The elevator ride up took some time. Gamer refocused and prepared for whatever the castle held. He stretched and considered different ways to skin a shellie. Not to mention it'd be his first encounter with a mage. He had no idea what magic would be like in this world.
"What are you going to do after we get the wand?" Minnie randomly asked.
"See if the shroomans can help me get what I need. No offense, but the shellies aren't too accommodating."
Minnie ruminated, then said, "What do you need?"
"...a way home," Gamer stayed cryptic.
"But they don't want you there, right?"
"I've never been one to listen to authority. Besides, I have unfinished business."
"Can I come with?"
Gamer raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have a home here?"
She shook her head, dejected, "All I had was my shell, my patrol, and my orders. I'm an outcast now."
Gamer ruminated this time, then said, "Sure, you can come. We'll figure something out."
"Really?!" his words reignited her excitement with hope. She leapt at him and hugged. He rolled his eyes, embarrassed by her happiness. After losing the blushroom, though, he didn't mind.
The elevator platform approached the top, entering into a warehouse-like brick structure. From how the other platforms worked, theirs would flip over like a hamburger and descend. They'd need to jump to safety. They did so with relative ease.
"That seems extremely inconvenient," Gamer grumbled. He glanced about at the room. They were inside a storage building of some kind. Lanterns lit up the room, but only barely. There were multiple boxes and barrels. Some were labeled by material used for mining or maintenance. A single door ahead of them was the only means in and out.
"How are we going to pass all of the shellies patrolling the castle?" Minnie asked.
"A stealth mini-game should kick in at some point. As long as there are random stacks of boxes, wanton moveable objects, and questionable lamps scattered about, we can easily sneak by everybody. Easy peasy," Gamer flashed confidence. Minnie shrugged and let his confidence motivate her.
When Gamer and Minnie walked towards the door, it opened. A male shellie with a clipboard entered. All three stared at each other for a solid second.
The male shellie soared across a courtyard, which the door led out to. The other shellies glanced over and witnessed Gamer and Minnie exit out of the storage. They were in front of the castle, which stretched skyward before them. Many floating blocks went nearly all the way up and denoted the number of shroomans who used to be here.
"A shellie without a shell is nothing but a lie! Kill the defective!" some shellies shouted at the sight of Minnie. Unlike before, Minnie prepared for the confrontation. This instilled pride in Gamer, and he readied for a fight, too.
"Oi! You're not Marco! Are you the one who came for the wand?!" a shrill voice called from above. Sure enough, the voice came from one of the floating blocks.
"I came," Gamer declared.
The shrooman expected more, but Gamer's intense stare made him squawk, "Wha-"
"To claim the wand!" Gamer finished. "I take it you heard about me from your friends?"
"Yes, the message was passed. Quick, you can use our bodies to climb. Avoid the shellies!"
Gamer estimated the bricks floated a good fifteen feet in the air with ones even farther up than that, "There's no way for us to reach you."
"Take this!" the floating block jittered until an item popped out of its top. It fell towards Gamer, who caught it. The item was a palm-sized yellow mushroom, with red polka dots. The block explained, "That's a red cap. I've seen Marco eat them to grow twice his size. I had some on me before being transformed. Use that, and you can reach us!"
A power up! The shellie enemies closed in at first, but once the red cap landed in Gamer's hand, fear stilled them. Gamer munched the top of the mushroom and swallowed it. Even Minnie stepped aside in anticipation. Gamer's body started to feel weird. In a matter of seconds, the power up kicked in and his body expanded. He went from being nearly six feet tall to being nearly twelve feet tall. His proportions matched his increased size. He towered over everybody.
Minnie was but a toddler in comparison. Gamer offered an arm for her. She monkeyed her way to a shoulder and clung on. The shellies were hopeless to stop him from jumping up to the floating blocks. Even with his expanded form, the blocks supported his weight. After climbing on top, Gamer was able to plot out the platforms of blocks he could reach at each point. He'd be able to reach the top of the castle and circumvent any and all danger within. Some of the shellies tried to jump up, but failed. Any of their thrown weapons met with the blocks beneath Gamer, and were deflected.
The blocks that could communicate all cheered him on. Minnie joined in. Gamer bounded up the platforms. At the pinnacle of the platforms, Gamer and Minnie could see into the top floor of the castle. Battlements surrounded two turret buildings and a hall that connected them with tall windows. With no glass, one could just walk into the hallway. The guard shellies here weren't even doing their jobs; similar to Minnie, they instead laid atop the battlements' merlons. They sunbathed nude, their shells and clothing set aside. The shellies gasped at the duo's sudden appearance.
"We're defective!" the shellies covered their nips and crossed their legs. Gamer took one more leap and slammed onto the battlements. His weight quaked out and knocked the nudists and their belongings off the ledge.
"We did it!" Minnie clapped excitedly. Minnie dismounted him at this point and peered over the battlements. The wind blustered her hair, and she laughed at how far they came.
"I could get used to this," Gamer examined his enlarged form. The open windows were tall enough that all he needed to do was bend his head down a bit. He clenched a fist and walked through one of the windows, "Now let's find that mage and give 'em what for!"