collapsed ultimately and transformed into an agility badge and a bag of coins. Jimmy took it and smiled victoriously. "The assassin should pick his fights a little more carefully! I'm gonna buy us some snacks!"

Parakarry turned to Goombario and finally sighed. "Goombario...I'm sorry. You really are a valuable member of the team. If you hadn't have told Jimmy what to do to get rid of those clones then I'd hate to think what might have happened..."

"Apology accepted." Goombario replied nobly and then laughed. "Hmm, since neither one of us got that Whacka's bump. I guess we can both go on protecting him."

They both looked on as Jimmy went into the shop and smiled but then they looked directly at one another, glared and shouted. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna let you win! You're goin down!"
 

That's the end of chapter 6. Did you like it? I'd really like some feedback about how people liked it.