MOVED.

 “WELL, LETS SEE--” Instead of casually just, taking the map like a normal person, Papyrus gently grabbed Mari by the scruff and had her hold up the map in front of him. “WE CHECKED THE OUTSKIRTS AND BEACHES OF THE ISLAND... THERE’S NO WAY HE’S IN THE SQUARE, OR TOWN, WE WOULD’VE PASSED HIM BY... AGH! PERHAPS SPACE SKELETONS TRULY HAVE DIFFERENT WAYS OF HIDING THEIR SECRET BASES.”

 “Maybe we should’ve checked under that weirdly giant orange around the archery...” Mari mewed, “Maybe they’ve left a trail someplace?”

“A GOOD SKELETON DOESN’T JUST SPILL HIS BONES ALL OVER THE PLACE, AND I HAVE NOT SEEN A SINGLE ONE.” Papyrus interjected, “I PROPOSE WE START DIGGING STRAIGHT DOWN--”

[ THERE’S A TRAIL. ] Guy suddenly spoke up again, as both Papyrus and Mari looked over.

 Indeed, the Cruel Smash Mii was right. Off to the side there was just multiple scattered Wuhu Island related nick-nacks and snacks, clearly not dropped on purpose. I mean, come on, who would drop a Wally the Wuhu Whale plush on purpose. The three exchanged glances as Papyrus just stood there, completely still, as he gently placed Mari back on the ground with her silly little map.

 “I AM JUST GOING TO ASSUME THAT TRAIL WAS RECENTLY MADE AND WE DIDN’T LIFT UP THIRTY-TWO ROCKS FOR NOTHING.” Papyrus said, as he was quick to trot after the trail, as Mari and Guy quickly followed. 

 Sure enough, they happened upon The Mysterious Ruins. Mari looked down on her map, flipped it around a few times, and squinted at it.

 “It says that this place is--...” Her claw tapped against the symbol key on the side. “...’Dan-ger, Oof leemits. That’s a weird name for a place.”

 [ THIS IS WHERE THEY’VE BEEN HIDING. MY GUEST DID NOT INFORM ME OF THIS PLACE WHEN DESIGNATING ME TO WUHU ISLAND. ] Guy couldn’t help but squint over Mari’s shoulder. Oof Leemits...

 “THIS IS CERTAINLY THE PLACE,” He pointed at the ‘SKELETONS ARE COOL’ scribbled over a sign, “WE MUST GO IN! OUR MISSION TO CAPTURE THE CAPTURER SHALL BE COMPLETE! BUT KNOWING SKELETONS-- FROM SPACE OR NOT, THERE MAY BE MANY JAPES AND PUZZLES IN THERE?”

 [ JAPES ..? ] Guy said oddly quieter than usual, clearly still not really accustomed to that word. It’s like hearing a word like ‘aglet’ for the first time, takes a second. 

“YES GUY, JAPES. JUST A REMINDER-- YOU WILL NOT. BE PUNCHING ANYBODY, HERE. OR ‘SNAPPING THEM LIKE A TWIG’, AS YOU PUT IT IN PRIOR CONVERSATIONS.”

[ WHY NOT. ] 

“WE CAN’T CAPTURE SOMEONE AND BEAT THEM UP! THAT GOES AGAINST THE INTERNAL LESSON WE’RE TRYING TO TEACH GOLD BONE, HERE. BESIDES, THIS... ‘GUEST’ WHO SENT YOU HERE, SAID TO STOP HIM BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY, RIGHT?”

[ YES. ]

“SO THIS IS A MEANS.”

…

 [ WELL, YES, B -- ]

 “EXCELLENT! I’M GLAD WE CAN AGREE. NOW LETS GET GOING, YOU TWO!” Fast and determined as ever, Papyrus just flat out entered the ‘open’ ruins, taking no note of the rubble nearby. As Mari and Guy followed after, the size of the place took the three of them slightly aback. From all of their surprisingly casual talks with the miis on the island, nobody really mentioned this place.

  “Who do you think built all of this?” Mari said as she couldn’t help but stare at the unknown language that was sprawled on a few of the walls, “It couldn’t have been Gold Bone, it’s too big, I think.”

“OH MY GOD, HE PROBABLY STOLE HIS SECRET BASE TOO. ALAS, HE IS TRULY STUCK IN THE OLD SKELETON WAYS,” Papyrus said, mournfully, as they followed the trail of candy wrappers and other miscellaneous objects. He squinted at the levers nearby, as Mari frowned.

 “What do you think those do?” The plant cat tilted her head. 

 “LEVERS EITHER LEAD TO PUZZLE SOLUTIONS, OR TRAPS...” The tall skeleton pondered. “DO WE JUST IGNORE THEM IN FAVOR OF THE TRAIL? AUGH. TRULY A TOUGH CHOICE TO THINK ABOUT...”

 Almost in unison, they both turned towards where Guy was, but. That space next to them was suddenly lacking a Cruel Smash Mii. They both were clearly about to yell ‘GUY’, until they here a small noise off to the side, right off the trail that they were following.

 “Cee! Cee!” A tiny squeaking cry was heard out. Their attention snapped towards Guy taking a completely different path, following... Something. Mari was quick to scamper on all fours towards him, as she was quick to find out what had taken him off of the path.

 “Cee!” The Unown cried out again, as Mari stared up at it. Guy’s expression remained flat, as the letter-shaped pokemon seemed to look back and forth between the two.

 Flat expression.    Cat.      Flat expression.        Cat.          Flat expression...             Cat...

 “What is that?” Mari said, visibly puzzled.

 [ IT WAS TRYING TO SNEAK UP ON US. ] Guy firmly said. [ IT COULD BE WORKING FOR THE ENEMY. ]

“GUY. THAT IS A LETTER.” Papyrus had just spontaneously popped up behind them, which might’ve been a bit scarier if it wasn’t Papyrus. “MY KNOWLEDGE ON THESE CREATURES ARE SADLY LIMITED, BUT IT MIGHT BE ONE OF THOSE POKEMONS PEOPLE SPEAK OF SO FONDLY AROUND HERE.”

 “Cee, cee!” The Unown repeated, as it spun in the air and flew into the untrailed path. 

“...Should we follow it?” Mari can’t help but say. “‘C’ is a pirates favorite letter, but I think we should see what it wants to show us, mrw.”

“DID MY BROTHER TEACH YOU THAT JOKE.” Papyrus couldn’t help but do a double take at the cat, those weird skeleton eyes popped out all the while. 

 “Maybe.” She quietly replied.

“HE IS CORRUPTING YOUR LITTLE CAT MIND WITH THE FUNNY!!!” He yelled a bit, causing a slight bit of commotion with the pokemon hidden about the area. “BUT! I SAY WE FOLLOW IT. WHAT DO YOU SAY, GUY?”

[ I HAVE NO REASON TO DOUBT THE LETTER C. ] Guy began to go down the dark path that the Unown had flown off in, and after the vague agreement, the cat and skeleton followed.  

There were stairs, multiple writings on the walls, and the occasional open and long empty halls. It seemed as if the little letter was simply leading them on, until they came across a set of three switches, with large text in that same unknown language on the wall. It seemed like a dead end, but the Unown was trying to draw attention to the third switch.

 “Does it want us to pull it?” The cat looked to Papyrus for input, as he was clearly thinking. Wayyy too hard about it.

 “THE THIRD LETTER IN THE ALPHABET IS C, BUT WHAT IF IT’S A RED HERRING... THAT LEVER COULD OPEN UP A PIT, OR REVEAL A POKEMON THAT ISN’T AS LETTER SHAPED OR AS CASUAL.” He rubbed his ‘chin’, “WHO IS GOING TO PUSH THE LEVER IF WE DO--”

 There was a slight rumble as a slab off to the side opened up like a door, revealing a staircase, with some light at the end. Papyrus just. Turned towards Guy, who had very casually flipped the switch, much to the Unown’s delight(?). 

 “GUY, WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT BEING CAREFUL ABOUT JAPES LIKE, TEN MINUTES AGO.” 

[ THE DOOR IS OPEN. ] He had flatly replied. 

“GUY! WHAT IF A ROCK BONKED YOU ON THE HEAD. YOU COULD’VE BEEN INJURED!”

[ A ROCK WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TO STOP ME. ]

“LOOK, GUY, IF Y--”

As Papyrus and Guy bickered in the background (to be fair, Papyrus was doing 98% of the bickering), Mari took notice of the Unown, who was hovering over a part of the wall. She walked over, as it made a little bit of noise as she realized there was a loose brick in a wall. She nudges the brick out of the way, revealing... What looked to be a very, very old notebook. It was small, and the light green cover had a letter on it that was in the same language on the walls. She carefully opened it to reveal that exact same unknown language, the only thing Mari was able to read were the numbers in the corner of each page. 

 “Huh... What’s this all about,” As she looked up to where the Unown was, it was simply... Gone. She looked at the text for a while, before she simply put the notebook away into her little tail, for later. Maybe somebody could read it. And it wasn’t stealing if it was shown to her, right? She looked back over to the two and began to make her way to the now open hidden door.

 “Come on guys, there’s something this way.” Mari began to make her way down the stairs, as Papyrus and Guy both couldn’t help but make small flabbergasted noises that cut off their ‘conversation’, clearly knowing that they both did not want a rock to bonk Mari on the head, either. 

 “WHAT’S THAT LIGHT COMING FROM?” Papyrus squinted, “ARE WE CLOSE?”

The staircase let them to a downwards slope of a hallway, which lead to... A large in. It seemed like there was a trap door that was there, but due to time it was long gone, the high hole only being shrouded in the darkness of the cavern. Papyrus got some binoculars out of seemingly nowhere, squinting down. ‘Golbonia’ was spray painted on it, so naturally.

 “YES! YES, THAT IS IT! THE FRUITS OF OUR SEARCHING LABOR!” The skeleton couldn’t help but say, gleefully. “IT’S A SHORT FALL, BUT AS LONG AS WE’RE SMART ABOUT THIS, WE CAN PROBABLY SNEAK IN AND LISTEN IN ON THEIR JAPES AND PLANS.”

 “Wh... Who builds an inn in a giant cave?” The cat mews, “That HAD to be here before he stole it, right?”

[ WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN INN AND A HOTEL. ] The Cruel Smash Mii blankly added.

 Both Mari and Papyrus clearly blanked out, unable to answer the question.

“...ANYWAYS! LETS FORMULATE A PLA--” Long pause. “OH MY GOD WE DIDN’T EVEN COME UP WITH A TEAM NAME YET. WHAT A FOOL I AM. WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING TO INTRODUCE OURSELVES WITH. I HAVE TO THINK... SOMETHING WITH ‘TRIO’ IN IT, FOR SURE.”

Mari looked over to Guy, who was completely blanked out, now. If he was more of a humorous type of guy, he would’ve gone ‘Mari, I didn’t even have a name, I’m terrible with names’, but just that usual silence. As Papyrus began to list stuff off such as ‘THE TROUBLESOME TRIO-- NO, WE ARENT --AUGH’, Mari gently pressed her side into Guy, meowing a bit.

...And she quietly watched as Guy just began to slide down the slope, just in his static standing pose. Straight for the Inn below. Papyrus gasped loudly, fumbling down the slope as well in an attempt to get Guy back on less slanted ground.

  “GUY!!!” His yelp was probably heard throughout the cave, as he managed to grab Guy by his legs, but now they were both going down, down what was now essentially a slightly uncomfortable ancient slide. 

 “Papyrus! Guy!” Mari’s smaller voice, however, was not, as she managed to grab the end of Papyrus’s scarf, which halted them for a moment, but the weight of the two clearly caught the cat off guard, as she too began to slide down. There was a decent amount of fumbling, before what essentially became a ball of cat, skeleton, and mii headed straight for the inn at a rapid rate, casually bouncing off of the floor as it made impact and barging in through the front door of the inn. No Small Bone could stop the momentum that was essentially a small katamari of Gold Bone seekers until it actually properly stopped.