Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 – Star Light, Star Bright

The Star Festival always brought out the best in the Mushroom Kingdom. Of all the holidays the people here knew, it was this one that put their spirits highest. Each year, the Toads and miscellaneous inhabitants of Toad Town would rise early, bustling about and getting ready for their long night of staying up late. Decorations would be hung, songs would be sung, and the humble town would be transformed into something beautiful.

This year was no different – the celebration was everywhere, and the sun hadn't even set. The cobblestone streets and plazas of the capital were brimming with visitors of every race, from all corners of the kingdom. As a young man in red made his way through the crowd, he paused a short moment to take it all in. Here, a vendor's kiosk selling jelly pops and cake to a throng of eager youngsters. There, a grove of trees strung up with a bright rainbow of lamps shaped like star bits. Further on, some Bob-ombs setting up a fireworks display by a shimmering pond. This evening, every inch of the city was alive with light.

In the center of it all, the white towers of Peach's Castle reached up like a slender hand towards the sky, as if ready to catch the shooting stars when night fell.

As for the young man in red, his destination was that very castle. He was Mario Mario, a hero to the people here, so of course he had been invited to visit the princess' home on this, the night of the Starlight Gala. Of all the festivities in the city, none matched the Gala in splendor. At this grand gathering, the kingdom's elite came together for a magic night of dancing, drinking, and heralding in the blessings of a new year. To be invited was a sign that you had truly become someone. The wealthy strove for it, young girls pined for it, and the people of Toad Town counted down the days until the annual tourism boom it brought.

Simply put, it was the social event of the year, and invitations were sacred.

Mario and his brother had set out from their home in the late afternoon. Luigi, as always, had run on ahead to "mingle," which more or less meant "get there first so I can have some attention before Mario shows up." Mario, for his part, was perfectly willing to let his little brother have some time in the spotlight. He'd rather take the scenic route and enjoy the sights and smells of the festival.

He was enjoying himself, but to be honest, he wasn't just slowing his footsteps for Luigi's sake. He was nervous about seeing the princess again – they had hardly spoken in the months since their quiet, well, he supposed you could call it a "breakup." The hero and princess had always been close, and so they had played at a relationship for a while, but found that it wasn't meant to be. How could it? The gap between ex-plumber and royalty was too great for even him to leap across. In the end, they had decided to stay "good friends," but somehow he hadn't seen her very much since then.

So he meandered through the streets instead, offering kind greetings to familiar faces and strangers alike. He passed the hastily-erected juice bar of a Pianta merchant, and politely declined to try the odd-smelling "pineapple eggnog" the thing had concocted. A minute later, a pair of starstruck young Koopas approached him for a photo, and on a night like this he was more than happy to oblige. He gave his biggest bushy-mustached grin as they shared a selfie together, and wished them well as they went on their way. Tonight was made for memories, after all.

But eventually, all good detours must come to an end, and Mario found himself entering the castle grounds. Great brass gates, flung open for the evening, bore the royal family's insignia in ornate, twisting metalwork. Beyond them, stone walls and hedgerows rimmed a brick plaza the size of a city block. Gardens and fountains lay to the west, and ahead the white stone castle loomed up and away into the twilight. In here, the laughter and shouting of the town festival gave way to the music and chatter of a high-society affair.

"Greetings, Mario!" a Toad guard chirped to his left. "The princess is waiting for you inside!"

"Ah, how are things out here?" Mario replied, anxious to delay that meeting just a bit longer.

The guard seemed new, but picked up on his real question just the same. "All's quiet on the Koopa Troop front. Our scouts haven't picked up anything either. Bowser isn't gonna be making any trouble tonight, no sirree!"

The brash Koopa king had been quiet lately, but Peach had sensibly doubled security, just in case.

Mario approved of the logic. "Bowser shows up when you least expect him," he thought. "Who knows what he might try at a party like this?" He could just imagine the big lug relishing in the chance to knock some noble heads together as he made off with the princess. Sighing, he bid the guard goodnight and turned to enter the castle.

Inside was another world. Aristocrats and celebrities alike intermingled under a sea of glass stars and golden chandeliers. Laughter echoed down stairways, and music drifted into Mario's ears from every corner. In the gardens, Toadofsky the composer led his symphony from a fountain stage. In the great hall, the singer Chanterelle enchanted guests with her silvery voice. The contemporary tunes of the Peach Hit Five could be heard emanating from some upstairs hallway. Entertainment, at least, was far from lacking. Mario bet there was probably a stage play going on somewhere, with a movie adaptation playing in the next room for the more modern guests to enjoy. Princess Peach never did anything halfway.

"Except us," Mario mused, but shook away the thought as soon as it came.

Instead, he made his way up to the balcony for a better vantage point. Here, an open-air passageway joined the entry hall to the great stone terrace which looped the castle's inner courtyard. From there, he could hopefully spot his brother, and perhaps some other familiar faces as well.

Below, tents and tables had been set up for the mingling guests. Leaning against the railing, Mario scanned the area and tried to pick out his friends among the crowd – the mayor of Shiver City, still in his ushanka; Toadsworth and Lady Lima, flirting; Lady Bow, fanning herself in the shade – but he was soon lost in a sea of faces and his own daydreams.

Mario found himself thinking back – of all things – to the Shroob invasion of his childhood. He and Luigi had been thrust back into that nightmare during a time travel escapade. To the brothers, the vicious parasitic aliens had been just another enemy; one more adventure in a long, long list. But to the innocent people of the kingdom, they had been an apocalypse. The harvesting of Toads for "vim" had bordered on genocide, and most of the Kingdom's human population had emigrated through the warp pipes to another, safer world. Mario's own parents had been among them, and it was only by the grace of fate that he and Luigi had found their way back as adults.

There had been no Star Festival that year, no grand Galas or street fairs. The cities had been dark and dead. "What if we hadn't been there? What if-"

Mario was ejected from his brooding by a flash of blonde hair and the scent of a familiar perfume. Sighing, he turned around to face the inevitable.

There she was. Princess Peach was standing barely fifteen feet away, politely chatting with a cluster of Beanish dignitaries. Her eyes met his as she glanced up, and she gave him a weary smile. Excusing herself from the Beanish, she made her way down the balcony to join him.

"Hello, princess," Mario said while trying his best to return the smile she had given him.

There was a bit of sadness in her eyes. "I've told you, Mario, 'Peach' is still fine."

She had told him – the last time he saw her, in fact – but the reminder hadn't stuck. Mario felt a bit awkward, being so casual with her. Luckily, she pushed ahead and changed the subject.

"I'm glad you could make it. The Gala really wouldn't be the same without you, Mario." They leaned their elbows on the railing and took in the sight together.

"I would never miss it, princess. You know that." It was true, too. He and the princess may be in a bit of a strange place, but he'd never dream of missing a night like this. He glanced at the sky, and saw that the sun had finally set. In a while the stars would come out, and the festival would begin in earnest.

"So, how have things been?" she asked, ignoring the fact that he had called her "princess" again.

"Oh, you know…" He didn't quite know himself. "About the same, I guess."

"I talked to Luigi earlier, and he told me to ask you about the 'Koopasta Incident,'" she encouraged. "Tell me about that."

Oof, so she'd heard about that, had she? "Mama Mia, that's quite a story. Let's see…"

So the hero and princess made small talk for a while. They smiled and laughed, but Mario watched as she cast glances aside and smoothed creases in her pink dress that didn't quite exist. "She'd rather be anywhere else than here," he realized. "She feels as awkward as I do about all this." Somehow that made him feel a bit better.

"Listen, princess, I…"

Mario found his thought cut short by a light impact on the terrace to his left, and turned to find a skittering crystal, dancing with violet light. In an instant it was joined by more; a hail of sparkling orbs in blue, green, and gold.

Star bits. Hundreds of them, then thousands, pouring like candy rain from the night sky. They fell from on high, hopping and skating here and there as if held aloft by some unfelt breeze afraid to let them touch the ground. The courtyard was suddenly a flurry of activity - guests pouring in, cheering and pointing skyward, trying to catch a glimpse of the fabled comet that brought with it the falling stars.

"Oh! I have to go, Mario," Peach said, "They'll be expecting me to give a speech, and Toadsworth will be cross if I'm late."

With a nod, he let her go and turned back to the sky. Through the hail of star bits, he could see that the true stars were beginning to emerge.

Soon he found himself walking down the terrace. Inside, the stuffier nobles continued their schmoozing as usual; but below him, children chased star bits and each other around the courtyard, and Mario considered leaping down to join them. Before he had the chance, though, a gloved hand grasped his shoulder and he turned to find his brother.

"There you are, bro!" Luigi smiled, "I've been looking everywhere for you! Well, by 'everywhere' I mean the dining hall. I was sure you'd be in there. They have shroom steak!"

Mario gave a hearty chuckle and rubbed his belly. He could only begin to imagine the feast the princess had prepared. "I haven't quite made it there yet. What about you, eh? I expected you to be in some quiet corner with Princess Daisy."

Luigi's face turned as pink as Peach's dress at that. "Er, Daisy isn't here. Something about, um, 'not her kind of shindig.'" Then, as if prodding for revenge, he continued, "What about you? Have you seen Peach yet?"

Mario didn't quite blush, but glanced to the side. "Yep, we talked. She made me tell her about that awful pasta prank we tried pulling on those Goombas."

"Yeah, I might've mentioned that to her. I just want you two to be pals again, bro. We used to be a trio! Remember the three of us on the Subcon adventure?"

"Toad was there for that one, too," Mario pointed out.

"Oh yeah, I always forget him," Luigi admitted. Then, as if trying to change the subject, "H-hey, isn't that what's-her-name over there?"

"What's-her-name," being an incredibly unhelpful indicator, prompted Mario to take his eyes off the stars and glance around until Luigi indicated someone in the entryway behind them.

She turned out to be Vivian, his shadow siren friend from a few years back. At this moment, she was emerging hesitantly onto the veranda as if she wasn't quite sure where she should be. When she caught sight of Mario, she almost darted back into the shadows before he and Luigi enthusiastically called her over to join them.

As she glided across the balcony, Mario took note of her appearance. She was taller now, he thought, and she had grown her pale pink hair out a bit. She'd also traded in her striped hat for a long scarf of the same pattern. Mario never claimed to know much about fashion, but he imagined she looked very stylish.

She swept up beside him, her lavender eyes wide with wonder. "Mario, it's so wonderful to see you! I didn't expect to…" she floundered, "I mean, I knew you'd be here, because why wouldn't you be? It's just, I never thought we'd run into each other, or…"

Mario couldn't help but grin. "It's great to see you too, Vivian." He started to make for a hug, when the amassed crowd around and below them suddenly began to gasp and cheer as one.

Vivian shrank into herself, startled, but Mario took hold of her hand and guided her to the spot on the railing where he and Luigi had been situated. Together, the three friends watched a miracle be born in the sky.

The rain of star bits had only been the beginning of the night's magic. Now the stars themselves had come out in earnest, and with them had come a brilliant, shining comet.

The night was cloudless, and the new arrival was the brightest thing in sight. White and blazing, it announced its presence to the planet, as it had so many times before. This comet was a dearly welcome sight. It visited the planet each year - always on this same mid-spring night –and for centuries the people of the Mushroom Kingdom had called it an omen, a spirit, or a miracle. Mario knew better. Rosalina, watcher of the stars, had come to pay her respects to the departed and to shower the living with her love.

The crowd here tonight, though, knew only the spectacle and that it meant a night of wild celebration; so Luigi soon suggested that the three move into a small side room, to continue their conversation away from the noise.

Inside, they found the room already occupied. Toad and Toadette were sat in a corner, huddled together eagerly showing each other something on their phones. Meanwhile, Yoshi was leaning against the near wall sipping a drink – pineapple eggnog, Mario noted with some disappointment.

Still, three people were less bother than a thousand, so the brothers invited Vivian to join them at a cozy tea table and chat.

"Like I was saying," Mario began, "it's great to see you again. "What brings you this far away from Twilight Town?"

"W-well, I was invited. Everyone from that adventure was, so I saw it as a chance for us all to see each other again." She looked down, "but I'm the only one who showed up. B-besides you, of course. Goombella is busy with school; Koops has his new baby to care for… Oh, Mario, I'm so sorry! I know you'd prefer it if all of us were here and not just me…"

"She never gives herself enough credit," Mario mused. "I'm just glad you're here. How have you been? Are your sisters treating you well?"

So the time passed, and Mario, Luigi, and Vivian traded stories about how their lives had been. The two brothers regaled her with tales of dream realms and Voids and madmen, of haunted mansions and hidden courage. In turn, she told them about sisters who had learned kindness, and about a quiet domestic life in a faraway forest at the edge of night.

Sometime after midnight, Mario was beginning to feel tired when the gasping and yelling started up again outside. "Must be fireworks," he thought, "those Bob-ombs must have found their way to the party." He tried to tune out the noise, but Luigi jabbed him in the arm and hauled him up.

"What was that for?" he asked with a tinge of sleepy exasperation.

"C'mon, bro! We gotta get out there!" Luigi was shouting at him. When Mario just looked at him blankly, he pressed on, "Don't you hear them? Those people are panicking!"

Mario's listened closer, mind clearing in a flash – Luigi was right. Those weren't cheers, they were screams.

The brothers – and Vivian – found themselves jostling for space when they got back outside. The courtyard and terrace had filled up to the eaves with guests, and Mario found himself pushing through bodies to get a better view. Down below, the packed Toads and other creatures were looking up as one, a stone-still vigil. Some enterprising Boos and Paratroopas had flown up above the rest to see better, but all eyes were on the sky.

Mario's stomach sank – it didn't take him long at all to see why.

Hanging at the edge of space like an ominous eye was a second comet.

"Th-that isn't supposed to happen, is it?" whispered Vivian from somewhere beside him. Mario shook his head. This was very new.

The new comet was darker, larger, and glowed with a faint violet light. Its very presence seemed to suck the starlight from the sky. The star bits had stopped falling - instead, wisps and streams of rainbow light connected the two celestial bodies – falling stars turned into ammunition. "They're firing on each other." So, Rosalina had noticed the intruder as well, and she had judged them unwelcome.

The false comet flickered and pulsed with an alien aura as it cast its shadow upon the city. Now and then, it would lazily return one of Rosalina's volleys, but on the whole it seemed utterly unconcerned with her presence. In fact, it seemed to swell larger as the minutes passed.

"What does it mean?" asked a young Noki girl off to Mario's left, trembling in her shell.

"It's King Bowser, it has to be," murmured a Shy Guy who had perched itself on the railing nearby. "I knew I shouldn't have come to this party."

Mario squinted towards the sinister star, skeptical. "No, not Bowser. This isn't his style. He'd have made a scene. He's loud and sudden, not silent and eerie like whatever this is." He could have sworn the comet had grown larger even since he'd begun his thought.

It wasn't until he felt the first faint rush of heat tickle the hairs of his mustache that he realized the truth. "It's not getting bigger, it's getting closer." The plumber's eyes snapped open in an instant, dilating with horror. "It's falling."

Stepping down, he pulled Luigi and Vivian back out of the throng and into the safety of a nearby archway. "We need to find the princess and get everyone to evacuate. That thing is a missile."

Vivian covered her mouth, but managed to stifle her gasp. Everyone present knew the importance of caution at a time like this. A tense situation could easily turn to chaos, and make getting the innocent to safety impossible.

"Luigi, you and I will make our way to the front of the castle and start guiding people out. Vivian, use the shadows to locate Princess Peach. Tell her what's going on, and make sure she gets to safety." They all glanced at each other and nodded, their tasks set.

It was a sound plan, and it might have even worked, if a nearby Toad hadn't worked out the situation and immediately raised the clarion call of panic and fear.

"GET OUT OF THE CASTLE!" the mushroom screamed, "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" And suddenly the Starlight Gala became a stampede.

Luigi hissed something that sounded vaguely like a curse.

In the archway, Mario felt himself in danger of being swept away by a sea of fleeing Toads. He hopped onto an awning, and from there to the sloping rooftop. The shadows would do them no good now – he needed the high ground.

"New plan," he called to the others, "I can find the princess easier from up here. Make sure everyone gets to safety!" With that, he was off - leaping across roofs and battlements like only one of the Mario brothers ever could.

Scaling a wall, he looked back at the nightmare in the sky. In the past few minutes, Rosalina's comet had been put out of commission somehow. He spotted it drifting out of sight, listless and dull. "Thanks for trying, Rosie."

That left them with the problem of the false comet, screaming down towards them at a frightening pace. Mario landed on a flat bit of roof to pause and watch the tide of partygoers that was currently spilling into the gardens. His eyes shot every which way, searching for a glimpse of blonde hair, a pink dress, any sign of the princess he had sworn to protect.

"There," he saw her at last, "by the fountains. She must have been giving her speech there." She was making for the west gate surrounded by her guards and retainers, but the ponderous group was moving far too slowly for Mario's taste. "They'll never get anywhere like that, not without help."

He started forward, intending to make his way down to them, but ended up tripping over his own feet when a familiar voice called his name from below with worrying urgency. "Mario! Bro, hurry up, there's something wrong!" It was Luigi. His little brother needed him. With barely a glance back towards the gardens, he reversed direction.

Over the roof, down the wall, across the inner moat to a sentry tower, then up and over to a second. Years of practice, and he didn't even have to think about this sort of thing anymore. Between two turrets, down a gutter, off a gargoyle to a tree. From that tree to another, then to a hedgerow, and finally a jump to the pavement left Mario standing beside his brother.

As it turned out, Luigi was situated mere feet from the castle's brass front gates, standing perfectly still with a vast herd of partygoers behind him. None of them had gone through. "What's going on? Get everyone out of here!"

"That's the problem," Luigi answered with stilted urgency, "watch this." Without any further explanation, he put out his left hand and showed Mario how it sizzled and sparked against thin air. Then with a yelp he jerked it back and said "we're stuck."

Fighting back the fear, Mario threw out his own arm and felt it smack against a wall of solid nothing. Around the impact, faint traces of a magical barrier rippled into view. "It's a cage. What kind of sick mind would pull a thing like this?" Yoshi was nearby, hurling eggs between the pillars of the gate and watching helplessly as they ricocheted back out of sight. Elsewhere in the plaza, Toads and Koopas were slamming themselves against the air, only to be flung back like dolls into the bushes. "This is bad…" It was, but he knew that he and Luigi had lived through worse. He just had to think of a plan.

Above them, the comet consumed the sky.

Mario scanned the crowd, as he had done so many times that night. This time, though, he was desperately searching for any kind of inspiration, something he could use. The muted thrum of the trap echoed around him, mocking. They were running out of time.

Everywhere he looked, his ideas failed. "We could blow it up," he thought as he watched a squad of Bob-ombs detonate themselves and fail to crack the wall. "We could try flying over," he hoped as he spotted a cloud of Boos over the east wing, unable to fly out or even phase through. "The tunnels…!" he grasped, but Vivian emerged from the shadows and reported no exit underground. With nothing left, Mario threw himself shoulder-first against the wall with all his might. Once, twice, thrice – until his very bones seemed to spark inside him.

"What do we do?!" shouted someone, anyone, everyone.

Mario didn't know.

The comet hit the earth, and Peach's Castle erupted in terrible violet flame.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 – The Great Eggscape

Luigi opened his eyes to blackness, and wasn't sure whether he was blind or dead.

Moments ago (or had it been hours?), he had been standing beside Mario and their friends as a rogue comet had come screaming at them out of the sky. He remembered the ground shaking, and the world going white as he was thrown off his feet. Now he was flat on his back in the dark, surrounded by a chorus of whimpers and moans. "This is it, then. I'm in the Underwhere. Every time I go to one of Peach's parties, something bad happens. I should've guessed it would kill me eventually."

He only became more confused when he pushed himself into a sit, and saw that he was still in the castle's front plaza. Around him, party guests were waking up, stumbling to their feet and staggering off. Mario was to his right, coughing himself back to consciousness, while Vivian lay behind him with her eyes squeezed shut.

The castle itself stood intact across the way, still and silent, as if the comet had never come. A soft orange glow came from within, illuminating a lonely island in a sea of black that seemed to stretch forever.

"Okay, so not the Underwhere," Luigi reasoned, "but where did the stars go?" He strained his eyes against the abyss that had become the sky, but saw no sign of light. "No stars, no moon, no comet…"

He turned to ask Mario, but his brother was already up and off, speeding towards the west gardens with Yoshi the dinosaur. No doubt he was headed to retrieve the princess, which left Luigi alone to ponder the lightless sky. He sighed, and pushed himself to his feet.

Hesitantly, he made his way back to the front gate and stuck out his hand. During the chaos, an energy field had trapped them all inside the grounds; but now it seemed the magic was gone, so he wandered a bit further into the night.

The bright festival lights of Toad Town were gone, too. By now, Luigi had expected to find concerned townsfolk approaching the castle to check on the princess, but he encountered no one. Beneath his feet, weeds grew between the cobblestones. At the edge of sight, a row of grey houses stood sunken and forlorn, yawning blackness from their empty doorways. The air was still, but Luigi felt a chill race down his spine.

As he retreated back to the lit plaza, he found Vivian awake and worrying at her scarf. "Mario ran off again," he told her, not missing the tinge of disappointment in her eyes. "Take a look at this, there's something screwy going on."

The siren glided closer, and Luigi showed her how the well-kept brick courtyard ended in an abrupt line and became decayed, weed-choked cobbles. "This is about where the barrier was, so I'll bet it goes all the way around."

"I don't get what's happening," Vivian confessed. "The comet hit us, didn't it? Shouldn't we be, um, smooshed?"

"I thought the same thing. If the castle got hit, how's it the only place that's still standing?" Thinking a moment, he added, "we should get everybody back inside."

The crowd, however, was reluctant to stay. Now that the barrier was down, some of the guests thought it wise to wander out beyond the walls. Perhaps they intended to stumble back to their homes in town and go to bed; or maybe they just needed space to be by themselves. Either way, Luigi let them go. He was in no position to hold them prisoner.

Still, he had to try his best. He and Vivian situated themselves to either side of the castle's large double doors, and together they herded what stragglers they could back inside. "Easy now, no pushing please," Vivian urged as a family of rich-looking Bob-ombs tried to shoehorn their way in. On Luigi's side, a pale grinning Boo floated past, the plumber giving a quiet shiver as it brushed his shoulder with a smirk.

Sounds of a scuffle made Luigi look back at the outer gate. Some of the guests were running back now, scrambling into the light. "They must've seen the town," Luigi guessed, but he soon saw them more clearly as they entered the light. Some were bruised, some were gashed and bloody, and all were scared out of their wits.

Worst of all, it seemed like far fewer people were returning than had left.

"There's something out there." At that moment, Luigi wanted nothing more than to hide inside, but he fought his instincts and crept down the steps towards the yawning darkness. He dared go no further than the gate, so he stopped and called out an anxious "H-hello?"

There was no answer for a minute, then two. Then, stalking as one from the darkness like a beast from a cave, an army appeared.

Luigi froze as they melted into view – silent soldiers that must have numbered in the thousands. They spilled in through the gate and over the walls, claiming the plaza as their own. Some had spears, some had shields, but each wore grey iron armor and bore a closed helmet that gave no hint to their race. Soft light flickered from within the slits of their visors, orange and yellow like an armored flame. "Do they have headlamps in there?" Luigi asked himself. "Do their eyes glow?" Either way, a grid of eerie shadows followed their gaze across the yard.

Adorning every shield and chestplate was an emblem that Luigi had never seen before – a white mushroom against an inverted purple star. In the dancing light of their candle faces, the symbol looked like death.

Luigi stood as straight as he could. This legion of lamp men wasn't going to scare him! As if in response, a soldier broke ranks and stepped closer to address the sparse crowd.

"In the name of her grace the Empress, you will all stand down," the hollow voice said. "Your princess will be taken captive; her castle destroyed. You will never see your homes and families again."

He said it so simply, as if the ultimatum were a perfectly reasonable suggestion. Whispers broke out all around, frantic and hushed. Oh, how Luigi wished his brother were here. Mario would know just how to handle this; he would pummel them all. Soft-hearted Luigi could barely see straight, but there were people he had to protect. Summoning every ounce of courage he had, he defied the order. "You're not taking us, you hear? We'll never be your prisoners!"

The yard was silent. For a tense moment, no one moved or spoke. The soldier stared Luigi down through his glowing mask… then stepped back and turned away. "It worked?" Luigi could scarcely believe it was that easy. He felt so brave, until he heard what the soldier said next.

"You heard the man, lieutenant," he fixed his slits of light on the castle. "Take no prisoners."

In an instant, the army surged ahead and all hell broke loose.

On the other side of the castle, Mario was having a bad time of his own.

When he had awoken to the empty sky, he'd known that something was deeply wrong. After checking to make sure his brother and Vivian were safe for the moment, he had hopped on Yoshi and made for where he had seen the princess. Mario knew how this went by now – if the castle was under attack, Peach was the target; and if Peach was a target, he was responsible for her safety.

Now, he and Yoshi were crouched behind a low stone wall in the gardens, observing this strange new enemy. They had come from everywhere and nowhere, spilling through the hedges like fog. Mario shifted uncomfortably; they had to get moving, lest they lose the princess. Yoshi, it seemed, had other plans.

"It's a lost cause; they're gonna get her. You know they are. I say we get out of here and live to fight another day." The dinosaur had a point, as history had proven, but Mario knew he could never live with himself if he just gave up. With a decisive leap back into the saddle, he urged Yoshi onwards and they sped off into the gardens.

"You're lucky I'm the loyal type, because this is dumb even for us," Yoshi snarked. The enemy was everywhere, helmets flashing like fireflies, and the horde was only getting thicker. They couldn't risk being seen – not this far out from their goal.

Hedging their bets, they took to the high road with a leap into the trees. From here, Mario could see hundreds of soldiers swarming the stage where Peach had been. They were headed the right way, at least, but the trees were thinning fast, and soon their cover would be gone.

Yoshi jumped and fluttered from branch to branch, passing above the heads of the troops below. Somewhere far behind them, the sound of screams erupted from within the castle, and Mario knew time was running short. Without thinking, they leapt to the slick outstretched arm of a fountain statue… and promptly slipped off into the pool with a splash.

The grey soldiers were on them immediately, a party of three rounding the bushes as Mario and Yoshi scrambled out of the water. "Stand up slowly," one said, brandishing a spear. "Turn around and put your hands against the fountain."

"So much for playing it safe." With a twitch of his mustache, Mario dashed toward the enemies, veering to take the one on the left. The foe raised their spear for a thrust, so Mario dropped to a crouch and swept out his leg, taking the spearman in the knees and throwing them off balance. Leaping into the air, he took the staggered enemy out with an uppercut to the jaw. He adjusted his aim as he fell back down, and landed hard on the middle soldier. The lights in their helmet went out with a shatter, and they toppled over in a daze.

As he turned to face the third, he found their spear at his chest. The warrior advanced, growling, but was suddenly yanked harshly out of sight by a wet pink tongue. Mario turned to Yoshi, who swallowed and gave a noncommittal shrug. "Tastes like Goomba," he spat out the helmet, "but crunchier."

"There's more coming," Mario urged, "let's go!" He hopped back astride his friend, and they set off in a sprint.

The swarm was ahead of them now, the stage in view, but enemies were pouring in from all sides. They found themselves in a familiar situation, running and jumping through a gauntlet of death. Mario swept at one foe as Yoshi pounced on another, slurping up a third as Mario grappled with a fourth who had leapt aboard during the chaos.

Up on stage, a hooded figure stood surrounded by an elite guard. The princess was here too, suspended in a sparkling bubble. "Mario!" she called out as she spotted her hero. "Help me!"

Bouncing off the head of a guard, Mario and Yoshi skidded across the stage and dropped into fighting stance. Side by side, they stared down the thing in the robe. Calmly, almost curiously, it cocked its head to the side and looked at the pair. It held out a gnarled hand, and the soldiers lowered their spears.

"So, this is Mario?" it rasped. "My, you grew up handsomely. You still have the same eyes." The thing's face was shrouded, its voice neutral, but Mario could just feel the twisted grin behind the words. "I knew a version of you, once upon a time. Meeting you, I'm almost sorry I let him die!"

Mario knew better than to humor a maniac, so he said nothing. The hooded figure didn't seem to notice or care, and pressed on anyway.

"You must be Yoshi, then. I let him die, too. Is Luigi here as well? He cried like a baby when it was his turn." What was this thing saying? "One by one, I lost all seven; except for her, of course," it clarified by sweeping an arm toward the bubbled princess. "She's still around, but I suppose that's more than you needed to know. Goodbye, Mario, I'm afraid it's time to die again."

So this thing wanted to kill him, which was typical, but Mario wasn't about to let it have the pleasure. Giving a subtle nod to Yoshi, he darted ahead, zigging and zagging across the stage toward the princess and her captor. As he crossed the halfway point, the figure stepped back as if suddenly surprised the hero was actually coming. Hastily it raised a hand, and Mario staggered as he felt his vision blur and twist. The next moment, he was thirty feet in the air behind the stage, plummeting headlong into some bushes.

"It's time for me to leave," the figure gave a nervous chuckle as it turned away and addressed the guards, Mario all but forgotten. "The princess is here. I did my job, so finish yours. Don't let either of them escape."

Mario clambered back out of the bushes just in time to see the princess' bubble swiftly begin to rise, trailing behind the hooded creature as it flew away into the night. "No, not this time." He jumped to the stage, then again off the helmet of a guard, wildly grasping for the highest thing in sight – a slender silver flagpole.

Peach was everything to her people. She had been everything to him once, too. He couldn't let her be taken, not in this strange place. Scurrying to the top of the pole, he threw out a hand for her to grab. It only sparked off the barrier-bubble, and Peach gasped in horror as he reeled back and lost his grip.

Mario fell to earth with a dizzying thud, and the soldiers were on him in an instant. Peach let out a final, desperate shriek as she was lost to the darkness, kidnapped again.

On the ground, Mario saw the ring of spears close in overhead, shutting out the sky. He grit his teeth and prepared for the stab, but before it could come the ring was shattered by the explosion of a green-spotted egg as Yoshi rejoined the battle. The spearmen were scattered, some tumbling back off the stage, but now the army was coming.

By now, Mario had regained his footing but not his equilibrium. He threw a punch wildly at the image of a soldier, but hit only air. He knew Yoshi was at his side, so he returned to the saddle only to howl in pain as a spear entered his leg.

The dinosaur was off like lightning, carrying the injured plumber as they sprinted back the way they had come. The spear had come out as they left the soldier behind, and now blood was flowing freely from Mario's leg. Yoshi glanced back, perhaps for a sardonic "I told you so," but shut his mouth at the sight of the bleeding wound.

Every enemy in the gardens was on their tail now. As the two heroes weaved their way past topiaries and flowerbeds, a rising tide of assassins nipped at their heels. Yoshi inhaled soldiers and launched eggs, and somehow they made headway. The castle was in sight, but Mario felt himself getting lightheaded. He had no supplies – nothing to stop the flow. They had to get inside…

Yoshi was shouting something, urging him to stay awake, but it was far too late for that. As they leapt back into the trees, Mario caught sight of something in his fading vision. Far away, so still and small he wasn't sure if it was real, there was one star left in the sky. Just one – a sad, lonely little speck lost against the infinite void.

A moment later, Mario slipped into unconsciousness.

The castle had fallen; there was no denying it now. Luigi pressed his ear against the cold stone wall and listened to the screams. Somewhere, in some far wing, a fire was roaring.

He had barricaded himself in the pantry, alongside Vivian and a few Toads. After the grey soldiers had declared their intent in the plaza, the crowd had gone wild with panic. They were easy targets, but they had bought time for others to get inside and bar the door. As it turned out, it wasn't much use anyway, as the army steamrolled its way into the castle after only a few minutes.

The kitchens were deserted, and Luigi reasoned that the troops wouldn't bother investigating the unassuming little storage closet in the corner. In here they had enough food to last a week or more, but that didn't matter much if the castle was burning down. The walls were stone, but the smoke would surely reach them from beneath the wooden door.

It was now or never. They had to escape this place or die here, scared and alone. He turned to his friends with weary eyes. Vivian had shrunk into the shadows of a dark corner, as if trying to disappear. Two Toads were holding the flimsy barricade by the door, while a third was munching on a loaf of bread. Toad and Toadette were… looking at their phones. "Now? They're texting at a time like this?"

He couldn't take it anymore. "We have to get out of here," he addressed the group. "There's a fire, and we'll suffocate in a place like this. Let's think of a plan. Kids, put those things away."

"But, Mr. Luigi, that's exactly what we're doing!" Toadette piped up. "See, Toad has the schematics of the whole castle on here!"

Oh, well that made perfect sense. He looked over her shoulder and saw that it was true, so the little group huddled around to analyze the maps together.

"There's a door at the back of the library," a blue Toad pointed out, "just here, see? If we can get there…"

"…We'll be on the second-floor balcony," munched the bread-eating Toad. "What good will that do us?"

Vivian chimed in next. "There's a spooky stone tunnel underneath the castle. See, here it is on the map." She dragged the basement-level schematics into view and showed the group. "I found it earlier when I was, um, trying to find a way through the barrier."

She was right. "It's an old canal from back when the castle still used a cistern," Luigi explained. He remembered the passageway from his plumbing days; he and Mario had once had to clear some Fuzzies out of the place. "It leads out to the river, well away from the castle."

"That's perfect!" exclaimed the green Toad. "How do we get there?"

Luigi didn't like this part. "It's in the basement. The nearest entrance is this stairwell here," he pointed at the map, "off the inner courtyard. To get there," he dragged the screen, "we'll have to get through the dining hall."

Everyone was silent. At a time like this, neither of those sounded like places they'd want to be. Still, what choice did they have? After taking a short moment to equip what gear they could find – old broom, potato sack, half-eaten bread – they pushed open the door.

"Mama Mia, here we go," Luigi thought.

The kitchens were empty, as was the adjoining hallway. They could still hear the screams, far-distant and desperate. Looking out a window, Luigi could see that the central tower was ablaze. "Where are you, big bro?"

He didn't have to wait long for an answer. They had no sooner entered the cathedral-esque dining hall when a high window shattered above them, and Yoshi came frantically fluttering in out of the night. In one swift move, Yoshi landed on a chandelier, grappled it with his tongue, and rappelled down onto a table. It was the most unhygienic stunt Luigi had ever seen.

That was when he noticed Mario, slumping limply against Yoshi's back. Luigi ran to his brother, but Vivian beat him there. Together, they gingerly set Mario on the table, as Yoshi started tearing at the tablecloth, trying to rip a strip free.

When he succeeded, Luigi grabbed the cloth out of his hands and firmly tied it over the bleeding wound on Mario's thigh. He even shoved a few napkins in there for good measure. Turning to Vivian, he instructed her on what to do. "Keep pressure on this. Don't let up, no matter what! This is bad, this is very bad…"

"We were being chased," Yoshi explained. "I managed to lose them by going across the roof, but they'll find us eventually."

Luigi explained about the basement tunnel, and the dinosaur agreed it was their best bet. They loaded Mario back onto his saddle, Vivian glued to his side, and set off. The impatient Toads were already halfway out the door, chattering amongst themselves.

One took a spear in the side the moment they had all entered the courtyard, and the others scattered in a panic. Luigi snapped his head up and saw that they had been found. Scores of soldiers were spilling from the rooftops, eyes bright, dropping into the yard like the star bits had, an eternity ago.

"Everybody run, now! Get to the basement!" Yoshi broke into a sprint, Vivian struggling to keep up, and led the survivors to the stairwell across the way. Spears hailed down from the stone terrace above them, and Luigi found himself bobbing and weaving through the old party tents, hoping for a little cover.

Here and there, he dodged foes on the ground. A particularly large and brutish enemy awaited Luigi in one of the tents, brandishing an axe bigger than he was. Luigi, of course, kept right on running, but he swiped away the tent's support pole as he did, sending the canvas crashing down on the thrashing monster.

Eventually, they reached the door. Luigi was the last to enter, holding the door for the others and slamming it behind them when he dashed inside himself. That would only buy them seconds, but they needed every last one.

Just ahead, the steps of a narrow torchlit staircase fell away into the gloom. This part of the castle was older; the moldy stone hallways twisted and thin. They would need to lose their pursuers in this maze of tunnels if they wanted to see their freedom.

With the scream of a hinge, the door burst open and the troops boiled in. Suddenly, a spear was at Luigi's throat, and he kick-vaulted back out of range… too far, as he landed on open air and tumbled head-over-heels down the stairs.

The others were too far gone, a hallway or two ahead by now, and Luigi found as he tried to stand that he'd twisted his ankle in the fall. With a yelp, he sank to his knees and glared back up the stairway. From here, he had a perfect view as the lead spearman readied his weapon, took stance, and threw. His aim was true.

"Star Spirits," he prayed, "please don't let Mario find my diary."

He shut his eyes and waited for the end. After it should've come but didn't, he waited a little bit longer. When he heard the spear clatter to the ground behind him, he opened his eyes and looked back. Somehow, he was alive. Somehow, the spear had passed right by him. Somehow… his arm was translucent?

No, the spear hadn't passed by him. It had passed through him.

Back up the stairs, the soldiers were hesitating. Luigi glanced around, trying to make some sense of this. In the end, he felt her before he saw her – clutching his shoulder, mirth in her eyes, was a pale green Boo.

"Well, we're certainly in trouble, aren't we?" asked the Boo. She gave a little shake of her twin red bows, and Luigi realized that he knew this ghost. Mario had brought her home once during one of his adventures, and Luigi had been scared out of his mind. He never did like Boos.

But now this ghost – Bow, he recalled – had saved him. He thanked her and got to his feet. He felt he could run, but not very far.

"When I let go, those guys are going to see you," she told him, "so you'd better hobble as fast as you can. I'll be right behind you."

"Why are you helping me?" Luigi asked, still wary.

"Why ever not?" she replied. "I've been watching you. Mario is a dear friend of mine, and you want to keep him safe. That means I need to keep you safe. But, I can't hide person who's moving, so hurry up!" With that, she pulled away and Luigi was thrust back into the corporeal plane.

The soldiers saw him in an instant, and resumed their chase. Running on adrenaline, he ignored his ankle and dashed into the basement hallways. Once or twice, he heard spears clatter behind him, and knew that he hadn't lost his pursuers yet.

The castle's basement was a dreary old place, filled with empty rooms and stale air. Rats scurried by underfoot, and once Luigi swore he saw a moth-eaten painting of a fiery face leering at him from some forgotten alcove as he sprinted past.

At last, after a hundred twists and turns, Luigi reached the tunnel they had all seen on the maps. He dropped down the small ledge into the dry canal, where he found the others waiting for him. His ankle gave out again then, and Toadette hurried over to help him up.

Luigi scanned the group, doing a headcount. They'd lost two more Toads at some point, bringing their little party down to six. Seven if you counted Bow, who phased into view and floated over to join the others. Toad and Toadette reeled back, not quite sure what to make of this new arrival, but she quickly assured them she was harmless, at least when she wanted to be.

It didn't take long for the troops to find them, but Luigi soon understood why the group had paused at this spot. It was the ultimate chokepoint – perfectly enclosed and so narrow that two people could barely stand side-to-side.

When the enemies came, they were ready. It turned out that Yoshi had amassed quite a stockpile eggs during the chase, and now he launched them like missiles at the armored soldiers as they marched into view, single file down the tunnel. One egg shattered against a spearman's helmet, and they passed out limp in the hallway. The next tried to climb over their fallen comrade, but another egg took them out the same way. On and on it went, and before long the old canal was backed up from floor to ceiling with groaning metal bodies.

"Talk about a drain clog," thought Luigi. "After this, those Fuzzies don't seem quite so bad."

Nobody felt like sticking around, so they turned and left their pursuers behind.

The party of seven emerged back into the black night on the banks of a shallow river. The air was cold, and still, and they were hopelessly alone. Up on the hill behind them, Peach's Castle burned like an inferno.

"Where do we go now?" asked Vivian, never leaving Mario's side.

Luigi climbed the bank and peered into the darkness. Far away, at the edge of a forest across a wide flat field, a lone candle flickered in a window.

"We go there," he pointed, "and we try to get help." It was all they could do.

Together they set off across the marshes. Far behind, the sounds of fire and slaughter echoed under an empty alien sky.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 – A Night at Amanita Inn

Until now, Vivian had always felt safe in the shadows.

After all, darkness was the first thing she had ever known. She had been born in it, slipping softly into existence in some dank, forgotten pit beneath the ruined Palace of Shadow, with no one but the gloom to welcome her into the world. Shadows had been her first sights, her first thoughts, and for a while she hadn't known there was anything else.

In the years that followed, she learned to trust the shadows with her secrets and safety. When Beldam said something cruel, she would find a shady place to sit and cry. When Marilyn beat her, she would hide in the darkness until the pain went away. Much later, after Mario saved her from that awful life and they fought for the world together, he inspired her to train and master the powers she had. They had used the shadows tactically then, to gain information and protect each other from harm.

They were serenity and bliss all rolled into one. They were a part of her, Vivian knew, body and soul.

But the heavy, oppressing darkness hanging in the sky tonight was different. It wasn't serene, or nurturing, or safe. It felt cold and unnatural, as if life and light had turned their backs on the world and left hollowness behind to fester. Vivian could feel it crushing her, weighing her soul down with doubt as she made her way across the marshy field with Mario and the others. Blackness crept at the edges of her sight, and as she stared into the night she was certain she felt it gazing back. "This is no longer your place," it seemed to whisper. "You are not wanted here."

…And that scared her more than she could say, because if the shadows didn't want her, then what was her place?

"No, not now. Think about it later." This was not the time for worries like that. She was on the run, and the most important person in her world was in peril. Vivian didn't know very much about human biology, but she understood blood loss. Mario had been stabbed during their harrowing escape, and he would die if they didn't find help. That's all that mattered for now.

Far behind them, Peach's Castle burned to a ruin. The distant light of the blaze did little to illuminate the uneven wet ground, and the tall grass hid many pitfalls. Luigi let out a groan as his twisted ankle snagged on a root, and Vivian winced at the sudden sound. After everything they had seen and heard tonight, everyone in the group was more than a little on edge.

They stuck together as best they could, each trusting that someone among them knew the way to safety. Yoshi was out in front, casting wary glances every which way as if the grey iron army might descend upon them at any time. Mario lay in his saddle, silent and still, as Vivian glided close beside and kept pressure on the hero's wounded leg. Luigi trailed after them, supported as he limped by Toad and Toadette. Last of all came Lady Bow, drifting lazily along like she had seen it all before.

Together they made their way through the darkness, towards the soft, beckoning light of a candle; the last light in the world.

Across the field, a small wooden cottage sat at the end of a shallow glen, the candle flickering on the sill of an upstairs window. Tall, solemn trees rose to either side, their branches outstretched like thin fingers, poised to snatch the little house back and away into the dark forest beyond. In a tired half-daze, Vivian wondered if the dwelling would be gone before they could reach it.

Uneasiness began to set in as they drew near. "There's no telling what kind of people live here," Luigi warned the group. "It could easily be an outpost for those bad guys, or worse. We need to stay alert."

"No, he's wrong," Vivian thought. This mystery house was their only hope, so she had to hold on to optimism with all she had. "There will be soft feather beds, a warm fire, and a kindly old Toad who makes yummy stew," she promised herself. "They'll know just how to heal Mario, too." That was the most important part. Vivian would gladly go hungry or sleep on the floor a hundred times if it meant Mario was safe.

She felt her hope waver, just a bit, when they entered the yard. Up close, the house was a pathetic sight. Thin plywood walls leaned haphazardly against each other, held together by bent nails that jutted from surfaces at odd angles. Tree branches clawed at the roof shingles, and even as the group approached one came sliding off and landed in the grass with a pitifully damp thud. Off to the side, a shabby garage had been constructed from tent poles and a torn blue tarp. Altogether, it looked as if a strong kick could topple the whole thing.

There was a porch but no garden, only an unkempt lawn of dying marsh weeds. A set of muddy tire tracks emerged from the garage – if you could call it that – and led off into the field and out of sight. To the left of the door, a simple hanging sign displayed the word "Inn" in a careless scrawl.

The sign caught everyone's attention. "It just says 'Inn,'" Toad helpfully noted. "What kind of place is this?"

Yoshi gave him a blank look. "Obviously it's an inn. Are you feeling okay?"

"That's not what I meant," Toad insisted. "What kind of inn doesn't have a name? It doesn't have much of anything, really. Aside from those tire tracks, there isn't even a road out here!"

"It is pretty suspicious," agreed Toadette. Vivian couldn't exactly say she was wrong, either. In spite of her earlier optimism, the place was dismal.

Bow floated past them all, up onto the porch. "If this is all it takes to get you lot on edge, then Gusty Gulch would be the end of you. I think it looks quite cozy." She made to phase through the splintery wooden door, but turned back and grinned. "Well, are you coming inside or not? I doubt you'll get much beauty sleep out here in the gloom."

That was that, then. Luigi nudged open the door to let everyone inside; and with one last, weary glance back the way she'd come, Vivian entered.

The inn's interior wasn't much prettier, but at least it was a bit warmer. A small cookfire burned in a hearth at the back of the room, and a smoky lantern hung from the ceiling by a twisted nail. Chairs and benches filled the space, surrounding a makeshift plank-and-barrel counter cluttered with bottles. To the right of the hearth, a dark hallway led deeper into the cottage; while to the left, a staircase crept up to some kind of candlelit loft.

Nobody was admiring the scenery, though. Instead, all eyes were on the gruff-looking Doogan behind the counter, polishing a glass and watching the group with a steady gaze. "Come on in, strangers," he grumbled. "You lookin' for a place to stay?"

Bow jumped at the chance. "Yes, we certainly are! We'd like to rent enough rooms for everyone here, if you'd be so kind."

"No rooms here," the Doogan told her, "but there're beds in the loft. You're welcome to 'em, if you like." He reached under the counter and brought out a bottle, popping it open with a claw. "You all look pretty tired. We can talk payment in the morning."

Luigi drew closer, eyes narrow. "Rowf, is that you?"

At that, the innkeeper narrowed his eyes in return and put his elbows on the counter. "How do you know my name, stranger?"

Luigi looked confused. "It's me, Luigi! Remember? We met in Toad Town, back when you ran that badge shop for a while with your son!"

Rowf eyed Luigi up and down, saying nothing, then stepped back and took a swig of his drink. "Nah, not me. You must have me mistaken with somebody else, friend."

"Something isn't right here," Vivian thought . "But he knew your name!"

The innkeeper shrugged. "It's a common enough name, among Doogans." He seemed to catch sight of Mario for the first time, then. "Say, what's with your buddy there?"

Vivian and Yoshi surged forward as one, suspicions forgotten. "Please," Vivian begged, "you have to help him! He's, um, bleeding pretty badly, and…" she trailed off as Rowf leaned over the counter to inspect Mario's leg.

Rowf seemed to ponder the situation for a moment, then gave a curt nod and turned to the hallway in the back. "Raini, get out here!" he called. "There's a guy in seriously bad shape!"

"Oh, I'll be right there!" a voice from the hallway called back. A moment later, a pink-spotted Toad scurried into the room, nearly tripping over her dress. Her eyes were tired but kind, Vivian saw, and partially hidden behind a tangle of unruly blonde bangs.

"Raini works here," the innkeeper informed them. "Her husband, too, but he's out for the night. Anyway, she'll get your friend all patched up."

Raini looked a bit guilty. "I've seen my fair share of wounds like this," she admitted. "Help me get him into the back, we'll find a place to set him down gently."

"Thank goodness," Vivian sighed to herself, "there really did turn out to be a kindly Toad here." Together with Yoshi, she followed Raini into the back room, which seemed to be some kind of cramped kitchenette, and together they set Mario down on an empty countertop.

Raini was bustling back and forth, grabbing supplies out of cabinets and boxes. "Okay, so, we should probably cauterize this, to start. Can you grab the iron from the hearth in there, please?"

"Cauter-what?" Vivian had to ask - this was a new term for her. "That isn't the thing where she has to cut his leg off, is it?" That thought made a shiver of panic run through her. "Oh, no! How will Mario run and jump if his leg is missing? This is terrible!"

Yoshi was back with the iron, and Raini began pulling up the leg of Mario's overalls. "That means we have to burn the blood vessels shut, to stop the bleeding. It's pretty painful, but it has to be done."

"…Oh." Vivian didn't know what else to say, but she suddenly felt very small and empty inside. As Yoshi pressed the iron to Mario's skin, Vivian ignited the tip of her finger with Shade Fist and looked at the tiny orange flame. "…I didn't know. I could have helped him this whole time, but I didn't know how. I'm totally useless, just like Beldam said."

"…I'll just go," she whispered before gliding back out of the room. She wasn't needed. The other two didn't even seem to notice her leave.

Back in the main room, everyone seemed to have gone upstairs except for Luigi, who sat on a bench by the window sipping a frothy mug of… something. As if sensing Vivian's discomfort, he spoke. "He's gonna be alright, you know? These folks will take care of him."

"Yeah, sure," was all she could say. "He'll be fine, no thanks to me." She plopped down on a bench of her own and stared at nothing.

Rowf cleared his throat, breaking the silence before it fell. "So, where are you travellers from, huh? This is an awful strange place to be, this far past midnight."

Vivian looked up at the innkeeper. From what she could tell, he was still polishing that same glass. "I'm from Twilight Town, and some of the others live in Toa-"

"Nowhere in particular," Luigi cut her off. He shot her a quick glance, but she wasn't sure what it meant. "We're just passing through, going wherever the wind takes us."

"Uh-huh." The room suddenly seemed a bit less warm as Rowf set down his glass and stepped around the makeshift counter. He had that suspicious look in his eyes again, Vivian saw. "Tell me, how did the wind take your friend into the path of an Empire soldier's spear?"

Luigi was fidgeting in his seat. "We, ah, got into a little kerfuffle back in town. It's nothing to worry about!"

"Toad Town?" The look in Rowf's eye was pure danger.

Luigi was sweating now, and Vivian wasn't sure how the situation had gotten this tense so quickly. "Y-yep, that's the place! It's lovely this time of year, isn't it?"

In a flash, the Doogan had him pinned up against the wall, and Vivian caught the glint of a knife in Rowf's paw. "See, buddy, I know you're lying, because there hasn't been a Toad Town in twenty years. Those tin can nutcases don't get into 'kerfuffles,' and last of all," he paused to think, "I never ran a badge shop, or had a son." The knife was at Luigi's throat now. "So why don't you start again and tell me where you're from, before I decide to shave more than your 'stache?"

This was too much. "Wait, stop!" Vivian blurted out, leaping off her bench. "He isn't lying! We were at Princess Peach's castle, um, and suddenly there was this purple comet in the sky! It was scary, then everything went dark, and those soldiers were everywhere, and Mario got stabbed, and…"

"Lady, you're makin' less sense by the syllable." Rowf pulled back from Luigi and started to cross the room. "Princess Peach? Comet in the sky? What do you mean everything 'got' dark? Everything's been dark 'round here for half my life!"

"But it hasn't!" Vivian insisted. "We were at the Star Festival just a few hours ago, and it was beautiful!"

Rowf stumbled and dropped the knife, and for the barest hint of a moment he had the look of a lost little kid. "…The Star Festival? They still have that where you're from?" He backed up and leaned against the counter, which gave a small shake in return. "I haven't seen a Star Festival in years. I was just a boy when…"

Vivian and Luigi glanced at each other across the room. Neither had any idea what to say to this.

Rowf's eyes were lost in the past, and his words were aimed at nobody in particular. "Listen, I'm sorry. I just had to make sure, you know?" He looked up and glanced between the two others. "We'll talk more in the morning, when Raz gets back with the truck. You should probably get some sleep, before then."

He was silent after that, and Vivian gave Luigi a questioning look. He just shrugged at her, so with one last glance toward the back room she glided up the stairs to the loft, and the beds.

Try as she might, she didn't get much sleep that night.

Princess Peach woke up in a twisted mockery of her childhood bedroom, on a bed so pink it managed to hurt her eyes.

"Here I am again," she huffed, "kidnapped and carried off who-knows-where. The Gala was going so well, too." She sat up in bed, smoothing out her slightly-tattered dress, and began to absorb the details of the disquieting room.

Everything was pink, to begin with. The walls – and bed - were a painful shade of bubblegum, while the plush carpet was a bit more pastel and easier on the eyes. Every surface was speckled with little hearts, and someone seemed to have coated random bits of furniture in sparkly white glitter. Peach couldn't help but feel slightly mocked by the whole thing.

But what unsettled the princess most wasn't the color scheme – it was the layout. She knew this room, at least in appearance. It was where she had slept as a young child, until she had requested a larger bedroom at around six years of age. Everything was in its place – here was her toy chest filled with dolls, and there by the window was the mirror she used when she played dress-up. Somewhere unseen, a music box was tinkling out a familiar lullaby.

"How is this possible...?" Peach began to wander around the room, stumped. "Toadsworth and I are the only two who remember what this room looked like, aren't we?" Short of time travel, or some unknown former maid selling the information to her captors, the princess had no explanations.

The more Peach looked, the more she began to notice a subtle wrongness about the place. The dress-up clothes were faded, the mirror was cracked, and the dolls in the chest were moldy and torn. Trusted old friends and playmates stared up at her with missing eyes and limbs, rotten stuffing spilling from moth-eaten holes in their bodies. Peach shivered, and wished she could somehow put this room back inside her memories where it belonged.

Somewhere, the music box began another loop of its haunting melody.

Peach didn't want to look at anything in the room anymore, so she stepped over to the window to gaze outside instead. She tried the latch, and surprisingly found that the window could open. Wasting no time, she threw it wide and leaned out into the fresh night air.

The first thing she noticed was the ground – or rather, how terribly far away it was. There was nothing but a sheer drop into oblivion outside the window, and Peach found herself gripping the ledge so tightly her knuckles stung. She was in a tower – big surprise – but this was a tower that could put most skyscrapers she'd seen to shame. If Peach had to guess, her prison was sixty, maybe seventy stories in the air. All around her stood similar towers – some shorter, some much taller - all ivory white and pointed, stabbing at the sky like the spears of a titan legion. Far below, an impossible labyrinth of battlements and bridges linked the towers together; and beneath that, lines of grey specks marched to and fro like ants through narrow breezeways and courtyards of stone.

It was a palace the size of a city, and Princess Peach had never felt so small.

Beyond the towers, and past the immense outer wall that surrounded them, an actual city stretched to the horizon. An imposing skyline of sleek modern skyscrapers stood before her, tall and bright against the empty sky. Off to the east, warehouses dominated a sprawling shoreline district beside a still black ocean. The spiderlike silhouette of a great suspension bridge spanned the bay, traffic moving back and forth across it as pinpricks of light.

With a gasp, Peach realized that she knew that bridge, and the skyline as well. "This is Mushroom City. I've been taken to Mushroom City!" It took her about three seconds to start second-guessing herself. "Or have I? There's no palace like this in Mushroom City; but if not there, then where…?"

She had to figure this out. Turning away from the open window, she marched across the creepy little room and tried the door. It was locked, so she started banging on it instead. "Excuse me!" she yelled. "I know that I'm being guarded, so could somebody kindly answer and tell me where I am?"

There was silence for a moment, but then a low chuckle came through the door. "You're a long way from home, Princess." The voice said no more than that.

Peach sighed and turned away. It was useless. She'd been kidnapped again, so that meant waiting for rescue again. As she headed back to the offensively pink bed, she spotted a note on the nightstand that she hadn't seen before. "How did I miss this?" she wondered, as she picked up the letter. The paper smelled of honey and lavender oil, and something else she couldn't quite place.

Curious, Peach sat down and started to read…

~-~-~

Dearest Princess,

I bid you a fond welcome to my home. Tragically, I cannot be there to meet you at present, but I assure you that we will speak face-to-face very soon.

In the meantime, your stay here will be as comfortable as I can make it. I had the old bedchamber remade on a bit of a lark - forgive me if I have misremembered the details. You will be kept well-fed, although I would not expect any feasts. It would not do if sloth and gluttony claimed your beauty before our meeting, after all.

As for your friends and subjects, do not worry for their safety. I assure you they have all been sent home to their families.

~Warmest wishes,
Your Empress

P.S., I am terribly sorry about ruining your Gala. I am well aware of how expensive that sort of thing can be.

~-~-~

Peach set the letter down with more questions than answers. Who had written this, and could she believe them? Where was she, and why?

Sighing again, she lay down on the bed and tried to let the never-ending trill of the music box lull her back to sleep.

When Vivian awoke the next morning, the inn was being taken apart around her.

She shot up from her little bunk in the loft, and saw that everyone else had already gone. Parts of the floor were missing, as was the entire back wall. Through the new hole, Vivian could see that the sky had faded from pitch black to a rather indecisive ashy grey. "It's better, but…"

She headed down the stairs to find everyone bustling about, working together to disassemble the shabby structure. Yoshi was carrying planks outside to what sounded like a bonfire, while Toad and Toadette were making a game out of smashing in the windows. "Wh-what is happening in here?"

Rowf came over to her holding a plate of breakfast – milk and a fried egg on toast – which she eagerly accepted. "You're a late sleeper, huh? I'll just tell you what I told the others."

"Mmh?" she asked through a mouthful of toast. The Doogan seemed to get the meaning, and kept speaking.

"See, we set up this fake inn about a week ago, to keep an eye on the hill where the old castle used to be. Bella got some intel that the Empress' goons were planning something up there; and boy, were they ever." Vivian wasn't following this at all, but she kept listening. "For the past few days, we've watched Empress Toadstool's army scurry all over that hill, clearing the earth while that hooded stooge of hers did something with this huge hunk of metal they'd dragged in…"

"…So, this isn't a real inn? You were watching those soldiers?" Vivian was at least trying to get the gist of the tale.

"Yeah, well the idea was that one would wander in here for a drink at some point, and we'd be able to interrogate them; but that never happened." Rowf kicked the counter over, glasses shattering without a care. "Something else went down instead."

"We showed up?" Vivian had so many questions.

The Doogan just nodded. "First, that hunk of metal shot into the sky like a purple rocket and vanished. Ten minutes later, a new castle appeared outta nowhere. Then the army moved in; and, well, that's when you seven showed up. I wasn't sure who you were at first – thought you might've been spies sent by the Empress. Sorry about that."

Luigi and Yoshi were tearing up the floor now, as Raini and a blue-spotted Toad carried supplies out from the back. "So what's happening now?" Vivian asked.

"We're packing up," Rowf said while taking her empty plate, "and covering our tracks. There's nothing else to see here, so we're headed back home to safety."

Before Vivian could think what to ask next, a chipper new voice called in from outside. "Hey, guys! The truck's fueled up, and that red guy's all cushy in the back. I totally think he might wake up soon!" The voice was getting closer, and Vivian was sure she'd heard it before. "What smells so good in here? You all saved me some eggs, yeah?"

In through the doorway waddled a pale pink Goomba, her long blonde hair tied hastily into a ponytail that still managed to sweep the floor. Her face was smeared with mud and motor oil from outside, but there was no mistaking her bright, intelligent eyes.

"Goombella, is that you?" Vivian couldn't help but gasp as she flew across the room to catch her old friend in a hug.

"Okay, woah," Goombella backed away, alarmed. "You seem nice and all; but, like, we just met. Let's save the hugging until we've bonded, 'kay?"

"Oh yeah," Vivian realized, "this isn't the Goombella I know, just like that isn't the Rowf that Luigi knows." The thought made her sad.

Everyone was staring at her, friends and strangers alike, which made her realize the one question she hadn't yet asked. "So, um, who are you guys, anyway?"

Rowf rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, since you're stuck with us for now..."

The alternate Goombella took over, looking up at Vivian with an impish grin. "We're the Amanita Resistance, and we're the last hope for peace this broken world has."

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 – Through the Looking Glass, and What Bowser Found There

The middle of Toad Town was a blasted wasteland – and not even the good kind, either.

Peach's castle was gone, to start with. It its place was some twisted metal behemoth that might've been a spaceship once. Either that or it was a bizarre new modern art sculpture about pain, looming over the city like a black, half-melted claw trying to spear itself. Whatever it had been, it had evidently impacted the ground with enough force to straight-up erase the castle from existence.

On the ground, Bowser grumbled to himself as he surveyed the damage. The Koopa King was generally always up for some smoke and wreckage, but this just didn't feel right.

Not a single brick or shingle remained, which spoke volumes by itself. Bowser had seen enough smashed castles over the years – mainly his own – to know that debris should be everywhere. Where were the fallen towers? Where was the burned garden? Where was the destruction?

Sure, there was some of that back in town. Quite a few trees had been knocked down, some windows were shattered, and here and there a rooftop had partially collapsed. But the castle plaza itself was pristine in its total emptiness. It was a barren crater of dirt and dry sand, mixed with patches of cracked heat-glass as the ground sloped toward the impact site.

The Koopa Troop had arrived that morning, a fleet of airships approaching from the north. Toad Town had been in panic mode before they had even arrived, and it wasn't hard to see why. As soon as Bowser had seen the devastation, he had ordered the fleet to land, and his troops to move in and investigate on foot.

Now, the Koopa King was stomping across the sandy pit in a foul mood, waiting for someone to present him with answers. "It doesn't even matter. I knew I should have stuck to the plan!" he berated himself.

The "plan" had been to invade during the Star Festival, as was tradition, but Bowser had let Kammy talk him into backing off for the night. The old witch said it would have been a terrible romantic gesture, since Bowser had gatecrashed the past two Star Festivals already. After all, he might seem desperate if he tried the same thing three years in a row. Instead, he'd decided to let Peach throw her big party, and then pick her up in the morning when it would be a nice surprise.

Obviously, it hadn't happened like that. Some rude schmuck had evidently decided to take advantage of Bowser's courtesy by nabbing the princess anyway. Now she was missing, and Mario was probably off having a grand old time, hopping around and being a hero.

This just wasn't going to stand. Bowser was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another. While some of his troops had set up a perimeter around the ship-thing, others had been sent off into town to bring back local Toads for questioning.

Ugh, Toads. Bowser was more than happy to let his minions handle the interrogation. He had never liked the little mushroom folk very much. They were timid, and weak, and they all smelled like salad. His own Goombas weren't much better in the strength department, but at least they had a nice healthy musk – a stench you could trust.

"Speaking of stenches, what smells like hot wax?" It was faint, but there were definitely candles burning nearby. That piqued the King's curiosity, so he followed the smell until it led him to a low stone wall at the edge of the pit.

Just past the wall, a little shrine sat nestled amongst the shrubbery. Lit candles of every shape and size were arranged around something that was leaning against the stone. Craning his neck for a better look, Bowser saw it was a portrait of the princess, surrounded by some photos and sketches of other townsfolk.

"Is this some kind of memorial?" Bowser wondered. "Do they think she's dead or something, or do they set one of these up every time she leaves town?" At least the Toads cared about her enough to worry, which Bowser decided was worth a point in their favor.

Sighing, he picked up the portrait, not minding that a few candles were knocked over in the process. Turning it over in his claws, he stared softly at the painted princess. It was a pretty enough picture, he supposed, but it just wasn't the same as having the real thing nearby. "I'll figure this out," he muttered, "and then I'll find you. Mario isn't gonna steal my glory this time."

He paused, and then groaned has he realized the situation. "What the heck am I doing?" He was talking to pictures of Peach again. Hadn't he learned his lesson by now? At least nobody was around to hear him this time.

"Lord Bowser, we found you!" shouted a pair of voices from right behind him. Bowser snarled in surprise as the portrait dropped into the sand, hastily ignored. He turned to find two armored Koopatrols standing in salute, awaiting their turn to speak.

"Well, what is it? You'd better have something useful to report!" Bowser was running thin on patience, so hopefully he was about to get some answers.

"We bring news from the civilians," the left one began, "and a description of last night's events!"

"According to the Toads," the right one continued, "an incident occurred roughly 12:15 last night. Some say a new star appeared; others believe it was a beam of light. Either way, a foreign object appeared in the sky."

The left one picked it back up. "Ten minutes later, the object fell to earth. Despite the delay, it seems nobody actually left the castle grounds during this time." The Koopatrol paused to flip through a small notepad. "There was mention of a bright flash, and the castle vanishing. That's the key bit, you see. Accounts are varied and there are some discrepancies, but almost everyone seems to agree that Peach's Castle is one-hundred percent gone!"

The two soldiers took a unified step back, looking proud of their sleuthing abilities. Bowser was simply perplexed.

That was it? Was that seriously all the information that these two numbskulls were able to get?

"THAT DOESN'T TELL ME SQUAT!" Bowser roared in annoyance. "I have eyes; I already knew everything you just said, because I used them! Go back and figure out where the princess went, and then tell me how to get there!"

The Koopatrols saluted and hurried off back towards town, eager to please. Bowser, meanwhile, turned away from the shrine and set off towards the mysterious metal structure. "I might as well check on Kammy," he thought. "Maybe she's found something interesting inside that thing."

Sand and soil tumbled past the large Koopa in little waves, knocked loose by his heavy footfalls as he trudged downhill. Here in the shadow of the structure, the springtime air took on a sudden, unnatural chill. A field of jagged glass fangs sprung up every which way near the base of the ship, backlit by the faint violet glow still pulsing within. Seeing it up close, Bowser had to admit it looked pretty imposing, in a careless sort of way.

Kammy Koopa had been practically giddy when she first saw it, giggling and yammering on about the vast magical potential it might hold. Bowser had let her fly off and explore, but now he was finding it difficult to follow her. The rooms and hallways of the ship were plainly built for someone rather small, and twice or thrice the Koopa ended up having to smash new paths for himself.

"Kammy, get out here! Front and center!" he called. The old hag had likely gotten lost somewhere, but Bowser couldn't exactly blame her. Everything looked the same in here – endless purple rooms covered wall-to-wall in strange glowing symbols. He'd almost gone cross-eyed trying to read what they said, before deciding they must be in some other language.

Bowser struggled deeper and deeper into the ruin, past more rooms and more runes, and found himself wondering just who would drop a thing like this from the sky. "It looks more like a spooky nightclub than a spaceship," he mused.

He soon heard frantic muttering off to his left, and turned to find Kammy at the end of a short hallway, lost in her own world as she studied the symbols on the wall. Bowser approached her, growling as one of his bony shell spikes caught on a doorframe.

That got the witch's attention. "Lord Bowser!" she cried as she turned from her work. "I'm so honored you felt like joining me! Isn't this place just the best?" He hadn't seen her quite this eager in years. "Whoever set this all up really knew their stuff!"

"They just look like squiggles to me," Bowser admitted, glancing around at the glowing runes. There was one that looked a bit like an upside down heart, and one that might've been the end of a bone, but most of them were just janky lines.

"You're exactly right," Kammy affirmed. "These are squiggles, but they hold powerful magic. I can't read a word of this gibberish, but magic is a universal language!" She gestured around the hallway; as if that would make Bowser suddenly begin to understand.

"What kind of magic, huh?" he asked, realizing a moment too late that he'd just taken the bait. Once Kammy had permission to start talking shop, there wasn't a force on earth that could shut her up.

"I'm glad you asked, Your Grumpiness! As your humble servant, let me explain." She pointed to a line of shapes at the end of the hall. Bowser thought they looked a bit like wonky Boo faces. "This is part of an elaborate barrier spell, designed to trap anything it catches inside an unbreakable bubble shield." She pointed here and there into nearby rooms. "The same pattern is repeated over and over, which amplifies the strength of the spell!"

She flew past Bowser down the hallway, lecturing all the way. "Ah, see this? These runes here are the basis for a powerful teleportation ritual." Bowser followed her into a new room, where the squiggles became numbers and mathematical symbols he begrudgingly recognized.

"I can only assume these are coordinates for the warp," the witch continued. "But look how they intermingle with the barrier spell back there. It's set up like a one-two magic combo, to teleport everything caught inside the bubble." She was practically shaking with excitement. "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing was timed to go off at a specific moment, too, like a portal bomb! It's total genius, my lord! Why, if I'd thought of this kind of thing years ago…"

Bowser sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with a claw. "Yeah, it sounds real special; but can you tell me where the castle got warped?"

Kammy looked surprised. "Well, I…"

Just then, the sound of footsteps in the hall caused the both of them to look up in confusion. Before long, their visitors came into view. The two Koopatrols from earlier had returned, dragging along a disgruntled old man in a blue cloak.

"Lord Bowser! We found you again!" the first one said, looking slightly out of breath.

"We found this guy in town," the second one continued, "in this crazy house with a spinning roof! I'm pretty sure he's a wizard or something. Anyway, he said he wanted to speak with you!"

"So you just dragged him here?" Bowser asked. "Look at him; he's a shriveled old guy. You can't disrespect your elders like that, minions!"

Said "shriveled old guy" pulled his robe free from the soldiers and stood before the Koopa King with conviction. "My name is Merlon," he spoke, "and I am indeed a wizard. I have foreseen the path you want to take, King Bowser. I'm here to warn you, it is a grave mistake."

"Oh yeah? Tell me more, bub." Bowser wasn't impressed. This "wizard" was probably in league with the castle-snatchers, after all.

Merlon spoke again, his snow-white mustache quivering with every word. "You seek the princess, but she is no longer in this world. She has been taken to another reality - an alternate version of our own that has fallen to darkness. If you follow her, untold tragedies will occur."

"Untold tragedies are my business," Bowser snarled. "Now, tell me everything you know about this 'other world' before I start turning up the heat in here!" He flared his nostrils for emphasis, wisps of smoke curling toward the ceiling.

"I will do no such thing," Merlon answered. "I will not let thousands perish because of your greed. I will not yield – turn back or suffer the consequences! "

"TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW, OLD MAN!" Bowser roared with fire in his throat. He'd had enough of this little mystery, and the wizard's sass had put him over the edge.

Lightning flashed in Merlon's hands, and the two Koopatrols were suddenly flung backwards into the hall, flailing like dolls. "Never! The secrets of this ancient magic will remain forever lost to you!"

"Nah, I actually just deciphered it." Kammy waltzed into view, looking quite pleased with herself. "While you two were arguing, I figured out where Princess Peach is."

Merlon looked dumbstruck, the lightning dying. "H-how…? This is ancient, evil magic. It was made by rogue members of my clan millennia ago in order to-"

"I took a class back in college," Kammy cut him off with a wave of her claw. When the wizard looked incredulous, she explained. "I was pretty wild back then. My sophomore year was a total "dark witch" phase. I actually dyed my hair blue and wore fishnets! Fishnets!"

"How soon can you get us there?" Bowser asked. Finally, something was starting to go right today.

"There's simply no way she can reproduce a spell this complex," Merlon sputtered, taking a step back. "This is madness!"

"Give me half an hour, my lord," the witch shrugged and turned back to the wall. "I still need to solve these last few lines…"

Bowser turned back to the wizard, his eyebrow raised. "See that, gramps? I've got a mage that actually knows stuff! Go on, get out of here," he smirked.

"…This will not end well for you, Bowser Koopa. I promise you that," Merlon warned for the last time. With a glare and a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

Bowser shook his head and stomped out of the room, leaving Kammy to her work. She'd find him when everything was ready, and he had to prepare the troops before then.

This was happening. Nobody left the King behind. He would find the princess, and whoever had taken her would pay.

It had been nearly two hours, and Kammy still wasn't ready.

"She said half an hour. THIRTY DANG MINUTES." Bowser was pacing outside the ship, losing his mind. The witch was hobbling back and forth inside, drawing fresh squiggles and shouting nonsense. "She'd better not think she's getting paid overtime for this."

Just then, several Koopas trotted up, hauling a large wooden trunk. "Sir, we've brought the items you requested," one reported. "It wasn't easy getting the Toads to part with them, but we prevailed!"

They set the chest down, and Bowser lifted the lid to peer inside. "Huh, this is a pretty decent haul," he thought as he examined the contents. "Let's see… One, two, ten, fifty… Oh, this is totally gonna be enough." He slammed the lid shut with a grin.

"Good work, troops! You really pulled through." A while ago, Kammy had informed him that she simply wasn't powerful enough to warp the whole army. She could only guarantee safe passage for a small force, so Bowser had hatched a plan to make up the difference. With the contents of this trunk, pillaged from Toad Town's citizens, they would have a fighting chance in this so-called "world of darkness."

"What do we do now, sir?" asked one of the Koopas. These were lowly grunts, not fit to be chosen for the mission.

"Eh, take the time off," Bowser told them. "Go home, for all I care! Polish your shells, binge a TV show, whatever."

The Koopas cheered and scattered. "Hah, whoever said I was a bad boss?"

He had no sooner resumed his pacing than Kammy appeared in the doorway, her glasses slightly askew. "The spell is ready, Your Restiveness!" she called. "Would you like me to assemble the troops?"

Bowser shook his head. He had taken care of that ages ago, picking out the best soldiers and ordering them to wait in the shade behind the ship. "ELITE KOOPAS, GET OVER HERE!" he shouted, "LET'S MOVE OUT!"

His forces answered the call a moment later, marching into view around the ship. A handful of Koopatrols, a few lesser Magikoopas, and a squad of Shy Guys – that was all Kammy's spell could handle. Sighing, Bowser hauled the old trunk up over his shell and marched the troops inside.

The old witch had set her ritual up in what must have been the bridge, a spacious room with blinking consoles lining the walls. Every surface was covered in the little squiggles, but Bowser knew Kammy had drawn these herself.

She was prattling on about the nature of the spell – about spatial-this and equivalent-that – but Bowser didn't much care to listen. It was all just exposition, anyway. He ordered his soldiers to take positions around the perimeter and await further instructions.

"Are you ready, my lord?" she eventually asked, not a moment too soon.

"Of course I'm ready! I've been ready this whole time, you coot!" he snapped back. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Kammy pointed her wand at the center of the room, and a harsh violet light began to spread out among the runes. Bowser shifted the trunk on his back as he felt a wind suddenly kick up from nowhere, swirling around the bridge. The tide of magic reached his feet, and he could feel it lapping at his heels like shallow waves.

The consoles began to spark and fizz as bits of machinery were pulled off the walls. Electricity split the air, and the glowing runes burred together into a blanket of light. The floor began to give way then, folding into itself like collapsing sand. Bowser squinted back at his minions, and they returned his gaze pleadingly.

He nodded, and the troops moved in. He could tell they were struggling, wading through the magic that was up to their knees. Suddenly, the entire room began to shake and spin, and Bowser saw his vision go blurry.

"Here it comes!" Kammy shouted over the wind. "Everybody try not to barf!"

"Yeah, good luck with that," Bowser thought, as the purple maelstrom gave a mighty lurch and his vision blurred even more. "She can't make it easy, can she?"

A moment later, the room twisted itself to pieces as Bowser and his minions blinked out of existence.

Silence; darkness; total emptiness. Then, a flash of chaos and the scream of wild magic.

Bowser and his subjects reappeared in the grand hall of Princess Peach's castle, stumbling out of a burst of light. Several of the soldiers immediately failed to heed Kammy's last bit of advice, doubling over and heaving their lunches onto the floor. One unfortunate Shy Guy bolted from the hall, sickness spilling from the holes in his mask.

Bowser, for his part, held it in; but he was in no hurry to try that again anytime soon. He set the old trunk down and tried to get his bearings.

He looked around the hall, confused. Kammy had gotten them where they needed to go, but something was wrong. Peach's Castle was nothing more than a shell. The lush carpets and fancy tapestries had burned to cinders, and the stone walls were black with soot. Pitiful charred lumps lay here and there, littering the ruined foyer. They smelled like burnt salad.

"Where are we?" a Koopatrol asked, poking at a lump. "This can't be the castle, right? This never happens when we take it."

"Wasn't it sunny today?" a Magikoopa wondered, pointing at the sky through a hole in the crumbled ceiling. "I don't remember the sky being so overcast."

They were both valid concerns, Bowser decided. "Stick together, and stay in formation. Something serious happened here."

He led them through the empty halls, past broken windows and piles of rubble. Fire still danced in some of the rooms they passed, gnawing slowly through the castle's last bits of furniture. They saw no one else.

Eventually, the king and his guards emerged into the gardens. There was little left of them, as Bowser had expected. Nevertheless, Kammy took her broom up for a better look. "Everything's burned out here, Lord Bowser!" she shouted down. "Perhaps we should try the princess' bedchamber?"

"Who goes there?!" yelled a sudden voice from behind a nearby wall. A second later, a platoon of armored soldiers emerged, spears at the ready. Pale light shone within their helmets as they moved in to surround the Koopas.

Kammy floated back down, looking sheepish. "I thought they were statues. My eyes aren't quite what they used to be, I'm afraid."

"Identify yourselves, intruders," the lead spearman commanded, lowering his weapon to point at Bowser's chest. "This castle is property of the Empire now. You should not be here!"

"Is this guy for real?" Bowser asked himself, reaching out an arm and snapping the spear like a toothpick. The soldier at least had the presence of mind to drop the stick and look surprised.

"Listen up, chumps! I'm Bowser, king of the Koopas!" They all looked fairly shocked at that, so Bowser pressed forward into his ultimatum. "You took something from me, and I'm here to take it back! I'm only gonna ask once – where's Princess Peach?"

The grey soldiers huddled up, and began muttering amongst themselves. "Bowser? Isn't he one of the names on the list the boss gave us? You know, the 'kill-at-all-costs' list?" One of them pulled out a slip of paper and nodded; so the others turned back, lowered their spears, and marched forward as one.

Bowser kept a list like that of his own, and he'd just added these goons to the top of it. With a roar and a wave of his arm, he signaled his troops to attack.

It was a short battle, but a nasty one. Half of the Koopatrols charged the spearmen head-on with weapons of their own, while the others withdrew into their shells and spun off for a rear attack. The Shy Guy squad formed into stacks, dashing erratically between the enemies and leaping onto their heads from above. Spears and magic filled the air, as the soldiers and flying Magikoopas traded blows with each other.

A few of his own had gone down, Bowser noted, but his side was winning by far. The mysterious grey army had a numbers advantage, but the Koopa Troop had versatility. Shy Guys flipped and danced through the ranks, untouched. Spearmen lost their spears as they tossed them uselessly at foes they couldn't reach.

As the battle spilled into a large courtyard, Bowser turned to find five enemies charging his back. He bared his fangs as they came, white-hot flames igniting within him. "You picked a bad day to wear that armor," he thought.

The moment before they reached him, an inferno erupted in their faces. Bowser roared as he consumed them all in flames. Their spears incinerated in seconds, and the screaming stopped after a few more, but the Koopa King kept going until their armor began to drip and melt, and he was sure he had roasted them all alive.

The smoke began to clear, and through it Bowser saw a colossal soldier eyeing him from across the yard, shrouded in a mountain of iron. Instead of a spear, this one carried a huge black axe. It stepped forward ominously, looking every bit the boss battle.

Bowser flared his nostrils yet again, ready for the challenge. "You wanna go, big guy?"

"I had a turtle like you as a pet once," the juggernaut boomed. "I smashed its shell and spilled the insides everywhere."

It thundered forward across the plaza, but was soon staggered by a magic blast from behind. It turned back and let out a befuddled "Wha…?" before toppling to the ground and crumpling up, armor and all, like a wad of tinfoil.

Bowser didn't quite know what to make of that. Kammy was to his left, and she just shrugged when he glanced at her. None of the other Magikoopas were nearby, and Bowser was pretty sure they weren't strong enough to totally obliterate a guy like that, anyway.

The answer to his question floated down out of the sky, wearing a tattered cloak and riding a bristleless broom. As Bowser's troops finished off the last few enemies, a weary-looking Kamek landed in the empty plaza.

The new arrival stepped toward Bowser and Kammy, tentatively. "P-prince Bowser? Mother? Is it really you?" He seemed uncertain, almost terrified, like he was seeing ghosts. "I knew I sensed your presence, but…"

"That's 'King' Bowser to you," Kammy snapped at her son, "and we just saw you at breakfast! You'd better not be going senile before me, sonny boy!"

The slightly younger Magikoopa processed this for a second, before seeming to realize something. "The rumors are true, then. Empress Toadstool is trying to invade another world."

Kammy had landed by this point, looking uncomfortable. "Our world's been invaded, alright. That's why we're here."

"So this really is some kind of parallel timeline," Bowser grumbled. He'd begun to believe it when the grey soldiers hadn't properly feared his name.

Kammy looked up, inspired. "You're a Genius, my lord! If the Koopa Kingdom exists in this world, surely you can rebuild your army using loyal subjects who live here!"

"You don't understand," Kamek urged, waving his arms. "The Koopa Kingdom doesn't exist in this world anymore! When you died without an heir, the people lost hope. A few years back, the Empress laid waste to whatever was left. There are only a few of us now, living in hiding from her wrath."

"What are you talking about?" Bowser suddenly felt a bit chilly. "Spill it, Kamek. Who's this 'Empress' chick you keep bringing up?"

"Her name is Peach Toadstool," the Magikoopa explained, "and something terrible happened to her twenty years ago, on the night the Star Spirits died." He turned away, facing the empty sky. "She was only a girl then, but she grew up insane, and now she's a tyrant. We're all suffering, and this world is dying; all because of what went wrong that night."

Bowser didn't want to ask, but he knew it had to be done. "What went wrong that night?"

Kamek's eyes held a lifetime of sorrow, but no answers. "Everything, my king. Everything."

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 - Divergence Point

"So, you've really never heard of the Super Mario Bros.?" Luigi asked the question for the third time that morning, just to make sure. "Nothing about that name is familiar at all?"

Across the truck bed, Raini shook her head sadly. Beside her, Goombella groaned and rolled her eyes yet again. "The answer is still the same, but you're welcome to keep trying." The Goomba girl blew a lock of stray hair from her eyes, but the wind blew it right back. "Seriously, you guys are total strangers."

Luigi shook his head, finally accepting the answer and what it meant. "No, that's good. If you've never met us, then that means our timelines diverged more than a few years ago. We need to go further back."

The old tan pickup truck bumped and rattled across the empty countryside. The so-called "Amanita Resistance" had left their shabby inn that morning, bringing their seven new guests with them. It was early afternoon now, and the past several hours had been nothing but fields, dirt paths, and the occasional distant forest or giant mushroom patch. They were staying out of sight, Luigi had learned, so that meant back roads and mundane travel.

"Why can't we just use the Pipe system?" he had asked that morning, as Rowf had herded them all into the truck. "Wherever we're going, warping is still faster than driving."

The Doogan had shaken his head decisively. "The capital keeps tabs on all Warp Pipe use, and they tend not to like us very much. Chances are they'd pull us out halfway, and then we'd be in trouble. You ever been to Pipeline Central, buddy?" He was referring to the sprawling transit hub beneath Mushroom City. Luigi had been there a few times – it was massive, twisted, and always too crowded. "Trust me, it's not a place you want to get yourself noticed."

So, the party had chosen the scenic route. It made Luigi realize how little of the kingdom's countryside he knew, and that in turn made him realize that he was lost. "We could be anywhere," he thought, hoping in vain to see a landmark he recognized. The sun was nowhere in sight – if this bleak world even had a sun – so their direction was a mystery, too.

In short, it was the middle of nowhere; and Luigi had no idea where they would end up. "We could be heading in circles, for all I know."

Well, at least he had good company. Rowf was driving up front, and the Toad known as Raz had taken the seat beside him. That left the other nine passengers to squeeze rather snugly into the back bed. Mario took up the lion's share of space, but he needed the room to stretch his leg. He was awake now, but seemed lost in thought as he stared off into the passing wilderness.

Vivian had huddled up beside him with blankets and spare gauze, claiming the back of the bed for the two of them alone. The remaining seven sat lined against the sides, conferring amongst themselves and trying to puzzle out the strange situation they were in.

"What about Bowser?" Yoshi asked, arms dangling lazily backwards over the side. "You know who he is, right? A wild guy like him has to have affected your history somehow."

Goombella screwed up her face in concentration, giving little shakes of her head now and then. "Wasn't he, like, some old-timey king? I know I've heard the name before, but I'm totally drawing a blank." She eventually sighed and gave up. "Sorry, can I pass?"

Raini chimed in with the answer. "There have been several 'Bowsers' in the royal Koopa line, but the most recent was the young prince that died two decades ago." Luigi couldn't believe what he was hearing. This version of Bowser was dead? Over the years, he'd just started to assume that the beast was immortal.

"Yeah, the kid prince," Goombella nodded, remembering. "I knew the name was familiar. Sorry, history isn't really my thing, you know?"

That was enough to snap Mario and Vivian out of their shared daze, each looking over at Goombella like she'd just sprouted wings. Luigi didn't know the girl as well as the two of them did, but even he knew that she knew everything about the kingdom's past.

"No, that's not right," Vivian whispered, chewing her lip slightly. "In our world, history is your whole life! You're, um, actually the one who taught me most of what I know about it." She looked nostalgic, but also determined to find answers. "We would sit in the lobby of the Rogueport Inn every evening, and you'd tell me stories until we passed out, and Mario had to carry us both upstairs…"

Mario nodded, sitting up a little straighter. "The Goombella we know was an archeology major at U Goom. She's in grad school now, working on a master's degree."

"Well isn't she a lucky girl?" this version of Goombella spat. "Do I look like I have the money to go to some fancy college? My family is so dirt-poor I couldn't even finish high school." She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, windblown hair shrouding her face. "I mean, sure, I was into archaeology and stuff when I was a kid, but I had to grow up and move on."

Vivian looked mortified. "Oh, Goombella, I'm so sorry. I had no idea it was like that. I just thought that, well…" she trailed off as Mario put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Nah, it's fine," Goombella answered. She opened her eyes, but didn't turn back. "I've made the best of it. My folks kicked me out, so I spent the next few years on the road doing, like, odd jobs to earn coins. I learned a ton about the world; more than I ever would have at some lame school." She turned back, all smiles again. "One day I ran into Rowf on the road, yeah? The rest is, well, history!"

She gave a cheeky grin, like it was the best pun she'd ever made. Luigi gave a polite chuckle. Nobody else seemed to get it.

"Hey, did I just get namedropped back there?" Rowf leaned out the window up ahead, his uncanny timing preventing yet another awkward silence. "Listen, there's a gas station in about half a mile, where the real roads start. If anybody needs food or has any awkward business to take care of, that'll be the place."

Everybody nodded as Rowf withdrew his head. No words were said about "awkward business," but they had been sitting in the truck bed for nearly five hours. Out of the corner of his eye, Luigi saw Yoshi cross his legs. "Yeah, stopping is a good idea," he thought.

"Tell us more about your hobo days, Ms. Goombella!" Toad chirped from nearby. "I bet you had lots of adventures!"

Goombella looked half-horrified, half-deeply flattered. "Well, let's see," she began, leaning in and making a show of it. "There was this one time, I woke up in Glitzville with these three Ninjis. They told me that-"

"Look, I'm glad we're all making friends; but none of this helps us," Bow interrupted from her spot in the corner. She was resting on a folded blanket, but otherwise this was one of the rare times that Luigi had actually seen a Boo land. It was understandable - she couldn't hope to keep pace with a moving truck while floating, after all. "Instead of sharing personal gossip," the ghost continued, "why don't we stick to the big historical events?"

Toad groaned, but Mario held out a hand to stop him. "She's right, we need answers. This isn't a road trip, after all."

"I mean, it's kind of a road trip," Toad muttered, but said no more.

Goombella and Raini glanced at each other. "Okay, sure," the Goomba said. "If you want answers, we're your gals. How about each of you ask us your biggest question, and we'll try to string a story out of them."

Each person nodded, lapsing into silence to think of a question. In the end, Yoshi went first. "What I want to know is, who were those soldiers that attacked us back at the castle?"

"That leads into my question," Mario nodded. "Who kidnapped the princess, and what do they want with her?"

"Oh, yes," Vivian piped up, "and tell us about the Empress too, please. Why is this world's Peach, um, evil and stuff?"

It was Bow's turn next. "Tell us a little more about your "resistance," if you don't mind. What do you people do? Who's in charge? Is this truck even yours?"

"Where are you taking us, anyway?" asked Toad.

"Can I get a slushie at the gas station?" wondered Toadette.

It was down to Luigi, with one question left. "Seriously?" he asked himself, "am I the only one here who's even a little curious about the scary nightmare sky?"

"Okay, sure," he sighed. "Since nobody else is asking, it might as well be me. What happened to the stars? You said this world is "broken," but what does that mean?"

There was a short silence as Goombella and Raini whispered amongst themselves, hopefully trying to line up a story that made some kind of sense. After a minute or two, they turned back to their circle of curious listeners. "It's not your typical storytime setup, but sure."

Goombella was the first to speak, blowing the hair out of her eyes again. "So, we did some talking, and Green Guy's question is actually the best place to start." Luigi squinted in slight annoyance, but let the girl continue. "I was just a little spore back then, but everybody says it all goes back to the Shroob invasion twenty years ago."

Wait, that wasn't right. It was too recent. Mario must have thought so too, because he spoke up. "The Shroobs invaded twenty-six years ago, Goombella."

It was Raini who answered, the older woman looking a little more sure of her knowledge. "Well, yes; but we're talking about the second Shroob invasion."

Everyone was alert now, and Luigi decided it was his turn to interject. "That never happened in our world. Are you saying that they came back?"

"Yeah, exactly," Goombella affirmed. "There was the first invasion, and then the second one six years later. It was way worse. Like, infinitely worse. They blasted the entire kingdom to smithereens."

There was silence as everyone processed this, and then a low sarcastic whistle from Bow. "Well, I suppose that's it. We seem to have found our point of divergence. Are we all satisfied now?"

Raini nodded, but her eyes were sad. "If that's where our timelines split, then you all are very lucky. It was a terrible time, and many people lost their lives. Several major cities, including Toad Town, were utterly destroyed."

"Yeah, we're still trying to clean up the mess," Goombella added. "Sometimes people still find wrecked Shroob ships just, like, laying around. We're supposed to "report" any we find, so the Empire can come cart them off. They say it's for safety, but who knows what they really do with those things…"

"Excuse me," asked Toadette, "but how are the stars involved?" It was a good question; one that Luigi was just about to ask himself.

Raini looked up at the sky. "Well, that has to do with how the war ended. You see-"

Just then, the old truck shuddered to a stop. "We're here, guys and gals," Rowf exclaimed as he opened the door and hopped out. Luigi glanced up, and saw that they had pulled into the seediest little gas station he had ever seen.

Yoshi groaned, Mario put a hand to his face, and even Vivian looked a little miffed. "But we were just starting to get somewhere!" whined Toad.

"Story of my life, little dude," answered Goombella, laughing as she hopped over the side. "Don't worry; we'll pick up right where we left off, okay?"

Everybody disembarked one-by-one, except for Mario and Vivian who insisted that they were fine staying put. Luigi gingerly set his sprained foot on the ground, and found that he could walk again with little pain. "It turns out I was the lucky one for once, all things considered."

Standing up, he got a good look at the surroundings. The little station and its two gas pumps sat at the end of the dirt road they'd been driving on all morning, which turned onto a slightly larger paved road just ahead. A few hundred yards away, Luigi could see the busy traffic of a highway. "I guess we finally ran out of wilderness."

"You want me to get you anything, bro?" he asked, walking past his brother. "I have enough coins for a Super Soda, or maybe one of those gas station sandwiches."

"I'm fine, Luigi," Mario smiled back. "Get yourself a treat. Oh, unless they have mushroom-and-meatball subs! If that's the case, buy as many as you can afford." Somehow, Mario's stomach growled right on time.

Goombella waddled past, eyes glinting with mischief. "Don't worry about those two, Green. The leg injury is a total act. They just want to be left alone in their little love nest."

Vivian flared to Mario's defense immediately, looking fiercer than Luigi had ever seen her. "How could you say that?! Mario nearly died from this injury, and I've been…" She seemed to finally process the full taunt. "W-wait, what was that l-last part?! Love nest?" She sunk into the shadows in a flash, blushing bright lavender. Mario looked mildly flabbergasted himself.

Goombella cackled to herself as she walked away. Luigi followed after her, shaking his head. "Mario and Vivian? There's a strange couple. She's so quiet and shy all the time; and Mario is well, Mario. Nah, I don't see it."

He headed inside, which proved to be just as lousy as the outside. A few battered shelves lined the tile floor, half-stocked with candy and packs of chips that were probably months stale. Behind them, the freezers were mostly empty of everything except some dodgy off-brand fruit juice. A sleeping guard-Chomp lay on the floor, chained to a water pipe. Somewhere, a radio crackled.

Rowf was talking to the cashier – a chubby Monty Mole who looked utterly tired of life. From the look of it, the Doogan was haggling for half the store, rather aggressively, and the poor mole seemed about ready to give in just so it would be over. Wanting no part of it, Luigi sidled past them and headed toward the bathroom in the back.

Inside, Yoshi and Toad were washing their hands while trying to theorize about the story they had in-progress. Toad was saying something about a "star-powered gravity cannon," but Luigi ignored them both and headed for an empty stall. Soon, though, he found himself pondering the issue anyway.

He'd seen this world's Toad Town, last night in the darkness before the army had come. Thanks to time travel, he'd also seen his own world's Toad Town after a violent Shroob attack. He tried comparing the destruction in his head, but that line of thinking got him nowhere. The business with the stars made even less sense, but before Luigi could come up with any ideas he heard a silky whisper and felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"So, what are your thoughts on all this? You seem like the introspective type." He looked up to see Bow's intangible face peeking through the wall with an impish grin. He nearly jumped out of his overalls and his skin at the sight of her. As if he didn't have enough problems in life, a Boo had literally just waylaid him in the bathroom.

"Y-you're not supposed to be in here!" he hissed frantically, searching around for some way to cover up. "What do you want from me?"

The ghost gave him a deadpan look. "Your thoughts, like I just said. Feelings, hunches, general ideas. You're bound to have at least a few in that head of yours."

"Can we maybe talk about this later?" Luigi was going to have nightmares about this forever, he just knew it. "This isn't exactly the time or the place!"

Bow rolled her eyes. "Oh, all right. I was just hoping to catch you alone before the peanut gallery returned." She brought her fan up to her mouth and giggled. "Anyway, I'm a ghost. You have absolutely nothing I care about seeing. But, if you're really that embarrassed…" She faded out of view, but Luigi heard one last whisper, right in his ear. "…You're too late. I saw everything."

Luigi shivered pitifully, alone again. Of all the misfit tagalongs who could have joined the adventure, why did one of them have to be her?

Far away, back in the marshy fields behind Peach's ruined castle, Bowser Koopa was watching his minions try and fail to extinguish a bonfire.

It was an embarrassment. Living in the volcanic Koopa Kingdom, you'd think anyone would eventually pick up on some basic fire safety. In fact, Bowser was pretty sure it was taught in schools at a hatchling level. What excuse did these numbskulls have, then? Bowser didn't know, but there were going to be some serious workplace meetings when they got back home.

"Put your backs into it, troops!" the Koopa King roared down from the small hill he stood on. "No, not like that! Get out of there!" Several Shy Guys had begun walking backwards towards the fire, and were now looking at each other in confusion.

Soon after, a Magikoopa approached from the direction of the river, carrying what looked like a handful of water. "What are you doing, go get a bucket or something!" The Magikoopa looked at his claws, then back up at Bowser with a lame shrug. "Don't you shrug at me, soldier – you're literally magic, you can make a dang bucket!"

Here came a Koopatrol carrying a bundle of sticks and leaves, which he promptly threw into the blaze. "WHAT WAS THAT?! I don't care what universe we're in, you don't kill a fire by TOSSING WOOD AT IT!"

The Koopatrol yelled back something about "smothering the flame," so Bowser shook his head and stormed off the other way, utterly giving up on the whole project. This was a total lost cause.

It had been Kamek's idea to begin with, anyway. The little wizard had had first noticed the burning junk heap in the castle gardens, spying the smoke from afar. After searching the castle to Bowser's satisfaction, they had regrouped and set off across the field, to see what the fire was about.

The source of the smoke sat at the edge of the forest. Up close, it seemed to be the remains of some torn-down little shack. There was a pretty clear imprint in the grass nearby, and the ground was littered with broken window glass. The bonfire itself was a pile of barrels and plywood boards. It looked like it had been burning for several hours.

Kamek had suggested putting out the fire to look for clues, and Bowser had thought the investigation might be interesting. Now, he was starting to suspect that the Magikoopa was just using a distraction to weasel out of trunk-hauling duty.

Bowser found Kamek by the old wooden chest, right where he'd been left. The wizard had lifted the lid slightly, and was peering curiously inside.

"Hey, get out of there!" the larger Koopa shouted. Kamek gave a shocked little squeal and slammed the lit shut again. "That's Koopa Troop property in there, stolen fair and square. You're here to be a guide, not snoop around in our stuff."

"I understand, my king," Kamek nodded, backing away slightly. "You want me to escort you to the last remnants of your people. That is my purpose."

"Yeah, that's right," Bowser confirmed. "You said the Koopas got wiped out in this timeline, but there's still a few left. I wanna talk to them."

Over the little hill, the bonfire flared up higher than it ever had. There was some shouting and a few cheers, but Bowser just shook his head. Not long after, Kammy came flying back from wherever she had been.

"Lord Bowser, "she began as she landed, "I'm afraid I don't have much to report. I followed these tire tracks for a few miles, hoping to catch sight of our shack-burners, but they're too far gone."

Bowser waved her off, impassive. Whoever had been here, they probably meant nothing to him. "This was a waste of time, anyway. Go round up the troops and let's get moving!"

"Oh, but they're having such fun, my lord!" the witch replied, flying up to get a better view. "We could stay the night and have a bonfire party!"

"I'll turn you into a bonfire party," the Koopa grumbled as he lifted the trunk once again, balancing it on the back of his shell. "Assemble the troops; that's an order." He turned to the other mage and narrowed his eyes. "Kamek, you'd better know exactly where we're going. The "other you" back home can get away with some screw-ups, but you're the new guy here."

The two Magikoopas saluted and flew off together, leaving Bowser to trudge after them on foot. He would find Princess Peach, no matter what; but first he needed to see what had become of his kingdom. He needed the kingdom to see him.

"This is a messed-up new world," he thought grimly to himself, "and it's about time I had my army back."

The truck was back on the road, and Mario was immensely glad to have real pavement below him now.

He stretched his injured leg and gave his toes a little wiggle, making sure to keep the blood flowing as it should. The bumpy dirt-and-gravel paths had been a trying experience, but overall he was already feeling much better than he had that morning. He had always healed fast, and his friends had done a great job patching him up. Now, if he could just get his hands on a hearty meal or two, the hero was certain he'd be back in action in no time.

Still, he felt like a total fool. It was his own fault for getting stabbed in the first place, in spite of Yoshi's warnings. "I just ran in, and it nearly got me killed. I put everyone else at risk, too." If there was one thing Mario couldn't stand, it was the thought of being useless while other people needed his help. "I should have been awake and fighting with them, not half-dead and being carried."

Silently, he vowed it wouldn't happen again. Every mistake was a lesson, and every failure was an opportunity to try harder. It was the first rule by which he lived his life, and it had gotten him pretty far.

Mario turned to Vivian, who sat nearby watching the horizon as the wind made a terrible mess of her pale pink hair. As he understood it, she had saved his life. He didn't doubt it for an instant, even if he didn't know all the details. The siren was much braver than she believed herself to be, and when push came to shove she never gave up. He admired that greatly about her.

That said, her shyness was still a struggle. She had spent the morning sharing a blanket with him, chatting and sightseeing like old friends. But after Goombella's little "love nest" jab, she had scooted over to sit much further away. Mario knew the Goomba girl was just being playful, but poor Vivian had been clearly distraught by the whole idea. He would give her the space she needed, but in the back of his mind, he was already starting to miss her soft warmth.

Elsewhere in the bed, Mario's other friends were munching on whatever small snacks they had picked up back at the station. Yoshi and Toad were sharing a large bag of vibrantly-colored candies, as Goombella sipped on some fruit juice. Luigi had gotten himself a sandwich, although he had set it down halfway through, and was now beginning to look a bit ill. Toadette was sulking by herself - sadly, she had not gotten a slushie.

They were on the highway now, and vehicles of every shape and size were speeding by all around them. Every now and then, they passed by an intersection or a small town, each emptier and shabbier than the last. Off in the distance, parallel to the road, the thin line of the ocean ran the length of the horizon. "We're following the coast, so we must be going either east or west," Mario thought to himself.

"So, where were we?" Goombella eventually asked, setting down her half-empty juice bottle. "Something about the Shroobs, yeah?"

Suddenly, all eyes were on her. They had been promised answers earlier, and it seemed that now was finally the time. Mario sat up as best he could, straining to listen over the noise of the surrounding engines.

"Um, actually," Vivian raised her hand nearby, "you were going to explain why the stars went out." Luigi nodded eagerly in agreement. Mario recalled that he had asked that specific question.

"Right, well, about that…"Raini looked slightly uncomfortable as she started speaking. "The truth is, we don't know exactly what happened." A collective groan went up, but she kept talking. "The Shroobs vanished without a trace on the same night the stars did. One night they were here; the next they were gone and the invasion had ended. The popular bedtime story is that the Star Spirits and their children sacrificed themselves to save the world; but I'm not sure if I believe it, to be honest."

"Yeah, because of what happened to the princess," Goombella continued. "See, she supposedly got kidnapped right before it all happened. That Prince Bowser kid did, too. It was some big crisis, or something. The thing is, she lived and he didn't. I guess I wish it had been the other way around, because she grew up to be a total bi-"

Raini cut her off. "What Goombella means is, the Empress has had a hard life. She's in a difficult position, and she has some unpopular policies, but it's not her fault the world is in such bad shape. The planet started dying when the stars left us, not because of her."

"Oh please," Goombella let out a sardonic laugh. "She's not some fragile tragic sob story. She's totally crazy and completely evil!" She took a long swig of her juice. "I mean, have you seen the towns out here? What has Empress Toadstool ever done to help these people? Everyone outside the capital is practically living in ditches because of her!"

The Toad woman bowed her head sadly. "I still think we should try to sympathize with her. She's deeply traumatized and needs help."

"We're the Resistance, Raini! Not a support group!" Goombella looked like she wanted to kick something. "We're trying to overthrow her and everything she stands for, remember?"

Raini said nothing else, so the small argument appeared to be over. The floor was open, so Mario decided to ask another question that had been on his mind. "Why are we here, though? Why did your Peach kidnap our Peach?"

Goombella shrugged as best she could, which wasn't very well. "No idea. That's why we tried that whole thing with the fake inn, remember? All I know is, things have gotten weird ever since that hooded freak showed up." Yoshi looked like he was about to interject, but she cut him off. "Before you ask, I have no idea who the heck that is. Just another eccentric magical toady – you know the type."

Mario did know the type. They were distressingly common, in fact. Still, there was something uniquely off about the creature he had met the night before. Something he couldn't quite place.

Goombella gave a tired sigh, finished her drink, and turned away from the group to stare at the far-distant shoreline. "That's enough info for now. No more questions, I'm all tattled out."

"Just one more, please," Vivian quietly asked, as Goombella turned to her with weary eyes. "Where exactly are we going right now?"

"We're headed to Rogueport," she answered, "the one place in this backwards world that isn't a total mess."

Everybody was silent after that, letting the roar of the engines and the distant ocean air carry their thoughts to places far away.

Night had fallen once again, but Princess Peach couldn't stay in bed for another minute if her life depended on it.

She wasn't tired, but then again she never had been in the first place. There was nothing to do in this weird little room, and even looking around gave her the shivers. She'd spent the day trying to nap and ignore it all, but that plan had failed miserably. Between her inactivity and the unending music box tune, she felt like she was beginning to go mad.

She walked over to the window and pushed it open, breathing deeply as the cool night air washed over her. Far away, the lights of Mushroom City's proud skyline twinkled like the stars this world no longer had. Peach would have given anything to be out amongst those lights, instead of here in this little pink cell.

"Where is Mario?" she found herself wondering. "Is he safe? Will he even come for me if he is?" She knew she had hurt him, but their breakup had been best for them both. The day he had shown her his mother's engagement ring, a keepsake to be given to his own special one someday, she had known it was time to end things. Mario deserved someone who could treasure that ring, and the man who gave it to her; not a princess whose first love would always be her kingdom.

Sighing, she pulled herself from her thoughts. No, Mario was her friend. He would come if he could, and if he couldn't she would escape by herself. She had done it before, and she could do it again if she had to.

She was about to head back inside to pursue that line of logic, but a sudden cacophony down below diverted her attention to the ground. Peach looked down from her tower, and saw an uncountable crowd sprawling beneath her. Soldiers and civilians alike had turned out to fill the courtyards of the city-palace as far as the eye could see. Shouts and cheers echoed between the ivory towers in a thousand ringing voices, as trumpets blared out an unfamiliar fanfare. Here and there an odd firework went off, lighting up the walls in pink or yellow or blue. "What is going on now?"

Slowly, ponderously, two pieces of the huge outer wall slid back and away, retracting to become a massive gate. The assembled crowd began cheering like mad as the gap became ever wider, slowly revealing a grand parade of soldiers and flag bearers. Peach leaned out for a better look, but the sudden chill of the wind made her pull back.

Line by line they came marching in, clearing a path down the main avenue as bands played and colorful acrobats flipped and tumbled along behind them. The music swelled, the people rioted, and the very towers of the palace seemed to tremble as the palanquin came into view.

At first, Peach wasn't even sure what she was looking at. The immense structure shone like a sun come to earth; a perfect mountain of sculpted white gold and cascading swirls of jewels, all lit to a glimmer by a hundred mounted torches. It was held aloft not by soldiers, but by a glowering crew of stony Whomps. The great golems marched and grunted in echoing unison, bearing their brilliant load and leering dangerously at any bystander who strayed too close.

Peach recalled the mysterious letter that had been left on her bedside table. "I cannot be there to meet you at present," it had said, "but I assure you that we will speak face-to-face very soon." This was it, then – her mysterious kidnapper had arrived at last.

The princess watched the parade for as long as she could, but eventually the palanquin passed out of view behind the walls of her tower. The frenzied crowd followed after it, and Peach was left by herself once again. "What kind of person needs that much grandeur?" she asked herself, leaning on the window sill. "The entire great hall of my castle could have fit inside that monstrous thing."

She shook her head as the noise faded away into the night, and reached out to grab the window latch. But before she could pull it shut, a far-distant figure caught her eye.

Beyond the avenues and courtyards, atop another ivory tower, a lone silhouette watched the parade in still silence. It stood atop the spire, facing the direction the people and the light had gone, utterly unmoving save for the subtle rippling of its cloak in the wind.

Peach gasped softly to herself, recognizing the entity that had abducted her the night before. In an instant, the hooded figure had turned to face her, drawing back slightly in surprise as the princess met its gaze across the dark divide.

She stared at it from her window, and it presumably stared back. For a minute, neither moved. Then suddenly, almost hastily, the hooded figure pulled a book from its robe, flipped a few pages, raised a hand to the sky…

…And then it was gone, vanished like morning mist, leaving the distant tower's rooftop as empty as the heavens above.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 - Rogues Galleria

Mario strolled down the boardwalk, breathing in the warm sea spray and listening to the hustle and bustle of the mid-morning market.

It was a prettier day than he had seen in a while, especially in this new world where simple beauties were hard to find. A gentle breeze blew in from the ocean, warming his skin and tickling the hairs of his mustache. High above, seagulls soared and glided like kites through the sky, riding the salty sea air from the beach to the marketplace and back again. A trio of young Toads dashed past, laughing and chasing each other until they vanished amidst the busy market stalls.

Vivian wasn't far behind, as usual. The siren had offered to join him on his morning walk, under the pretense of doing some much-needed grocery shopping for the group. Mario suspected that she had actually come along out of worry over his injury, despite his insistence that he was mending well and knew how to look after himself.

Still, he was glad to have her company – there was a certain sense of sweet nostalgia about it all; the two of them, between chapters of a quest, wandering the streets of Rogueport together.

Mario slowed his steps so she could catch up, taking a moment just to listen to the gulls and the breaking waves. When she glided up beside him a few seconds later, he noticed a picked-apart bread roll in her hand, and guessed that she had been stopping along the way to feed the scavenging birds. "That's a bad idea, Viv," he thought, shaking his head. "Someday, one of those things is going to bite your hand off."

He smiled and offered her an arm, which she shyly accepted with a smile of her own, and together the two friends set off into the bazaar, in search of groceries and adventure.

As they made their way through the crowd, Mario thought back on recent events. It had been nearly a week since he and his friends had arrived in town, and he had learned that Rogueport was very different here.

Back home, this place was generally seen as a scummy den of cutthroats and thieves; but here, it had become a thriving seaside market town. It was well-known that Don Pianta had connections within the Empire, but he used them to keep the regime's sinister army safely outside the walls. As such, the town had become something of a haven for those who opposed the Empress – as long as business was booming, and the right hands were getting their cut of the profits, the old Don seemed perfectly happy to turn a blind eye.

Mario wasn't a fan of such shady practices in general, but even he had to admit that the old town was several degrees prettier and cleaner than he had ever seen it. The air smelled fresher, the grass was greener, and innocent folks could walk the streets at all – well, most – hours of the day without fear.

Even the sky seemed brighter here, and the untrained eye might even mistake it for daylight. The rumor on the street was that a crew of intrepid smugglers had hauled a crate or two of Shine Sprites from faraway Isle Delfino; and that now the artifacts were hidden around town, generating their pseudo-sunlight for everyone to enjoy.

The sight had been quite a shock when the group had first arrived, driving through the newly-polished hardwood city gates in their battered old truck. Mario, and likely everyone else, had expected the usual stink and squalor; but the early morning ocean mist had parted over the plaza to prove them all wrong.

Vibrant storefronts and trading stalls dominated the shoreline, as exotic merchant ships filled the wide bay beyond. Busy crowds scurried back and forth between the shops, as families spent time by the grand fountain-statue that had once been a menacing hangman's gallows. (It was a statue of Flavio, standing tall and proud. The inscription read 'Generously paid for by Flavio and the Flavio Foundation').

"This is… not what I was expecting," Bow had muttered as she glanced uncertainly around at the friendly view. "Is this Rogueport, or have you taken us to Faire Square by mistake?"

"Nah, this is the place," Goombella had lazily opened an eye, waking up from the light nap she had been taking. "Like I said earlier, it's the only place I know of that isn't a mess."

Not long after, Rowf had pulled the truck into a shady gravel lot on the east side of town. "Well, here's home base," he had said, hopping out and reaching into the bed for a load of supplies. "You all should be safe enough here, until we find a way to put you back where you came from."

"It's not that we don't like you," Raz had clarified while picking up some supplies of his own, "but the sooner you and your princess are back where you belong, the safer I'll feel. Whatever Empress Toadstool is planning, I want no part of it."

After everyone had gathered up an armful of gas station loot, the Resistance had led their guests into the underground via a precarious iron stairway at the back of a narrow alley. Despite the surface city's makeover, it seemed that the subterranean sewer district had hardly changed a bit. Unsavory types still lurked in their dank warrens or gathered in their makeshift taverns, and the air was still damp and musty with untold centuries' worth of mold.

Naturally, the Amanita Resistance's main base of operations was located here, in a tumbledown stone complex beneath the eastern waterfront. Half of the building leaned precariously out over a dark chasm, and the rest just had to be flooded from the waterfalls of bay runoff spilling onto the roof. It looked like a total ruin, but that had turned out to be the entire point.

Past the façade, they had found a spacious and well-equipped hidden lair. The main room had been made into a cozy living area, haphazardly decorated with tables, sofas, and a giant-screen TV situated against the far wall. Hallways branched off every which way, leading to secluded libraries, packed storage areas, and snug bedrooms. Rowf had given them permission to pick their own sleeping quarters, but warned them to stay out of the westernmost hallway. (Those rooms were empty, Goombella had explained, because that wing really was crumbling into the chasm.)

Also inside, to Mario's mild surprise, they had found Professor Frankly. The old Goomba had been fascinated by their tale, and had answered with his own. In this timeline, he had first come to the city to research its myths and legends, but had stayed to host the Resistance in an extension of his cellar. True enough, a hole in the back wall led through into the professor's original basement, fully cluttered as usual with books and trinkets from every age of the world.

In addition to the professor, they had learned that Wonky the information broker was an informant for the group. The twin Boo sisters, Peeka and Lahla, were casual affiliates as well, when they weren't busy managing affairs for the Pianta Syndicate. At the very least, they liked to hang around the base during their off-hours – a fact which delighted Lady Bow and utterly horrified poor Luigi.

In the days since, the group had settled back into some semblance of a normal routine. Mario would go for a walk every morning, venturing a little bit further each day as his strength gradually returned. In the afternoon, he would return to help out his brother, who had taken to spending all day pouring over books in the libraries, gathering details about the last twenty years of this world's history.

"It just doesn't sit right with me, bro," Luigi had told him one night as he skimmed a history textbook that the professor had loaned him. "It just has to be connected, you know? All of this - why Peach was kidnapped, the thing with the stars, why the other versions of us aren't around..."

"Maybe so," Mario had replied, glancing at Luigi's choice of reading material, "but I doubt that the key to your theory is hiding in a fifth-grade textbook."

Luigi had looked at the cover, gave a dismayed little grunt, then went right back to reading. "All I know is, the sooner we solve this mystery, the sooner we can go home. I don't like this place, Mario."

As for the others, they each found their own simple ways to pass the time. Vivian enjoyed the markets, while Yoshi and Bow spent long hours each evening at the lavish Pianta Parlor downtown. The professor often helped Luigi with his research, and at some point the two had shanghaied Toad into the group. Toadette, meanwhile, had clearly begun to idolize Goombella, as she stuck to the older girl like glue. The Goomba typically spent her days gathering information in the streets, and Mario couldn't help but wonder how her overeager new groupie was impacting her job performance.

"It's, like, a mentor-student kind of thing," she had insisted. "A girl has to learn street smarts at some point in her life." Mario might have believed it, had he not twice walked in on them playing video games during the busiest hours of the day.

So the days passed, and the world slowly began to seem a little less bleak. Between friends and fake sunlight, it was sometimes hard to see the shadow of the Empire looming over their lives – until nighttime brought the cold darkness back, and with it an ominous reminder of the hardships to come. There would be many battles to fight, Mario knew, as soon as the party had a lead on where to go.

But today, he wasn't going to think about that. It was a beautiful morning, relatively speaking, and his only mission was to enjoy the fresh air for as long as he could. That, and maybe to help his easily-distracted friend with her shopping. It seemed that Vivian needed all the aid she could get, as every new kiosk they passed enthralled her all over again.

Just now, she was eagerly listening to a fishmonger give a spiel on the tastiest way to prepare Blooper. Calamari wasn't on the shopping list, so Mario gently pulled her away. Unfortunately, not before he got a whiff of seafood that made his stomach growl pitifully.

The marketplace was a constant surge of sights and smells, and Mario wasn't exactly known for having a small appetite. He was meant to be getting some exercise; but between the ripe fruit, the varied types of colorful mushrooms, and the omnipresent fresh fish, he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out.

"I never knew that people ate Bloopers," Vivian idly remarked as they passed a fisherman's pier lined halfway to the horizon and back with more shops. "I mean, some of them talk! Isn't that kind of weird?"

Mario shrugged. "Yoshi eats Goombas and Koopas, but nobody really questions it anymore." His dinosaur friend was actually a pretty vicious predator, if he thought about it. He decided not to think about it, or eating in general.

He tried to distract himself by people-watching, but he soon found himself fully overwhelmed. It's typical to see foreigners in a port, but this throng contained nearly every race he had ever seen. Toads and Goombas bought items from Boos, Bob-ombs, and Yoshis of every color. Piantas and Penguins operated stalls side-by-side. There was even a cheerful Wiggler curled up beneath an awning, selling humungous homegrown carrots. "There's someone here from every place I've ever been," he marveled, "and probably people from everywhere else, too."

There were no Koopas, though – not a single shell to be seen. Mario found that a bit odd, although he supposed it was likely a coincidence. Besides, Koopas weren't exactly known as a seafaring species, were they?

Leaving the docks behind, Mario and Vivian started down a wide airy tunnel not far off the main street. More shoppers milled about inside, seeking shade beneath the gently-arching canopy. To the left, a wilted Beanish man was selling exotic coffee blends at a fancy wooden booth. (Vivian stopped for a free sample, before remembering that she wasn't very fond of coffee.) To their right, a rotund stony creature was selling small rock piles for exorbitant prices. (Vivian just had to ask; apparently the rocks were delicious.) A few yards further on, there was a shaved ice machine being operated by a cheerful Bumpty couple. (Vivian bought two, and Mario gave into his hunger, just this once. It was basically just water, right?)

The arcade opened into a flagstone courtyard behind the town's central plaza, tucked away out of sight by a row of ancient brick buildings. At the other end, where the faux-sunshine was brightest, picnic tables and cozy wicker chairs marked the exterior seating area of the Toad Sisters' Kitchen. In this timeline, it seemed that Tayce T. had fled the ruined Toad Town to open a family restaurant with her sister Zess. If the line outside the door was any indication, the venture had been a total success. "I'd like to eat there, just once," Mario thought, "before it's time to leave for good."

Nearby, a switchback fire escape in a shady alley led up to the rooftops, and to the secret thieves' highways that Mario knew ran between the buildings. "I wonder…" he idly began, his eyes wandering nostalgically from roof to roof. When Vivian glanced at him curiously, he pointed upwards and continued. "Do you think you-know-who is still in business?"

Vivian nearly choked on her spoon-straw as she tried to stifle a grin. "Are you talking about her?" she asked, swallowing some ice. "Why wouldn't she be? Oh, because she's a thief, right?"

Mario was suddenly dying to know. Rogueport had cleaned up its thieving image, but he suspected that someone like her would only see that as a fun new challenge. If anything, she was probably having the time of her life up there. "Let's go see," he offered, leading Vivian to the stairs. "We're out shopping anyway, right?"

"Hmm, are badges on the shopping list?" she asked, putting a finger to her chin in thought. "I'm not sure we should get distracted." It was only when she started to climb up anyway that Mario realized that she – shy little Vivian - had actually just teased him.

He finished his snack and followed her up, emerging out of the shade and into the half-light. Up here, with the wind on his face and the ocean view before him, Mario felt healthier than he had all week. He walked to the very edge, his heart beginning to race – not from fear, but from an excitement he hadn't felt since his injury that night at the castle. Some people were scared of heights, he knew, but ledges and platforms had always given him an indescribable thrill. When he was high in the air, flipping and spinning in his natural element, he felt like he could achieve anything.

Vivian was busy admiring the view, so Mario decided to take a chance. He had left the base to get exercise, after all; and right now all he could think about was the enticing sight of rooftops stretching far and away across the proud old city.

"I've taken it easy for long enough," he decided. "It's time for Super Mario to get back in action." Giving an experimental hop up onto a chimney, he grinned wide at the lack of pain in his leg. Leaping the narrow gap to the next building, he eyed the vista and planned a course across the plaza. He inhaled a great breath of salty sea air, adjusted his cap, and took off at a sprint.

He heard Vivian let out a startled gasp behind him, and the faint sound of a dropped cup, but kept right on going. He knew she was worried, but there was nothing to worry about. Not here, not anymore.

Across the eaves, up a gable and down the other side, slip between two chimneys, then leap across the alley to the next building. Side-somersault, vault off the weathervane, spin-jump to a higher roof and keep going. After days spent on the ground, he was finally living again. Why had he been so cautious before?

He would make it all the way to the waterfront, and then he would make it all the way back. Vivian would be so proud of him! It didn't even matter that his leg was starting to sting – that just meant his blood was pumping, right?

Slide down the A-frame, double wall jump, grab this hanging pipe, kick off and grab that other one, then swing up and over to level ground. He'd have to pull Luigi away from his books later, and they'd have themselves a race!

A larger gap was coming up ahead, and that meant there was a street below, at least three stories down and thirty feet across. "No problem," Mario thought, "all it takes is a triple jump." There was no need to stop and reposition himself, as everything was already lined up perfectly. He could practically see the perfect arc traced in the air before him. A last-second sprint, followed by one jump, then the next, and then…

…He tripped, his injured leg giving out under the impact and sending him tumbling off course. Helplessly falling head-over-heels, Mario's own velocity and momentum sent him careening toward the edge like a stone in a landslide. His vision was a senseless blur of bricks and sky, and he had no hope of stopping himself, but just in time the shadows tore open beneath him and he fell safely into Vivian's soft embrace.

"W-what in the world were you thinking?!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the abyss. Disoriented as he was, Mario couldn't tell if she was terrified or livid, or both. She was holding onto him for dear life as they floated together in her dark realm beneath reality. Slowly, surely, he came back to himself.

The shadows spat him out moments later, back on solid ground. In a flash, Vivian emerged beside him and began prodding gingerly at his leg. It didn't take Mario long to notice that there were tears in her lavender eyes.

"I'm sorry," he tried lamely to apologize. "I'm not sure what brought that on. It's just been so long since…" he trailed off. Since what? Since he had stupidly endangered himself? He was doing that often of late. He'd always taken risks, but this was different.

Vivian seemed to silently shrink into herself, sitting down against a chimney and pulling her shadowy tail up to her chin. "You almost died," she whispered, glancing away.

Is that what she believed? Mario sat down beside her, leaning back against the warm bricks. "I would have been fine, Viv," he tried to comfort her. "I've missed jumps before, but I always get back up again, right? There was this one time, in Brooklyn, back before we met-"

The siren let out a choked sob, hiding her face. "At the castle, last week!" she exclaimed in utter disbelief. "Y-you ran off without me, and you almost got k-killed! Do you even know how that feels?" She wiped her eyes with her scarf, but fresh tears just kept falling. "A-and then, when you came back to me, I didn't even know how to help you! I-I could have used my powers to heal you right then, but I didn't know!"

Mario was astonished. He hadn't heard any of this before. "I heard it differently," he told her, "I heard that you helped save me." She didn't look up, so he continued. "Besides, I'm fine now, almost. Crisis averted, right?"

That evidently wasn't the answer she wanted, because she glared daggers at him. "Y-you said, 'every mistake is a lesson,' didn't you? Weren't you going to l-learn something from what you did?" She squeezed her eyes shut as wisps of pale grey smoke curled from her fists. "B-but you didn't learn anything after all. You left me behind again, and then you almost got hurt again."

"She's right," he realized, suddenly feeling a bit ashamed. "I felt the rush of adventure again, and I just forgot about everything else. I guess I really didn't learn anything." Now, he couldn't even think of something else to say.

Vivian flopped over against him, tired and desperate. "I can't do this by myself. I can't be in this horrible place if you're not here." She looked down, a few loose strands of pink hair spilling onto his chest. She sunk her hand into the shadows and began to idly swirl her fingers around. "Every time it's dark, I feel like I'm being watched. When I go into the shadows here, it feels like something is trying to grab me and pull me in deeper. I can't make sense of that, and I need you; because you saved me before," her voice dropped to barely a whisper, "and because I…"

She lapsed into silence, her thought unfinished. Mario was ashamed of himself. "Mama Mia, what a mess," he thought, "and it's all my fault."

He gathered her into a hug, and let her cry against his shoulder. "I'm here," he told her, "and we'll go the rest of the way together. I promise." She murmured in response, so he leaned back and they sat in silence for a while.

It must have been late afternoon by the time he felt himself being gently prodded awake.

He opened his eyes to the world, stretching his arms wide and yawning the last of the sleepiness away. Vivian was still beside him, her expression blank. "Sorry, I dozed off," he told her, hoping that him taking a nap hadn't made her feel worse.

To his surprise, she softly smiled. "It's okay, so did I," she sheepishly admitted as she tried to brush her hair back into shape. There were still faint tearstains down her cheeks, but her eyes and her smile were bright. "We, um, never went badge shopping, did we? The shop is still open, though. I checked."

Mario got to his feet, and she did the same – for a given definition of "feet," anyway. He wasn't sure why he had never noticed before, but she was quite pretty when she smiled.

As it turned out, the Lovely Howz of Badges had been just beneath them the whole time. If Ms. Mowz had been at all concerned about the two strangers napping on her roof, she most certainly didn't show it when said strangers finally entered the shop. The porcelain-white Squeek came bounding up to greet them; and Mario was hit with the profound sense, for just a moment, that nothing had changed at all.

"Hm? Oh, my! A brand new customer! And quite a handsome one at that." Ms. Mowz was all business, and her business usually involved a lot of flirting. She hopped around Mario for a moment, getting the measure of him, before widening her eyes in surprise as Vivian made her way through the door. "Who's this, now? Could my handsome hunk of cheese be taken already? Oh well, no matter. There's more than enough room in my Howz for all three of us this evening. ♥"

Mario vaguely remembered that Ms. Mowz had a business partner back home, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. Perhaps it was his night off, or maybe he simply didn't exist here. Either way, his absence left Mario and Vivian at the coquettish mercy of their lone hostess.

"Do come in, sweeties," the proprietress hopped back onto a small box, ushering Mario and Vivian further into the room. "So, are you buying gifts for a friend? Or maybe you're buying special gifts for each other, hmm?"

"I think we're just browsing," Vivian said, her curious eyes wandering over the shelves. "But thank you all the same."

The Squeek's whiskers drooped, just a little; but she perked back up in an instant. "Just let me know if you change your mind, sweetie. I have quite the selection, after all. ♥"

She certainly spoke the truth. The brown brick walls of the building were lined with shelves, and those shelves were themselves lined with glittering badges of every color and shape. Little pink hearts, shiny white flowers, and a rainbow of musical notes lined the counters in perfect rows. A whole jar of tiny emblems shaped like boots and hammers sat on a box by the window, no two alike. These were only the common badges, Mario knew. The truly rare finds, the ones Ms. Mowz had "acquired" in her spare time, would be safely out of sight somewhere in the back.

Truth be told, Mario had always been fascinated by badges. The enchanted little trinkets always offered him fresh new surprises, each one warding off danger or enhancing his skills in some crazy way. Over the years, their versatility had come in handy more times than he cared to count. Plus, they were pretty dang fun to collect.

He ran his hand along the countertop, scanning the selection for designs that he knew. Here was a badge that would make his attacks sound like fart noises – good for a laugh, but not much else. Beside it was a little diamond that would make him sturdier, but cost him some coordination in exchange. With all the flips and jumps he did, that wouldn't suit his style at all.

Ms. Mowz hummed a melody to herself in the background, and Vivian was sifting through one of the colorful jars by the window. Mario was about to suggest that they be on their way, when a pair of tiny yellow starbursts caught his eye.

Two "Pretty Lucky" badges lay side by side on the counter, sitting in the perfect spot to catch the dancing afternoon light from the window. One was a bright yellow sun on a sky-blue square; the other was identical, save for the tiny smiling face in the corner. Mario knew these badges by sight – in battle, their special magic would sometimes cause enemy attacks to harmlessly miss their intended victims.

"Hmm, you like those, do you?" Ms. Mowz had spotted his idle curiosity, and was moving in for the kill. She was a shameless flirt, but she would use that skill to make every sale that she possibly could. "They're a matching set, you know. You could buy one for yourself, and one for your hazy cutie, too. ♥"

Thinking about it, buying these badges would be a nice gesture. He and Vivian had just been arguing about keeping safe, hadn't they? This would show that he had taken her concerns seriously, and that he was thinking of her as well. "How much are they?" he finally asked.

The Squeek grinned triumphantly, sweeping the matching badges into a little plastic bag with an expert swish of her tail. "Standard price? For this level of rarity, it's 150 coins each, my sweet."

300 coins? This was bad. Mario knew he didn't have that much. He turned out his pockets, but found only thirteen coins and a half-peeled "Thing" sticker bearing the image of a fridge. He frowned – he didn't like to think about his sticker adventure very often. It was a bit too surreal, even for him.

"Have you found something? Ooh, what are those?" Vivian had finished her sweep of the shop, and was now looking over Mario's shoulder at the badges in the bag. "Wait, I know this. They're, um, the ones that help you evade, right? Pretty Lucky badges!"

"They're meant to keep us safe," Mario nodded, showing her the thirteen coins in his hand, "but it looks like they're too expensive."

Vivian opened her own coin purse, but her long morning of impulse shopping had left it nearly bare. "I only have twenty coins left, I'm sorry! Maybe if I hadn't bought that shaved ice, or that nasty coffee, or those Dayzee seeds, or…"

Ms. Mowz looked from the hero, to the siren, and back again. With a roll of her eyes and a pointed sigh, she finally said, "300 coins is standard price, I said. You're first-timers, and such a super-cute couple besides, so…" She looked like she was struggling to get the words out, her businesswoman side brutally at war with her romantic thief side. "…I suppose, just this once, I could offer you a… ninety… percent… discount…?"

Mario was inclined to take the offer; but Vivian, polite as ever, immediately tried her best to refuse. "Oh, we couldn't! That wouldn't be very fair to you at all." She thought a moment, then frantically added, "B-besides, we aren't even a-"

"Don't talk nonsense!" the Squeek cried, and Mario was sure he saw her left eye twitch very slightly behind her domino mask. She hopped forward, pawing at the coins and practically shoving the bag into Mario's face. "These badges belong together, so that means they belong with you!"

In the end, Mario and Vivian handed over the last of their money and took the badges. Ms. Mowz blew them a kiss as they left, but Mario was pretty sure he heard her mutter something vaguely like "cheapskates" as the door shut behind them.

Outside on the terrace, the light was just beginning to fade for the evening. The Shine Sprites, wherever they were hidden, were ever-so-gradually losing their daily charge. Mario had seen this phenomenon before throughout the week – it looked nothing like a sunset, but more like a slow, sad greying of the world.

Sighing, he upturned the little bag and shook the pair of badges out into his hand. Vivian had her eyes on the sky, so he lightly tapped her shoulder to gain her attention. He held up the trinket that was meant for her – the one with the tiny face – and she shyly offered the end of her scarf. Smiling, Mario stepped forward to pin the badge where it belonged; but as he drew near, he saw something over the siren's shoulder that made his blood run ice-cold.

Several stories down below, by the granite statue in the plaza, a hooded figure stood watching them in silence. The people of Rogueport milled about; paying it no mind like it wasn't even there. The figure's cloak rippled in the subtle ocean breeze blowing in from the bay, but otherwise it may have been a statue itself.

Mario felt his whole body tense – it had found them. Somehow, against all reason, this thing had tracked them down halfway across the continent. Was it going to be a battle, then? Right here in the plaza, with all these innocents nearby? Vivian must have noticed his apprehension, because she spun around to see what he was staring at.

She barely had time to gasp before the figure fled, breaking into a sudden mad sprint down the busy street. Okay, so it wasn't going to be a battle after all – it was going to be a chase. "Even better for me, then," Mario mused to himself. "We'll be playing by my rules."

He nodded to Vivian and adjusted his cap, getting ready for the challenge ahead. He hastily planned a new course down the rooftops, across alleys and over the city once again, but he had hardly taken a step before a fresh surge of pain stopped him in his tracks. As he hissed through his teeth, the shadow girl rushed to his side, holding an arm out for support.

"Of all the rotten luck," Mario growled, bending over and rubbing his thigh as he watched his enemy flee into the distance. "I spent all the strength I'd saved up on the practice run." He turned to face Vivian, whose breathing was starting to become shallow with anxiety. "You'll have to go after it alone, okay?"

She shook her head frantically, almost violently, and pulled him to his feet. "No, I can't do this by myself! We just talked about this, and you made a promise!" Her breaths were short and sharp, and she looked about three wrong words away from a panic attack. "W-we'll go together. You can lean on me if you need to, but please help me!"

"I'm useless like this," he growled, hating the words more than anything else in the world. "We can't let that thing get away. It might report to the Empress, or whoever else, and then we'll have a whole army to deal with." He looked her in the eye, silently willing her to be as brave as he knew she could be.

She still looked uncertain, so he tried a different approach. "Vivian, you can do this," he told her firmly, taking her hands in his. "You might not believe it, but you're so strong. I can't always be there to help you; but I'll always believe in you, because I know what you can do if you try."

Vivian was silent for a moment, but then she closed her tired eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. "Okay, I'll go," she finally said, inching her way back to the edge of the roof. "B-but you're not useless! Please, never think that!"

"If you say so," Mario smiled, realizing that she had confessed to feeling the same. "How about I make my way back to base to tell the others? That'll give me something to do while you're being a heroine."

She blushed slightly, but nodded. An instant later, she had vanished into the twilight shadows underfoot. He walked to the edge and watched carefully until he saw her reappear in the streets far below. As she sped off down the road, he gave her a small salute and turned to head across the bridge to the Rogueport Inn, and the safe way down.

"Next time, we'll do it together." he assured himself. In another day or two, his leg would be healed completely. When that time came, he'd be back and better than ever. "Next time. But for now, she's got this."

The hooded figure tore a path through the evening crowd like a particularly frenzied Bullet Bill, and Vivian struggled after it as best as she could.

It wasn't going very well for her. The market was long over, but this part of town was a swirling sea of busy people nonetheless. Satisfied shoppers were making their way home, and merchants had begun the long process of packing things up. Poor Vivian was caught in the middle, desperately swimming against the tide.

"Excuse me! Out of the way, please!" she begged, pushing her way past a cluster of chattering Goombas and a rather important-looking yellow Pianta. Up ahead, her target was getting further and further away. "I-if I could just squeeze through, that would be…"

Every now and then, she met people who mistook her for a ghost; but she couldn't float or phase through solid objects like one. Sometimes, like right now, she found herself wishing that she had Lady Bow's skillset instead of her own – intangibility, flight, style, charm, confidence…

"No! What am I thinking?" she pushed the unwanted thought back out of the way, just barely dodging a rather hefty Toad who had taken up most of the path. "I need to focus on what I can do with MY powers! Mario is counting on me!"

She could travel so much faster in the shadows; but every time she submerged, there it was again. That spooky sense of being watched – a dreadful feeling that she couldn't explain; and one that she just couldn't shake, no matter how hard she tried. No, the shadows were a last resort until she knew what that little puzzle was all about.

She didn't particularly want to use fire, either. Vivian didn't have enough faith in her aim to start blasting projectiles around, especially in a huge crowd like this. If she missed even one shot, someone was likely going to end up badly hurt.

Truth be told, she wasn't very comfortable with the idea of using either of her powers, and that gave the hooded figure a huge advantage. It didn't seem to care who it harmed, or how many passersby it had to knock over in its blind dash for freedom. "I have to catch up; that's all there is to it!"

The chase led her down busy streets and through long-forgotten courtyards; over low stone walls and past dilapidated old houses in areas that the economic boom hadn't quite reached. The cloaked creature's escape plan didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to it at all – it would dart down alleys at random, doubling back and twisting the route – and Vivian's tummy - in bizarre knots. "H-how does Mario do this all the time? I'm not sure if I can keep this up..."

When they found themselves on an empty backstreet, she decided that she didn't have anything to lose. In a flash, a bright flame appeared in her hand, embers swishing between her fingers like blazing petals as she ran. The figure was right in front of her, an easy target. She wound back her arm, took a deep breath, aimed as carefully as she could, let the fire fly, and…

…She missed, but the sudden explosion caused the figure to shriek and turn sharply in another direction. In Vivian's head, a plan immediately clicked into place. "If I can herd it through the empty streets, maybe I can trap it! Even better, maybe I could lead it back toward Mario, and then…"

So the chase became a frightening little game. Every time the figure approached an intersection, Vivian would toss fireballs until it turned in the direction she wanted it to go. She wasn't certain, but she thought she was driving it back towards the Lovely Howz of Badges. After a few distressingly unfamiliar twists and turns, the siren began to recognize bits of the scenery again. A street corner here, a storefront there; at one point, she caught a glimpse of the bay between two buildings as she ran past.

This was it! "Just go left here, then right, then… Um…" She'd gotten turned around again, but maybe left was the right way? She launched a barrage of fire, and together she and the mysterious figure emerged from the secluded alley…

…Back out onto the main streets, and back into the crowds. "No! I was making so much progress!" This wasn't good, but Vivian had come too far to start playing it safe again. Swallowing her guilt, she prepared another fireball, and began looking for a safe place to shoot. The figure was making a beeline for another alley across the street, so Vivian reluctantly aimed for a tall stack of woven wicker baskets which ignited like dry hay and sent the figure banking hard to the left in fright.

Veering around the fire she'd set, Vivian saw her target amidst a cluster of produce stands beside the alley entrance. Her next fireball hit an untended cabbage cart, detonating the veggies in a great spray; but the figure slipped through the blast and kept right on going.

People were shouting in distress, but Vivian couldn't afford to listen. She was gaining ground, but there was still plenty of distance to close. To her surprise, the great covered galleria was just ahead – the one she had bought shaved ice in with Mario that morning. Before she knew it, the figure had slipped between some craft stalls and vanished into the covered plaza.

Vivian sighed and stumbled to a halt, partly from desperation but mostly from exhaustion. She was nearly out of stamina, and she wasn't about to go burning down the entire market to continue her ill-fated scheme. There was nothing else to be done but face her fears and take the plunge. She'd done this a trillion times before back home – heck, she'd done it twice today already – so what was the big deal?

Taking barely a second to gather herself, she collapsed her body into the ocean of darkness that ran beneath the world. Down here, she was tethered to nothing – free to swim wherever she wished, at whatever speed she chose. She could see the entire marketplace from beneath, slightly shimmering behind a gossamer fog. She watched as panicked citizens tried to put out the fire. She listened as muffled voices yelled hysterically about cabbages.

…But suddenly that evil feeling was creeping back. She wasn't alone down here. There was something tracking her through the abyss, even as she tried to focus her sights on the world above. It was something fast, and mean; and she had to get out of here as fast as she could!

She sped off through the darkness, suddenly remembering that she had a villain to catch. It didn't take her long to spot the hooded figure – it had turned out of the galleria and into the first narrow alley that it had passed. Vivian swam beneath the pavement, fluid and silent as the shadow she was. The figure had no hope of escape – as soon as the crowd was out of sight, she pounced from the abyss and tumbled with her quarry down onto the flagstones.

"I've got you!" Vivian cried triumphantly, pinning the figure to the ground. "You thought you could get away from us, but too bad! Now you're going to answer for everything you did, you meanie!"

"Ack! I'm being assaulted!" the figure cried, thrashing about like a scared animal caught in a net. "Guards! Guards! Somebody get this savage harpy off of me!" Its voice was unexpectedly shrill – Vivian had expected something more deep and threatening. Also, she certainly didn't expect it to have such an oddly long nose, or such pale, blue-grey hair…

"W-wait a second," Vivian thought, sliding back and loosening her grip. The figure indignantly jerked back and away to freedom, hood falling away at last to reveal the gaunt, bony face of her eldest sister.

"B-Beldam?! It's been you this whole time?" For a moment, Vivian was shocked beyond belief, but then the puzzle started assembling itself. "Oh, I remember now! You lived in Rogueport, back when you were still evil and, um, trying to open the Thousand Year Door!" The sad reality of the situation began to sink in. "W-wait, you're not the one who attacked us before, are you? Oh my stars, I just chased you all over town like a total psycho!"

"That's right," Beldam spat, glaring up at her captor. "I thought I was done with you, but here we are." She put a hand to her hunched back and gave a pained little groan. "Of all the old shames that could've caught up with me, it had to be my feral animal of a sister."

Of course, this wasn't the Beldam that Vivian knew. The hag in front of her was this world's version of Beldam, and a total stranger. She had to keep that in mind – if she slipped up, there's no telling what might happen.

"What brought you back? Revenge, for me selling you off like chattel?" Beldam turned away, but made no move to run again. "Go on, take it! All my plans have dried up, anyway. I've failed our queen, so what good am I? Just end my suffering!"

"N-no! It's not like that at all! In fact, I'm not even the same-" she cut herself off. She'd almost revealed the truth, but maybe it was a better idea to play along? Perhaps she could learn something. "I… I mean, I'm not the same 'me' I was back then." It wasn't exactly a lie, was it?

Beldam turned back, incredulous. "Well, you're speaking in complete sentences now; so at least you have that." Vivian tried to think of ways she could act "feral," like Beldam had said earlier. Should she snarl or twitch, or would that be too much? In the end, she settled for tousling up her hair and sort of slumping her shoulders a bit.

"Just look at you, you wretch," the older siren continued. "Your hair is a mess, your scarf is in tatters and it's wet," she tugged on the scarf, and Vivian let out a little choked noise that was only partly an act. "Why, I probably should have just put you out of your misery, like I did with that other one who just kept eating all the time."

The hag slithered in circles around her, poking and prodding at a few uncomfortable spots. "Although, by the look of you, you haven't exactly been dieting yourself."

To be honest, Vivian hadn't ever thought much about what her alternate self might be like; but hearing Beldam talk, it sounded like something very unpleasant had happened between the two sisters. That wasn't surprising, but she was curious how things might have differed from her own life.

"I'm here… because I want to hear your side of the story," she began, very carefully. She needed context, but had to keep up the act. She slumped a bit more, just for good measure. "Tell me why you did, um, all the stuff that you did."

"Listen to me, Vivian," Beldam stopped pacing and looked her squarely in the eyes. "It's not my fault that you came out wrong. When I found you down there in the pits, all gross and broken, I did my best to take care of you." She threw up her arms in long-felt exasperation. "I tried to be a good sister. I did! But then everything fell apart, and I just… I just couldn't."

Vivian was very confused. In her world, she had been found by Beldam and Marilyn in a dark pit; and for a long time after that, she had certainly felt gross and broken. But she had turned out all right, hadn't she? What was different here?

"So I sold you to the circus, and off you went," Beldam kept trying to explain herself. "I thought maybe they could get some use out of you. The last I heard, you'd escaped or something. I had hoped you were happy somewhere, but I suppose you were too busy tracking me down."

"But I am happy now!" Vivian blurted out. She thought about the situation for a moment, and decided to go with her heart. What Beldam had done was horrid, but what else was new? Vivian knew that her sister could be a better person if she tried – she'd proven it once before, back home. She wanted to give this other version of Beldam the same chance, if she could. "I… I forgive you, okay? For everything, even the bad stuff." Wait, what? "I mean, especially the bad stuff. Why would I forgive you for the good stuff? Was there any good stuff?"

Beldam rolled her eyes and backed away. "Oh, how gracious of you. I'll certainly be able to sleep peacefully tonight, knowing all that." She turned to leave, feebly reaching down to grab her cloak as she did. "Oh wait, no I won't; because you threw out my back when you attacked me."

Finally, she pulled her hood back up, hiding her wizened face once more. "But… thank you. It helps a little, knowing I didn't fail at everything."

As the hag retreated down the alley, slinking back towards the busy galleria, Vivian suddenly remembered a question that she needed to ask - one that only Beldam might be able to answer. "W-wait! One more thing?" she called out. "Have you, um, felt anything strange in the shadows lately? Anything spooky?"

"Are you mocking me?" Beldam stopped in her tracks for a moment, shook her head, and then continued on her way. "I haven't been in the shadows for years. Every time I went down there, I just felt you."

With that, she made her exit. Soon Vivian was alone again, but she didn't feel alone. As evening became night, the lengthening shadows crept down the alley walls like a slow swarm of ghostly, grasping hands. "You shouldn't be here," they seemed to whisper again and again, shifting and constricting all around her. "You shouldn't be here. You don't belong. The darkness is mine."

Chapter Text

Chapter 7 – The Empress

She spent yet another day in her solemn spire, watching the world below pass her by – slaves and grim soldiers beholden to the slow, uncertain rhythm of time.

Yet again, the last dim light of day slowly sank beneath the pall of night. Silent grey guards stalked the maze of battlements, their flickering eyelights casting a lattice of fractured shadows across the white tower walls. Far below, scores of tired servants scrubbed the streets and swept away the previous day's litter and grime. Beyond the outer walls, faraway Mushroom City still glimmered like starlight.

Once more, the black abyss of night gradually birthed another new day. Patrols changed, and fresh guards arrived on the parapets to replace the old. The cleaning crews slipped from sight, as the daylight staff spilled from their homes to herd towards the unseen center of the palace. The outer walls peeled open, and a steady line of flatbed trucks hauled in supplies imported from the city and beyond.

On and on the time spun by, hours slowly blurring into a senseless mess; and yet the vast white citadel never truly slept. Neither, to her endless frustration, did Princess Peach.

"It's been six days, and I've yet to even leave this room," she thought as she curled against the bare mattress, absentmindedly reaching for a quilt that wasn't there. "Wasn't I supposed to get a meeting with the person behind all this?"

Truth be told, the princess rarely bothered to keep track of time during her kidnappings anymore. After all these years, she had sort of grown numb to the whole "captivity" thing. It was practically a routine – Bowser would snatch her away, and then she'd wait a day or two for Mario to turn up. The hero and the Koopa King would have a little tussle, and then she'd get to go home and have a nice warm shower.

That's how it normally played out, anyway. This time, the situation wasn't even Bowser's fault in the first place; and Mario, wherever he was, had not yet come to save her.

She felt like she was fraying at the edges, her patience running thin. She'd spent nearly a week in this pink padded cell, with precious little to do but lean on the window sill and stare at the sky. Nothing special ever happened outside, save for that one festive night with the mysterious golden palanquin.

She was bored, to put it simply. That, and extremely, hopelessly tired. She'd always struggled a bit with insomnia – a little-known secret that only her closest friends and Toadsworth were privy to – but rarely had she gone so long without a good night's rest. This creepy room and its bleak solitude were draining her sanity by the day; but luckily, she didn't plan on staying to let that happen.

The princess shivered in bed, wishing she still had a blanket to wrap about her bare shoulders. Sighing, she pushed herself upright and wiped her tired eyes. "So much for squeezing in a last-minute power nap," she silently lamented. It was almost six p.m. – nearly time for her to go – and she couldn't afford to lie around if she wanted to be ready.

Getting to her feet, she smoothed her nightgown and padded across the plush carpet to check the window one last time. Inching it open, she looked this way and that to see if anyone was presently watching her. Outside, crews of uniformed worker Toads were stringing thick silver-blue cables between some of the faraway towers, overseen by small clusters of the typical armored guards. On the ground, a few specks passed back and forth through the shady, narrow streets.

Peach wasn't very interested in any of that – the same scenes had been playing out every evening that week. Instead, she knelt down and grabbed the long rope of knotted bedclothes that she had crafted earlier that morning. She tied the end of one bright pink sheet to the nearest bedpost, tugging at the knot a few times to make sure it held. Next, she gathered up the chain of quilts and bedspreads, tossed the bundle out the window, watched it unfurl down the side of the tower, and finally…

…She hurried across to the other side of the room, climbing into the immense pile of faded dolls and threadbare plush toys. She shifted and squirmed until she was almost totally buried, leaving just enough of a gap to see through.

Obviously, she wasn't really going to try and climb out the window. She was sixty stories high in a tower, for stars' sake! Such a thing would be insane. But the guards didn't know her well enough to know that she wouldn't try it, and that was the key. She had a plan, and it made sense in her head – now, she just had to play the waiting game.

Over the past few days, Peach had been learning the schedule of the guards posted outside her door. They never spoke to her, but they often spoke amongst themselves when one would come to relieve another. If her insomnia had a benefit, it's that she was always awake to hear the murmurs.

It didn't take long for the pattern to emerge: shifts lasted for exactly six hours, and there was only ever one watchman outside at a time. The changings occurred at noon and midnight, as well as halfway between the two. A set of clunky armored footsteps would approach the door (always from the right, Peach reminded herself, never from the left), and another would stomp away in the same direction.

The noon and midnight guards never entered her room, but the halfway guards always did. At six a.m., Peach was brought breakfast; and at six p.m., she was given supper. (Neither meal was ever particularly tasty or filling, but that was beside the point). The princess supposed it was too much of a hassle to send maids or cooks up the tall tower, leaving the task to whichever soldier happened to be going up anyway.

"Either that, or whoever is in charge here simply doesn't want anybody to see me," Peach supposed, although she was unable to guess why she would be kept a secret after her captor had gone to such mad lengths to obtain her.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the subtle creak of plate mail, and then the low tones of muffled conversation. The princess strained her ears to listen, picking up a few words like "wires" and "progress," and finally smiled as she heard footsteps retreating down the hall.

It was clockwork. It was predictable. It was easy. "If they wanted me to stay here like a good girl," she thought as she lay hidden amongst the dolls, "then they shouldn't have made my cell so dreadfully dull."

A moment later, the door swung open and a soldier entered the room carrying a small tray of potato salad and bland-smelling mushroom stew. Just as Peach had hoped, the food was instantly flung aside as the guard gasped and ran to the open window.

Part of her brain was telling her to run right now, while the guard was distracted. The more rational part knew that she wouldn't make it very far on her own. She was a young woman in a flimsy nightgown, in a maze filled with hostile armored warriors carrying spears. Changing that fact was "part two" of the plan.

Quiet as a shadow, the princess emerged unnoticed from her hiding spot. The soldier was still busy peering out the window and reeling in the rope of sheets, so Peach oh-so-carefully climbed onto and across the bare bed. This was precisely why she had taken off her cumbersome royal dress – she needed perfect maneuverability for what came next.

Unable to help herself, she let out a little yell as she leapt from the bed and onto the soldier's back. The guard reeled back in violent shock, trying to shake her off, but Peach had already wrapped her slender legs tightly around his waist.

The guard spun and flailed like a mad Broozer, determined to free himself from the blonde who had latched onto him. He would get her before long; but before things could get that far, Peach brought her arms up to grasp either side of his iron helmet, twisting and yanking until it popped free with a clang and a hiss. Wasting not even an instant, she flipped the headgear upside-down and brought it down hard on her foe's head. His flailing body went limp, and together he and the princess dropped to the floor with an unceremonious thud.

Peach untangled herself and got to her feet, brushing off her nightgown which had gotten a bit dusty in the scuffle. She looked down at the unconscious guard, seeing his unmasked face for the very first time. She hadn't known what to expect – the clunky armor meant that her captors could have been anything – but she was pretty sure that nothing could surprise her.

She was entirely wrong. Despite everything, she still wasn't prepared for the sight of a normal-looking, blue-spotted Toad, lying in a pitiful heap amongst pieces of armor that were several sizes too big.

Peach's heart sank into her stomach. "They're just Toads," she realized as the guard began to drool a bit onto her foot. "Toads are supposed to be gentle creatures, and they've always been so loyal to me. What in the world could have happened to make them turn traitor…?"

She'd love to stay and ask, but time wasn't permitting. She had six hours until the next guard arrived to find her missing, but it was a very large palace. Hastily, she stripped the sleeping Toad of his armor and began the task of equipping it herself.

The gauntlets and boots were easy enough; the greaves and chestplate, much less so. She made some very unladylike noises over the next few minutes as she struggled, and was quite glad that nobody was around to hear. Finally she donned the suit's helmet – a bizarre construction lit from within by an array of tiny LED lights - and headed out the door.

The hallway was blessedly empty, and much smaller than Peach had imagined. She emerged from her cell at the end of a low-ceilinged corridor built of dark grey stone, lit by dim track lighting that crisscrossed overhead. To her left was a blank stone wall, while the passage itself curved gently away and out of view to the right.

Using the guard's key to lock the door behind her, the disguised princess made her way down the hall, following the subtle curve as it rounded the tower. She noticed the floor beginning to slope, and wondered if this single passageway descended the whole spire. She was soon proven wrong when she found herself before the wrought iron gates of a narrow cage lift.

Uncertain, she climbed inside and pulled the lever. "I have no idea what's down there," she thought as the bars slid shut and the old elevator began shuddering its way down the side of the tower. "I've made my choice now, though. It's freedom or bust."

She was safe enough for now, so Peach lifted her visor and walked to the bars to take in the view. The lift was on the opposite side of the tower from her little window, so these sights were all new to her. She gasped softly in concern; for what she saw was so alien she wondered if it could truly be called a castle at all.

The pale palace sprawled in all directions; bridges and walkways threading between slender towers like spider webs amidst frozen grass. Silver-blue cables and wires hung from the bridges like loose tinsel, snaking their way down walls and lying in great coils in the stone courtyards far below. Armored and unarmored specks alike could be seen gathering the cables and unraveling them down darkened alleyways and out of sight.

She turned her eyes back upwards and looked out over the alien skyline. The white towers marched away into the distance, growing steadily smaller in orbital rings until they ended altogether around a single, immense brick plaza. There - beyond lavish fountains, grand gardens, and yet more silver wires - stood the central keep in a hundred stories of horrifying glory.

The tower's base was a great elliptical structure that reminded Peach very much of the Vice, a tremendous covered stadium she had once played soccer at with her friends, back in simpler days. The roof of the "stadium" sloped upwards in a gentle dome, before erupting upwards into an immense spire that far overshadowed any structure that the princess had ever seen.

Parts of the thing were silver, and parts were black; the two sides held apart by haphazard gashes and glowing violet lines. It all looked starkly mechanical, and the strange silver-blue wires coiled up the sides like creeper vines, disappearing and reappearing through yawning gaps and holes in the walls. The structure split and morphed around itself in ways that defied all logic, and Peach was sure that no sane creature could have ever dreamed of such a thing.

She had to remove her helmet entirely, just so she could crane her neck back far enough to see the very top. Up there, almost beyond sight, a great glass sphere had been built into the twists and bends of the mangled spire. From where she stood, Peach thought it looked totally empty; but she took notice of how the cables snaked in beneath it, forming a shiny nest on which it snugly rested.

The princess was so transfixed by the sinister tower that she failed to notice when the lift arrived at ground level. It wasn't until the iron bars creaked open that she realized her precarious situation. Panicking, she reequipped her helmet and stepped out of the cage as casually as she could, praying that nobody had just seen her.

Luckily, she was alone. The lift opened into a small alcove at the back of an empty plaza, shaded by the tower that loomed above. Peach spun around, trying to recall which direction the outer wall had been in. Once she had gotten her bearings, she ventured out of the little courtyard and into the nearby street.

"Where do you think you're going, soldier?" a voice barked from nearby, and Peach snapped her head around to find the source. Another watchman had been posted at the entrance to the plaza, and now he was staring blankly at her through the flickering slits of his iron helmet. "You just went up there. What, did you forget the prisoner's dinner or something?"

Peach had hoped to avoid confrontation, but no such luck. She put on her best 'deep' voice – not an easy task for her – and tried to think up an excuse. "I, uh, yes! I did! That's exactly what happened, sir." She stood straight and tall, looking the guard in the eye and wondering if she should salute. "It seems to have slipped my mind. I'm… going to get it right now!"

The watchman eyed her steadily, unmoving for a moment, but then sagged into a hollow sigh. "You recruits are beyond hopeless, you know that?" He limply raised an arm to the side and pointed off down the street. "Go and get the food, but you'd better believe I'm filing a report about this."

Peach let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. As she set off briskly down the path, she heard the guard chuckle behind her. "It's pretty ironic, the scraps we're feeding that girl. I mean, considering what the other one is like…" He paused as if waiting for a laugh, but Peach had no idea what he was even talking about. Getting nothing for his efforts, the guard shook his head and continued. "Then again, I suppose that is the entire point."

With that, he spun about-face and began heading toward the lift. Wait, why was he going into the tower? Peach jumped and stumbled forward a bit, inwardly cursing her lack of composure. "Wait, don't go up there! I mean… shouldn't you stay at your post?" she called out, hoping the watchman would turn back.

"Don't be stupid, solider!" the guard called back, not even bothering to stop. "Someone has to keep an eye on the prisoner while you're not here. Fetch the meal, and don't keep me waiting, got it?" He climbed into the iron cage and pulled the lever; and before Peach could respond, the lift was already trundling up and away.

This… was very bad. In fact, it was pretty much game over. "As soon as he gets up there, he'll realize I've escaped! So much for six hours; I'll be lucky if I have six minutes!" Peach waited until the guard had risen out of view, trying very hard not to panic all the while, and then began walking as quickly as she could toward where she believed the outer gate to be.

She could see the walls easily enough, looming over the distant horizon; but time was suddenly very short, and it wasn't exactly easy to move in such clunky armor. Soldiers were stationed here and there, standing outside various buildings up and down the street, so she couldn't risk removing the gear and making a run for it. Instead, she walked with purpose down the sidewalk, passing a few workers and servants who edged aside to allow her passage.

As she went, Peach scanned the buildings around her and tried to puzzle out what the strange and sinister constructions could be meant for. Peering in open doorways, she spotted quaint homes and stark barracks; cramped storage lockers and sprawling warehouses. At an intersection, she even passed what looked like a corner coffee shop serving refreshments to a handful of off-duty staff.

Banners hung from every edifice, and flags waved proudly above every street. They all bore the same grim sigil – a white mushroom set against an inverted violet star – that also adorned the chestplates and shields of every grey soldier. Peach had never seen the symbol until the night the army had invaded her castle, but now it was a sight that haunted her dreams. The more she looked at it, the more the pallid, eyeless mushroom began to resemble a stylized skull.

The princess was so lost in her worries, that she almost didn't notice when she emerged onto a much wider and busier street. Turning back, she saw that she had come quite a fair way already. In fact, if her estimations were correct, then this was the boulevard she had seen the parade pass down earlier in the week. And if that was true, then that meant freedom was only a few short blocks away!

She turned left, gazing past the oncoming supply trucks and busy worker teams, and there it was. The outer wall, and all that lay beyond. Safety, the sparkling lights of Mushroom City, and the way back to her friends. The way home.

The outer gates stood open, towering slabs of pale white marble that slid out and away from the sheer wall on massive metal tracks set deep into the ground. Trucks and trolleys passed back and forth, carrying employee Toads out into the city and hauling wires – ever more wires – back into the palace.

Peach noticed that many of the departing Toads had guard escorts, and realized that it would be a simple task to attach herself to a party inconspicuously. She felt her heart soar at the idea – things were finally starting to put themselves right in her life. "I'm almost home free! This'll teach these brutes for treating me like some common eight-bit damsel…"

She started forward, each step bringing her closer to the wide open world, but before she had reached the end of the block she heard a voice calling out for her attention. Back up the sidewalk a bit, a joint team of soldiers and worker Toads was emerging from an alley, carrying a hefty bundle of the silver cables. "Hey there, fella!" one of the workers called out to the disguised princess, waving an arm in friendly greeting. "C'mere and help us get this cable up onto the roof! We'd really appreciate it!"

"I absolutely don't have time for this," Peach hissed to herself, trying to think of a way she could weasel her way out of the task. "Actually, I should really be going. I… need to be out in the city right about now."

One of the soldiers spoke next, and he wasn't acting quite so cheery. "This will only take a few minutes, unless we decide to bring you along on the next job." When the princess made no move to assist, he took a step forward. "Get over here; that's an order."

Instead of obeying, Peach took a nervous step backward. How was she going to get out of this? "I really shouldn't. I… have an appointment with my… eye doctor? Yes, it's very urgent," she lied lamely, taking another backwards step.

Some of the workers looked at each other, confused. The soldier merely took another threatening step forward. "All medical emergencies are handled at the infirmary here on-site. Why are you really trying to sneak out?" Another step forward for the soldier, and another one back for Peach. "I swear, if you're headed to one of those revolting spore shows in the red coin district…"

"I… that is…" Peach was struggling to come up with any kind of response, and was seriously beginning to consider just bolting. Suddenly, as if things hadn't already gone as sideways as possible, a shrill and cacophonous alarm started up, blaring out over the rooftops and echoing down the streets. Blinding searchlights fired into life up on the spires, fanning outward from the tips like many-legged spider halos.

As the lights cast their gaze over the palace, a thousand hidden loudspeakers began conveying a single, dreadful message. "The prisoner has escaped. This is, of course, unforgivable. Find her, catch her, and bring her to me." The voice came from the sidewalks, from the streetlights, and from the very walls of the pale buildings themselves. It was regal, and commanding, and there was a strange sort of familiarity to it that made Peach's blood run cold.

All the nearby guards were staring at her now. Peach couldn't see their eyes, but she could feel the suspicion grow behind the dancing light of their helmets. The one she had been talking to was standing his ground, and several others soon stepped up to join him. "Remove your helmet, soldier. Show your face!" It was a barked order, and the 'or else' was very much implied.

"I'd rather not. I mean… my eye, the one I'm going to the doctor about… It's very gross. And it's contagious! You really don't want to see it…" The princess could see that this was getting her absolutely nowhere. If anything, it was making the soldiers advance faster. There was truly no talking herself out of this.

So Peach ran. Turning down the adjacent alley, she sprinted as fast as the clunky armor would let her. Not far behind, she heard the platoon of guards clambering in after her, boiling down the alleyway like a raging metal stampede. The princess was hopelessly outmatched when it came to speed – somehow, she would have to outmaneuver them.

It wasn't going to be easy. The streets were a circular grid, and the alarm must've alerted every soldier in the palace to her escape. Each time she glanced back, the pursuing army had grown several members larger as more and more guards were pulled into the chase from every building and side street.

Dashing into another tight alley, she hoped to lead the chasers through a bottleneck and thin the herd. If anything, it would buy her a minute or two. The idea seemed to work, as the thunderous footsteps faded into clanging iron and cries of frustration; but that would only last until the guards realized they could loop around the grid to pincer the princess from the sides.

True escape was off the table, now. In fact, Peach could already hear the low roaring grind of the outer gates sliding shut. Soon she would be back in her cell, or perhaps somewhere even worse. But this little misadventure wasn't going to be a complete waste of effort – she was determined to see to that.

A small open-faced supermarket was just ahead, set into the diagonal face of another tall tower. It looked to be a store that operated after-hours, selling drinks and late-night snacks to nocturnal workers. Luckily, it didn't seem to be open for business yet; so the princess stumbled inside, sweaty and very much out of breath.

Taking off her helmet and glancing around between the aisles, she quickly spotted what she was searching for – a white landline telephone, hanging on the wall behind the checkout counter. She hastily grabbed the receiver and ducked down behind the booth and out of sight. If she couldn't escape, she could at least get a message to her friends.

But who should she call? Her first instinct was Mario, of course, but the reckless adventurer ran through so many phones that she was never quite sure of his number. "Luigi, then? No, he never picks up unless he knows who's calling. Think, Peach; there has to be someone!" The answer came to her in a sudden flash of red and white. "Of course; Toad! He hasn't set down his cell phone since I bought it for him!"

Sitting on the tiled floor in an attempt to stay hidden, she dialed the number of her mushroom friend. If something had happened to the little guy, then all hope was lost. Peach waited impatiently as the phone rang once, twice, thrice; and then…

"Hello? This is Toad! Who is this?" The princess let out something halfway between a giggle and a sob. She'd never been so glad to hear that scratchy little voice. "Is that you, Mario? Did you butt-dial me again?"

"No, no; it's me! It's Peach!" she replied, running a trembling hand through her sweat-matted blonde hair. There was some shuffling and excited whispering from over the line, so she decided to keep going. "Listen, Toad, I need you to tell-"

"Princess Peach, is it really you? We've been worried sick!" Toad's voice was faint and echoey – he was either underground, or somewhere with truly pitiful reception. Still, Peach wasn't about to criticize the first friendly conversation she'd had all week. "Where are you, huh? Mario's gonna go nuts when he hears that you called!"

That's right; she needed to talk to Mario! There was some awkwardness between them, but this was the perfect time to shove it all aside and collaborate like old-times. "Is Mario there right now? I don't have much time; but I have information that he needs to know."

There was silence for a moment, during which Peach could hear the alarms and shouts pick up again, far off down the street. She was running out of time, but luckily her friend soon answered. "He's not here right now, but Luigi totally is! He's here in the professor's library with me! Do you wanna talk to him?"

"Yes! Luigi is just fine. Thank you so much," she nodded rapidly, as if the phone could somehow convey her urgency. There was some more shuffling, which Peach guessed was the cell changing hands, and then a new voice spoke up.

"Peach? Where are you?! Mario said that you got hauled off in a bubble by some cackling hooded maniac!" The younger brother sounded frantic, as per usual, but there was also warm relief to be heard in his nasally voice. "So, who is that; and where are you? How are you even calling us right now, anyway? Tell me everything you can."

Outside, the heavy footfalls and urgent shouts of the army were getting ever nearer. In a minute or two, the jig would be up. "I don't have time for 'everything,' but I'm in Mushroom City. Or, at least, I'm near the city." She paused a moment, gathering her scrambled thoughts, and then tried to elaborate. "I don't exactly know how to explain it, but I'm in some kind of pale mechanical palace made of spires and bridges."

There was a low whistle from the other side, and the faint sound of flipping pages, before Luigi answered her. "That's bad, Peach. You're in the Empress' citadel – the dark heart of the whole Empire! I've just been reading about that place, and it's not a nice story. It's apparently made from crashed-"

Toad's excited voice cut in, interrupting whatever Luigi had been about to tell her. "Have you met her yet, huh? Have you met crazy evil Peach? What's she like, and are the rumors true? Is she as totally giga-"

'Crazy evil' what? Luigi had apparently snatched the phone back, because Toad's voice vanished yet again. The footsteps were thundering back and forth just outside the shop now, but Peach simply needed to know what her friend had meant. "Luigi, what is Toad talking about? Who is this 'Empress' person?"

Luigi sighed, and when he spoke again his voice sounded strained with doubt. "Okay, this is going to sound nutty, but hear me out." Peach said nothing, waiting patiently for his explanation. "We're trapped in an alternate timeline – all of us. The star that hit your castle did it, somehow. The 'Empress' that Toad mentioned – that's you. In this world, you're this evil tyrant that everybody is terrified of."

"But, that's absurd," Peach gasped, perhaps a bit too loudly, finding the entire concept too bizarre to believe. "It's impossible! There's no way I would ever become something like that, do you understand?" The idea was ludicrous, but she found herself starting to hyperventilate as the evidence floated to the front of her mind. The mushroom sigil; the golden palanquin and pink fireworks; the fact that there was no white citadel in Mushroom City…

"Peach, are you still there? I'm really sorry, but-" Luigi's voice cut out as the line suddenly went dead. Cold dread crawling down her back, the princess slowly lifted her head from her spot on the floor to see a grey soldier leaning coolly over the counter, arm outstretched with a finger on the switchhook. He turned his iron head down to meet her gaze soundlessly, quiet fury flaring in his eyeless lights.

One by one, more guards ghosted in from the gathering darkness, silently filling the little market like a stoic gallery of living statues. Peach pushed herself to her feet, one hand on the countertop and the other braced against the wall, proud and defiant to the last. "I simply won't believe it," she straightened her back and addressed the staring horde. "The things my friend said about your 'Empress,' they can't be true."

"Is that what you believe, little Princess?" the soldier that had ended her call now drew his arm back in a fluid sweep to grab Peach's wrist. As a wave, the others surged toward the counter; pinning her in and grabbing her by the arm, the shoulder, the waist…

"How about you come with us, and see for yourself?"

It was a long, slow march to the central keep; and Peach could feel the palace crowd's leery eyes on her every step of the way.

Her platoon of captors had walled her in on every side, corralling the princess helplessly down the wide main avenue that cut through the grid of streets and spires. Servants and staff paused along the roadside to watch the grey parade pass by, wearing expressions of confusion and vague worry that were plain to see, even at a distance.

As Peach and her escort emerged into the vast inner plaza, the handful of scattered bystanders slowly grew into a silent and melancholy throng. "Why are they looking at me like that?" the princess asked herself as she met their baleful eyes. "What have I ever done to them? Unless, it really is 'me' inside that building…"

To be honest, she was still reeling a bit from the information Luigi and Toad had given her. An alternate timeline, with an alternate version of her? Peach couldn't believe that she was capable of building a monstrous place such as this, even in another life. And yet, in spite of it all, it was the most sensible explanation she had for the strange situation.

What would she be like, then; this other Peach? Would she be soft-spoken and calm, or menacing and cruel? The princess recalled the time her body had been hijacked by the Shadow Queen, at the climax of another adventure long ago. She had watched from the inside as the demon moved her body like a puppet, taunting Mario and the others with an air of superiority and perfect poise. If Peach had to imagine herself as an evil tyrant, that awful experience was the perfect baseline.

Across the plaza, the foreboding "stadium" surged ever closer into the foreground; the open entrance darkened to near-blackness by the twisted shadow of the tower looming high above. Up close, the colossal main spire seemed to thrum with an unknown energy; an intangible aura that pulsed up and down the sky-piercing monolith in sluggish purple waves.

Peach must have slowed down during her contemplation, because the guard behind her was starting to rudely push her forward. As she glared back at him, the shadow of the entrance passed overhead; and suddenly they were inside the keep, walking down an opulent golden hallway towards the second-largest door the princess had ever seen.

The party moved in tense silence down the corridor, passing over lush magenta carpeting as their path was lit by hanging chandeliers of crystal and gilded glass. Sheets of immaculate gold leaf cascaded down the walls and across the great door, etched with images of lofty mountains and falling stars. The walls muffled the low humming of the tower above, but Peach could still feel the strange energy pulsing in the air.

As the group approached, the shining doorway swung open for them by means unseen, revealing the tables of a grand dining hall piled high with a sumptuous feast. Peach's wide eyes darted up and down the room in total awe, scarcely believing the sight. She often held Galas and parties back home, but there was more food in this hall tonight than her chefs prepared in an entire year.

Stuffed pork roasts and savory meat pies lined the table alongside smoking slabs of Shroom Steak, perfectly charred and lathered with thick layers of sweet honey syrup. There were mountains of fresh pasta pungently drizzled with inky sauce, whole wheels of buttery cheese, and green leafy salads topped with minced horsetails and chopped Subcon turnips. The air was heavy with the spicy scent of crushed Fire Flower seasoning, wafting from deep dishes of fish-and-mushroom stir fry swimming in garlic sauce, and high hills of rice pilaf served with toasted goomnuts in lightly-seared upturned Koopa shells. Smaller side tables offered an enchanting selection of desserts – fruit pies and nutty cakes, and bowls of airy mousse piled high with rich dark chocolate and cream.

Instead of a golden throne, as Peach would've imagined, an immense pile of fluffy pink pillows lay at the far end of the table, partially covered over by a resplendent purple quilt. Aged wooden chairs lined the feast from end to end, but every one of them sat empty. As far as she could see, the only people in the room besides herself and the guards were a pair of shriveled Goombas in plain servant garb. One was pushing food gingerly down the table, while the other seemed to be precariously balancing a wine glass and silver tray on his head.

"Leave her here, she will not harm me," a melodic voice drifted from somewhere nearby, as the tide of soldiers began to recede backwards through the door and into the darkness. Before long, Peach was alone in the room, save for the Goombas and the mysterious voice, which kept speaking. "I must say, armor doesn't become you. Was there no more fashionable escape plan you could have chosen?"

Peach looked hesitantly around the room, trying her best not to be distracted by the sights and smells of the gigantic feast. "I can't tell where you are, you know. If this is a game, I'd personally rather not play." She was answered by a warm and comforting laugh, and a rippling disturbance in the pillowy mound. She started down the aisle, thinking to investigate, but stuttered to a halt when the mound jiggled and raised an arm, reaching forward to grab at the glass of wine.

"Those aren't pillows," Peach thought, turning pale as the truth slowly began to dawn. "No, they're not fluffy pillows at all. That's a woman." A mountainous, corpulent, utter ruin of a woman; who currently sat in decadent bliss, shoveling down the feast she had prepared for herself alone.

Empress Toadstool sat immobile on a tremendous cushioned litter beyond the table. Rolls and layers of excess flesh seemed to simply flow out from her gigantic belly, spreading far across the mattress and nearly dripping over the edges. Her stomach was a landmark unto itself, a veritable structure of quivering fat that was perhaps even wider than she was tall. Her enormous bosom rested heavily atop the mound; while behind her, her expansive rear consumed the litter on which it sat, swallowing the space gluttonously.

Blonde hair tumbled across her vast form in elaborate ringlets, speckled with jeweled hairclips of sapphire and amethyst that shone amidst the gold like sunstruck morning dew. The great purple quilt was draped carefully across her right shoulder like a half-shawl, trailing down her body and partially obscuring the rich, deep pink evening dress that spilled out across the expanse like a waterfall of frills. The air around her swam thick with the scent of lavender oil and perfume.

Peach barely remembered her mother, but in photographs the late Queen had always been a bit on the tubby side. It's one of the big reasons why the princess had always been so very careful about maintaining her own figure – a frugal diet, long jogs through the castle gardens, and at least an hour of tennis each day. The woman before her now was like a sight pulled straight from her teenage nightmares.

"Don't be shy, princess. After all, you and I are the same, are we not?" The Empress set down her glass, beckoning Peach down the long hall with a wave of her adipose-laden fingers. "I wanted to summon you so much sooner, but I've been terribly busy. It's exhausting work, ruling the world."

Peach felt her feet begin to move, betraying her deep desire to run and hide; to flee far away from this place and never look back, or to wake up back in her cell and forget that this awful dream had ever happened. Instead, she walked past the servants and the feast on shaking legs, stumbling step-by-step towards this mockery of everything she ever was.

"I suppose it's my fault that you tried to run. It must be so overwhelming, being in a place this grand with nobody to help or guide you." Peach idly nodded, only half-listening as she finally drew up beside her other self. Up close, she could now clearly see the Empress' plump face. While her lips were much fuller and her cheeks were bloated with fat, Peach couldn't deny that the deep blue eyes were the same as her own.

"You must have seen my tower; do you know what it is?" the vast woman inquired next, gesturing vaguely upwards with a doughy arm. Peach glanced toward the ceiling, recalling the mysterious colossus that towered above. Without waiting for a response, the Empress began to explain. "It's the mothership of the Shroob invasion; the same ship that nearly conquered this world. I had it moved here from where it crashed in the mountains, and raised as a symbol of victory. It's a symbol of the great feats which are possible under my guidance and care."

Peach didn't recall a ship like that ever being part of the Shroob fleet in her own timeline, but that wasn't the issue that concerned her at the moment. Steadying her breath, the princess finally found the courage to speak. "But why are you giving power to such an evil thing? What are you planning with so many wires and cables?

The Empress laughed, a warm mirthful sort of laugh that sounded almost motherly; and Peach had to remind herself she and her doppelganger were still the same age. "It's for the festivities, my dear; for the lights and sounds of a great celebration." She hummed to herself for a moment, closing her eyes in thought. Finally she said, "But let's not talk about such things yet. It would utterly ruin the surprise. Instead, I have something important to show you."

"You have something… to show me?" Peach asked, disliking how little control she had over this conversation. She had questions, but the Empress had an agenda; and Peach felt like she was being led along a path of answers she didn't quite need.

"Yes, it's something very secret and personal," her other self replied, awkwardly grasping at her heavy purple shawl. The two Goomba servants had paused in their work, and now lingered nearby to watch the exchange. Looking between them, the Empress spoke in a singsong voice, "That means that I would like to be alone with my guest."

The shriveled Goombas did not move, instead looking at each other in faint bewilderment as if this sort of thing had never happened before. Eventually, one began to back cautiously towards the exit; but the other – the one holding the wine glass – simply turned back to look at the royal pair.

"I SAID LEAVE, YOU INSIPID LITTLE SHIITAKE!" the Empress bellowed suddenly, brandishing her carving knife like a dagger and swinging wildly at the remaining servant. As she lashed out, the Goomba came to his senses and bolted from the hall, terrified, his wine glass spilling to the floor forgotten.

Peach had taken a step back herself, and nearly took a second when the large woman's eyes fell on her again. But when the Empress spoke next, no trace of the outburst remained. "Now then, let's talk about why you're here."

Again, the woman reached up to grab the hem of her quilt, reaching across her massive chest to lift the fabric as high as she could. As she helplessly tried to push and shake the shawl loose with her flabby arm, Peach wondered why she didn't just pull with the nearer hand. Her question was answered, a few moments later, when the great quilt came sliding free at last.

As the blanket fell away, the Princess curiously stepped forward to see what secrets it had been hiding. She regretted her decision almost immediately, and it took every last bit of her willpower not to recoil away from the mangled horror in front of her.

The Empress' right arm was a charred putrefaction of flesh and bone, a near-shapeless mass of burned tissue that protruded limply from a scarred and twisted shoulder. At the end curled a broken mess of a hand – two shriveled fingers were blackened to the bone, and the thumb was missing entirely. The whole thing smelled of death and decay, and Peach wondered if the lavender oil and perfume was merely to hide this one, terribly awful stench.

"This is what became of me, on that horrible night all those years ago." The Empress gazed past her ruined arm, at the blanket that now lay pooled on the floor. Sensing her wishes, Peach retrieved the quilt and hastily draped it back where it belonged. "I lost myself that night, and everything I'd ever hoped to be." She paused, her plump lip quivering, "and all because of that abominable dragon child, and his escape attempt gone awry…"

Peach was beginning to feel sorry for the wretched woman, but whatever had happened long ago did not excuse her actions in the present. There was still the matter of the princess' kidnapping; of the invasion of her castle and the slaughter of her subjects.

"But, what has this got to do with me? Why am I really here?" Right now, Peach wanted to be anywhere else but here; but her alternate self motioned her ever forward, drawing her intimately close as if sharing a cherished secret between friends.

The Empress sighed deeply, the motion sending ripples across her form. "The truth, then. You see, princess - my body is dying, and my world is dying. There is nothing to be done for either of them, so I plan to vacate both before it is too late." She cupped Peach's face within the pudgy fingers of her one good hand, and gently guided their eyes into alignment. "How lucky I was to find you, with your health and beauty, and your kingdom so full of life and light."

Peach wasn't quite sure she understood – or rather, she thought she did, but desperately hoped she was wrong. "Are you saying… that you want to take over my body, and my kingdom?" She backed away, slipping free of her duplicate's engorged fingers.

The Empress gazed after her with hungry eyes, her warm smile never faltering. "That's right, my dear. Your beautiful body is the key to my rebirth! I'll leave this world behind, and finally see the stars again…"

"That isn't even possible!" Peach shouted, backing further away. She was starting to see just how badly her alternate self had lost her mind. How could she make this woman understand that her plan was insane? "You're not a spirit or a demon, so you can't possess me. You're a human being, and you've ruined yourself! I'm sorry, but what you're suggesting is a mad fantasy!"

"You know so much less than you think, Princess," the Empress replied, her voice oddly cold and indifferent. The warmth and soft light seemed to flee the room, and for just a moment Peach felt that she was in the presence of some dark, alien cruelty that she barely understood. "I have, shall we say, an old friend who can help. He's a powerful sorcerer, whose very life is bound to me. You've met him before, so you should know how skilled he is with transference magic. He moved your castle into my world; and when the time is right, he will move my soul into your body!"

"It will never happen. My friends are here in this world, too! They'll rescue me, and-" Peach took one more step back, only to stumble and fall into the arms of a silent grey guard, who had entered the hall through a small side door during the exchange. Two more soldiers drifted up to either side, grabbing the princess' arms before pulling her back and away towards the exit.

"They're welcome to come, my dear," the Empress said with a knowing smile, as the false warmth flooded back. She turned to resume her lonely feast, reaching for a knife as Peach was dragged out into the darkness. "When that glorious night arrives, we'll all celebrate together!"

The princess returned to her tower cell to find a fresh bowl of plain mushroom stew waiting for her; but as she sat down to eat, she found that her appetite had left her long ago.

Late that night, while the cleaning crews toiled and the guards stalked their silent rounds, Peach found herself drawn to the window by the distant sound of the opening gates.

She pushed open the glass and leaned out once more into the night. Far away in the darkness, she could just barely see the shape of the walls as they peeled aside with a distant roar of metal on stone. This time, nobody rushed from their homes to watch the spectacle. There were no parades, no fireworks, and no festive cheer. There was only darkness and silence, as Peach watched a single supply truck pass slowly through the citadel gate.

The truck was flanked by no more than six guards, marching three to a side. But what drew the princess' attention was the strange shape that sat atop the trailer. A great white sheet had been pulled over some gargantuan object, which spiked and jutted sharp bulges in the cloth at odd angles. Spilling out the back, illuminated by the soft white glow of the taillights, was a snaking trail of silver-blue wire.

At the peak of the highest bulge sat a hooded figure, the subtle swishing of its dark cloak looking like pure shadow in the blackness of night. It spoke not a word to the guards who walked beside, but seemed to glance momentarily at the passing streetlights, somehow extinguishing them one-by-one as the truck drove ever on.

As the darkness deepened, so too did the mystery. The shape beneath the sheet glowed with a faint golden light, creating a dim, sheltered halo around the truck in which the shadows swayed and spun. Once or twice - although she was sure her tired eyes were lying - she spied a vague blackness shimmering through the ground, swimming figure-eights beneath the pavement in an intricate circus dance.

Peach watched the scene for as long as she could, but soon the strange little procession passed out of view behind the tower wall, and the great gates thundered shut once more. The palace returned once more to darkness, and the princess returned wearily to bed.

It would be yet another sleepless night for her, she knew, as she lie in bed watching the shadows dance; and listening to the far, persistent thrum of the mothership spire.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8 – The King's Box of Tricks

It was a grey, dreary, outright miserable day in the volcanic crags of the Koopa Kingdom; and King Bowser's heavy footfalls echoed down through the smoggy valleys like thunder as he led his troops toward home.

Noxious smoke drifted lazily across the landscape in blankets as thick and white as snow, hiding fuming fissures and sheer chasms which plunged away into an unseen underworld rumbling and seething with fiery intent. Hot springs and lava pools lay shrouded amidst the fog, belching heat high up into the range of jagged, black basalt peaks which towered formidably overhead. The very air stank of fire, brimstone, and the death of the world.

As Bowser crested the mountain pass to look out over the strangled expanse of lava and ash, he shut his eyes and grumbled out a deep sigh of relief. Finally, something in this screwed-up shell of a world was exactly as it should be.

"Just look at that awesome view," he said to himself, stomping to the edge of the great caldera and breathing in the sweet sulfuric stench of home. Down below, the mighty wasteland stretched for miles upon miles, unassailable and free. "Where's your 'Empire' now, Anti-Peach? NOT HERE, that's where. So what if you've got the rest of the continent on lockdown; you'll never win a battle here on MY home turf."

It was true, too, if Kamek could be believed. As the old wizard had explained, the last surviving Koopas had fled into these very mountains after the Empress' genocidal purge, seeking shelter beyond the wall of burning stone. Here they had lived in secrecy for many years, hiding amongst the foggy ruins of their ancestral land.

Kamek knew the way to these hidden settlements, or so he claimed; so he had been given the task of guiding the small army through the crags, in search of the King's scattered subjects. (Technically, they were the long-lost Prince's subjects; but Bowser insisted that it was basically the same thing). Everybody was a bit sketchy on the details; but if one version was dead, then the kingdom and its people should pass the other by default, right? Where did "future self from a parallel timeline" typically fall in the line of succession, anyway?

That was something for the historians to puzzle out, Bowser decided. Eager to get a move on, he stepped back from the overlook and turned to see what had become of his minions. As much as he enjoyed surveying his domain, he knew that there was more important business at hand.

Returning to the trail, he trudged back the way he had come until the first of his "elite" soldiers began stumbling up into view. The Koopatrols were just now cresting the ridge, marching in some sort of lopsided shape that might've been an organized formation six or seven hours ago. Behind them came the Shy Guys, tripping with every step; and the weary Magikoopas brought up the rear, wiping fog from their glasses and leaning on charred branches for support. (A few still had working brooms, but many had elected to burn theirs during the frenzy of that shortsighted bonfire a few nights before).

Normally, Bowser would yell something inspiring to snap them all back into order; but it had been a tough march for him, too. He and his minions had been on the move for over a week now, making their way slowly northward through this grimy mirror image of the Mushroom Kingdom that they knew.

Everything here was just wrong, in a dirty and depressed sort of way. During the march, they'd passed towns and homesteads that Bowser remembered from his invasions back home. There, the villages had been lively and cheerful; but here they had become a series of slums and hovels that only grew more and more pathetic as the days passed.

The villagers had treated them with a cautious wonder that bordered on awe. "These chumps probably haven't seen a living Koopa in years," Bowser had thought at the time, watching the shabby Toads as they turned out in droves to gawk at the little procession. Part of him had really wanted to light a cottage or two on fire, just to mess with the little guys; but something told him that nobody else would've been laughing.

Instead, they'd carried on until the villages gave way to silent forests and empty marshland, cold and dead beneath the sunless sky. There they'd found the winding trail that would lead them through the mountains to safety, and the haven that Kamek insisted was on the other side. (Bowser hadn't even known about this trail. Had it always been there? Is this how the Mario Bros. kept slipping in? He'd have to put a gate up, or something).

Now they were two days deep into the range, and the ground was finally starting to fall away again. As the weary troops reached the top of the climb, some of them evidently decided it was time for a break, collapsing right there on the trail in tired heaps. Bowser elected to give them a merciful moment, lumbering off to the side to catch his own breath beside the ravine.

"Kamek, where the heck are you?" he called out in no particular direction, his voice bouncing off the walls of the nearby chasm. A couple of resting Shy Guys turned to glance his way, but otherwise he got no response. Losing his patience after a minute of waiting, he tried again. "KAMEK, YOU OLD CLOD, GET UP HERE! THAT MEANS RIGHT NOW!"

"I'm just here, Lord Bowser! What is it you need of me?" a voice piped up from somewhere very close by, and Bowser snarled wildly in surprise as he spun around in search of the source. Turning to check behind himself, he found the wizard standing on a nearby boulder, tugging nervously at the hem of his tattered cloak.

Kamek had developed the most annoying habit lately – he'd vanish for hours at a time, only to suddenly be right there whenever his name was called. Nobody knew where he went, not even Kammy, but in any case it really didn't mean good things for his job performance.

"What kind of cruddy 'guide' warps off for private time when there's guiding to be done? You have ONE JOB, you stooge," Bowser thought, briefly wondering if he should bother to chastise the errant mage. "Whatever, all that matters is that he knows where we're going."

"How close are we, anyway?" he asked, finally remembering why he'd called the Magikoopa back in the first place. The Koopa Kingdom was a massive realm, and Bowser didn't feel like spending days wandering in the wilderness. "We've been up here forever; and some of us have had to climb the whole way without cheating! You ever tried hiking with stumpy legs and a 300 pound shell stuck to your back? Lemme tell you, it ain't easy."

"O-oh! I understand, Your Heftiness. The Koopa settlement should be no more than three hours travel from here," Kamek replied, hobbling over to the cliff edge and scanning the horizon. Bowser watched as he paused to shake some silvery dust off his hands and into the void, before turning back to elaborate. "Keep going down this trail for a little while, then turn left at the overgrown bit with all the Nipper Plants."

"Ugh, three more hours? Why can't we just skip to the part where I get my army back?" Bowser fumed inwardly, stomping a bit further down the trail to try and get a better view. Sure enough, there was nothing interesting on the horizon yet; but at least it was all downhill from here, and this dumb trek would be over by dinner.

He thought of another question to ask; but by the time he'd turned back, the wizard was already gone. There was nothing Bowser could do but glare at the empty spot where Kamek had been, and puff out a peeved little curl of smoke. "Yeah, this is getting real annoying. Can't take the heat, Kamek? Then stay out of my way."

With a growl and a hollow sigh, he started back uphill to see about rousing his followers for the final leg of their journey.

Six hours later, he found himself plodding across the piedmont with a Nipper Plant gnawing on his tail.

"Okay, so I guess old people just have no sense of time in general," he thought, following the winding path through the ashen hills, occasionally pausing to try and shake loose the little weed. "Or maybe it's a Magikoopa thing. I'll keep that in mind, the next time Kammy shows up asking for the day off."

This was seriously getting to be a chore. Bowser had led his troops down the mountain, right past the hungry thicket that Kamek had told him about. Several minions had come away with cuts and scrapes, and they'd lost at least one Shy Guy to the snapping vines that slithered beside the path. (The plants hadn't eaten him, or anything gruesome like that – the little weirdo had just really liked the place and decided to stay).

Now they were out in the emptiness, with nowhere else to go. Bowser was back in his own land, more or less, but this was clearly the crummy backwoods end of the realm. Where were the roads and towns? Where was the stuff? There had to be infrastructure somewhere out here, right? There was just no way he could really be the ruler of so much nothing.

But the black badlands just seemed to stretch on forever, and ever, and ever. It was a hilly expanse of hot death, rimmed by the jagged, gnashing teeth of the distant basalt peaks. Here and there, sluggish rivers of lava cut glowing paths across the grey monotony, and the landscape was peppered with pyroclastic boulders of every shape and size.

Bowser was just about to stop and summon Kamek again, because at this point it almost felt like pulling over to look at a map. But before he had the chance, he came around one last bend and nearly stumbled over his own two feet. One by one, his minions drew up short as they caught up to their king, and together the group looked out over a very unexpected new horizon.

A hidden valley fell away before them, a forgotten vale that sloped gently down amongst rippling hills, eventually settling into a low field tucked snugly beneath the overhanging cliffs. Wisps of pale steam danced into the air from a thousand hidden hot springs, isolating the tranquil valley behind an almost dreamlike mist.

In the far distance, squatting in the shadow of the protective mountains, lay the toppled ruins of an ancient castle. The old stone keep might've been a proud sight, once upon a time; but the passage of years had left it pitiful – its bastions blown apart; its outer ramparts sinking sadly into the lava moat, sagging like a sandcastle in the tide.

There was something oddly nostalgic about the sight – the lonely ruins and the enfolding valley that cradled them – but Bowser just couldn't seem to place it within his memories.

He didn't have to wonder for long, because soon Kammy came floating up beside him with teary eyes. "I should've guessed the survivors would gather here, of all places," she said, climbing gingerly off her broom to stand at the edge of the hill. Bowser just shrugged at her, so she squinted up at him and tried to explain. "Don't you remember where we are, my lord? This is your nursery – it's where you were hatched!"

Bowser grunted in mild surprise, glancing back out over the fields at the forlorn structure. It had the royal aesthetic, for sure; but it was so much tinier than the other grand keeps that he had grown up in. "If you say so, granny. I guess it does look pretty twerp-sized, for a castle. What happened to it, anyway?"

Kammy's face scrunched in concentration, the memories evidently not coming easily. "Let's see, is this the one that the Yoshis wrecked? No, that one was on an island, wasn't it? I still can't get my noggin around that tale, you know. How do a few lizards and a baby take down a guarded fortress?" The old hag grumbled incoherently for a few moments, before throwing up her claws in resignation. "Eh, whatever. I can't remember what happened to this place. It's probably Kamek's fault, though. It usually is."

"Did I hear somebody say my name?" the wizard asked as he sidled up to join them, appearing yet again from literally nowhere. Catching sight of the valley, he gasped and gave Bowser a proud pat on the shell. "Oh, it looks like you've made it! Excellent work, my king!"

He looked like he had more to say, but instead he leaned back to inspect the Nipper Plant that was still gumming on Bowser's tail. Wordlessly, Kamek pulled a wand from his robe and prodded the pale weed a few times in the bulb. Within moments, the little plant had fallen off and begun to shrivel and blacken with a pitiful whine.

As Bowser gladly shook the feeling back into his tail, Kammy edged over to inspect the dead plant, now nothing more than a dry husk twitching in the dirt. "Poor little fella, I kinda liked it. It was like having a team pet."

"It was a parasite," Kamek said impassively, tucking the wand away again. "If you show kindness to a thing like that, it'll just keep getting bigger until it takes over your entire life." He started down the hill, beckoning for the others to follow. "Anyway, the village is just ahead. I'll lead you the rest of the way myself, Lord Bowser."

So they travelled deeper into the valley, following a trail that slowly became a road, past old ruins which turned one by one into quaint little homes. Water flowed from the nearby hot springs, trickling downhill through cooling stone channels which fed into streams and still ponds. Here and there, feeble attempts at farms and orchards twisted up from the blasted soil, leaves and branches clawing at the smoky sky.

At the end of the path, in the shadow of the old castle, stood a small ring of shabby houses. They were lopsided constructions of piled stone and burnt timber, and Bowser guessed that they had likely been cobbled together from the keep's own debris. Smoke curled from chimneys and a few outdoor cookfires, and the Koopa King could smell the heavenly scent of grilled meat wafting from somewhere nearby.

Yet, despite the smoke and the smells, there was nobody around. The little village was as silent and empty as a graveyard; and it remained so even as Bowser made his way – as loudly as he could – into the deserted town square. "Yo, where is everybody?! Get out here and praise me, you plebs! It's the return of the king!"

Nobody came rushing forward to praise him, but he thought he heard a shutter slam somewhere nearby. Then there was just more silence, and a group of minions up the street who were staring at him rather awkwardly. "I swear, if Kamek led me all this way to some abandoned hick town, just to make a point or tell a sob story…"

Before he could finish forming the thought, Kamek himself waddled into the square to stand beside his king. The Magikoopa clambered up onto a charred stump by the fire, and then turned slowly on the spot to survey each lowly house in turn; squinting as if gazing through the walls at whomever might be hiding within.

Eventually, he seemed to settle on one house in particular, slightly larger than the others, and Bowser guessed that maybe the missing Koopas had sardined themselves inside. Kamek hopped off the stump and went over to rap on the door with his wand. A few tense seconds later, the old door creaked open, and a nervous eye appeared in the darkness beyond. Kamek saw his opportunity, and he took it with zeal. "Excuse me, sir! Do you have a moment to talk about-"

The door slammed shut, whacking Kamek in the beak and sending him stumbling back into the street. Bowser rolled his eyes. He'd had enough of this game – he came to conquer, not to solicit! Wasting no time, he stomped irritably over to the house and yelled in through the flimsy wall.

"Listen up in there, chumps! I'm Bowser Koopa, the one true king! I've jumped across timelines, spent days in the wilderness, and been munched on by a bush – and I didn't come all this way just to be ignored by some cowards in a shack!" There was no reply, but he could feel an uncertain presence just on the other side of the door. "Get out here and face me like Koopas Troopas; or I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll light the place up!"

For a minute or two, only silence answered him; and Bowser paced back and forth as he felt the last of his goodwill melt away. Things were just about to get toasty when the door swung open again, and the skeptical, pinched face of an elderly Paratroopa leaned out into the light.

"Prince Bowser died as a child, bless his bright young soul," the old turtle said, flapping up to look the king square in the eye. Behind him, a few more curious Koopas were peeking out around the doorframe. "Why should I listen to you? You're big and loud, but that alone won't make you royalty. Those spikes on your shell could be paper cones and glue, for all I know!"

Bowser simply stared him down, unblinking and savage. "The way I see it, I'm your king now no matter WHAT my name is. I've got soldiers and magic; and you have, what, half of a farm? A couple of sticks and some mud? Yeah, this place is mine." He turned his gaze to the other Koopas in the doorway, and to a few who had appeared in the windows of nearby homes. "But that means nothin' to me, because I'm EXACTLY who I claim to be. I'm Bowser Koopa, king of this land, and I'm the only one of me there is!"

That was the truth, too. His alternate self was dead, but that fact almost seemed extraneous. Any version of himself weak enough to get snuffed out, even as a puny kid, just wasn't worthy of the name "Bowser." That name meant pure, awesome power, and nothing less.

The crusty old Paratroopa still wasn't swayed, but luckily the youngsters inside the house weren't nearly so stubborn. More and more faces appeared in the doorway – some excited, some inquisitive, some even a little bit scared – and before long the Koopas were spilling into the street. Bowser gave his toothiest grin, backing up to accommodate the throng as the plaza filled with a rising tide of scales and shells.

Shouted questions came at him from all sides. "Where have you been hiding all this time?" asked a red-shelled teenager in the back. "Why did you stay there for so long? We've been hopeless by ourselves!" yelled a wispy Lakitu girl, perching her pink-tinted cloud on a rooftop. "Eh, what's your name? Bowyer? The guy with all the arrows?" wheezed an ancient green-shell resting on a stump by the fire.

"This is gonna be easier than the time I took that baby's candy," Bowser thought as he eyed the frenzied group. Glancing back behind himself, he saw Kammy and Kamek watching the scene unfold from up the street. Behind them stood his various loyal troops, several of them cheering or giving enthusiastic thumbs-ups. "Yeah, thanks for the support, but don't forget your cue when the time comes." His minions had a vital part to play in this presentation too, after all.

"Where have I been all this time?" he began, turning back to face the crowd. "Well I'll tell you, folks. I haven't been hiding, or sitting around in some peasant shed like you guys. I've been in another world!" He got some confused looks at that, so he decided to play up the clarification. "Oh yeah, I mean that literally - a totally different reality! I've been gaining power, invading kingdoms, and winning the hearts of fair pink princesses! 'Bowser Koopa, world conqueror;' that's what they call me!"

He glanced from one awed face to the next, scanning the crowd for a spark of loyalty. "But now I'm here, 'cuz it's time to take this world back! I mean, look at yourselves!" He made a sweeping, nonspecific gesture around at all the poverty. "How long have you been hiding from Empress Anti-Peach? How many years since you left this valley, or ate a real feast, or polished your shells? When's the last time any of you sad sacks didn't totally suck?!"

A ragged blue-shelled Koopa stepped up into view – one that Bowser thought looked very vaguely familiar. "You're here for our help? But what can we even do? You said it yourself; we're not fit to fight against an army…" There were soft murmurs of agreement all around.

"I don't need you to be strong like an army," Bowser grinned, leaning imposingly over the crowd, "because I've already taken care of all that." Taking a step back, he gestured vaguely up the hill – a signal to his minions to bring forth the secret weapon; the thing that would win the villagers' loyalty once and for all. "What if I told you, that each one of you could be way stronger than all the Empress' lame goons put together…?"

That certainly got the people talking. Hushed and frantic whispers passed back and forth, and a few more Koopas skittered out from the shadows to join the herd. Bowser's grin only widened as he watched the scene unfold; this was fun, but the best bit was yet to come.

Two Shy Guys crested the hill, plumes of conjured smoke rising cinematically behind them. Between them, they carried an old wooden trunk – the same chest that Bowser had hauled all the way from Toad Town back home. Inside was something very special – something magical, which these sad Koopas likely hadn't seen in a very long time. "Until today, that is. Oh, man; this is gonna be so awesome!"

Bowser watched as his victory marched majestically forward. Then, a few steps before the cobblestones, one of the Shy Guys tripped and fell flat on his face, making the chest slip and fall to the ground with a dull clunk. The other one tried to pick up the slack, but the little guy just wasn't strong enough. He pushed on one corner, then the other; and in the end, the chest just sort of slid to a lopsided stop at the bottom of the hill.

"DANG IT, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LOOK COOL!" Bowser roared in exasperation, glancing back and forth between the stunned Shy Guys and the baffled crowd. Shutting his eyes, he ran his claws through his fiery mane and took a deep, calming breath. "Just pick it back up, Bowser. You can still pull this off."

Keeping his steady gaze fixed on the peasants, he thudded over to the trunk and hauled it forward, positioning it in the center of his imagined stage. "That other world I mentioned; it has something that this one doesn't…" He spotted a young hatchling clinging to someone's leg, his tiny green shell still soft with youth. "Hey, kid; come here for a sec. I've got something neat to show you."

The young Koopa shyly stumbled forward, after a gentle nudge from his parent. The kid was probably only a few years old – that perfect age when hearts and minds are filled with wonder. Bowser leaned down and situated the wooden chest snugly between them. "Tell me somethin', kid. Have your parents ever told you stories about… the stars?"

The little Koopa's eyes lit up like fireworks, and he nodded shakily with an almost stupefied reverence. "But you've never seen them, have you?" Bowser stood back up, roaring out his next and final questions for all to hear. "How long has it been since ANY of you saw the stars in this cruddy world? How long since you've seen… THESE?!"

With that, he upended the chest before the crowd; the contents spilling into the street like a glimmering golden waterfall of light. The items in the chest tumbled and bounced around the dazed child in brilliant waves, the kid shaking like a leaf and looking like he was barely able to process this. That same look of stunned disbelief was spreading to the Koopas in the crowd, and a few of them stuttered forward with tears in their eyes.

Power Stars – at least fifty or more – skittered joyfully across the stones of the plaza. These were the artifacts taken from the Toads back home – Bowser's true advantage in this new world of darkness. In the "normal" world, Power Stars were common enough to be used as batteries or even lightbulbs; but here, Bowser guessed, they had all vanished along with the stars in the sky. Power Stars are a byproduct of granted wishes, after all.

"Go ahead, kid; pick one up," the Koopa King said to the trembling child. It took a moment, but eventually the kid reached out a tiny claw and grasped the nearest Star by the tip. In an instant, the child's body exploded with a brilliant shower of golden sparkles and a pulsing aura of ever-shifting white light. As small as the kid was, Bowser could still feel the waves of pure and radiant power thrumming against his scales. "You're totally invincible now! There's nothing in the world that can hurt you! Go on, try it out; do somethin' stupid."

In a power-charged frenzy, the kid immediately charged forward with a yell, smashing against Bowser's stomach with a mighty headbutt. The larger Koopa was immediately blasted back several yards, head spinning and body flailing as he instinctively curled into his shell. He wildly threw out a claw to ground himself; and eventually he pulled himself upright, only to find himself standing in a deep and chaotic trench that had been plowed down the street.

Stomping back to the crowd, Bowser found them in an absolute uproar. This was it – time for the finishing move that would make them all his minions forever. He wanted to hop up on a box or something, but he was never much for jumping. Instead, he settled for a low, flat boulder sitting by the roadside.

The Koopas turned as one to listen, their eyes bright and their hearts open. Bowser saw the kid again, beaming and sitting proudly on his parent's shoulders. Somewhere in the back, a group of teenagers started up a rhythmic chant. "Power Stars, Power Stars, Power Stars…"

Bowser threw his arms wide open and roared, letting himself get caught up in the spirit of theatrics. "That's right, you downtrodden masses; you unwashed layabouts in your little stone shacks! I've got a pile of genuine, bona fide, energized, five-point Power Stars! Follow me, and they're all yours! Stick with me, and this whole dang world is yours!" There was cheering, now; and the mania of wild celebration. "I'll take you right to the top – right to the source of all your Trouble! And yes, you nerds, that's a capital 'T,' which rhymes with 'P,' and that stands for PEACH!"

The Koopas surged ahead, embracing their new leader and the plan he hadn't even fully explained. Through it all, Bowser yelled and hollered above the deafening din. "I'm talking about your gross Empress! You want her gone? Well so do I! We'll march right to the gates of her fancy palace, we'll tear 'em down, and this whole wrecked world can witness the dawn of the brand new KOOPA EMPIRE!"

There was more cheering and applause; not just from the crowd around him, but from his original troops atop the hill. Bowser turned to wave at them, and he caught sight of Kammy wiping a proud tear from her eye. Kamek was gone again, but what did that even matter? The little wizard had gotten them this far, and now Bowser was unstoppable.

"I'm coming for you, Peach," he thought to himself as the crowd swarmed around him in blind adoration – his brand new invincible army. For a moment, he let his thoughts turn darkly to the princess' alternate self – the mysterious Empress who had ruined so much. "Yeah; you too, Anti-Peach. One way or another, I'm coming for you, as well."

Very far away, in a secret base beneath the Rogueport waterfront, the Amanita Resistance was trying in vain to plan its next move.

"I'm being totally serious, she called us!" Toad insisted, pacing back and forth beside the table with his stumpy arms in the air. "We know where Princess Peach is, so let's go get her! What's the big deal, you guys?!"

Goombella just sighed, her loose hair falling limply over one eye. At that moment, she looked like she wanted nothing more than a hand to facepalm with. "That's not good enough, little dude. Finding her was never the problem, getting to her was." She turned to stare at Luigi, who had been sitting beside Toad before the fungus had decided to start doing angry laps around the table. "Besides, she didn't just call; did she, Green? You said the line went dead, yeah?

"Yeah, that's exactly right," Luigi confirmed, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "It's like she just dropped the phone, or maybe somebody else took it and hung up." Toad shrieked something else about danger and rescue, but everyone else just groaned.

This little argument had been raging for a while now, and Mario just wanted everybody to reach an agreement before he went nuts. His leg was healed, or near enough, and he was itching to get out of this basement and accomplish something. It was high time for the good guys make some headway, after all.

Nearly everyone was present - most of the group having situated themselves around the dining room table in a sort of makeshift "war room" setup. Bow was floating over by the sofa with her new "besties," Peeka and Lahla, looking only half-interested in the discussion. The only person missing altogether was Professor Frankly, who had hurried out of the room after getting an urgent email notification.

Yoshi was the next to speak, flicking out his tongue to bop Toad in the head, stopping the little mushroom in his tracks. "If we tried to raid the palace, we'd get torn to shreds. You remember how well things went last time," he said, referring to the nightmarish escape from Peach's Castle. "If we want to get the princess back, and also not die, then we need a better plan."

"Well, we have to do something," Mario insisted, standing up and spreading his hands on the table. "If we can't get into the palace yet, then why are we talking about it? There're other problems in the world, right? Tell me something that we can do."

Mario waited patiently, but nobody seemed to have any ideas. Raz and Raini whispered some things to each other, but then shook their heads. Vivian shifted nervously and adjusted her scarf, gliding further back from the conversation in general. Goombella, meanwhile, muttered something indistinctly to Toadette, which caused the younger girl to burst out in a giggle fit. Truly, it seemed like they were getting nowhere fast.

"Ol' Wonky has some news, if you folks care to listen." The group turned to look at their little informant, who patted his stomach and glanced nervously around the table. "Yes sir, some very interesting news indeed. This is pretty sketchy, you see, but ol' Wonky hears that a travelling band of Koopas has been spotted up north. Villagers say they're making for the mountains." He rocked back on his heels and looked idly away, letting the issue hang. "That might be worth an investigation, but that's just one guy's opinion."

Koopas on the move? Normally, Mario would know exactly what that meant; but this was a new and different world, and there was no Bowser around to cause trouble here. Before he could voice his confusion, Goombella shook her head and spoke again. "That's unusual and all, but it's not really relevant to this plotline."

Ah, so this version of Goombella had that little quirk, too. Mario's friend back home had always had a strangely "narrative" way of speaking, and sometimes he wondered about her grip on reality. He preferred to think that it was just her odd sense of humor.

"Now we're just back where we started," Luigi said glumly, starting to look very tired. Either he'd been up all night reading again, or he was beginning to go stir-crazy like Mario was. Luigi was always the more patient brother, but Mario knew that even he had limits.

"Ah, not quite! I may have just the fix for this problem!" a voice echoed from out in the hall. Moments later, a dried-out old Goomba scurried into the room, excited and slightly out-of-breath with age. Professor Frankly made his way to the head of the table, his thick glasses fogged and slightly askew, and hopped up on a stack of books he'd prepared as a seat.

"Good news, everyone! I just received an email from my good friend Elvin. He's a scientist, like me, but he prefers a more… hands–on approach to research. Some call him mad, but I call him a maverick! Anyway, I doubt you've ever heard of him." Mario and Luigi exchanged a pointed look, both knowing exactly who the old Goomba was talking about. Professor Elvin Gadd had been a fixture during many of their adventures, for better or worse.

Lady Bow evidently recognized the name, too, because she wasted no time injecting herself into the conversation. "E. Gadd, is it? Why, of course I've heard of him! Boo children tell the most frightening stories about him. Supposedly, he lurks in dark forests, waiting to capture innocent ghosts and harvest them for his sick experiments!" She huffed and flew right up into the professor's face. "Whyever would you associate yourself with a beast like that?"

Professor Frankly blew out a puff of air, as if trying to disperse a vexing cloud of smoke. Bow held herself together, but backed off nonetheless with an offended glare. As she floated off, he turned back to the group and tried to explain. "I met Elvin many years ago, when he was an accomplished inventor on the cusp of changing the world! If he's settled into… paranormal studies… in his golden years, then that's entirely his business."

"Yeah, okay, but why did he email you?" Goombella asked, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Don't leave us hanging, old man! What's the sitch?"

"Hmm… Ah, yes! In his email, Elvin sounded very frantic. Supposedly, one of his old inventions vanished overnight. I'll admit to skimming the technobabble paragraphs, but it seems like a machine which was very important to him." Mario listened intently, wondering which invention it could've been. F.L.U.D.D., or perhaps the Poltergust? Stars forbid if it was the time machine – he didn't even want to think about the kind of mess that would cause. Instead, he stayed silent and let the professor finish his tale. "He claims that his surveillance system recorded several people sneaking into the lab last night – a cloaked figure, and six soldiers in grey iron armor."

"It's that guy!" Toad shouted, suddenly springing into action again. "You know, that one guy, who was there at the place! He stole the machine, and now Gadd wants us to help him get it back! Isn't that right, professor?"

The old Goomba looked bemused, but shook his head and sighed. "Not specifically, no. Elvin was merely writing to inform me of the crisis. He never actually said that he wanted us to help him."

"But, um, we're going to anyway, right?" Vivian offered, gliding her way back into the discussion. "This might be a way to learn something new about what's been happening!"

"I agree. It sounds like a fresh lead, and maybe some progress," Mario nodded, backing her up. One by one, the others all voiced their assent; and before long the conversation was alive once more with brand new theories and plans.

"Hold up a sec," said Rowf, who had been silent thus far. "We own a truck, not a tour bus. There's, what, fifteen of us? No way are we all going on this little field trip." The conversation simmered back down, each person realizing that it was true. "There's a choice to make here, unless y'all want me to find some straws to draw."

"And here I thought he was good at breaking silences, not starting them," Mario thought as he watched his friends silently eye each other, everybody wondering if they were possibly the best fit for this mission.

In the end, Lahla and Peeka withdrew their names, as they had full-time jobs up in the city. Wonky was out, as his services were needed elsewhere. Professor Frankly was too old, and Raz and Raini had very little adventuring experience between them. That helped to narrow the field, but not quite by enough.

"I should go," Luigi finally said, with no small amount of hesitation in his voice, "because I'm the only one here who's been to Gadd's lab." He furrowed his brow and backpedaled a bit. "Well, no – I've been to a version of his lab, in another timeline. But… but still, that's more than anyone else!"

"What are you talking about?! I've been there too! I was literally there when you met the guy!" Toad bristled, waving his arms erratically. Luigi looked momentarily stumped, and then a flash of realization and shame flickered across his face. Mario remembered, at least – Toad had been there for that adventure, standing dutifully in the mansion's foyer all night.

Toad, the poor little guy, just looked bummed. He slid back from the table and went to sit on the sofa with the ghosts. "This always happens with you, man. You know what? I don't even want to go anymore, so there."

It was Bow who spoke up next, materializing once more before the professor. "In that case, I'd like to claim a spot in this party! I've spent a good portion of my unlife wondering about this Gadd fellow, and I'd very much like to meet him face-to-face." Luigi seemed to pale at the suggestion, and Mario wondered if that had been the mischievous Boo's intent all along.

Mario supposed he'd better speak up now, if he wanted in on the adventure. After all, tickets seemed to be selling awfully fast. "I should probably come along, if only to keep my bro out of trouble. Besides, I need my exercise, right?" Everything else went unsaid.

"A-and me! I'm going too!" Vivian asserted almost breathlessly, trying to get the professor's attention from across the table. "I'm not… I'm not going to be left behind again!" Mario smiled softly at her words, remembering the promise they'd made earlier.

Goombella grinned, and then let out a sunny laugh. "It's all the newbies who've volunteered!" she exclaimed, turning to Raz and Raini, and then to Rowf. "Like, we can't just let them run off unsupervised! They'd get smeared the second they left town!" Mario wanted to contest that statement, but the Goomba girl had already made her case. "I'm totally gonna go too, because somebody has to have experience."

Nobody else came forward to volunteer. For a moment, Toadette looked like she wanted to speak up; but in the end she went over to sit beside Toad on the sofa. Yoshi, for his part, just shrugged and put his feet up on the table. "Eh, five sounds like a decent number for a squad. Besides, I'm not so good with ghost houses. I'll chill here instead."

"It's settled, then!" the professor cried, hopping up and down in excitement. "The away team will be Marty, Valerie, Goombrielle, Boat, and… Luigi! Aha, I knew I'd get it right!" Mario glanced at his little brother, so oft-forgotten, and saw a single shining tear slip down his face.

"Welp, I hope you're happy," said Rowf, getting up to leave the area, "because you five just made yourselves the main characters." Again with the strange story-speak. Goombella's weird jokes must have rubbed off on the old Doogan. After he left, several of the others got up to do the same; and before long, only the five of them were left.

The new party resolved to leave the next day, and huddled together making plans throughout the evening and long into the night. As he prepared for a brand new adventure beside his friends, Mario felt his heart swell with an old, familiar warmth. There would be battles and hardships to come, yes; but for this one night, the future seemed as open and endless as the sky.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9 – Bones and Blueprints

If there had still been a moon, it would have likely hung low and large over the horizon; its gaze bright and baleful against the gnarled black treetops of Forever Forest.

Moonlight would've illuminated the sea of branches and brambles that lay across the countryside like a funeral shroud, sprawling for untold miles in every direction. A moonbeam might've caught the flocks of Swoopers that spiraled this way and that above the canopy, flapping and skreeking madly in everlasting search of prey. Any light at all would have shone kindly upon the five travelers who struggled slowly and cautiously across the forest floor.

…But the moon had vanished with the stars in this world, by some strange magic; and without it, the murky forest was left in an utterly abyssal blackness. The brambles went unseen, the Swoopers fluttered by unnoticed, and the journey was tough for Mario's group as they made their way blindly through the underbrush.

"So, like, tell me why we didn't wait until morning?" Goombella pouted as she stumbled and tripped her way through the gloom. With her tiny stature and lack of arms, the overgrown path wasn't easy for her to navigate; and there were times when she vanished entirely beneath the languid carpet of forest fog. "We set Rowf up at that super-cute little inn, and then we just high-tailed it into the woods, right there and then! What kind of sense does that make?"

Mario chose to ignore the questions, focusing instead on his own battles with the thorny twigs that kept snagging him by the overalls. He knew that Goombella was just being catty, after all. Everyone, no matter the world, knew how little time meant beneath the shadow of these trees.

Forever Forest was an immense wilderness that cut a swath across the central continent. Even back home, in Mario's own version of the Mushroom Kingdom, travelers knew to avoid the place whenever possible. It wasn't a very hostile region, aside from the odd Piranha Plant thicket or Fuzzy nest; but physical danger wasn't what kept the people away. Most folks were simply afraid of a place where time never moved.

It was midnight in Forever Forest, and had always been thus for the past thousand years or so. Nobody knew how the woods had come to be under such a spell, but Mario had heard every kind of myth about the place. In Boo society, it was believed that kind ghosts had enchanted the land in ancient times, in order to live peacefully within the darkness. Superstitious Toads, on the other hand, claimed that the woods had been cursed by the Star Spirits, simply because so many ghouls had begun to lurk within.

Whatever the history, the kingdom had essentially surrendered this land to the spirits. Several independent Boo colonies had carved out little portions of the northwestern forest to haunt, in a dreary region collectively called "Boo Woods." It was there that Lady Bow lived, a princess within the walls of her stately gothic mansion.

It was also there, as it happened, that Elvin Gadd had set up his supernatural research laboratory. (Luigi insisted that he'd recently moved shop further east, to a place called Evershade Valley; but according to Professor Frankly, no such thing had ever happened in this timeline). Either way, a trip to visit the old scientist meant a night of wandering in the dark, straight through the heart of ghost country.

As it turned out, there were no simple paths that led to E. Gadd's front door. The small party had been forced to abandon their truck, and its stubborn driver, at the nearest inn to the forest border. Now they were lost among the towering black trees, the ever-grasping undergrowth, and the pale ethereal mist that engulfed it all.

Bow herself was out in front, guiding the way as she floated effortlessly over the wild and tangled brush. Mario and Luigi followed after her, pausing often to help each other find safe passage through the thorns. Vivian came next, carefully tracing the brothers' path; and Goombella brought up the rear, trying her best to stay upright and alive.

Luigi was the one who truly knew where the professor lived, but he didn't trust his own sense of direction in the dark. He'd pointed out the general area on a tourist map, back at the inn; and Bow had offered to lead the group in that direction. Time would only tell if she was as familiar with the far reaches of the forest as she claimed to be.

"At least we've all managed to stay together," Mario mused, scanning for the shadows of obstacles against the soft light from below. The forest floor was dimly lit by clusters of pale blue bioluminescent mushrooms that grew amidst the underbrush; but their faint glow extended to only a few feet above the ground. Bow could see in the dark, being a ghost; but to the others, everything above waist-height was lost to the pitch blackness of a moonless midnight.

Up ahead, Luigi must've stumbled into a low-hanging branch, because he sputtered indignantly and tripped back into view covered in leaves. As Mario caught up to help his brother, he felt around in the shadows until his hands found the heavy limb that blocked their way. He lifted it up so that Luigi could pass; but then Mario noticed Vivian softly approaching, and he decided to hold it for her as well.

The siren smiled gratefully as she ducked beneath the limb, the movement causing strands of her pink hair to fall loosely down across her face. As she stood up and brushed her bangs hastily back into place, Mario caught sight of the Pretty Lucky badge that she'd pinned up within them, just above her left eye.

Mario smiled, remembering the matching trinket that was pinned to his hat - Vivian had elected to wear her badge like a hairclip, so he'd put his in a similar spot to humor her. Goombella had given them some sass when they'd turned up for the mission with matching accessories, but Mario hadn't let the teasing bother him. These badges meant something special – trust and a promise – and he was proud to share that bond with Vivian.

Mario was pulled from his thoughts by Luigi, who had doubled back to confront him. "We've been here before, bro," the younger twin said in a hush whisper, gesturing around at some random bits of background scenery. "You know how this forest has twists and turns, right? Well, I've spotted that same mushroom patch at least thrice."

Mario was skeptical, and he must've let it show, because Luigi spun him around to point at a lopsided mossy boulder, lingering half-visibly in a sunken glen beyond in a gap in the trees. The rock seemed to vibrate, before letting out a demented little giggle that made Mario shiver a bit. "How many laughing rocks do you think there are in these woods, Mario? Because there's either an epidemic, or we've passed that one six times."

"Luigi, dear, don't be insensitive," Bow called back, vanishing up ahead and rematerializing back within the group. Luigi gave a tiny yelp and scooted further away as she continued. "Possessing a rock is a… unique life choice, but you should never judge a spirit by what object they decide to inhabit. Someone is so much more than their body, you know."

As if suddenly recalling her place as guide, the Boo floated upwards to take a look around, her face falling into a scowl. "Anyway, I know right where we're going. But do agree, it's quite rude of Gadd to stray so far from the beaten path. We Boos made the trails and signs for a reason, you know."

Goombella trotted up to join the conversation, suspicious curiosity plain in her eyes. "I thought that the ghosts made the trails to, like, lure victims deeper into the woods? They think it's all safe, but it's totally a trap, yeah?"

Bow floated back down, looked this way and that, and then finally set off through the trees in a new direction. "Well, yes; but that's exactly my point. Visitors should keep to the trails, so that we always know where they are. Gadd has hidden himself away somewhere, instead; and that just isn't playing fair."

"B-but look on the bright side, everyone! At least the path isn't so narrow anymore," Vivian pointed out, gliding ahead and indicating the plants to either side. True enough, the twisted little path was beginning to widen out, the trees and shrubbery parting away into the darkness like the curtains on a stage. "This should make it much easier to find our way, right?"

She turned out to be right - as the roots and snags fell away, the little party was able to pick up the pace. For a few sweet minutes, they were able follow the trail through a calm and serene patch of woodland; their path lit by distant mushrooms that looked like stars, and their ears filled with the soft chirping of crickets hidden in the mist.

Before long, though, they found themselves standing at the edge of a foggy swamp – a wet and dreary pit that stretched far away beyond sight. The softly glowing fungi were few and far between, here; and the mucky ground gave no hint to where a safe path might be. Goombella took an experimental step forward, only to reel back when her foot sank into the mud with a squelch.

"This is a bit of a setback," Luigi said, a hand to his chin as he looked out across the marshes. "I'll bet that Mario and I could jump across, but platforming in the dark was never a big favorite of mine."

Lady Bow faded into view nearby, wearing a smile that hovered somewhere between sincere and sly. "I could always float out and find the safe spots, and then you could simply leap into my arms!" She turned to Vivian, who watched the Boo curiously. "You can swim through the shadows, can't you, dear? You can help me search for the islands from beneath!"

Mario didn't like the sound of that idea. Vivian had told him about her new fear of the shadowy sea below the world, and the scary presence that she had felt within it. He was about so suggest an alternative plan on the siren's behalf, but she put on a brave face and agreed before he had the chance. "If that's what's necessary to get everyone safely across, then I'll do it."

Without another word, she plunged into the darkness and out of sight. A few moments later, she emerged again several yards out in the swamp, waving to indicate that she'd found an island. Bow quickly flew out and found a safe spot of her own, so Mario knelt down to let Goombella climb onto his back. The Goomba girl looked skeptical, but eventually she sighed and hopped aboard.

Aiming for Vivian, Mario and his passenger took a flying leap across the darkness. The siren helped to steady them as they landed, and Mario turned back to watch his brother. Lady Bow encouragingly waved him on, but Luigi looked unsure about taking a jump toward the grinning ghost. In the end, trust seemed to win out. He swallowed his fear, leapt high into the air, sailed across the swamp in a perfect graceful arc…

…And landed with a wet splat, waist-deep in the pitch-black muck. As he wailed in frustration, Lady Bow burst out laughing, her twin hairbows shaking as she tumbled mirthfully through the air. Mario scowled, and nearly considered dropping Goombella when she started to snicker. He understood that Boos were pranksters by nature, but he'd expected Bow to be more of a friend than that.

At least she seemed to be apologizing now, and had floated back down to help pull Luigi out. The younger brother just glared at her, and kept trying to kick his own way to freedom. Mario was about to ask Vivian if they could island-hop over to help him, but he froze up when he noticed the pale white hand that had attached itself to Luigi's waist.

Mario squinted out across the darkness, thinking that maybe it was just a vine, or even a simple trick of the light; but no, reaching up from the foggy swamp was a dead, bony claw. Luigi seemed to notice the hand then, too; because he reached behind himself and gave it a short, sharp tug.

…In an instant, all hell broke loose. Three more white hands shot up from the mud, pulling Luigi down with a horrified yell. Goombella let out a shriek as she fell from Mario's back, and the hero spun around to find her tumbling towards a swirling cluster of skeletal parts that ripped and clawed at the edge of the island.

Instinctively, Mario dove in after her, catching the Goomba just before she slipped off the mossy platform. As he landed, he felt the cold chill of a bony claw scratch against his cheek, and he immediately spun himself in the opposite direction. Vivian was at their side in a flash, helping to pull them both upright.

Having risen to one knee, Mario looked across the swamp at his brother, who was thrashing madly against the sudden horde of indistinct skeletal shapes. Bow was right in the thick of it beside him, smacking the attackers with her fan as they tried to arise. "She's still a good friend when it counts," Mario thought, glad that the Boo had quit messing around, "but I've gotta get over there, too! My little bro needs me!"

That's when the arms grabbed him, yanking him back once more toward the abyss. As his leg was jerked out from beneath him, he heard Vivian gasp in sudden terror. Mario spun onto his back as he slid toward the darkness, kicking at the mud-covered figure that was clawing its way up his leg. As he crossed the edge of the platform, bright yellow eyes erupted like fire within the mucky shape; and a jagged black maw rattled open with a hollow roar.

He kicked himself free just as a searing fireball consumed the monster, and sent it plunging back beneath the swamp with an agonized rattling shriek. He turned to find Vivian at his side once again, brandishing her flaming fist like a torch. Mario leapt back onto the little island, and stood beside her as the sludge churned and swirled around them. Suddenly, the stench of death had become almost staggering.

There wasn't much time for any of them to catch their breath, as the gaunt figures soon began clawing their way up onto the land. They kept a healthy distance from Vivian's fire, but they steadily approached all the same. As they straightened up, the mud began to slough off of them in putrid globs, revealing their bony shells and mangled reptilian skulls.

"Dry Bones," Mario spat, the name spilling out like a curse. "I guess it figures – the first Koopas we meet on this adventure, and it has to be the mindless, dead kind." One of the skeletal reptiles lunged forward with a strangled cry, but Mario shattered it with a quick hop and kicked the pieces as far as he could back into the swamp.

Goombella was waddling back and forth, trying to dodge the attackers as they came. "I totally know what this is," she said, trying to hide behind Mario's legs, "but I didn't think it was really true. See, there's this rumor that the Empress dumped all the Koopas she killed here in mass graves. Y'know, after the whole genocide thing."

That sounded plausible, and Mario wanted to pity these Koopas; but they were hardly innocent victims anymore. These things were wights – soulless husks with no morality or capacity for reason. Mario, Goombella, and Vivian stood surrounded by a sea of yellow fire-eyes that saw them as nothing more than prey.

…And poor Luigi was still out there, battling the horde without even a platform to stand on! "We have to get over to Luigi and Bow," Mario urged, turning to look at Vivian, who had shifted herself to stand against him back-to-back. "Take us through the shadows, Viv! The five of us need to all stick together!"

Vivian glanced at the ground, and then scanned the shrinking circle of encroaching skeletal hunger. She nodded in quick decision, hugging Mario and Goombella tightly as they all vanished beneath the island together.

Down here in the empty abyss, they could see every single Dry Bones that lay submerged beneath the sludge. There were hundreds of them – so many thousands of bones had been packed beneath the swamp, that the view of the world from beneath was just a rotten white smear. Many of them were shifting, rattling, trying to pull themselves back together through the clustered bodies of their fellows…

And this was only one of the mass graves, if Goombella's rumor was true. "Did Empress Toadstool really do all this? Why would she go so far, to kill so many members of a species like this?" In the cold silence of the shadowy void, he could sense that Vivian was asking herself the same thing.

A moment later, they shot back up into reality, landing on another island further across the swamp. Luigi was nearby, having apparently clawed his way nearly to safety with Bow's help. Mario ran forward to grab his brother's flailing hand, as Vivian's fireball took out a Dry Bones that tried to swipe at him from the side.

Soon, they were all together on the same island; but that only meant that the skeletal monsters had a more focused target. They had to keep moving, and fast, or this adventure was going to have a very sudden and nasty ending.

The group took to their island-hopping strategy again, leaping from rock to rock through the darkness; only this time, an army of the dead was nipping at their heels. Bow and Vivian would fly or swim to a safe spot, and the brothers would leap across the thrashing sea of screaming bones in a mad dash for safety.

From one island to the next; from Vivian's side to Bow's and back again. Mario and Luigi crisscrossed back and forth, each taking their own separate path. Goombella hopped between the brothers whenever they happened to meet, since neither was able to carry her for very long. Occasionally, Mario would arrive on an island to find a shrieking skeleton waiting there to greet him; so he would either land on them, or bash their skulls in with a swift punch before continuing on his way.

They'd hoped to reach the other side of the swamp, but eventually they just ran out of islands. After a few minutes of this nightmarish chase, the five heroes once again found themselves sharing the same rock. Neither Bow nor Vivian could locate any more platforms within safe jumping distance, so this really was the end of the line. "I guess we'll just have to fight our way back the way we came."

…Looking out into the blackness, Mario already knew that it wasn't going to be that easy. The crickets from earlier had been drowned out by a cacophony of rattling bones, and the pale glowing mushrooms had been outshone by a thousand mindlessly hungry yellow eyes.

They were trapped – outnumbered in the darkness with nowhere to run. Soon the undead beasts would wash over the little island like a jabbering wave, and there'd be nothing of the heroes left behind. "Not without a fight, they won't," Mario thought, steeling himself for the battle to come. "We'll show these boneheads a real bad time, before everything's said and done."

A minute later, the first of the Dry Bones made landfall. It lunged at Luigi, who leapt backwards and kicked the monster apart with his flailing legs. The next went for Goombella, but Vivian caught it in the air with a fireball. The next few all came together; and the party went in to retaliate as one. After that, they all came as a wave; and the world became a senseless blur of fire, bone, and fear.

Suddenly, everything went blindingly white; and the world vanished with all the subtlety of a Bob-omb's blast. For just one awful instant, Mario thought that he was in the Overthere – that his game was over at last. But then he heard the frantic jabbering of the monsters; and behind them, from somewhere quite nearby, the low and thundering roar of some gigantic unseen machine.

The Dry Bones shrieked and fell over themselves, falling to pieces as they tried desperately to escape from this new onslaught of light. The horde was in a senseless panic, and some had even begun to burn, or crack, or flake into dust as they tried to flee. Mario leapt skyward in an effort to escape the stampede, bouncing off a few skulls as the monsters spilled off the little island in droves, clattering apart and vanishing again beneath the muck.

As the battlefield cleared, Mario tried to make some sense of this new twist. The light was coming from every direction, and it wasn't easy to see past the glare; but as his vision adjusted, he began to spot the tall mechanical pillars that seemed to have risen telescopically from out of the swamp. "They must have made the machinery noises I heard. Mama Mia, what are these things?"

Perched atop each tower was a tremendous, beak-like turret; an ominous thing which swiveled this way and that on great steel hinges, thrumming with electric power as it cast a harsh gaze across the marshland. The "jaws" of these watchful beasts were filled with bright bulbs and refracting lenses – calculated light arrays that were focused into violent beams by the beak's own funneling shape. This was a type of machine that Mario had never seen before, but he recognized the design in an instant.

These floodlights – or perhaps they were Fluddlights – could only have been designed by one man. The party had come into this forest in search of Professor E. Gadd; but it seemed that the old man had found them, instead.

As Mario turned to check on his friends - who were mercifully unhurt, if a bit shaken - the bright beams dimmed slightly before spiraling in to focus on the little group like a titanic web of looming searchlights. High above, from somewhere inside one of the gaping mechanical mouths, a loudspeaker stuttered into life.

"Oho! There you young'uns are," a voice crackled down from on high, the words alive with welcoming cheer. "What're you all doing playing in the backyard, for? I was starting to think you'd gotten yourselves into trouble! Ah, well; no matter – I'll raise a path to get you out of this bog."

With that, the hydraulic thrum kicked up again; and the five heroes watched as a series of grimy metal platforms began to shudder their way up out of the mud. A few were littered with stray skeletal bits, but those soon flew back into the sludge as the platforms whirred, spun, and locked themselves together into a sleek runway bridge that led out across the mire.

"Step lively now," the voice urged once more, tiny guiding lights flickering to life in rows along the new bridge. "The hour is late, and there's plenty for us to talk about."

Mario glanced at his brother, who returned his gaze with a look of reluctant resolve. The girls soon drifted up to join them; and together, with a shared sigh, they all set off once more into the unknown.

Luigi shivered pitifully as he tugged the thin fleece blanket tighter around his shoulders. He'd spent half the night chilled, wet, and muddy; and he'd nearly been ripped apart by a hungry undead swarm. Now, as he sat with his brother in E. Gadd's living space, he could practically feel the stress cold setting in.

Mario sat next to him on the little sofa, busying himself by thumbing through screenshots taken from the professor's security footage. Half-curiously, Luigi glanced over his shoulder to take a look at what was happening in the images, but couldn't make out much more than a few blurry shapes. "We already know who the thief is, kind of. The big mystery is what they took, and why."

Part of him wanted to get on with the reveal, but a bigger part was content to snuggle up in the blanket and try to keep warm for just a little bit longer. They'd only been inside for a short while; and after a night in the dark and slimy forest, the snug warmth was an experience he wanted to savor.

They'd arrived about an hour earlier, shambling in from the foggy woods like moths drawn to the lantern in E. Gadd's window. The old man had helpfully guided them through the last leg of their journey, but somehow they'd still ended up waiting for nearly fifteen minutes on the porch before the little scientist had shown up to let them inside.

To the untrained eye, the professor seemed to live in a sorry little garden shed at the base of a towering hill. In truth, the shed and the hill alike were only the surface layer of the old man's labyrinthine laboratory. Elvin Gadd had spent years boring tunnels beneath the forest; ratways and burrows that led to test chambers, libraries, greenhouses, and storage rooms - plus one very spooky art gallery that Luigi knew quite well.

"I was positively giddy when I heard you were coming," the professor had said as he'd led the group ever downward through the tunnel maze. After a short pause, he had turned back to scrutinize the group with a soft "tsk" and a shake of his spotted old head. "Hmm. Not quite was I was expecting, though. Instead of seasoned vets, I've been sent a soggy gaggle of plumbers and ghosts! Is this ol' Frankly's idea of a housewarming gift? He always was an odd feller, that Goomba… "

"That's ex-plumber to you," Luigi had wanted to say, intending to correct the little man on his all-too-common error. (After all, the Mario Bros. hadn't plumbed a drain in years). Instead of saying that, however, he'd just sneezed and watched a bit of caked swamp mud spill out of his pants.

Luigi had kept his eye on Bow for the entire trip down. It wasn't because she frightened him, although he would've felt perfectly justified if she did. (Her little swampy prank had nearly gotten them all killed by zombies, after all). No, he was trying to gauge her reaction to the professor. Hadn't she signed up for this mission in order to meet him?

"Oh, I'm not going to start any drama," she'd confessed earlier, laughing the idea off with a wave of her fan. "I simply want to get the measure of the man; learn how he lives and thinks, you see. After all, this version of Gadd isn't the one who's caused my Boos so much trouble back home…"

Whatever she was learning, it wasn't showing on her face. Bow had stayed silent and passive the entire trip down, listening to the professor's quips and snide remarks with an absentminded smile. Once, she'd caught Luigi watching and gave a subtle knowing wink. He remembered shivering then, and only half from the cold.

That had all been a while ago, and now they'd gotten themselves a bit more settled in. Luigi had shed his muddy overalls and snuggled up with a blanket, while Vivian and Goombella had gone off to take showers. Once they got back, and once the professor returned from his lab, it would be time for answers at last.

Mario sighed, letting the security tablet fall to the cushion. He'd been looking at the surveillance images since they'd arrived, but Luigi guessed that it hadn't amounted to much. "I was hoping to get a good look at that hooded guy, but no such luck. Somehow, in every shot, he's always standing in the shadows…"

A few minutes later, Goombella got back from her shower, smelling as minty-fresh as a mushroom ever could. Vivian came in hesitantly a little while later, her pink hair still wrapped up in a fluffy white towel. Luigi liked to think that he was pretty perceptive, and he certainly didn't miss the shy glances that the siren was giving to Mario as she sat down, one eye hidden behind the towel's hanging fringe.

It took another ten minutes for Gadd to arrive; but when he did, he was eager to guide the group further into the bowels of his facility. Along the way, he explained that the thieves had only stolen one thing – a failed invention that had never left the prototype stage. He hadn't touched the thing in years, but it was too important to truly throw away.

"I kept it stashed away in one of my storage facilities," the professor was saying, shuffling down the corridor as the party travelled ever deeper beneath the surface. "Out of sight, out of mind, eh? At least, that's what I thought before it was stolen. Anyway, it's just at the end of this hallway here…"

Bow rejoined the group at some point during the walk, having gone off to "explore" by herself. As she phased through the tunnel wall and fell in line with the others, Luigi couldn't help but be cautiously curious about her findings. "So, uh, see anything interesting?" he asked, and to his surprise the ghost actually looked a little bit guilty.

"…Perhaps I've been a bit too harsh on the old man. In fact, it seems that Gadd is quite enamored of my counterpart in this world." She glanced this way and that, before floating nearer to continue in a gossipy whisper. "Get this – he has a portrait of her, hanging right above his fireplace! The detail is simply impeccable; I felt like I was looking into a mirror!"

Briefly, Luigi considered telling her what E. Gadd's "portraits" meant; but he quickly thought better of it. If she'd been pacified by the discovery of the painting, then let it stay that way. "Besides, if I egged her on with hurtful info, then I'd be no better than she is."

At the end of the hallway, a simple sliding door led into the storage facility. Luigi had been expecting a cramped little closet, with some boxes and maybe a pile of odd gadgets in the corner. Instead, he found himself walking into a gargantuan hall that could easily pass for an aircraft hangar. Beside him, he heard Mario utter a quiet "Mama Mia," as Vivian tried to stifle a gasp.

The sliding door entered onto an iron mesh balcony, hanging by chains above a massive concrete bowl the size of a small arena. The sides of the bowl were sheer and smooth, sloping from the natural cave ceiling, down to a wide floor level cluttered with inactive power generators and dormant devices meant for purposes unknown. Many of the machines had large, grid-like panels that reminded Luigi of solar cells; but such a thing made no sense for an underground lab in a sunless world.

Up above, the mesh balcony encircled the bowl in a giant loop, with five or six offshoot catwalks extending toward the center like spokes on a bicycle wheel. There in the middle, suspended high above the strange machines on the floor, the spokes made a second ring around the largest and most imposing thing in the entire lab.

It was an immense sphere of crystal-clear glass, as wide as a building, which rested on a tangled nest of silver-blue wires and cables. These silvery wires snaked across the entire bowl like creeping vines, feeding themselves into every generator and machine. Strangest of all, every "solar cell" in the lab had been situated to face directly towards this monstrous thing.

…But it was easy to see that something had gone wrong in this place. To start with, one side of the gigantic sphere had been utterly shattered; a jagged and gaping hole blasted into the side with tiny cracks webbing out across the orb in every direction. The floor was haphazardly coated in glass shards; and a large patch of the machines had been toppled, as if their silver wires had been yanked harshly up and away.

Thieves had been here; but it looked like a hurricane had, instead. "What in the world was in that sphere, that was worth so much effort to steal?" Luigi asked himself, hoping that the professor would soon explain.

The inventor led them down from the balcony via an iron stairway that swayed and shook with every step, and gathered them around a rusty old table on the lower floor. He hobbled over to a nearby cabinet, and soon returned with a tube of paper that turned out to be blueprints. The old man never made a big spectacle of his inventions, often preferring to let the creations speak for themselves. This time, however, there was no choice but to delve into the plans.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase," Goombella said, breaking the tense silence. "Like, what's the deal with the smashed-up party ball? What was the prize inside?"

Sighing softly, E. Gadd unrolled the tube of blueprints onto the table. Luigi leaned in to look at the top sheet, which was either a sketch of the machine, or a child's drawing of an explosion. In the picture, silver wires were flowing into the back of a great golden starburst – a brilliant spiky thing that reminded Luigi of a Christmas tree star, but taken way too far.

"What we have here," the inventor began, pausing to make sure that everyone got a look at the drawing, "is an old, scrapped invention of mine that I made twenty years ago, shortly after the world went dark."

"It looks so bright and shiny," Vivian noted, idly tracing the drawing's spiky outline with her finger. "If you made it after the sky went dark, then is it supposed to be, um, some kind of Star? An artificial one, that is?"

That made a lot of sense, actually. Luigi was about to say so himself, when the professor answered. "That's pretty close, girlie; but not quite! No, this machine isn't an artificial Star - but that's a neat idea! I should've thought of that back then, instead..."

Mumbling to himself, Gadd flipped through a few pages of equations and formulas that Luigi barely had time to read, let alone try to understand. Finally, the old man settled on a page with a few more drawings and diagrams. One of them showed the spiky machine encased in a glass sphere, giving off energy. Another showed some kind of light beam falling upon a poorly-drawn forest. Parts of the forest picture had been erased; but to Luigi, it almost looked like the sketched trees were being engulfed by the light.

"When the stars died, this world lost its primary power source," the professor continued, passing the drawings around. "The stars in the sky used to grant wishes; and granted wishes made Power Stars, which fell to the planet's surface to be used by us for fuel." It was true, Luigi knew. Shooting Star Summit was one such place where the stars fell, back home; and he knew that Toads often went out to collect the fallen stars for local distribution.

"But that system broke down, you see. No stars means no fuel, which means a one-way backslide into the Dark Ages!" As he spoke, Gadd flipped through pages and dramatically pointed at various bits of scribble. "In my hubris, I believed that I could generate all of the missing power by myself. I thought that I could play Star Spirit, and save the world."

"So, how did it work?" Mario asked, picking up a sheet and squinting at it sideways. "Something tells me this thing is more than just a generator."

E. Gadd nodded, snatching the sheet back and returning it to the pile. "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'we are all stardust?' Well, son, that's the big idea behind my invention. You see, I devised a way to convert physical matter into pure Star power!"

Before the startled group could get a word in edgewise, the old man had launched into a practiced spiel. "Stars are made of hydrogen, helium, and magic – three of the most basic elements in our universe. The machine I built could break down mundane matter into these elements, mix 'em together, and create Star power! Some of that power would then be fed back into the machine, enhancing the mixture and creating even better, purer star stuff!" The scientist paused and looked up with a smug little smile. "Not to toot my own horn, but it's total genius!"

With that, he flipped to the very last page, finally revealing the name of the thing in big, blocky lettering. "I called it the Stellar Transmutation/Amplification Reactor, or S.T.A.R., for short. Pretty catchy, eh kids?"

Nobody seemed to know quite what to say. Eventually, Luigi asked what he guessed everybody was thinking. "Why did you give it up, then? If you wanted to change the world, then what happened?"

"I totally know why," Goombella answered, hopping up and down on her stool. "See, the professor figured out how, like, utterly devastating the reactor would be to the environment," She nodded her head at the tree drawing, which was sticking out from the pile. "Turning the land into stardust sounds cool, but it's super destructive. Imagine how much deforestation would happen after only a few years! The project was obviously stopped because it was killing the planet."

E. Gadd stared at her for a second, but then turned away with a pitying shake of his head. "Oh no, that isn't it at all. I'm a scientist – progress is my only concern, not a silly little thing like the environment!"

He began to roll the blueprints back up, pausing to point at a few equations on a particular sheet. "I abandoned the reactor because it wasn't efficient! It takes so much power to run, that even turning it on would take, say, a whole pile of Power Stars!"

Goombella just gave him a deadpan look. "So, wait. You built a thing to make Star power, because the stars are gone. But in order to turn it on, you need Star power? Uh, what?"

"Yes, that's right. Hence the project's failure," the professor snarked back, putting the blueprints back on the shelf. "Unless you know somebody with a secret stash of Stars around here, this big machine is never getting turned on."

As he came back to the table and sat down, a fretful look crossed his face. "But somebody out there decided to steal it, so I fear that someone has succeeded where I failed. Imagine the horror – this thief might activate the reactor, get it to work, and take all the credit for my invention!" He put his head in his hands, looking utterly despondent. "Oh, I can't think of a worse outcome than that!"

Luigi could, though. If the Empress now had an "infinite power" machine, then how was she planning to use it? What could require so much energy that it meant turning the world into stardust? "We need to rescue Peach, and high-tail it out of here. This is getting way too intense for me."

Mario, by what was probably a much more valiant thought process, had evidently come to the same conclusion. "That settles it; we have to get the S.T.A.R. back, before the Empress figures out how to use it. If we can't, then there's no way it ends well for this world."

Goombella eagerly nodded, cheering something chipper about adventure and glory. Vivian softly nodded, too, as she scooted slightly closer to Mario's side. Bow, who had been silent throughout the meeting, finally drifted down and gave her agreement as well. Luigi nodded last, and just like that the pact was sealed.

They were all stardust, just basic human elements and a bit of magic; but Luigi knew that he, his brother, and all their friends would fight 'til the end of the world before they let themselves be broken.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10 – Two Shadows in the Twilight

The southern fringes of Forever Forest were an odd and eerie place, filled with fallen leaves and fading magic.

Deeper in the woods, the land lay beneath the shroud of an endless midnight, as dark and dreary as a forgotten crypt. Boos and nameless spirits haunted the overgrown paths that twisted endlessly through the gloom, searching for travelers to lure ever further into their woodland web. These things had made the forest infamous, and most folks would insist that there was precious little to the place besides darkness and the dead.

People never gave much thought to the few sleepy acres that stretched beyond the spell's boundaries. Here, amidst the forlorn and ancient groves, the enchantment's waning power transformed the eternal night into a perpetual foggy dusk. It was always twilight here, in these last few miles of forest - a lonely world suspended forever at the edge of night.

Not many people lived here, even in this new world where the lack of daylight meant so much less. The ground was fertile enough for farming, and the forest's ghosts were rarely seen; but lingering fears of old magic had kept the mainstream away all the same.

Even so, there are always those who seek safety in the shadows; and these woods had become a sort of haven for both the gloomy and the shy. The outcasts and introverts who chose this half-lit life were known to the kingdom as Twilighters, and their dim little hamlet had thus been named Twilight Town.

Just now, Mario and his friends were approaching the village gate, stumbling through the leaves at a slow and weary pace. The little group had gotten themselves hopelessly lost on the trip back from E. Gadd's lab, and they'd spent much of the past day – so to speak – simply trying to find the path again.

"I'm not sure why you think I can help," Lady Bow had said at one point, eschewing her position as guide after a few wrong turns. "Leaving the forest isn't something I ever thought much about, honestly."

In the end, they'd found themselves wandering down Twilight Trail in severe need of an inn. Goombella was trudging along, barely awake; and Luigi hadn't been able to go ten steps without wistfully wishing aloud for a nice, warm bed. When the thatched roofs and grey curls of chimney smoke finally appeared between the treetops, the sight felt as good as a miracle.

Vivian had perked up noticeably since they'd set a course for the twilit town, and Mario guessed that she was eager to finally be someplace familiar again. Back home, this is where she had settled down with her sisters after the Shadow Queen fell; and as Mario had heard it, the three sirens had made a fairly calm and tranquil life for themselves.

"Just don't expect too much of this place," he silently urged her as she swayed ahead of him down the path. Mario understood what it was like to feel homesick, perhaps more than most; but this version of Twilight Town wasn't Vivian's home. No matter how much the two villages might resemble each other, they were still worlds apart.

But the similarities were plain enough to start drawing out some long-buried memories. Mario frowned slightly as the gate came into view - he'd always had mixed feelings about this place. Between the body-snatching spooks and the endless chases up and down the trail, Mario's one night in Twilight Town had been like something out of a nightmare.

"This time will be much better," he assured himself, glancing around at his brother and their friends. They weren't here to fight, only to rest for the night – perhaps he'd learn to see the village in the same way that Vivian saw it. He hoped so; he liked finding ways to turn sour memories into sweet ones.

By now, they were at the gate – a splintered old thing that would've looked more at home as part of a Li'l Oink pen. The surrounding fences didn't look to be very sturdy, either. They were made of rotten logs and snapped limbs, haphazardly lashed together with bits of old rope and twine. It wasn't so much a fence, as it was a gesture of one – a halfhearted boundary, meant to mark the village and not much else.

There was a Twilighter leaning on the gatepost, warily eyeing Mario's party from beneath matted bangs and the brim of a worn cloth cap. His pale skin was stitched and seamed, literally; and he was oddly shaped in a sunken sort of way, like a ragdoll left too long in a moldy basement. Beside him on the fence perched a lone crow, which watched the group with yellow eyes of its own.

"Names?" the gloomy gatekeeper asked simply, sliding lazily into position to bar the way. "Nobody gets into town without 'em. We keep no secrets here; so say your names, and maybe I'll let you pass."

This had been expected, as the people here were well-known to be suspicious of strangers. Even when they'd been required to install a Warp Pipe by the kingdom's transit authority, they'd managed to find a way to make it reject most people. It was yet another reason why outsiders kept away.

The heroes introduced themselves with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and the gatekeeper jotted the five names down on a scrap of paper. When he was finished, he passed the scrap to the crow, which snatched it up and flew off toward the houses. "That'll get delivered to Mayor Dour," the gatekeeper explained. "He likes to stay updated on the comings and goings."

Mario thought he'd seen a faint flash of interest in the boy's eyes when he and the others had said their names. Such a reaction wouldn't have phased him back home, where he was something like a celebrity; but weren't they all strangers in this world? "Maybe the professor told the villagers to be expecting us," Mario guessed, for lack of any better explanation.

Either way, the gatekeeper seemed pleased. "Come in, then. The inn is in the middle of town, if you need a place to stay. You should introduce yourselves to the mayor while you're there. He's usually having supper with the innkeeper right about now." With that, he opened the gate and ushered the party inside.

Twilight Town would've been a quaint little place, if only it were a bit brighter. The cottages were cozy, and farmland was everywhere – from weedy vegetable gardens between houses, to fields of slender cornstalks that stretched back, row-by-row, to the shadowy tree line that lay beyond the town.

Far out in the cornfield, Mario glimpsed a shabby scarecrow that wasn't doing its job very well. The thing was little more than a tattered white sheet tied limply to a wooden cross, and the local crows paid it no mind as they fluttered and hopped about the field. There was something very sad about the sight, Mario decided, but he couldn't quite say what it was.

There were a few villagers out there too, tending the crops; but most of them were standing beneath the gables of their homes, silently watching Mario's party as they approached the inn. That was the life of a Twilighter in a nutshell, really – working the fields and lurking suspiciously in dark corners.

"This place gives me the heebie-jeebies," Luigi admitted as he shuffled along beside Mario, nervously trying to dodge the villagers' mute stares. Mario looked over at his brother, who had turned back to question Vivian. "You really live in a place like this? How can you stand it all the time? I think I'd last maybe a week before I cracked."

Vivian's expression fluttered between cheerful and nervous as she tried to think of a way to explain. "It's shady and peaceful, and nobody here thinks I'm spooky or weird." She hummed slightly, trying to think of more reasons. "Ooh, I especially like the way the shade dapples over by the trees, especially in the early autumn when the leaves have just started to fall." She was rambling now, as she often did when she didn't know quite what to say. "At least I did like the shady spots, until lately, that is…"

The next part was hard to hear, and the siren seemed to say it mostly to herself. "But mainly, this place is just really sentimental, since this is where…" She trailed off there, lapsing into a heavy pause. "It's, um, not important. Forget I said anything, please."

As Vivian fell into silence, the group found themselves passing into the shadow of the old village inn. Mario remembered this dreary place - a weathered and beaten sort of house, with leaning walls of mossy stones and cracked brown brick, all cobbled together and held within a frame of black timber. The roof was pitched so steeply that it had begun to sag back into itself, giving the upper floor a slightly melted look. On the whole, it looked like a once-proud structure that had simply given up on trying.

Mario stepped up to open the front door, only for it to swing back in his face as somebody inside tried to shove their way out. He cleared the way with a small hop, and watched curiously with the others as an ancient man hobbled feebly out into the twilight. Mario knew him immediately – this was Mayor Dour.

He was a Twilighter, and all stitched up like the others; but time had worn him threadbare, and his body was beginning to unravel with age. A crow sat perched on his shoulder, idly nipping at a loose thread in the old man's hair. It must've been the same bird from earlier, because the mayor was holding the gatekeeper's note, clutched tightly between one trembling fist and a gnarled old cane.

When he caught sight of the party, his bushy eyebrows twitched upwards in what may have been mild surprise. "Oh… You must be the newcomers I just heard about. It's been a long time since any travelers have passed through these parts…" He pulled out the paper scrap with his free hand, brandishing it absentmindedly at the group. "It's been too long, I think. Let me welcome you all to Twilight Town, on behalf of every…"

He trailed off, staring quietly at a spot just out of sight. Mario turned to find Vivian, who was starting to fidget nervously under the old man's gaze. The tense silence lasted only a moment, as Mayor Dour violently shook his head and sent his crow shrieking off into the trees. "…On behalf of everyone here, that is. Sorry, I just forgot how things were for a minute there. I never was the sharpest fellow…"

With that, he began to make his tired way off down the path. "You all should get some sleep, y'hear?" he called back over his shoulder as he shuffled away. "Get inside and bed down for the night, nice and cozy..." He was barely within earshot now, but kept right on muttering. "Yep, stay put until morning, not that morning ever comes…"

"…I'm not super sure about that guy," Goombella finally said when the old man was gone. "Like, where is he off to in such a hurry, anyway? And did you see that weirdo stare he was giving to Vivian? Uh, creepy much?"

"No, it's fine," Vivian answered, trying to look sure of herself. "I know my version of the mayor, and he's very nice, even if he's a bit quiet. Also, he likes to go home and read for a while after supper; so, um…" She paused and looked off down the trail where Dour had been. "…Anyway, I'm sure it's okay. I trust him."

"Well, that's great," Luigi said through a very pointed yawn, "but can we hurry up and get inside? I feel like I could outsleep a Clubba right about now."

Feeling tired as well, Mario opened the door and led his friends inside. Despite the building's dingy exterior, it was fairly homey and nice in here. The wooden floors had been kept polished, the walls were papered with a flowery print, and the room was equipped with cushy armchairs that surrounded a roaring fireplace at the back. It was warmer in here, too; and Mario had to fight back a yawn of his own.

The innkeeper, a young patchwork girl with kind eyes, smiled and gave them each keys to separate bedrooms. The space was available, after all - it had been a long time since the village had seen any other guests. Luigi, Bow, and Goombella retired straight away; and Vivian lingered only a bit longer before heading upstairs herself.

Soon, only Mario himself was left, sitting in one of the armchairs while he waited for his meal to cook. Try as he might, he'd never been able to sleep on an empty stomach. He hated to think that he was troubling the innkeeper, but the poor girl insisted that it was alright – there was plenty of fresh food to spare.

At least the fire was burning brightly; and besides, the waiting gave him some time alone to think. It was much welcomed - after everything he'd learned lately, Mario's thoughts were a jumble in need of a good sorting.

This quest had been gnawing at the back of his mind – there was much left to be done, and he knew so little. Princess Peach was in the hands of the enemy, and that same enemy had stolen a machine of terrible power. What was the Empress planning, and how could Mario hope to infiltrate the capital in time to stop her?

Even if he did manage it, what would happen then? How would they all get home, and would that mean abandoning this world to its slow, starless death? He hated the idea of leaving innocent people behind, but how could he even hope to help them now? This world's life had ended twenty years ago.

…And what about himself and Peach? Every day brought them closer to a reunion, but what did that mean? They were "friends," but their last meeting had been awkward at best. After the rescue, how would they fit back into each other's lives? Mario couldn't say, so he chose to ignore those feelings for now.

Before long, he was enjoying a nice meal of warm cornbread and roasted mushrooms soaked in broth. He wanted to keep sorting his thoughts, but every bite was making him a little bit sleepier. By the time he'd finished the bread, he could barely keep his eyes open. "I must've… been more tired than I thought," he mused groggily. "It usually never… works this fast…"

With a final yawn, Mario settled back into his chair and let the fire's soft warmth lull him into a deep and dreamless sleep.

When Vivian snapped awake in the middle of the night, it took her a few moments to work out what was happening.

She was snug in her bed, curled up in a pile of blankets with a candle burning nearby. It should have been warm and cozy, so why did she suddenly feel so deathly cold? Why were the crows making such a terrible ruckus outside in the trees? Who were the voices speaking in hushed tones downstairs? They didn't sound like any of her friends…

Whatever this was, it had pulled her from the nicest dream. She and Mario had been on an adventure, but it was just the two of them this time. They'd stopped in a sunny meadow by a lake; there was a picnic set up for them, and… She tried to recall more, but the beautiful dream was already starting to fade…

Sighing, Vivian untangled herself from the blanket pile, and then made her way over to the bedroom's little window to nudge it open. Her room faced the forest, so there wasn't much to see; but all she really wanted was to feel the breeze. If there was wind, it meant that it was morning, and that she'd simply lost track of time.

She'd lived in Twilight Town long enough to learn the subtle ways that time passed within the village. The sky never changed, but lots of other little things did – the wind died during the night, for example; and the crows all gathered together in a certain big tree to sleep. Even in another world, those things shouldn't have changed.

…But there was no breeze outside the window, and yet the crows kept right on shrieking. It was still nighttime, so something must be happening out there to frighten them. There were footsteps stomping up the stairs now, so Vivian hurried across the room to put on her scarf and badge. "It might be Mario," she thought, "coming to tell me there's a battle happening. I need to be ready for anything!"

Suffice to say, it wasn't Mario who was outside in the stairway. When Vivian went to open the door, the first thing she saw was the glint of a spear somewhere down the hall, and the first thing she heard was the dull clanking of iron armor. With a tiny gasp, she looked back the other way to see a line of silent soldiers marching stiffly up the stairs, their lit helmets casting the usual flickering lattice across the shadowy walls.

"No! H-how did the Empress' army find us all the way out here?!" Vivian was at a loss for answers, but there wasn't much time to stop and think about it anyway. They'd been found out, and that was that. Right now, the soldiers were moving into position, seemingly gearing up for a fatal sneak attack. "I have to warn everyone! I have to get to Mario, right now!"

But where would Mario even be? She'd last seen him in the lounge, by the fireplace; but how long ago had that been? If it was late at night, he'd surely have gone up to bed by now, right? She was starting to panic, realizing that she didn't even know which bedroom Mario would be in. Would she have to try them all, fighting her way past enemies to reach each one? There was one alternative, but she really didn't like the thought of it…

There was a solider approaching her own door, though; and before long she'd either be found out or penned in. It was decision time, and the smart choice was sadly obvious – she'd have to swim through the shadows. The idea scared her, but she could fight back that fear. After all, nothing bad had happened to her yet, despite all the times she'd used her ability lately. She'd been totally safe every time, even though the presence she felt was scary. Perhaps, in the end, she was just being paranoid…?

She was still trying to work through her fears when the ambush began. As the soldier burst into the room, Vivian realized that it was now or never – no time left for hesitation. She had friends to protect, and there was a battle to fight. Her mind set, she plunged into the abyss beneath the inn…

…And promptly started to sputter and choke, her body thrashing and her vision starting to blur. That terrible feeling of anguish and hatred was back, but it was so much stronger now than it had ever been before. She felt the ice-cold touch of phantom hands clawing furiously at her limbs and throat, trying to drag her down while strangling out her very life. She could barely see, she could barely think – no, this wasn't paranoia at all.

The sound of mad screams filled the void; painful cries that echoed in Vivian's own voice. The siren aimed for somewhere – anywhere at all – above the ground that she could surface and get away. She would rather fight a hundred grey soldiers than endure another second in this evil darkness. In the end, she burst free from the shadows to find herself sputtering for air amidst the dry vines of a Twilighter's pumpkin patch.

Up here, the crows were still screaming and the villagers were nowhere to be seen. Vivian heard the sounds of battle, and turned to see Mario and Luigi far across the field, fending off spearmen with a pair of hammers that they must've looted from a toolshed. She wanted so badly to go and help them, but she was still coughing and fighting hard to stand.

She'd no sooner gotten her bearings back than a new group of soldiers rounded a nearby hut to confront her, no doubt drawn by her distressed gagging. As they readied their spears, Vivian looked around for Mario and Luigi; but the brothers were already gone, their battle having swept them off to some other part of town.

She'd have to fight these new enemies by herself, but she wasn't sure if she could. Her stamina was almost gone, sapped by whatever force she'd grappled with down in the shadows. She tried to form a fireball, but the flames only flickered and died pitifully in her hand. "I can't… I can't win this fight. I'm not strong enough, and there're way too many bad guys!"

The tree line wasn't far behind her, and those twisting trails seemed pretty inviting just now. She wouldn't be able to make it very far, but maybe she could lose these goons if tried some sneaky weaving? Perhaps she could snake her way around the village perimeter, and meet up with Mario on the other side!

It wasn't a great plan, but it was either that or get skewered. Steadying herself, Vivian summoned every last bit of her remaining energy, spun around, and made a break for it back into the underbrush. With hollow screams and rattling spears, her pursuers followed.

The dark wood stretched endlessly away before her, the paths overgrown and choked with dying weeds and grasping thorns. Vivian juked this way and that, each new tree a precious barrier between her and the soldiers. The woods were getting thicker, and the sky was getting darker – this nightmare chase was taking her back towards the heart of the forest!

Every time she intended to start swerving back, a soldier would surge ahead across the gap, or appear suddenly from over some hill or behind a tree, eliminating whatever lead she'd managed to gain. "I just can't shake any of them off," she thought desperately as she watched yet another enemy come vaulting over a nearby log. "It's like they all know this forest so well… But how is that possible…?"

Once or twice, she managed to summon and throw a fireball; but they were measly little embers, no brighter or hotter than a candle flame. She was losing the last of her stamina, and frighteningly fast. Briefly, she thought about ducking into the shadows just long enough to get behind the soldiers and reverse trajectory back towards town; but then she remembered that screaming stranglehold from earlier, and realized that if she submerged again, she probably wouldn't be coming back up.

It only got worse when they decided to start throwing the spears. The first was badly-aimed, and Vivian watched as it sailed harmlessly past into the wilderness with a pitiful whish; but the next managed to embed itself in the trunk of a gnarled old tree just inches away from her, and Vivian nearly tripped over her own tail as she leapt back in shock.

The third spear found its mark – taking advantage of Vivian's brief pause to pierce her straight through the chest. The siren barely noticed – she only heard the whoosh of empty air as the projectile passed, and felt the light tingle of lifesaving magic somewhere above her left eye. "The Pretty Lucky badge! It sometimes makes attacks slip right through you," she recalled, silently thanking the little smiling hairclip as the chase resumed.

The next few minutes were a painful blur of failing strength and desperation. Vivian stumbled through prickly thickets, tripped her way across a dark and rushing stream, and staggered her way up a winding game trail, before finally collapsing in a heap at the entrance to a wide and shady clearing.

She was out of juice, and no amount of panic or fright would be enough to get her up and moving again. Somewhere, she heard the mournful peal of a church bell; and she flopped onto her side to glimpse the tall, twisted belfry of Creepy Steeple peeking at her over the distant treetops. She'd made it pretty far, for a girl too scared to use her own powers; but this was finally the end. Vivian felt the last of her resolve scatter like dust, as she lay back and waited for the soldiers to find her.

…But they didn't find her, or even pass nearby. A tense minute passed, and then a few more; but no armed foes ever entered the clearing. There was no armor clanking to be heard in the distance, either – only the wind, the crickets, and the faraway bells. Eventually, Vivian found just enough strength to sit back up and take a few deep breaths. "They were right behind me… weren't they? Maybe they got bored and went back?"

"Look at her, master. She barely even put up a fight…" The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once, and suddenly all the fear and the deathly chills came rushing back. Vivian shot up into a fighting stance, only to sway sideways and collapse yet again. All around her, she heard the nothingness giggle mockingly. "This is what the light world does; it ruins you. She shouldn't have come here. She doesn't belong~"

"W-who's there? Where… where are you?" Vivian called out, glancing around so fast that her hair whipped into her face, briefly blinding her and starting another coughing fit. "I'm… I'm not afraid of somebody who won't show themselves!" It wasn't true, and she had a sense that the voice already knew it. Struggling, Vivian pushed herself up onto a shaking elbow, and looked hesitantly behind her…

…To see the silent, still shape of a hooded figure; a cold and motionless presence that watched her from between the trees. Slowly – ever so slowly – it began to glide closer across the clearing, and Vivian felt her world shrink in, until nothing but her and this looming reaper remained.

"B-Beldam, is that you?" she called, hoping against hope that this was just a silly mix-up like the last time had been. "It… It isn't you, is it…?"

She got no answer from the figure, but there was a fresh wave of roiling hatred from the surrounding shadows. "S-she said that name! The one that I can't stand… I should kill her, just for that!" Vivian could feel so much anguish, just seeping up from the ground like a dark ichor. "Just a quick little twist – it wouldn't even be that hard. I've dreamt about killing myself for YEARS, but never like this~"

The hooded figure simply raised an arm, and all the ambient rage melted backwards into the fringes of Vivian's periphery. The thing spoke, then, in a calm and measured whisper that was somehow even scarier than the other voice's mad wails. "Well, here we are. I'm quite busy, but my lovely assistant kept insisting that I come speak with you. Your presence in our world is vexing her quite badly, I think."

"She isn't supposed to be here," the voice from nowhere cried, the hatred starting to creep back in. "She makes me so sick, master; can't we just get rid of her? Let's kill her together, you and I!"

Somewhere behind the hood, the figure tsked and shook its head. "That isn't why we're here – how do you expect to learn anything from her if she's dead?" Vivian was so confused, even as the figure leaned down and spoke to her in a pseudo-friendly whisper. "She's a bit scatterbrained, my assistant. I bought her from a traveling circus, so her quality was already a bit dodgy."

"T-that's a lie! You BEGGED me to go with you, because you were ~so lonely~ serving the Empress by yourself." The shadows seemed to swim and dance beneath the ground, the darkness spinning in hypnotic patterns that made Vivian's tired eyes start to cross. "Just admit it, master. You've been a total wreck ever since you lost your precious Pr-"

The hooded thing raised a fist in a flash of sudden fury, the shadows silencing with a squeal as the earth shook with a pulse of magic. "Don't test me, shadow. We both have names that we can't stand to hear."

Throughout this mystifying exchange, Vivian had been trying her best to regain some kind of strength. She could fight, for maybe a minute or two; or she could run, and pray that a miracle saved her again. "Y-you hurt my friends, and Princess Peach is missing because of you. I won't… I won't let you do any more harm…!"

In front of her, the hooded figure gave a single small chuckle; while beneath her, the shadows openly laughed. "You think that you're a heroine?" the cloaked thing mocked, swishing and swaying in a circle around the siren. "You think that you can be better than you were made, if you just try? That's such a precious sentiment…" Without warning, the shadows opened up like a yawing pit, and suddenly Vivian was falling. "…BUT I'VE SEEN WHAT YOU ARE IN THE DARK."

Something cold and clammy latched onto Vivian's tail as she began to fall, and she glanced down to see a pale violet hand slithering up from the darkness. Another snared her by the waist, as the first shot up to lock her in a fierce and merciless stranglehold. Vivian tried to call out for help – to Mario, to Luigi, to anyone – but she was choking, and couldn't make a sound.

"Don't worry, she won't kill you," the hooded figure cackled as it stood at the edge of the abyss and watched her fall. "But she's probably going to play with you, which is so much worse. She likes to play… quite rough!"

"No… It can't end like this…!" Vivian's vision was blurring, the light fading from her eyes; but in her heart, she felt a sudden rush of determination that she hadn't known in years. "I can't… let them down. I can't let HIM down… Not after we promised… to go the rest of the way… together!"

In an instant, her left hand erupted in a wreath of fire so bright it almost hurt. The void was smashed away; and for one second, Vivian saw a purple shape streaking away into the darkness with a startled yell. The hooded figure drew back, surprised; but not nearly quickly enough. Vivian reached out, suspended in shadow, and sunk her burning fingers right into the thing's leg.

It was screaming – a frantic and tormented howl that threatened to wake all the dead in Forever Forest. Vivian didn't like that she was hurting this creature; but, oh, she wanted to. She needed to. It thrashed to get away, but she held on, determined to repay all the suffering it had caused. The siren's fire ate right through the tattered fabric, and she could feel the flesh beneath starting to blister and char as she gripped as tightly as she possibly could.

…But all too soon, the hands in the darkness were back, and she was being yanked away. The hooded figure jerked itself free, still ablaze, and teleported out of sight with a final desperate scream. Vivian was alone in the abyss with some mad thing that hated her; and the last bit of fire extinguished with a fizzle as her arms were pinned behind her.

Again, she tried to scream for help; but she had no voice. Again, she tried to free herself; but all her strength was gone. Vivian could only watch as the last lights of the world disappeared overhead, flickering like sad stars before winking out altogether.

She was sinking, and there was truly no escape. This time, she could only watch and wait as the icy darkness consumed her world.

Back in the village, the ambush-turned-skirmish was finally drawing to a close; but not quickly enough for Mario's liking.

The hero slammed his mallet down on yet another advancing soldier, staggering him long enough for Mario to land the final hit – a hard sideways swing that sent the enemy tumbling like a ragdoll into the bushes. There was no time to rest, and Mario was already spinning around to engage the next fight.

It was lucky that Luigi had managed to find these hammers, stashed in the back of a shed somewhere in town. Mario wasn't surprised that his brother had been hiding in the shed when danger struck, but neither was he surprised when Luigi finally dashed out to join the battle. The bludgeons were a welcome bonus, and Mario soon found that he'd missed the feeling of ringing bad guys like bells.

As for Mario himself, he'd still been asleep by the fireplace when the troops had burst into the room. Those first few moments had been absolute chaos, and he hadn't fully been able to get his battle bearings until the fight had spilled outside. He'd since seen Luigi once or twice, and even caught glimpses of Goombella and Bow; but Vivian was missing entirely, and that was starting to worry him a bit…

…But there wasn't any time to think about that, because two more soldiers were charging into view up ahead. There weren't too many enemies left by now, but the troops that were still standing had proven to be the sturdy ones. Mario leapt up high, landing hard on the closer enemy while swinging his hammer in a diagonal arc to try and catch the other.

Unfortunately, the second solider anticipated the attack, stepping back and then thrusting ahead while Mario and the first soldier came crashing down together. One foe had been beaten, but the other was moving in fast; and Mario had no choice but to leap backwards as far as he could – a blind dodge that landed him right in the midst of the nearby cornfield.

The cornstalks did a poor job of catching him, and he ended up scattering the crows as he landed several rows back with an undignified grunt. As he pulled himself up, he heard the telltale rustling and tentative footsteps of the soldier, who must've decided to follow his prey into the field.

Mario was prepared, hoisting up his hammer and waiting for the first bit of armor to flash into view between the crops. As soon as it came, not ten seconds later, he swung wide and smashed his enemy out cold. The fight was over just like that, and the soldier crumpled into the soil with a wheeze and a pitiful groan.

As he toppled over, his flickering helmet jangled loose, and the impact of the landing made it tumble off altogether. As eager as Mario was to get out of this field and back to his friends, a twinge of morbid curiosity compelled him to go over and take a peek. In a fight, it's all-too-easy to see your enemies as faceless goons; but the truth is, they're often just ordinary people beneath it all. Now, Mario wanted to see just who he'd been up against all this time.

"Maybe it's a Shy Guy, or a brainwashed Koopa slave, or even a plain old Toad…" He ran through the list of possibilities in his head, preparing himself for whichever one it might be. But when he pushed aside the stalks, he was utterly baffled by the sight that lay before him – a normal Twilighter, passed out with a split seam trailing down his cheek.

No, it wasn't just a typical Twilighter; it was a familiar one. "This is the gatekeeper," Mario realized with a growing mixture of confusion and horror. "I saw him just last night, and he was a traitor this whole time?" Had he been the one to let the other troops into the village? Or… had the troops even come from outside to begin with? "Wait a second…"

Mario replayed the battle in his head, from the moment he woke up in that chair beside the fire. He'd been preoccupied, of course; but he didn't recall seeing a single villager during that whole span of time. Maybe they were all hiding inside, like Luigi had been; or perhaps they'd been behind the masks all along. He thought back to the wary stares beneath the gables, the mayor's shifty excuses, and the gatekeeper's own odd smile; and suddenly it all made sense.

What if E. Gadd hadn't told the villagers that they were coming, after all? What if the gatekeeper had recognized their names from elsewhere – from some superior in the capital who already knew them? The only person who fit that description was the hooded figure from the castle; so did that mean it was here somewhere, commanding the forces from the shadows?

The soft rustling of leaves brought Mario back to reality, and he turned to watch the cornstalks sway and bend as an unseen figure entered the field. The hero picked up his borrowed hammer, ready for another fight; and he only lowered it slightly when old Mayor Dour hobbled tiredly into view. For a moment, neither one of them said anything.

"Your gatekeeper attacked us," Mario started, hoping that his wild assumptions were nothing more than that. He wanted to trust the Twilighters, if there were any way that he could. "He works for the Empress, it turns out. He must be the one who started this attack." The gloomy old man still wasn't saying anything, and Mario was starting to get worried. "You should, uh, probably lock him up, or something. For the town's safety, right?"

Mayor Dour quietly regarded the fallen soldier, and then turned to Mario with a sullen sigh. That sigh alone said everything that needed to be said; but the old man started talking anyway. "My gatekeeper did his duty, that's all. He isn't working for some royal in a faraway palace… He only works for simple old me."

"So you're the one who betrayed us?" Mario bristled, taking a pointed step forward. The old man silently stood his ground, gripping his gnarled cane and quivering with a feeble kind of resolve. "I want to hear why you sold us out, when none of us ever meant you any harm!"

"Listen, son; I don't know who any of you are," the mayor began, not moving an inch as the mud began to pool lazily about his feet. "But the wizard told us to watch out for you, and so we did. He says you're a threat to his safety… And we don't take kindly to threats in this here town."

For the first time, Mario noticed that he'd been standing next to the shabby scarecrow – the one he'd seen all those hours before. His eyes were drawn up to the ragged sheet that hung from the cross; and as a hollow wind nipped at the frayed fabric, Mario saw two empty eyeholes staring sightlessly back at him, above the threadbare remains of a faded blue bowtie.

"Once upon a time, this village was under a terrible curse," the mayor was saying, although Mario's eyes hadn't yet left the scarecrow. "We were tormented, night and day… Everyone had lost hope, even me… But then the wizard showed up; him and his laughing shadow…"

Wait, this sounded pretty important. Mario turned back and listened as Mayor Dour kept on with his tale. "They gave us weapons and armor, and showed us how to defend ourselves. They helped us end the curse, and all they asked for in payment was loyalty. We had to be ready, if they ever needed a helping hand…"

The old man's cane had sunken deep into the mud by now, and he tried to keep from stumbling as he yanked it free. "A few nights back, the wizard showed up with a list of names; he said to call him if the folks on the list ever turned up…"

So that was the story, then. Twilight Town had been suckered into the Empire's service to pay for an exorcism, and Mario's party had wandered straight into a trap. "But he works for the Empress; he's a villain! He's just trying to use you," Mario urged, praying for the old man to listen. "Whoever he is, he doesn't care about you all."

"You think I don't know that, boy?" The mayor scarcely raised his voice, but his quivering mustache betrayed a quiet fury. "Nobody out there cares about this town; not him, or even you. We're the misfits; the outcasts who lurk in the dark. Admit it, when you're out there fighting your big battle someday, will it be us gloomy folk that you're fighting for?"

Something in the old man's eyes looked so utterly lost and forlorn. "…No; heroes always fight for the bright and beautiful things, don't they? Never the broken shadows…"

Mario wanted to say something, but the words just wouldn't come. The truth was, he'd probably never think of this dreary place again, once he was back home in the cheery streets of Toad Town. Could he still call himself a hero, if there were people that he simply didn't care to fight for? He wasn't sure if he knew the answer.

Slowly and weakly, Mayor Dour reached into his back pocket and pulled out what seemed to be a pair of slightly-oversized sewing scissors. In the dim light of dusk, they looked almost like a dagger. "Nobody fights our battles for us, son, but it's silly to expect anyone to. In the end, we only have ourselves." With that, he held the scissors up and staggered forward into a charge.

The attack was predictable, and painfully slow. Mario didn't really dodge, so much as he calmly sidestepped out of the old man's way. Already exhausted, Mayor Dour tripped and crumpled to the ground, losing his scissors somewhere in the thick muck. After a short moment of futile searching, all the fight seemed to leave him at once. Softly, pitifully, he sunk into himself and began to sob.

In a flash, Mario was kneeling by his side. He wasn't sure if it was instinct or pity that moved him, but he helped the broken man up into a sit. Mayor Dour didn't resist, and together they made their way over to where the scarecrow stood. The old Twilighter sat back against the wooden post, utterly spent, and closed his eyes. "You understand, don't you? Heroes can't save everyone… Somebody always gets… left behind…"

"I still have to try," Mario replied quietly, talking more to himself than to the mayor. "How can I stop fighting, if the misfits and outcasts still need me?" The mayor only managed a last, tired half-smile; then he closed his eyes and was still. Mario watched him for a long moment, then rose and turned away.

That's where Mario left him – slumped in the cornfield beneath the sad eyes of that tattered old sheet. The other Twilighters would carry him home, whenever they woke up; but by that time, the heroes would be long gone.

They found Vivian much later, lying in a heap in a clearing somewhere near the steeple. Even at a glance, Luigi could see that she was in a bad way.

It had been a long search, but here she was at last. Goombella's sharp eyes had spotted her from far down the path, but Mario was the first to reach her side. He had cleared the gap in a single frantic leap, and now Luigi watched as his brother tried his best to shake the siren gently awake. "What was she doing up here by herself?" Luigi wondered as he tried scanning the area for threats. "And what in the world happened to her?"

Vivian looked like she'd been ripped into by a pack of rabid Chomps, and then spat back up so the Piranha Plants could have a turn. She was pale, limp, and strangely gaunt; and Luigi wondered if her health had been sapped out of her somehow. There weren't any vampires in this haunted forest, were there?

Her arms and back were crisscrossed with painful-looking scratches, plus a few deep gashes that were oozing something sticky and blueish-black. Her typically-silky pink hair was matted and clumped with leaves and dirt; and enormous chunks of it seemed to have been torn out of one side, leaving her with something of a gruesomely-shredded undercut.

Worst of all, she smelled awful, like something that had just crawled up out of a long-forgotten drain. Luigi didn't know if the siren wore perfume, but she normally had a mildly-sweet cotton candy scent to her. That was all gone, replaced instead by something stale and vile.

"Poor dear," Bow murmured, keeping a respectful distance as Mario cradled the mangled shadow's head on his lap. "Do you suppose she's going to be alright?"

"The Empire are a bunch of sickos," Goombella spat, pacing the clearing in a vain effort to burn off the long night's frustration. "Vivian was probably outnumbered and scared – what jerk would just beat her down like this?!"

It took a tense minute or two, but the girl eventually began to stir. Luigi stepped in for a better view as her eyes fluttered open, unfocused and dull. She winced in recoil against the dim light of the clearing, but eventually her gaze settled on Mario. "You… found me. I knew… that you would; so I waited..." Even her voice was thin and hoarse.

Luigi was about to ask if she remembered anything from earlier; but before he could speak, the injured siren reached up to pull his brother into a deep kiss. Bow and Goombella shared a unified gasp, and Mario's eyes were wide with shock when he pulled hastily away. Luigi, for his part, was mainly stumped. He'd worked out by now that Vivian had a crush, but he'd never expected the shy girl to be so forward. "She must be delirious, then. She'll be embarrassed about this later, if she even remembers it."

"…Are you feeling alright, Viv?" Mario asked, helping her to sit up, and then backing off. His voice held genuine concern, but he was giving her an odd sort of frown that Luigi couldn't quite figure out. Vivian merely shook the leaves out of her lopsided hair while giggling hazily to herself.

"I've never felt better, now that I'm here with all of you," she eventually said, looking around at the worried party, before turning to Mario for help with getting the rest of the way off the ground. "But, um, we should probably leave this spooky forest, and get back to base. Who knows what nasty things might be lurking down in the shadows?"

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Luigi asked, skeptical that she was as healthy as she claimed. By the look of it, she'd nearly died. "What happened up here, anyway?"

"Nothing important, honest! There was something gross, but I got rid of it." She stood up, unsteady with her balance, and turned to him with a mysterious smile. "But I really think we should get going, now. After all, we shouldn't be here~"

Chapter Text

Chapter 11 - The Shade of Things to Come

The last time Princess Peach had been led down this street, she hadn't yet known who lay ahead. Today, she knew exactly what sort of person she was going to see; and she couldn't quite tell which feeling was worse.

As usual, the Empress' palace was a flurry of hustle and bustle, and Peach still wasn't sure what any of it meant. Guards and servants swarmed all around, their expressions grim as they hauled their strange machinery across the plaza. The central spire loomed high overhead, still pulsing with its faint aura of alien power. Peach could see the tiny specks of faraway maintenance Toads, hundreds of them, all hanging by ropes as they worked to patch the twisted thing.

"Is this what she wanted me to see?" the princess wondered bitterly as she passed into the tower's warped shadow. Slowly, surely, the Toads were pulling the pieces together; and the crashed vessel was beginning to resemble a spaceship again. "She's fixing up a war machine, and now she wants to gloat about it."

Peach had been enjoying a very rare nap when the soldiers had come for her, bursting into her pink padded cell without so much as a polite knock. The Empress was summoning her, apparently, and there had been no room for argument or delay. By the time Peach had finished rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she was already halfway down the lift with an escort of silent guards.

The trip through the citadel had been a brisk one, and before long she was back in the golden hallway that had led to that awful dining room. The Empress must've been elsewhere, though, because Peach was being taken in the other direction, off down a branching corridor that twisted away to the left. The grandeur was less blatant here; but the passage was wide enough, and the carpet plush enough, to show that these were still the chambers of royalty.

At the end of the hall, Peach found herself in an empty circular atrium – there was no roof, but the sheer glass walls seemed to stretch infinitely upwards into the darkening sky. The princess was still trying to puzzle out the purpose of this strange place, when the whole floor shook and began to ascend the tube with a pressurized whoosh. She realized the truth as she fought not to stumble - this thing was a massive elevator, and it was taking her up the spire.

As the lift rose higher, Peach tried to get a peek at the view from in-between her captors. The lesser towers and their bridges were sinking out of sight, the palace shrinking as the horizon extended ever outward. Every so often, coils of that pervasive silvery wire would sweep past the glass, and the princess could feel its energy buzzing through her as she ascended.

But Peach's eyes were drawn past all that, to the great outer wall that spanned the distant skyline. From this high angle, she could see that immense machines had been affixed along the top in an endless line. It was a palisade of solar arrays and parabolic reflector dishes, intermixed with floodlights and antennae. Yet more cables snaked between them all, linking them into the bizarre techno-decadent monstrosity that this palace had become.

"Those weren't there the last time I checked," Peach thought, wondering just how far her counterpart's plans had progressed. Even as she watched, the panels were being adjusted and the huge dishes aimed, spinning and settling like segments of a great silver worm that lay atop the wall. "The worst part is, I still have no idea what they're supposed to do…"

The long lift finally trembled to a stop, and Peach was led out onto a metallic sort of terrace that jutted awkwardly out from the tower heights. It might have been the ship's tailfin once, long ago; but railing and ingenuity had turned it into a balcony. The princess stole a cautious glance down over the side, and her stomach instantly regretted it. She was nearly at the top, it turned out, and the ground was over ninety spiraling stories away.

At the terrace's far end sat Empress Toadstool, lounging on a cushioned litter in all her enormity. She was draped in thick blankets to protect against the chill, and even up here she didn't seem to lack for food. A retinue of Goomba servants danced anxiously around her mountainous form, balancing snack trays and baskets full of sugary sweets. Now and then, the Empress would reach down with her one good arm, to pluck up a fresh fistful of whichever treats happened to be nearest.

Her face lit up with a sisterly grin when Peach was shoved into view; and she instantly dropped whatever hunk of dessert she was holding – a slice of Choco Cake, maybe – to pull her smaller counterpart into a doughy one-armed hug. "Princess, I'm so glad you came up to join me! It's been much too long, hasn't it?"

Peach wasn't in the mood to play these courtesy games; not tonight. "You could have summoned me any time you wanted," she pointed out, stepping back and smoothing her dress as soon as she was released from the embrace. "This is the first time I've been let outside my cell on purpose, so that must mean that you need something."

The Empress' face fell a bit, her smile losing some warmth; but she kept a steady eye on Peach for a moment longer as she turned back to grab her cake. "Isn't it enough that I want to see you? I'm concerned, my dear, and I want to make sure that you're safe." For the barest instant, she turned her eyes to the empty sky, before shaking her head and looking away. "I know how… stressful… homesickness can be, after all."

By now, Peach was learning how to pick the hidden meanings out of the sentimental talk. The Empress wanted to make sure that Peach hadn't tried to hurt herself yet – this was an inspection, and nothing more. "I'm useless to her if my body isn't healthy," she thought, remembering the truth of her role here. "She wants me prim and pretty for when she decides to move in."

"Oh, please don't look so glum, Princess," the huge woman encouraged, settling back into herself as she squirmed against the cushions. "I didn't just call you up here to make idle chitchat, you know. In truth, I wanted to share my big announcement with you…" She gestured at her orbiting servants, who began trying to spin the litter around as the Empress raised a pudgy finger to the sky. "…And I wanted to show you… that."

Peach turned back to see where her counterpart was pointing, and realized with a shock just how high she'd truly come. The spire's great mangled pinnacle – that half-melted snarl of metal that was barely visible from the ground – was now looming only a few hundred feet above. Up close, the twists and turns of the blasted structure looked like tendrils of frozen fire. The design, if it indeed had one, was something madly divine.

Enshrined in the middle, just as before, was an enormous glass sphere; a bubble sitting atop a tangled nest of wires, which splayed out through the surrounding metallic tendrils like webbing. The whole area was glowing brightly from within, and it wasn't until Peach's eyes adjusted that she noticed the immense thing that had been set inside the sphere.

It looked a bit like a starburst, the image of a nova explosion suspended in time. Was it a piece of the machine, perhaps? Whatever it was, it was brilliantly golden; and as it spun slowly within its globe, soft shadows spilled out across the terrace like rippling water. "I've seen it before," Peach realized as she watched the strange star pulse and shine. "That night, when the truck came in; this thing was being carried on the back…"

"What… what exactly is it?" Peach asked, squinting to try and get a better view through the harshness of the glare. The light was too bright, though, and soon she had to turn away. "Is this something to do with your plans for me and my kingdom?"

"You certainly have a one-track mind, my dear," the Empress chided, shaking her head with a sigh. "I respect that kind of focus, I really do; but can't we leave that little issue alone?" She cast the princess a warning glance as her servants span her back to face the faraway lights of the city. "No, everything you see up here is an instrument of celebration. We're preparing for the festivities!"

Wait, festivities? This was sounding familiar. The night they'd met at the feast, hadn't the Empress said something about "the lights and sounds of a grand celebration?" "I'd just assumed she was saying that to mock me," Peach thought, trying to remember more. "She's brought it up twice now, so is it actually going to happen? It makes no sense…"

"It's my understanding," the Empress began as she grabbed at a passing glass of wine, "that you're known as quite a spectacular party-thrower, Princess. Is it true that you were hosting a Starlight Gala on the night that my sorcerer caught you?" It apparently wasn't a real question, because the woman didn't wait for an answer. "I barely remember any of the old Star Festivals, myself. I remember the war, but there wasn't much holiday cheer during those times. By the time peace returned, there were no stars left to celebrate…"

She sat up a little straighter, and her eyes seemed to shine just a bit brighter. "So I thought to myself, why not give one last gift to this forsaken world? The day of my departure is coming soon, so why not send myself off with a bang?" The golden starburst pulsed in the background, and its many shadows danced across her face.

The Empress turned to grin down at Peach, but the princess could see something cold and hungry slithering behind that smile. "It was your idea, really. I wanted to be like you, the great hostess; so I've invited every citizen in my domain to join me in the capital next week! Together, we'll celebrate the first Star Festival to be held in twenty years!"

Peach had tried to keep up her composure, she really had; but this was too much. "You've invited everyone to a Star Festival in a world without stars, and you expect them to just go along with it? Are all of your plans such complete and total nonsense?!"

Suddenly, she found herself smothered in the Empress' grip again; but this time it felt less like a hug, and more like a vice. "The stars are not all gone, Princess. Not all of them, not yet…" Peach felt like a manhandled telescope as her other self jerked her gaze up towards a specific part of the sky. "Look up there, and you'll see it. The last star..."

At first, Peach only saw the yawning blackness of a blank void – the same dead sky she'd been stuck staring at for weeks. But as she looked harder, the tiniest pinprick of light flickered into view, so small and pale that she never would've seen it if she hadn't been told it was there. It seemed so fragile that Peach was scared to breathe, as if even that would be enough to snuff it out.

"Some people call it 'the survivor,' because it held on somehow when all the rest were blown from the sky. Others say it's 'the sentinel,' waiting to call its stellar brethren back when the world is ready for them…" The Empress released Peach from her grasp, and the princess nearly tripped as she tried to keep an eye on the tiny star. "…They see it as a symbol of hope; a sign that this world isn't too far gone to save."

Peach had several new questions, but she wanted to keep this conversation on track as best as she possibly could. First of all, how did this last living star relate to the party? She doubted it would sway more guests to attend, and she told her counterpart as much. "I don't think very many people will turn up to a festival about just one star, either."

The Empress' grin was positively triumphant, and Peach could tell she'd said exactly the wrong thing. "They won't have to, Princess; because I've promised them so much more. My little 'light show' is going to draw a huge crowd on festival night," the Empress explained, and together they looked back at the encased device. For just an instant, Peach caught a red flash in her parallel's eyes, which struck her as odd since the glow from above was yellow. "Let's just say, the air that night will be filled with the power of new starlight..."

Empress Toadstool said nothing more, and soon returned to the solace of her meal. Before long, Peach was being led back to the lift – away from answers, away from hope, and away from that machine and its terrible golden light.

"Hold on, she's invited us to WHAT?" Luigi blurted, trying his best to steal a glance at the nearby phone. This new twist just didn't make sense.

Everyone was gathered in the living area of the Rogueport base, getting some much-needed rest and recuperation. The traveling party had returned that morning, their mission only a partial success at best. They'd learned about E. Gadd's stolen invention, like they'd meant to; but the info had only made the bigger situation that much worse.

Plus, Vivian had been badly injured during the trip, and she still wasn't willing to talk about it. The poor girl was off sulking in the shadows somewhere, insistent on being alone. Nobody had seen her in hours, which was beginning to get a bit worrisome…

In her place now was Toad, who had come dashing in excitedly with claims of a party invitation. Luigi was used to getting weird invites from the stumpy shroom, but this one pushed the envelope of believability a little too far. Luigi glanced over at Mario and the others, who all looked quite perplexed as well.

"I'm being serious, you guys," Toad insisted, holding up his cell phone as if that somehow made the situation clearer. "There's gonna be a Star Festival, and everyone is invited! The Empress herself even Cheeped about it, see?"

"Wait a second, the Empress has a Cheeper?" Luigi asked himself, slightly baffled. He beckoned Toad over so he could get a better look at the screen. Sure enough, there at the top was the site's stylized Cheep Cheep logo; and there, below a picture of the royal insignia, was the little blue tick of a verified account. "Huh, I suppose everyone really is on social media these days."

[It's the #StarFestival, and you're invited! Join me on the first of next month, and we'll watch the sky light up like never before! #rebirth]

The message was simple, and Luigi read it aloud for the others to hear. When he was finished, it took a minute for anyone to break the silence. In the end, it was Goombella who spoke up first. "It's gotta be a trap, right? I mean, there's no way she could be any more suspicious in 140 characters or less."

By this point, Yoshi had snatched up the phone to read the text himself, much to Toad's frustration. "It might be, but it could also be the next phase of her plan. What is '#rebirth' supposed to mean? Is that a thing people usually Cheep about here?"

"Nuh-uh, I've never seen it before," the Goomba girl answered, but she backpedaled when the group's eyes fell on her. "N-not that I actually use social networks, of course. Those things are, like, way too mainstream for my tastes. I'm more of a Goomchan kind of gal, y'know?"

Lady Bow was fluttering around, still intent on seeing the screen for herself. "If it means anything, it's most certainly something bad. I don't trust anything about this message, and that's precisely why we should investigate it!"

That's when Mario stood up, taking his "action stance" that Luigi had feared since they were kids. Every time his brother stood up like that, it meant they were about to do something messy and reckless. Sure enough, the next words out of Mario's mouth were, "We can't just ignore this. If there's a chance that the Empress means to hurt people, then we need to stop her."

Luigi had to object, for what little good it would do. "But bro, think about it! How are we possibly going to sneak into a huge city filled with millions of partying strangers who don't even know us at all?" He paused to turn the statement over in his head. "I mean, it wouldn't be that hard, but still."

Toad was up on the sofa back by now, still trying to get his phone back from the dinosaur. "It'll be easy! We can wear disguises, and have codenames, and use those surveillance drones that Rowf has in storage…!" The little guy was working himself into a frenzy of heroic anticipation. "It'll be like something out of Toad Force V!"

"It would be a good opportunity to slip into the city unnoticed," Bow commented, bobbing up and down in a subtle full-body nod. "If truly everyone has been invited to the Star Festival, then the palace's guard force will be stretched thin trying to keep the crowd in order. Even if they were expecting us, they'd never find us!"

Goombella was starting to grin, having been swept up into the hype with everyone else. "For this one night, the capital will be in total chaos. This is the chance we've been waiting for, you guys! We can slip into the palace and shut the whole thing down for good!"

Mario was pacing back and forth, deep in thought with a hand on his chin. "…If we can take advantage of the celebration, in order to rescue the princess…" Clearly, this plan had spiraled a long way from a simple reconnaissance quest. Now, everybody was wondering just how much could be accomplished in this single night.

"Wait a second, are we pulling a Bowser?" Yoshi exclaimed at the mention of Peach, realizing what shape this scheme was starting to take. "That guy always strikes during festivals, and how often has that worked out for him?"

"…Every single time," Luigi muttered, resigned to the fact that this was going to happen. He'd been dragged on enough adventures to know when he was about to be dragged on another adventure. It'd be easier to just accept it; and besides, all told, it did seem like a pretty sound plan.

It was decided, then, as everyone present voiced their agreement. This would be their next, and hopefully final, mission together in this twisted new world. They still had a few nights left to work out the particulars, and to get the rest of the team onboard; but it was clear that this party needed to be crashed.

This whole mess had started with a Star Festival, although it seemed like a lifetime ago. Now, if luck was on their side, it would end with one, too.

Far across the continent, in the ashen wasteland that had become his newest kingdom, someone else was busy plotting a very similar invasion.

"Gwa ha ha ha ha! It's perfect!" Bowser Koopa laughed to himself as he stomped his way across the dusty campsite. "I'll attack during the big festival! Those chumps in the palace will NEVER see it coming!"

A few days prior, Kamek had returned from… wherever he typically went, with big news about Empress Anti-Peach's plans. Apparently the lady was preparing her city for some kind of gigantic carnival. Or maybe it was more of a gala, knowing what the real Peach was like back home. Either way, it put her in a prime position for a good old-fashioned Bowsering.

It wouldn't be easy, though. The Koopa King had spent the past few days trying to pummel his new troops into fighting shape; but it turns out that peasants who've lived in terror for twenty years aren't exactly great soldier material. True, they'd be armed in battle with a treasure trove of Power Stars; but invincibility only means so much when your basic reflexes and instincts are telling you to run and hide.

The army was moving back southward at a glacial pace, too. The extra troops meant a larger supply train to manage, more land needed to make camp, more time needed to set it up each evening, and still more time to tear it all back down the next day. These were all problems that could be solved with a few simple airships, but there were none of those handy in this rotten timeline.

Bowser made his way through the camp, trudging past off-duty minions who were resting in simple lean-to tents or grouped around the blazing fire pits. The air was thick with the typical Koopa Kingdom smoke, but today the fumes carried the alluring scents of a legion's worth of cookfires. Bowser was sorely tempted to go and claim a shank of roasted meat from somewhere, but he had bigger things on his mind right now.

He'd been getting bored of watching the Koopatrols run drills with the recruits, so he'd decided to head off in search of something to accomplish. He wanted to talk strategy with someone before the invasion, and get all the plans in order; but that meant finding a minion who wasn't a total numbskull, which was no small task. Maybe Kammy or Kamek would have some juicy new rumors that Bowser could incorporate into his schemes?

…Speaking of Kamek, where was the weaselly little mage, anyway? Bowser hadn't seen him all morning, or even last night, which was pushing it a bit much. The Magikoopa liked to warp off to parts unknown, but he always popped by in the evenings, sauntering casually up to join the group like his absence hadn't been noticed by everyone. In truth, it was beginning to be a really tired act.

"Kamek, get your wrinkly butt out here!" Bowser roared, hoping the wizard would suddenly appear like he usually did; but nobody came. The Koopa King spun around to check behind himself, just to make sure, and then set off again with an exasperated sigh. This was just plain awful job performance, and Bowser wasn't going to stand for it this time.

He knew that Kamek had a tent on the outskirts of camp, although he wasn't sure if he'd ever seen the little mage actually use it. Still, it couldn't possibly hurt to check, so he turned to make his way in that general direction. Along the way, he passed more troops and more tents; plus a trio of Shy Guys eating lunch in a lonely corner, who were suddenly scrambling over themselves to hide their food and their faces from view.

It didn't take long to find the wizard's tent – it was larger and fancier than its neighbors, and had clearly been conjured up by the magic of a showoff. Bowser's first instinct was to simply charge in, but he decided to be generous and give his minion one last chance to appear on his own terms. "Kamek, I know you're in there! Answer me, or I'll barge in there and fry you alive!"

There was a sudden burst of clatter, followed shortly by a pitiful whimper and some heavy breathing from inside the tent. "Ah, ah, ow! P-please don't come in here, my king! I'm not – ow – I'm not feeling v-very well today!"

So Kamek was in there, and he sounded rather stressed. "Bah, I probably just caught him sleeping without his shell on, or something," Bowser guessed, not really caring if he had embarrassed the little guy by showing up unannounced. Without a second thought, he lifted the flap and shoved his way inside.

…He instantly regretted it – the place was a mess, and so was Kamek. The Magikoopa was huddled on the edge of a bench, sweating profusely as his hands glowed with what little healing magic he knew how to use. His old wizard's cloak lay discarded on the floor, and as Bowser looked closer he saw that it was practically in cinders. Suddenly his comment about "frying Kamek alive" seemed a touch insensitive.

"What the heck happened to you?" the larger Koopa asked, stepping closer to get a better view. It wasn't a pretty sight - Kamek's right leg was a charred ruin, blistered and black from his hip to his claws. There were smaller burns all over his body from where, Bowser guessed, he'd been trapped for a while inside the blazing robe. He was oozing and nasty all over, and the Koopa King wondered just how much worse he'd been before the healing session had started.

"I-it's nothing, Your Intrusiveness. A minor incident, that's all," Kamek lied lamely, shifting himself as he set his injured leg up on the bench. "I… I was walking through the camp last night, w-when I slipped and tumbled into a campfire! I'll have this all healed up… ow!" he recoiled as something made an unpleasant bursting sound. "…In no time."

"Hmm, must've been a pretty feminine campfire," Bowser grumbled, noting how the deepest burns made the shape of a slender handprint on the wizard's upper thigh. Kamek winced away from the observation, but Bowser just pinched the bridge of his snout and sighed. He wasn't mad, just disappointed.

"Look, I'm not gonna kinkshame you or anything," Bowser said, wondering what kind of 'hot' chick had left that mark up in there. Did Podoboos secretly have hands? "Your fetishes are your own business; but I can't have you doin' this kind of stuff in camp. It's unprofessional, and it's bad for morale 'cuz you're creepy and old. Got it?"

Kamek coughed and winced again, and Bowser turned to leave. Maybe he'd have better luck if he went to talk to Kammy, instead. "You stay here and deal with your weird issues; I'm gonna go get ready for the invasion."

Before he could push his way back out into the dim daylight, he heard the Magikoopa calling him back. "Lord Bowser, wait! I can still be of use, even as I am! I exist to serve and council, so share your plans with me!

Hmm, what a decision. If Bowser left, he might lose out on some valuable insight; but if he stayed, he'd have to keep looking at that gross leg. In the end, he decided to make the sacrifice and turned back. "The plan is simple – we'll sack the palace and thrash the guards. Then I'll roast the Empress, and Princess Peach will finally be mine!" It seemed like an ironclad strategy, didn't it?

"And what of the Power Stars, my lord? At what time do you plan to make use of them?" Kamek stopped healing his burns for the time being, leaning back on his hands as he turned his full attention to his king. Nothing about the situation was particularly comfortable for either of them.

Bowser shrugged and puffed out an idle wisp of pale smoke. "I guess we'll power-up right away, and get the early advantage. If we're lucky, we can mow a path straight to the throne room before the time runs out." Once he was inside with the Empress, what could she possibly do to stop him?

The old wizard sputtered at that, which sent him into a coughing fit. When he pulled himself together, he was frantic. "N-no, Lord Bowser! You mustn't waste your power so quickly! Those Stars should be saved until the last possible moment!" The Koopa King gave his best skeptical snarl, glaring at Kamek until the little mage chose to clarify. "The Empress is much more dangerous than she appears, you see!"

"I don't see, so how about you tell me?" Kamek had been keeping secrets this whole time, and Bowser was utterly sick of it. He decided right then and there, he wasn't leaving this tent until he got some dang answers. "You seem to know an awful lot about this Anti-Peach, so start sharing it. That is an order."

Kamek was glancing around, probably looking for any way out of the sticky situation he'd gotten himself into. Surely, he must know that if he warped himself away, he'd never be welcome in Bowser's camp again. Finally, he just sniffed and offered up a weak excuse. "She has… quite a reputation, so I've heard a lot in my travels. It's a long story, though, and I'm not sure-"

"JUST START FROM THE BEGINNING, THEN!" Bowser roared, letting the fire ignite in the back of his throat. Kamek jerked back at the sight of the flames, realizing the blatant threat. "Tell me about the war, the Koopas, the Empress, ALL OF IT! I'm sick and tired of being strung along like some kind of serial reader!"

For good measure, Bowser stomped over and plopped himself down on the bench beside his captive narrator. The wooden structure gave an ominous creak under his weight, but managed to hold itself together somehow. This was it, the big reveal; and Kamek showed that he knew it with a surrendered sigh.

"…Long ago, invaders came from the sky," the wizard began, looking wistful and sad. "The people of our world drove them off, but at great cost; and when they came back, we weren't ready. When they returned, these dark creatures from beyond, these harbingers of celestial doom-"

"Just call 'em aliens, old man," Bowser interrupted, wanting this tale to get on its feet as soon as possible. "You're not gonna make your story sound any cooler by using bigger words."

"As you wish, sire," Kamek nodded, looking slightly perturbed. "The… aliens came back, and they began laying waste to our beautiful world. Almost overnight, it seemed, we were brought to the edge of extinction…" The Magikoopa seemed to grow older and more tired with each word. "…People prayed to the Star Spirits for salvation, but their wishes and prayers went unanswered. The Stars didn't care about our plight, and there was no way to truly reach them…"

Kamek paused there to shift his leg, and it took him an awkward while to start speaking again. When he did, his voice was thin with the weary sadness of memory. "…But there was a sorcerer, who thought he knew a way; and in his arrogance, he tried to save the world alone."

The old man sighed, too far into this tale to turn back now. "He knew of a prophecy - of seven children who had been born with the souls of powerful Stars. These… these "Star Children" were a living link to the heavens, and through them the sorcerer believed that he could control the Stars themselves… That he could gain the power to make his own wishes come true."

Bowser snorted at the absurdity of it all. "So this guy wanted to hack the system using a bunch of snot-nosed kids? What a dumb plan. Why not just steal the Star Rod if you need wish power that badly?"

Kamek merely shrugged and kept speaking. "There was no way to find it; by that point in the invasion, Star Haven had hidden itself beyond all mortal access. The Star Children were the only way to pierce the veil."

"…But everything went wrong. At the moment when the celestial link was strongest, the sorcerer's plan was discovered. It all fell to pieces in a single night of chaos, and the children were left to die." Kamek didn't look sad anymore, but angry and betrayed. "They were slaughtered, one-by-one; and as they died the stars went out. The link was still in place…"

Bowser could hardly believe this nonsense. Was this sorcerer the stupidest guy ever? He plugs a pack of brats into, like, the soul of the world; and then he lets them get killed? What was next, a weepy sob story about how he wasn't the villain here?

…Sure enough, exactly that was next. "In the end, only two people made it out of there alive. The sorcerer, and the girl who would become Empress Toadstool. He vowed to protect her; but as she grew, she… changed." Kamek looked deep in thought, like he was trying to puzzle out the secret to some ancient mystery. "The sweet little girl had died that night, leaving behind something twisted and spiteful in her place. A parasite born of tragedy, which only grew larger and larger as the years passed… "

"The sorcerer was loyal, but she repaid him with vengeance all the same. He'd turned her world to ashes that night; so in return, she slaughtered his entire species." Kamek nodded in the general direction of outside, and Bowser got the message with a cold and hollow chill. "It was a genocide carried out in the name of "fair retribution."

"So, this sorcerer was a Koopa, then? A Magikoopa, most likely…" Bowser was slowly putting the pieces together, but there were a few key bits that he'd probably missed. "Wow, what a total loser. What happened to him, Kamek?"

The little mage blinked, trying to comprehend that he'd truly just been asked such a thing. Finally, he came up with a vague answer. "Nobody knows, my lord; but he's sure to be a broken mess. There are those who say he still serves the Empress, because he has nothing left," he paused, squinting silently at the shadows which pooled in the corners of the tent, "but I'd like to think that he still has a few tricks up his sleeve…"

"…Well, that's pretty pathetic," Bowser decided, heaving himself back to his feet. "This guy basically ended the world, so he should just own it. Redemption isn't happening, I'll tell you that much." The king made to exit the tent once more, turning back to add one last thing. "If I ever met this guy, I'd tell him to go all-out on the crazy. Tragic villains are lame, but everyone loves to hate a maniac." With that, he finally made his exit.

The last he saw of Kamek, the old wizard looked lost deep in his thoughts. Bowser sighed, his thirst for conversation quenched, and trudged off to find something to eat.

"…So, you and the princess are, like, pretty close, huh?" Goombella thought it was an innocent enough question to start with.

It was late evening by now in Rogueport, and the group had long since finished laying battle plans for the night. Goombella couldn't sleep, so she'd decided to try striking up a conversation with Mario, who she'd spotted in her tired wanderings. Maybe he wasn't sleepy tonight, either?

She'd known him for a few weeks now, but she still hadn't quite worked out how he ticked. He was the quiet type, and maybe introspective; but when fights broke out he was totally fierce. Did he like battling, or had he just become good at it by necessity? Was he stoic, or anti-social, or maybe just shy? Goombella wished he was as easy to figure out as his milder brother, uh, Green Stache.

"He totally has a thing with this Princess Peach, though," she thought with certainty. "If his talk of saving her isn't enough proof, then the way the others react obviously is." She lived for gossip, so why not ask the man himself? She hopped up beside him on the little window ledge where she'd found him sitting, and waited for his response.

Mario, for his part, just shrugged; but Goombella didn't miss the hint of loneliness in his eyes, or the way his mustache drooped as he frowned. Oh yeah, this was a gossip goldmine, and she was ready to dig. "Oh, so you were close, is that it? What happened, did you screw it up; or did she dump you like a floozy?"

To her surprise, Mario chuckled warmly and gave her a tired smile. "I should've known you'd keep asking. The Goombella I met before, back home; she's the curious type, too. She never lets a question go unanswered."

Ugh, she hated hearing about the "other version" of herself. That preppy mirror-world Goombella who had made all her dreams come true; who got to go to school, and hadn't spent the best years of her life bumming it around the countryside in the back of a half-broken truck. "She's the 'better version,' if you want to just come out and say it."

But Mario had already started answering her earlier question about the princess. "We, ah, used to be an item; but life had other ideas, so we split up. It's not a big deal." Years of experience had taught her that it was never "not a big deal." She was sure that there was more going on here, and she wanted in on the secret.

"Oh my gosh, she totally dumped you!" Mario winced, and Goombella felt a bit guilty, but bluntness was the answer if she wanted quick results. "What did she tell you, huh? Did she make up some lame excuse about her 'royal duties?' I bet she said that her kingdom is her only true love, didn't she?" That seemed like such a princessly thing to say.

"…That's the gist of it," Mario confirmed, not overly pleased with the flow of this conversation. With a sigh, he leaned back against the window frame and tried to elaborate. "When I left home, my mama gave me her old engagement ring. It was a classic, with the big shiny diamond and everything. She told me to use it if I ever, you know, popped that particular question."

He paused, obviously trying to work through a painful memory. "One day, I showed it to Peach. I hadn't meant much by it; I just wanted to share the story with her. She broke up with me right then and there, and I'm still not entirely sure why…"

"Wow, that's seriously rude!" Goombella hadn't even met this princess lady, and she already wanted to give her a good headbonking. Didn't she value the sentimentality of a good romance? If Goombella ever dated a sweet guy with a sappy heirloom ring, she'd be doing everything she could to get it on her non-existent finger.

"You deserve way better than her, Mario," Goombella affirmed. When he didn't reply, and instead just kept up with his sullen stare, she continued. "I'm totally serious! Take it from your friend who's a girl – a girlfriend should be an equal partner; not, like, your ruler. Successful relationships are based on mutual respect, affection, and all that jazz, yeah?"

Mario gave her a polite nod, but Goombella could tell that the gears were turning hard in his head. She didn't want to press the issue any further, so she hopped down and decided to continue on her way. "So, good talk, right? I'll see you tomorrow, then."

She set off back down the hall, trying to figure out whether or not she was tired yet. Technically speaking, it was way past bedtime; but the Goomba girl had gotten used to her screwy sleep cycle. Maybe she could wake up Toadette for a few rounds of Kinopio Kart; or would that be impolite? She was still trying to decide when she nearly bumped into Wonky.

"Oh, Wonky, you're still up?" Truth be told, she was surprised the informant was even still in the building. Didn't he have his own shabby little warren elsewhere in the underground town? Perhaps he'd brought some fresh new rumor to share with Rowf or the professor. She'd have to grill them both later and find out.

"Oh, I sure am," the little round man answered, idly patting his stomach and smiling that trademark uncertain grin of his. "There're several of us still among the living. There's you, and me, and that odd purple lass…"

"You mean Vivian? Wait, you've seen her?" The shadow siren had been in total recluse mode since they'd gotten home that morning, and her friends had been getting pretty worried. Just how badly had those Twilighter soldiers brutalized her, anyway? "Where is she, exactly? I'd like to see her myself, y'know?"

"Yes ma'am, ol' Wonky has seen her about; but she made him promise not to tell where." Oh, well that was disappointing. Goombella was about to walk off when the little man added something else. "It's an awful pity, though; such a pretty young girl, reduced to tears in such a dark and shaky part of the base." There was a pause, and the shameful shuffling of feet. "…Ol' Wonky shouldn't have said that."

Wait, a dark and shaky place? The resistance base was well-lit and stable… all except for the western wing, which was abandoned, because it had been slowly crumbling into a natural ravine for quite some time. Leaving Wonky to fret over his mistake, Goombella trotted off down the hallway in search of the elusive siren's hiding spot.

"Why would Vivian seek out the darkest spot in the base?" she asked herself while trying to navigate the path from memory. She'd only been in this part of the building once, back when she'd been a sassy recruit who wanted to explore. "She's a shadow, but I always thought she liked to be in the light."

It didn't take her very long to reach the rotten old archway that led into the wing; and as she slipped inside, she tried looking around for signs of an intruder. Had the blankets of dust been disturbed, or were any of the doors open that shouldn't have been? Goombella could barely remember how this place had looked the last time she'd been here. She'd just have to press onward and hope for the best, then.

This whole area had a sorrowful aura about it, like a structure that wanted to try so much harder than it could. The unlit rooms were empty of furniture, and the walls and floor were cracked and spotted with wild mushrooms and mold. There were probably some Fuzzies living in the rafters, knowing their affinity for dank places. A wet wind of fetid ocean spray drafted in from everywhere; a constant reminder of the bay up above, and of the yawning chasm that lay just beneath the floorboards.

In the end, it was the noises that led Goombella to the spot she was searching for. It started with a faint scritch-scratching through the wall; but as the Goomba made her way stealthily across to the opposite door, she began to pick up on the rapid sound of shallow breathing. "Oh wow, so she's actually in there?" she thought, inching over to get a peek beyond the doorway.

Vivian was indeed in the next room, and Goombella nearly went inside to greet her, but instinct held her back. Something didn't feel quite right about all this. The shadowy girl was in the corner of the room, splayed on her back at the edge of the abyss. The far wall had long since fallen away, taking a sizable section of the floor with it. Now, Vivian was staring wide-eyed into the void, scratching at the floorboards with one hand while the other dangled lazily over the edge.

The siren was muttering to herself, too, although the words weren't easy to make out. Goombella caught a few odd snippets here and there - things like "keep it together," and "not much longer," and "she can't get us now." Her sentences were punctuated by fits of breathless giggling which sounded too hollow to be sincere.

Anxious to hear more, Goombella tried edging further into the room; but she must've made some noise, because Vivian silenced herself as she shot up to scan the area. Her gaze soon fell upon the doorway, her pale eyes glinting warily in the shadows like those of a feral cat. "I see you there, Goombella," she finally said in a singsong voice. "Let's sit together, okay? Step out of the light, and into my darkness where it's safe~"

Goombella wasn't too sure about this, because it seemed like the siren was in the midst of a breakdown. But that just meant she needed lots of love and support to get through it, yeah? No matter what those soldiers had done, the kind and bubbly Vivian she knew still had to be in there somewhere, right?

Sighing, she waddled over and joined her friend at the lip of the abyss. "It's so pretty down there, isn't it?" Vivian was saying, although Goombella couldn't see anything below except empty and desolate blackness. A cold wind was rising, and she tried not to let her shivers shake her straight over the edge. "I wish I could just go back down there, and forget that the rest of this awful world ever existed…"

"She wants to go back in that hole? As in, from up here; like, over this ledge?" If she'd parsed Vivian's message correctly, then this was very bad, and Goombella needed to intervene now. What was she supposed to say, though? She didn't know the siren that well, and she had no experience with this kind of thing! "…Y'know, we all care about you up here, right? I want to help, and so does Mario, and-"

To her surprise, Vivian simply started giggling again, although it still didn't sound quite real. "That's cute; you don't even know what you're saying. But that's okay~" she said, her eyes suddenly bright and filled with hungry curiosity. "Anyway, I'm glad you're here. I missed the meeting earlier, didn't I? So, um, what's the new plan? Where are we going next, hm?"

Oh, had it been that easy? Vivian seemed back onboard with the mission, at least, which was pretty awesome. Goombella explained about the Star Festival, and what a perfect opportunity it would be to sneak into the capital, and perhaps the palace itself. Vivian listened with rapt attention, asking questions and even providing a suggestion or two. ("If we split up once we're in the city, it'll be even harder for the soldiers to find us!").

They sat and talked for a little while, wondering about the future and snarking at the state of society. Vivian spoke animatedly in that singsong lilt that she'd recently picked up somewhere; and as the night passed, Goombella began to think that maybe things would be alright. Vivian wasn't exactly back to her sweet old self, but maybe that girl would reemerge in time.

…That happiness ended when Goombella stood up to leave, her movement towards the light causing Vivian to gasp and shrink back into the darkness like a spooked rat. In the suddenness of the moment, the gasp sounded almost like a hiss. "Don't you want to go back and join everyone?" the Goomba girl asked gently, concern seeping back in.

"I'd like to stay here, where it isn't so bright," the siren answered haltingly, seeking shelter once more at the edge of her ravine. "You might not see me again for a little while, either." Wait, was she planning to leave? Had she forgotten the mission already?! The group was going to need her!

Vivian must have sensed Goombella's confusion, because she quickly explained. "Oh, don't worry; I'd never miss the festival, not for the world. I'll be with you all every step of the way, making sure everything goes according to plan…"

Well, it was something, at least. An improvement was all she could really ask for as a friend. With a final goodnight, she turned and left the cold, dark room behind. Soon after, she heard that broken laughter start up again; and as Goombella returned alone to the well-lit side of the resistance base, she couldn't shake the feeling that something important was out of place.

By the time she finally crawled into bed, tired from her travels and excited for the battles to come, she'd already forgotten all about it.

Very far away, in the darkness of some lost prison, the real Vivian was huddled in a sad heap of her own.

She squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could, curling herself up in the corner until she thought she might be invisible enough. She was a pitiful sight, and she knew it. Her hair was a mess, she'd been stripped of her accessories, and she was pretty sure this bluish stuff was blood.

Vivian didn't know where this place was, and she could barely recall how she'd ended up here. She remembered the forest, and the hooded figure, and that anguished presence dragging her away into the deep. Past that, her memories were fuzzy and clouded with fear; but maybe it was better that way, because she had a feeling that it hadn't been a pleasant time. There wasn't a single part of her body that didn't hurt terribly.

She'd been woken up by the echo of faraway footsteps, and by the steady dripping of water against her cheek. Sitting up hadn't been easy, and it hadn't helped her feel better, because the walls at her back were cold and wet, too. They were made of an oily black stone, and there were no gaps or windows that she could see. There was a small iron door in the far wall – her only sign that this was someplace manmade.

"Is this one of the Empire's prisons…?" the siren guessed, slumping her head tiredly against the damp wall behind her. Her thoughts were still sluggish and hazy, but she was awake enough to realize that she'd been captured by the enemy. What had happened to the others, back in Twilight Town? Were her friends still out there, or had they all been captured, too? "Is Mario safe? Did he get away in time?"

Thinking about Mario's safety just made her scared, so she tried to distract herself by guessing where she was. She was clearly underground, and she was likely being guarded, if the overhead footsteps meant anything. That's all she could really tell, though; and before long, she was back to staring quietly at the shadows on her eyelids.

This dungeon reminded Vivian of her birthplace – that pitch-black pit beneath the Shadow Queen's ruined hall. She remembered the weeks that she'd spent there alone, and she recalled the day when Beldam and Marilyn had finally found her. They had both been so surprised, because they'd never expected to see a new shadow siren. The spawning pits had been inactive for centuries, they'd said.

Vivian had been surprised too; because before being found, all she'd known was the darkness, and the confusion of her own scattered thoughts. She remembered Beldam dragging her up and into the light, inspecting her and asking so many impossible questions. She remembered failing the test, and seeing Beldam's curiosity turn to sullen disappointment. Her sister's sneer was her first memory of the outside world; and things hadn't gotten much nicer than that for a very long time.

That train of thought soon brought her back to Mario, just like they mostly always did. He had saved her, trusted her, and shown her kindness for the very first time. Together, they had faced her fears, and she'd learned to trust herself. Beldam had pulled her up from that pit, but it was Mario who had truly led her from the darkness.

…She loved him. Oh, stars, she loved him so much it hurt. In simpler times, she'd often dreamt of telling him that. She'd been too scared to even fantasize about what might've happened next; but maybe, for her, the confession would've been enough.

Or perhaps it wouldn't have been. Maybe she would have been brave, just that one time, and asked him to give her something more. Perhaps he would've said yes, and saved her world all over again. Maybe they could've had a life together, and maybe it could've been wonderful.

…It didn't matter either way, because now she was here, and they'd likely never see each other again. Vivian had no illusions about her situation – her friends hadn't seen her get kidnapped, so they didn't know where she was. They'd probably checked her room at the inn, given up, and gotten back to more important things. "If they have to leave me behind, I understand…"

Her only chance was to escape by herself, but could she even do such a thing? It was a longshot, but she had to at least try. Vivian lowered her arm and gave it a short, experimental dip into the shadows, drawing her fingers back as they sparked off of a hidden barrier spell. No, it wasn't going to be that simple; her captors had thought of everything, including her shadow powers.

She tested the barrier a few more times, just to make sure, tracing her way around its strange hexagonal seams that she could feel but not see. If she tried her hardest, she could almost keep her hand against it without flinching; but no matter what, she could not break through.

"I… I can't just give up! I need to try my hardest, until the very end!" Vivian unfurled herself from the corner, sitting up in preparation for the biggest attack she could muster. "I'll get out of here, just wait and see!" She summoned flames to her fists, fuelling them with all of her hopes, her determination, and the very strength of her soul… With a cry of victory, she plunged the inferno down into the barrier like a blazing drill…

…The shield mocked her with a ripple of hexagons as the attack had no effect, and Vivian was blasted back against the wall in recoil. In utter pain and out of ideas, Vivian let herself sink back to the floor. She'd failed another test, hadn't she? What use was she to anyone, if she couldn't even save herself? Her friends deserved better. Mario deserved better.

The ceiling must have started dripping again, because she felt water streaming down her face. "This is my life now," she supposed, curling into the tightest ball she could manage. "A bleary ending to match how it all began…"

She was trapped, she was cold, and she was scared. Worst of all, she was alone.

Chapter Text

Interlude – The Last Bright Night

The sun was just beginning to set, and the springtime air was breezy and light. On evenings like these, there wasn't much that made Princess Peach happier than a walk in the gardens.

The hedges and flowerbeds whizzed past as she headed towards her secret spot, giggling all the way. She was by herself, so for now she was free to run and tumble as much as she liked. The adults hated when her skirts got messy; but they weren't here, so Peach took her chances with some special shortcuts.

Through this hedgerow, over that stream, and between the ivy trellises - it was a well-practiced route. She knew all the flowers by name, and called out friendly greetings as she passed. There was Heather up on the hill, Iris over by the woodshed, and Lily down by the pond. They never answered back, of course, but Peach liked to imagine that they could.

Sometimes, her nannies told her tales about a faraway field where the flowers could really talk, and it sounded like such a paradise. Peach wondered if the tales were true, and if "Wisterwood" was really as Wise as the legends said. "I'll ask to go there someday and see, just as soon as everyone is happy again..."

At six years of age, the little princess was starting to notice the world around her in ways that she hadn't before. She knew that people came from outside the castle, and that their stories made her father sad; but nobody ever told Peach what they said. She huffed indignantly at the thought - if the grown-ups wanted to keep their secrets, then fine; she didn't want to hear them anyway. She was a princess, and that meant she was never supposed to be sad.

Peach plopped down in the grass with a sigh, trying her honest best to keep herself clean. Her hidden spot was a sunny meadow at the edge of the grounds, out past where the gardeners tended. The grass wasn't kept trimmed here, and the flowers were wild. It was the perfect place to sit, watch the sunset, and gather some daisies.

One by one, she plucked up all the flowers within easy reach. Once she'd gathered a handful of about seven, she started threading their stems together into a chain. Her little fingers were a blur - she'd done this hundreds of times, and practice made perfection. In fact, she decided that this was going to be her best wreath yet.

That thought made her pause slightly, her hands slowing as she wondered if her effort would be noticed. A flower's beauty was fleeting, and she always liked to give her wreaths as gifts while they were fresh. "Mother always loved getting these, but she's gone now…" Peach didn't want to think about that, so she grabbed a few more flowers and shook the memories away.

As the chain got longer, the daisies reminded her of another special person in her life. "Hmm, would cousin Daisy have liked a flower crown?" Peach knew the answer before she even asked – no, Daisy would've hated wearing a thing like this. She was the type who liked kicking at the flowers to make the petals fly, and then betting to see who could grab the most before they hit the ground.

Princess Daisy wasn't her cousin, exactly – she was more of a second-or-third cousin something-removed. Their parents had tried to explain it once, but the two princesses had been too busy playing "Dragon and Damsel" to pay any attention. It didn't mean anything to them either way – they were best friends no matter what. After all, they were the only girls of the same age and species that either of them knew.

They had been inseparable, once upon a very long time ago. They'd meant to grow up together; but one day, suddenly, the visits had stopped happening. The letters had stopped coming soon after; and when Peach asked why, she never got a straight answer from anyone. "They're very busy in Sarasaland now," or "Things have changed outside the castle," or "Princess Daisy is…"

…The next time Peach looked up from her thoughts, the chain was almost finished. It was delicate and perfect, as expected, and Peach tried to keep her smile bright as she threaded the last two stems together. She'd no sooner finished closing the loop when Toadsworth found her, scurrying over the hill and very plainly out of breath.

"Ah! There you are, Princess! You know better than to be out this late," the mushroom man chided, scooping the little girl into his arms with a cautious glance toward the sky. Peach gave a petulant roll of her eyes, but let herself be picked up all the same. Toadsworth was her caretaker, and she knew that he meant well, but he was always so stifling! Didn't he know that she was a big girl now, and royalty besides?

He carried her back towards the castle, spouting the same old warnings as the sun slowly set behind the walls. "If we lost you, Princess, it would simply be the end of us! You must never wander the grounds without a guardian close by!" Peach wasn't really listening – she was busy trying to balance her daisy crown on Toadsworth's head, but it kept sliding off his smooth mushroom cap. That made Peach giggle in spite of herself – Toads were so silly!

By the time they left the gardens, the stars were just beginning to come out. There wasn't a cloud in sight this evening, and Peach watched mesmerized as the tiny lights blinked awake all across the sky. First one, then ten, and then hundreds and thousands as the sun finally faded away. The princess wished she knew their names like she did the flowers', so she could greet them all each night.

Every now and then, tight clusters of bright violet stars would zip across the distant horizon. Peach frowned slightly whenever she saw one – they were new, and had never appeared until a few months back. Now they were up there most every night, and were just one more thing the adults would never explain.

"The Star Festival is happening soon, isn't it?" she absentmindedly asked, interrupting Toadsworth's safety lecture mid-stream. It was the end of spring, and that meant the wandering comet would soon be coming home. She would outshine all of these purple pretenders, surely. "Do you think I'll finally get to leave the castle and see the festivities?"

Toadsworth shifted her in his arms, looking a little uncomfortable. "Perhaps someday, but this year may still be too soon," he said as they made their way inside the castle. Peach wanted to protest, citing all the promises that her father had made; but her caretaker saw it coming and headed her off. "The king wants to keep you safe, more than anything in the world. I know it isn't easy, but things will get better someday."

"How can I believe that, if nobody will even tell me why things are bad?" the princess huffed to herself, knowing that it would do no good to ask it out loud. She stayed silent from then on, thinking about starlight, family, and all the other wonders of the world that lay beyond her reach.

She felt a little better when they entered her bedchamber – a very pink room that was cozy, warm, and totally hers. Hearts and glitter speckled every surface, and every piece of furniture was host to a pile of plush dolls. They all smiled at Peach with their button eyes, reminding her that she still had friends who wanted to cuddle and play. The bedroom was a bit small, sure; but in here, there was no such thing as sadness.

Toadsworth set her down, bustling about as he laid out her pajamas and turned down the sheets. As Peach got dressed for bed, she heard him winding up the old music box that she kept in the nightstand drawer. Sometimes Peach had trouble sleeping, but never when her mother's lullaby was playing by her side. In fact, the little princess was already starting to feel tired.

Seeing this, Toadsworth lifted her into bed and tucked her in beneath the frilly sheets. He gave her a last gentle pat on the head, and made to leave her behind. "Goodnight, Princess. May the stars shine down on you," he whispered, and soon after he was gone.

Peach yawned, torn between snuggling into the blankets and struggling out of them. She wanted to sleep, she really did; but one last thing was nagging at her mind. She hadn't made a wish tonight, and that was very important. She was supposed to talk to the Star Spirits every night, wasn't she? In the end, the little princess pushed herself up and padded across to the window.

Pushing it open as far as she could reach, she looked out over the plaza far below. The castle guards marched back and forth, flickering halos cast around them from the torches they carried. Their little lights paled next to the stars overhead, though; a dazzling dance of nebulas and galaxies spiraling away to infinity. Peach simply stood and watched them for a while, too awed to think about a wish.

"You're drawn to the stars, aren't you? That's interesting," a voice suddenly said, making Peach jump and reel backwards in shock. She spun around to check behind her, but her bedroom was still empty. Had one of her dolls suddenly come alive and spoken to her? Perhaps that wooden one with the blue cape? No, that was a silly idea, so Peach shook it off and crept back to the window.

It didn't take long to see where the voice had come from – to the left of the window, perched on a nearby gargoyle, was a wizened old Koopa in a hooded cloak. He watched her with quiet curiosity, an enchanted broom hovering in the air behind him. "Don't be startled, I've only come to ask for your help."

"W-who are you?!" Peach asked instinctively, kneeling down until she could just barely see over the sill. It took her sleepy thoughts a moment to catch up with what the wizard had said. "…And what do you mean you want my help?" She was only six, and he was a stranger; what kind of help could she give?

The hooded Koopa regarded her coolly, torchlight glinting off his glasses from below. Beneath him, the grinning gargoyle cackled silently at the whole strange situation. Finally the mage broke the silence, every word a measured whisper. "My name is Kamek, son of the Koopa Kingdom's royal witch. As for why I'm here… I think I know a way that we can stop the war."

"What war?" Peach returned with a whisper of her own, standing up just a little straighter to look the wizard in the eyes. "I haven't heard about any war, and I'm the princess! I think you're a liar, or a crazy person!"

Kamek's eyes went wide as he sputtered in shock. He hopped onto his broom and flew right up to the window, jabbing out a claw to point at a patch of dark sky. As if on cue, several of the violet stars streaked past, travelling in rigid formation across the horizon. "That war! The war against the invaders from space! The war that's left your very own kingdom in ruins!"

He dropped his arm when Peach just stared at him blankly. "…They've been hiding it all from you, haven't they?"

That last bit made Peach think. The grown-ups had been hiding something from her, she knew; but would they really lie to her about a thing like this? She hated the idea of hiding harsh truths behind sweet words or sentimentalities. She was strong, and she could take it! Hadn't she proven that when her mother went away to the sky garden? They hadn't lied about that too, had they?

"No! I won't believe any of it!" she yelled, slamming the window shut and backing away. Whatever the adults were hiding, there's no way it was something as horrible as war. She turned around to jump in bed, but Kamek was somehow in the room already, hovering between her and the safety of her sheets. "Get out of here! I'm seriously not going to help you!"

"I know this is sudden, but time is short. This will be so much easier if you just-" She cut him off by hurling a doll at his face, making a break for it as the wizard toppled from his broom. He grabbed at her as she passed, but she was just too agile for him. By the time he'd untangled his robes and stood back up, she was already outside in the hallway.

…But he was in the hallway as well, standing right there behind the door. "H-how is he…" she started, but realized that there was no time to think. Somehow, the wizard was moving faster than she could see, and he was starting to look pretty miffed.

If running was useless, then there was only one thing left to try. "Somebody help me, I'm being kidnapped! He's here to steal me away!" she yelled out as loudly as she could, dodging to the side as Kamek lunged for her again. He looked at her pleadingly, but flinched back in horror when frantic footsteps began echoing down the hall. There were guards in every corner of this castle, and they would be here to save her in no time!

"Do you have any idea what you've just done?!" the mage hissed at her, clutching at her with one claw while he dug through his robes with the other. "This was supposed to be quick and easy – in and out! You were supposed to be back in bed before they ever even noticed you were gone!"

Peach grinned triumphantly, happy to have thwarted the kidnapper's plan so easily. Her smile faded when he pulled a wand from his cloak, a golden scepter tipped with a glowing red orb. "I'm sorry, little princess; I didn't want to have to be this messy…"

He pointed the wand at her and fired, a flash of white light swallowing her up just as the first guards rounded the corner behind her. The castle twisted away, the world a blur and her senses screaming with the sudden magic of a warp. For half an instant, Peach thought she saw the stars spinning past like snowflakes; but by the next second they had vanished, and so had she.

When next she awoke, the princess was lying on a bed of smooth stone. A chilly wind was in her face, and there were excited voices all around. It was enough to tell her that the night so far hadn't been a dream.

She opened her eyes to the brilliance of the sky, and sat up to a dizzying view of the world from atop a mountain. Valleys and forests stretched away before her, and here and there the lights of villages could be seen in the far distance. The ground at her feet was a deep sapphire blue, and it glowed softly with the pale luminescence of stardust.

The pieces clicked together immediately, and Peach jolted to her feet. "This is Shooting Star Summit," she realized, remembering the mountain from a day trip that her family had taken here long ago. The princess took a step back, away from the edge, and collided with something warm and scaly that had snuck up on her.

"Yo, you're awake!" the scaly thing said, and Peach spun back to face it with a squeal. She was suddenly staring into the red eyes of a Koopa almost twice her size, with budding horns and a shell covered in nubby spikes. "You're kinda cute, and you're royalty, right? The two of us should stick together!"

"Uh, what's your name?" Peach asked, playing it safe while trying to figure out if he was a bad guy or not. In truth, he didn't look to be much older than she was; and there was a certain vague familiarity about him. "Do you know why we're here? Did that scary wizard kidnap you too?"

The Koopa kid laughed and crossed his arms with a cocky grin. "Nah, not even close! I'm Prince Bowser, and Kamek over there is my loyal minion!" The little mage paused his work in the background to mutter something that sounded like "babysitter."

Bowser didn't seem to notice, and kept on with his introduction. "We're here to save the world, isn't that awesome?! Kamek says that you and me are special, and that we're gonna be heroes!" After a second, he sighed and pointed behind himself with a roll of his eyes. "Oh, and those other losers are here, too."

True enough, there were five other kids on the mountaintop, spaced around in varying states of confusion or unease. Two human boys, also vaguely familiar, were watching the exchange between her and Bowser with marked suspicion. Behind them sat a much pudgier third boy, entranced by a handful of coins that Kamek must've given him to play with. A green Yoshi sat off to the side, barely older than a hatchling, watching the sky with wide-eyed wonder. At the very back, for some reason, was an angry young gorilla in a cage.

Glancing around, Peach could see that they were atop the very peak of the mountain, not far from some kind of ancient altar. A great marble slab had been set into the ground, the shapes of seven stars engraved in a wide circle around the edge. Deep chiseled lines connected the stars to each other, and led inwards to a final star at the center of the ring.

It was here that Kamek worked, using his wand to trace strange squiggles up and down the lines, out and then around each of the seven perimeter stars. The squiggly shapes shone with a golden light as their magic seeped into the stone; and soon the outer stars were shining with distinct colors of their own – several yellows, two blues, and even one inviting shade of pink.

Suddenly, and without asking, Bowser grabbed Peach by the wrist and started dragging her over to get a better look. The strength of his tugging hurt her shoulder, and she let out a little yelp as she tried to pull free. In a flash, the two familiar boys stood up, and one was already running over to get involved. "Hey, let go of her! Can't you see she's getting hurt?!"

Bowser rounded on the child with a snarl, grabbing him by the hem of his bright red shirt. "What's it to you, you snot-nosed little squirt?" The Koopa prince shoved Peach back behind himself, so harshly that she nearly tumbled onto her back. "I saw her first, so she's mine! Go get your own princess!"

"No way, you're just a bully! You didn't even ask her permission!" the boy shouted, jerking himself free and lashing out to bop Bowser hard on the snout. The Koopa yowled in pain, holding his nose with one claw while he took a feral swipe at his opponent with the other. Meanwhile, the other boy – who was wearing a green shirt – was fidgeting nervously and looking like he hoped to stay out of it all.

The two rowdy kids were just about to come fully to blows when Kamek warped in, pushing them both apart with firm waves of barrier magic. The mage glared hard at Bowser, who at least had the decency to look guilty. "My prince, we talked about this. The seven of you are all on the same team tonight. You're the oldest, so you're responsible for keeping everyone safe, is that clear?"

Bowser started to give a noncommittal shrug; but then his eyes fell on Peach, and after a moment he nodded solemnly. That seemed to be good enough for Kamek, who dropped the barriers and began to usher everyone over towards the altar. "It's nearly time for the magic show, boys and girls. Let's get you all in your places."

Their "places" turned out to be the seven star symbols around the marble slab. The group spent a long while shuffling around, trading spots until Kamek seemed satisfied with their arrangement. In the end, Peach was standing on the pink star, Bowser on one of the blues, and the red and green boys on yellows, alongside the little Yoshi. That just left the gorilla and the pudgy kid – the wizard fretted over them for a long time, before finally throwing his arms up and just sticking them on the last two spaces with a sigh.

Kamek stood in the very center, surveying his handiwork as midnight began to approach. The glow from beneath lit his face like he was telling a scary story by flashlight, and Peach felt herself shivering against a sudden chill. "Alright kids, here we are. Is there anyone who doesn't know what we're doing here tonight?"

Everyone except Bowser and the ape raised their hands, and the wizard nodded his head like he'd expected the outcome. "That's perfectly fine; I'm happy to explain. It's one of my very favorite things to do, you know." With a nervous cough, he polished his glasses and started the tale.

"As most of us know," he began, casting a pointed glance Peach's way, "our world is in pretty bad shape. The Shroobs have taken over the southern continent; they've razed Sarasaland and the Beanbean Kingdom to the ground, and now they're heading north into our lands." He paused to gesture nonspecifically around at the sky. "They've come from up there, somewhere; and there's nothing we can do to fight them."

The wizard pointed down at the altar with his wand, and then whirled it around to indicate each of the seven kids. "Star Power is the only thing that can save us, and yet the Star Spirits refuse to help us! Isn't it selfish, that they should hide in the sky while we all suffer down here?!" He chuckled to himself, but there was no joy behind the laughter. "Here's a fun fact; did you kids know that you're all part Star yourselves?"

"Wait, what is he saying?" Peach asked herself, trying to puzzle out how she could possibly be part Star. "Both of my parents are human, though! Well, Mother was half-Toad, but still…!" By the look of it, the other kids were just as confused as she was.

Kamek shook his head and tried to clarify. "I guess that's a pretty difficult way to phrase it. An easier way would be to say that you each have Stars inside you." That made even less sense – how did they get in there?! Peach put a worried hand on her stomach as the mage continued. "It's likely that each of you was blessed by one of the seven Star Sprits, and so your inner Stars reflect their ideals."

Peach looked down at the pink glyph beneath her feet, trying to remember the stories Toadsworth had told her. Misstar was typically painted as pink, and she was associated with beauty and grace. Maybe Kamek's theory did make a little bit of sense, then? The princess looked around at the other children, wondering which Star Spirits they all represented.

The wizard was already trundling ahead, preventing Peach from pondering the issue. "It's a miracle that I managed to track you all down," he was saying, his voice tinged with exasperated weariness. "I had to go quite far for some of you. Worlds away, in fact…" He eyed the red and green boys as he said this, but they only glared back with quiet defiance. "I hope your parents know the danger they put us all in, trying to spirit you away to… 'Eee-urth,' or whatever it's called."

Kamek went on to explain the details of his plan – how he was going to create a link between the Stars in their bodies and the ones in the sky, and how he was going to use that link to channel wish magic into his own wand. Then, with any luck, he would be able to wish for the Shroobs' destruction, ending them once and for all.

When he was finished, he walked around the circle and traced a final squiggle on each of the kids' foreheads. Some of them were hesitant to be touched, and the pudgy boy wouldn't stop shouting until Kamek bribed him with another handful of coins. When Peach's turn came, she stayed quiet as the mage drew an upside-down star on her face. As soon as it was done, she felt a strange tingling all over her body, like a magical circuit had just been closed around her.

It was past midnight now, and the heavens watched with cold awareness as Kamek took his place atop their altar. The sorcerer raised his wand high, and a pale blue mist began to swirl around the mountaintop. There was no change in the visible sky, but Peach could somehow feel the stars trying to pull away. "They don't want this," she realized suddenly. "This power is theirs to use, not ours to play with."

But it was too late to quit, and the summit erupted with seven pillars of brilliant white light. The mist swirled higher, kicking up stardust in its wake, and the princess felt herself being lifted off the ground. The ritual was underway, and the stars were surrendering to its pull.

All around, Peach could hear the other children whispering in doubt; wanting to get down, to go home, and to set the heavens free. She could hear Bowser laughing madly, and Kamek was shouting in some odd language that she didn't understand. The light grew brighter, the mist swept higher, and the princess' body was pulled rigid as her inner starlight surged.

…And suddenly she could see it all. Like someone had pulled back the curtains on a great stage play, and she could see all the strings and secrets of the world. All the stars, and all the wishes they had never chosen to grant. All the people of the land, and a kind of helpless sadness that she had never known – that she was never supposed to know.

She could see whole other worlds, and perhaps even other times, as easily as flipping the pages in a storybook. Grand castles crumbling in darkness, and rings of spires as pale as milky glass. Pits of deep shadow, and young girls lost in their thoughts all alone. Flashes of joy and boundless love; moments of pain and endless suffering. A thousand eyes of all colors blinked back at her in silence; blue eyes, black eyes, lavender eyes, and weeping eyes tinged a deep, furious red…

…And then the mountainside exploded, and Peach was torn from her visions as she fell to the ground with a yelp. She pushed herself up, spitting stardust from her mouth, and saw that the other children had fallen too. Kamek was shrieking, cursing and shaking his wand at the uncaring sky. All around them, the ground still trembled from the blast.

It was the green-shirted boy who spotted the ships first, warping in over the horizon like a meteor shower lit in violet. They came in every size; from saucers and pods, to cruisers and frigates the size of buildings. Peach and the others watched in stunned silence as the fleet moved in, the saucers' hum filling the night as they swarmed around the mountain like bees.

"They found us," Kamek breathed, still rooted to his spot inside the circle. "How did they find us? How did they know that we'd be here?!" The ships droned ever closer, and the wizard shook off his daze with a frantic yell. "Get back in your places, kids! We have to wrap this up NOW!"

Peach ran back to her star, but it was too late for the power of wishes. The saucers were firing on the summit, and the stone was tearing itself apart in showers of blue debris. The princess felt the magical circuit close again, and saw her feet leave the ground once more, but this time everything felt wrong. The Stars… they weren't yielding anymore.

Kamek had stopped chanting; it sounded like he was begging now, instead. Soon he was screaming, jabbing his wand over and over at the sky. It was a useless effort, and everyone but the wizard seemed to know it. A moment later, with a sad sigh, Peach felt her feet touch back to the shaking ground.

The saucers were everywhere, zipping around so fast that their purple lights made a web against the backdrop of the night. The larger ships had stopped firing after their initial volley, and now they hovered still and soundless in the air, poised as if waiting for something to happen. Staring into their midst, Peach noticed that the saucers' web had a gap in the middle – a single part of the sky that had remained utterly empty…

…And then, with a mechanical roar that sounded like the death of space itself, the gap was filled. In from out of the void warped a dreadnought – a single ship so massive that it could swallow the rest with ease. The fleet's violet light seemed to collapse into nothing as it appeared, before exploding outward in a new aura of hateful, bloody red. The ships screamed together, and the invasion truly began.

Under the mothership's gaze, the pods and saucers turned inward as one, landing in the forests or embedding themselves within the mountainside. Shapes began spilling out of them – waves of purple and grey, all bearing weapons and clambering upwards toward the peak. The seven children stood together at the edge and watched them come. "These are the Shroobs. This is the end of the world."

Back at the altar, Kamek was still fiddling with his runes and rituals, possibly trying to improvise some spell that he could use with what little Star power he'd gained. Peach looked back and forth between him and the climbing horde, unsure of what to do. She felt somebody squeeze her hand, and turned to find the red-shirted boy looking at her with a gentle smile. "I'll protect you, Princess; I promise."

…By the time the Shroobs crested the peak, the seven believed that they were ready. They were the Star Children, right? If they had so much magic inside them, then they could totally handle a few measly space-shrooms, couldn't they?

The aliens rose into view, eyes flashing and fangs bared, hissing to each other in some dry language that sounded like burning leaves. "Look at those ray guns!" the fat boy shouted, indicating the blasters they carried as he hopped around in greedy excitement. "Get me one, you guys! I gotta have a cool ray gun!"

Peach didn't think the guns looked so neat once they started firing, blasts of energy tearing their way across the mountaintop. She felt someone shove her aside, tripping to her knees as the lasers passed overhead. Bowser was running ahead, shrugging off the shots as jets of flame spewed from his mouth. The gorilla, still caged, was pounding the bars in panic and trying to break itself free.

In truth, they were surrounded. There were Shroobs scaling every side of the mountain, and a thousand ships hanging in the sky above. The children fought as well as could be expected, dodging the blaster fire and refusing to give up. The boy in red was riding on the little Yoshi, weaving and fluttering between the aliens. Peach watched as the dinosaur gulped up a Shroob and, with great effort, popped out a purple-spotted egg.

The princess didn't know where to go – she couldn't fight, and escape seemed impossible. She backed up until she stumbled into Kamek, who barely even seemed to notice her. "Save us! Warp us out of here!" she yelled at him, but there was no response.

Suddenly, the sound of desperate crying cut through all the noise. Peach turned to see the green-shirted boy, several yards away and surrounded by Shroobs. They were closing in, claws outstretched, their sunken eyes dark with hate. The boy was wailing in sheer panic, crying out for help – pleading for his big brother.

The other boy heard the call, speeding across the summit as fast as his mount could take him. The Yoshi threw his purple egg and took out a Shroob, but another just took its place. It was a mad dash against time, but the two young heroes were so fast. Closer and closer; just a little bit further…

…But then Kamek twitched up, suddenly alert to the situation at hand. In an instant, he raised his wand and fired it at the boy in red, wrapping him in a magic bubble and blasting him off the Yoshi's back. His eyes were stunned as he floated away, drifting ever further out of reach.

"What was that for?!" Peach shouted, shaking Kamek by the shoulders as she watched the Yoshi scramble back and forth beneath the bubbled child. "Bring him back down right now! He has to save his little brother!"

Kamek shook his head hastily, turning back to watch the younger boy be consumed. "I can't let that happen, Princess. The burst of Star energy released when he dies should be just enough power to let me-"

The whining shriek that interrupted him was something Peach couldn't begin to describe. The green boy was gone, lost in a sea of tearing claws, but the noise hadn't come from him. The princess doubled over in sudden pain, looking up to see the stars begin to blur. It sounded like the sky itself was screaming.

The wizard didn't seem to care – he was firing bolts into the heavens while cackling like mad. He'd clearly gained the power he needed for the plan, but it had come with a cost he didn't understand. The night sky was twisting itself apart, a thing in sheer agony; and when it jerked back to normal, some of the stars were gone.

All around the battlefield, the other kids were experiencing the same agony. The linking ritual was still in play – an invisible web of starlight and suffering that meant the heavens would share their pain; and vice versa, it seemed. A child had just died, but so had something far greater.

Peach staggered to her feet, not wanting to believe that this was real. Drop by drop, it was starting to rain. Peach caught one in her open mouth, and was surprised by how salty it tasted; like saline, or seawater, or… "They're tears," she realized with quickly mounting dread. "The raindrops taste like tears."

Was this part of Kamek's grand plan, or was it something else entirely? The stars were still shuddering, just waiting for the next blow to fall. They didn't have to wait long – the little Yoshi had kept his eyes on the bubble, and so he'd missed the aliens sweeping up behind. They held him down and fired their blasters again and again; and as the lasers flashed the sky screamed anew.

Peach was screaming with it, just barely aware of the happenings around her. The gorilla had finally escaped from its cage, and was beating down Shroobs as it made a desperate beeline for the path down the mountain. The princess watched it go and wished it luck, but all hope of escape was gone from her mind.

Elsewhere, the fat boy had evidently succeeded in grappling a blaster away from the enemy; because now he was riding atop a confused Shroob like a king, firing lasers into the horde and laughing like a maniac. "Wa hah hah hah! Take that, you puny losers!" he yelled, spinning and blasting any alien that tried to get close. "I'm Wario! I'm gonna win!"

Sadly, he didn't win. The boy missed his next shot, and the Shroob he'd aimed for lunged and tackled him to the ground. Lasers kept erupting upwards as the mob swept over him; but soon the laughter turned to panicked shouts, and then it was all drowned out by the howling of the stars.

Nearly half of them were gone now, and whole patches of the firmament had gone as dark as death. The darkness seemed to be bleeding outwards, snuffing out the light in twisting, rippling waves. The sky looked blurred, almost dreamlike, as if it were melting away from within.

…But the heavens weren't the only thing that seemed to be melting. The rain of tears was swirling itself into a squall, blowing across the mountainside in vast sheets of water and salt. Peach and the others were buffeted by it, but the Shroobs were being driven down. To their alien physiology, this was a storm of acid. The saline stained their skin and melted their claws; and slowly, surely, they began to slough apart.

High above, the warships didn't seem to be faring much better. In fact, they seemed to be reacting to the storm in the very same way, their hulls beginning to sag and drip as their violet auras flickered. Even the imposing mothership, in all its droning scarlet glory, was floundering. Pieces buckled and fell away, and the Shroobs onboard tumbled out into freefall, only to shrivel up and vanish in the rain.

Peach watched it happen in awe, but she was torn back to the present by the sound of an explosion. Somewhere below, a melting saucer had fired a single shot into the mountainside, causing fresh tremors as the stars above writhed to pieces in their pain. "They shot the gorilla," she realized as she fought to stand against the madness.

Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed her by the wrist, and the princess looked up to find Prince Bowser beside her with determination in his eyes. "Don't just stand there, we have to get out of here!" He nodded toward the path, now so tantalizingly empty of enemies. "Kamek is useless, so forget him! This is our one chance to escape!"

Peach ran with the Koopa in a half-daze, letting him lead her across the summit. She glanced back to see the Shroobs scrambling after them, tripping in puddles and struggling to aim their lasers as their limbs dripped away. Eventually they fell behind, and the prince and princess started down the pathway together.

The way was narrow, and the dusty ground had become slick with rain. All around her, Peach could hear the dying rasps of her pursuers. She wanted to feel something for them, even a wretched pity; but she didn't think she could do that anymore. This was a war, and all that mattered was surviving the night.

They hadn't gone far when the echo of distraught shouting made her turn back again. Back up the trail, the way they had come, the boy in red was following at a wild sprint. His bubble spell must have worn off at some point, and now he was leaping over rocks and Shroobs alike as he tore a path down to freedom – to her. Here at the end, he was still trying to reach her; to save her.

She saw the laser blast tear up through his chest from below. She saw the light leave his eyes, and watched him fall backward into the alien stampede. Time slowed to a crawl, and she felt the stars collapse in torment as the greatest of their number went out.

Bowser was yanking her by the arm, and soon the chase was back on – there was no time to grieve for a friend that might have been. The children tripped over fallen stars and slid across slippery stones as the path wound ever downward. All around them, saucers plummeted from the sky like molten meteors, impacting the mountain with splattering explosions.

Suddenly, a new kind of noise eclipsed even the wailing of the stars. Peach looked around for the source, and found that it was coming from high above – from the mothership. The flying fortress was shuddering in the air, its aura failing alongside its engines. The noise wasn't that of decaying machinery, however – it was a guttural sound, filled with living rage.

There was… something… forcing its way out through the melting dreadnought's tip, twisting the metal into an obscene snarl as it emerged. The shape was a black silhouette, eldritch and bulbous, and it seemed to unfurl and expand as it dragged itself into the storm. Thrashing hyphae wrapped around the ship like tentacles, mangling it further as they tried to keep a grip. To Peach, the sight was almost hypnotic.

For one fleeting moment, their eyes met across the abyss – baby blue against hellfire crimson. But then a smaller shape fell limply from the hole in the ship, and the abomination turned away as it hurried to catch the thing. Peach watched it cradle the new figure gingerly, almost soothingly, until it must have melted away in the rain.

The great beast, whatever it was, shut its burning eyes and turned to the heavens with a grieving roar. The sound of it pierced planet and sky, echoing throughout the kingdom until even the dying stars fell silent. It lasted until the monster's grip failed, the hyphae slipping free as the thing plummeted off the ship towards certain doom.

The princess wanted to watch it fall, but Bowser was jerking her back to reality. "What are you staring at?! We're not even halfway down the mountain yet; we have to keep moving!" The cruisers were starting to fall now, and their explosions were big enough to shake the entire countryside. At this rate, Shooting Star Summit itself would be lucky to last the night.

A shot rang out, and Peach felt the sizzling of plasma as the laser blast barely missed her. She turned back to see a cluster of Shroobs huddled beneath an overhang, backs against the rock while they took potshots at the escapees. There were more emerging from a crevice nearby, turtled beneath salvaged metal plates that were slowly dissolving in from the edges.

Peach yelled to get Bowser's attention as another shot whizzed past, narrowly missing the both of them. The Koopa prince skidded to a halt as he turned back with a snarl, choosing to fight rather than flee. In one fluid motion, he released the princess' wrist, spun to face backwards up the hill, and let loose with a foe-devouring torrent of flame.

…But in the suddenness of the moment, Peach hadn't had time to pull her arm away. She let out a strangled cry for help, but it was too late – Bowser's fire tore through her, consuming her arm like kindling. She felt the skin searing away; felt the bones crack beneath the heat. She felt her fingers, so delicate and dainty, char and wither to slag. It all hurt so badly that she nearly blacked out, everything forgotten as she tripped back towards the ledge.

Bowser caught her at the edge of the precipice, terror in his eyes as he realized what he'd done. The Shroobs were forgotten as he fretted over her ruined body, trying to put out the fire that had spread to her clothes. "Th-that was bad. Listen, are you okay? Hey – hey! Keep your eyes open, Princess! Stay with me!"

Through cloudy eyes, Peach saw the aliens dragging something out from their little crevice. It must have been a gun from one of the ships, because it looked too big to be any kind of handheld blaster. It was a menacing sight to behold – a cannon with no barrel to speak of; only a pair of glowing mounted rails, thrumming almost visibly with some kind of magnetic force.

She tried to warn Bowser, to make him turn around and see; but no sound escaped her lips. The pain was so great that she couldn't even make herself scream. The prince wasn't paying attention anyway – he thought the threat was roasted and gone. "You can still run, right? I mean, your legs aren't burned at all!" He was shaking her by the shoulders now, desperate and enraged. "Get up already! I'll take you back to my castle and… and…"

Why wouldn't he just turn around? Why couldn't he take his eyes off her for one second and understand?! It was no use - she could only stare past him as the Shroobs assembled their weapon, and then heaved it out into the storm in one last suicidal blitz. She heard the mechanisms charge; watched the dying enemies pivot and take aim…

...The first shot took Bowser in the shoulder, tearing off the very arm he'd been holding her up with. He erupted in a roar of blind fury, sputtering embers as the pain brought him to his knees. The howling only lasted a few seconds, until a second blast took off half his face. For one pitiful instant, the Koopa seemed to pull himself upright, like a marionette trying to stand with cut strings; but then gravity took hold, and he toppled forward over the ledge.

Peach fell with him, pinned beneath the dead weight as his body sagged against her. The world vanished in the wind as they plunged down the mountainside, and the princess knew that she'd be crushed if she couldn't escape the corpse before the impact came.

She twisted aside with the very last of her strength, landing on her back as Bowser kept on tumbling down the slope like some forgotten boulder. The force of it knocked the wind out of her, and she felt the snapping of bone as her legs buckled against the rock. Slowly, she slid down the hillside until she came to rest in a puddle of tears.

…There she lay, burnt and broken as the last of the spacecraft crashed down around her. It hurt too much to move, so instead she just kept still and watched the fading of the sky. In the far distance, she could still see the glow of the mothership, somehow still fighting in spite of it all. She watched as the dreadnought finally lost its long battle, vanishing under the horizon as it crashed down somewhere in the valley below.

Peach's vision was starting to flicker, but she barely even noticed as the darkness crept across her eyes. The blackness in the sky was far scarier than whatever was happening to her. Everything was just… gone. She didn't know what it all meant, but she could feel the emptiness in the very pit of her soul.

Soon, the storm faded away into mist and memory, and the mountain was left in silence again. The battle was over, and so was the war; but could a night like this ever be called a victory? The princess hopelessly scanned the cosmos one last time, gasping despite the pain when she finally saw it.

…There, far overhead and a little way to the east, was a single struggling star. It was a pale little thing, no brighter than a firefly seen from all the way across a meadow. Peach guessed that this tiny star was tied to her – after what she'd seen, it only made sense. This twinkling thing… was hers to save.

An odd thought struck her then – in all the fuss, she'd never made her nightly wish. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she'd been back in her bedroom, listening to her mother's lullaby as she stargazed out the window. She knew now that wishes meant nothing at all.

But still, what else did she have, here at the end? This last star – this one wish – was all she had left to give. Slowly, she closed her eyes and whispered to it in her thoughts. "I wish… that you were strong enough to stay…" The tiny light flickered, doubted… but held on. "Please live, no matter what… Please stay with us…"

With a shallow sigh, Peach turned away. She couldn't bear to see what happened, and it all hurt so much. It was the kind of pain she knew would never go away, no matter how hard she tried. She lay there with her face in the puddle, no longer moving, the salty water mixing with fresh tears of her own.

It hurt all the way to the last.

Kamek dashed into the house, slamming the door behind him and collapsing against the frame in relief. He'd made it back again, and nobody had spotted him yet.

How many days had he been playing this game? Two days, maybe three? It was hard to tell anymore, what with the sky being, well, totally destroyed. The stars were one thing, but the sun and moon had vanished as well. That first non-daybreak had been a shocker for pretty much everyone, that's for sure.

The Mushroom Kingdom was in an uproar – not news, but this time it was even worse than usual. Their princess had been kidnapped, the stars had screamed their way into oblivion, and the land was littered with half-melted space debris.

There were theories, of course – there were always theories. Some of the Toads were calling it an inside job, and there were heated arguments about which chemicals could or couldn't melt such-and-such types of metal. A few folks were even spreading the bedtime story that the Star Spirits had sacrificed themselves for the world. "As if they'd even cared…"

Nobody except Kamek knew the real truth, and he intended to keep it that way. If word got out that he'd caused all this, then they'd turn him into turtle soup before the next non-sundown. He especially couldn't go back to the Koopa Kingdom. His mother was far too shrewd, and she'd probably put the realm on high alert as soon as the prince had gone missing.

…Prince Bowser. He was gone. That thought made the wizard pause, if only for a moment. The prince had possessed a bratty streak, sure; but he was also strong, and brave, and he could have even been honorable with the right training. He would have made an excellent king someday, and Kamek had never intended for this to happen.

The Magikoopa pushed himself to his feet, suddenly feeling decades older than he really was. He would mourn the prince in due time, but for now he needed to focus his efforts on the living. The mage gathered up his little basket of forages and set off through the stolen home.

This was a house at the base of Shooting Star Summit – a cozy old place made of mortar and stone, with a tiled roof painted bright purple. Kamek had found it on the night of the event, empty of occupants but filled with their things. Whoever had lived here, they must have fled the scene when the spaceships began to fall.

The thing was, the house wasn't just filled with the humdrum furniture of some peasant family – it was packed to the brim with magical artifacts. Crystal balls, vanishing chests, talking mirrors and the like; the whole mystic menagerie. There was even a cabinet upstairs filled with Star Pieces – something which would no doubt become a scarcity in the coming days.

Kamek had a pretty good image of the owners – he'd heard through the grapevine that a pair of Shamans lived on this mountain, so this was probably the place. The Shamans were a mage clan who could trace their lineage back to a pair of tribes that had once squabbled over the whole multiverse. Needless to say, they were insufferable to hang out with, and were part of the reason why Kamek had stopped going to magic conventions. Even so, there was no denying that they knew their craft well.

Thanks to them, the wizard had been kept well-occupied during his stay here. There was a modest library downstairs stocked with all manner of rare magical tomes. Beginners' guides to divination, dusty grimoires on dimensional magic, and strange prognostici written in languages he couldn't hope to understand. Some of the books didn't even have titles, which is how you know it's the good stuff.

"I'll have to borrow some of these when I leave," the mage grinned to himself as he passed by the shelves. "Who knows, I might learn something pretty neat."

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of shattering glass in an upstairs room, and then the shrieking of a banshee. Kamek winced at the noise and hurried up to face the music. The little princess was awake, and she must not have been in a very good mood.

He had found her on the mountainside after everything was said and done, torn to pieces and barely breathing. She was the only one left of the seven, and he had brought her inside as a gesture of pity. He hated to guess what had happened to her up there – had she tried to escape? What madness had possessed her to try a thing like that?

The girl's right arm had been the worst of it, putrid and charred down to the bone. The mage had never been very good at healing spells, but he'd spent an hour or two making an effort all the same. It hadn't done much good; but truth be told, he hadn't tried very hard. So what if the girl had a few burn scars on one limb? "Better her than me, am I right?"

She had been scared when she first woke up, crying for her servants and begging to go home. At some point she must have cried herself out, because then she got angry. She'd spent the past day up there screaming bloody murder, and eventually Kamek had gone out foraging just to get away from the noise.

Taking a moment to gather his strength, he entered her bedroom to see what was the matter this time. He immediately spied the source of the shattering glass – it was a vase of daisies that he'd conjured to sit on her bedside table, now laying in shards against the opposite wall. He'd thought that the flowers might keep her calm, but apparently not.

The princess herself was sitting in bed, exactly where he'd left her, staring at him with a sort of hunted suspicion in her eyes. "Wh-what do you want from me? Why are you keeping me here, you…" She trailed off as she caught a glimpse of his basket, her gaze snapping up to meet his own. "…What are those?"

"Wild mushrooms from the mountainside," he offered, holding up the basket of fungi. They had sprouted up in abundance after the storm had passed, so he'd been gathering them up for her to eat. "This is the second batch I've brought you; do you really not remember?"

She watched him for a moment in disbelief, saying nothing, before sagging back against the pillows and turning away. When she finally spoke again, her words were hesitant and unsure, her tone distant. "…You lured us up there to die." She turned back, slowly, to stare at him with hate. "You led us into slaughter, and I'm the only one left…"

Kamek had to interject, because that simply wasn't true. In fact, he had told her as much once before, back at the castle. "I never intended for any of the Star Children to get hurt. You were all supposed to be home by now, safe and sound. That things happened this way is an unfortunate mistake, and…"

But the little girl wasn't even listening; she was too consumed by her own grief-stricken fantasies for that. "I'm the only one you chose to spare…" She savagely pulled the blanket down, exposing her ruined arm to view. "…And now I am this."

With that, she utterly broke down, heaving against the mattress as if trying to sob. "…What have you done to me?" she asked, barely above a whisper. Then suddenly a madness overtook her, and she was lunging across the bed with bloodshot eyes. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!"

She collapsed at the edge, the burst of strength failing her as suddenly as it had come. Kamek caught her before she hit the floor, hoisting her back up and moving to sit beside her. Unsure of what to do, the wizard gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder, watching as she shook with the motions of tears that would not come.

"It'll be okay, Princess. I'm here…" He wasn't sure what had made him say it, but it was still true. The wizard was free to leave at any time, to let the girl die; and yet here he sat, unable to bear the thought. Perhaps it was all in the way Prince Bowser had looked at her that night, or maybe he was simply scared of a life without purpose. Either way, he wanted to make her a promise. "I'll fix all of this, I swear. No matter how long it takes, someday I'll set us both free."

She was silent for a long time, staring at the floorboards as a thousand possibilities played out within her eyes. In the end, she smiled and looked up at him from behind a sugary-sweet mask. "Take me home, then - back to the castle. Fair payment will come in time, but you must never leave my side again." Kamek nodded and squeezed her unburnt hand, not realizing the bargain that he'd just struck.

They left the very next morning, leaving the mountain and all its sorrow behind them. Wherever life's path led them from here, they would face its hardships together. The worst of it all was surely in the past, wasn't it?

…It wasn't, of course. Neither of them knew the depths of this nightmare they'd made, or the ways in which the future would shape them. Someday, a night would come when they'd realize the truth, lost in their own storm as the end of the world came again.

But that's a tale for another time.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12 – S.T.A.R.dust

If there was one thing in the world that terrified Luigi more than ghosts, it was the sight of a transit hub during holiday season.

He'd been the one to argue against this whole crazy plan to infiltrate the Star Festival; and yet here he was, stumbling out of a Warp Pipe and into a merry stampede. The view of it rushed up all at once, gravity twisting against itself to find the new downwards as the walls and floor switched places. The worst thing about pipe travel is getting your bearings at the exit, and Luigi had barely managed before the nearby guards were shooing him out into the crowd.

A second later, the riptide of tourists was threatening to sweep him up and away into the city, so he pushed his way over to some iron railing in an effort to steady himself. Mario and the others would turn up soon, since they'd been right behind him; but in the meantime, Luigi was at the mercy of the swarm. "I can't believe this. Has everybody in the world turned up for this sham of a party?"

It certainly seemed that way, at least. Back home, the yearly Star Festival always brought lots of visitors to the capital, but it was never on a scale like this. People were springing from the floors, spilling from the walls, and generally warping in from every corner of the realm. Between the eager chatter of a thousand different species, and the low, constant 'gyuk-gyuk-gyuk' of the pipes, it was getting hard for Luigi to hear himself think.

This was Pipeline Central – a grand station beneath the streets of Mushroom City, and the main nexus of the kingdom's entire Warp Pipe network. In this land, even the smallest villages typically had a pipe or two – short warps to slightly larger nearby towns, which would have their own pipes to even bigger cities. Like capillaries into veins, it all eventually led back to this: the beating heart of public transportation.

It was a beautiful bed of chaos, and a total labyrinth in every sense of the word. Balconies lined the sides of a soaring concourse, each a terminal for a bay of sleek green tubes. Elsewhere, blue brick tunnels snaked away towards deeper warp zones, offering travel to more distant regions. The main floor was an open expanse speckled with ticket stalls, information booths, and oh-so-many souvenir stands. Somewhere in here, Luigi had heard, there were fancy restaurants and even a shopping mall.

Above it all loomed a single titanic display board – an iconic image for the travelers who passed this way. The thing was a torrent of raw information, constantly updating to show which pipes were in use, where they led, and the most efficient warp routes between major destinations. Alerts flashed by for places like Diamond City, Glitzville, Delfino Plaza, and Jazzafrazz Town. It was almost too much data to take in.

PSA messages crawled along the bottom – safety precautions like "please enter the pipe feet-first!" and "report Piranha Plant intrusions immediately!" There were some stranger ones too, which Luigi couldn't quite parse. "All guests must egress by 11:30 PM," said the board, soon followed by "Starlight gives us purpose."

He was still pondering the message's meaning when someone's hand tapped him on the shoulder. He nearly bolted in panic, until he turned and realized that it was only Mario, who had finally emerged with their friends in tow. None of them were exactly welcome in the Empress' territory, and they were relying on the night's chaos to get them into the city unseen.

Lurking behind Mario was Vivian, who was keeping to the shade and furtively eyeing the passersby. It was odd – despite her shyness, Luigi had never known the siren to be particularly anxious around crowds. (After all, she'd come to Peach's gala by herself; and Mario said she'd been a regular butterfly at the bazaars back in Rogueport). "I can't blame her for being cautious," he pondered as she glared out from behind her shredded hair. "She's still shaken from that night in Twilight Town."

Yoshi was standing off to the side, and a certain familiar chill let Luigi know that Lady Bow was nearby as well. That was it for their group – the resistance members were in some kind of system, so pipe travel was off-limits for them. They'd be coming in from Moonview Highway by truck, and they'd all rendezvous somewhere out in the city. Truth be told, Luigi was a bit envious of them for managing to bypass this place.

"So, are you guys hyped for a night of safe and totally inconspicuous partying?" Yoshi remarked, prompting the five to huddle up if they wanted to discuss their real plans. In a place this packed, there was no telling who might be listening in.

"I'm sure it'll be crazy out there, but remember why we're here," Mario nodded, dropping his voice to barely a whisper. "Princess Peach is somewhere in this city, and we're not gonna leave without her."

"Let's not forget about E. Gadd's invention," Luigi reminded, talking about the stellar reactor they'd all been tasked with retrieving. A machine that could transmute fuel into Star power was much too dangerous to be left in villainous hands. "We still have no idea why they even stole it, and that doesn't sit well with me."

Vivian nodded and flashed the others a bright smile. "I'll do my best out there! After tonight, there won't be anything left to worry about. The bad guys will all be gone, and life can finally get back to normal." Even as she said it, Luigi noticed that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

With that, the heroes broke their huddle and fell back in step with the tourists, preparing for their long shuffle towards the surface. The exit was at the far end of the concourse – a line of ramps and escalators which sloped up and far out of sight. The tunnel walls were painted a metallic green, giving visitors the impression of one last pipe before they emerged into the city above.

Luigi kept his eye on the crowd as he inched along, still astonished by the number of people to answer the Empress' invitation. A nearby family of Bob-ombs kept him from jostling too much, lest a collision set them all off. Elsewhere, slower creatures had piled atop Wigglers as if they were shuttles; and Goombas had formed stacks to give themselves a larger, less-squishable presence. Squeeks scurried and hopped across peoples' heads, cutting line and showing off at the same time. There was a liveliness in the air that hadn't been felt in this world for twenty years.

Eventually, the group made their way through to the final checkpoint - a loose line of guards standing before the escalators, sizing up the arrivals before waving them on into the tunnel. Luigi hurried to avert his eyes, partly from caution but mainly by instinct. In the end, he looked back up when a large and ominous shadow passed overhead.

The light in this part of the hall was eclipsed by an enormous technological structure hanging from the ceiling. It was a sort of inverted bulb that jutted downwards from above, connected to the higher balconies by a single suspended catwalk. The thing was looped by a ring of windows, revealing the blinking lights of machinery housed within.

This was the station's primary control room, from which all of Pipeline Central was managed. Activity could be monitored, lines could be rerouted, and the whole system could even be powered down in case of absolute emergency. Such a thing had never happened in the terminal's history, not even during the storied Nipper Plant plague of '88.

Mario and Luigi had been inside that room once, long ago and back in their own timeline. They had been called in to inspect some issue, and it had been awkward to explain their lack of expertise. They had been plumbers for a time back on Earth, but the sewer systems there weren't usually equipped for magical transport.

…And then, suddenly, the shadow was gone; and Luigi looked down to see that they'd passed the checkpoint. They had been let into the city, and now the celebration awaited them outside. One by one, the heroes stepped onto the escalator and let it sweep them away. (Vivian opted for the ramp, because the toothy stairs didn't want to play nice with her shadowy tail).

Somewhere up there, the grand finale of their adventure was waiting. There was a light at the end of this tunnel, and they were all being carried up to meet it.

It had taken them hours to find a street corner quiet enough for this meeting, and Mario was becoming anxious for things to get underway.

The whole group was gathered on the patio of a quaint downtown coffee shop, far away from the noise and frenzy happening in the main boulevards. Navigating that party had been an epic adventure all by itself – a trek through food courts and carnival tents, past flash mobs and karaoke competitions. Every plaza and park was its own themed world, with games to play and a soundtrack of the kingdom's hottest celebrity bands.

Even here, the wild dance music could still be heard echoing between the buildings. Glass lanterns shaped like Star Bits were strung between the streetlights and across every intersection, lighting up the night with a dreamlike aura of green, red, and gold. It had been blinding at first; but as Mario's eyes had adjusted, the sky beyond had begun to show through. The city was bright and lively, but it was quite a thin façade that kept the darkness hidden.

But it was quieter here, if only a bit; so the Amanita Resistance was using the peace to prepare itself. Rowf had pulled his truck up to the sidewalk, and now he and Luigi were in the process of unloading the few supplies the Doogan had managed to smuggle in.

Meanwhile, Goombella was instructing Toad and Toadette on how to fly the surveillance drones they had brought from the base. Toadette seemed to be getting the hang of it, but Toad's copter lifted off and promptly smashed into a lantern, bursting the both of them in a shower of sparks.

"Good job, little dude," Goombella encouraged, not even bothering to turn around. Toadette's screen was displaying an awesome aerial view of a Sal Out concert happening in a nearby park, and both of the girls were enraptured.

Mario, for his part, was pacing back and forth in silence, eager to start making headway toward the palace. He could see it looming in the distance, an immense walled district in the center of the city which overshadowed everything else. Pale spires scraped the sky like frozen spears, searchlights shining up from their tips like beacons. "Everything we need is beyond those walls, and somehow we have to get inside…"

He turned away with a restless sigh, unable to keep looking at the structure without feeling taunted by it. Instead, he walked over to a dark corner across the patio, where he found Vivian sitting on a bench and sipping on a drink. "What have you got there, Viv?" he asked curiously, hoping to bring the girl out of her shell with casual conversation.

"It's a Splunkin spice latte; you want a sip?" she answered with a wink, scooting over to give Mario space to sit beside her. He politely obliged, but kept his distance all the same. Vivian had been acting colder to the others lately, but she was suddenly much flirtier towards him. She'd even kissed him outright that night on Twilight Trail. It had been… confusing, and the hero still wasn't sure how he felt about the change.

"Just one little taste? C'mon, it's creamy and warm~" the siren offered again, and Mario shook his head a bit too hastily. There was something off about all this, he decided. Not the flirtiness – that was strange, but not entirely unpleasant – but rather the drink itself. Vivian had never been fond of coffee; he remembered that from their day at the markets together.

"You're not acting like yourself," he pressed gently, causing her to glance awkwardly away. "You know you don't have to hide around me, right? We've always helped each other out of the darkness, you and I." Vivian squinted warily and shrank back into the shadows; but before either of them could speak again, they were being beckoned back over to the group.

"I'll reckon we're nearly ready to roll out," Rowf was saying as he leaned against a table and waited for the others to gather around. Goombella and the Toads pulled up chairs, and Bow materialized in the air by the shade umbrella. "Let's wait five minutes for the dinosaur, and then we can head for the palace."

The only one missing was Yoshi, who had wandered off to find something fruitier than coffee to snack on. He returned soon after the announcement, holding a plastic cup with a Pianta on the side. "Hey Mario, guess what? You remember that guy with the juice trolley from the Star Festival back home?" he asked eagerly, showing off his beverage. "In this world, he managed to get himself franchised!"

Mario looked closer, recoiling as he was hit by the unmistakable smell of pineapple eggnog. "Mama Mia, this really is the darkest timeline."

Now that everyone was here, there was little else standing in the way of the team and their goals – only a citadel filled with guards, and its impenetrable outer wall. That, plus a certain hooded wizard that they might possibly end up battling, but that was an encounter they were all hoping to avoid. "So, is everyone clear on their roles?" the Doogan asked, prompting everyone to stay focused. "All nine of us have to be on-point, or else this plan is gonna fall apart faster than a pummeled Pokey."

"Luigi and I will go on ahead and sneak into the palace," Mario confirmed, earning a nod from his brother. They were more agile than the others, and could travel quickly by alleyways and rooftops. "Once we're inside, we'll find a way to open the gates for the rest of you."

"And I need to be with you," Vivian added with a peculiar giddiness, "in case you need my shadow powers to sneak underneath the big wall. It'll be easy-peasy; I promise I'll get you guys inside, right where you need to be!"

Toadette chipped in next, eager to please. "When we all get there, Toad and I will use the drones to locate Princess Peach and the S.T.A.R. thingy." She kept going, showing that she'd memorized everyone else's roles as well. "Then Goombella and Mr. Rowf will find a way to disassemble the machine; and Mr. Yoshi will be their backup, in case any enemies try to make trouble!"

"And I suppose I'm just lucky to be here," Bow huffed, floating a little bit higher. She was the only one without a defined part to play, and she'd been snarking about that since back in Rogueport. It wasn't easy for her, not being the center of attention.

Mario was still thinking about what Vivian had said a moment earlier. She seemed almost excited for the chance to use her powers; but hadn't she been scared of the shadows since they'd arrived in this world? There was something afoot here that went beyond any kind of trauma.

He decided to try an experiment – a little test of character that he'd made up on the spot. He ushered the siren over to one side and leaned in as if to speak with her privately. "Do you still have those Power Rush badges we got at the Pianta Parlor? They'll come in handy if we get into a tight situation with the guards."

"Oh yeah, totally!" she replied, giving him a smile and a mirthless giggle. "Those soldiers will think twice about hitting us, once we hit back twice as hard!"

Mario kept his expression calm, but inside his heart was sinking with dread. Everything about this was completely wrong. They had gotten Pretty Lucky badges together, and they had been bought from Ms. Mowz's shop with the last of their coins. Vivian knew both of those things, which meant that this wasn't Vivian, at least not as he knew her.

His head was swimming with possibilities, each less pleasant than the last. "Did the Twilighters brainwash her somehow? Is she being possessed? Is this some kind of Duplighost… or something else entirely?"

He didn't have much time to think, because suddenly Luigi was calling to him. The planning phase was over, and it was time for the mission to begin. Mario adjusted his hat and hurried to catch up, resolving to keep a close eye on Vivian until he'd figured this out.

For now, though, he would follow the path that had been set for him. With a last shared glance back at their friends, the brothers and the siren raced off into the night.

Princess Peach sighed in indignant boredom as she watched the lights from her tower window. Whatever was happening out there in the city, it looked to be the spectacle of the century.

The Empress had explained all about her plans for a Star Festival revival, that night atop the main spire; but to be honest, Peach hadn't believed a word of it. Surely nobody would come to such an event in a world without stars, right? Well, evidently she had been wrong, because the distant horizon was a jumping mosaic of colors and light.

It was an enchanting sight, but the princess was more concerned with what was happening up on the palace walls. For days on end, builders and technicians had been swarming those marble cliffs like ants, hauling up bits of machinery and linking them into some great silver array of floodlights and solar panel cells. It was a monstrous, meandering sort of thing, and Peach wondered if it looped the entire citadel.

Even now, at the height of the supposed festival, there were worker-specks up amongst the machinery, adjusting the angles and testing the systems. Warning lights flashed in periodic bursts, and a few times Peach heard the faraway wail of an alarm. She saw the specks scramble back and forth to fix the issues, and hoped the machines blew up in their faces.

She shook her head and turned away, tired of watching the skyline like she did every night. Maybe she'd try to get some sleep, or perhaps plot another escape attempt. The guards had taken her pile of moldy dolls after the last incident, so there'd be no more using them for surprise ambushes.

…She'd no sooner climbed in bed than a troop of armored spearmen burst into the room, once again not even bothering to knock. At this point, Peach could only sigh and throw her arms up as they surrounded her, forming a tight ring as they lifted her to her feet. "What is it this time? Does my counterpart want me to watch fireworks with her while she threatens me?"

One soldier stepped forward and grabbed her wrist, answering in perfect monotone. "Not tonight, Princess - you are going to the ritual site. Our kind Empress is ready to leave this world, and so it's time at last for her rebirth."

Peach's blood suddenly ran ice cold, and she barely noticed as her captors dragged her out into the hallway. This was it – the night that it all ended for her, a promise finally fulfilled. "She's going to steal my body, and this is all the preparation I get? Not even a last meal; just a 'come on, let's go?'" Something about that made it all seem even less fair.

She'd gone from hoping for rescue to attempting escape; she'd faced her fears and her own twisted mirror self. She'd even risked her life to send a message to her friends, but now it seemed like all her efforts meant nothing. In just a little while, she would merely be a vessel for another woman's soul. She'd been possessed before, but this wasn't like possession. It was a one-way transference of spirit; and when the process was done, she would simply be… gone.

She snapped back to reality when her escort shoved her into the iron lift, pinning her against the bars as the cage began to shudder painfully down the tower. In the distance, she had a perfect view of the mothership spire, glowing violet-red and thrumming with restored power. She gasped aloud when she saw what state the thing was in.

The Empress' servants had been piecing the ruined ship back together, bit by bit, for as long as Peach had been a prisoner here. Looking at it now, it seemed almost entirely whole again – a skyscraper that could become a dreadnought with but a simple ignition. Suddenly, the princess had an image of it shattering the sky with a deafening mechanical roar. The mangled, half-melted tower had transformed into something out of a true nightmare.

Way up at the very tip, still as gnarled as it had always been, the glass sphere pulsed with a golden glow. Peach recalled the spinning starburst behind the glass – the "instrument of celebration," as her counterpart had called it. With her eyes, she traced the blue wires down from their nest beneath the machine, across the plazas and down the streets for miles, until finally they joined with the silver snake atop the outer wall.

"It's going to be a magnificent ship, after the refueling is finished," a soldier said from over Peach's shoulder, answering all of her unspoken questions. "I'd love to see the look on your face when we take it through to your world. It's a pity you'll be gone by then, huh?"

And there it was – the plan, all laid out and easy to grasp. Once the massive ship had been given fuel, it would be an instrument of invasion once again. The people of her timeline would be utterly defenseless if this thing appeared in their sky. This was a relic from a war that had never even been fought over there. It would be… the end of the world in a single night.

Peach let out an involuntary sob as the tower sank from view behind the nearby buildings. She didn't want to see it anymore, but she felt as if she shouldn't look away. It was a monument to the victory of a truly tortured woman, who had finally managed to win in spite of it all. Unless…

"Mario, wherever you are," the princess whispered to herself as the lift touched down at last, "if you still care about me at all, please come quickly…"

Somewhere outside the city, an uninvited guest was measuring the skyline with a crimson stare. A nervous army lurked among the rocks below, waiting for his signal.

"Just look at that view, Kammy," the Koopa King said, indicating the whole metropolis with a sweeping wave of his arm. "Those chumps are having the time of their lives in there. They have no idea what's about to happen – the total destruction we're gonna bring…"

The old witch nodded as she floated beside him, looking almost as eager as he currently felt. "It will certainly be a night for the history books, my lord. They'll be singing songs of your bravery for generations to come." She cast a glance back down toward the riverside, where everyone else was hidden. "You've certainly done a lot for the Koopas of this timeline…"

"Yeah I have, haven't I?" Bowser answered with a swell of pride. "When we take the palace, they'll have the keys to this whole dang world. A Koopa Empire sounds pretty awesome, don't you think?" His grin fell a bit when he thought about the implications. "I'll almost hate to bail on this place once we get Princess Peach back, but it has to be done. I mean, if I'm gonna rule a world, it's gotta be a fresh one; not this one that's all ugly and trashed."

"I suppose that is the way of things," Kammy said with a sage nod. "In the meantime, we should probably go prepare the troops for battle." Bowser grumbled in agreement – after all, they had a lot of work to do tonight.

The ragtag little army was stationed down beside the bay, huddled in the shadow of the great Mushroom Bridge. The steel structure hung low overhead, shielding them from watchful eyes within the city. It wasn't the most dignified place to be preparing for battle, but Bowser understood his minions' concerns. They were shellbacks in enemy territory, and hiding under things came to them by instinct.

In spite of that, the king was pleased with how far his new recruits had come in the past few weeks. When they'd set out from the Koopa Kingdom, they had barely known how to march or throw hammers; but once they'd gotten down to business with a few high-intensity training montages, they had shown a truly surprising level of skill.

He wasn't about to let them off easy, though – the stakes were far too high for that tonight. Princess Peach was stuck somewhere inside that city with her crazy evil double. If Bowser couldn't reach them and set everything right, then this had all been for nothing. "This is my night, you hear? There's no way I'm letting those plumbers steal the glory this time."

Trudging down the hillside, he made his way beneath the bridge to give the big announcement. His troops were milling about in the shadows, having quiet conversations or painting war emblems onto their shells with river mud. Some Lakitus were busy fluffing their clouds into shape, while a group of Shy Guys practiced acrobatic drills in the background. All in all, it looked less like a gathering of warriors, and more like really dingy carnival troupe.

But there was no confusion or delay when their leader appeared - everyone snapped to attention and scurried into perfect formation. In moments, the rabble faded out and the air hung thick with anticipation. Some of them had been waiting for this night their entire lives, after all.

"So, we made it to the party," the king began, stomping to the edge of a nearby boulder and scanning the faces in the crowd. He saw uncertainty in a few of their eyes, but many just looked excited for the fun to begin. "They say everyone in the kingdom got invited to this shindig; but I haven't seen my invitation! Who knows, maybe I missed it; but what about you guys? Raise your hand if the Empress said she wanted you here!"

Nobody moved to raise their hands, and there was a soft chorus of bitterness at the mere mention of Empress Toadstool. Bowser had made hundreds of these rallying speeches in his time, so he knew his cue to keep going. "If we're not supposed to be here, then that makes us gatecrashers! Honestly, that sounds way more fun to me anyway! So how about it, troops; who's ready to smash down some gates?!"

There were a few open cheers at this point, and Bowser saw his elite Koopatrols watching the newbies with keen interest. "Some of you are old pros at this gala-wrecking thing, but not everybody was here for the classics. If this is your first Star Festival, then lemme tell you how this is gonna work. It's your very last tutorial, so listen up!"

He turned to Kammy, who drew her wand and muttered some magic under her breath. After a few seconds, a ghostly projection of Princess Peach appeared within the river fog. "This lady here is more important than all of you shmucks combined. If you see her, bring her to me at all costs!" The misty vision swelled out, bloating into a cartoonish caricature of itself. "But if you see this thing, don't hesitate to attack!"

A few jeers went up as the Koopas recognized the face of their enemy, and a couple of Shy Guys had started throwing rocks into the mist. As much as Bowser wanted to encourage their rage, he still had one more vital lesson to teach. He turned to prompt Kammy, but she was busy making her smoke puppet Empress dance for the crowd.

He gave her an expectant growl, so she rolled her eyes and hurried to switch the image. The fog swirled into a pair of shoddy stick figures wearing red and green hats, and Bowser decided that it was a perfect representation. "If you happen to see a couple of mustached goofuses hopping around, you have to report it immediately. They're always nearby, with nothing better to do than get in my way."

He didn't want to overload his followers with backstory, so he let the presentation end there. The shapes in the mist swirled away, and the riverside returned to stillness for a few more moments. There was a restlessness growing in the heart of every Koopa, and everyone knew that the time for talk was nearly over.

"Nobody in there is expecting us, but that won't keep 'em from fighting back." Bowser pointed to the little supply area where he had kept the chest of Power Stars. "We've got a few minutes of invincibility stashed in there, but we're saving that until the very end. Until we hit the palace gates, we're on our own, understood?" There were a few anxious nods, and that was good enough.

"Gra ha ha har! I guess that's it, then!" the king laughed, taking a step backwards and out into the starless night. His loyal minions marched after him as one, the rhythmic beat of their footsteps echoing out across the water. Koopatrols donned their helmets as Magikoopas mounted their brooms. Bowser heaved the Star chest up over his shoulder and turned to face the city, obscuring the skyline with a rousing blast of flame.

"I know you've all been dying to hear me say these words," he shouted back into the wind, "so here it goes! KOOPA TROOP, ATTACK!"

"It's pretty weird, isn't it?" Luigi whispered from a spot in the bushes somewhere nearby. "So many people are dancing out there, but it feels like nobody is moving." Mario gave his brother a questioning glance, but Luigi just shook his head. "It's like the whole city is holding its breath, except nobody actually is..."

Mario realized that he knew the feeling, even if he'd never really thought about it before. There was a calm before every storm, and seasoned adventurers could sense that stillness in their souls. "Big things are about to happen, Luigi; but we'll pull through just like we always do."

The heroes had made their way further into the city, and were now at the outskirts of a field called Enoki Park. It was hosting several festival events this evening, from a wild rave at the far end, to a modest bake sale nearby. There were guards patrolling the area, so Mario and the others had ducked into the bushes to keep hidden.

It was much easier to see the palace from here, with fewer skyscrapers standing in their way. The white towers rose high behind their curtain wall, stabbing at the sky for miles in either direction. There were unseen lights shining on the spires from below, giving them the appearance of shimmering crystal glass.

During the approach, Mario had noticed one tower that stood high above the others, and which seemed to be glowing twice as bright. Light poured from the tip like a radiant starburst; a single golden supernova against the void. He'd pointed it out to Luigi and Vivian, and they'd all generally agreed to make it their destination. If the princess and her counterpart were inside the citadel, they'd be up there for sure.

Mario shifted his gaze toward Vivian, observing her as subtly as he could. Right now, she was staring at the faraway beacon with no hint of emotion, whispering almost inaudibly to herself. "…still don't understand why it needs to be right there. It's too bright like this… Much too bright…"

Sooner or later, he was going to have to confront her about all this, and he wasn't looking forward to that time. If the siren was being possessed or controlled, he would find some way to break the spell. If this was an imposter… if the real Vivian had been hurt in any way… well, he didn't even want to think about that painful possibility.

But that was an issue for later, when this mission was behind them. For now, all he could do was watch her closely, protect Luigi, and be on his guard. She seemed to be on their side for the time being, but there was no telling when that might change.

Suddenly, the soldiers were moving off across the field, going to break up a scuffle that had broken out between some Boomboxers in the mosh pit. Luigi tapped him on the shoulder, but Mario was already pushing himself to his feet. He'd seen the signs for himself - the way was clear, and this was their signal to get moving.

The two brothers set off on the stealthiest path across the field, with Vivian trailing lazily after them. They passed the bake sale and a Pizza Dinosaur concession stand, and then snuck around the back of a sea-blue tent marked 'Gigi and Merri's Festival Rest Area.' They traveled quickly, and soon they were on the far side of the park, alone except for some Toad and Goomba kids playing in a splash pad fountain.

…And a single grey iron solider, standing at the sidewalk and keeping an eye on the scene. Luigi took a step too far into the plaza, wandering straight into the figure's flickering field of vision. Mario could only grimace and pull Luigi back as the guard lifted his spear and began to approach.

"Hey, you there," the soldier called out, his voice laced with suspicion as his weapon gleamed in the lantern light. "Let me get a good look at you. I swear you're pretty familiar, guy. In fact, you look just like one of the fugitives on the wizard's list…!"

Tendrils of gossamer shadow were snaking up like weeds through cracks in the concrete, their ends fanning out into reaching, grasping hands. "Wait, what's the meaning of thi-" he began, but the phantom arms cut him off as they shot out to wrap around his waist and shoulders. Instantly, he was plunged beneath the shadows and forgotten, and the hands retreated as quickly and silently as they had come.

Mario and Luigi could only look to each other in bafflement, and things only got spookier when they noticed Vivian sneaking up behind them with a mischievous grin. "Wow, you guys almost screwed everything up. I guess you're lucky that I'm always here to help~"

Luigi was sputtering in shock, looking back and forth between the girl and the pavement where their enemy had vanished. "Hold on, so you can pull people into the shadows from a distance?" Mario kept silent, but he was just as eager to hear her answer.

It wasn't the explanation he'd been hoping for, though. "Um, of course I can? I've always been able to do that, silly." Mario must have looked a bit too skeptical, because Vivian's grin fell when their eyes met. "…Or have I not? Maybe it's a new power, and I just leveled up without anyone noticing…?" It was a flimsy excuse, and she knew that he knew it.

…But before things could escalate any further, they were all pulled back to awareness by the sounds of screaming children. Mario looked up at the splash fountain, only to see the kids scattering every which way, back into the park or off down the street. At first, he assumed they'd been scared by Vivian's shadow hand attack; but that didn't explain why the rave music had stopped in the background, or why everything was starting to shake…

There was shouting in the distance, and the sounds of breaking glass and car alarms. Poor Luigi was starting to look positively stricken by it all. "Uh oh, Mario," he whimpered as the yelling got ever closer. "There's a flash mob coming; I can feel it in my bones."

He was right, but at the same time he was terribly wrong. Silence fell for one last, desperate moment; and then all hell broke loose. A few blocks away, a rioting crowd exploded from around a corner, chanting war cries and smashing windows as they surged up the street like a tsunami.

"Oh stars, we don't need this. What in the world is happening over there?" Mario asked himself as the tide of mayhem kept right on coming. Somewhere in the city, the festivities must have finally broken down. "They're headed straight for the palace," he realized with sudden horror – he couldn't exactly blame these people for wanting to revolt, but the last thing the heroes needed was more activity at the palace gates.

It wasn't until the first Lakitu whizzed by that Mario realized something far stranger was happening. The gust of wind nearly blew his hat off, so he leapt back to watch the mob from a safer vantage. He couldn't quite believe his eyes – it was a familiar sight, but something he'd never expected to see while he was here in this world.

They were Koopas – hundreds, maybe even thousands of them, swarming through the city with plain fury in their eyes. The ground was a violent sea of shells in every color, and Magikoopas blitzed the buildings with spell-blasts from above. There were Shy Guys, too - hordes of the little mischief-makers were scurrying around between the troops, flinging trash and generally roughing up any spot that the others had missed.

Even as the first group continued to approach, a second wave burst into view in the distance, traveling down a parallel street. Partygoers were fleeing ahead of them in droves; and once or twice, Mario thought he saw the telltale orange glow of fireballs reflected against the skyscraper glass. "No, this isn't just a riot. This is a bona fide invasion."

"…Why is this happening?" Luigi asked in an urgent whisper, taking another step back as the mob reached the plaza and began to fan out. "The history books I read said that the last Koopas fled up into the mountains, never to be seen again!"

"I guess they were just biding their time," Mario answered with an equally-urgent shrug. These uninvited guests were about to put their whole plan in peril! "Listen, we have to get to the citadel before these guys do. Get set, Luigi, because it's time for a speedrun!"

The younger brother gave a nod of understanding, kneeling down in preparation for the sprint of a lifetime. Sadly, this newest idea was doomed to failure before it had ever even begun – a trio of flying Paratroopas swept down from nowhere, claws outstretched and ready to snatch them up and away.

Mario felt himself plunging into Vivian's shadowy abyss, and looked up to see one of the Paratroopas do a truly epic faceplant into the pavement where he'd been. Luigi was far less lucky; he could only kick and scream as the other two winged creatures grabbed his arms and effortlessly lifted him into the sky. "Mario, where did you go?! Help me, bro…!"

Mario was helpless to watch as his little brother vanished between the skyscrapers. He wanted so badly to swim for the surface, and to escape the sudden chill; but he was utterly powerless in this realm. The world passed him by as he floated behind a fog, and Luigi's panicked shouts became steadily quieter, until finally they were gone.

The shadows spat him out a few seconds later, back in the bushes and away from the chaos. Being down there this time had felt nothing like Vivian's usual gentle embrace, but he didn't really have time to think about that right now. The Koopa tsunami was gaining valuable ground; and now Luigi was being abducted, to boot!

"Gee, that sure was a close one," the siren remarked as she emerged from below, not even trying to sound sincere anymore. "I guess it's down to just the two of us now, isn't it? You know, they always say that three's a crowd~"

Mario just ignored her, having no patience for this imposter's weird games anymore. If his Vivian were here, she'd be supportive and understanding, and would help him to think up a new plan. The "Vivian" that he was stuck with only seemed good for making snarky quips and veiled threats that were way more transparent than she thought.

This was a very bad situation, and there weren't many options. He could never hope to keep pace with the airborne reptiles on foot, and he didn't have time to get up to the rooftops in order to chase them from there. He had no power-ups to use, and the Lakitus with their clouds had long since flown off. All he had was a steady stream of ordinary Koopas, and they couldn't provide him with anything except… Except…

"Mama Mia, that's it! I DO have a way to pick up speed!" Wasting no time, Mario vaulted into the air, and then landed hard on the nearest Koopa Troopa to pass underfoot. The startled solider gave a yelp and retreated into his shell, falling dormant to the curb as the rest of his comrades trundled right on by.

Mario reached back to pick up the shell, sweeping it into his arms as he set off across the plaza at a breakneck sprint. He veered this way and that, dodging the outlying enemies as he made his way toward the heart of the swarm. The splash pad was straight ahead and coming up fast, so the hero adjusted his speed accordingly – he had to time this maneuver perfectly, or he'd end up stranded and soaked.

In one fluid motion, he tossed the shell down and leapt aboard, just as the central geyser burst into life. In an instant, man and turtle were launched skyward by the pressurized jet, their momentum carrying them up and over the crowd toward the empty streets beyond. One or two Koopas looked up and pointed at the stylish display; and when the shell landed, it took off careening down the avenue like a rocket.

Mario had never quite grasped why Koopa shells were so slippery; but when they were kicked or thrown, those babies could slide for miles. Long ago, he knew how to surf atop them like a pro; but he had sort of lost that skill over time, mainly from disuse. "Hopefully, it's one of those things you never truly forget, like how to drive a go-kart."

He heard Vivian screaming after him, racing to catch up in a sudden frantic fury. "W-wait, where are you going?! You can't just leave me here by myself!" The imposter was still playing to his sentimentality, but her attempts were getting feebler by the word. "Get back here! I made a promise to get you safely inside the palace! Isn't that important to you?! I said get back here!"

There were shadowy hands erupting from the pavement, trying to snare the shell and trip Mario to the curb. But he was moving too fast, and she wasn't leading her shots – before long, he had pulled far ahead and left her behind. With any luck, it meant he'd have time to focus on finding Luigi.

The city lights were whooshing past in in a dreamy rainbow blur, and Mario tried his best to keep up speed as he leaned left and right to veer around obstacles in the road. He slipped up a couple of times; and as the shell ricocheted like a pinball, he felt truly sorry for the little creature trapped inside.

Grey soldiers were spilling into view by this point, rushing from their posts in response to the Koopa threat. Mario couldn't see the invaders themselves, but he could definitely hear them all around, still making chaos in the parallel streets. He finally caught a glimpse of the horde as he passed an intersection, surging in the direction of the palace gates.

He crouched down in an effort to speed himself up, even if only just a little bit more. He still hadn't seen Luigi, and the end of the line was getting scarily close. If he wanted to have any chance of success, he'd need to head the army off at the pass. A spearman was standing in the way, so Mario hooked an arm around his weapon and used it to swing into a sharp turn. If he kept going down this new street, he'd meet them just before the end…

The gates were looming directly overhead by now – the foreboding entrance to the Empress' walled inner city. Banners hung from the mighty marble slabs, deep violet and displaying that awful mushroom sigil that looked too much like a skull. Over the walls and beyond, the spires' searchlights were panning down to cast their wary gaze out into the coming madness.

…Too soon, the last few civilian buildings were peeling into the background, and there was nothing left between Mario and the palace except a grand moat and the Koopa swarm itself. Enemies from all factions were pouring into the scene from every side, filling the courtyard and piling the excess onto a great stone bridge that spanned the lake – the last straightaway before the citadel.

A call for help echoed down across the water, and the shell-rider snapped to attention immediately. The Paratroopas were descending from out of the night, carrying Luigi on an intercept course toward the army on the bridge. The space between the brothers was choked with foes; but all Mario had to do was leap the guardrail, and he could surf out across the moat and bypass them all.

…That's when he spied the hulking figure out on the expanse, leading the charge with great lumbering steps. The bony spikes of a monstrous green shell flashed in the light of a hundred fresh fires. "It can't be… The version of him from this world died years ago, right?" But there was no mistaking the shape of that shell, the heat of that flame, or the sound of those furious roars. Somehow, Bowser himself was here with them, worlds away in the heart of enemy territory.

He had to know why; but before he could ask, a sudden impact threw him head-over-heels into confusion. Mario had taken his eyes off the path, and so he'd plowed straight into the fence he'd meant to leap. The shell bounced backwards, tearing off through the crowd and scattering those in its way. On the other hand, its rider tumbled over the railing and fell like a stone into the lake.

But it wasn't water that he splashed down into at the end of his fall. Mario opened his eyes to find himself swimming in shadow, and realized that a certain someone must've snatched him in midair. He could feel the siren's tendrils around his ankles, and could hear her cold laughter echoing in all around him.

"Who are you?!" he yelled out into the abyss, finding courage in the sudden stillness that fell when he said those words. "I know you're not her! I've known it for a long time, because the real Vivian would never act the way you have!" It was true, so how had he ever been fooled by this creature who was so unlike her? Vivian was kind, compassionate, and trusting; and he had failed her in every way.

The silence turned to screams before he'd even finished speaking; and suddenly the false siren was there, grappling with him in the darkness. Her eyes had taken on a kind of wildness, sharply focused and filled with malice. She was scratching and tearing at him all over, even as the shadows pulled back and they shot up toward the surface together.

When they burst through the pavement and back into reality, it took Mario a minute to realize where they'd ended up. His back was to the palace gate; but the moat was gone, and so were the Koopas and his brother. Before him was a stark and alien landscape of white towers and blue wires – he was beyond the wall, and he wasn't alone.

Mario stood up on shaky legs, turning to regard his new audience with the last of his determination. He had emerged into a ring of grey soldiers, all standing as quiet and still as iron candles in the gloom. Slowly, their spears lowered into the circle as one, sending Mario a very clear message: this was a battle that he could never win.

"They were expecting me to be here," the hero came to realize, noticing how none of them had been surprised to see him arrive. "They were waiting for me in this very spot. It was that imposter's plan all along…" He'd been on guard, but she'd trapped him in the end, all the same.

Now, she was standing there across the circle, holding one arm while she glared daggers at him from behind her matted bangs. She was breathing rapidly and shallowly, and from far away it almost looked like she was crying. Neither of them spoke for a very long time.

"I… AM the real Vivian," she finally spat, referring to what he'd said back down in the void. "Don't you dare compare me to that timid little thing that followed you here." She closed her eyes and balled her shaking hands into fists. "She makes me so sick; always humming and stuttering, and pining for you when your back is turned…"

She broke into a sneer, and began to mockingly twiddle her fingers together. "She's like, 'Oh, how I wish Mario would, um, please notice me; so we can, um, be together…'" The impression soon broke down into a fit of fake giggling. "Blech, gag me with a Spiny! Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep up that act? How did she ever fall for a tubby softie like you?!"

Mario wasn't really sure what to say, or even what was being said at the moment. One part of the message was clear as a bell, though – this monster had done something to his friend, and now she had the gall to laugh about it. "Where is she? Tell me what you've done to her, you…"

Her answer was quiet, but dripping with venom. "She's in some dirty pit somewhere, I guess. Who knows, maybe I'll stick you in the same one? It doesn't matter, since they'll never find either of you."

With that, the guards began to move in, closing the circle until Mario had no room left to move. The back rows kept their spears raised, just in case he tried to pull any high-jumping tricks. Before long, they'd pinned him to the ground and bound his wrists with rope, so tightly that he could barely feel his hands. Mario was a master of escapes, but this time he was well and truly captured.

The false Vivian leaned down to whisper one last taunt before the guards separated them. "You know, you should really be grateful to me. I got you inside the palace, just like I promised." She began to back away, snickering as the crowd swallowed her up. "I wouldn't want to be caught outside the walls right now. Things are about to get real bad out there…"

A second later, the world was lost behind a blindfold, and Mario was being dragged away to parts unknown. The last thing he saw was that shining ball atop the spire; pulsing, spinning, and glowing slowly brighter…

It suddenly struck Luigi that there was one thing even worse than holiday traffic: falling from the sky into the path of Bowser Koopa.

Adding insult to the injury, it wasn't even a very dignified entrance. These two Paratroopas had taken him halfway across the city by force; and at the end of the ride, they didn't even give him the courtesy of an easy landing. Instead, they just turned him loose, and then pulled back up to continue on their way. It was a short fall, but it still managed to knock the wind out of him.

Staggering to his feet as soon as he was able, Luigi got his first good look at the surroundings. He was at one end of a very wide and ornate bridge, carved from the same white marble as the gates towering behind him. Mushroom City stood bright and colorful across the water – an ironic backdrop for the horrors consuming the foreground.

The bridge itself was choked by a solid mass of Koopas, and the plaza beyond was currently a battlefield. The Empress' guards had finally mustered themselves against the invaders, and now the two groups were fully engaged. Strangely, there didn't seem to be nearly as many grey soldiers as there should've been, this close to the palace. "It's almost like they're only pretending to put up a fight, but why…?"

Luigi heard voices nearby, and turned to see Bowser speaking with the two Paratroopas from earlier, who seemed very excited and giddy with themselves. They were pointing his way; and as the king glanced over, Luigi realized that he was stuck in the open with nowhere to hide. "How is that brute even here? He should be back home, where he can't cause us any trouble!"

If Luigi had been expecting instant hostility, Bowser didn't give it to him. The large Koopa just gave a bemused grunt and raised an eyebrow. "Well now, if it isn't Lamer Mario. What's up, did your brother get lost in a drain on the way here?"

"He'll get here soon… I think," Luigi replied, trying and failing to sound confident. Truth be told, he had no idea what was taking his big bro so long. Earlier, he thought he'd seen a flash of red zipping toward the lake; but he must've imagined it, because a second later it had gone. "E-even if he doesn't turn up, I'll just take you on myself!"

That at least earned a chuckle from the king, who took a step forward. "Yeah, I really doubt that. I mean, buddy, there's a reason why you're always Player 2." Losing interest, Bowser turned away and stomped back to the head of his army. "Whatever, I'm not here for you guys anyway. You can stay and watch, but this night is all about ME."

He took a stance between his minions and the wall, inhaled deeply, and began bellowing out his ultimatum. "Listen up, goons of Anti-Peach! This can go one of two ways, you hear? Either you open up and surrender, or these gates are comin' down!" There was no immediate answer, so Bowser roared and tried again. "Believe me; I can smash 'em up good! It'll be easy, once I haul out my secret weapons!"

"Wait a second; he has 'secret weapons?'" Luigi thought fretfully, wondering what could give Bowser the advantage; besides an airship fleet, which he surprisingly didn't have right now. A minute later, the witch Kammy shuffled out of the crowd, levitating an old wooden chest behind herself. She passed it to Bowser, who held it over his head in triumph. "So, there's something special in the box? Which way is this going to go?"

It was about as tense as a situation could get. Flames were crackling in the distance, but otherwise the night air was totally silent. Nobody in either army wanted to move a muscle – they were all equally anxious to hear the Empire's next decision. The silence hung for just a moment too long, before being shattered at last by the grinding thoom of shifting marble.

Unbelievably, the colossal slabs were actually pulling back, splitting to reveal a sliver of the palace beyond. A wild victory cheer went up from the Koopas on the bridge… which stopped abruptly when the gates didn't open any wider. Now there were just hushed mutterings of confusion – why was the gap so narrow?

The answer came when two soldiers appeared, squeezing through the new opening in single-file. They stood side-by-side before the assembled crowd, their flickering masks betraying no emotion but utter calmness. "Turn back; you're surrounded, and you have nothing to use against us," one said as the other nodded matter-of-factly. "There is nothing in your chest but shameful failure, King Koopa."

Bowser's eyes flashed in eager defiance, and a wide grin broke out across his face. Clearly, he only saw the warning as a fresh challenge to his strength – yet another thing for him smash through on the way to victory. Soon he was laughing outright, shaking the box as he held it high. "Gwa ha ha hah! This is rich; you suckers just won't quit! I've got a level of power here that you can't even imagine. But don't take my word for it; LEMME SHOW YOU, PUNKS!"

Time itself stood still, and everyone in the plaza waited with bated breath for whatever might come next. Kammy fired a blast upward, and blew the lid straight off the chest in a perfectly dramatic display. With a final grand guffaw, Bowser stepped back to clear the way, and then upended the box over the stone for all to see…

…To let the toys inside fall harmlessly out in a little jumble, squeaking softly as they bounced against the pavement. Soon, there was a pile of moldy and moth-eaten dolls laying in the yard, smiling sweetly out at the baffled crowd.

It took Bowser a few seconds to catch up, but he did a full double-take when he finally saw the truth. "Wait, what in the Underwhere is this supposed to be…?" he muttered, stepping closer to dig around in the plushies with his claws. "No… No, they have to be in here somewhere… THEY CAN'T JUST BE GONE, DANG IT!" Out on the bridge, somebody coughed.

Kammy was inspecting the pile with a keener eye, and soon pulled out a scrap of stationery. "Hey, somebody left a note here! Shall I read it, my lord?" she exclaimed, and kept going when Bowser only sighed. "It says, 'Thanks for bringing your friends; here are some of mine. I'm sorry that you weren't invited to the festivities, but you're welcome to stay for the finale!' It's signed, 'your Empress.'"

Luigi was completely lost, but Bowser seemed to be putting the pieces together. He stared at the discarded box for a long time, his growling becoming more guttural as the truth finally dawned. "…I've been sold out! Some minion must've snuck away with all the Stars! But that's crazy; nobody has left my troop since I got here. Nobody except…"

Embers flared from his nostrils, singeing the old cloth toys as they fell like rain. "…KAMEK! YOU SNIVELLING CLOD, IT WAS YOU ALL ALONG!" The embers became an inferno as Bowser engulfed the poor dolls in blazing fury. "GET OUT HERE AND EXPLAIN YOURSELF THIS INSTANT, TRAITOR!"

The tension was so thick that it was nearly strangling. By now, some of the Koopas were losing faith; backing down from the bridge and slinking away into the darkness. In the end, a single smarmy voice answered the call. "Well, it looks like I've been found out. Excellent work, Your Gullibleness; I always knew you had it in you."

The little wizard had appeared as summoned… but on the wrong side of the enemy lines. He was perched atop a tall flagpole that stood to the left of the gate, his face partly shadowed by the hood of his robe. Everything clicked together for Luigi as soon as he saw the cloak. "You're the hooded figure! You've been the secret bad guy this whole time!"

Kamek turned in mild surprise, as if he'd only just noticed that Luigi was even there. "Hmm, well I don't know about 'secret,' but we've had a few encounters. I have to say, your group was much less fun to mess with than Bowser's was." As he spoke, the mage rubbed his leg and winced in pain.

Bowser was positively seething, pacing back and forth at the base of the flagpole. "So you've been 'messing with me,' have you? You straight-up STOLE THE POWER STARS!" The shout echoed back across the water as more Koopas left the scene. "Give 'em back, or have you forgotten who your king is? You're supposed to be loyal to ME!"

The wizard wasn't fazed – he merely tsked and shook his scaly head. "As if that matters. My 'loyalties' aren't even a part of this equation. I'm only doing what's necessary to fix my last and greatest mistake."

"Your greatest mistake, huh?" Bowser scoffed from his spot beneath Kamek's perch. "You mean how you killed six kids and threw the planet into endless darkness, right?" The old Magikoopa raised an eyebrow and gave a wry smile. "Yeah, I finally figured out the subtext in your little story, bub. I'm not that easily outsmarted!"

Kamek shook his head once again, but this time he seemed to be enjoying himself. "No, that's not my mistake. I saved the world by sacrificing those kids, and I still say we're better off without the Stars." His smile faded, and his eyes became lost in the past. "I'm talking about something that happened later, after the storm had passed…"

Luigi decided to interject at that point, to get some of his conclusions out in the open. "You're trying to fix something, and to do it you need E. Gadd's stardust reactor. It can't be activated without a pile of Power Stars, which you stole from Bowser over there. Am I getting this right?"

The mage just waved him off impassively, not even meeting his eyes. "The reactor is the Empress' frivolous plan. I'm not a part of that beyond picking up the supplies. But that reminds me, I should probably be making my exit. I wouldn't want to get caught up in all the, er, 'excitement.'" He rose into the air, and his face fully sank into the shadows of his hood. "Heh, I hope you all have fun out here!"

"No, don't you warp out on me!" Bowser roared, but the wizard had already disappeared. At a loss, the mighty Koopa King was reduced to kicking at the flagpole in a tantrum. "GRAAAH! I can't believe this! I had such a perfect plan this time, and now it's been ruined by that-" He cut himself off to squint around in bewilderment. "Hey, what sounds like machinery; and who turned all the lights on?"

It was a slow process; but sure enough, the plaza was beginning to get brighter. It wasn't a harsh glow, and Luigi barely noticed until its warmth started to make his skin tingle. A few of the remaining Koopas were standing around uncertainly, scratching at their scales and pointing up at the heavens.

Luigi followed their gaze, half expecting to see actual stars in the sky again. Instead, the light was emanating from a gargantuan snarl of technology sitting atop the palace wall – an endless array of floodlights, solar panels, and parabolic dishes that spanned the high horizon from end to end.

The setup was strikingly familiar, and it only took Luigi a few seconds to remember where he had seen this kind of machinery before. These were the same devices that had littered the floor of E. Gadd's secret hangar – the machines that gathered energy for the S.T.A.R.

"Have you ever heard the phrase, 'we are all stardust?'" the professor had said that night in the lab, sounding so proud of himself. "You see, I devised a way to convert physical matter into pure Star power!" Luigi's eyes snapped down to the gap in the palace gates, and to the glowing sphere that was shining more brightly than any sun ever had. It was too late.

The plaza, the bridge, and everything else ceased to exist. Koopas and grey soldiers alike were swept away by a screaming blast of starlight. Kammy was shrieking incantations at a fever pitch, coating Bowser and herself in as many shield spells as she could hold. No thoughts were spared for poor Luigi, who was shaking like a leaf as the stonework splintered and sublimated beneath his feet.

For half an instant, he thought he felt the touch of a phantom hand against his shoulder. Then he was falling, and the entire world went white.

Yoshi and the others were eating pizza in the park when they heard the explosion. It sounded like the Void itself had awoken within the city.

They had been trying to take it easy until the mission could resume. Rumor was that a riot had started near the gates, so they'd decided to wait it out with a few slices of Pizza Dinosaur. It was the cheapest of festival food, but Yoshi thought it was better than expected. "The crust is kinda tough, and the sauce is a bit too thin; but it's not nearly as bad as the jingles say it is."

The plan had been to act casual, and then meet up with Mario's group when things had quieted back down. Rowf had insisted on taking precautions, and it hadn't been hard to convince Toad and Toadette to spend some time having fun. Yoshi and Goombella were less-patient types, and the snacks they'd shared were stress eating at best. How long did it take to break up a few rabble-rousers, anyway?

...But all thoughts of progress evaporated in a heartbeat when the horizon collapsed into a wall of brilliant light. An astral curtain was rising in the distance, in the spot where the palace had been – a white wave that gushed out over the marble walls like a bursting dam, and then pulled itself skyward in a howling eruption of power and plasma. Reality itself seemed to warp and bend in its presence, giving way like melted wax as the starlight piled higher into the night.

It was the most beautiful and terrifying thing that Yoshi had ever seen. The light was pure and inviting, but so bright that it cast the surrounding city into silhouette. And then there were the noises – unnatural echoes and mechanical moans that defied all sense of reason. The wall sounded like the engine of a strangled jet; but the pitch kept getting higher and higher, and it never seemed to stop.

Out in the park, people were either staring in silent awe or fleeing for their lives. The five friends watched the scene from the side of a little hill, unsure of where to go next, or what this new twist even meant. "I'll go ahead and ask," Yoshi started when he sensed that no one else would. "Did the palace just explode?"

Rowf lifted a paw to shield his eyes from the glare. "I've seen plenty of explosions in my time, and that back there is something… entirely different." He took a cautious step forward, as if testing the ground. "This hillside seems like a safe distance, though. I reckon we'll be fine here."

…So that's precisely when the light began to spread, billowing outwards over the buildings like a blanket being pulled across grass. It was an utterly graceful, almost liquid sort of movement; and it seemed almost calming until the first skyscraper collapsed like sand.

Everyone saw it, and so everyone panicked. Mushroom City spiraled into madness before the new stardust had even hit the ground. The music and laughter died as the Star Festival's "grand finale" began in earnest. Inns and arcades, carnival tents and concert halls – they all started to empty as tourists boiled into the streets in terror. The starlight curtain followed, lapping at the heels of the people it was meant to consume.

"Ohmigosh, I know what this is!" Goombella yelled frantically, going pale as she dashed a little further up the slope. "This light was in Gadd's blueprints! This is how the reactor converts and harvests Star power; and that means…" There was a pleading look in the Goomba girl's eyes, as if she were begging the others to run with her. "…The Empress is harvesting her own city!"

It was such an awful truth that Yoshi nearly staggered – Empress Toadstool had invited her subjects all the way here… to burn them as fuel?! Rowf had a much steadier head on his shoulders, because he immediately began barking orders to begin the escape. "Everyone, get in the truck! No, Toad, forget the pizza! We have to leave now!"

The old Doogan was bolting for the sidewalk where he'd parked the vehicle, with Goombella and Toadette hot on his trail. Toad was lagging behind, trying to gather a few last snacks, so Yoshi scooped him up and set off at a sprint. "Have you seen Lady Bow?" the dinosaur asked with a glance over his shoulder. "She was supposed to stay with the group, but…"

The little fungus only offered a shrug at the mention of their ghost friend. "She hasn't been with me, because I haven't seen her in hours. I thought she was with you!"

Yoshi squinted as that statement unraveled in his head. "That doesn't even make any sense! We've been in the same place the entire night!" Toad merely shrugged again and took another bite of his pizza.

When they finally reached the street, it was a mad scramble to get into the truck bed before Rowf started the engines. Yoshi helped the others climb up while listening to those eldritch noises echoing behind the wall. Somehow, impossibly, the pitch still seemed to be rising, even after all this time. There was a name for this type of tone, but Yoshi was too busy shepherding his friends to recall what it was.

He hopped aboard just as the engines revved into life; and then they were off, speeding down the road and snaking through the crowd. Pedestrians leapt out of the way to avoid them, as frightened of the battered old truck as they were of the advancing nightmare. The wall of light had engulfed more than a block in all directions as it rippled out from the palace in a colossal ring, and it was only speeding up….

Mighty skyscrapers sagged and burst when the light drew near, scattering into showers of silver-blue dust. Instead of falling, the stardust was pulled upward against gravity, carried and swirled by the whims of an unfelt wind. All across the skyline, landmarks became tendrils of vapor that arced through the sky, over the wall and out of sight, as if drawn back home to some point of singularity…

"So, w-what exactly did you mean by 'harvesting?'" Toadette squeaked from her spot in the far corner of the bed. The little girl looked absolutely petrified, but genuinely seemed to want answers. "What's happening to all those buildings? What's happening to Mushroom City?"

The truck made a sudden swerve around a family of Huffin Puffins, and Goombella's ponytail whipped back to billow behind her as she tried to explain. "See, if I remember those blueprints right, then that light is a superheated magi-chemical reaction designed to, like, chew up matter and make Star power. That energy feeds back into the machine to keep the reaction going, like an endless loop." She paused, thinking over the acronym before saying it aloud. "The clue is in the name: the Stellar Transmutation and Amplification Reactor!"

The two younger mushrooms looked at her like she'd been speaking in Raven, so the Goomba gave an urgent simplification. "If you touch the light, you're gonna die!"

As horrific as it sounded, the warning was true. After all, there must have been people inside all those buildings; and even now, the most distant screams were beginning to sound like something else. This evacuation couldn't save everyone, and those who had fallen behind were being transmuted; flaking away and losing themselves forever. "If we get stuck in traffic, that's it," Yoshi thought as the truck turned a corner onto a wider road, taking out snack carts and souvenir stands as it went.

"But what about Mario and Luigi, and Ms. Vivian?" Toadette asked, utterly distraught as she pieced together the possibilities. "They're still out there somewhere, even closer to the palace than we were! What if…?"

Yoshi put a gentle hand on her shoulder; to steady her, if nothing else. "They'll be fine, okay?" The dinosaur had known Mario long enough to have total faith in his skills; although perhaps not his judgment. "They'll help each other through this. Vivian has her shadow powers, and Mario can improvise a way out of anything. Luigi… well, he'll be there too."

Toad gave everyone a bright smile, and an encouraging suggestion of his own. "Yeah, I'll bet they're inside the palace already! It's gotta be safe in there, right? The Empress would never harvest her own home!"

"I'm not so sure about that, kid," Rowf called back, leaning out the driver's side window to give his input. "After all, the lady doesn't seem to have a problem with sacrificing her own goons. Look at that intersection up ahead; they're making a blockade for us!"

True enough, the street they were on soon widened into a square, where a line of grey guards had set up a defensive phalanx against the evacuees. They stood at all exits, blocking the paths to freedom with spears and riot shields. A few soldiers had even powered-up with Fire Flowers, and were brandishing their flaming fists at anyone who tried to break the line.

"Oh come on, that's just petty!" Goombella yelled as the truck skidded up the curb and hurtled into the intersection. "You're all gonna die too, you know! Brainwashing can only justify so much; you guys are just plain lunatics!" The soldiers said nothing – they stood amidst shattered lanterns and fallen banners, stoically watching their grim fate pulse forward across the city.

"Hang on to somethin', kids," the Doogan shouted back, slamming his paw decisively against the horn as the vehicle rocketed up to ramming speed. "We're about to go over one gnarly heckuva speed bump!" Later on, Yoshi would remember how satisfying it was to hear the guards' silent shtick break down right at the bitter end.

As the blockade blew apart, Yoshi extended his tongue into the broken phalanx in hopes of slurping up some ammo. To his horror, he was the one who ended up snared – one soldier had the clarity and cunning to grab the sticky tongue like a rope; and as the truck sped by, the heroes pulled him free from the pile.

Of course, the guard and the dinosaur were now stuck to each other, and it wasn't a very pleasant experience for either of them. Yoshi was hanging off the back of the bed, his tongue stretched to the point of snapping like a Blooper's tentacle. Meanwhile, the soldier was being dragged along the pavement like a tin can on a string, his armor denting further with each bounce. He made one weak effort to reel himself in, hand-over-hand; but then Rowf turned sharply, and he was sent careening into the side of a parked tour bus.

"…Let'th never thpeak of thith again," Yoshi muttered as he pulled himself back together, still feeling a bit numb. He'd probably have to avoid solid food for a day or two, which was a bummer. Eh, at least Goombella and the others looked suitably impressed.

The path ahead was clear, but time was obviously running out. The astral wall was still expanding; and the more it grew, the stronger its pull became. Trash and debris lifted off as if magnetized, spinning into the sky and breaking apart into wisps of stardust. The light itself had evolved into a violent energy storm – static lightning scraped and clawed at the skyscrapers like bony fingers, eroding every surface that they touched.

As scary as it all was, something about the spectacle was almost enchanting. Reality lost focus in the light's vicinity, becoming softer and less distinct. The distant screaming had faded to a kind of ever-present gurgling, and it was easy to forget that the gurglers had been people only minutes before.

"I don't get it," Toadette whispered as she lay back and watched the heavens swirl to pieces in a vortex of blue and white. "I know the Empress is evil; but she's still Peach, right? How can she be capable of something like this…?"

Toad pulled out his trusty phone as he sat down beside her. "I don't know, but she just sent out another Cheep." Somewhere in the swirling mist, the sky lit up like a fireworks display as some grand stadium downtown evaporated. "This one says, 'I have such a beautiful view of the festival lights! Thanks to everyone who is helping to make this night possible.'"

Rowf was leaning out the window again, informing the group of the latest developments. "Alright, so Moonview Highway is just up ahead. We're nearly out of this town, gang!" He grumbled to himself as he processed the unspoken question. "Listen, I don't know what the range on that thing back there is; but it can't keep going forever, right? It'll stop following when it runs out of stuff to eat, yeah?"

Yoshi wasn't so sure it worked like that, but he kept his mouth shut for the sake of morale… and for the sake of his aching tongue. At least they had a chance of outpacing the reaction once they got on the highway, and that was enough to inspire some hope in the dinosaur's heart.

…But then they rounded that last bend, and saw what had become of those who had tried their plan already. The city limits were in sight, but the boundary line was piled high with a scrabbling wall of partygoers – a tremendous horde of tourists and residents alike, climbing and thrashing overtop each other in a losing battle against thin air. "No, they're not fighting the air," Yoshi realized with a spark of icy dread. "That's a barrier spell, like the one around Peach's castle that night."

"…What are they doing out there?" the Doogan muttered softly as the truck began to brake. Of course, he had never seen anything like this before, so it probably looked like hysteria to him. "We don't have time to deal with it, whatever it is. I'm gonna drive us through!"

The two Toads screamed in panicked unison, having recognized the spell as well. They both knew how little good the impact would do – it would smear them all, and leave the barrier unhurt. Yoshi lunged across the bed to warn their driver before it was too late. "Wait, that's a bad idea! I've seen a whole platoon of Bob-ombs go off against magic like this and fail; so trust me, it won't work! We'll have to leave the city by another way."

Rowf gripped the steering wheel in pure agitation, hating the fact that they'd basically stopped in their tracks. "What other way is there, friend? What if all the other roads are blocked, too? Are we just gonna drive the beltway until that star storm guzzles us down?"

Luckily, Yoshi did have just one other idea… but it would mean throwing caution to the wind, which neither he nor the Doogan thought fondly of. Reckless heroism had always been Mario's page of the playbook. "If we go right now, we can make it to Pipeline Central before it's gone. It'll be a race against the light, but it can be done."

Goombella was giving him a very skeptical look. "Uh, did you forget something important? Rowf and I are in the criminal database – they'd never let us get anywhere near a Warp Pipe." Any other time, it would have been a valid concern; but right now…?!

"Do you really think that matters?" Yoshi shot back, needing to get his point across in as few wasted seconds as possible. "In a little while, that database won't even exist anymore! It'll be erased along with everything else; and us too, unless we get to that station!"

…And so the engine roared, and the five of them were on the move again, speeding back the way they had come. Going against the light, it was easy to see just how quickly it was spreading and swallowing the path before them. Earlier, they had been trying to outrun the storm; but now they were playing chicken with it, trying to get as close as they could without letting it suck them in.

There were still civilians running the opposite way; making doomed attempts to reach the city's edge, with no idea of what awaited them there. Yoshi saw a hefty blue Pianta struggle past with an armful of pineapples, and recognized the owner of his favorite juice bar. "Yo, don't go that way!" the dinosaur yelled out as the truck blew past. "The exit is blocked, so we're gonna try Pipeline Central!" The Pianta skidded to a halt and turned around, spilling his fruit but following all the same.

The electrical surges were becoming too intense for the city to handle, and the infrastructure was beginning to buckle in areas that the light hadn't even touched. The truck made a sharp turn onto Broadshroom, and Yoshi saw the lights go sparking out for miles ahead of them. Marquee bulbs fizzed and popped, and streetlights shattered as the heroes passed beneath, showering the pavement behind them in flurries of glass.

For a little while, they were traveling parallel to the wall, and so they got to watch it eat the world in full panoramic glory. The auroral curtain still shimmered at the heart of it; but so much stardust was being pulled up and over that it had folded itself into a shimmering dome. The palace was somewhere in the heart of that bubble, safe and sound; but out here, there was no shelter but in death.

They blasted into Pipe Plaza just as the light met the buildings at its edge. This place had been a beautiful courtyard just a few hours earlier that evening – a warm welcome for every visitor who had emerged into the city. Now it was a desolate slab of cement, as everything else from the trees to the corner shops had been uprooted and erased. In this open expanse, even the truck was struggling to gain purchase against the pull.

…But there it was, set into the far wall; the sleek green tunnel that would lead them below the streets, into the labyrinth of pipes, and far away to safety. Yoshi remembered climbing that passage with Mario and the others, and wondered how many lifetimes ago that had been.

Nobody wanted to disembark up here, lest they be swept away without something heavy to grasp. Since the tunnel was wide enough, they were gonna ride it down in style. Rowf gunned the engines right to the entrance – to the edge of the widest ramp – and then just a little bit further than that. The vehicle pitched forward into the shadows with a groan, hung there for just one tormenting moment, and then plunged into the depths.

…It was immediately a bad idea, because there turned out to be people at the bottom of that ramp. None of them had expected Pipeline Central to still be occupied this late into the crisis; but lo and behold, the concourse was utterly packed. In fact, it looked like all-out pandemonium down there.

The Doogan slammed on the brakes, but the slope was much too steep for that. He tried blowing the horn; but even though the people scurried back, there wasn't enough room to clear a path. It was an inevitable collision with a tragic guarantee. "We're going to hit all those innocents. There's no way out of this one, unless…" Unless…

"Everybody bail, right now," Rowf said, his voice sorrowful yet certain. "There's one way to stop this old girl, but it's not gonna be pretty if we're here when it happens." With a deep sigh, he threw open the driver's side door as Yoshi and the others vaulted from the back to tumble harshly down the ramp. At the last moment, he spun the wheel hard to the left and slammed on the gas one last time, sending the truck smashing through the railing of the nearby escalators.

Rowf leapt free just in time, but his trusty old pickup had gone into the grinder. The truck slid sideways down the moving stairs, tearing through glass and metal as the handrails stabbed up into it like whirring harpoons. The steps themselves helped to slow the vehicle by grinding against the undercarriage, and soon the machines were mangling into a fusion as the rails bent and twisted through broken windows and crumpled doors. By the time the wreckage simply couldn't slide any further, it hardly looked like anything anymore.

When Yoshi skidded to a stop of his own, he had to sit and stare at it for a moment. That battered old truck had carried them a long way – from Peach's castle to Rogueport, to Forever Forest and back, and then all the way here, through the end of the world itself. "I hate to see it go like this, but at least its sendoff saved a few lives."

Worried strangers were hurrying over to inspect the crash site, and to help the heroes get back on their feet. Yoshi stood up shakily, letting himself be supported by a trio of Toad girls wearing full festival swag. Meanwhile, Goombella was further up the ramp, being fawned over by some blue Doogan in disco cosplay. She got away as quickly as she could, and soon the five heroes were being led over to join the herd. Somewhere up behind them, the first wisps of hungry starlight slithered into the tunnel's mouth.

Inside the terminal proper, it was painfully easy to see what all the drama was about. A few thousand hopeful evacuees had fled into this place, only to be met with another blockade. The station guards had closed the security gates in some kind of bizarre 'last stand' maneuver, but the citizens had finally had enough. By the time Yoshi and the others arrived, the blue brick chamber had become a genuine battleground.

Partygoers charged the barricades in haphazard waves, hoisting each other up and clambering over to the other side. It was like some morbid game of tag over there – runners weaved between kiosks and ticket booths as they dodged pursuing soldiers and their spears. If they made it to the Warp Pipes, then they were home free. There were endless aisles and bays of them to pick from, and any one would lead to somewhere safer than here. Boos and Paragoombas had a natural advantage, but most other attempts didn't even get close.

"Yeah, let's maybe not go that way?" Goombella urged, indicating the presence of stairways to either side. They spiraled up to the balcony levels, which looked blessedly empty of enemies from where Yoshi stood. "I'm sure we can get to plenty of warp zones by running along the top, you guys."

As they climbed, the group had a perfect spectator view of the insanity happening below. Bit by bit, the mob was pushing its way deeper into the concourse, gaining ground as the staggered gates toppled one after another. The trickle of successful runners was becoming a stream as the guards lost swaths of their playing field. "I think they're gonna win!" Toad exclaimed in nervous excitement as another gate fell. "I think they're all going to get away!"

Their little group had been spotted by now, and stragglers in the crowd were breaking away to follow their lead. In a moment of wild frenzy, enough floor space was finally cleared to let a group of Bob-ombs do their thing. The last barriers were blasted away, and the flood was unleashed amidst a sea of cheers. To be honest, Yoshi felt like whooping and hollering right along with them. "I seriously don't believe it, but I think everybody in here is going to live!"

Goombella raced ahead down the balcony, briefly examining each pipe entrance until she finally found one that satisfied her – a cobalt blue tube set into the wall opposite the entrance. "This leads to an airfield a few miles outside the city," the Goomba girl explained when the others caught up. "It's not far, so we'll be able to keep an eye on things, and it won't be like we're just running away, yeah?"

It seemed like the best available option, of the few that they had; so Yoshi wasted no time in beginning the escape. With the others hot on his heels, the dinosaur sprinted into the open tunnel, closed his eyes, took a very deep breath…

…And went literally nowhere at all.

The warp wasn't there. Yoshi ran a bit further into the pipe, just to make sure that he hadn't done something wrong; but it was just a normal, empty metal tube, and it ended abruptly a few feet into the wall. "Uh, I think this one is busted," Toad guessed as he and the rest glanced around in bewilderment. "Let's try the next one over, or…"

But when they emerged, Yoshi soon realized why that idea wasn't going to work either. The overhead lights had suddenly shut off, submerging the massive chamber in near-total darkness. The typical pipeline ambience was gone, replaced by a symphony of startled shouts and mayhem. It was a blackout - the only lights remaining came from inside the overhead control room, and from the gigantic display board that hung above the main entrance.

The board is what drew everyone's eyes, if only because of the message that it bore. The text in the crawl read "EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN," but the person on the screen was telling a very different story. He was a Toad guard, helmetless and wild-eyed, shouting fanatic threats from the safety of the upstairs office. "Nobody is going anywhere! The Empress' fleet must be given fuel, and that means she needs every last one of you!"

Back at ground level, the tunnel entrance was starting to glow steadily brighter; and before long, that mind-bending engine noise was shuddering through the walls. The wall of light unfurled into the station like an inverted sunrise, casting white rays along the walls as shadows stretched across the ceiling. The unlucky evacuees who had strayed too close were soon being sucked back into the tube, flushed upwards and screaming into oblivion.

Everyone surely knew that only minutes remained, but Goombella was still freaking out about what that maniac guard had said. "Wait, since when does the Empress have a fleet?" The poor girl was waddling back and forth in some kind of existential denial. "How does she have a fleet?! Why does she have a fleet?!"

Yoshi took a step back – a pitiful gesture against the sheer power of the light – and was caught by Rowf, who put a gentle paw on the dinosaur's shoulder. The Doogan spoke for everyone in the party to hear. "Bella, stay here and keep everyone safe; and get them into the pipes as soon as the power's back on. Yoshi, you're with me – we have to get upstairs."

Toadette looked horrified at the suggestion, and dashed over to stand between them and the staircase. "N-no, you can't go up there! That's where the bad guys are, and they'll get you both for sure!" She sounded so sincere that Yoshi was almost convinced…

…But he understood where Rowf was coming from. Somebody had to raid that control room and flip the switch, or else everyone in the station would be turned into ship fuel. "Hey, we'll be right back," he assured her, putting a soothing hand on her pink mushroom cap. "Besides, I'll bet there are only like three guys up there, anyway."

Rowf was having his own moment with Goombella, the girl he had saved from the streets and given a purpose. "Well, we never did return that old truck to its owners like we promised. It's been a heckuva joyride we've had together, kid." She smiled bravely as he mussed her hair and turned away. "Take care of the newbies until I get back, okay?"

It was time – the Doogan hopped onto Yoshi's back, and the two of them left their friends behind, charging down the balcony in one last stupidly-reckless act. The dinosaur dodged and ducked through the frightened masses, and he began jumping and fluttering above their heads when the traffic became too thick. He almost stumbled a few times in the darkness, but that became less of the problem as the room grew brighter by the second…

The reactor's light was spreading into the concourse like a thing alive, clawing at the walls with lightning talons as its glow seeped forward across the floor like some kind of ghostly manta ray emerging from the sea. Yoshi wasn't very sure where that analogy had come from, but it made sense in his head.

People were fleeing into the far corners of the hall, screaming ever louder as the storm's pull grew stronger. Lighter creatures were hanging onto railings and signposts for dear life; and those who lacked the strength to hold on, or the arms to hold with, were tumbling across the floor like dry leaves until the transmutation claimed them and they scattered apart.

The spiral staircase was shaking, and Yoshi's head was spinning by the time he and Rowf finally made it to the highest floor. The catwalks were much thinner up here, and seemed to be meant only for employees and maintenance workers. They snaked all around, but only one led out to that black bulb of a control room. Sure enough, a pair of soldiers was standing along that exact path, spears raised and ready for anything.

…So Yoshi took a parallel bridge, leapt over the railing, and fluttered across to where he needed to be. He landed just behind the guards, and their surprised reaction gave Rowf enough time to grapple one and twist him over the edge. Yoshi swallowed the other point-blank, and then threw the egg he made at a third and final guard, who had come rushing from the control room in a berserker rage.

"Huh, what do you know? There were exactly three guys up here," Yoshi noted as they entered the room to find it empty. It was a circular little space, lined with blinking panels and computer terminals; and there was a very obvious green power switch sitting just across from the doorway. This place was run by Toads, after all – the systems weren't incredibly advanced.

Rowf hopped off, and Yoshi went over to press the switch, holding it down until the base lit up and the sound of whirring motors filled the room. Screens and indicators danced awake on nearby panels, spreading out through the area in a glowing web with the button at its heart. Finally, a rumbling blast shook the ceiling as unseen generators kicked in, signifying the return of power at last.

Looking out the windows, Yoshi could see that the overhead lights had come back on; although by this point, the lobby was so bright that it hardly even mattered. It was hard to hear anything over the grinding groans of the starlight eating its way down the hall; but soon the faint screaming turned to cheers and the telltale sounds of pipe travel. The dinosaur breathed a sigh of relief - the people were free at last, and not a second too soon.

But there was a rude surprise waiting for them back out on the catwalks. The two heroes were preparing for their return journey when Rowf noticed five more guards clambering up the spiral stairs. "They're coming to see why their little scheme failed, and they won't be alone," he warned as Yoshi looked down and saw that he was right. More soldiers were visible on the lower levels, traveling to the staircase in steady waves.

"This is getting ridiculous. We don't have time to fight all those guys," Yoshi muttered as the original five guards made their way like rats through the maze of bridges. Pretty soon the entire maintenance level would be swarming with them, and there'd be no way back to safety. "If we can get close enough to the outside edges, I can probably flutter us down to the next level safely."

The old Doogan just shook his head and smiled. "They're not coming here for us, friend. It's the power switch they're after. They want to shut it all back down before everyone gets away." He glanced over the railing at the sheer number of guards who were making the climb. "This bridge makes a nice chokepoint. I reckon one of us can hold them back for just long enough."

Yoshi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No, that's a dumb plan. It's suicide." This was the kind of thing that he always had to talk Mario out of. Why did it always have to come down to a self-sacrificial gambit? "We'll blow the bridge instead, okay? That way we can both get to safety."

"With what, our wits?" Rowf hissed with a roll of his eyes. "Unless you see any explosives or giant axes laying around, this bridge is staying put." He locked eyes with Yoshi and put a paw on the dinosaur's shoulder. "Listen, somebody has to stay and guard this button… and you need to go and protect your friends."

He had just a bit more to say. "Keep an eye on Bella, alright? And if you ever see that other version of me in your world – the one with the badge shop and the son…" His voice broke on the last word, and he had to look away. "…You let him know that he's the luckiest guy alive." With that, he pushed Yoshi away, backed into the control room, and slammed the door. "Now go on, get out of here! Go!"

…It was the most hectic escape of Yoshi's life, and that was saying quite a lot. He fluttered from beam to beam, evading grasping soldiers and thrown spears; taking out the enemies when he could, if only to buy his friend a few more precious seconds of time. He didn't want to look down below, because he knew just how nightmarish the sight would be if he did. The noises and the unnatural wind were enough to make his stomach turn.

Yoshi had hoped that the light would play fair, and would fill up the station from the bottom like water flowing into a basin. It moved like a liquid, so why couldn't it behave like one, too? But the light had its own ideas – it was a white flame, eating its way in through solid brick walls. Pipeline Central was vanishing like a burning photograph, and only the smallest wedge of safety remained.

That's where he found Goombella and the Toads, frantically ushering survivors into the last few standing pipes. "It doesn't matter where it goes, because anywhere is safer than here!" the Goomba girl was shouting, as Toad helped a voluptuous cloud lady herd a cluster of tiny grey insects into the nearest tube. Goombella met Yoshi's eyes as he landed, and her expression slowly fell into a blank stare. "…He's not coming back, is he?"

The dinosaur shook his head, so she closed her eyes and let herself have three deep breaths. She must have been doing some split-second mental rewiring; because when she opened her eyes, she had grown up. "Alright, let's get this finished up!" she yelled to the hesitating stragglers. "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here! Get to the nearest pipe and jump!"

Yoshi could feel the wind pulling at his back, threatening to trip him backwards and over the railing. The light was practically on top of them now; pulsing, folding space, and reaching out so enchantingly to devour them all. He struggled the few steps over to where his friends stood, at the entrance to the pipe they had picked earlier. With a shared nod, they prepared to make their leap of faith… And with a shared gasp at the sound of screaming, they turned back.

Toadette, the lightest of their little party, had been swept off her feet and into the air. The light had chosen her as its next morsel, and she was crying in blind terror as the wind lifted her over the railing and into the abyss. "Please, don't do this!" she wailed as tears of stardust streamed back into the storm. "I don't want to be h-harvested! Somebody help me…!"

In an instant, Yoshi was at the bannister, letting his tongue fly out to give the girl one last thing to catch. It wrapped about her wrist and held there; and for an eternal moment, the two of them were suspended like that – connected by a thread at the edge of their reality. Then Yoshi's foot slid out from underneath him, and he realized that he had greatly underestimated the light's strength… or overestimated his own. "I'm still sore from when that guard grabbed me earlier. I'm not strong enough to reel her in…!"

He shut his eyes to try and summon an energy that he didn't have, and nearly winced when his tongue was snagged by something else. He glanced aside to find Toad, pressed against the railing with a look of fierce determination in his beady eyes. The little shroom was pulling on the sticky tongue like a rope, because apparently that was a thing now. "Twice in one night is pushing it a bit far! Also, he's just putting himself in danger as well!"

That's when he felt the sharp bite of fangs around his ankle, and realized that Goombella had grabbed ahold in the only way she knew how. Well, at least they would all be going down together, right?

Toadette's shoes were beginning to flake away, and her pigtails were unraveling into a stream of silvery dust. "It's… It's so warm… It makes me feel… safe…" she said softly, and soon Yoshi could feel the cozy tingling within himself as well. The light only wanted him to be a part of it, and now it was inviting him to close his eyes and drift off to sleep…

…And then there was one last pair of hands pulling on his tongue, so much larger and stronger than any of the others. They had a special taste that snapped the dinosaur awake instantly, and he turned to meet the kind eyes of a hefty blue Pianta – a passing friend who had finally caught up at the very end. His hands tasted like pineapple eggnog, and it was the best taste in the whole wide world.

With a mighty heave-ho, the Pianta yanked Toadette into range and snatched her down out of the sky. Goombella was watching in total confusion, but the two young Toads looked like they wanted to hug their new friend and keep him forever. Instead, the Chuckster merely bundled them all into his arms, and threw them cleanly into the pipe with a smile as the balcony splintered, fell away, and evaporated behind them.

The four survivors stayed together as they flew into the warp at last. Gravity turned sideways, second-guessed itself, and then twisted the world apart as they blinked away. They had escaped from the city, from the starlight curtain, and from all the certainty their lives had ever known.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13 – Here Beside Me

Light and then darkness, followed by a swirl of nausea. Next, a bit of soft rain and the screaming of gravity.

For a few terrible seconds, Goombella was nowhere, tangled up and falling through subspace with Yoshi and the others. The next thing she knew, the exit pipe was spitting her out into a field of damp grass, and she was tripping head over heels as the little group of heroes flew apart. They each came to land in their own small patch of weeds, and for a moment the night was silent at last.

Behind them, a few wisps of starlight frothed up over the edge of the tube, as if the storm they'd just escaped was trying to follow them through the warp. But the link must have collapsed from within as the pipes eroded, because soon the tendrils were pulling back, returning to darkness while they sputtered and hissed like dying flames.

This was all so completely backwards; nothing felt real. So much had happened in the last few minutes – lives had been lost, and the best parts of Goombella's world had been sacrificed to save the rest. She never wanted to get up; lying here in the grass, she could at least pretend to feel peaceful. If she stayed here long enough, then maybe the starlight would catch up to her, and…

"No, what the heck am I even saying?!" she berated, pulling herself together with a mental slap. She had this second chance because Rowf had stayed behind, and he would totally never forgive her if she wasted that. "We made it out because of him; so that means we need to keep going, no matter what!"

It took some effort, but the Goomba eventually got back on her feet. She still felt a bit dizzy, and the groans from nearby told her that her friends felt the same. Yoshi was standing up shakily, massaging his sore tongue through the side of his cheek. Behind him, Toad was fretting over a nervous Toadette, who looked a little unsure of her own stability. It made sense - she had just come within literal inches of being scattered into dust.

At first, the pink shroom girl didn't look entirely solid – she had a silvery shimmer about her, but that was slowly fading as the transmutation's effects wore off. Mainly, she just seemed worried about her newly-snipped pigtails. "Aww, my pretty hair is gone!" she whined, feeling the spots where she had begun to unravel. "Now I look just like that prude, Toadiko…"

Goombella took a few steps off to the side, hoping to get a better idea of where they'd ended up. Looking around, it was easy to see that this place was outside the city; but it wasn't quite wilderness, either. There was a gravel path nearby, winding through the grass toward some kind of fenced compound in the distance. "I'll bet that's the airfield, yeah? The sign in the station said it was just across the bay from the city."

Back in Pipeline Central, she'd tried to pick a warp that would lead to safety, but would still keep the group within sight of the capital. Sure enough, the meadow stretched on for a few hundred feet behind her, before gently sloping down to the riverside. Past that, out beyond the water, was… Well, it was supposed to be a beautiful urban skyline; but right now, the view was something else entirely.

Yoshi walked over to join her, and the two of them watched the fading lights together. There on the horizon was the nightmare itself - a white aurora, half-visible behind its stardust blizzard, pulsing with greed as it swept away the last of the city. As the final few buildings fell, the light seemed to pause and flicker in indecision – with nothing left to consume, it seemed that the storm could go no further.

A serene mechanical sigh echoed out across the bay, like the hissing of a tired steam engine, and slowly the curtain began to fade. The once-blinding wall of light grew softer, spreading thinner until it was no more than a mist upon the river. Lingering wisps of stardust floated inward as the wind died behind them, and the empty air gave a last faint twinkle as the barrier spell let itself fall. The night had been filled with chaos and magic, but now only silence remained.

Goombella and Yoshi shared a glance, both clearly wondering the same thing – when the mist parted, what exactly would they see? The answer came as no big surprise; they saw the palace, standing as stark and bright as it always had, surrounded by a bare and desolate expanse of grey. The light had carved its way into the ground beneath the city as well, leaving behind a smooth bowl of sand and fallen dust.

Seawater was flowing into the crater from where its edges met the bay. In time, the Empress' citadel would become an island, and the tides would rise higher until waves crashed against the marble walls. "The sea will take everything the light left behind. It'll be like Mushroom City was never here at all…"

She glared at those distant spires, letting her determination come flooding back in with the surf. Finally, she turned to Yoshi with a shake of her head, indicating that it was time to leave. "They still need us over there, right? For the plan, I mean. We shouldn't be standing around like this when the fight isn't over."

The dinosaur nodded, but turned to watch Toad and Toadette with a look of concern. "Do you think we should give them a moment? They look pretty freaked out, especially Toad." He was still poking and prodding at his partner, afraid that she would literally fall apart.

"There's no time, we have to get going," Goombella urged, thinking of friends who were still in harm's way. "I get that the little guy is worried for his girlfriend, but I'm thinking about Mario and the others, too."

Yoshi blinked and gave her a baffled glance. "Wait, 'girlfriend?' Huh, I always thought that she was his sister." Come to think of it, had the two mushrooms' relationship ever really been explained?

Goombella shrugged, only half-listening by this point. "That too, then. Look, I'm not gonna judge. The point is, we need to get them up and moving before it's too late." Even now, the other group might be fighting for their lives against some terrifying final boss…

By the time they were all back on their feet, the sense of urgency had become very real. Yoshi led the way down the hill, reminding everyone of the mission they still had to complete. "We were supposed to meet up with Mario's party by the gates, and I bet they'll still be waiting for us there." He pointed off into the thicket of pale spires, toward the lone beacon shining in the center. "Now that we've seen what the S.T.A.R. can do, it's even more important that we…"

He trailed off, and Goombella was about to take over the speech until she followed his gaze into the sky. She tilted her head at first, not quite sure what she was seeing; but Yoshi was staring with a coldly familiar dread, and that was enough to tell the Goomba that it was something very bad indeed.

Hovering at the edge of space, like the ominous eyes of some great cosmic spider, were nearly a hundred violet stars. They drifted into view one by one, their auras flickering to life as they descended silently out of the night. Eventually, the eerie lights settled into an orbit high above the palace, spinning slowly in loose rings as they waited for whatever came next.

"It's all happening again," Toadette breathed as she stared helplessly into the swarm. "That's like the comet that fell on Peach's castle back then…" Goombella remembered hearing about that; but seeing it for herself was giving her the strangest feeling, like she should know something more about these false stars.

It came to her in a flash, as she recalled helping Luigi binge history books in the Professor's library. She might've given up on her archeological dreams, but she still had a mind meant for trapping info. "Those are Shroob spaceships, but how are they flying?" People had been cleaning up the invasion's melted leftovers for twenty years, and she'd always wondered where the wreckage ended up. "If they're here, then has the Empress been, like, salvaging them this whole time…?"

Yoshi looked like he was working his way through similar thoughts. "Back in the station, that guard mentioned a fleet that needed fuel." He gestured up toward the violet constellation, still spinning lazily in the sky above the reactor. "Do you think that's what's happening now? Is this why the city was harvested?"

It seemed likely; but before anyone could say so, the shriek of engines made them all look back the way they had come. A fresh violet glow erupted from over the fence of the airfield, and a small cluster of saucers lifted unsteadily into view. They hung there for just a moment, getting their bearings, and then sped off to take their places in the rings. Down below, bright flashing lights hinted that they hadn't been the only ships in the area.

"Seriously?! How big is this fleet supposed to be?" Goombella cried, taking a few quick steps back up the hill. "If they're still taking off, then what's up there could just be the beginning!" Either way, the Empress was making her intentions quite clear – these were vessels built only for war. If she had so many, then this was something she'd been planning for a very long time. "Let's go, guys; we need to investigate this!"

Toadette was confused, looking back and forth between their two possible objectives. "But wait, I thought we were going to help Mario? Are we just leaving him behind? We can't do that; not if he still needs us!" She looked even more distraught now than she had earlier, back when she had nearly died.

She was answered by even more rising saucers; and by Yoshi, who began heading back toward the path. "All I know is, these ships are a real threat. If this is the Empress' endgame, then it's why so many people have died." Twenty years ago, this fleet had nearly destroyed the world. Nobody wanted to think about what could happen if it mobilized again. "Who else is there to shut it down, besides us?"

Toad chipped in with a few last encouraging words of his own, patting Toadette eagerly on the shoulder. "Yeah, and besides, we all know Mario will find a way to win! He's the kind of hero who never, ever gives up!"

Goombella certainly hoped so – she had a feeling that a lot of scary things were about to happen inside that palace. Shaking her head to dismiss the thought, she turned and led the others back towards their new destiny.

For the first time in a great many years, Mario truly felt like giving up.

The grey soldiers hadn't been kind enough to throw him straight in the dungeons. No, they had taken him up onto the outer battlements, right to the edge of the safety zone, and they had made him watch.

They had made sure he saw the whole event, from the instant the switch was pulled, until the white light finally faded out over the river. He'd seen the starry shroud advance across the city, and he'd listened to the faraway sounds of ruin and pain. The guards had told him what it meant when the stardust filled the sky, and they'd laughed at the grey emptiness as the light left it behind.

In the beginning, Mario had tried so hard to get free and end the madness. His hands were bound; but he had kicked and screamed, thrashed and headbutted the guards until they had stopped laughing and pinned him to the ground. If he could have reached that switch, or even smashed up the machinery a little, then maybe he could have made some kind of difference. "I let everyone down. It doesn't matter what I could have done; only that it didn't happen."

...But the thing that hurt most? He had seen Luigi down there, standing by the gates just before the light had come. Mario had called out to him, but his brother had been too far away and panicked to hear it. Just as everything fell apart, he had seen Luigi… vanish into thin air, tripping backwards and into the blast. Mario didn't need anyone to explain what that had meant; not after hearing about the dust.

This wasn't the first time that he had felt so utterly alone. He remembered an adventure from the past – a monochrome castle suspended between worlds, and a race against time to reach the madman at its heart. One by one, the heroes had been picked off by minions and structural collapse, until only Mario was left to stumble through those final halls.

Back then, he'd at least had something real to keep him moving; a villain to pummel and lives to save. The fight had kept his mind off the loss; and besides, everything had turned out okay in the end. It had been a storybook finale, filled with love and new beginnings; but this time didn't feel like that. The bad guys were out of reach, it was too late to save this world, and his friends probably weren't coming back.

…They were gone. Even his precious little bro; the one person who had been with him since the very start. Luigi had always been the gentler one, the careful one; and yet he'd been taken away. He wanted to feel angrier at the injustice of it all, but instead he just felt numb inside. "I should have been the one down there in the thick of it, not him." Mario wished he could reach up to wipe his eyes, but the guards wouldn't even allow him that.

Just now, he was being led into the pits beneath the palace, likely to be shoved in some cell and left to rot. The blindfold was back on, but he could still hear the dripping of sewage and the damp chill of the tunnels. He tripped his way down several stairways, and once he was shoved over a ledge and caught by a laughing guard on the level below. "Next time, just let me hit the ground. It'll be the end of their game and mine."

Deeper and deeper they went; hallway after hallway for what seemed like hours. They rode cage lifts down narrow shafts, and crossed thin bridges over chasms that echoed with the sounds of rushing water far below. By the end of it all, Mario wondered if they were genuinely traveling miles beneath the surface, into the depths of some lost world.

When they let him see again, he was standing before an iron door in what seemed to be a damp and dingy cellblock at the end of the maze. There was no telling how far they'd come to reach this forgotten hole; but the walls were made of blackish stone, and coated in some kind of slimy film that smelled like mildew and heartache.

A guard pulled the door open, and soon Mario was being shoved inside. The little room beyond was just as he'd imagined – a perfect home for his last few pitiful days. It was dark and deathly cold, the ceiling was dripping into puddles on the floor, and the only source of comfort was a tattered blanket piled in the corner. "The bridal suite," one of the soldiers joked as they slammed the door and marched away. "You'll have plenty of time to enjoy yourselves in here. We won't be coming back."

The first thing Mario noticed was a mild spark of pain whenever his feet hit the floor, like a sharp and sudden static shock. He tried leaning into the wall, but jerked back when he felt it there too. "Is this oily goop electrified?" he briefly wondered, but it didn't hurt when he stepped into a nearby slimy puddle. "No, it's just gross cave gunk. That means there's something else going on here…"

He shut his eyes in disgust when he realized what was probably happening - he remembered the wizard's barrier spells all too well. Testing the theory, he kicked the wall with all his might, squinting through the pain to see the shield's hexagonal facets blink and shimmer around the impact. There was something… oddly familiar about that honeycomb pattern, but the reason why escaped him.

Tired and sore, Mario limped over to the wall and slumped down, not even caring about the energy nipping at his back. "They sure don't pull any punches," he thought sadly as he shivered against the chill. "As if I wasn't trapped enough already, they had to bring magic into the picture."

Escape hadn't been likely in the first place – what options did he even have? The door was several inches thick and solid iron, so he'd never get out through there. He could try bashing his head against the ceiling until something cracked, but it would probably be his skull. Inhaling the mold spores might give him a power-up, but they'd probably just make him sick. "Maybe I could… Or perhaps… What if…"

…It was no use. None of his usual tricks were going to get him out of this mess; and even if they could, what was the point? The Empress had gotten everything she wanted; and who knows where Princess Peach had ended up? Luigi was gone, and so were Yoshi, the Toads, Goombella, Lady Bow, and even Bowser. His heart ached for them all.

So, yes; in summary, Mario was giving up. The game had simply gotten too hard to keep playing.

It wasn't likely, but maybe he'd feel better after a nap. Maybe he'd get lucky and simply never wake up. It was probably the best ending he could hope for at this point. Wearily, he scooted into the corner and let himself collapse onto the blanket that was bundled there…

…And pulled back in surprise when it suddenly mewled and squirmed beneath his weight. It was a curious sight - the old sheet looked like it was trying to burrow deeper into the corner; to curl itself into an even tighter little ball. He made to give it a tug, but paused when something familiar spilled out from the side – a long tress of pale pink hair. "…Vivian? Is that you?" he breathed, scarcely hoping to believe.

The blanket reacted immediately, thrashing and untangling until a pair of lavender eyes were peeking back at him. The siren was in there, alright; she was wrapped up in a little cocoon, but it was her. "…Mario, did they get you after all? I'm so sorry; I'd hoped you had gotten away…" Her voice was very hoarse, and muffled by the sheets. It was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard.

Looking back at her, Mario wondered again how he had ever been tricked by that imposter. Vivian's eyes were filled with kindness and curiosity, and something else that he couldn't quite place. "They got us all, Viv," he answered with a sad shake of his head. "I thought we had a pretty good plan, but the Empress had a better one."

He moved to sit down beside her, but she twitched away from him with a whimper. He must have looked hurt, because she hurried to explain. "I'm… I'm sorry! It's just that, um…" She seemed nervous, and her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "…The guards took all my things. I'm not exactly… decent… under here."

She shook her head at his confusion, the whole blanket shaking with it. "I mean, I know that I don't normally wear very much; but I usually have my hat or scarf, and…" she trailed off again, as if questioning her fashion choices for the first time. "That's usually enough to make me feel safe, I guess."

That made sense enough for Mario, who was used to his friends only wearing one or two small things each. He tried to offer her his hat to wear, but his hands were still tied in place behind his back. Seeing him struggle with the ropes, Vivian wriggled around until her own arms were free. "Here, let me help you with that, please."

He'd expected her to try untying the knots, but instead her left hand came alive with softly glowing embers. He knelt down beside her, and she pinched at the restraints until they simply singed apart. When it was finished, he passed his cap to her - she looked at it for a moment in grateful wonder, before setting it on her head and letting the blanket fall away.

Normally, Mario wouldn't dream of looking inappropriately at a lady; but after the talk they'd just had, it was hard not to glance downward. Vivian had very… well; let's just say that her figure was by no means unattractive. Even after a few nights in prison, she wasn't nearly as gaunt as her doppelganger had been.

Hastily pushing the thought away, Mario settled in next to her; and this time she gladly let him. For the first time, he noticed the heavy bags and tear stains beneath her eyes, and the faded scratches all across her shadowy skin. Despite all that, she leaned against him with a patient smile and an easy sigh.

He couldn't say how long they sat together in silence, sharing the blanket's small warmth and listening to each other breathe. It could have been a few minutes, or perhaps half the night; but either way, the time for talking crept up far too soon. In the end, it was Vivian who realized that one of them should probably get started. "I guess I've missed a whole bunch of stuff, huh? I thought that you would have been home by now…"

That last sentence startled Mario back to reality, if only because it implied so much. Did she really believe that he would have left her behind in a place like this? Is that how little she thought of herself, even after all this time? "We would have all gone back together, and that includes you," he told her firmly, needing her to understand. "But I don't think any of us will make it home now. A lot of awful things happened out there tonight."

She frowned at him curiously, and he realized that he was going to have to tell her everything. This wasn't going to be easy – the idea of reliving the festival made Mario queasy, but keeping secrets wouldn't help at all. Vivian deserved to know the whole truth, including what had become of their friends. "I'll start at the beginning, with what happened when we got back from Twilight Town…"

He told as much of the tale as he could remember; from the Empress' invitation, to their party-crashing plans. She listened as he explained the mission, and how it had all fallen apart – Bowser's big invasion, being separated from Luigi, and then being helpless to watch as a wave of starlight tore the world –and his life - into shreds.

He hesitated, but eventually he even told her about the fake Vivian, and how she had acted so strangely. "She's the one who put you in here, right? She insisted that she was the 'real' you, but she has to be a Duplighost or something."

Vivian shook her head, finding a place to give her own input. "I think she's real, she's just not like me. I talked to this world's version of Beldam, remember? She said that my other self was a 'feral beast.'" The siren paused to trace a few of her half-healed gashes with a finger. "She certainly seemed feral when she attacked me. I wonder what happened to her…?"

Mario felt incredibly silly – why hadn't he guessed that it was Vivian's alternate self? It was totally the obvious answer, but somehow it had slipped by him. "I guess I just didn't see how it could be you," he told her, thinking back on all the little things that had tipped him off. "She had an acid tongue, and she always kept out of the light. Oh, and she flirted with me at every chance, but then she said it was all an act."

Vivian had a small spasm of panic at the word "flirted," her eyes going wide as she pulled away. "S-she did what with you?! She was pretending to be me, a-and she did it by flirting with you?! But how did she… Wait, no! I mean, uh… Um…" She ran out of words, so she jumped the track and found another subject to pursue. "W-we should talk about an escape plan! Let's stop thinking about her, please…!"

If Mario's words had made Vivian uncomfortable, then her suggestion returned the feeling with full force. "…I don't have a plan," he muttered, staring at the floor because he couldn't bear to meet her eyes. "I wish I did, but there's nothing you or I can do to get us out of here."

She leaned over to seek out his gaze, looking equal parts confused and hopeful. "So does that mean the others are coming here to save us, then? But I thought you said that everyone was… That they were gone." She glanced uncertainly at the cell door, as if it might burst open at any time. "I guess this is part of the mission, and you were being sneaky."

…She wasn't making this easy, was she? Even now, she believed that "Super Mario" could save her; that he could still win the day with some genius trick. But the truth was, Mario had never felt less "super" in his life – he didn't deserve that name after the way he'd lost. That was the name of a hero, not someone who had watched the innocent die by the thousands.

"They are gone, Viv," he finally answered, hating how close he was to tears again. "How could any of them still be safe? I saw my little brother disappear with my own eyes…" The siren had been leaning against him, but suddenly she felt like the support. "He needed me, and I wasn't there. Mama Mia, I was useless! Even in here, I'm still useless…"

Vivian didn't say anything, but he could feel her suddenly grow tense. When he glanced over, she was staring straight ahead, her lips drawn into a thin line. Mario slumped a little further, wishing for the right words and finding none. "…I can't get us out of this. Even if I did, how would that help? No matter what I do from here, I lose. I can't put things back to the way they were, and I can't save our friends. I can't do thi-"

She cut him off with a sharp slap, and he could tell that she had put some fire into it. "…Don't you dare," she whispered as the first real tears began to fall – not from his eyes, but from hers. "It wasn't supposed to be like this, but that changes nothing. All this time, I never stopped having faith in you out there. You can't give up now, because I won't let you."

He searched her eyes, and saw that they were filled with memories. "Do you remember our first day on the Excess Express?" she began, giving a wistful smile as she lost herself in the past. "That evening, I got into a big fight with Flurrie. I had finally gathered the courage to ask if I could wear her pretty necklace, and she yelled at me. I thought she was going to punish me, um, like my sisters used to; so I ran away and hid at the back of the train for hours..."

"I remember that," Mario nodded, not too sure where this story was going. "I was up late for a midnight snack, but I ended up searching for you instead. We sat together and talked for a while, just like this." Stars, things had been so much simpler back then.

"You said that I was lucky, because now Flurrie and I could become better friends." The siren's smile softened as the memory played out. "I didn't see how, but then you told me about your number one rule. 'Every mistake is a lesson,' you said, 'and that's how we learn to be better.' You explained that broken hearts were just tests to see how much we'd learned…"

Somewhere down in the darkness, Mario felt Vivian's slender fingers entwine with his own. "You believed that I could be better, when nobody ever had. That's when I knew that I… that I wanted to live by that rule too."

Mario tried to smile for her, but it didn't feel very real. It was a sweet story, but how did its lesson help them in the here and now? "I never learned anything that could prepare me for this," he admitted with a shuddering sigh. "And besides, there's nothing out there for us to fix. I can't save an empty world – I need something to fight for, or someone; but there's nobody left…"

She looked so hurt that he immediately knew he'd said something wrong. "That isn't true, Mario. Is that really how you feel?" She squeezed his hand, but then looked away as her eyes misted over. "What about Princess Peach, wherever she is? What about all the people back home, who are counting on you to return?" Vivian's voice broke, and her next words were all but silent. "…What about me…?"

The words were still sinking in when the siren found the strength to speak again, tapping into that hidden well of bravery that had always impressed him so much. "You have me, and I have you; so let's fight for each other out there…!" She seemed to make a decision then, giving him her most determined smile. "A-and after it's over, I'll stay with you for as long as you need! We could go far away, and you'll never have to worry about being alone…"

In spite of everything, Mario had to chuckle at what she was suggesting. It was such a kind gesture, but he couldn't just make Vivian follow him around forever. "You have your own life, and your own home with Beldam and Marilyn. I can't ask you to spend your whole life with me; it wouldn't be right." If they ever got out of here, she deserved to find some kind of happiness.

"It's so simple, but you still don't get it." She was hugging herself and taking shallow breaths, fighting the anxiety word by word. "There's nowhere else that I belong. Even if I could leave, I never would; because I want to be by your side, always…"

She looked up, met his eyes, and said the words that changed everything. "…Because I love you."

"I need to make her understand that… Wait, what?" Simple as the phrase was, it took a while for Mario to truly hear it. Even when he did, he didn't quite dare to trust his own ears. "No, that's crazy. She can't mean it like that," Mario assured himself - there were so many different kinds of love, right? But one look at the siren's face was enough to tell that he was only kidding himself. They both knew exactly how she meant it.

"I could never find the right way to tell you," Vivian whispered softly, losing her nerve just a moment too late. The secret was out for good, and now she was stranded in the aftermath. "I've, um, felt this way for a long time, you know." She bowed her head, letting a few more tears fall between them. "In my mind, I always told you in a flower garden at sunrise; but I guess this works too…"

A long silence fell between them, so strained that it felt like the slightest breath might cause a collapse. In that moment, they might've been the only two people in all the world. Mario was still struggling with those three small words, suddenly questioning everything he believed about the shy siren. Vivian sat by and waited until the tension became too much to bear, and she pitched forward with a strangled sob. "W-well, aren't you g-going to say anything?!"

If only Mario knew what to say – his heart was pulling him in a million different ways at once. It would be terrible to reject her, but even more terrible to lie. But then again, which would be the lie – to say that he loved her, or that he didn't? He couldn't deny that his feelings for Vivian had grown in the past few weeks, but could he call it love? If it was, it felt nothing like the fluttery infatuation he'd once had for Princess Peach. Vivian was the calm after a very long storm; gentle touches, whispered secrets, and the promise of forever. Her love meant peace, trust, and a kind of tender innocence.

And yet, he was starting to see her in a way that might not have been so innocent after all. She really was quite pretty, especially when she smiled. Stars, how he wished he could get her to smile again. His eyes drifted to her lips, buttercup-yellow and suddenly so inviting. Part of him felt so tempted to lean in, pull her close, and listen to her softly gasp as they…

…But no, it was far too soon for all of that. They were both still hurting, and feelings weren't so easily figured out. Instead, he gathered her into a protective hug, guiding her head up to rest on his shoulder. Vivian gasped anyway, and Mario heard himself repeating words that came back to him like an echo over the sea. "I'm fighting by your side from now on. I've made my choice… and I'm not turning back."

Vivian let out a cry of relief, understanding the hidden meanings that she herself had once put into those words. She threw herself into the hug with desperate fierceness, squeezing her arms beneath his as she tangled herself deeper into the embrace. Mario shut his eyes and let the moment stretch on, learning the curve of her back and the softness of her hair, while she shook with the very last of her sobs.

…And then something very strange happened. It started with a high whine in the air – a pained sort of buzz that sounded like the electrocution of a swarm of bees. The sound grew into vibrations and heat, and then the sizzling sensation of a rapid static discharge. In an instant, the entire cell flashed like a breaking lightbulb; and in the aftermath, the last seams of the barrier were seen dissolving pitifully away.

The two heroes looked to each other in bewilderment, and Vivian reluctantly drew back so she could dip a hand into the shadows. Sure enough, it submerged easily – her shadow powers were working again, meaning that the magic shield was... somehow… truly gone. The siren sniffed and pulled her fingers up, still very shaken. "Um, did we do that?"

Mario tried to think – there was a nagging familiarity to this, and he felt like he should know exactly why the spell had broken. But he wasn't exactly thinking logically right now, and the answer just wouldn't come. "I guess it's a riddle for another day," he decided as he climbed to his feet. "The important thing is, we have our escape route. Come on, let's go show the Empress what we're made of."

He helped Vivian up, and saw her slowly break into such a proud grin. She had brought him back from despair, and all it had taken was the baring of her soul. There were so many things still left unsaid, but they couldn't stay that way forever. Mario glanced away, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "We'll… talk about all this later, okay?"

She nodded faithfully, her eyes bright but still a bit misty. "I know," she said simply, before gliding into position by her partner's side. They held each other close, shared a last deep breath, and gave themselves to the abyss.

Together, or at least no longer alone, Mario and Vivian plunged into the unknown.

Meanwhile, back outside the palace gates, Luigi was at least halfway sure that he was still alive.

He couldn't say how long he had lain there shivering in the dust; but when he finally sat up, it felt like his muscles had somehow frozen over. Luigi let out a groan and tried to wiggle his toes, keeping his stare glued to the ground at all times. Living or dead, it didn't matter - he knew that whatever he saw next was probably going to be scarier than anything he'd ever seen before.

Even with his eyes shut and his ears plugged, he had still been able to see the brightness and hear the screams. That chaos had seemed to last forever; but finally it had passed, leaving only blackness and a very unnatural chill. Slowly, he raised his head to see what shape the city was in, but it was a grey ashen wasteland that greeted him instead. "Great; that was another magic warp, and now I'm on the moon. But how am I still breathing?"

But as lunar as the landscape looked, the theory didn't hold up for very long. He soon began to feel the wind, and hear the far-distant roar of rushing water. It was too dark to see anything past the palace's halo of light; but if he could, Luigi would have seen the grassy hills beyond the city, and the remaining half of Mushroom Bridge, slowly beginning its collapse into the river.

"Well, that was certainly a spectacle," a voice said from somewhere nearby, and then laughed as Luigi jumped out of his skin. Lady Bow was behind him, lifting her hand from his shoulder as she uncertainly scanned the horizon. The greenish Boo was trying to maintain her usual bored façade, but right now she seemed to be failing. "I suppose it's lucky I decided to follow your group in the end, hm? Otherwise, you'd be a little pile of scaredy-dust by now."

Luigi gave her a brief smile, grateful for her help but remembering what a fickle thing it was. "Thank you for being here," he said sincerely, even though he still wasn't sure what "here" meant just now. He remembered standing in the plaza with all those Koopas, seeing the lights up on the wall, and then… "They turned on the reactor," he realized as it all came flooding back. "I saw it blast away the whole crowd… There was nothing I could do!"

"It was Professor Gadd's reactor," Bow clarified bitterly, spitting the name out like a curse. "I knew he wasn't trustworthy! I nearly forgave the old fool, but only a true madman could invent a thing like this…" Luigi watched her float out into the desolation, wondering what exactly was going through her mind. As a ghost, she was used to death; but this was ruin on a scale she'd never known before.

So then, where was Mario in all that emptiness? Was he safe, and would they see each other again? "Please let my bro be okay," Luigi wished to the empty sky, wanting nothing more than to see the hero come leaping into view with a triumphant grin. "He was with Vivian, so I'm sure she kept him safe," he hoped, because the alternative was too awful to imagine. "He's the brave one, not me. I'm not fit to be the last Mario Brother."

His fears were interrupted by a thud and some grumbling, and he turned back to find a pitiful sight at the base of the wall. King Bowser was emerging from his shell, groggy and still shimmering from Kammy's protective spells. The witch herself was slumped beside him, frazzled and utterly spent after keeping them both safe for so long. Neither looked particularly excited to be alive.

The larger Koopa heaved himself up, staggered sideways, and almost tumbled over onto his back. He regained his balance and composure with a snarl, and then spent a moment taking in the wasteland for himself. "Ugh, what happened? It feels like I just got punched into the sun again. Kammy, is this your fault?"

He spotted Luigi as he turned around, looking more disappointed than anything else. "You're still here, Green 'Stache? The party's over; go home." He seemed more intrigued when Bow floated back into view, suddenly treating her with an air of mock respect. "Oh, if it isn't Princess Boo. I had no idea you'd be joining us this evening, Your Spookiness."

She flared up at the name, turning to Bowser with her fangs fully bared. "It's Lady Bow, you monster. My father might call himself a king, but that doesn't make it true." She wavered in the air like a thinning fog, frustrated and a little bit uneasy. "I've been keeping away from his twisted schemes my entire unlife, so I'd thank you not to call me by that name ever again."

Well, if Bow wanted attention, this was certainly one way to get it. Luigi squinted at the revelation, whispering sideways to her when she drifted up next to him. "Wait a second, is King Boo your dad? That guy has tried to kill me! Twice!"

She offered a curt nod, looking none too pleased that the secret was out. "Yes, well, now I've saved your life twice. Hopefully it means we've struck a balance, and we'll never have to talk about this again."

Bowser stomped closer, trying to get back into the conversation. "What are you two whispering about, huh?" he questioned with a low growl, not liking that he was being left out. He stopped and thought for a moment, before gesturing out at the expanse of dust and darkness. "And when is someone gonna explain what the heck happened out there?"

Luigi sighed, knowing that 'someone' would likely have to be him. "It all started with a machine that the hooded figure stole," he began, but then corrected himself when he remembered the wizard's identity. "That Kamek stole, I mean. It was a reactor built to turn physical matter into Star power." He went on to explain how it had needed Power Stars to function, and how the Empress had tricked the world with her festival trap.

He was surprised by how attentively Bowser listened to the tale, staring silently at the palace and not bothering to interrupt once. By the time Luigi was finished, the Koopa King's rage seemed fully renewed. "This is sick," he finally spat, growling until smoke curled from the edges of his mouth. "I always knew Kamek was a worm, and that Anti-Peach was the genocidey type; but this is some seriously messed up levels of evil."

By this point, Kammy had risen from her stupor and hobbled over to rejoin the group. She'd caught bits and pieces of the story, shaking her head whenever Kamek's antics were brought up. "Why am I not surprised? Even back in our world, he always was a bit of a disappointment."

Bowser, as ever, was impatient to start making progress. He soon began trudging back towards the marble gates, threatening to leave the others behind. "Too bad for him, the same trick won't work a second time. Green 'Stache and Lady-Princess, you're with me now – we still have to get Peach back, invincible army or not."

Luigi and Bow glanced at each other, one confused and the other slightly affronted. "Er, I don't recall agreeing to help you," the Boo called out to Bowser's retreating shell. "Perhaps if you come over here and beg nicely, we can all talk about this together?"

"I'm not asking for your help," the King turned back with a roll of his eyes. "I'm enlisting you. Everyone else exploded; so until further notice, the two of you are the Koopa Troop. Is that clear?" He didn't wait around for an answer, expecting his newly-conscripted minions to scramble after him.

…A short while later, the four of them arrived before the walls together. "Hey, it's better than letting him run around unsupervised," Luigi told himself, "and the extra muscle will surely come in handy, right?" This wasn't their first reluctant team-up, and he knew just how useful the brute could be in a pinch.

The grand gates still stood slightly open, left as they were from before all the madness started. In the darkness of the gap, a pair of flickering visors kept watch as the little group approached. It wasn't until Bowser tried to shove his way inside that the grey soldiers emerged, spears at their sides and with a stride of smug superiority. "Look around and see how much you've lost, King Koopa. Witness the fruits of your pathetic invasion!"

Luigi recognized these two goons – they had come out to taunt the crowd, and to egg Bowser on as the Koopa made a fool of himself. They must have retreated to safety behind the wall just before the blast, and now they were back to heckle some more. Unfortunately for them, that phase of the battle was long over. "You guys, uh, really don't value your lives that much, do you?

The guards chuckled in perfect unison, the light of their helmets dancing out across the wasteland. "Ah, but what do we have to fear, little man? Our Empress' victory is all but assured. So go on, slink away. Follow this reptile back to whatever depths he crawled out from." If they weren't acting so stoic, Luigi imagined they'd probably be high-fiving right now.

He looked over at Bow, who looked at Kammy, who looked at Bowser. It was a nice little moment shared between the four of them. In the end, it was the largest who spoke first. "I want the one on the left. I remember he looked at me funny."

…A short while later, they were all wondering what to do with their two new sets of slightly-damaged armor. Bowser just wanted to scrap them and get a move on already, and Bow had already phased through the wall to do a little scouting. But Luigi hung back, staring at the singed helmet in his hands and feeling the beginnings of inspiration. There was something about the way it felt; something about the way it gleamed…

"Hey, what's the big idea, minion?" Bowser shouted back, being sure to emphasize the last word. He was currently trying to shove the gates a little further open with some magical assistance from Kammy; but it was slow going, even with his strength. "Get over here and start pushing; it might be funny to watch."

"…Actually, I do have an idea," Luigi exclaimed as he put the pieces together at last. "In fact, I think I might have a plan."

The trip up from the dungeons felt like a blur, or maybe like a dream; but either way, it certainly didn't feel like a harrowing escape.

Vivian poked her head out of the shadows, looked both ways, and then hurried back to the alcove where she'd left Mario. She needed to tell him the news – they had to turn left up ahead, because that was the way to the nearest set of stairs. "He's counting on me, now more than ever! I can't let myself screw this up!"

Truth be told, she'd felt totally dizzy since, um, that thing had happened back in the cell. Oh, forget it; there's no reason to be shy – she had confessed. After all these years, Vivian had finally put her heart on the line, told the truth; and Mario had said… Well, he actually hadn't said much of anything yet; but he definitely hadn't said 'no.'

Nothing had gone the way she'd always imagined it going; but somehow that felt… a little bit wonderful? It meant she'd had the strength to confess outside of her perfect little fantasy, in what might've been the darkest place she'd ever been. Besides, Mario had found new strength in her words, which made her heart flutter more than any near-miss kiss ever could.

The siren gave her report to the hero, and the two of them set off once again. They were taking the stealthy path out of the prison, moving from one area to the next when they were sure it was safe. Mario remembered a few landmarks from his trip down – a bridge, which they'd already passed, and then an elevator and a sewer. After that, with luck, they'd find themselves outside in the open air.

Traveling to the surface through the shadows would've been quicker, but they'd soon decided that it was too big of a risk. In this world, the shadows were the other Vivian's domain, and they could never be sure when or where she might be watching. For now, Vivian only peeked into the abyss when they were lost and needed a hint – down there, she could see the whole network of tunnels twisting through the void.

As they climbed higher, the stonework began to get lighter, and the air began to turn warmer. On the other hand, guards started appearing as they approached the heart of the complex. It began with simple patrols of one or two, but Mario and Vivian both knew they'd be seeing a lot more of them soon. "If they catch us, just take us into the shadows and flee," Mario instructed as they watched a patrol pass by. "I'd rather deal with one crazy siren than an army of these guys."

They found a new opportunity along with the elevator, which was waiting at the end of a dark and twisting shaft. The iron cage was on its way down when they arrived, and they ducked out of sight as a couple of soldiers disembarked. Rather than sneak past, Mario signaled for an ambush; and Vivian followed him into battle with newly-restored flame.

When it was over, they both had brilliant disguises. They spent most of the lift ride struggling into the armor; but when they got off, either hero could have passed for a guard. There was just one problem – Vivian's shadowy tail only ran down a single leg, meaning she had to hold the empty one behind her to keep it from clanging around. "See, this is why it's so hard to find clothes. Hats and scarves are so much easier."

There were more enemies in the upper tunnels, but not nearly as many as Vivian would have expected. "Where is everyone?" she whispered as they passed through a mess hall, empty except for one guard who was sleeping at a table. Wasn't this place supposed to be a hive of bad guys? "It's like everybody here just decided to go home."

Mario lightly shrugged, but his voice was nervous behind the soldier mask. "Either that, or the Empress has sent them all someplace else." They passed a couple of stationed sentries who looked oddly at Vivian's leg, but said nothing and let the escapees pass. "Wherever they are, we'll beat them when the time comes."

Too soon it seemed, they were pushing open a dark steel door to find themselves back out in the street, exiting the base of an ivory spire. "So this must be the palace," the siren thought, gazing up at the endless stabbing towers, and the blackness of the night beyond. It was the first time Vivian had seen the sky in days, and she found herself wishing that it could have been a little less bleak; a little more beautiful.

Mario's eyes were scanning the sky too, but his expression was one of clear worry. Vivian followed his gaze up the tallest tower, and nearly lost herself within the hypnotic swirls of the swarm above. The heavens were host to an intricate orbital dance – hundreds of purple stars, large and small alike, spinning and threading through each other in impossibly-interconnected rings. "…Oh wow, what are they?" Vivian heard herself asking, but it didn't seem like Mario knew.

As they made their way through the backstreets toward the main spire, they took advantage of the solitude to remove their helmets. Mario reached up to adjust his cap, only to realize with a chuckle that he wasn't wearing it. It still belonged to Vivian, who had been given permission to keep it for as long as she needed to feel safe. Just the thought of that simple kindness was enough to send her heart soaring all over again.

"Should… should I risk it?" she asked herself, thinking of something she'd wanted to try since back in the cell. She'd done this exactly once before, long ago on another adventure; but that had been a spontaneous thing in a moment of elation. This time it would be planned, and that made it so much scarier. "Maybe it'll be easier next time, and the next, and the one after that…"

She glided just a step closer, leaned in as subtly as she could, and pressed her lips to Mario's cheek. The kiss only lasted a split second, but she felt him smile. Their hands soon found each other, maybe by instinct, and they continued the journey side-by-side.

The Empress, the wizard, the other siren – it didn't matter. Whatever evil came next, it would be theirs to face together.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14 - This Veil of Lies

The palace streets were empty; the night air cold and still. As the ivory spires towered high above, Luigi felt like he was passing through the fangs of some eldritch alien beast.

The eerie silence wasn't pleasant, but the thought of it ending was even worse. The hero scanned the web of bridges overhead, searching for any sign of movement or flickering helmet light. There was an army waiting somewhere within these walls, and eventually it would make itself known. If this place was the maw of a monster, then it was due time for the jaws to snap shut.

Luigi shifted nervously in his armor, the salvaged equipment doing very little to make him feel safe. His skills relied so much on agility, and this iron suit seemed to weigh a bit more with every step. If things backfired and it came to battle, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to fight or flee. "I just have to act natural, and they'll never suspect a thing." Luigi took a calming breath, steadied himself, and signaled for the group to press on.

Things would've been simpler with Bowser in front, free to smash and snarl like the living battering ram that he was. But such tactics would only expose them - in order for the plan to work, the Koopa King had to be in the middle, with a grey soldier to either side. Kammy was in the back with the second armor set, her feebleness playing into the role of an injured guard. Lady Bow was floating along invisibly somewhere, which left Luigi to take the leader's spot. Nothing about the position felt right.

"Explain this plan to me again, Green 'Stache," Bowser ordered, speaking again for the first time in a while. He hadn't been very happy about stepping back; but he'd relented when Luigi promised him access to the citadel's heart, and maybe even to the Empress herself. "Why did you dress up like those goons we thrashed, and how is it not a totally stupid idea?"

Luigi sighed, hating that he was about to teach his arch-nemesis the oldest trick in the hero handbook. "If we pretend to be guards, then we can pass you off as a prisoner. If we meet anyone, then we'll tell them that we captured you outside the gates, and now we're taking you to the Empress." He could practically feel Bowser's skeptical gaze boring into the back of his head. "Trust me, it'll work. I, uh, saw it in a movie once."

The huge Koopa was quiet for a moment while he processed the information, and then he began predictably stomping the pavement. "GRAAAGH! This is why I can never defeat you Mario chumps! It's because you don't play fair! What's the world coming to when a villain can't even trust their own henchmen?"

Kammy was by his side as quickly as she could manage, her ill-fitting armor clattering as she tried to calm Bowser down. "Hush now, my lord! Remember your inside voice!" She turned back, casting her sight out over the grim skyline, as if searching for the one enemy who would be sure to see through the ruse. "Let's not forget, you've got a traitorous henchman of your own skulking about somewhere in this maze."

Bowser took a second to seethe at the reminder, baring his fangs and clenching his claws. Nobody had forgotten about Kamek, or the fact that he was probably up to something psychotic right about now. Eventually, the brute pulled himself together and fell back into line with an irritated grunt. "Yeah, whatever. Let's keep moving, and hope for his sake that he stays out of my way."

...And so they made their way deeper into the palace, staying vigilant as the grid of streets led them ever inwards towards the center. But even after all this time, they still had yet to encounter a soul. Luigi peered into every doorway that they passed, finding empty barracks and abandoned warehouses, but never a single sign of life. "This is getting pretty bizarre. There's no way the soldiers were all outside in the city, so then where are they hiding?"

As if in answer, an alarm began to blare in the far distance, drawing Luigi's attention to the one mighty tower that loomed above all the rest. A moment later, the ground beneath his feet pulsed with a sudden tremor, and a burst of energy could be seen rising through the spire's aura like a wave of violet heat. The klaxons soon faded and the quaking passed, but nothing could lessen the sense of pure evil that radiated from that half-melted monolith.

A widening halo of purple stars swirled in the sky beyond – a dark inverse of the palace's spire rings, splaying out across the once-empty sky. The alien lights twinkled in rhythmic sequence, one and then the next, as if responding to the tower's chilling call. "I can't even tell how many there are," Luigi muttered, searching the swarm for some kind of pattern he could follow. "It was bad enough with just one of those things up there, that night at the gala…"

"You're talking about that giant hunk of metal we found in Toad Town, aren't you?" Kammy interjected, speaking of her own experience with the fallen star. "You know, I'm still impressed with the efficiency of that spellcrafting. A twice-firing, time-delayed portal bomb! How the heck did an impatient lackwit like Kamek ever dream up a combo like that?"

The witch seemed poised to launch into full-blown magi-babble, but luckily Bow appeared just in time to cut her off. Unfortunately, the news she brought with her wasn't the happy kind. "Hush up, everyone," the ghost warned, indicating a shady alley halfway down the block. "It's time to get serious, because there seems to be someone headed our way."

Sure enough, out from the shadows stepped a pair of patrolling guards; two enemies on some sinister mission of their own. They were turning to follow the sidewalk when the shape of Bowser caught their eye, and they paused to watch the intruders in a sort of quiet confusion. "…Turn back! This is a restricted area!" one of them eventually called, sharing a cautious glance with the other, who merely shrugged.

Their armor was badly dented, and Luigi noted that one of them seemed to be dragging a lame leg. He guessed that these guards were probably injured throwaways, unfit for… whatever duty was keeping the others busy. It wouldn't be hard to beat them in a fight, but the sound of battle might summon reinforcements. In the end, the hero decided it was safest to stick with the plan.

"Well met, my fellow loyalists!" he hailed back, trying and utterly failing to sound tough. "As you can see, we've captured the leader of that Koopa invasion. You guys remember, the one that totally failed?" Bowser let out a sharp growl, and Luigi tried to believe that it was part of the act. "So if you'll just let us pass, we'll be on our way to the Empress. She's interested in, er, interrogating him herself!"

The one-legged guard tilted their head quizzically, thought for a moment, and seemed prepared to speak until their partner interrupted. "…No, you can't go see her! I mean, uh, she isn't feeling very well tonight…" He gestured off down the alley, back the way the two of them had come. "You'll have to put your captive in the dungeons for now. If you'll just head that way for about six blocks, then-"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Bowser roared, getting caught up in the indignity even as he tried to play his role. "Listen, I'm a royal prisoner, and I demand to be treated as such! If I can't get in to see the Empress, then at least take me to the cushy tower where you're keeping Princess Peach!" Luigi had to mentally groan at the last bit, because the Koopa's voice sounded almost hopeful.

By this point, the silent guard had settled into a resigned slump as they waited to get a word in edgewise. When the time finally came, their voice sounded far too light and feminine for someone in such scary armor. "Um, guys? I think we had the same plan."

She was the first to remove her helmet, revealing a blessedly familiar purple face framed by cotton-candy curls. "…Vivian, you're still alive!" Luigi exclaimed with a grin, tearing off his own helmet to greet his missing friend. "How did you get inside the palace before us, and why are you wearing my brother's hat?" She looked sheepish; but before she could explain, he realized something about the other soldier, who by now was staring at him in soundless shock. "Mario, is that you? I knew you'd make it, bro!"

Mario staggered forward, one shaky step and then another, until he was able to tackle Luigi into an awkward armored hug. The older twin kept his headgear on, likely to hide the undignified tears that were probably threatening to come. His voice shook behind the mask; but it was warm, filled with pure relief and a bit of curiosity. "How in the world did you get out of that one, Luigi? I saw you vanish, and thought I'd lost you. I thought… that I'd failed you…"

Lady Bow materialized over Mario's shoulder, rolling her eyes and giving the hero a light tap with her fan. "I know that I can be hard to see, but I didn't think I was easy to forget. I never left his side, no matter how much he whimpered." She turned her attention to Vivian, who was quietly watching the brothers embrace with a teary-eyed smile of her own. "You did well too, my dear, but you smell terrible! When we get home, I'm taking you to the most lavish spa in Poshley Heights - my treat."

Throughout it all, Bowser and Kammy had been whispering amongst themselves in the background; but now the scaly king was stomping over to say his piece. "So you're alive, eh Mario?" He sure didn't sound ecstatic, but he made no move to argue; and with a curt nod, he simply pushed past to continue down the street. "…Very good. If that dumb light had managed to put you down, it would've been seriously unsatisfying. You're with us now, but stay in the back and try not to interfere with my genius prisoner plan."

Mario finally lifted his helmet a bit, if only to give Luigi a bemused little grin. "We usually have to beat each other up before this part. I wonder what's put him in such a good mood?" The group resumed their stealthy journey, with Mario and Vivian taking up spots to Bowser's left and right. Luigi might have imagined it, but his brother and the siren looked a bit saddened by suddenly walking so far apart.

There were six of them now; a few tired souls against all the madness of this bleak and broken world. The distant spire pulsed once more; a rippling energy that echoed like laughter, as if to mock these little heroes who just didn't belong.

High above them all, the violet stars burned with hidden purpose, and waited…

Several miles away, in the grassy fields beyond the river, Yoshi the dinosaur was in a very tight spot.

That was a literal statement, by the way – he was currently wedged halfway through the airfield's chain-link fence, in a very narrow gap that Goombella had found. She had been petite enough to simply sidle through, and the Toads' mushroom caps were just squishy enough to squeeze inside. But Yoshi was having a harder time, since he was larger and not made of fungus stuff. While he struggled in the background, the others were getting the lay of the land.

In this corner of the base, a small cluster of sheds and storehouses kept the intruders hidden from patrolling guards, whose helmet lights could be seen flickering from all the way across the field. Hangars lined one side of the compound, and a darkened control tower overlooked everything from the far end. But what really mattered were the runways, and the endless rows of saucers and cruisers that waited there, idling and ready for liftoff.

Every minute or two, sirens would blare out across the field, and another section of the fleet would take to the sky. The saucers went up in squadrons of five or six, always wobbling unsteadily at first, never gaining speed until they'd maneuvered high up into the open air. The larger ships took off alone, and far less often than the tiny one-pilot saucers; but when they did, the roar of their engines could rattle the fences from several hundred yards away.

"There sure are a lot of them," Toad whispered, ducking into some leafy bushes as a few ships zipped by overhead, flying in a lopsided honeycomb formation. There couldn't be more than a few hundred out there in all; but from this limited vantage, the passing craft just never seemed to end. "I guess we're going to the control tower, but how can we get there?"

By now, Yoshi had made it past the trials of the fence, and was now trotting over to join the others in their hiding spot. "Stealth is the most sensible option," he suggested, peeking into a nearby shed to see if there were any convenient items stashed inside. Finding nothing but gardening tools and a rusty lawnmower, he settled into the bushes beside Goombella. "If we lure a few guards over this way, we can steal their armor and slip past the others unsee-"

"Seriously, dude?" the Goomba girl interrupted, shooting him an incredulous glare. "First of all, that trick is starting to get super stale; and secondly, how would that even work for me? I don't exactly have the body type to pull it off." Yoshi opened his mouth to object, but she hopped closer in a pointed effort to silence him. "And don't even tell me to be the prisoner, because you totally know there's no dungeon here."

In the end, the team decided to just make a break for it and hope for the best. To be honest, Yoshi had been expecting that since the start, because his friends always defaulted to that type of strategy. "It doesn't help that I'm the only one here who really knows how to fight. If the guards see us, it's up to me to keep the group safe." The dinosaur was used to playing support on his adventures with Mario, so this new role was both exciting and a little daunting.

"I've been wondering something," Toadette piped up as the group slid down a little embankment at the edge of the first runway. "What's the point in fixing all these old Shroob ships, anyway? If the Empress wants a fleet, then why not build a fresh one?" It was a fair point, considering the sad state these saucers had probably been in.

"It's gotta be, like, a symbolic validation sort of thing," Goombella guessed with a shrug, looking up at a silver-bellied frigate as they snuck between the landing gear. "It's the same reason she lives in the old mothership, I bet. What could make her feel more powerful than controlling the very same ships that nearly conquered the world?" Yoshi gave her a thoughtful glance, having not expected such a profound statement from her. "If she built her own fleet, then a part of her would always be stuck wondering, 'Yeah, but could it beat the Shroobs?'"

They passed from aisle to aisle – hurrying when they could, but keeping to the shadows when there were guards about. Luckily, the soldiers didn't seem to be patrolling so much as inspecting, pausing every now and then to examine a ship just before it took off. Once, Yoshi managed to slurp one up and make an egg, although he hoped he didn't have to use it.

It was easy to see why the vessels were so interesting, besides the obvious fact that they were actual starships. Each of them was covered from fore to aft in runic markings – swirls of arcane squiggles that had been drawn in the same painstaking patterns across each and every hull. Nobody in the party knew what the symbols meant, or even what language they were in; but they were unlikely to be there for visual effect alone. "This whole situation just keeps getting creepier," Yoshi mused, not liking the idea of enchanted warships one bit.

A while later, he glanced back to find Goombella and Toadette following safely behind him… and Toad about thirty feet away, prancing up the docking ramp of a shuttle parked across the aisle. "What are you doing?!" the dinosaur whispered frantically, looking both ways before hurrying over to set things right. He tried to snare the little shroom with his tongue, but Toad seemed to be expecting it and hopped out of the way. "This isn't a game! Get down from there before you're seen!"

Toad shook his head and pressed further into the craft, distractedly talking back over his shoulder as he went. "Relax, it's empty in here. I just want to see what these things look like up close." Yoshi could hear him rummaging around inside, opening cabinets and swiveling the pilot's seat. "Hey, even the inside has those weird squiggles! They're all over the windows, too. How is anybody supposed to fly this thing?"

Yoshi could only groan inwardly as he hoisted himself up and went in after the little scamp. It was a pretty cramped shuttle, big enough for maybe three or four passengers; and of course Toad was right at the front, sitting in the chair and making engine noises with his mouth. Goombella and Toadette soon climbed in to join them, mildly curious and wanting the group to stick together. Between the three of them, it was surely an easy task to grab Toad and get back to the mission.

…Or at least it would have been, had their clambering not attracted the attention of an enemy patrol. "Trespassers! Exit the ship and explain yourselves!" yelled a voice from behind, and Yoshi turned to find a lone spearman charging up the ramp, ready for battle and clearly not interested in hearing excuses. Yoshi reflexively reached back to grab his egg, took aim and threw with all his might…

…And then the doors slammed shut, splattering the projectile messily against them and the surrounding walls. The soldier was pounding on the other side, but he was suddenly drowned out as the engines flared to life. The docking ramp fell away, and the lone guard with it, as the ship jolted into the air. Yoshi turned, absolutely horrified, to the mushroom in the pilot's seat. "Toad, don't tell me that you…"

The little guy held up his hands defensively, showing that they'd been nowhere near the controls. "It wasn't me, I swear! I-it had to have been Goombella!" The girl squinted at him in offense, standing on tiptoes as if to say that she couldn't even reach most of the dials. Toadette had been in the back of the ship, and Yoshi knew for sure that it hadn't been him. So, then… who, or how?

It didn't seem to matter, because they were swiftly leaving the airfield behind, and none of them had the knowhow to turn their ride around. Yoshi looked out a rune-covered window to try and find the ground, but it was already far enough away to be lost in darkness. There were several saucers ascending with them, a few to either side; and the dinosaur could see from here that they were empty.

"This is bad," he thought, scrambling up to see the view from the main screen, pushing Toad aside as he took the chair for himself. As he feared, they seemed to be on a straight course for the sinister field of stars in orbit above the palace. "The invasion fleet, and it looks like we're a part of it now."

The engines hummed louder, and the little craft picked up speed. Soon enough, a spot was offered in the nearest ring, and Yoshi and the others were swept away into the cosmic dance.

The citadel's heart drew nearer with every step, but what would they find when they got there? Rarely had Mario ventured into a villain's lair so utterly blind.

If this were a typical sort of adventure, there would be enemies around each corner and traps along every path. He would probably be battered and weary from fighting, moving forward on faith and the last fumes of adrenaline. Times like that weren't exactly fun, but they were normal for the end of the world. This place, though, had been stark and barren since he had left that dungeon cell, and he wasn't quite sure how to interpret that.

He still felt very tired, but this was the emotional kind of exhaustion. Since entering the palace, Mario had been betrayed, lost a brother, found him again, been offered love, and maybe even started to feel it back. He'd run the whole gamut of feelings from grief to bliss, and it had only been an hour or two. "I've never believed in comfort food; but when we get out of here, I'm gonna need the biggest plate of linguini the world has ever seen."

While he gathered his thoughts, the others were beginning to chat amongst themselves. A few of them had never spoken before, but they couldn't afford to be strangers if they were going to work as a team. Kammy had interjected herself into a conversation between Luigi and Bow; and she seemed to have turned it into a lecture, because they both looked bored out of their wits.

"What are you supposed to be?" Bowser inquired, glancing aside to give Vivian the once-over. "Some kind of grape jelly ghost?" He had evidently forgotten the time they had briefly met before, back down in the Palace of Shadow.

"I'm not actually a ghost, even though everybody asks that," the siren answered, trying her best not to stammer or shy away from the imposing reptile. "I'm not really sure why, though. My powers aren't that similar, and ghosts tend to be pretty pale. Is it because I live near Creepy Steeple? B-but there's no way you could've known that, so…" By now, she had realized that Bowser was no longer listening, and let herself trail off with a nervous sigh.

If the Koopa's hulking form hadn't been directly between them, Mario would've reached over to give her hand a gentle squeeze. He was still trying to pin down what he felt for Vivian, and now wasn't the time to be getting lost in such thoughts; but no matter what, he needed to keep her safe. She was his reason for fighting now, and that was a choice he was proud to have made.

All around them, the ambient light was beginning to change – soft white fading to a deep and devouring shade of magenta. The tower that had once been so distant now loomed across just one last plaza, surrounded at the base by what looked to be the darkened husk of a stadium. The tremors were growing larger and more frequent, and Mario noticed plumes of noxious smoke billowing up from vents around the plaza's edge.

Even as they passed beneath the shadow of the structure – as they entered the stadium through a grand archway, traveling through rooms clearly meant for royalty – they met no resistance at all. After a few twists and turns, the party found itself in a wide passage that might've glowed golden if the lights had been left on. Crystal chandeliers hung overhead in rows, but not a single lamp was burning, leaving the hallway and all its gilded carvings submerged in near-pitch darkness.

"For a tyrant, she doesn't have bad taste in interior design," Bow commented as she surveyed the room, pausing to inspect a gold-leaf etching of seven stars around a mountaintop. "It's opulent, yet perfectly cold and dreary – very Boo chic."

At the far end of the hall, an immense doorway had been left slightly ajar. The narrow gap cast a thin sliver of blue-violet light down the corridor; and by the strangeness of magic, the glow seemed far darker than the true shadow to either side. For a moment, the group hid in that bright darkness as they paused before the door, listening to what sounded like the labored breathing of some ailing monster in the room beyond. In the end, it was Bowser who first grew tired of waiting, and he shoved the door wide open to usher the others inside.

This would usually be the part where they found the enemy's palatial throne room, but Mario had learned to stop expecting the ordinary. What he stumbled into instead was the wreckage of a dining hall in the wake of a magical hurricane. Great wooden tables had been carelessly flung aside, piled against the outer walls and splattered with the sad remains of some forgotten feast. At the chamber's center, a great hole had been burned through the once-plush carpet, creating a canvas for the ritual inscribed on the stone beneath.

The runes seemed to be seared into the floor itself - a web of symbols, each shining with that stifling violet anti-light. The outermost ring was lined with burning candles on tall silver stands, their smoke rising in perfect streams like the bars of some ethereal cage. Try as they might, the heroes couldn't progress more than a few feet into the room – somehow, unnaturally, they were being repelled.

"This is the darkest kind of magic," Kammy explained, "made from pure Ztar Power. Kamek likely corrupted one of the Stars you brought here with you, my lord." Bowser gave an exasperated snort as the witch tried poking at the anomaly with her wand – it seemed totally unaffected, so she soon gave up. "It's designed to push away living souls, so it's often used to create pathways for… body-transference spells."

At the sound of her voice, a certain dark shape began to stir – the last notable feature of this grim scene, and one that hadn't escaped anybody's notice. At the center of the ritual, a great mass of flesh and frills lifted her head, her shadowed eyes seeming to glow red in the light of the runes. "…The feast is long over, but it seems I still have guests. How did you enjoy the festival, little ones?"

…And there she was. Awakening before them was Empress Toadstool herself, struggling to sit up as she floundered in her enormity. Sweat-matted blonde hair fell across her face in fraying ringlets, and her breaths came in ragged gasps as she seemed to grow paler by the second. "I don't look very regal right now, and I apologize. It's quite exhausting, you know; getting the life sucked out of you," she panted, reaching absentmindedly for a wine glass that wasn't there.

Nobody knew quite what to say, here in the presence of such an… overwhelming woman. Mario had heard rumors about her size, whispered by strangers in the taverns of Rogueport, but he hadn't quite taken them seriously until now. He could see the echo of Peach in her eyes; but only for an instant, before they were lost again within that fiery haze. Somehow, the transition unsettled him in a way that he couldn't describe.

The silence reigned for just a moment longer, filling the chamber like a tense fog… And then Bowser burst out laughing.

"Gwah ha ha ha ha!" the king guffawed, nearly doubling over as he pointed across the room with a shaking claw. "Are… Are you serious?! I mean, how many Gourmet Guys did you eat this morning? You're a stinkin' blob!" The ladies in the party were giving him the side-eye, but Bowser just couldn't help himself. "I thought I was prepared for this, but you're just too much!"

The Empress didn't look amused in the slightest, but she kept her voice silky and patient. "This body has been a prison to me for many years," she began, lifting as much of herself as she could grasp with her ever-weakening grip. "It's one that has become more confining as it's grown larger, but I'm about to leave it all behind for good. In just a few short minutes, I'll be reborn and beautiful!"

Luigi was the next to speak, his interest piqued by this latest mention of rebirth. "You keep using that term, but why? I remember it from your festival invitation, and it was strange then, too." He asked the next part very carefully, as if expecting that he wouldn't like the answer. "How exactly are you being reborn?"

She tried to chuckle at his naiveté, but it came out sounding more like a hollow wheeze. As the spell continued to sap away at her strength, her face seemed somehow bloated and skeletal at the very same time. "Oh my, you're very far behind, aren't you? I'm talking about your pretty pink princess, of course. I'm taking her body for myself – why else do you think I've been keeping her here?"

Vivian let out a horrified gasp, the familiarity of the situation not lost on her at all. But it was Bowser who truly reacted, his laughter forgotten as he exploded into a rage. "YOU'RE DOING WHAT WITH MY PEACH?!" he thundered, trying to charge across the room but going nowhere fast as the spell held him back. "Where is she? Is she here in this room? ARE YOU SITTING ON HER, YOU SICKO?!"

The Empress didn't appear worried, but she kept her eyes steadily fixed on the furious king. "You remind me of someone, you know. Someone that I hate." She sagged forward, letting the charred remains of her right arm fall limply into the candlelight. "I've been living with what he did for twenty years. If you want an explanation for my appearance, then here it is. Why take care of a body that was ruined from the start?"

She sank back into the shadows, sighing as she returned to the point. "The little princess is at the top of this tower – or should I call it my new battleship?" She said it easily, knowing that the heroes had no chance to climb the skyscraper in time. "As soon as the transfer is complete, I'll simply walk to the ship's bridge in my new body. The fleet is already in position up there, so all that's left to do is start the engines and join them…"

Bowser was back out the door in a flash, not even waiting for the monologue to end before charging full-tilt into the darkness. He had practically dragged Kammy with him, and the old hag's startled shouts could still be heard vanishing into the distance. "He's quite a lumbering oaf, isn't he?" the Empress laughed, even weaker than the time before. "I'll obviously beat him up there, but maybe I'll wait around for him, just to see the look on his face…"

Mario glanced between the enemy and the hallway, quickly deciding whether to follow or stay behind. "Bowser shouldn't have done that, but we can't afford to get separated now," he reasoned, motioning to the others as he made a dash for the door. "It's not like we can do anything here, either. We can't even reach the Empress with that spell in the way."

…Suddenly, threads of black shadow burst from every side of the doorframe, weaving and interlocking with grasping tendrils until the passage was webbed shut. Mario skidded to a halt mere inches from the barrier, and the room echoed with lifeless laughter as Luigi and Vivian nearly bowled him over from behind. "Oh, wow. Now you guys are REALLY somewhere you shouldn't be."

He felt her presence before he saw her – a lithe shape swimming beneath the ground, rippling through the shadows in playful swirls. "You just can't leave us alone, can you?" she asked icily, finally emerging from the abyss with a manic glare smeared across her face. The false siren glided in close, circling the foursome but keeping her predatory gaze fixed on Vivian alone. "Why did you have to survive? I was never supposed to see you again!"

A very pointed cough made everyone turn back towards the Empress, who was regarding the new arrival with an expectant arch of her eyebrow. "Oh, r-right! I'm sorry to intrude, Your Grace," the imposter said with something like a sloppy curtsy, seeming less sure of herself now that all eyes were on her. "Master Kamek is coming, too. I'm here first, since I'm so much faster than he is~"

Meanwhile, poor Luigi was still playing catch-up, watching the two Vivians with a look of total befuddlement. Finally, he leaned forward and tried to slyly tap Mario on the shoulder. "Hey bro, why aren't we freaking out about the new Shadow Siren? Or the fact that she looks just like our friend? Or how her hair is all torn-out and tangled, just like…" That's when he put the pieces together, sliding back with a little twitch of his mustache. "…She was with us that whole time, wasn't she?"

Mario nodded; but the thorough explanation would have to wait, because that's when Kamek chose to make his entrance. The little wizard warped into existence up near the ceiling of the hall, hovering on his broom as he examined the ritual from above. "Everything is linked, and the princess is on the other altar," he called down, as simply as if he were reporting on the tower's plumbing. "It shouldn't be much longer, Your Grace. You'll start getting some motion sickness, and then maybe some, er, severe flesh-tearing sensations. But that's… Uh, that's normal."

This was a nightmare scenario – all three bad guys were here in the same room, and the heroes were trapped between them. Mario didn't like it one bit; and Kamek must have sensed his unease, because that's when he noticed the party for the first time. He visibly grimaced, gesturing at Mario and Vivian as he locked eyes with the siren's double. "…You put them in the same cell?"

The fake Vivian threw up her hands in defense of her actions, not looking guilty in the slightest. "Yeah, but I thought it would be funny! They would try ~so hard~ to save each other. They'd keep failing and failing, and finally they'd die in each other's arms. You know, comedy!"

Kamek looked less than impressed, sighing and pinching the bridge of his beak with a claw. "You put them. In the same cell," he repeated, emphasizing the words like he was speaking to a child. "The special cell, with the barrier I learned to make by studying the Tribe of Darkness. Tell me again, shadow; what's important to remember about that tribe's magic?"

The siren rolled her eyes and groaned, as if she were being made to recite homework in front of a class. "The Dark Tribe's magic is fueled by Chaos, the antithesis of which is Purity, which is created by love." She was beginning to see what she'd done wrong, and it was only making her more distressed as she glared daggers at the real Vivian. "Th-the stronger the spell, the truer the l-love necessary to undo it…"

Luigi nodded sagely, having learned all there was to know about Chaos magic a few years back, during a certain nasty fusion experience with a master of the craft. "That's true, but your spell must have been pretty pathetic if two totally platonic friends could break it." Mario and Vivian shared a glance and a blush – Luigi had missed the message, but they'd have to tell him eventually.

Suddenly, a psychic force took hold of the enemy Vivian, and her tail began stretching thin as Kamek lifted her up to meet his eyes. "How can I trust you as my assistant if you keep making the same basic errors? As your punishment," he started, and Mario noticed how both sirens tensed involuntarily at the word, "I'm going to leave you here to deal with these interlopers by yourself. Try not to ruin it this time, you utter screw-up!"

He let her go, and she was sent recoiling into the stone floor with a startled whimper. The wizard raised his wand as if to warp away, but paused one last time to address the heroes. "…You know, that armor really doesn't suit any of you. I'll get rid of it, and say that I'm doing you a fashion favor." With a final cackle and a sweep of his scepter, the mage whirled into subspace and made his exit.

Mario suddenly felt a bit chillier, and nearly a hundred pounds lighter. He looked down to find his iron suit missing – he was back in his usual overalls, as was Luigi beside him. Vivian had yet again been stripped of everything except Mario's hat, which she meekly pulled a little bit tighter. "This isn't really a bad thing," he reminded himself, wondering if Kamek even realized the benefits of his little curse. "I could never have fought in that heavy stuff, anyway."

Just then, the sounds of nausea reminded everyone of the elephantine figure in the room. "…All I gathered from that," the Empress weakly moaned, "is that the spell should have taken me by now. But I'm still here…" She was so pale that veins were becoming visible beneath her skin, and even her blonde locks were starting to lose their luster. "I'm certainly feeling sick, but that's mainly from listening to you all prattle on about love. As if you even know what the word means…"

Mario had heard about as much as he could stand, and finally felt the need to speak his mind. "And what do you know about love, exactly? You certainly don't feel it for anyone but yourself." He knew from experience that love wasn't easy for Peach Toadstool, but this version's issues were on a whole other level. "At least the Peach I know cares about her subjects, but you just slaughtered yours! You have no right to act superior; not after what I saw out there!"

He was prepared for snappy retorts or sugar-coated threats; but instead, the Empress seemed genuinely sad. "…That's exactly what happened. I led my loyal subjects straight into a slaughter, but I'm about to avenge them all." She shook her head and closed her eyes, shutting out the harshness of reality. "I bear you no ill will, at least not yet. If you turn around right now, I'll permit you to leave, and you can live freely in this world once I've left it behind."

It was Vivian's turn to reach out, this time with sympathy rather than hard accusations. "Please, don't do this! If you go, there's just going to be more pain and loss, isn't there? I know that you've suffered, but that's no reason to hurt others. B-but it's not too late for you to - mmph!" She was silenced by her other self, who had spawned a shadowy hand to cover the siren's mouth.

That managed to leave the Empress shaken, but not in the way Vivian would've hoped. "...Don't you dare speak to me of pain," the woman hissed, her whole form trembling as she relived the worst night of her life. "You can't imagine what it was like on that mountainside, watching through the storm as my entire world fell apart." She lurched forward, bringing her corpse-white face fully into the light. "Every one of them died that night, except me! Nobody understands loss like I do!"

Lady Bow had been silent thus far, preferring to soak up the situation like she usually did. But after this latest outburst, even she had finally had enough. Since she wasn't a "living" soul, she had no problem crossing the room to give the Empress a much-needed thrashing. "I get it, life is hard! Bad things happen to good people! But you need to stop! Being! Such! A baby!" The ghost punctuated each word with a mighty slap, putting in enough force to leave the Empress utterly whiplashed and stunned.

By the end of it, the woman's head merely fell forward to rest limply against the mountain of her body, her plump face hidden behind bangs that had faded to the color of wilting grass. Nobody moved an inch as the seconds ticked by; and in that crushing silence, it became clear that she was no longer breathing.

"Is she, um…" Vivian attempted, maneuvering away from her duplicate as she tried to get a better view. Across the hall, Bow was looking a bit less livid as the uncertainty crept in. She drew out her fan again, this time to poke against the Empress' cheek, searching for signs of life…

…And was instantly blasted back and out of sight by a pulse of magic so powerful that it shattered the rear windows, and Mario briefly wondered if the tower was coming down. When the hero regained his footing, he saw that the Empress had been yanked into the air by an invisible force; held in place with her limbs twisted back, like some kind of overstuffed ragdoll. Her eyes were wide and empty, her mouth hung agape, and something inside her was screaming.

But these were not the screams of a living woman, no matter how much agony she might be in. No, these were unearthly and haunting wails, like those of an evil spirit during their first taste of eternal torment. Her bloated body seemed to be… collapsing inward, the pale flesh crumpling as if consumed by some hungry vortex where her heart had been. Then, with one final spine-severing aerial twist, she collapsed back to the floor with a deafening whoomph…

…But something remained behind. Suspended in space above the unmoving Empress was a slender wisp of pink starlight. The wraith ascended by an inch or two – timidly, almost girlishly, risking a little pirouette as it rose. It extended the starry shape of an arm – the right one – and seemed to examine it for a moment in wonder. "That's her soul," Mario realized with an icy splash of sudden terror. "Her soul is free, and the spell is actually working."

Guided by a pathway that only it could see, the little soul kept rising with its spectral arm outstretched. But it had barely traveled the length of itself when something absolutely terrifying happened.

The Empress' body gave another sickening heave, and something else erupted out of it into the night. In half an instant, the dining hall was lost in the shadow of a violet plume – a writhing storm that crackled with red lightning, and echoed with the guttural roars of a distant memory. The nightmare thing swirled itself into tendrils that lashed at the boundaries of its magic cage, pulling itself higher in a single-minded frenzy.

The tiny soul was lost in mere seconds, ensnared by the tendrils and devoured back into the heart of the storm. The little thing scarcely had time to flicker in panic before it was gone again, perhaps forever. The plume paid no attention to anyone else, never pausing as it surged up and through the ceiling in its desperate climb towards freedom – towards the top of the spire, the other altar, and the waiting body of Princess Peach.

Mario ran to the shattered window and looked skyward, watching as the violet energy storm clawed its way through the tower to claim the woman he'd once loved. "It's too late," he thought, wondering if there had ever really been a way to prevent this outcome. "Kamek, what have you done?"

If there was one thing that Bowser could truly call his area of expertise, it was how to design a royally epic final dungeon. It was a niche skill, but it certainly came in handy at a time like this.

The interior of the "stadium" had been a labyrinth of corridors surrounding that central feasting hall. Many of them had been dingy and narrow, clearly meant for servants to skulk about without being seen. Bowser had immediately known to ignore those hallways – there had to be a lift somewhere that was big enough for the Empress, which meant he only needed to check the passages that were wide enough for her to actually traverse.

If Mario had been the one exploring this place, he would've surely spent hours wandering around, solving inane puzzles to gather keys or whatever. Bowser had the advantage of beefiness, so locked doors were never an issue. "Yeah, I might've been in trouble if this place had ladders or platforms, but what were the chances of that?" He was in the home of a woman who obviously couldn't even handle the stairs!

In the end, it had taken him less than ten minutes to find what he was searching for – an immense but empty circular room with walls of pure glass. At first, Bowser had thought it was some kind of artsy patio, until Kammy had found the control console, and noticed the sides of the tube stretching away into the sky. "It's all one massive elevator! You've led us straight to it, my lord!"

Now, as the lift ascended, Bowser was trying to survey the devastation out beyond the palace walls. He remembered how the city skyline had looked just a few hours back, when he'd seen it from the riverside with his loyal troops. But now, both the city and the army were gone, and Princess Peach would soon be next. The king clenched his fists, appalled by that very thought – no, he wasn't losing anything else tonight.

Every now and then, the lift would whoosh past other departure points on its way to the top – boarding docks and loading bays which offered brief glimpses into the spire itself. The scenery was passing by too quickly to study, but every surface seemed to be covered in the same garishly magenta neon lines. To break the monotony, glowing golden veins snaked their way throughout the ship, pumping stolen starlight down from the reactor above.

But there was something far more important that caught Bowser's eye – the legions of grey soldiers that stood ready and waiting on every deck of the colossal craft. There were armed spearmen inside each bay and behind every window, plus a few workers making last-minute repairs as they waited for the invasion to begin. "So this is where they've been hiding," the Koopa thought, realizing that it was pretty obvious in hindsight. "Duh, where else would they be? This thing is about to take off!"

…Then, out of absolutely nowhere, the silence of the night was blown apart by the deafening chaos of thunder and splitting stone. The spire gave such a mighty lurch that Bowser was sure that he'd missed his chance; that the launch was already underway. But when he trundled over to the glass and looked down, he didn't see the spreading blaze of a liftoff; only a dark cloud rising from where the dining hall should've been.

His first instinct was to blame Mario, because who else would go around blowing up perfectly good castles? Then the mass was bursting free of the rooftop, striking at the air with crimson lightning as it twisted tendrils impossibly out of itself, unfurling from within like a ghostly fractal helix. The thing whipped itself around blindly, trying to find the path set for it by Kamek's dark magic.

It didn't take long, and soon the storm was barreling its way up and around the tower like a runaway train on a spiral. For a moment, it passed out of view beneath the lift as its path took it straight through the tube itself; and Bowser felt the whole structure tremble as ethereal roars reverberated through the glass. "Can't you make this thing go any faster?!" the Koopa shouted over to Kammy, who had torn her eyes away from the console to watch the soul-thing's ascent. "No matter what weird demon form she's in, there's no way I'm gonna let Anti-Peach beat me!"

The witch turned her eyes back to the panel, scanning the buttons and dials with a look of increasing helplessness. "I'm sorry, Your Urgentness; but there's only one speed setting on this wretched machine! This is as fast as it's meant to go!" Somewhere down below, the storm's intangible trail had led it back around again, and this time it was close enough to send hairline cracks exploding up across the glass.

"I didn't ask what it's SUPPOSED to do, you impertinent hag! JUST MAKE IT GO FASTER!" Kammy had a distinct 'this is a bad idea' look in her eyes, which told Bowser everything he needed to know. "You have a spell, don't you? Well then, I order you to use it! Pretend you're an Electro-Koopa on a carnival ride, and really kick this thing into high gear!"

…On the one hand, she followed his command without question. On the other, she'd given him literally no warning, and Bowser was slammed into the floor so suddenly that he shot back into his shell on pure reflex. He clawed his way back out, battling g-forces with every twitch, to see the spire falling past at ludicrous speed. The raging wails of the spirit, or whatever it was, were growing fainter by the second.

Overhead, the stardust reactor was a blur of golden light, and it was rapidly filling up the sky. There was some kind of melted balcony stretching off to the side, and the far end was shining with that same freaky glowing darkness from the ritual downstairs. The lift began to slow, but not quite soon enough; and soon Bowser was half-charging, half-launching his way off the platform, and into whatever sick situation he'd come up here to wreck.

…There she was, pretty and pink and perfect. After so much suffering and embarrassment, the Koopa King had finally made it to his princess. Peach was lying on a marble slab not even fifty feet away, bound by threads of rippling blue magic. She didn't seem to notice him at first – her eyes were on the hunched form of Kamek, who was slithering around and chanting the usual magic nonsense that Bowser had begun to hate.

A thunderclap echoed up from below as the plume finished another loop in the spiral, and the beastly reptile began his blazing stampede down the balcony. Kamek heard his heavy footfalls from far away, spinning around wide-eyed and horrified. "H-how did you get up here?!" the wizard shrieked, firing off a couple of haphazard magic blasts. The first missed Bowser by a mile, and the second struck him right in the chest, but the sturdy Koopa tanked the hit and kept right on running.

Kamek evidently didn't learn anything, because he took a step back and shot a third projectile at the oncoming king. Bowser hadn't even felt the last one, so he let this new one hit him as well… and immediately knew that something was wrong. He saw the scenery blur, felt his insides twist in on themselves until he thought they might snap…

…And then he was somewhere else, warped halfway across the balcony and out of the way. "It was another trick? Gah, am I the ONLY one around here who fights fair?!" Unfortunately, in that moment of rage, he'd neglected to slow down or change course. The next thing Bowser knew, his momentum had sent him blasting over the railing and into empty air.

Time ground itself to a standstill. Peach was watching the scene in utter shock, and Kamek's face was slowly curling into the most punchable little smirk. But Bowser's eye was on Kammy, who had snuck into view with two readied blasts of her own. In the same instant, she fired one at Kamek and the other at her king – the wizard only saw the one meant for him, dodging to the side as the other zipped straight past. "A distraction," Bowser thought as the second spell hit its mark. "Well played, you crusty old genius."

The nausea and the twisting pain came again; reality blinked away… and then he was standing where he needed to be – right behind Kamek. The little mage barely had time to turn his head before a sideswipe threw him off his feet, followed by a gruesome punch that sent him careening across the terrace, tumbling like a stone into the wall beneath the reactor's sphere.

"Take that, you clod," Bowser thought with a grin, watching as the wizard flopped limply over onto his face. "I've wanted to do that for almost thirty years."

Very far away, across the infinite divide of space and time, another version of Kamek was settling into bed with some warm milk and a bit of light reading. It was a beautiful evening, especially with the castle all to himself.

Suddenly, he was overcome with the strangest feeling that he was about to get fired.

Bowser wasted no time in getting the princess off of that creepy pedestal. After all, the rampaging soul was nearly upon them.

Peach's face was completely unreadable, but inside she had to be bursting with gratitude. "Bowser, what in the world are you doing here?" she asked sharply, trying to pull her wrist out of his grip. "Did you come all this way just to kidnap me again?" Okay, so maybe she was still in shock, and the gratitude would come later.

"I'm here to rescue you," the king corrected, even though he rarely saw the distinction. "Did you see what that clown was about to do to you just now? Mario didn't even bother coming upstairs. He's still down there with his brother and that jelly girl. I'll bet they're not even-"

"Wait, Mario and Luigi are here?" she breathed, suddenly redoubling her efforts to pull away. "He… They came for me after all? Please, let me go; I have to get down there! I need to…" Bowser held on tighter, letting out a rumbling sigh. Typical flighty Peach, always trying to leave in the middle of a tender moment.

"What do you care if that guy is here?" he questioned, trying to cross his arms with one free hand, but realizing that it didn't quite work. "Didn't you dump him? I'M the one who came here to save you – where's MY special rescue kiss?" Sadly, before she could lean up to totally give him a smooch, the crisis finally caught up with them.

The squall of purple energy crashed up over the balcony like a tidal wave breaking against a cliffside, looming as a colossus even as it scattered into a spray. Hundreds of searching tendrils weaved into the ritual circle, and the main mass echoed with a half-panicked gurgle as it found nobody there. The storm's heart surged crimson in sudden terror, the thing forcing more of itself up and over the railing in one last, blind scramble to find the host it had been promised.

Bowser held Peach behind himself, backing away as he let this abomination swirl itself to pieces. The energy storm was beyond violent now, striking at the empty pedestal with red lightning as it seemed to suffer a total meltdown. Eventually, with wails that sounded eerily like pleas for help, the thing began to retreat back the way it had come. It was pulled off the balcony by some invisible chain, slipping over the side and back down the spiral, clawing uselessly at the air as it sunk beyond sight.

Kamek had gathered a bit of strength, and now he was crawling into the circle on his claws and knees, grabbing at fleeing wisps that melted through his fingers like mist. "N-no! You can't just turn back, not when we were so close!" He jabbed a single trembling claw at the princess, shrieking and begging the spirit to return. "She's right there! Can't you see her?! So what if she's not in the circle; you can still reach her if you try! We can't let it end like this! I can't let it…"

It was too late, and soon the retreating spirit's cries could no longer be heard. The little wizard knelt in the dust, amidst his fast-fading runes and candles extinguished by the wind. Slowly, painfully, he collapsed into himself and began to sob.

It wasn't the funny, satisfying kind of crying to watch, either. These were the desperate tears of a wasted lifetime; of a thousand losses endured, and of hopes dashed at the very end. It was such a pitiful sight that Bowser had to say something, even if this sniveling creature had just been his enemy. "You, uh, realize that she was a complete nutcase, right? This is probably for the best."

That only made Kamek sob harder, sinking onto his side as he pounded a weak fist against the splintered pedestal. "…I hate her so much," he admitted, before glaring up at Bowser with enough venom to kill a Dino Rhino. "…I could have been free from her forever, but you ruined everything! "

There were suddenly a lot of questions to ask, but Kamek was spilling the answers with every shaking breath. "I swore that I would never leave her side, until I'd found a way to fix her," he began, struggling to swallow back the anger he'd kept hidden for decades. "I stayed by her even as she lost her mind; even as she murdered my people, and took everything I loved in the name of "fair payment."

The little wizard seemed to give up on keeping any secrets, because he kept right on going. "I used the Ancients' magic to find your world; a perfect place where none of our hardships had ever happened… A place where I could be free of her, and she could be free from herself…" He sat up to stare into the sky, his hoarse voice falling to the shade of a whisper. "I set this all up, just for a chance to save the girl that Prince Bowser died for."

Here at the end, he was admitting things that he'd likely never even said to himself. "...But trying to save her was my biggest mistake of all. I wish I had never found her on Shooting Star Summit." It sounded like such a cold thing, but maybe he was speaking of mercy. "I wish I had never taken her to that old house, or healed her wounds, or fed her wild mushrooms from the mountainside…"

"…Mushrooms don't grow on Shooting Star Summit," Peach said offhandedly, speaking for the first time since the energy attack. "The soil is mainly stardust, so not much can live there. I've seen some scraggly weeds, but never fungi."

Kamek stared blankly at her, too tired to even be angry at the interruption. "You don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, recalling the days he'd spent foraging on that peak. "The morning after the battle, the mountainside was covered in them. Thousands of purple spotted toadstools, all over the wreckage… I fed her the plumpest, juiciest one I could find…"

…And then it was all so terribly clear. Images flashed through Bowser's mind of a battle long past; wraiths and shadows, and the worst bout of indigestion he'd ever had. "…Wait a second, what kind of 'purple spotted toadstools?'"

Back in the feast hall, nearly a hundred stories down, the heroes were watching their previous nightmare play out in reverse.

During the last few minutes, the general mood of the room had been one of tense confusion. None of the plans seemed to matter once the Empress had become a vicious cloud of death and flown away. Of all the bad endings Luigi had dreamt up during the span of this awful night, that certainly hadn't been one of them.

But now, as he watched that same cloud descend upon him again, he was reminded again that things could always find a way to get worse. Mario and Vivian had been the first to see it coming, since they'd been brainstorming ideas over by the windows. Luigi had been waiting – okay, hiding – in the opposite corner, so he didn't see the entity until it was literally being forced back in through the ceiling.

It soon became obvious that the cloud didn't want to be back here – it was struggling against itself, flailing and grasping at every surface to try and halt its downward spiral. The crimson core was in permanent overheat, and the noises from within bled together into one long, shrill scream. It was doomed to fall, deflating like a shapeless balloon back into the one vessel that would still accept it – the abandoned body of Empress Toadstool.

But something else was happening, too – a frightful detail that went unnoticed until the very last few moments. The stormy mass wasn't just deflating – it was congealing, turning from smoke into slime as it slithered back home. "Eww, that's absolutely disgusting!" Bow exclaimed, still a bit shaken up from her experience earlier. "I don't need to see that… stuff… wriggling back into her eye sockets!"

Even the alternate version of Vivian seemed perturbed by the sight, submerging herself in the shadows as the grisly scene unfolded. But even when she wasn't visible, Luigi could still sense her flitting about beneath the stone, doing her part to prevent escape. The four heroes were truly trapped, forced to watch as the slime thickened and ebbed away into their enemy's shell.

…Then it was gone, and the stillness that fell seemed to last lifetimes. The Empress lay before them, so peaceful in rest that she might've been sleeping. Luigi wanted it to be over so badly, but things were never that easy. In a flash, the woman heaved herself upright, her good arm flailing for balance as her voice came back in frantic gasps. "No… I can't! I can't go back to this! I left this body behind! If my invasion force sees what I am, then they'll…"

"There's not going to be an invasion," Mario told her resolutely, stepping forward to test the soul barrier, and finding that it had fallen. "You're right back where you started, and you've still got a lot to answer for in this world, Empress." At last, there were no walls or tricks left for her to hide behind.

"…You're still here, little ones? I'm afraid that my hospitality is running thin," the voice hissed; and that's when the situation started to tilt sideways. Luigi noticed it first – how the woman hadn't moved her mouth to match the words. "I rebuilt this ship to escape this filthy world. I won't let you keep me trapped here; not after all my hard work!" She swayed her head from side to side, scanning the crowd with the glassy eyes of a corpse.

"Y-you're the only thing filthy about it!" Vivian shot back, not even noticing when a faint shape twitched beneath the Empress' skin, sending ripples across her pale body. "I haven't been here for very long, but I've seen plenty of beauty! How could you possibly hate it all so much? W-what could make you want to blame this whole world for your suffering?"

The voice within the Empress let out a bitter hiss, letting the body's head loll forward uselessly. "I thought I told you not to speak to me of suffering," she reminded harshly, a sizzling edge to her tone that sounded a bit like burning leaves. "That's all I've ever known, since I was just a child! Just try to imagine the burdens I've had to bear! The helplessness of watching my planet die before my eyes; the responsibility of leading an Empire with no hope; the guilt of leaving it all behind…"

The body feebly lifted its puppet head, just enough for the party to gaze into the sightless eyes. Somehow, one was wet with fresh tears, while the other oozed thick with a sickening violet-black ichor. "…But I never let the hardships break me, no matter how awful things got. I kept my head held high, like a ruler should, and my sights on the future. I believed that things would get better if I just kept trying." The body's strength failed, and the head fell for the last time. "…But that became a lie the day we found this world."

Suddenly, the unseen beast exploded into madness, writhing within the confines of its soft shell. "This planet took away everything I ever loved, and you have the gall to ask me why I hate it?!" A great wet gash tore open in the midsection of the Empress' dress, revealing the burning, furious iris of a single scarlet eye. "I hate it because of what it did to my fleet! BECAUSE OF WHAT IT DID TO MY PEOPLE! BECAUSE OF WHAT IT DID TO MY DAUGHTERS!"

…What happened next would likely go on to haunt Luigi's nightmares for the rest of his life. He could only really describe it… like the sight of a great thorny squid tearing its way free from a water balloon. The creature's old prison exploded away in an instant as she unfurled her true self for the first time in twenty years. Hyphae lashed out in newfound freedom, testing their limits before coiling in to shield the ever-expanding mycelial monster at the chamber's heart.

She grew in near-perfect silhouette, inflating her bizarre alien bladders as the world's light seemed to burn away in the depths of her hellfire eyes. Luigi crept back, step by terrified step, until his back met the wall, and there was nowhere left to go. Mario had taken an immediate defensive stance, shielding Vivian as the siren lit her fires for battle.

Only Lady Bow, morbidly curious and unafraid of death, remained floating before the beast; waiting to ask the question that was surely on everyone's mind. "So, this is the real you, is it? If you're not Peach Toadstool, then what exactly are you?"

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND IT YET?" the fell thing said, spreading her hyphae out to showcase her full, unfathomable size. "I'VE BEEN SAYING IT ALL ALONG. I AM THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE SLAUGHTER ON SHOOTING STAR SUMMIT."

And so she roared – keening in grief for those she'd lost, and perhaps even for herself; until the very planet trembled beneath the fury, the pain, and the all-consuming hatred of Empress Shroob.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15 – The Fault in Her Stars

...It was the kind of piercing roar that hadn't been heard since the night this had all begun, when the Shroobs and Stars had screamed themselves into oblivion together.

The sound of it rumbled through the palace like guttural thunder, echoing in time with the pulses and quakes of the spire above. Whatever pre-liftoff procedures had been happening inside the colossal ship, they seemed to be entering their final phase. Its neon-webbed hull flared brighter, and the pitch of its alarms grew steadily shriller, as if something within the ancient dreadnought had been awoken by its mistress' long-forgotten call.

Down, down, in the ruined chambers at the tower's base, the four heroes held their ground as the chaos finally began to subside. Their enemy loomed ahead and stretched her tendrils to the sides, the totality of her form so massive that she threatened to engulf them all. Vivian didn't know what it felt like to have knees; but if she had them right now, in this thing's presence, she was sure they'd be trembling.

"Is this the Empress' true form?" she asked herself, watching her pitiful flames dance within the creature's blazing eyes. She'd braced herself for all kinds of terrible things, but not for the Empress to literally explode into the hugest monster that the siren had ever seen. This new beast was larger than Gloomtail, had more tentacles than the Smorg, and held enough hate in its eyes to unsettle the Shadow Queen herself.

Vivian had never seen a Shroob with her own eyes before – back home, the aliens had been nothing but a bitter memory by the time she'd come along. She'd heard plenty of stories, though; especially in this timeline, where the invasion had been so much worse. "I've never seen a Shroob; but I can recognize one, and there's nothing else she could be." It was an easy puzzle to solve, although it left her with even more questions.

She'd get her answers soon, but not before the Empress scattered the party with a cheap and sudden first strike. She swung her hyphae down in unison, slamming the floor so hard that the stone tiles splintered apart beneath the impact. As the heroes struggled to avoid the shockwaves, the monster lashed her tendrils sideways, sweeping them across the floor until they crashed through the piles of furniture that lay forgotten against the outer wall.

Vivian felt Mario grab her hand and pull her out of range, over to the corner where Luigi had already been trying to hide himself away. The hyphae swept from side to side, pounding the walls over and over again, until the expanse between good and evil had become an impassable field of death. Only then, with the battle formation utterly broken, did the Empress choose to resume the tale of her past. "MY HOMEWORLD WAS DYING-"

"Please, for Stars' sake, not so loud!" Bow interrupted, waving her stubby arms frantically as the sound waves buffeted her weightless body. "If you absolutely have to start monologuing, can you at least try to keep it at a sensible volume?"

"I actually kind of agree," Vivian put in, earning an appreciative nod from her ghostly friend. Mario and Luigi seemed confused, and the Empress narrowed her eyes in something like disgust, but the siren knew what she was talking about. "Sometimes, if somebody talks too loudly, it gets hard to understand what they're saying. All the words just sort of… blur together into a mess."

The beastly Shroob regarded the two women for a long time, hissing beneath her breath with all the subtlety of a forest fire. When she finally started speaking again, her voice was much quieter, although no less filled with malice. "The planet itself was withering away; rotting with a plague that had no cure. My people took to the cosmos, to find a new home before it was too late."

Sadly, the Empress wasn't content to sit back and idly tell her story. With every sentence, she surged ahead and lashed at her foes, forcing the heroes to separate and focus on dodging in whatever way they could. "My two precious daughters led one of the fleets themselves. They were too willful and independent to stay at home, but too close to ever dream of splitting up." Vivian threw herself to the side as a fungal tentacle struck the floor where she had been standing, further cracking the stone beneath her. "This is the world their search led them to – lush, organic, and filled with Vim for us to feed upon."

The siren readied a fireball, hurling it at the appendage as it began to pull away. It sizzled on impact, but barely left a mark; and the Empress didn't even seem to notice. Up above, Mario leapt from limb to limb in an acrobatic dash for the creature's head; but an unexpected swat from the side sent him right back down to the floor where he'd started.

The Empress was still narrating, her words punctuated by the sizzling and crackling of her alien accent. "It was a perfect home for the Shroobs, but the natives wouldn't let us colonize in peace. My princesses nearly won the war, but in the end they were driven away." More tendrils filled the air, and Vivian found herself backing away until she stood beside the brothers again. "Only the younger, so delicate and pure, made it safely home to me. Her sister, my eldest, died bravely in the fighting."

"That explains why we never had to deal with Mama Shroob in our timeline," Mario whispered to his brother, before turning to Vivian with a hasty elaboration. "Neither of the princesses survived, so there was nobody to go back and tell the Empress how to find us." She was probably still out there somewhere, trapped on her dying planet and wondering what had become of her family. In spite of everything, the thought made Vivian feel a bit empty inside.

"I came to this world myself," the Empress continued, paying no heed to the little conversation happening across the room, "with the full might of the Imperial Fleet at my back. There was no way those wretched Toads could stand against us. Our victory was guaranteed…" In a sudden fury, she slammed all her hyphae into the walls at once, as if trying to bring the ceiling down and flatten everyone in the room. "…Until the night a strange energy signature led us all to Shooting Star Summit."

Vivian stopped listening for the moment, focusing instead on the bits of debris that were starting to sprinkle down from above. This part of the story was easy enough to figure out, and part of her felt like she'd heard it somewhere before. "This isn't the kind of fight we should be having indoors," she thought, watching as crystals fell from the overhead chandeliers and shattered against the floor like hailstones.

Mercifully, the Empress seemed to rethink her strategy at just the right moment, coiling herself back into a smaller form. "…After the battle ended, I awoke in the body of a broken child." Slowly, liquidly, she pulled herself upwards; grappling between the two chandeliers until she was hanging from the ceiling like some grotesquely misshapen spider. "I'm still unsure how my spirit found that vessel, but the wizard never seemed to suspect that his little princess was gone."

"I could still feel her, you know," she continued, giving her bulbous head a ponderous shake. "A pale echo, crying in my mind and driving me to hysteria. I haven't had a moment's peace in my own thoughts for over twenty years!" She effortlessly snapped the chains of the hanging lamps, holding them in her tendrils like an ominous pair of crystal flails. "I've wanted to purge her so badly… You have no idea how often I thought about doing something drastic!"

In an instant, she whipped her tentacles backwards beneath her, sweeping the chandeliers down until they erupted against the floor in an explosion of glass and gold. Bow vanished just as the shards sprayed through her, and Vivian grabbed onto the brothers before plunging into the safety of her shadow veil.

…But the shadows weren't exactly hers right now, which she remembered too late as that awful choking sensation overtook her again. She could feel Mario kicking at something in the darkness, just before the echoing laughter kicked in, and Vivian found herself staring into a manic reflection of her own eyes. "Did you forget about me, down here by my lonesome? Unluckily for you, I don't really feel like having company!"

Before she knew it, the siren was being forced back up into the physical world, sputtering for air with Mario and Luigi by her side. Nobody was hurt, and the crystal blast had thankfully settled by now, but the lesson was clear: the shadows were off-limits until this nightmare battle was over.

High above, the Empress rumbled with disappointment as the heroes emerged unscathed. "I suppose that's all in the past," she concluded, stretching herself out over the newly empty expanse of ceiling where the lights had been attached. "When the transference ritual failed, my true form was restored. It's not what I wanted, because the army I built here will never follow me like this…"

Even from far away, it was easy to see the flash of epiphany in the beast's inferno eyes. "…But I don't need their help to escape this world! I can fly the ship by myself; all I need to do is reach the bridge…" She sagged off the ceiling a bit, letting herself hang as a purplish haze began to spill from her, billowing out of some unseen alien orifice. "I'm tired of watching you all hop around me like fleas. Hurry up and die, so I can put this life behind me at last!"

Luigi immediately jumped back about six feet, while Mario hurriedly inhaled, then covered his nose and mouth with an arm. Evidently, the two of them had seen this type of gaseous attack before. "Whatever you do, don't breathe that stuff! Those clouds are pure poison!" Mario warned, the words coming out half-muffled by his sleeve. "We've gotta make her stop, before it fills up the entire room!"

That gave Vivian a crazy idea, although she wasn't even slightly sure if it would work. She recalled one of Admiral Bobbery's old fish stories, about how he had cleared the toxic fog around Goop Bloop Lagoon with a single well-aimed spark. Supposedly it had been ultra-flammable, but Vivian had no idea if this kind of poison gas worked the same way.

She decided that it was worth a try, at least. Taking a deep breath of her own, she let a fireball come alive between her fingers as she glided out past the front of the group, sprinting to the very edge of the clear air. With the kind of battle cry she hadn't quite thought herself capable of, she pitched the flaming fastball as hard as she could across the room, watched it soar straight into the thick of the Empress' cloud…

…And fell back onto her butt, half-blinded, as the resulting explosion tore the chamber apart. Her idea hadn't just worked, it had spawned a hellstorm; and by the time her fears and reasoning had caught up with her actions, it was too late to do anything but watch. The Empress and her shrieks were lost inside the blast, as the burning fumes fused into a curtain of fire that reached ravenously from wall to wall. "Gee, I think I may have overdone it just a little…"

The next thing she knew, Mario was at her side, helping her back upright and leading her away from the flames, over to where Luigi and Bow were whooping and hollering in celebration. Mario himself seemed quietly impressed, but there was a tinge of worry in his voice as he met her unfocused eyes. "Are you alright? That was one heck of a gamble you just made, Viv."

She answered with a nod, squinting to try and clear away the spots in her vision. In spite of the retroactive anxiety, she was a tiny bit proud of herself for pulling off something crazy enough to shock even Mario. "I feel fine," she said with a small smile, which seemed to be enough to make the hero relax. "Sorry if I almost blew us up. It seemed like a neat thing to try at the time."

Empress Shroob, meanwhile, was far less impressed by Vivian's little stunt. Her crimson gaze flared back to life behind the clearing smoke, her tendrils flailing madly in silhouette as the monster pulled herself out of the heap she'd crumpled into. "GYAAAAAGGH! ENOUGH OF THIS!" she roared, all pretense of volume control forgotten. "THE NIGHT IS WANING, AND I HAVE NO MORE TIME FOR YOU!"

With that, the great beast propelled herself backward, dragging her tentacles through the piles of now-burning furniture as she went. By the time she reached the rear windows, the Empress had amassed a full arsenal of charred tables and burning chairs, which she hurled across the room with all her might, before hauling her massive form up through the windows and out of sight.

Vivian instinctively tried to fall into the shadows, but met with her duplicate's resistance immediately. She was forced to dodge the projectiles instead, weaving around flying silverware and the melty remains of an uneaten layer cake. At the same time, Mario was hurdling the fiery debris, while Luigi managed to catch a decorative flower vase right out of the air, looking mildly surprised by his own reflexes.

Bow had simply phased through it all, and was already halfway across the hall by the time she decided to look back. "This is no time to be playing around!" she urged, watching in exasperation as the others evaded serious injury. "Didn't you hear what that evil thing said? She's going to try and launch the ship!"

The siren's eyes widened in horror as she realized the full implications of letting the Empress get away. "She wants to invade our world, right? But they have no idea what's coming for them!" She remembered what Mario had said about the S.T.A.R., and how it had erased Mushroom City in a matter of minutes. "If this ship gets through, then it's game over for everyone back home!"

By the time the party reached the far wall, they were just in time to see their enemy's backside slithering up through the ceiling of the vast chamber beyond. The dining hall's front windows had looked out over small courtyards that were open to the sky, but this new plaza seemed to be situated underneath the spire itself. Massive beyond measure, this was clearly the interior of the "stadium" that the building had resembled from outside.

Panicked guards were running to the center of the chamber, pointing and staring skyward at the immense beast that had just burst across their paths. Overhead, the roof of the stadium sloped upwards like a funnel, opening into a shaft that blazed with violet light - the yawning throat of the dreadnought itself. The Empress' roars echoed down from within; and every so often a flailing soldier would fall through the opening, helpless as they plummeted toward the increasingly horrified throng below.

Mario and Luigi vaulted through the window, landing on a metal catwalk that passed several feet beneath. Vivian followed a few steps behind them, being careful not to scrape her shadowy tail on the glass shards that stuck up from the sill. The siren noticed that Luigi was still carrying his little vase, and wondered if he'd simply forgotten to drop it in the heat of the moment.

Now that she was outside, Vivian had a much better view of this strange new metallic cavern. The bridge they were on wound around the chamber in a sweeping corkscrew, hugging the walls before ending at a landing just inside the tunnel's gaping mouth. Presumably, that shaft was the spaceship's main entrance, and the only one large enough to be used by a Shroob of the Empress' size.

Unfortunately, the heroes had barely started their ascent before a knot of shadowy hands sprang up to bar the way. The brothers skidded to a halt just before the grasping fingers could snag them, and Vivian watched as her alternate self emerged from hiding further up the slope. "This is as far as you go!" the twisted siren yelled down, an unhinged fury in her eyes. "There's no way I'm letting you stop this launch!"

Mario groaned and threw up his hands in irritation, hopping from side to side as if he could juke his way past the blockade. "Why are you trying to stop us this time?! How could you still want to serve the Empress, after seeing what she really is?" He made a leap of faith over the cluster of hands, only to be greeted by another that had burst up just ahead of him, trapping the hero in between.

"That's the entire point, silly~" the faux-Vivian mocked, gliding forward to cup Mario's cheek in a way that made the real Vivian seethe. "I've seen what she is, so why would I want her in my world anymore? If she wants to escape, then I'll do my best to let her!" Her affectionate gesture became a slash, making Mario wince as she raked her fingers across his face like claws. "She'll be your world's problem to deal with from now on!"

Suddenly, the shadowy mass turned inwards, the hands burying themselves in the catwalk as they ripped and tore away at the metal itself. All along the path ahead, shadows emerged from the walls in rippling waves; tearing at the floor until it buckled, and then dragging the bits back with them into the void. Before long, what had been a stable bridge was transformed into the kind of eighth-world death course that nightmares were made of.

The Mario Bros. set off immediately, running with the kind of sure-footedness that came from years of experience. Bow, of course, merely floated along beside them without a worry in the world. But Vivian was much less sure of her platforming skills – she crept to the edge of the nearest gap and tried to gauge its height, but her efforts only left her with a nasty rush of vertigo.

Being a Shadow Siren, she couldn't exactly… well… jump. Her tail was a tether that kept her rooted to the nearest surface; and although it was stretchy enough to let her cross some gaps, there were definite limits. If she tried to glide out over the edge of a pit that was too deep, then she would surely come unbound, and that meant she would fall.

Vivian remembered the first time that she had felt her tether outright snap – the day that she and her friends had been fired out of the Bob-ombs' awful moon cannon. Being separated from the shadows, even for those short few minutes of flight, had been enough to leave her feeling queasy and irritable for the rest of the afternoon. She never, ever wanted to feel like that again, which meant that she needed to be incredibly careful in situations like this.

Easing up to the edge of the abyss, Vivian pressed her back against the wall and tried to shift her point of contact up onto the vertical surface. It didn't feel right, and she had to hold onto the railing to keep herself steady; but with a little determination, she was able to swing herself up and over the gap. "Th-there, see? That was easy! I could totally cut it as a platformer heroine…!"

…Sadly, her celebration was cut short when she looked back up the path, and saw just how far she still needed to go. Mario and the others were coming back around on the next level up, having nearly lapped her already. Her duplicate had retreated to the faraway landing, where she'd begun spawning shadowy globs that rolled and tumbled down the pathway like barrels made of fog.

Vivian kept climbing, keeping her pace steady and never doubting that she would reach the end eventually. By the time she'd finished her first lap, her friends were entering their last; and their foe seemed to be getting anxious as the space between them grew smaller. She changed tactics with an echoing giggle, flipping a nearby switch and waving goodbye as the spaceship's entry hatch began to close.

Alarms blared from on high as the steel barrier slid into view, eclipsing the tunnel's light and threatening to leave the "stadium" stranded in total darkness. Vivian paused to catch her breath, accepting that she'd never beat the stage with such a strict time limit in play. She decided to cheer for Mario instead, who had doubled his own pace and now seemed poised to cross the final divide with a stylishly executed long jump.

As he made the leap, Vivian paid close attention to the hazards in her soaring hero's way. The shadowy hands were flailing everywhere, trying to snatch him right out of the air; but their reach was limited, and the enemy siren didn't seem to have any other tricks to use. There was something very strange about this situation, and Vivian's misgivings were slowly brewing into an idea.

"...Why hasn't she thrown any fireballs yet?" she wondered, watching her other self back away warily as Mario stuck his landing. If Vivian were the one up there, trying to keep a pursuer at bay, then she would be taking potshots with Shade Fist at every chance she got. "Come to think of it, I've never seen her make fire at all! If she's another version of me, then why do we have different powers?" Her eyes lit up in a sudden flare of revelation. "Wait, what if she never even…"

…In a flash, Vivian dove into the shadows and set off like a torpedo, too invested in her theory to care about the risks. Luckily, her duplicate was too preoccupied at the moment to fight back; and Vivian met little resistance as she streaked up and around the corkscrew, back in her element at last. She blurred past Luigi and Bow, banked up and around the last big gap, and managed to intercept Mario and the villainess just as their battle was about to begin.

"You can't do it, can you?!" she blurted as she burst back to the surface, earning baffled glances from the two combatants she'd just interrupted. She spotted a flicker of uncertainty in the other siren's eyes, so she decided to press the issue a little bit further. "You're scared of bright lights, so you never bothered to learn about your own fire powers, did you?"

Her counterpart looked horrified for half an instant, before hastily throwing up the mask of a sneer. "Are you trying to say that you're better than me? You're the weaker one! You latched onto your little flames, and they're all you ever learned." Shadows clawed at the edges of the arena; a thousand arms making their silent presence known. "These are the powers you could've had, if you'd stayed in the darkness where you belonged…!"

Ignoring the taunt, Vivian set her hand ablaze and waved it in front of her, watching as her enemy involuntarily flinched away from the glow. The little detail wasn't missed by Mario, who raised a surprised eyebrow as the scene unfolded. "See, it scares her! That's how we can win!" Vivian insisted, gliding back a step to stand beside her partner. "But, um, I'll probably have to take the lead, since we don't have any Fire Flowers you can use…"

…Which is when Luigi appeared, slightly out of breath, managing to cross the threshold just as the great steel panel slid shut behind him. "You mean like these?" he offered, holding up the vase he'd been carrying all this way; and for the first time, Vivian noticed what the bright orange flowers inside it really were. "I grabbed these in case we needed to stop more poison clouds, but I guess we can use them here instead."

Mario broke into a grin and pulled his brother into a hug, which might've been a subtle way of inviting him into the battle. "You're a genius, Luigi! This is just what we needed!" Faux-Vivian looked on in concern as they each plucked a flower from the bouquet, shared a brief glance of resolve, and shoved the leafy power-ups into their mouths.

As soon as the brothers began to chew, the flowers' magical essence swept through them like wildfire. In a split second, their auras surged with such intense warmth that every cool color seemed to vanish from their bodies, tinting their blue overalls pure white. They fell into fighting stance side-by-side, flame-charged and stronger than ever. The heroic moment was only slightly ruined when Luigi stuck out his tongue and shivered in disgust. "The taste never gets any better; does it, bro?"

Mario offered a third flower to Lady Bow, who hesitated slightly before taking it from him. She turned it over a few times, as if examining every petal, before politely turning down the opportunity. "Thank you, but I think I'll pass," she said, threading the plant through one of her hairbows and giving it a little shake. "These flowers accessorize nicely; but judging by poor Luigi's face, I'm not sure I'd like to snack on one just yet."

The hero nodded respectfully, then turned back to glare at the enemy, who was suddenly looking like she'd rather be anywhere other than here. "This is for all the nasty tricks you've played," he told her, embers dancing through his fingers as battle plans played out behind his eyes. "Luigi, let's finish this with a good old fashioned Bros. Attack!"

And so the offensive began - the supercharged brothers threw fireballs rapidly, letting the projectiles land where they may and transforming the battlefield into a roaring sea of flame. Vivian chose to occupy the shadows, flitting about beneath her counterpart and keeping the escape routes blocked. Between the three of them, it didn't take long until their foe was utterly trapped, surrounded on all sides by the light that terrified her so much.

Looking up from below, Vivian's position gave her a view of the battlefield that nobody else had. She could see far up the shaft, to where the Empress was still tearing her way towards the bridge. Bits of the ship were raining down, torn loose by the writhing monster, falling into the blaze and scattering embers like a fireworks display. She watched Mario and Luigi place their hands together, fusing their next attack into the kind of finishing nova that would leave only ashes behind…

…But most of all, she could see how lost her other self looked, and it nearly broke her heart. The faux-siren's eyes were squeezed shut, and her breath came in shallow gasps as she pressed herself into the last safe corner, trying to make herself as small as she could be. In that moment, Vivian didn't see her psycho double from another world – she saw herself, having the same kind of panic attack that had ruled and ruined her life for so long. "Deep down, she's just like I was, back before…"

…And then a lot of things happened at once, snapping Vivian from her thoughts before she even had a chance to finish them. A great silver chunk of bulkhead fell from the shaft, striking the battlefield like a thunderbolt and kicking up the debris that had fallen so harmlessly before. A bit of it struck Mario in the back, knocking him to the floor with a grunt as his fiery aura flickered out. Luigi ran to his side without hesitation, letting their perfect combo fizzle away to nothing.

Their enemy seized the opening as soon as it appeared, her face shifting back to a slasher smile in the time it took Vivian to blink. Shadow-arms whipped up through the dying flames, snaring the heroes like a Lunge Fish gulping prey from the surface of a lake. It happened so suddenly that even Bow was caught off guard, and she was yanked into the darkness before she could think to disappear. The near-victory was turned on its head, and now the whole party was floundering in the abyss.

An instant later, the hazy tendrils were pulling the three in separate directions, dragging them harshly off into the blackness of the void. Without even thinking, Vivian plunged into the swarm of hands and sped off after Mario, reaching out for him as she tried to avoid being grabbed herself. "D-don't worry, I'm right here!" she called, racing hard to match the speed of her own duplicate's attack. "I've got you, I promise! J-just try to grab my hand…!"

When her fingers finally met his, she swung her other arm forward to blast fire at his ankles, searing away the tendrils there and pulling her hero to freedom. Safely back in each other's arms, the two of them glanced around for their missing friends; but Luigi and Bow were nowhere to be seen, already lost in the fog of the abyss. Even their screams had faded out, replaced with the soft laughter of their approaching foe.

Mario would likely insist on staying to find his brother; but the pressure was building, and it was already getting difficult for Vivian to breathe. She made a split-second decision, turning upwards and swimming for the surface with all the strength she could muster. Whatever became of the others, Vivian only knew that she had to save Mario, and that they both needed to get out of the shadows now.

Her vision was fading fast, but the spire was looming just ahead. One last push, and then they'd be safe again. "I know that I can make it… For both of us… If I can only… just…"

The very next thing Mario knew, he was being ejected from the shadows into the hearty embrace of a solid metal floor. Of course, the numbness left his extremities just in time for him to get the full impact experience.

He coughed a few times as he sat back up, still trying to puzzle out what in the world had just happened. Their enemy had been on the ropes, one good blast away from either surrender or the Underwhere – a place where she'd never be able to hurt his friends again. But that had all changed in the madness of a single moment; the party was in shambles again, and he'd lost sight of Luigi for the second time tonight.

…But before he could worry about the others, he needed to figure out where he'd ended up himself. Hopping to his feet, Mario tried to take in the utter enormity of the chamber that surrounded him. It seemed to be some kind of aircraft hangar for the Shroob saucers, because there were thousands of the vile things lining the walls. They were stacked row upon row, each attached to their own little docking platform, charged with stardust and ready for takeoff.

This bay was obviously inside the mothership, because it suffered from the same neon sci-fi aesthetic that Mario had seen in the entryway. Arteries of bright magenta streaked across every steel-plated surface, crisscrossed with occasional veins of yellow starlight. The farthest wall was home to a truly immense doorway, wide enough to let saucers fly in and out by the hundreds at a time. It had been shut in preparation for the launch; but Mario had no doubt that it would be open again soon, as this new fleet spilled out into the skies of his own world.

The room's lighting was so harsh and purple that he nearly missed Vivian, who had been sprawled beside him the entire time. He jumped a bit when she gasped herself awake, but he knelt down to support her as she fell into a coughing fit. "Hey now, Viv, it's okay. You did it – you got us out of there," he whispered, rubbing her back in small circles until the spell had passed. "What happened down there, anyway? How is she able to do all of that crazy stuff? The last time I saw attacks like that, it was when we were fighting… well…"

She sat up to face him, bravely finishing the sentence that he'd chosen to abandon. "…The Shadow Queen, right? It's pretty spooky; and the truth is, I don't know how she did any of those things." Her courage faltered, and she shook her head until her eyes vanished behind her bangs. "I-I'm so sorry, Mario! I know you want to go find Luigi, b-but I just can't take you back in the shadows! When 'evil me' is nearby, I can't be down there without choking, or feeling like I'm about to pass out…"

As worried as Mario was, he knew that he needed to have faith in his little bro. Luigi wasn't helpless, after all – he hated scary situations, but he could handle himself if he was thrust into one. "I'm sure he and Lady Bow are fine, but we still need to get them back. This is a bit too much for Vivian and I to handle by ourselves…"

He stood back up, and then held out a hand for the siren to join him. Once she was back at eye level, he pushed aside the mess she'd made of her hair, and met her gaze squarely with his own. "If 'evil you' is screwing up the shadows, then we'll make her stop together. Then we can find Luigi and Bow."

It sounded like such a simple plan, until he started remembering their other dire objectives. "Of course, we also have to stop the Empress from launching the ship; and Princess Peach still needs rescuing…" Suddenly, nothing about the situation seemed very simple at all. "…Mama Mia, this sure is escalating quickly."

He must have tempted fate, because that's when a side door opened and a full platoon of soldiers charged into view, barreling towards Mario and Vivian with their weapons drawn. The two heroes braced for battle… only to be left in the dust, utterly bewildered, as the guards trundled right on by. Mario stepped into the path of a straggler, but the soldier seemed more distressed at being slowed down than at finding an intruder. "St-stand aside! Haven't you heard? There's a giant monster attacking the tower! We must defend it and protect the Empress!"

Ah, perhaps this was a bit of good fortune after all. Mario stepped closer, deciding to test his limits just a little bit more. "We're not supposed to be in here," he reminded, indicating himself and the shadowy girl beside him. "Aren't you going to attack us, or try to throw us in the dungeons?"

The guard just seemed anxious to get moving, bouncing on the balls of his feet as if he were waiting in a bathroom line. "Whatever, man! Hoodlums like you sneak into restricted areas all the time!" He finally pushed his way past, dashing into the darkness to try and catch up with his comrades. "I've got bigger things to deal with, like keeping my Empress safe!"

Vivian watched him leave, her expression torn halfway between amusement and guilt. "Um, should we tell them?" she asked, peering down the hallway into which the guards had vanished. "I mean, they'll be attacking the same person they want to protect, even if they don't know it."

Mario shook his head, seeing the flaws in such open honesty. "If Empress Shroob's army wants to turn on her, then that's good for us. They might finally accomplish something useful." Even so, he started walking towards the hallway, beckoning for Vivian to follow. "Maybe we should go after them, though. They'll know the quickest route to wherever the battle is happening."

…Alas, he'd barely finished speaking when their own special problem found them again. Mario felt the whoosh of heat just in time to dive aside, watching in horror as a meteor struck the spot where he'd just been standing. It splintered apart on impact, spraying cinders in every direction; and it wasn't until the fires dimmed that Mario recognized the ashen remains of a dining chair.

Standing up yet again, he joined Vivian in turning to see where the attack had come from. It wasn't hard at all to find the source – across the room, a legion of shadowy arms was snaking into view, rising from the depths with their fists clenched and burning. Each of them held some hellish new projectile – bundles of fiery wood and blazing wads of tablecloth, gathered from the inferno in the feast hall far below.

"Do you still think you're better than me?" the other Vivian asked, emerging slowly from the shadows as she weaved through her battery of makeshift fireballs. Her eyes were bloodshot and absolutely predatory – as she broke into a grin, it was plain to see that she had finally snapped. "I may not be able to make fire, but I'm just as good as you at throwing it!"

As if to prove it, a few hands wound back like catapults, releasing as one and launching a fresh salvo of burning junk through the air. Mario and Vivian split up as the meteors crashed around them, exploding into shards and lingering clouds of ash. The projectiles kept on falling, the battlefield getting more chaotic even as the thickening air made it harder to see and breathe. The hero jumped and tumbled through the fiery fog, trying to pinpoint his enemy by the sound of her laughter; but the echoing size of the bay made that all but impossible.

"Why are you running?" the siren's voice called, lilting like a song and bouncing off the walls in every direction. "I thought you guys were ~all about~ fire? Ooh, maybe you're just upset that I've mastered your little trick, and proven what fakers you really are!" Mario felt another rush of heat, crouching down just in time to avoid the flaming table leg that whipped by overhead.

He finally met back up with Vivian, and the two of them ducked for cover behind a pile of saucer scraps in a nearby assembly area. "What are we going to do?" she asked, wincing slightly at the sound of each new explosion in the background. "If we try to run, she'll just use the shadows to find us again. How can we stop her if she's connected to the entire ship?"

Mario had been trying to think of ideas on his own, with very little success. But something Vivian said lit a spark of inspiration, and what happened next blew that spark into a plan. The mothership heaved as the engines flared again, sending a subtle kinetic ripple down the rows of saucers that hung above the battlefield. Mario followed the movement with his eyes, speaking slowly as the ideas fit themselves together in his mind. "Vivian, I need you to get that big door open."

The siren glanced at him in confusion, not quite following the thread of his thoughts. "What will that do? I mean, it might clear the air a little, but…" She let out a shaky sigh, realizing what her lack of understanding probably meant. "…Oh, gee. This is one of your totally crazy 'Super Mario' plans, isn't it?"

He held her by the shoulders, gently but firmly, needing her to see the certainty in his eyes. "Do you trust me?" he asked, to which she nodded without hesitation. "Can you open the door?" he continued, and she paused only briefly before nodding again. "Then I trust you, too. I think we can beat her, but we have to get started… right… now!"

They broke away with a final nod, going their separate ways just as their cover was toppled by the force of a falling credenza. Mario looked back in time to see Vivian vanish into the smoke, having total faith that she'd be able to navigate it safely. The hero reached up to adjust his cap, purely on reflex, and realized again that it wasn't there. Smiling to himself, he turned and dashed off to find a ladder.

He skirted the edge of the metallic chamber, occasionally leaping across pits and glowing crevices that fell away to who-knows-where. To make things more stressful, he was still dodging death from above, because faux-Vivian's arsenal just never seemed to run dry. Mario guessed that she was probably starting new fires around the palace, all for the sake of her twisted pursuit of validation.

Eventually, he discovered what he'd been searching for – a narrow set of iron rungs that jutted from the wall, leading up to the first level of docking stations. He jumped aboard and climbed swiftly, pausing at one point to shield his face as a table exploded overhead, showering the ladder with splinters and sparks.

Once he'd made it to the balcony, Mario had a perfect panoramic view of the smoky arena that lay below. Fireballs flared within the haze like lightning in a distant thunderhead, echoing with laughter and the sad crackling of antiques becoming ash. He could only guess where Vivian was in that mess, but it was a good few hundred yards from where she'd started to where she needed to be.

As he turned to resume his own mission, something snagged Mario's ankle so suddenly that he nearly tripped back over the edge. "Hmm, it looks like someone's been sneaking out of bounds~" the siren taunted, her voice wafting up from the shadows at his feet. "That's against the rules. Get back down here so I can p-punish you!" Mario noticed how her voice hitched, uncomfortable with the word even as she said it herself.

He kicked his way free from the shadowy claw, letting the darkness hiss in frustration as he sprinted off down the catwalk. More hands grabbed at him from the walls, so he strafed onto the nearest docking pad and began running along the hulls of the saucers themselves. They weren't the steadiest platforms, so it came as blessed relief when the pursuing shadows gave up and receded. Somewhere in the chaos below, Vivian must have saved him with a very timely distraction.

Without further thought, Mario plopped into the ship he happened to be perched on – one of the tiny single-seat support saucers that were typically seen buzzing around the larger vessels like gnats. Truth be told, he had no idea how to pilot Shroob tech; but he had flown many things throughout the years, from Pidgit carpets to an asteroid shaped like his own head. How hard could it be to learn the basics?

It took a few tense moments of fumbling, but Mario finally found the switch that brought the engines to life. He tilted the joystick to the side, hoping to list gently away from the dock; but that promptly capsized the saucer and nearly sent the hero plummeting to his doom. Learning lessons on the fly, he managed to right the ship and find its stabilizer clutch; and with ragged breaths and clenched teeth, he was able to maneuver safely out into the open air.

His first priority was to get far away from the walls, so he wasted no time in piloting up and out toward the center of the bay. The next step relied on Vivian, who was still nowhere to be seen. "I hope I sent her in the right direction," Mario thought, leaning down to inspect the switch labeled 'lasers.' "If she's still searching, then maybe I can do something to buy her a little time…"

Flipping the switch caused the ship to tremble, and Mario knew from experience that the bottom of the hull had opened to reveal a swiveling blaster-tipped arm. A targeting reticle appeared on a nearby screen, and Mario spun the joystick in search of a likely target. It was impossible to see either version of Vivian through the haze; and even if he could, he wasn't sure he'd be able to tell them apart at this height. Instead, he chose to focus on the bright fireballs as they appeared, since they likely marked the presence of a shadowy arm.

Every time a new part of the cloud flared orange, he would blast it with lasers until the fires died and he heard a scream. If his strategy was working, then he was making the projectiles explode in his enemy's hands, hopefully causing some damage and keeping her attention focused on him. Of course, she eventually saw through the trick and began trying to counter it with a few of her own.

Clusters of shadow erupted from the walls, but Mario evaded them simply by being out of range. Vertical fireballs threatened to pelt him out of the air, but he flew upwards until they arced harmlessly beneath him. "You can't reach me!" he called down, letting the words fall into the smoke like bait into a stream. "I'm away from the shadows, and you can't stretch this far! There's no way you can get up here!"

…And then there she was, emerging from the darkness on the highest balcony, staring across the divide with defiance in her bloodshot eyes. "You think you're safe just because you're flying?" she asked, her voice laced with more smugness than Mario had been expecting. Far below, the former battlefield lay utterly ignored, the fires fading as the smoke began to clear. "You still have no idea what I can do!"

Without another word, she retreated backwards as her legion of spectral hands appeared. They came up through the balcony, bearing scraps of debris in every shape and size – metal torn from walls, slabs of charred wood, and fistfuls of miscellaneous junk pulled from the rooms downstairs. The hands laid their materials out over the pit, affixing each new object to the edge of the last, building outwards with the swift precision of an assembly line.

The twisted siren glided across her bridge, casually keeping pace with the path as it formed ahead of her. "It was a pretty clever plan," she called, giggling as Mario tried to inch his little ship backwards, evading the arm of wreckage as it crept ever closer. "But you made a big mistake. I keep telling you, I'm nothing like your timid little girlfriend down there. I can do so many things that she just can't~"

Mario glanced behind himself, checking to see if the big door had begun to open yet. It hadn't, but the opposite wall was getting dangerously close. If he kept backing up, then the enemy would be able to simply grab him from the sidelines. "Come on, Vivian. I know you can do this," he thought, watching as a piece of timber extended the bridge by at least ten feet. "Any time, Viv… Any second now…"

…It happened right on cue, with a rush of cool air and a thundering ka-thoom that made the whole fleet tremble in their stations. The bay doors parted and began to slide away, revealing the ivory skyline of the palace beyond. For the first time, it was a sight that Mario was truly glad to see. He spun the saucer to face the opening, jammed the joystick in position, hit the throttle as hard as he could…

…And went nowhere, held in place by the knot of arms that had grabbed on at the very last second. They had shot from the end of the bridge, and now the saucer was screaming against its restraints as the shadows reeled it in. "Why can't you just let me be better than her?!" faux-Vivian snarled, glaring dangerously down at Mario as she finally reached the ship. "S-she's weak and afraid, and she doesn't even know what she is! My life has been torture, so it should have made me stronger! There's n-nothing she can do that I can't do better!"

Mario stood up with a patient smile, steadying his legs as the saucer revved uselessly beneath him. "She can do plenty of things that you can't. She can make friends, and keep them, and be there for them when they need her. When she laughs, it's because she means it; and it sounds pretty, instead of creepy like yours…" As he spoke, he was becoming surer of his plan, and maybe some feelings he had that didn't entirely relate to said plan. "Just face it; all you'll ever be is a shade of her."

Those words had the perfect effect, and the siren's whole face twitched as she surged up onto the saucer's hull. Mario held out a hand to stop her, climbing out of the cockpit with a sad shake of his head. "But there's one thing she can't do, and I'm betting that you can't do it either." She sought his eyes manically, almost desperately, waiting for him to clarify.

He did so with a single word. "…Jump."

…And that was it – Mario leapt into the air, somersaulting over his enemy as she glared up with a mix of confusion and dawning terror. He tucked his knees in at just the right moment, shifting his weight into a ground pound above the first weak link in the bridge. It instantly buckled as he slammed down; the impact making the slapdash structure sway, bend, and finally snap right through.

The trapped saucer was freed, its controls still locked and its engines on full blast. Faux-Vivian shrieked in fury as it zoomed away, carrying her through the bay doors and away from the battle. She'd been isolated – cut off from the shadows, and thus her entire arsenal, until the little ship finally landed. Mario watched it as he fell, keeping his eyes on the speck of silver until it vanished like a star on the horizon.

…But speaking of landings, he was running out of time to prepare for his own. Mario had crashed straight through the bridge, and now he was riding the debris back toward the dauntingly solid floor below. Most of the lingering smoke had spilled out through the open doorway, giving him a perfect view of the steel slab as it rushed forward to meet him. The hero shut his eyes, bent his knees, and braced for the inevitable impact.

…Which never came, because he passed right through the floor and into the arms of his Vivian, who cushioned him with her body as they fell together through the void. "We did it! That was incredible!" she said, whirling him around in a moment of lightheaded celebration. Mario smiled as she took a deep breath, free from her duplicate's strangling presence at last. "She's totally gone! We're the only ones down here, and it feels great!"

Her laughter was infectious, and he soon found himself chuckling alongside her; but something she'd said was quite worrying. "Wait, did you say we're alone in the shadows?" he asked, pulling himself together as they twirled back to the surface together. "But that can't be right. What about Luigi and Bow? Can't you sense them anywhere nearby?"

Vivian averted her gaze, chewing on her lower lip as she anxiously shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't think they're down here anymore." Mario didn't exactly know what that meant, but he trusted Vivian to be honest with him. "Th-they could've escaped, or maybe 'evil me' threw them out somewhere…"

By "somewhere," she probably meant that far-flung dungeon cell beneath the palace. "I guess we won't be reuniting with them just yet," he sighed, pointing to the nearest hallway that led out of the bay. "Let's hurry and get to the bridge, then. I bet the Empress is gonna make it there any minute now."

They emerged from the shadows and raced down the passage, following its twists and turns until it opened back into the main shaft. Unfortunately, they were far from alone in here – hundreds of guards, perhaps the entire army, were fleeing downwards in a blind panic. They were stampeding down switchback staircases, tearing off their helmets to reveal the tear-streaked faces of Toads. The mothership gave a mighty lurch, spilling soldiers over the railing and into the hundred-story abyss below.

Mario pulled a Toad from the throng, searching for answers in the guard's beady black eyes. "It's in the control room!" the shroom cried, pulling away to rejoin the herd. "That monster hijacked our ship! I saw it eat Lt. Johnson!" As he fled, he shouted that familiar phrase that could've been a slogan for Toadkind in general. "We're all gonna die!"

Just then, the spire jerked upwards with such intense force that Mario nearly fell to his knees. He braced himself against the wall as explosions sounded in the distance, growing louder and melding together into an ear-splitting roar. The whine of alarms cut through it all, echoing down the tunnel as the violet light darkened to a nightmarish, bloody shade of red. "What's happening?" Vivian asked, trying to keep steady by leaning against Mario's shoulder. "Are we too late?"

With a final stone-shattering heave, the dreadnought finally broke free of the castle that had kept it grounded for so many years. Even as the ship began to rise, some of the Toads kept on with their doomed descent; while others merely laid down where they stood, waiting to either be trampled or pushed over the edge. Mario looked back up the shaft, trying to find some hope in the darkness; but their destination was far away, and they were out of time.

"We need a new plan," he said, taking Vivian by the hand and leading her back the way they had come. "The ship is taking off, and the invasion is about to begin."

Not too far away, Princess Peach was stuck in the great glass lift, watching as her captors raced in vain against the launch.

"Don't you wimp out on me now, Kammy!" Bowser growled, stomping in agitated circles as the elevator descended. "You used magic to get us up this tower, right? So just say the spell backwards and get us back down!" Outside the tube, it was plain to see how quickly they were being outpaced – the skyline was beginning to fall away again; the platform moving upwards with the ship even as it tried to descend.

The witch sat a few feet away, concentrating on a far more sensible type of spell. "I'm sorry, my lord," she croaked, glancing up only when the lift was perfectly stable, "but it's taking all my magic just to keep us on course!" As she said it, the platform passed an enormous gap in the glass, shattered by the Empress' soul as it had stormed up the spire. "You wouldn't want us to fly out because we went too fast, would you?"

The princess stayed silent, her mind still reeling from all that had happened in the last few minutes. She had been bound on an altar, seconds away from being possessed, when Bowser of all people had come charging to the rescue. Then Kamek had said something about mushrooms, and Bowser had told everyone the truth about Peach's alternate self. "No, she was never my other self. She's been some hideous beast, hiding behind human skin since the very beginning."

The little wizard had said nothing, falling nearly catatonic as the truth seeped in. Bowser had poked him with a claw, trying to trigger the "epic breakdown" that he said should've happened. Finally, Kamek had managed to sputter out a breathless "…For twenty years…" before feebly raising his wand and warping away. The group hadn't seen him since.

That had been nearly fifteen minutes ago. Now they were back in the lift, because Bowser insisted on returning to the feast hall to fight the Empress personally. That 'genius' plan had been derailed as soon as the tower began to move, nearly pitching the platform and its passengers out through the glass and into freefall.

The plazas below had been consumed by blue-violet fire - billowing exhaust that incinerated the palace gardens in an instant. Heat and smoke flooded into the broken elevator shaft, giving Peach a lungful of soot each time she passed a gap in the glass. Bowser took notice when she began to cough, rounding on Kammy with an accusatory snarl. "This ride is taking so long that Peach is getting carsick! Can't you just warp us to the bottom or something?"

Kammy peered back over the edge, whistling through her few remaining teeth as the spreading fire danced in her spectacle lenses. "You're a braver Koopa than I am, to suggest warping into that mess." Choosing her words carefully, she offered Bowser one last chance to be rational. "Perhaps you'd rather go back up, instead? Surely, with all this commotion, the Empress must already be inside the ship."

The Koopa King stopped his pacing to mull that over, glancing between the spaceship above and the ruined stadium below. Then he did something absolutely insane and unexpected; which is, to be fair, the only type of thing Peach ever expected Bowser to do. He leapt at the wall with a roar of pure frustration, digging into the steel with his claws as the platform left him behind. "Fly the princess out of here on your broom, and keep her safe! I've still got business to take care of here."

Peach couldn't take the absurdity, snapping at the reptile as the space between them grew. "That's it? You're just leaving us here, to go off and climb a building like some common Kong?" Behind her, the force of the liftoff caused a white spire to crack apart, crumbling like smashed snow into the pit of purple flame. "This situation is almost worse than the one you saved me from!"

Bowser shook his head, a grim seriousness in his eyes that caught the princess off guard. "You wouldn't understand, Peach. That psycho alien wiped out my army to the last shell. She's gotta pay for that." He kept barking orders over his shoulder as he climbed, his natural loudness keeping the words perfectly audible. "Kammy, take her to the kitchens or something! I'll bet she needs a snack after the stuff she's been through. Heck, I know I would."

He must've second-guessed the suggestion, because he immediately began yelling down restrictions. "…But don't you dare let her overeat, you hear me? We've both seen where that leads, and I'm not letting that happen to my Peach!" At the end, just before he rose too high to hear, he shouted out his promise to the princess. "Don't worry, Peachy! Your cuddly old Bowser is comin' back for ya…!"

Meanwhile, Kammy had finished conjuring up a broom with seating enough for two. Peach looked at the witch, then down at the fire, before finally slumping her shoulders and climbing aboard with a weary sigh. "Oh, don't look so glum, princess," Kammy encouraged as they lifted off, flying high and leaving the spire behind. "The two of us finally get some girl bonding time! If you behave, I might even share some of my beauty tips with you!"

As they flew out over the palace, Peach tried stargazing for the first time in months. It wasn't because she felt like it, exactly – it was because, for the first time since she'd come to this world, there was something up there to look at. The false stars were a chilling sight, spinning in rings that seemed almost too precise and synchronous to be the work of living pilots.

…Then, for one brief instant, she thought she saw the normal stars too. They were gone in less than a blink, but Peach knew what she had seen – the space between the rings had flickered like static, displaying the image of a sky where the stars still shone. "I'm just hallucinating from exhaustion. There's no way the sky could change like that, unless…"

The truth came with such horrible swiftness that it nearly knocked her from the broom. "That's not an invasion fleet," she realized, her blood running cold as she watched the ships carry out their ritual. "It's a gigantic portal between worlds. When it turns on, the Empress is aiming to fly her mothership straight through."

In that case, there really was no hope of stopping the invasion, was there? Only someone up amongst those ships – a hero with intelligence, determination, and quite a bit of luck – could possibly close that portal now…

…But honestly, what were the chances of that?

Imagine the serenity of being near space – the feeling of drifting through the high atmosphere, safe in a shuttle pod, witnessing the true immensity of your planet for the very first time. Picture taking in the view, knowing that you'd likely never see it again.

Now imagine you had no idea how to fly that shuttle. You were smart enough to learn, maybe; but there were screaming mushrooms in the way, and also you had no arms.

"We're all gonna di-" Toad started, but Goombella managed to shut him up by hopping onto his head. She hadn't actually meant to interrupt the little guy, but she'd needed a stepladder to reach the controls, and he was the closest thing in the room. Yoshi had taken the pilot's seat, and was flipping switches at random in an effort to disable the autopilot. (Or rather, whatever was in control, because the switch labeled "autopilot" was very clearly off).

As it stood, this little ship had basically taken them prisoner. It had somehow launched by itself, not long after the party had wandered aboard. Now it was spinning through the sky above the Empress' palace, one spacecraft among hundreds in a silent heavenly dance. "Yeah, and it's the creepiest thing," Goombella thought, peering through the window as the swarm swirled around her. Of all the vessels that she could see into, from saucers to battleships, not a single one of them had passengers. "It makes no sense. Why spend two decades building a fleet if you're just gonna make it do ballet?"

Suddenly, the console's lights flashed green to the sound of a cheery jingle, and the shuttle dropped about ten feet before stabilizing as Yoshi grabbed the controls. "Hey guys, I did it!" the dinosaur shouted, throwing Goombella off balance as Toad and Toadette rushed over to see. "If I'm careful, I might actually be able to land this thing safely…"

He demonstrated his skills by pulling up, immediately crashing into the saucer that was passing overhead. "Inverted controls!" Goombella shrieked, falling to the ground as the saucer scraped its way across the hull. "You have to tilt the steering thingy up to go down! You've totally never flown a plane before, have you?"

Yoshi followed her advice, breathing a sigh of relief as the ship pulled away without taking much damage. "Does strapping a hang glider to a go-kart count?" he asked, sheepishly scratching the side of his head. "Otherwise, I've spent my whole life on the ground. How do you know so much about this stuff, anyway?"

Goombella shrugged, trying to peek at the controls again. "Mostly from video games, although I did fly Glitzville once. See, I was on vacation; but I got pulled into this heist, and…" The two Toads snapped to attention, ready for a swashbuckling tale, but this just didn't seem like the time for that. "…That's not important right now. What matters is getting us all out of here in one piece."

But was flying away really the best option? They were trying to stop the invasion, yeah? So maybe they were exactly where they needed to be. "Let's not land just yet," she suggested, hurrying to think of a plan before Yoshi could object. "What if we stayed up here and, like, shot down the rest of the fleet?" Their little shuttle didn't have any guns, but larger vessel totally would. "This sounds crazy, but what if we tried to board that ship over there?"

Pointing wasn't easy for a Goomba, but luckily she didn't need to – the spacecraft she meant was passing directly ahead, plain for all to see. It was a sleek and impressive combat frigate, which might've been silvery-white beneath the choking layer of purple runes that glowed across its hull. There were similar vessels all over the place, plus a few that were even larger; but only this one had a visibly open shuttle bay. Evidently, some schmuck hadn't bothered to check the doors before launching the crewless ship.

It was a sound decision, and everyone was anxious for a little extra legroom. Between Goombella's technical know-how and Yoshi's… arm-having skills, the two of them managed to navigate the swarm with relative ease. At the very least, they were able to pull up behind the frigate without getting totally destroyed along the way. By the time the shuttle finally landed, Goombella felt like she'd practically learned enough to get her Paragoomba license.

The four heroes disembarked together; but as Yoshi and the Toads stretched their legs, Goombella wandered the bay to try and learn its layout. It was fairly stark and empty, aside from their ship and a row of escape pod hatches lining the far wall. The arcane squiggles were sparser in here, although there were still enough to give the room a vaguely sinister vibe. "Let's find our way up front," the Goomba girl urged, making her way to the nearest door and grinning as it audibly swished open for her. "We need to tear apart this fleet, before it does… whatever it's up here to do."

The frigate wasn't terribly huge, although there did seem to be at least three or four decks to get lost in. The party made their way up a staircase and down a narrow hallway, listening to the engines and the subtle hum of magic. "H-how is this ship flying?" Toadette asked, clearly getting creeped out by the emptiness of this place. "All of those saucers out there, too. How'd they take off without anyone inside them…?"

"They're drones," Yoshi answered, because that's the only explanation that made any logical sense. "Nobody needs to be up here, because it's all being controlled from somewhere down there." From a nearby window, the Empress' citadel could clearly be seen below them, spreading blue fire and shaking itself free of the surrounding palace. "No points for guessing where, though. That place is the brain of this whole invasion."

Toad instantly perked up at the mention of drones, recalling the time he'd briefly flown a copter during the Star Festival. "Hey, that's perfect! We're drone experts, right Toadette?" That was a stretch, but Goombella didn't have the heart to say so, especially to her pink friend's face. After such an intense night, the girl deserved a fun little fantasy. "Come on, let's go take over the fleet! It'll be awesome!"

They ran off hand-in-hand, racing down a side hallway in search of adventure. Yoshi looked half-tempted to reel them in; but he'd been doing that all night, and his exhaustion finally seemed to win out. "Eh, they can go play around for a while. We'll pick them up when it's time to leave."

Meanwhile, Goombella was still staring out the window, hypnotized by the nightmarish scene unfolding underneath her. The grand launch was fully underway, and the dreadnought's ponderous ascent seemed to be utterly decimating the palace around it. At the fore of it all sat the brilliant sphere of the S.T.A.R.; a shining figurehead, and a promise of the devastation the ship was bringing with it to the other world.

She sadly wondered what had become of her friends – were they still alive in the madness down there? Had Mario rescued that prissy princess that he seemed to care so much about? Was Vivian still in her weird funk, or had she broken out of her shell and finally admitted her feelings? (Hey, Goombella was a smart gal – she knew when someone had the love bug, and she'd been rooting for the siren since the very start).

But this was no time to be getting lost in gossip. For all she knew, her friends had been wiped out by the S.T.A.R.'s light, and now the fate of two worlds rested on her and Yoshi alone. She hurried forward, catching up with the dinosaur just as he found the bridge – a streamlined chamber located right at the ship's bow. The room was a wide half-oval, lined with the typical monitors and blinking panels, all nestled beneath a panoramic viewscreen that captured the entire horizon.

The Goomba waddled over to the nearest station, hoping to learn its function by scanning the text on nearby monitors. She didn't see anything about steering or weapons, so she sidled down the line to keep reading. Suddenly, the main screen flickered with what looked like shining snow; but the effect was already gone by the time Goombella turned to look. She was about to chalk it up to a glitch in the display, until Yoshi gasped and ran to look out a window. "Wait, did I just see a bunch of stars outside?"

Goombella stumbled over to join her friend, the mission temporarily forgotten as she strained her eyes against the empty sky. She didn't understand, and she scarcely dared to believe; but if Yoshi was right, then she may have just seen natural starlight for the very first time. "I've heard so many stories," she whispered, glancing back at the viewscreen with bated breath. "This is so far beyond insane. Do you think it'll happen again?"

…As if in answer, the spaceship gave a violent shudder and suddenly picked up speed. The runes on the hull ignited like firecrackers, turning the frigate into a violet comet as the ambient humming pitched up to a scream. Outside, the other ships were undergoing the same transformation; and in mere seconds, the cosmic dance had dissolved into a frenzy.

As the swarm blurred together into a fiery smear, a pale mist began spreading out across the inner expanse. It seeped and flowed between the rings like a high tide of moonlight; and when the currents met at the very center, they birthed a pulse of magic that lit the sky with another world's stars. Yoshi pushed away from the window, opting to watch the convergence play out on the big screen. "I think we figured out why the fleet is here, Goombella. It's opening up a portal to my timeline."

The structured rings fell apart as each vessel went its own way, skimming between the two realities like pebbles skipping across the surface of a misty pond. The heroes' false comet soared up through the shroud, bathed for an instant in the light of a waxing moon. Then it was sinking again; diving into the darkness of a long-forsaken sky. Goombella stood beside the window, transfixed by glimpses of a cosmos more beautiful than she'd ever imagined.

"…Rowf wouldn't have believed this," she muttered, wishing more than anything that the Doogan could be here with her right now. But sadly, even in the presence of so many stars, some wishes just couldn't come true. "…I had no idea there were so many of them. Is this how your world looks, like, all the time?" She gazed past her reflection in the glass, out to where the tiny lights twinkled by the thousands.

"Actually, this isn't really that many," Yoshi admitted apologetically, hating that he had to dampen the experience. "You can see way more of them if you're out in the countryside. We're right over my world's version of Mushroom City, so a lot of the starlight is lost to light pollution."

Goombella gasped, standing on tiptoes to see down over the sill – she'd been so entranced by the stars that she'd totally forgotten the world below. Sure enough, there was a misty sea of skyscrapers down there; bustling and vibrant even this late into the night. The vision was gone a moment later, replaced by empty wasteland and the still-oncoming mothership. "This portal is opening right above downtown," she realized, the implications making her stomach turn. "The Empress is gonna destroy the city all over again."

At once, the tranquility was shattered; and Goombella raced back to the helm, determined to stop that tragedy by any means necessary. She had no plan, but she'd never liked relying on those dumb things anyway. "Yoshi, do whatever you did before to gain control," she commanded, to which he began flipping random switches again. "We don't stand a chance up here, unless we can sever the link with the mothership."

But hijacking a starship was no simple task, and the Goomba girl was soon feeling overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of the room. Buttons and dials blinked up at her from every interface, cheerily mocking her ignorance. "Ugh, come on! I'm totally smart enough to figure this out. I mean, it's only rocket science!" Despite her forced optimism, she just felt like slamming her head on the nearest keyboard. "I bet that smarty-pants 'other' Goombella could've solved this in a heartbeat…"

She felt like screaming at herself – this was no time to be getting jealous of a person she'd never met! "I'm the Goombella the world is stuck with tonight," she thought, nudging an array of levers to no visible effect. Overhead, the viewscreen's image was still wavering between the city, and the mechanical terror coming to wipe it out. "I… I can handle this! That whole city is counting on me! I just need to… keep… trying…!"

…And then the systems shut down. All around the bridge, screens and panels winked to blackness as if someone had just tripped over a power cord. Goombella turned to Yoshi, her eyes wide and horrified, only to find him looking back with the same expression. Far away, the steady drone of the engines gave way to silence… and the ecstatic chattering of two incoming young Toads.

They burst into the room, all smiles and slightly out of breath. "Guys, we did it!" Toad shouted, proudly holding up two fistfuls of shredded wiring. Beside him, Toadette was holding an odd device encased in a half-shattered glass ball. "You should've seen us! It was just like that one episode of Toad Force V, when Jack and Britney sneak aboard the Death Spore to rescue-"

"What did you do?" Goombella interrupted, running to the little window since the main screen was dead. Their ship had begun to drift, sinking far below the misty portal and leaving the stars behind. Suddenly, the craft pitched forward with a tired metallic groan and… began to fall. "…GUYS, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Toadette slid into the chamber, dropping her mystery sphere as she hurried to grab onto the doorframe. The ball rolled down the tilting floor, bouncing a few times before exploding against the back of a workstation. "We found the receiver! The one that was getting all the signals from the mothership," she explained, looking marginally less proud than her partner. "Also, we kind of turned off the entire ship."

Yoshi had gone bug-eyed, sputtering incoherently as he scrambled up to join the group. "…Why?!" he finally managed; although Toad didn't seem to understand the issue until the floor dropped, and everyone fell about two feet. "We needed this ship! Now we're just… standing around talking as it's going down!"

Guilt and realization flashed across Toad's face as he finally noticed the pull of gravity. "But I just wanted to look cool…" he muttered, dropping his wires and glancing back up the hallway. A pile of boxes collapsed in a neighboring storeroom, finally spooking the mushroom into action. "We've gotta get out of here!"

The heroes climbed back into the passage, beginning their long journey back toward the shuttle bay and escape. The first few steps were agony, because they were struggling against the constantly increasing slant of the floor. Yoshi pushed to the front of the group, looking ready to try grappling onto the walls with his tongue. Mercifully, the ship began to level out, tilting back to normal as the outside air pressure changed.

They ran the length of one hallway on blessedly stable ground, until the vessel began to pitch back the other way. When Goombella and the others descended to the next deck, they found themselves slipping and sliding; fighting to stay upright, lest they fall to the back of the ship instead. They barely made it into the right stairway, and Yoshi did end up having to grapple the wall to keep himself from tumbling past.

Sadly, gravity was affecting more than just their own bodies. They made it to the shuttle bay just in time to see their getaway craft slide back and out through the doorway, falling like a stone as air resistance caught the frigate yet again. This time, the ship soon rocked up into a genuine nosedive, and the party was left scrambling along the walls.

"Everybody, into the escape pods!" Yoshi yelled, hauling himself up to the nearest hatch and fiddling with the adjacent panel until it swished open. He clambered inside, then leaned back to assist the others, snaring them one-by-one until everyone was snugly inside the pod. As it turned out, it was just large enough to fit them all, although they were packed together more tightly than Bullet Bills in a blaster. "I have no idea where this thing will land, but let's hope it's nicer than here!"

The next thing Goombella knew, it was too late to turn back. The hatch had slid shut, and the tiny chamber was being discharged into the open sky. "What have we done?" she wondered, watching as the spaceship plummeted away from her, falling like a spear… right into the path of the oncoming dreadnought.

"Hey, guys?" Toad said, lifting up his phone to record a video. "This is gonna be so awesome."

At that moment, Luigi was wheezing himself awake at the tip of an ivory spire. As luck would have it, he was just in time to see it all happen.

The first thing he felt was the slap of Lady Bow's fan, followed by her spectral chill as she tried to shake him by the shoulders. "Get up, you lazybones! How many times is this going to happen? I swear, your brother never passed out like this during our first adventure." As Luigi struggled to his feet, coughing all the while, she watched him closely with thinly veiled concern. "But then again, I didn't have to save you outright this time; so I suppose that's an improvement."

He gave her a wan smile, recalling how they'd ended up here. Back down in the shadows, Bow had phased free of the tendrils as soon as she'd regained her wits. She'd flown towards the sound of someone thrashing, who had turned out to be Luigi. He'd still had his Fire Flower, so he'd been able to burn away his own restraints once he'd gotten an arm free. Together, the hero and the ghost had raised such a ruckus that their enemy had given up and flung them out of the void on her own.

Unfortunately, she seemed to have flung them quite far afield, and without even bothering to aim. Luigi had barely gained his balance before he looked down and promptly lost it again. Somehow, the shadows had ejected him halfway across the palace, seventy stories high on a narrow marble precipice. The white city spiraled away beneath him; its streets and courtyards mere background imagery for a chasm that might as well have been bottomless.

"You didn't see this as something I should know?!" he shouted, pressing himself back against the wall as Bow hovered innocently above the abyss. He glanced left and right, hoping to spy some other ledge that was safer to stand on. There were a few stone bridges passing nearby – part of the great web that ran between the spires – but the nearest looked to be over thirty feet away and two stories down. For anyone else, it would be hopelessly out of reach; but Luigi… well, he was a Mario Brother, after all.

After backing up until he felt his heel nearly slip over the edge, Luigi sprinted forward and vaulted off the precipice. He sailed through the air in a perfect arc; and if anything, he very nearly overshot his destination. "Alright, now to get back to the citadel and find my bro," he thought, tripping only slightly as he landed. But the plan never got any further than that; because when he looked up, his eyes met a sight so terrifying that he nearly blacked out all over again.

Where the central spire should've been, there was now only thick smoke and a pillar of azure flame. Luigi followed the fire up into the night, to where the colossal mothership had ascended halfway to the stratosphere. The vengeful blaze of its aura consumed everything – it split apart the heavens like an executioner's axe, and the surrounding darkness died screaming.

Even now, the stardust engine could be seen at the apex, gleaming as golden as a stolen sunrise. Staring at it hurt Luigi's eyes, so he glanced up a little higher, into the untouched blackness beyond. That's when he saw the tiny shape hurtling down; a silver bullet from out of the orbital fleet. It seemed to be some kind of shuttlecraft, locked on a collision course with fate.

…It struck the S.T.A.R. head-on, vaporizing the glass sphere with meteoric force. In an instant, the shimmering machine went supernova, exploding with the megaton might of an overcharged Galaxy Reactor. Plumes of hoarded stardust erupted sideways into the sky, mingling and mixing above the palace into low-hanging nebulas of white and gold.

The obscene strength of the explosion was enough to push the mothership entirely off course. The dreadnought's bow, lost within a stellar fireball, drifted helplessly to one side as the rear engines continued to thrust. The spire's lower half soon caught up with and overtook the upper, tracing a ring of blue fire through the darkness as the ship pushed itself into the beginnings of a spiral.

…Which is when the second spacecraft came screaming out of the sky – a battleship, trapped in a nosedive and trailing a comet's tail of violet magic. It pierced the mothership's exposed hull straight through, crashing and burning deep into the colossus' hidden heart. It must have detonated fiercely in there, because there were only a few heartbeats of silence before explosions were spreading across the ship in waves. The engines failed, the exhaust guttered out, and then the mighty spire was falling.

It plummeted back into the chaos of its own fiery trail, still barely visible by the red glow of its desperately flaring aura. But then the curtains of smoke descended, and that baleful light faded from view for the very last time. All that remained were the horrific grinding explosions, the shrieks and moans of twisting metal, and the single grand shockwave as the ship finally blew itself to smithereens on impact with the ground.

Luigi just stared at the horizon for a while, watching the smoke rise and curl against the layer of stardust clouds. Bow floated up beside him, silent and slack-jawed. "It blew up…" she attempted lamely, but didn't make it any further. For once in her unlife, she was truly at a loss for words.

The hero pulled himself together, hoping to find some hidden pocket of courage amidst his scattered thoughts. He leaned out over the bridge's railing, trying to get the best possible view of the distant carnage. "Was anyone we know still in there? Mario, Vivian, Princess Peach…" he trailed off, not daring to let his imagination press any further. "Let's hurry and find a way back over there. They might really need our help!"

In spite of his firm words, Luigi found it difficult to take another step. Something new and strange was happening on the horizon, and a laughing little voice at the back of his mind was bidding him to stay and watch the show. It was still impossible to see anything through the smog, but the noises from beyond were utterly chilling. The sound of explosions had given way to the rumble of collapsing stone, the echo of arcane thunder, and… something else. A kind of low yawning gasp; unceasing, esurient, and oh-so-vaguely familiar…

"Look out!" Bow yelled, snapping Luigi back to reality just in time for him to hear the wail of an incoming projectile. He instinctively leapt backwards, narrowly evading the Shroob saucer that plowed through the spot where he'd just been standing. He leaned out to watch the wreckage plummet into the chasm, only to see two more vessels strike the sides of neighboring spires. "I'd be looking up if I were you, Greenie. This is the most vile meteor shower I've ever seen!"

…So Luigi turned his gaze skyward, whimpering pitifully in the face of what he saw up there. The entire fleet was hailing down; the false stars blazing from reentry and still coursing with unstable dark magic. "They were being controlled by the mothership," he realized, watching a mangled frigate blow apart one spire as its wing flew loose and beheaded another. "Now that it's been taken out, there's nothing keeping them airborne!" Compared to this, that night at Peach's gala didn't seem quite so terrifying anymore.

He started running, following the bridge away from the madness as fast as his legs could carry him. If the entire swarm was collapsing out of the sky, then there was no safe place inside the palace to hide. His only hope was to reach the gates and escape, but that would soon prove easier said than done. Saucers impacted the bridge and the nearby towers, obliterating the path ahead; and Luigi found himself leaping across the void to find safety on another strand of the web.

"Isn't there anything you can do to help?" he panted, turning to Lady Bow as she sped along beside him. He couldn't believe that he was actually putting his life in the hands of a Boo; but then again, he couldn't believe a lot of things that were happening right now. "Can't you turn us both intangible, like you did before?"

She shook her head – well, her entire self – frantically, flying a little faster in hopes that Luigi would match the pace. "I can hide you, but I'm not strong enough to carry you," she warned, phasing to avoid a saucer as Luigi side-somersaulted out of its way. "If the bridge we're on collapses, then you're going to fall no matter what I do!"

Even as she said it, the remains of an uprooted spire fell across the horizon, shattering a great gash through the network of pathways ahead. Luigi scrambled up over the side of his bridge, falling onto a new viaduct that managed to pass unscathed around the chasm. But as he fell, he got his first good look at the distant ground… Or rather, at the churning vacuum that had begun to tear it apart.

The enchanted comets hadn't just been leaving behind craters – as they struck the surface, the ships were rupturing into the pure essence of their half-finished spell. Luigi recalled the words of Kammy Koopa, when she'd described the fallen stars as "portal bombs." She'd been right yet again, because malformed dimensional gateways were tearing themselves open in the streets; lunar-white at their smallest, but darkening in shade to violet and black as the vortexes met and merged together.

This was no time to stop and gawk, though; because some unseen battleship had just smashed through the bridge a few hundred feet behind where Luigi had landed. He clambered upright, running full-tilt as he tried to keep ahead of the splintering stonework beneath his feet. Just as the bridge began to crumble underfoot, he spied a balcony jutting from the window of a nearby spire. The gap was wider than any he'd ever jumped, but there was no time to wait for a safer opportunity.

Sucking in his breath and wishing Mario were here to see this, he bounded once to get ahead of the collapse, then again onto the high marble railing, and finally a third time into the emptiness of open air. His triple-leap of faith almost carried him across the divide; but instead he slammed into the side of the balcony, and had to hectically claw his way back up onto solid ground. When Bow finally caught up with him, Luigi could barely do more than roll onto his back and stare up into space.

…Which turned out to be an awful idea, because it left him staring down a meteor that was too vast and close to possibly be escaped. The thing was a metallic junk heap the size of Peach's castle, and now it was bearing down on this remote tower like the vengeful fist of the heavens themselves. In a situation like this, Luigi couldn't think of anything to do except shut his eyes and plead incoherently for a miracle.

He may have been given one, because half a minute passed and he was somehow still breathing. When he finally summoned the nerve to open his eyes, he saw the wreckage hanging motionless in midair, wrapped snugly within a sizzling energy shield. The barrier lifted its catch lightly, perhaps carelessly, before tossing it aside to let it crash through a neighboring spire and into the plazas below.

Luigi wanted to feel relieved, but the nature of that spell had set him instantly on edge. He traced the wispy trail of magic back to its source – a familiar cloaked Magikoopa, perched on a window ledge not far from the balcony. Kamek turned to survey his guests, his voice strained and his expression blank. "…I take it things aren't going well back at the citadel?"

It would've been funny if it hadn't sounded so absolutely pathetic. "That evil thing has been taken down," Luigi said, trying to sound like he had some idea how it had happened. He pointed away from the spire, to where saucers were still throwing themselves into the swelling amalgamate of rifts and wormholes. "The issue now is your portal spell. It's tearing apart the entire palace!"

Kamek adjusted his glasses and scanned the horizon, noticing the world beyond his own tower for the first time in a while. "Hmm, so it is," he replied, as nonchalantly as if he'd learned that it was raining outside. "You know, Chaos magic doesn't tend to subside on its own. I imagine the rift will keep growing until it eats everything you see out there."

Lady Bow floated over to speak with the wizard heart-to-heart. "So, come and help us stop it!" she encouraged, trying hard to feign a patient smile. "After everything you've done, this is your one chance at redemption." Together, they looked out over the crumbling ruins that had once been so regal and imposing. "Obviously, this wretched palace isn't worth saving; but what if these portals have breached the other side? They might be wreaking havoc in Mushroom City over there!"

For one beautiful, hopeful second, Kamek seemed to genuinely consider the offer. But then he turned away, chuckling darkly to himself as he fled back into his chambers. "Nah, let it all get swept away," he rasped over the noise of fluttering books and slamming trunks. Evidently, the wizard was packing his belongings for a hasty retreat. "Everything I built here; everything I helped her achieve… It was all based on a lie…"

Luigi's mind was lagging behind, still stunned by something the mage had said earlier. He turned back to the abyss, placing a shaky hand on the balcony railing as he watched the portals fuse and darken. He'd known something was familiar about them; but the truth didn't dawn until a distant plaza fully imploded into a raging violet-black maelstrom, laced with white hairline fractures in reality…

"What kind of magic did you say this was?" he called back over his shoulder, but the mage only returned a derisive cackle. Far away, the vortex had already spread to engulf a few of the smaller portals at its edge – they were only going to keep feeding each other, increasing their instability with each fusion. "Is this another Tribe of Darkness technique? What kind of book did you learn it from?!"

Bow returned to his side with none of her usual breeziness, her eyes tinged with vague worry. "Luigi dear, are you alright? Your skin has gone as pale as mine." She settled beside him on the railing, and together they watched the mighty skyline fall. "What about this 'Tribe of Darkness' has gotten you so worked up?"

"I've seen their magic before," he answered, gazing out into the heart of oblivion. This wasn't The Void; but it was the same spell in miniature, linked to two worlds instead of a trillion. From where Luigi was standing, that thought didn't make him feel any safer at all. "It's going to keep spreading, growing larger and hungrier…"

He paused there, long enough to take a deep, shuddering breath. "…Until it completely devours both timelines."

Let it never be said that Bowser wasn't built for skydiving. He'd ridden that exploding monstrosity down from space like a champ.

For most folks, being stuck to that spire would've meant certain and instantaneous death; but for the mighty Koopa King, it had been just another collapsing lair. He'd dug his claws in and endured until the hull had broken apart, and then he'd clung to the scraps until even they had failed on him. By that point, the fall was short enough to survive by simply retreating into his shell and letting the rubble carry him down.

The escape from the blast zone had been trivial. He'd struck the ground at an angle; and being a shellbound Koopa, that meant he'd been long gone by the time the hammer had fallen. He'd been sent careening off down a side street, and must've been at least a mile away when he finally skidded to a halt. It was the kind of climactic escape that nobody would believe, but he'd pulled it off without lifting a finger.

But of course, the pandemonium had only just begun. Bowser had no idea how much time had truly passed, but he'd spent what felt like an eternity playing dodgeball with these stupid UFOs. "Evacuating Peach was the right call," he thought, managing to snipe a saucer out of the sky with his fire breath. "But now I have to find her again, before I run out of ground to stand on."

Every time a ship smashed into the pavement, it would leave behind a creepy little wormhole. As the portals piled up, it meant less room for the huge Koopa to maneuver, and a gradual retreat towards the palace outskirts. It wasn't easy keeping an eye on the terrain and the sky – even now, a careless step had nearly sent him tumbling backwards into a whirlpool of dark magic. It spanned the entire street, too; so Bowser growled and set off in a new direction.

As he charged ahead, he turned to watch the smoke rising from the mothership's crash site. If he was being honest, there was something about the wreckage that called to him. He was sorely tempted to make his way back there and look around. Who knows – maybe he could salvage some sweet alien technology to add to his arsenal back home?

Just then, a saucer went hurtling straight past Bowser's head, knocking him aside as it skidded down onto the pavement. It had come whizzing right out of his blind spot; and by the time he saw it clearly, it had already plowed pitifully into a street corner lamppost. He trudged over to investigate, because there was clearly something strange about this particular ship. For one thing, it wasn't glowing purple; and for another, it hadn't yet spawned a swirly pit of death.

As he approached, a figure emerged from the cockpit; and who else would it be but Mario? The little red nuisance staggered backwards down the hull, still getting his bearings back. "Mama Mia, what a landing," he muttered, before extending a hand to help someone else out of the wreck. "Are you feeling okay, Viv?"

The passenger turned out to be that purple girl who said she wasn't a ghost. "I'm still fine," she answered, looking airsick but otherwise unharmed. "B-but what about you? I was hiding in your shadow the whole time. You're the one who actually felt everything."

Mario looked himself over, and then took an experimental hop onto the sidewalk. "Me? I'm still in one piece," he joked, but grew solemn when he saw the saucer again. "So much for my plan, though. Instead of hitching a ride to the bridge in style, we barely made it out of there alive…" The purple girl laced her fingers with his, and suddenly he was all smiles again.

Bowser noticed how the two of them were fawning over each other, and wondered if they had some kind of secret 'thing' going on. It was a strange notion – he'd always pegged Mario as the desperate type, who would keep trying to get with Peach no matter what the princess said. Maybe he had some oddly-specific 'pink' fetish, and liked this new girl because of her hair?

Before he could ruin their moment, his attention was grabbed by the sound of an utterly tremendous explosion. Everyone spun in the direction of the great ship's crash site, just in time to witness the night's newest dreadful surprise.

Shrapnel and rubble were being flung from the wreckage, thrown by the tendrils of some thrashing shape within the smoke. The silhouette shrieked and wailed like a wounded animal as it tore its way loose from the ship, then unfurled and billowed down the hull towards the nearest still-standing spire. As it latched on and began to climb, Bowser got his first glimpse of its weeping crimson eyes.

The eldritch beast ascended the tower, grappling its way up the marble surface with tentacles half-charred from the crash. "Huh, so my hunch was right after all," Bowser said, watching the alien Empress move closer to her unknown goal. "She's even grosser and uglier than how I imagined her." To make matters worse, she was far larger than he'd imagined, as well.

"Do you remember the Shroob that possessed you that one time?" Mario asked, crossing the street to stand beside Bowser. His girlfriend tagged along, and together the three of them looked out over the end of the world. "Well, that monster out there is her mother, if that tells you what we're up against." The Koopa King raised an eyebrow and grunted, the memory of that old battle making his stomach turn.

By now, Empress Shroob had reached the tip of her spire, and now seemed to be stretching herself even higher into the night. Bowser had half-expected her to climb up there, roar dramatically in anguish one last time, and then topple off to her death. But no such luck – her motive was something far more twisted and diabolical. Something that Bowser wished he'd thought of first.

She stretched herself up into one of the low-hanging clouds of stardust, which had settled like a golden mist above the palace. As she inhaled, her grievous burns began to heal; and then slowly, surely, she began to glow golden herself. Her spreading hyphae flared with stellar fire, and a crown of finlike spines seemed to form upon her head. She had immersed herself in pure Star power, and it had transformed her into something beautiful and terrible to behold.

"That was all dust from the reactor, right?" the shadow girl asked, her voice one shade above a whisper. "D-does that mean she just powered up with the essence of the people she killed…?" It was a sobering thought; the kind that Bowser hated to have weighing on his mind. If there had been some remnant of the transmuted people in that starlight, then what had just become of them?

Bowser shook the questions away, instead focusing on something he could be personally angry about. "More importantly, she used the essence of the Stars she stole from me! That's MY power she's messing with!" It may or may not have been true, but it was reason enough for him to join the fight.

Mario spoke up last, ever the voice of determination. "I doubt that her plan ends here. Whatever she wants, she powered up for some reason." He stepped out in front of the group, facing the pair of ragtag companions that fate had given him this night. "And the three of us are going to stop her."

The Koopa King didn't object – he had bone to pick with that alien monster; and if smashing her meant working with Mario for a little while longer, then so be it. He stared up into the stardust, watching it spin and spread across the sky. "A swirling nebula of lost souls, eh? You can't ask for a more perfect backdrop for an awesome final battle."

Below, the ground heaved with ancient magic. Above, the heavens churned with new starlight. And in between, the battle for the fate of two worlds began.

Chapter Text

If there had been any hope left for this dark and battered world, Luigi was watching it vanish before his very eyes.

From the balcony of Kamek's tower, he had a perfect and terrifying view of the madness unfolding below. The Empress' palace had once been such a stunning sight – a walled city of spires, shining proudly as they stabbed a sky too utterly ruined to ever fight back. But that forbidding vista was rapidly crumbling, sinking tower by tower into the formless chaos of a backfired spell.

Luigi saw The Void often in his nightmares, but he'd never believed that it would haunt his waking eyes again. Yet there it was, or near enough. In truth, the maelstrom on the horizon was a small-scale imitation; but it looked and felt enough like the real thing to make the poor man's knees go weak. He fought to be brave, gripping the platform's railing until he could pretend that his hands weren't shaking.

Beside him, Lady Bow was floating silently, still trying to understand the situation. "The end… of both worlds?" she asked carefully, as if she were half-expecting this to all be some elaborate prank. Eventually, she seemed to accept that the threat was real, and hovered a little higher, her expression resolute. "If you've seen this magic before, like you said, then how do we stop it?"

Luigi paused before answering, picking his words carefully. He wasn't eager to share stories about last time, when he'd been brainwashed and fused with an engine of multiversal annihilation. If the Boo knew that, she'd never let him live it down, so he gave her the vaguest explanation he could think of. "Well, Chaos magic does have one big weakness…"

They shared a moment of awkward silence. "The 'true love' thing, yes?" Bow clarified, recalling what she'd learned earlier in the night. She blinked at him a few times, before breaking down into a fit of shameless laughter. "Look, I'm flattered, and you're a good friend; but there's simply no way I'd ever feel that way about you!"

...By now, Luigi was used to her habitual jabs at his pride. "No, the other big weakness," he sighed, waiting blank-faced for the giggles to leave her system. "According to old man Merlon, this type of spell is never truly beyond control. Even in its most unstable form, the magic is always tied to the life of its caster."

Bow glanced back through the nearby window, and Luigi nodded solemnly. Far behind them, another spire fell away into the abyss, and the sound of it rippled across the doomed palace like thunder. "We either need to convince Kamek to undo the spell…"

He shut his eyes and gulped, hating the words he was about to say next. "…Or we'll have to kill him."

Chapter 16 – The Light We Have Inside

In every Koopa's life, there comes a time when he must throw his weight behind a cause that's bigger than himself. For King Bowser, that meant swallowing his pride while his chubby arch-nemesis dragged him along on a suicide mission.

This was no time to be squabbling about rank and leadership – every turn presented a new peril, and vigilance had to be maintained. The enchanted ships had stopped falling, but the portals they'd left behind were still very much a threat. They were spreading like a virus, erasing the very streets that our heroes were trying to navigate. Between the falling spires and the vanishing terrain, the buildup to this "final battle" seemed just as deadly as the fight itself.

Bowser, Mario, and the shadow girl were hot on the trail of a monstrous foe, who had fled through the ruins after infusing herself with starlight. Or at least, they should've been chasing her, but Mario was leading the group in a very different direction. "Are we trying to head her off at the pass, or something?" Bowser growled, searching the horizon for the Empress' golden glow. "How the heck do you two even know where she's going?"

He'd been expecting a quip from Mario, but it was actually the shadow who turned back to explain. (Vanessa? No, wait; Vivian. He'd have to try and remember that). "She wants to escape this world, right?" she asked, gesturing at some vague spot in the distance, as if that would magically get the point across. "Well, when Mario and I were flying that saucer, we spotted a really big portal over that way. We're sure she's headed there!"

Up ahead, the hero jumped up onto a rubble pile, and then turned back to join the discussion. "We need to get there first, but I don't think it's a normal portal," he warned, hopping down from the blockade as Bowser smashed his way through. "That thing was a pit of pure evil. In fact, it looked almost exactly like The Void…"

…Well, that certainly got the Koopa's attention, even if the claim was too ludicrous to believe. "You're tellin' me that some chump tore that thing open again?!" he snarled, trying to imagine how such a thing could've happened. No, it was impossible – nobody could just accidentally summon The Void itself. But maybe, if enough dark portals were mashed together in a small enough space, the result would be something similar. "If the Empress wants to dive through it, I say we let her try. She'll just get herself ripped to pieces!"

Mario shook his head, leaping across a small chasm as Bowser and Vivian took the long way around. "Don't forget, she has Star power now," he reminded, turning his gaze to the mist of golden dust that hung low above the battlefield. "With invincibility, she could make it through to our world. Even worse, she could end up in the space between worlds, free to slip away into any dimension she chose. We'd never find her again."

Vivian spoke up again, worry creeping into her voice. "B-but if she's invincible, then how are we supposed to fight back?" She was clearly trying to think up strategies; but judging by her winces, each scenario she imagined ended with the party smeared halfway across the palace. "We couldn't even beat her in her normal form. If she's really that much stronger now, she'll destroy us!"

By that point, an empty plaza was coming into view up ahead, still untouched by the mayhem. It was clear that Mario intended to intercept the enemy there. "We'll have to exploit the Power Star's one weakness," he said, elaborating when his partners looked at him in confusion. "The time limit. If we can stall the Empress long enough, then her invincibility will eventually run out. After that, the three of us can take her down like any other monster."

That was certainly… a plan of sorts, but how long could they manage to keep it up? "We'd last ten seconds," Bowser said frankly, having faced enough Star-powered foes to know how the fights usually ended. "My army can't even stall you when you've got one Star. She's a million times bigger, and she just swallowed a whole freakin' nebula!"

"We'll just have to be creative, and keep her busy without getting hit." Mario said, looking exhausted by the mere idea of it. "The point is, if she reaches that portal, then she's beyond our reach for good." For Bowser, seeing the hero so ragged was strangely less satisfying than he thought it'd be. "We can't follow her, and even if we could, it would mean leaving Princess Peach and the others behind."

The Koopa King peered down a side street, to where another vortex was eroding away at a distant intersection. Chunks of the pavement were breaking loose, spiraling inward as the wormhole's magic kept them briefly afloat. Strangely, the sight reminded Bowser of his childhood; lazy days spent throwing stones into lava and watching them melt. "They'd never last very long. Not even the toughest boulders could go more than a few minutes…"

Eventually, the three companions arrived in the courtyard – their arena, and perhaps the site of their last stand. In the far distance, pulsing behind the skyline, the maelstrom's death-black aura marked the point of no return. "If she pushes us back, we'll be retreating straight into that mess," Bowser thought, half-enthralled by the echoing hiss of reality burning away. "In that case, we just can't let her gain any ground at all."

But something truly massive was approaching, and suddenly the planning phase was over. Bowser turned away from the void, listening to the low rumble of collapsing stone, and the slithering of a monster dragging its weight across the rubble. Up above, the glow of starlight was growing steadily more intense, like a hateful sun rising above the shattered city. The Koopa kept his eyes fixed on the brightest point, squinting to try and catch a glimpse of his enemy.

…Yet he still wasn't prepared when the first tendrils appeared, lashing out of the light to slam themselves against the surrounding spires. Those tendrils were soon followed by more; and as the hyphae began to spread out across the walls, the golden glow behind them was pierced by a pair of wrathful red eyes. Slowly, and with a vengeance, the Starlit Empress pulled herself up and into view.

"YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?" she thundered, eyeing the party as she loomed titanically overhead. As each of the heroes entered a fighting stance, the Empress glanced between them with something like disappointment. "TELL ME YOU'RE JOKING. DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN STAND IN MY WAY?"

Bowser was the first to step forward, defiant and enraged. "Nobody's joking here, you alien freak!" he roared, baring his claws and letting fire dance behind his fangs. "The world beyond that portal is ALL MINE, you hear? So keep your slimy tentacles away from it!"

It was Mario's turn next, and he didn't hesitate to return the monster's glare with one of his own. It was an expression that Bowser had seen many times before, so he knew that the little ex-plumber meant business. "If you think you can get past us, then you're in for a rude surprise. We're going to stop you right here, once and for all!"

Vivian glided up beside him, her long hair blown wildly by the portals' ambient wind. "I've seen the kind of suffering you cause!" she called, embers escaping through her fingers as she balled her hands into fists. "The stakes are too high for me to back down now!"

In spite of their bravery, the Empress hardly even looked interested. She leaned out over them, constricting her tendrils until the stone beneath them began to splinter. "YOU COULD HAVE JUST FLED, BUT INSTEAD YOU ASK TO DIE WITH THE REST OF THIS WORLD…" She reared back up to her full and terrible height, pulling an arsenal of marble with her. "…WELL THEN, SO BE IT."

With nothing else to say, she swept her hyphae overhead like trebuchets, launching the stones down into the battlefield. Bowser stood his ground, but Mario and Vivian evaded every which way as the white meteors crashed down. Many of the boulders struck nearby buildings, breaking loose even more stone to prolong the attack further. Dust and debris fell like rain; and by the time everything had settled, the Empress had surged ahead into the foreground.

Wordlessly, she slipped down from the rooftops and into the street, letting her tendrils splay out across the surrounding walls. Bowser decided that the next move was his, so he stepped forward and exhaled a stream of fire, turning his head back and forth until the path had been sealed shut by flames. Meanwhile, Mario was sprinting off down an alleyway, maybe trying to loop around for a useless direct attack. The Empress was lifting herself up, twisting her hyphae until they were pointed straight ahead…

…And then suddenly, with barely a gleam of warning, they ignited. White-hot beams of stellar energy burst from their glowing tips, screaming madly with power as they swept erratically across the plaza. Bowser's eyes went wide, and he lunged aside just in time to avoid being flash-fried by a stray arc. "What the?! Is this normal Shroob stuff, or some overpowered new starlight thing?"

Whichever it was, the Empress was clearly enjoying her ability – the same sick thrill that some might find in roasting Punies with a magnifying lens. The cosmic lasers swept everywhere, carving trenches through the pavement as they crisscrossed the arena. Bowser retreated into his shell, refusing to give his foe the satisfaction of watching him squirm. Vivian was weaving between the beams as nimbly as she could, sometimes vanishing and reappearing somewhere else entirely.

But he didn't have time to track the siren's movements – the Empress herself was a much more pressing sight. Sizzling energy had begun to bubble up from the back of her throat, wafting through her gaping maw to gather in the air before her. In seconds, she had molded a sphere nearly half the size of her own bulbous head, and easily bright enough to be called a miniature sun.

It hung in the air for one blindingly ominous instant; and then the Empress' jaws snapped shut, and the ball of plasma was sent blazing across the battlefield, straight towards the stupefied Koopa King. There was no place to run, nor would he if there was. All he could do was dig in his feet, glare into the light, and hope there was enough left of him to fight back when the blast finally cleared.

…But the obliteration never came. Instead, Mario arrived to save the day, snagging all the glory for himself. The hero leapt in front of the blast, wielding what looked like a strand of rebar sticking from a chunk of concrete. He'd likely found it in the street; but in this dire moment, it passed for a suitable makeshift hammer. Either that or a Home-Run Bat, because he swung at the sphere head-on and sent it hurtling back the way it had come.

It sailed away in a perfect arc, like the sun traversing the sky in hyperspeed. The Empress wasn't prepared, and she instinctively reeled back as the blast struck her hard in the chest. Even as the energy dispersed across her starlit body, the force of the impact knocked her off balance. She gave a startled wail as her tendrils flailed back to support her, their cosmic beams extinguished and forgotten.

Mario was quick to ready his "hammer" again, but the beast didn't seem too eager to fire a second shot. Instead, she heaved herself upright and slithered to the base of a nearby spire, sputtering a rabid froth of plasma through her clenched fangs. In one fluid motion, she grappled up the wall and swung herself out into the expanse between the tower and its neighbor, climbing higher until she hung suspended between the spires like a shimmering golden spider web.

"I DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT RULING ANYMORE," she taunted, her voice rising to a howl that sent tremors through the battlefield. "I'M GOING TO AVENGE MY PEOPLE, ACROSS EVERY TIMELINE IN WHICH THEY'VE BEEN SLAIN." Delusions of a grand conquest were playing out behind her eyes, even as she hung there amidst the ruins of her second fallen empire. "I'LL KEEP GOING, UNTIL EVERY VERSION OF THIS WRETCHED KINGDOM HAS BEEN RAZED TO THE GROUND!"

Bowser had heard it all before. Villainous speeches like this didn't faze him – he'd given a similar one himself that morning, when his minions had tried to serve him a cold breakfast. Just now, he was more interested in the structural integrity of her perch. There was a gnarly-looking crack running across the right-hand spire, likely caused by a saucer impact. "I'll bet if we could knock one of her attacks back into that, the whole thing would come crashing down around her."

A few yards away, Mario seemed to be working his way towards the same idea. He whispered something to Vivian, who then glided off to take a position on the other side of the arena. Next, he turned his attention back to the Empress – he hopped back and forth in plain sight, trying to bait her into an attack. "Hey, over here! Try that again, if you think you can hit me this time!"

Sadly, the beast was smarter than that, and the hero's trap had been far too obvious. Instead of launching a plasma sphere, the Empress swung one of her tendrils out in a wide arc. Its laser ignited instantly, giving Mario barely enough time to leap over the beam. But he wasn't ready for what happened next – the tendril whipped up and over itself in a quick loop, bringing the laser down on Mario's head and driving him into the ground.

When the light faded, there was nothing left of him at all, not even a charred denim-clad skeleton. Bowser could hardly believe his eyes – his unbeatable rival, wiped out by such a straightforward attack? The Koopa had no time to either grieve or gloat, because now the enemy's focus was back on him. The tentacle was swaying from side to side – charging up another blast, this time with Bowser in the crosshairs.

He met the searing beam with a burst of his own fire breath, locking the two attacks together in a brief and blinding struggle for dominance. Mere flames would be snuffed instantly by a Star-powered laser, but Bowser Koopa was no mere flamethrower. He held his ground, pushing back with all the strength he had; but in the end, the standoff tilted in the Empress' favor, and Bowser was hurled back against a wall, his aching lungs filled with stellar spray.

As he slumped there, stunned, he couldn't help but focus on the taste of plasma in his mouth. Somehow, the astral energy hadn't yet cooked him alive from within. He could feel it clinging to his bones like static, and there was a dull throbbing near his tail that felt strangely familiar. But there was no time to ponder that - his vision swam in and out, but he could still make out the shape of the Empress as she loomed overhead, charging her tendril for the killing blow.

…But suddenly, the hypha whipped away, and Bowser turned to see Vivian pelting the Shroob with her own brand of flames. The fireballs were quite puny by the Koopa King's standards; but she was making the most of each shot, aiming for the Empress' eyes and being as infuriating as possible. "D-did you forget about me?!" she called, seizing the beast's full attention for herself.

The alien glowered at her, detaching from the left spire to swing a bit closer to her new target. By doing so, she was hanging all of her weight from the cracked tower, although the Empress hadn't even seemed to notice the damage. Vivian backed away warily, but there was no escaping the monster's fury now. The starlit Shroob exhaled another plasma sphere, and sent it rocketing across the plaza with a bellowing roar.

...And that's precisely when Mario reappeared, hammer in hand, as the siren flung him up from within her own shadow. Bowser gaped, trying to clear his head enough to understand what in the world was happening. "Did they stage that whole thing? All to trick the Empress into giving them ammo?" If so, it had been a royally devious ploy, and the Koopa King had to resist being impressed.

Mario soared upward, matching the enemy's roar with his own triumphant battle cry. He met the sphere halfway, swung like a pro, and deflected it perfectly towards the crack in the spire's wall. But the Empress still refused to be taken aback so easily. In the instant before impact, she lashed out with her nearest tendril, striking back and returning the missile to its original course. Mario barely had time to land and return the volley, and Vivian looked like she wasn't sure whether to help or stay back entirely.

For the second time in a row, the Empress effortlessly flicked the sphere away. The look on her face was one of pure irritation – she didn't even know where Mario was aiming, but she wouldn't grant him the satisfaction of deflecting her attack. Meanwhile, the hero had no choice but to keep the volley going, because to miss a swing meant certain death. He sent the ball back for a third time – rather feebly, as the hammer's weight began to take its toll.

By this point, Bowser had finally recovered enough to stand. Better than that, the plasma in his system had given him a totally genius idea. He was sick of watching Mario and Vivian bumble about, more concerned with their flashy combos than with getting things done. He barreled across the arena, unseen by everyone, determined to crash the party and prove once and for all that he was the biggest, baddest brute around.

He shoved Mario aside just as the Empress smacked the sphere again. The stone hammer broke to pieces as the hero dropped it in shock; but that was fine, they didn't need it now. Mario and Vivian were shouting something – some panicked nonsense – but Bowser didn't bother to listen. Instead, he spread his arms wide and faced the light, laughing manically as his "minions" scrambled to get away.

He inhaled at the very last moment, letting instinct and buried magic take command. Over the years, Bowser had been subjected to so many overlapping spells that he hardly knew what they all did anymore. But there were a few triggers that he remembered… and at least one "curse" that he'd learned to activate at will. "GWA HA HA HA! It's time for a feast! Vacuum Shroom, don't fail me now!"

In an instant, the rush of adrenaline overtook him as his gullet became a black hole. Bits of debris were sucked down in the blink of an eye, but Bowser only cared about the starlit sphere. It hovered before him, shuddering, trapped between the pulls of magic and gravity. It began to unravel just as it had formed - breaking down wisp by wisp, streaming through the unhinged maw of a beast.

As it shrunk away to nothing, the Koopa felt its power surging within him, coursing through his veins and sending that spot near his tail into some sort of overdrive. He nearly doubled over from the sheer intensity of it, but held his head up long enough to stare his enemy down. After that, his thoughts were lost to the red fog of rage, and he could only reel back and roar as the transformative magic took hold.

It began with his horns and spikes, before spreading to the shell itself and the rest of his body in turn. The mighty Koopa King was growing mightier, swelling to giant size as his scales took on a faint celestial sheen. He thrashed about wildly, stepping mindlessly on buildings that he'd once been forced to cower between. To a witness just discovering the scene, it might look like the gigantic reptile had leveled the palace by himself.

When his mind finally cleared, Bowser found himself face-to-face with the colossal alien, glaring straight into her baffled eyes. She blinked at him once, unsure; and then she screamed as he stepped forward to dig his claws into her flesh. He gave the cracked tower a forceful kick, utterly shattering its base and letting the stone fall every which way. As her perch crumbled around her, the creature was helpless to resist as Bowser yanked her loose, gripping her by the tendrils like his own personal flail.

He swung her around in a full circle, reveling in the sharp crack that sounded as he smashed her through the other standing spire. After building up some momentum, he let her go and watched as she flew through the air, crashing through the ruins and finally grinding to a halt amidst a massive cloud of dust. Bowser briefly wondered if it had been this much fun for Mario, back during those fights the hero had won with a similar trick.

Speaking of Mario, what had become of him and Vivian, anyway? Bowser couldn't spot either of them, although at his current size, he'd only see them as red and purple specks. The Koopa wasn't too bothered – in the end, they hadn't contributed much to the alliance, had they? "Forget about them," he thought, turning back to the battle at hand. "It's been a long wait, but it's finally time for that good old fashioned Bowsering."

The Empress sat a few streets away, for the first time showing concern. Bowser pounded his fist against his palm and grinned – it was a good start, but by night's end, he would make her show fear.

Lady Bow had never spent much time thinking about mortality. It was a rather depressing subject, and it had never affected her very much anyway. But after everything that had happened in the last few hours, she found herself thinking of little else.

When this adventure had begun, she hadn't been that emotionally invested. So they were trapped in another world; big deal. She'd surely find her way back home eventually, even if it took a century or two. But now, she was faced with the possibility of her mansion no longer existing, or her entire world, or even herself if this last-ditch plan failed. Did this kind of existential uncertainty plague the living every single day? If so, the feeling absolutely terrified her.

For the first time, Bow was determined to give her support not because it entertained her, but because this was a fight she simply couldn't afford to lose. "What kind of Boo am I becoming?" she asked herself, listening to the muted roar of the maelstrom out beyond the tower walls. "If I'm not careful, I might find myself developing some sort of conscience."

Just now, she and Luigi were trying to locate Kamek in the cluttered labyrinth that he seemed to call home. The wizard's lair was much bigger on the inside – Bow had been expecting a modest study; but instead, she found herself wandering along the inner balcony of a seemingly endless library. Shelf upon shelf of arcane tomes towered around her, lining the walls above and below. There were more books in this enchanted space than she'd be able to read in a hundred human lifetimes.

The layout of this place made no sense, even to someone like her, who had a better grasp of perplexing architecture than most. What looked like alcoves became hallways on second glances, stretching away far beyond where the tower should've ended. Walkways and bridges climbed around a central shaft, with landings and platforms jutting into the middle at odd angles. The air hung thick with dust, making depth difficult to judge.

"He's here somewhere, so keep your eyes peeled," Luigi instructed, as if Bow hadn't been doing exactly that since the start. He was nervous, she observed, and that meant he was likely speaking to keep himself distracted. (This was a terrible idea, of course, since they were supposed to be in stealth mode). With shaking hands, he reached over to snatch a poking iron out of a nearby fireplace, perhaps to use as a weapon if things turned ugly.

"I'm sure he already knows we're here," Bow answered, pausing to inspect a wall of glass display cases. Kamek had amassed a vast collection of mystical trinkets, many of which the Boo didn't recognize – a scepter painted with expressive eyes, a seven-pointed compass, and even a very peculiar star-shaped bean. Meanwhile, Luigi was peering down from their ledge, far into the library's depths, searching for the swish of a cloak amidst the impossible spiral of shelves.

In the end, it was indeed Kamek who found them first. The little wizard came zipping past on his broom, frantically pulling books from the shelves and tossing them into a travel trunk that hovered along behind him. "Hey, wait for us!" Luigi called out, scurrying down the aisle in pursuit of the mage. "What's the big hurry? We really need your help!"

Kamek cast a stray glance behind himself, but didn't bother to slow his pace. "You said it yourself; this timeline is doomed," he cackled, leafing through a spellbook before flinging it idly aside. "Only fools stay aboard a sinking ship. I'm skipping over to the nearest stable dimension, where I plan to enjoy a nice, easy retirement." He kept muttering as he worked, ignoring the heroes that were hot on his heels. "Hmm, I hear Subcon is lovely this time of year…"

With that, the Magikoopa drew his wand and fired a barrier blast, keeping his pursuers at bay while he rummaged through a glass box filled with gems. "How rude! We're only here to speak with you!" Bow cried, throwing herself at the shield but failing to phase through. "I demand that you let us pass, so we can sit down and talk this over like civilized adults!"

The little mage shook his head, chuckling darkly beneath his breath. "Ah, but you've already tried that, and it didn't work," he reminded, referring to their little discussion out on the balcony. He gave the heroes his full attention at last, spinning to face them with an accusing claw outstretched. "I may be old, but I'm not yet blind. You two have already decided to destroy me, haven't you? If not, then why would you be wielding that iron spike?"

Luigi looked at the tool in his hand, which he'd unknowingly been brandishing at Kamek like a sword. "If you won't help us, then we have no choice," he warned, pushing against the barrier in a show of mild bravery. "Unless you have the Pure Hearts stashed somewhere in this treasure hoard, then killing you is the only way to save these two worlds!" There was a pleading note to his voice, as if he were trying to give the villain one very last chance.

Needless to say, it didn't take. "You sure know a great deal about my magic, for a man who's dressed for sewer maintenance," the wizard sneered, letting the barrier fall and laughing when Luigi tripped through the empty space. "You don't intimidate me, though. Every time I see your face, I just imagine the version of you that died helpless and screaming."

He said it with a demented little smirk, as if the memory of that night brought him glee. "You don't feel guilty about any of it, do you?" Bow asked, deciding that she'd never felt more disgusted than she did right now. Not even her own father would sink to this cloaked cretin's level of depravity. "Do you think that what you did makes you a savior? Because nobody else does." The mage's eyes narrowed, and Bow knew that she had struck a nerve.

She hovered forward steadily, making sure that Kamek heard every word. "Or perhaps, deep down, you know exactly how much of a failure you are. Maybe you've let everyone suffer for so long, because intervening would mean admitting the truth." She flew right up into his face, filling his vision as she delivered the coup de grâce. "Perhaps you just can't accept that this world would've been better off without you."

The mage's façade broke so quickly that Bow could've sworn she saw it shatter behind his beady little eyes. Or maybe that was his fragile sanity, because his expression was twisting into something truly psychotic. "S-silence, you sassy little fart puff!" he rasped, swatting the Boo away with a frenzied swish of his wand. "What right do you have to speak of things you never saw?! This kingdom still stands because of me! The Shroobs are gone because I destroyed them!"

"…Then again, you did end up becoming their leader's pawn," Luigi put in, having evidently given up on peaceful negotiations. "You spent two decades helping her get revenge on the planet you thought you'd saved." Kamek rounded on him, twitching in sudden fury; but for once, Luigi didn't back away. "I can be a screw-up sometimes, but what you did? It's pathetic."

The Magikoopa didn't wait to be insulted further. "YOU WILL BOTH BE SILENT!" he screeched, lifting his wand to fire a blast of magic down the aisle. While the heroes scurried aside, Kamek warped upwards and spread his arms wide, the entire mystic library trembling at his whim. "I've spent years suffering for my mistakes, and I didn't survive it all just to be lectured by the likes of you!"

There was a tense pause that lingered for just a moment too long; and then, very far away, the echo of a heavy wooden thud. The noise soon repeated, again and again, and Bow floated to the edge of the platform to see what was happening below. At first, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, until a distant bookshelf flipped back upon itself, slamming into its neighbor as they both sunk away into the wall.

Across the hall, two more shelves snapped shut like a book; and on the next level up, a whole aisle coiled itself up in flipping segments before sinking into the floor. It was happening everywhere – the library was collapsing; an entire tower of moving parts, all folding themselves up like clockwork origami. The ghost pulled away from the chasm, turning to Kamek with a mix of suspicion and shock. "What's happening down there? What is the meaning of this?!"

The wizard merely shrugged, pulling his demeanor back together. "I already told you, I'm packing my things," he answered, upending his floating trunk and spilling its contents into the pit. "I'd only planned to bring a few essentials, but now I think I'll take it all." He clicked his tongue and began to fly away, casually tossing back one final warning. "As for the two of you, I'm afraid you'll likely be crushed. Try not to smear yourselves on anything valuable, okay?"

And with that, he was gone again. Luigi briefly tried to give chase, but thought better of it when he saw beyond the railing. "Let's get to the entrance!" he urged, pointing back the way they had come. But even as he said it, the distant sliver of light was swallowed up by layers of shifting, folding shelves. "On second thought, keep climbing! There has to be another exit somewhere up there!"

He took off running, with Lady Bow floating along at his heels. She'd been doing an awful lot of fleeing lately, which wasn't typically her style, but she supposed it came with the territory of being Luigi's partner. Several times, she spied Kamek in the distance, watching silently as they scrambled to climb the tower. "He's not even trying to get away, is he? That freak just wants to spectate our demise."

As they ran, patches of the floor began to splinter and separate, morphing into sets of gnashing wooden jaws. Luigi leapt between them, wall-jumping off shelves to keep himself out of the grinder. Meanwhile, Bow avoided the hazards by merely floating above their reach. "Ooh, possessed furniture? How utterly basic," she scoffed; but this was no mere haunted house display, and the wizard had barely begun to pull tricks from his sleeve.

Suddenly, books began cascading off the shelves, coming to life mid-fall and fluttering into the air like dusty, leather-bound bats. The spell's effect pulsed outward, rippling up the shaft, until the vast chamber began to fill with a restless cloud of tomes. Bow tried to ignore it all by phasing, but soon the flock became too thick to see through, and she was forced to retreat to a lower altitude.

Luigi was swinging at the "bats" with his iron, trying to clear a path through the swarm. He managed to swat one away, causing Kamek to yell out in objection from the sidelines. "Gah, watch where you're flailing! That was a first edition!" When Bow looked back, Luigi's weapon had been transformed into a red plastic hammer, which squeaked harmlessly as he tossed it away. He gave her a desperate shrug as they kept on running.

Together, they made their way up the winding tower, following the pathway around outcroppings and across bridges. Several times, Bow had to turn Luigi intangible to avoid the flipping shelves, which threatened to smack him into the abyss. The library was continuing to devour itself, packing its pieces ever tighter; and the Boo found herself wondering how long it would be until the spell left them trapped.

…As it turned out, the answer lay just around the next bend. Up ahead, the walkway itself was peeling backward, each slatted floorboard slipping away beneath the next. The nearby bridges were retracting as well, giving the heroes nowhere to go except a narrow passage to the left, which was still spewing out enchanted books. After a moment of fidgety indecision, Luigi hunched his shoulders and plowed ahead into the gloom.

Bow followed after him, intangible but blind. She couldn't see a thing through the flapping pages, so she relied on her partner's yelps and gasps to keep track of the path. For once, she found herself envying Vivian's ability to slip underground and bypass situations like this. "But poor Luigi has it even worse than I do," she supposed, "and I can't hide him while he's moving. What we need is a way to clear the air; but how does one scare away a creature made of paper?"

The answer hit her like a warm breeze, and she reached up to grab hold of her hairbow. Sure enough, the Fire Flower was still tucked in there, exactly as she'd left it earlier that night. She pulled it free, and was about to offer it to Luigi, but the sounds of his struggle made her hesitate. At the rate he was being smacked around, the flower would be wasted on him. Its effects only lasted until the user was struck by something, after all.

Bow knew what needed to happen, but she was in no way eager for it. If she ate the plant, then she'd be able to keep its power by phasing through the books; but weren't Fire Flowers supposed to taste spicy and awful? She didn't want any part of that - as a high-class lady, her palate was very sensitive! "Ugh, enough whining! This is no time for me to be acting like a royal brat," she thought, crumpling up the flower and shoving it into her mouth.

She felt the effects before the petals even touched her tongue. It was like a torch had been lit at the back of her throat, briefly blinding her as the inferno spread outward. When the pain subsided, Bow's first instinct was to see what about herself had changed. She spied a mirror, nestled in a nearby reading nook, and saw that her whole body had turned a very pale orange. Even her hairbows looked fiery, with a spikier shape and embers dancing at the ribbon tips.

Next, she raised her arm and tried to summon a fireball, but that isn't quite what happened. Instead of flames appearing in her hand, her entire self ignited like a spectral flare. "Ah, what?! Did I eat it the wrong way?" she panicked, whirling around to get a glimpse of herself, but only ending up with a face full of trailing fire. She hadn't expected this; but then again, she'd never eaten a Fire Flower before. Perhaps this was simply how the plants affected Boos?

In any case, she had become a living – er, unliving – fireball, and the paper "bats" were screeching in fear as they tried to get away. They flew backwards as Bow surged ahead, piling back onto the shelves in an effort to hide themselves amongst the normal books that remained there. As the hallway cleared, Luigi was able to pick up the pace; and soon the two heroes were charging ahead, kept safe by an aura of ghostly light.

But things were never that simple, were they? Just as their luck began to turn, Luigi gave a pained shout, and Bow spun back to see him caught in one of the floorboards' gnashing jaws. He'd been snared by the ankle, and now he was trying to pry himself free before the splintery teeth could pull him in deeper. "Y-you don't wanna eat me!" he stammered, kicking at the floor with his free leg. "Just look at me – you'd find more meat on a Dry Bones!"

The issue resolved itself before Bow had to get involved, but the way it happened hardly made things easier. The shelves gave a shuddering groan, and then the entire passage spun sideways, rolling over itself as the grand library continued to shift. The floor became a wall, and Luigi fell to safety with a yelp and the sound of tearing pants. He leapt to his feet, stumbling as the hallway settled with a dull crash, and set off sprinting yet again.

Bow flew on ahead, dipping and diving into the shelves whenever she saw the books beginning to stir. The flames trailed behind her, engulfing the helpless tomes as she swept intangibly through them. The passage would become a burning ruin; but that was fine, as long as the way ahead stayed clear. That was her plan, at least, until the corridor began to rotate upwards.

She first noticed when the books began to slide backwards, as if gravity itself had suddenly shifted sideways. Luigi cried out, and the Boo turned back to see him fighting his way uphill – staggering forward, and then clawing up the shelves with his hands as the slope became steeper. All around them, the wooden walls were creaking in agony, and the darkness seemed to deepen as the entire tunnel pitched up into a vertical shaft.

"…What happens now?" Luigi asked, pausing for breath as he hung onto the wall for dear life. Somewhere up above, a single spellbook fell from its shelf, catching fire as it plummeted through Bow's body. Luigi flinched as it fell past, but then the pair of them simply stared, watching as the tome illuminated the sheer depth of the pit that yawned away beneath them. "Please don't say that we have to go all the way back down there…"

Bow didn't fancy the idea either, so instead she turned her gaze skyward. Straining her eyes against the gloom, she could just make out a ray of pale light, spilling into the shaft through some far-distant window. It must've been open, because many of the books were vanishing through it, fluttering away into the freedom of the night. "Look up there – I think I can see a way out!"

Luigi blinked the sweat from his eyes, then began to wall-kick up the shaft, taking the time to line up each jump, even as the shelves started peeling away. The library was tearing itself down around them, and when Bow glanced back, she instantly regretted it. The collapse had reached her hastily lit fires, and now the blaze was surfing up on splintered wood – endless rows of torch-teeth in a black and hungry maw.

"Luigi dear, I don't mean to rush you, but this is the time to be speedy, not graceful!" she cried out, trying her best to light the way above him. He picked up the pace, just enough, and soon the little window was in sight. Bow could even see the railing of a balcony, and the golden sky beyond. But just as she began to feel hopeful, the tricky tower snatched it all away again. A row of shelves slammed shut across the passage, denying the exit and leaving the heroes stranded with the flames.

They pulled up short, just in time to avoid slamming headfirst into the barrier. Luigi braced himself in one corner, and spent a few seconds pounding futilely against the wood. He yelled for help, although no one could save them, but his pleas became coughs as the air filled with smoke. From where Bow floated beside him, she thought she could hear the echo of cackling from just beyond the wall.

For a fleeting second, she was struck with the thought of how easy it would be to escape by herself. She just needed to phase through this barricade; but no, that was a vile idea. Luigi was her friend, more or less, and she would never leave him to die like this. They could both survive this, if only she could think of a plan…

…But there was nothing. No sudden epiphanies, only the gnashing of ten-thousand burning fangs. "C'mon, Bow, just DO something!" Her body was boiling; she felt like screaming. The fire filled her vision, her mind and soul, and then the entire world went white.

Outside the mage's tower, where space bent normally, a burnt wooden box sat at the back of an alcove. Not a sound could be heard, save the mournful whistling of the wind.

…Until suddenly, the box erupted in a pulse of fiery sawdust. The compressed library blew apart like a crate of fireworks, and a heavily soot-stained Luigi was sent skidding across the balcony. He landed against the railing with an oomph, flat on his back with his legs splayed in the air. He never wanted to move again, but sadly, he knew that he had precious little choice.

He pulled himself up, a bit shakily, and studied the new surroundings. The balcony framed one end of a precarious stone bridge, which arced across the expanse between this spire and its sibling. Luigi refused to look down, so instead he focused on the sky, still eerily bright with S.T.A.R. fallout. He could see a few more towers, shadows in the distance, but so much of the skyline had fallen since he'd seen it last…

He didn't want to dwell on it, so he sat down next to Lady Bow, who was lingering tiredly just beside the alcove. For someone who didn't need to breathe, she was looking miserably out of breath, and perhaps even paler than usual. "Hey, are you feeling alright?" Luigi asked, surprised by the level of concern in his own voice. "I've never seen anyone overclock a power-up like that. It can't be healthy."

The ghost had saved them both, at the last second, by expending her flower power at once. She'd blown a hole through the wall that would make any Bob-omb proud, but it had clearly sapped a lot of her strength. "I'm fine," she insisted, "but I'll be useless without a short rest." She gave Luigi's leg a pat, then huffed in defeat when nothing happened. "See? I can't even turn you intangible. Can you try to keep yourself safe for a while?"

A troubled silence settled in, until Luigi heard the swish of fabric and the scuttling of claws on marble. He turned back to find Kamek perched on the bridge, staring warily at the heroes with his wand half-raised. The three of them simply stared for a long and awkward moment, as if none of them were eager to learn what happened next.

Nobody expected Luigi to strike first, not even himself; but before he knew what was happening, his legs were leading him into battle. As he sprinted up the bridge, the wizard yelped and warped back, flailing his wand to fire a single bolt of magic between them. The ground quaked as the spell rippled through it, but Luigi didn't stop running until a massive grey fist exploded up from the stone.

With a roar that spilled like an avalanche of gravel, a huge Whomp clawed its way up and free from the bridge. The living slab stood across the path, with cracks through its eyes that made them look bloodshot and deranged. Luigi skidded to a halt just inches away, glancing up nervously as it loomed overhead. "My, er, what thick masonry you have…" he stammered as it tipped forward with a snarl.

He could imagine it saying, "all the better to crush you with;" but in truth, it merely grumbled and began to fall. Luigi scrambled back, tripping over his heels, but managed to get away just in time. The monster faceplanted with a mighty crash, causing a web of tiny fissures to split open along its backside. Seeing his chance, Luigi sprung upwards, ready to slam down and smash the beast to pieces.

But alas, the Whomp was quick to push itself upright, and Luigi slid harmlessly down the slope of its back. As he landed, he shot a glare towards Kamek, who was spectating the scene with a cheeky grin. Behind them, the stone creature was struggling to rotate – the pathway was too narrow for its bulk, so it was teetering on one foot as it clumsily tried to spin with the other. Inspiration struck, and Luigi threw himself against the slab, elbowing it with all his might.

The beast staggered as he tackled it, losing its balance and tipping sideways against the guardrail. With a gravelly wail, it broke through and plummeted off the bridge. Luigi nearly went with it, but managed to catch himself at the edge. Gazing down, he got an eyeful of vertigo, but kept his eyes on the Whomp as it fell. He saw it smash against the tower, cracking apart into harmless rubble before dispersing into the rifts.

As he stumbled back up, a deafening roar boomed between the spires. Luigi braced himself for Kamek's next summon, but the mage's startled gasp meant that he wasn't to blame. A tremor rocked the bridge, then another; a rhythmic pounding that violently set the pace of Luigi's heartbeat. He stepped back while Kamek leaned forward, but neither was prepared for what happened next.

From out of the mist, two titans exploded into view like comets, locked in battle amidst a storm of scales and starlight. King Bowser swiped at the Empress, laying punches into her while she tried in vain to bind his arms with her tendrils. They thrashed across the horizon together, snapping and snarling, until Bowser pulled into his shell. The giant Koopa surged forward, dragging the Shroob until he crashed into a tower, then spinning to pin her against it as the walls came down around them.

While Luigi steadied himself through the shockwave, Kamek stood rigid and nearly catatonic. He was mumbling to himself, his wand twitching between targets, as if the old mage was trying to choose which of his hated masters he'd rather shoot first. "You slimy tyrant," he hissed, firing a wave of blasts at the Empress. "You deceived me, used me, held me back; but you haven't beaten me. I've been your thrall for long enough!"

The alien slipped free of Bowser's grip, and Kamek howled in frustration as the barrage missed by miles. He conjured his broom with a flourish, preparing to give chase. "If he gets away, then it's all over!" Thinking quickly, Luigi grabbed the broom by its bristles and yanked it away. The hero tried to snap it over his knee, but that hurt a lot, so he cracked it against the railing instead, sending splinters and straw into the void below.

Bow cheered from the sidelines, but Luigi barely heard her as Kamek turned on him. "What have you done, you hairy-lipped halfwit?!" the wizard spat, clawing at the air as he fired another spell. The hero ducked beneath it, heard it strike the stone behind him, but the enemy was just getting started. "You and your friends have ruined everything! My books, my leg, and now my escape? What more can you take from me?!"

Luigi edged backward, hoping to return to the balcony where he could move more freely. But Bow screamed a warning, and he turned back in time to see a segment of the bridge capsize. The one behind it flipped up like a hatch, and suddenly the whole structure was in chaos. "That spell I dodged is making it all flip out!" he realized, jumping straight up as the marble barrel rolled beneath him.

In the background, Bowser and the Empress were thundering off elsewhere. Kamek watched them go, forsaken; but then he began to laugh, and that's when Luigi realized what he was in for. The Magikoopa was livid and unhinged, but worst of all, he was stuck here. He summoned a line of illusory clones, who all shared the same grimace of pure hate. When they spoke, it was with one voice. "If you want to fight me so badly, then let's begin. You've earned my undivided attention."

"Oh stars, I wish my bro was here," he thought, trapped between a foe and a fall. But no, this was his task, his fight, and everyone was counting on him. "I can do this," he told himself, standing bravely as the wizard raised his wand, maniacally, and magic lit the air.

As one fierce battle began, another was gearing towards its climax. Bowser punched the Empress through the hull of a fallen cruiser, and decided that he was having the time of his life.

She tore her way free before the dust had settled, prying bits of the ship into scrap metal daggers. Bowser lunged at her as she flailed up to meet him, keeping her weapons at bay with some well-timed sideswipes. A few hyphae eluded him, but their knives bent uselessly against the plates of his shell. The Koopa bashed her head against the hull, laughing, until a low-sweeping tendril snared his ankle and tripped him onto his back.

The Empress washed over him like a wave, threading her hyphae beneath his shell and squeezing like she meant to crack him open. Her scrap-daggers tore at his scales, and her throat began to glow with the light of a plasma sphere. Instinctively, Bowser withdrew and began to spin like a top, faster and faster, until he was sure his spikes must've drilled clean through the ground below.

As he hit max speed, he felt the alien's grip began to weaken. He threw out his claws, stopping himself suddenly as she was flung into the distance with an almost comically high-pitched wail. "Don't ride the Koopa Carousel if you can't hang on," he thought, taking a moment to catch his breath. This battle was a total stalemate, but that was the point. After all, he just needed to keep whaling on her until her invincibility ran out.

"How long is that gonna take, huh?" he frowned, stomping off across the wasteland. "This whole battlefield is going down fast." Had he not seen it, he never would've believed that this had been a city mere hours ago. Sure, there were towers here and there, along with wreckage; but for the most part, the portals made this place look like some kind of swirling eldritch swamp.

The Empress surged from the mist, fangs bared in fury and tendrils lashing like whips. Bowser prepared to grapple with her again, but she tried something new this time. The beast stretched to her full height, balancing on a tripod of tentacles. The rest flared out randomly, igniting into a psychedelic web of sweeping lasers. They shredded the landscape, but Bowser wasn't impressed. "She looks ridiculous, like a disco lightshow mixed with one of those flailing sprinkler things."

He marched forward, letting the beams sizzle against his star-charged scales, until he was close enough to grab one of the hyphae as it swept by. He laughed when her eyes went wide, plainly shocked that her ultimate attack had been thwarted so easily. That's when he gave a sharp tug, guffawing even harder as the beast came toppling down.

But Bowser had something better planned than letting her faceplant. He caught a few of her thrashing limbs, then swung the Empress sideways in an arc, being sure to let her bash against some rocks along the way. She struck the wall of a tower, but without enough force crack it through. Instead, her free tendrils kept flying, whipping around the spire, and Bowser caught them as they came around the other side.

With a tangle of limbs in each hand, the Koopa began to pull as hard as he could. The Empress, fearing he meant to tear them off, tried to get away by writhing upwards, wriggling up the tower like a worm. Bowser kept pulling, stretching the hyphae to their limit, until he felt the stone begin to break… and then he simply let go, slingshotting the screaming creature into the sky.

But the combo wasn't gonna end there – Bowser pursued his enemy with a stupendous star-charged leap, intercepted her in midair, then pinned her beneath him as he shifted his weight into a ground pound. Claws and tentacles locked together, the two monsters fell like a meteor towards the most epic piledriver in history.

They hit the ground with a pulsing blast of energy, enough to vaporize the surrounding debris. A full minute later, Bowser pulled himself up from of the pit they'd made, then turned back to stare at the Empress. She lay in a crumpled heap, unmoving; and her golden glow was finally starting to fade away, revealing the bruised purple skin beneath.

He knew exactly what this meant – it was time for the finishing blow. He stood at the edge of the crater, preparing to use a skill he'd been saving for just this moment. Rays of starlight glinted through his fangs as he inhaled; and an instant later, his mouth tore wide into the brightest cosmic beam to be seen all night. He inwardly grinned as the Empress vanished from sight. "THIS IS FOR MY TROOPS, YOU NASTY OLD SPACE SQUID!"

…But somehow, she withstood the laser, and even seemed to be breathing more steadily as the light faded. "Huh, I guess I fired too early," Bowser muttered, adjusting his stance for a second shot. But just as he exhaled, the Empress lurched into his face, wrapping herself around him as the beam fired straight into her open mouth.

Shocked, Bowser tried to end the attack, but his own powers refused to listen. He could feel her tendrils reaching into his mouth, prying his jaws open to increase the flow of energy. She inhaled it all, and soon began to shimmer once more. "She's sucking the starlight right out of me!" he realized with disgust, which turned to sharp panic as his body begin to shrink. "Gah, that means she's turning me puny again!"

The Empress' wounds were healing, but that wasn't the only metamorphosis taking place. A pair of gargantuan spines had sprouted from her back, and grew longer and sharper as the siphoning progressed. Bowser wasn't sure what they were meant to be… until they began to unfurl, twisting apart into vast webs of wispy mycelium, each strand bound together by a film of golden light.

To the Koopa's horror, the repowered Shroob had grown a set of ethereal, wasp-like wings. She launched herself skyward with a single flap, soaring high into the night while clutching Bowser in one limb like a ragdoll. "YOU'VE FAILED AGAIN, LIZARD," she roared, her inferno eyes now fully reignited. "I ENJOYED MYSELF, BUT I THINK IT'S TIME WE PARTED WAYS."

She threw him aside, as easily and carelessly as one might flick away a gnat. Bowser fell blindly, unable to flip himself, until he smashed against the remains of a spire. As he plunged down the side, great chunks of rubble fell with him. He landed with a grunt, too weak to move before the rocks fell and flattened him to paste.

…But that never happened. The next thing Bowser knew, he'd slipped through the ground into some kind of nowhere. He looked up to see the tower collapse through a fog, as if he were watching it happen on an old film projector. "What the heck is this?!" he shouted, then glanced down to find Vivian clinging to his arm. "Aha, I KNEW you were a ghost! I just died, and now you're here to drag me away to the Underwhere!"

She blew some hair out of her eyes, looking more exasperated than he'd seen her before. "For the last time, I'm not a…" she started, but quickly lost her nerve, peering off into the darkness. "Um, never mind. Anyway, these are the shadows. I pulled you down here to save you." She began lifting Bowser back to the surface, straining visibly from the effort. "B-but you're pretty heavy, so it might be a one-time thing…"

When they'd returned to solid ground, Bowser grumbled a few syllables that Vivian could either take or leave as a "thank you." They had emerged in the middle of a secluded street, somewhere where the pavement was still intact enough to support them. Mario was waiting for them over by the curb, pacing in circles while a million useless plans collided in his mind.

Helpless, the three of them could only watch as their starlit enemy thundered her way across the sky. "HOW IS THAT FAIR?!" Bowser whined, cursing the monster that had snatched a victory from his literal jaws. "When I stole that power, all I did was get bigger! How come she gets to FLY?!"

The Empress soon disappeared behind the ruins, but her heading was clear – she was making a beeline for the massive maelstrom. Mario ran forward a few steps, but then realized that giving chase was a hopeless endeavor. "I don't think we can catch up by ourselves," he said, with an edge of desperation to his voice. "If only we had some way to freeze her in place…"

Just then, the hero tripped back with a yelp as a fissure opened in the sidewalk beneath him. This had been a safe place just moments ago, but the rifts were already starting to encroach on the street corner from all sides. Vivian rushed over to grab his wrist; but as she pulled him to safety, a tiny scrap of paper fluttered from his pocket and into the gripping breeze.

Reflexively, he caught it between his fingers before it slipped away. He fell utterly silent as he brought it closer for inspection, staring at it with an odd mixture of displeasure and awe. Vivian looked over his shoulder, uncomprehending; and even though Bowser couldn't quite see the scrap from where he stood, he could tell that it was coated in a great deal of glitter.

"Oh, no," Bowser inwardly groaned, stomping closer to get his first good look at the little thing. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is."

Yoshi looked back often during the hike to safety. Each time, he thought that the view of the palace couldn't possibly get weirder; and each time, he was proven wrong.

The dinosaur stood at the top of a grassy hill, waiting for Goombella and the Toads to catch up. Their escape pod had crashed in the piedmont beyond the river, and after a heated debate, the group had decided to get as far from danger as possible. But when Giant Bowser had appeared behind them, the unanimous choice had been to sit back, watch the fight, and wish for popcorn.

Toad was still chattering about it, mostly to the tune of how cool it would've been to fight in Bowser's stead. "I'd give that squid the ol' One-Two Truffle Shuffle," he said, hopping up the hillside as he traded punches with a phantom foe. "And then I'd throw in a few headbutts, because style points are important!"

Goombella was rambling too, theorizing aloud about what the other creature could have been. Only Toadette, who had fallen a few steps behind, seemed to realize the severity of the situation. Yoshi wandered down to offer her a ride, and she wearily but gratefully climbed aboard. When the girl finally spoke, she didn't look up, as if she were searching the grass for shreds of hope. "When things look bleakest, that's when Mario always saves the day, right?"

Yoshi wanted to comfort her, but had things ever been quite this bleak before? He kept quiet, but the silence was soon filled with the echo of an avalanche. Behind them, a massive section of the palace's wall had fallen, and with it came all the wiring and machinery that had been strung along the top. The tangled silver snake was pulled into the void, shrieking like a particularly panicked train wreck, and that was all the answer anyone needed.

…But then, before stillness could settle back in, a shadow passed underfoot, flickering across the hillside to the sound of a haunting scream. An icy wind rippled after it, and Toadette shivered in the saddle, but by then the shape was already gone. Yoshi peered into the wasteland, and briefly saw a wisp of darkness beneath the dust, streaking toward the palace like a subterranean shooting star.

Goombella ran downhill to join them, looking more than a bit spooked. "Woah, what the heck was that?" she asked, but Yoshi had no answer to give. Whatever the shadow had been, the dinosaur had a very bad feeling about it. He hoped that Mario was safe, and that he was ready, because whatever happened next was going to change everything.

Mario couldn't quite describe how he felt right now, as he stared at the little thing between his fingers. His two companions were huddled around him, the madness of their surroundings temporarily forgotten.

In his hand, the hero held a crumpled and half-peeled sticker. To be specific, it was a 'Thing' sticker bearing the image of a fridge. Mario had seen it not too long ago, when he and Vivian had visited the Lovely Howz of Badges, but he hadn't thought much of it at the time. Bowser let out a low growl, his nostrils flaring as he examined the shiny thing. "What is that doing here? It should've been burned with all the rest."

It was an unpleasant memory – when the Sticker Comet had passed over the Mushroom Kingdom, everyone had gone a little bit crazy. According to the royal scientists, the comet's glittery dust had actually been an extremely potent hallucinogen. Mario himself had spent the duration of his quest believing that the entire world was made of paper and art supplies. Bowser had suffered even worse, so deep in his delusions that he had even forgotten how to speak.

When the adventure was said and done, they'd all agreed to never speak of it again. But Mario had never been very good at cleaning out his pockets, and so apparently this one little sticker had survived. "…A way to freeze the Empress," he whispered, looking from his hand to the sky and back again. If this was meant to be a miracle, then it was a rather flimsy one; and yet…

"Wait, is this little sticker magical?" Vivian asked, catching on quickly. Mario nodded, and briefly explained how the enchanted paper scraps worked. As she listened, the siren's eyes began to light up with newfound hope. "Ice magic is exactly what we needed," she said when the tutorial was finished. "If we use this, then the Empress and everything around her will be frozen solid, right?"

But just when a path to victory seemed possible, Bowser interjected with a bit of grim logic. "Not so fast; you heroic types always run into battle with your plans half-baked." He gestured around at the barren streets, and then pointed off in the direction that the enemy had flown. "Mario, you and I both know that we can't just stick that thing anywhere. It has to be used at extremely close range."

That was certainly true, but it was an issue that Mario had already thought of. "I'm not quick enough to catch up with the Empress on foot," he admitted, before turning to Vivian with an idea to share. "But you can, by swimming through the shadows. If we leave right now, then the two of us might be able to reach her before she hits the point of no return."

Unfortunately, there must have been a flaw in the scheme, because Vivian shook her head and backed away. "I can't help with this," she said, looking far more ashamed than she had any right to be. "The shadows are splitting apart, just like the surface. I'm not sure if I could navigate them fast enough; a-and we might get trapped if the piece of ground we're inside breaks loose…"

…Oh, well that certainly shut things down. Without a way to reach the Empress, then maybe the fridge sticker was truly useless after all. "This was a waste of time," Mario thought, preparing to stuff the scrap of paper back into his pocket. "What kind of final battle hinges on having a specific type of item, anyway?"

Bowser, for his part, had fallen unusually silent. He stared down the boulevard for a long while, before picking up a small stone and tossing it into a nearby rift. It floated amidst the magic for a second or two, before crumbling into dust as the pull took hold. The king watched it happen with a sigh, but then turned back to the group with clenched fists and determined eyes. "I know exactly how we're gonna get there."

When neither Mario nor Vivian replied, Bowser took it as a cue to elaborate. "I've seen you surfing on Koopa shells before. As insulting as that is, I have to admit that it's a pretty clever trick." He broke into a defiant grin, and pounded the front of his shell with pride. "This thing is tougher than steel. We'll have at least a few minutes before that dark magic sinks its teeth into me."

To be honest, Mario still wasn't sure if he understood the flow of Bowser's gambit, especially when Step One seemed so totally insane. "You want me to ride on your shell?" he asked, but the Koopa only returned an impatient nod. The hero thought back to earlier, when he had tried the same thing with a common Troopa. It hadn't worked out so well that time, but… "I guess it's really the only option that we've got left."

To his surprise, Bowser knelt down on the spot and began to withdraw. "Let's get on with it, then," he grumbled; but as Mario stepped closer, he saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him from the shell's dark interior. "…But if you get scuff marks on me with your grimy plumber boots, then I'm roasting you alive. No more Mr. Nice Nemesis, got it?"

Mario turned to speak with Vivian, but she'd already slipped past him, and was busy climbing onto the Koopa's back. "W-we just need to get close enough to use the sticker," she reminded herself, a bit flustered as she awkwardly tried to situate herself between the spikes. "Um, I've never done this before. Which way am I supposed to be facing?"

Reluctantly, Mario led her down and back to the sidewalk. As much as he hated it, this was a mission meant for him alone… plus Bowser. "You need to stay here," he told her, each word stinging like a Bristle's thorns. "If something goes wrong, then you wouldn't be able to jump to safety." This was about more than just her survival, though. "Besides, what about our friends? If I don't come back, then it'll be up to you to find and protect them."

He expected her to protest, or to yell at him for doing something so suicidally foolish by himself; and perhaps she wanted to, but she held herself together. After all, she wouldn't be Vivian if she didn't have the utmost faith in him. "Be as careful as you can, Mario," she said, taking one of his hands between her own. "I love you, b-but you already knew that, didn't you?"

And then, just like that, their lives changed again. "I love you too, Viv." He hadn't meant to say it, but he didn't second-guess the words once they'd come spilling out. It was true, of course – after tonight, Mario was sure of at least that much. The siren gasped and glided closer, her eyes filled with wonder, but also with understanding that this moment couldn't last.

"I wish we had more time," she whispered as they pulled each other into an embrace. After a few seconds, Mario felt something being placed snugly onto his head, and realized that Vivian had chosen this moment to return his hat. She pulled away, with tears in her eyes, and gave him her bravest and brightest smile. "There; you should look your best for such an exciting finale…"

They parted ways, and the surrounding chaos seemed to surge back in around them. Vivian, now bare of accessories, retreated meekly to the sidelines while Mario approached the shell. He pushed it like a bobsled, with each hand gripping a spike, until it had built up enough speed for him to leap aboard. As it hurtled off down the avenue, one fact was painfully clear: the final level had begun.

…And final levels were rarely beaten without losing a life or two in the process.

The ruins and space junk passed by in blurring shades of white and silver. At this speed, the only constant presence was the sky, but its golden swirls were far too strange to be a calming sight. The hero focused on the path ahead, littered with hazards, and on the ultimate challenge he'd face at the end. The magic sticker seemed to tingle in his hand, just waiting for the chance to unleash its power.

The difficulty increased when it came time to veer around an obstacle. To put it bluntly, Bowser was heavy; and that made it much harder for Mario to make split-second turns. After a few near-crashes, he learned to lean into each swerve with all his weight. That made steering easier, but it was a tiring process. "I'd tell Bowser to go on a diet, but I doubt he knows what that is."

Straight onwards, splashing through smaller portals as if they were puddles. Across a crumbling intersection, then around a landslide of rubble, followed by a dizzying ricochet off the hull of a fallen saucer. Bowser snarled at the last one – a deep and savage rumbling from within the shell. "Sorry, but this was your idea," Mario said, fighting to keep his balance, "and the ride is only going to get bumpier from here."

It was true, too – as the land grew more desolate, the safer routes became harder to find. Eventually, the Empress came into view; but strangely, she seemed to be hovering in place, her tendrils limp beneath her like a mass of hanging vines. Warily, the hero turned in her direction, veering through a tunnel made from the bent wing of a starship. He emerged from the other side at breakneck speed, rounded one final bend…

…And there it was. Brewing ahead of him was the massive maelstrom itself; an insatiable sea of dark magic the size of nine city blocks. Lightning arced across the expanse, but no thunder could be heard above the void's own deafening drone. Even from here, Mario could feel the greedy winds tearing at his sides, eager to snatch him up as a sacrificial morsel for the storm.

The Empress dominated the skies above, wings beating furiously as she made her descent towards the portal. As Mario sped down the straightaway, he glanced desperately around for a bit of stone or wreckage, but all of that had long since been swept away. "There's really no choice" he realized, although deep down he'd known for a while. "The only place to put the sticker is on the Empress herself."

He banked hard to the left, surfing down the empty remains of a side street. For just a minute, he was able to skirt the event horizon while trying to brainstorm; but this time, there were no clever last-second ideas. "One way forward and no way back, just like the good old days." He took a last breath to steady his nerves, ignored Bowser's threats of protest, and swerved inwards.

Together, the age-old rivals flew off the precipice and into the whirling tempest. It pulled them along amidst streaks of violet-black, and white cracks skittered through the current as reality itself began to split. The gale was so fierce that Mario had to hunker down and cling to the shell spikes; but this still wasn't where they needed to be, so he leaned sideways and urged them further in, towards the even deadlier central rush.

They weaved their way across the wormhole, veering beneath a slab of marble that jutted up diagonally from the haze. The sight of it made Mario wonder what was happening in this very spot back home. The skyscrapers of Mushroom City stood just a world away. How many lives had the maelstrom claimed over there, or had the botched spell even managed to break through yet?

But this was no time for such fears. They were passing beneath the Empress, and Mario could see the tips of her hyphae threading down around him. He gazed up at her bulbous underbelly, wondering if he might be able to reach it if he jumped. "No, she's still too high," he decided, steering Bowser up and out of the alien's shadow. "If I missed, then I'd just fall back into the void, and this would've all been for nothing."

They'd have to sweep around for another pass, but time was running scarce. The Empress would submerge soon, and the wormhole's pull was growing harder to resist by the second. "Hurry it up already!" the Koopa yelled from down below, his voice shaking with a scarily un-Bowserish note of urgency. "I hate to wimp out on you, but I'm starting to feel like a soft-shell stew in here!"

Halfway up around the spiral, Mario spotted the leaning pillar that he'd passed before. It was too far from the Shroob to be a sticker surface, but that's not how inspiration struck. Years of kart racing had trained the hero's eye, and the slab was the perfect angle for a ramp – so perfect that it must've been fate. With a glance at the Empress to confirm trajectory, Mario spun back and adjusted course for the final time.

Their arc was wide enough to carry them all the way to the maelstrom's edge, uphill from their stony launchpad. For one breathless moment, time stood still as Mario banked into the air. He gazed out across the chasm, to where the Empress had begun to submerge. He leaned forward, and then the shell was barreling downward through the fog. Its speed doubled, then tripled, and then it was sailing perfectly out onto the ramp…

…Which immediately cracked beneath the extra weight, tipping over and firing the duo pathetically off-target. As Mario flailed through the air, he realized that he'd never even make it half the required distance. "If only I had a Cape Feather," he thought as the vortex rose hungrily up to claim him, "or a Cloud Flower, or even good old FLUDD…"

His thoughts were smashed by the grip of claws around his torso. Bowser had unfurled from his shell, and seized the hero with a single scaly hand. "You're gonna destroy that thing," the king ordered, meeting Mario's eyes with a firm intensity that bordered on trust. They fell together for one last instant, until Bowser reeled back his arm for the pitch of a lifetime. "You're gonna ruin her, and show her why you've been my rival all these years!"

And then Mario was airborne, hurled into the winds with the strength of a cannon's blast. Far behind him, with a last resounding roar, the mighty Koopa King tumbled headlong into oblivion.

But his aim had been true, and the space between Mario and the Empress was closing fast. She'd sunken up to her lower jaw, but she still managed a shriek when the hero crash-landed between her eyes. "WHAT THE?! HOW DID YOU-" she started, but never finished; because that's when Mario reached out, peeled the sticker…

…And slammed it straight into her hideous alien forehead.

In his mind's eye, Mario envisioned a giant refrigerator bursting open to blow an icy wind across the battlefield. In reality, the air simply began to grow very, very cold. The hero held on for dear life as the monster's flesh began to glaze over with frost. She was bawling, thrashing about, trying to fend off a magical assault that she couldn't even see…

…But it was all in vain, and when the phantom blizzard passed, Empress Shroob was no more than a glorified iceberg. Frozen hyphae arced overhead, refracting muted rainbows across the silent mass. Mario clung to the side of it, victorious but stranded, with little to do now but wait for the numb and bitter end.

Just too far away, a certain shadow had knelt for cover behind a boulder. Vivian knew that she wasn't supposed to be this close to the action, but this was no time to be scared for herself.

It hadn't been easy, but the siren had finally managed to navigate her way here, to a cluster of stones beside the vortex. The sidewalk ended a few yards away, at a sheer drop into the screaming winds. Trailing Mario to this place had been against his wishes, but something told Vivian that she needed to tag along.

She quickly saw why, once she felt brave enough to peek out from behind the boulder. The crystalized Empress was hard to miss, as was the speck of red shivering against her face. "He isn't dead," Vivian thought, with relief that immediately fractured into dread. "B-but how long can he hold onto such an icy surface? He'll fall if he isn't rescued!"

She began to fret, desperately trying to think of some way to safely bridge the expanse. No ideas came, and every wasted second made her feel even more useless. How many times - how many hundreds of times – had Mario selflessly leapt to the aid of someone in need? Now, for once, he was the one in need of saving, and Vivian couldn't think of a single way to help him.

Half-formed possibilities were rejected as soon as they came. "Could I stretch myself across?" Of course not; her tail would never extend that far. "If I pushed these rocks into the current, could Mario use them as stepping stones?" No, not even he could traverse such a lethal gauntlet. "Oh, this is hopeless! Why am I so uncreative?!"

Unbeknownst to Vivian, a dark shape was slinking up over the rise of some rubble behind her. It stretched and wavered, breathing raggedly as if it had been swimming nonstop for miles. The figure tracked Vivian with feral eyes, waiting for her to pace beneath its perch. Until finally, with a hiss that sounded too much like a sob, it pounced.

The siren heard the battle cry, but by then it was too late. The predator's hands clamped around her neck, and no matter which way she twisted, the thing refused to be shaken off. Thinking quickly, she engulfed her hand in flames and thrust it back over her shoulder. The attacker turned loose, scrambling back out of reach with a familiar squeal.

Vivian spun around to meet the eyes of a mirror image. Against all reason, her duplicate had come crawling back to the battlefield. Her body was covered in bruises, no doubt inflicted by the crash of her saucer. Yet in spite of her injuries, and the distance she must've traveled, she looked more vicious than ever. "Y-you should've just stayed put out there…" Vivian warned, taking several deep breaths while she still had the chance.

The faux-siren's eyes almost seemed to sparkle at the challenge. "Your dear Mario can't step between us this time," she purred, ignoring the wedge of sidewalk that broke off behind her. "I hope he's watching, though; because I'm finally, finally going to kill you!"

A few good fireballs could end this, but Vivian was still a step behind. Just as her fists ignited, a pair of shadowy shackles burst from the ground, snaring her wrists before she could dodge. They retracted with a yank, tripping the siren into the path of a third hand which seized her by the throat. "Your old tricks aren't scary anymore," the enemy said, gliding forward as the three hands squeezed. "It's your fault that you're so limited! You could've been me!"

Instinctively, Vivian plunged into the shadows, pulling herself free as the arms went slack. But this was no easy escape. With reality on the brink, this realm was no longer a unified darkness. Instead, it looked like someone had taken a hammer to a sheet of black glass. Her double was atop her in seconds, pinning her to the outer edge of a fragment. "You've been weak since the day you stepped into the light!"

The ensuing struggle was a brief one, because something happened that made Vivian freeze in terror. There was a loud ker-krack, and then suddenly the bubble of darkness was falling. While the sirens had fought, their piece of the pavement had collapsed; and now both of them were trapped inside a rock, adrift on the ravenous void.

As the current buffeted them, Vivian squirmed free and made a break for the surface. But the doppelganger caught her by the tail, and jerked her straight back into the darkness. "Can we please stop fighting?!" she cried, aware of the moments until their prison began to erode. "Use your shadow hands to pull us ashore, or else we'll both die in here!"

The other siren brushed her off, clearly having the time of her wretched life. "Don't be silly, this magic can't kill us~" she sang, before breaking down into those false giggles that made Vivian's skin crawl. "We're one with the darkness, you and me. Or have you still not figured out the truth about our birth?"

Vivian was confused – what "truth" was there to know? She'd been born just like every other Shadow Siren – alone and unloved at the bottom of a pit. But unlike the rest, she'd emerged long after the Shadow Queen's empire had fallen. "Sis said… that I'm just a mistake," she muttered, refusing to let those long-dried tears come again.

She closed her eyes, recalling the cruel and vulgar way that her sister had phrased it. According to Beldam, the spawning pits had finally pooled enough ambient magic to "crap out one last siren." She'd called Vivian an "ugly defect" – the afterbirth of a spell that hadn't functioned properly for nearly a thousand years.

"Our birth wasn't a mistake, it was providence," the duplicate said, with a faraway smile that almost looked wistful. "The darkness itself made us, to restore the old kingdom…" She suddenly lashed out, pinning Vivian to the wall once more. Her expression held something dangerous, far beyond whatever madness she'd let slip up until now. "Y-you and I, we're the Shadow Queen come again!"

This time, Vivian was speechless – the theory made so little sense that she didn't know which thread to pull first. To start with, the Shadow Queen had still been alive back then, albeit sealed away. But her counterpart took advantage of the silence to keep rambling. "We're Her legacy, and Her successor. How else do you explain the powers I have? No siren has ever been able to control the shadows like I can, except for Her…"

Her skills were a true anomaly; but nothing more, and Vivian needed to make her understand. "If we're… like Her, then why can't I do those things?" The enemy said nothing, but hissed and flinched like an animal under the whip. "Trust me, I get it. You've been hurt, so you felt like you needed a purpose to make sense of it all. But, the truth is that-"

"THE TRUTH IS WHAT I BELIEVE IT IS!" the doppelganger shrieked, shoving Vivian against the shadowy wall with enough force to crack the boulder itself. Vivian tried to escape, but this time it was useless; her foe was relentless, and desperate to be heard. "You can't take this from me! I won't let you make those YEARS of isolation meaningless!"

Through the haze and the fear, Vivian's mind lingered on the word "years." In her own life, she'd wandered the pits for a few weeks before her sisters had found her. Beldam used to make routine sweeps of the underground palace, or had things been different in this timeline? "I can't even imagine that kind of loneliness…" She knew the result well enough, though, because it was floating right in front of her.

Vivian had evidently struck a very deep nerve, because her double's outburst was turning into a rant. "I lived in blackness for years, gnawing on rats and bones! There were nights I cried for help, but nobody ever came!" Tears were flowing now, warm and unbidden. "Sure, the old hag showed up eventually, but by then it was far too late for us to be 'sisters.'"

Years of awful memories flashed by in the siren's eyes. "She led me to the surface, but it was just more gloom and decay. In the end, she sold me to a circus; and they gave me to Kamek, like I was some creature to be traded without consent!" She shuddered in silence for a moment, while the storm raged on outside. "It was humiliating, but I endured it all, because I knew that one day I'd be Queen."

Just then, without warning, her hold on Vivian tightened to a vice grip. "But then there's you," she spat with a sneer of total disgust. "I can only imagine how you felt, leaving that cavern to see a sky filled with stars." Suddenly, those many comments about 'weakness' seemed to take on a new shade of meaning. "I'll bet they were ~so lovely,~ weren't they? You must've been awestruck, and it made you forget your purpose!"

For an awful moment, the crazed siren looked ready to strike… but instead, she seemed to deflate. With a wracked sob, faux-Vivian's web of self-told lies began to come undone, unraveling under the weight of so much pain. "T-they must have been so beautiful," she whimpered, not with the voice of a deranged fanatic, but with that of a bitterly jealous young woman. "It makes me want to claw your eyes out, for seeing such things…"

So many questions had been raised with just a few words. Had she ever truly believed in the 'darkness' dogma she'd been spouting all this time? Maybe she was just trying to find a place for herself in a very bleak world. Either way, Vivian needed to set the story straight. "That's not how it happened," she softly began, continuing only when her other self didn't reply.

"When I first saw the surface, it was the starriest night you could possibly imagine." There had been millions of them; galaxies and constellations, and a winter-white moon so bright that half the horizon had been bathed in its glow. It was the kind of night that could inspire a generation of dreamers, but… "I looked up at all of those stars swirling overhead…"

She sighed, preparing to share a secret that had always been hers alone. "…And I felt nothing."

The faux-siren gasped, a strangled and disbelieving thing, but this was no lie. "They weren't beautiful," Vivian continued, "they were just… there. One more thing in the background of a world I didn't understand." She'd eventually learned about wishes, but those had never seemed to work for her. "Maybe I took it for granted, but to me the sky felt empty, even when it was supposed to be full."

It was getting harder to speak – either because she was flustered, or because the boulder had shrunk to the point where there wasn't much room left to breathe. "It wasn't until I met Mario that it all made sense." There had been initial mistrust, awkwardness, but then… "We spent a night on the back of a train, just talking. The stars were out, and… I felt it. For the first time ever, I… I understood."

She was rambling, like always, but her winding words led somewhere important. "I think I'm the only one that realizes it, but this world isn't dying because the Stars are gone." Their death had been a harsh blow, and the Empress a harsher consequence; but it was despair, not the cosmos, that had ultimately doomed this kingdom.

"The truth is," she pressed on, each word its own battle, "that the lights out there in the sky don't mean a thing. They're cold, and distant, and you can strive your whole life to reach them but never get there." She glanced up at Mario, her hero, still clinging bravely to the ice. "In the end, all that matters is the light we have inside."

Her duplicate looked appalled, but Vivian didn't blame her. She put a reassuring hand on the other siren's chest. "It's inside you too, and it's not weakness. It's love, and it's the greatest strength there is." This was it, a chance to put past miseries behind them for good. "You don't have to like me, or respect the life I've lived; but please, don't extinguish that light. It'll make you just like Beldam…"

...Saying her sister's name had been a bad idea, because it triggered a primal fury in her alternate self. In a heartbeat, the lunatic siren was in her face, and at her throat, screaming and throttling with blind abandon. Shadowy fingers ripped at Vivian from the darkness, and her air-starved flames were powerless to fend them off. Her struggling slowed, the world grew muted, and then…

"…You're not alone anymore," Mario had said that night on the Excess Express – the night she had fallen for him. She could see his face so clearly – his caring eyes, and the way the breeze teased his mustache. The stars lit the background, but they blurred as Vivian's mind grew hazy. "You might not believe in yourself yet, but that's okay, because I'll always believe in you."

"I'll… believe in you…" Vivian repeated weakly, sinking into the black static of suffocation. She could feel tears on her cheeks, but didn't know whose they were. She heard the distant peal of the Creepy Steeple bell, and the whistling of the train, and the sound of fireworks at the Starlight Gala. "Always, because…" she whispered, with the last of her breath. "You're not… alone…"

Something flashed in the other siren's eyes. Maybe confusion, or perhaps clarity. Some impossible mix of the two. The pressure eased, and her trembling hands pulled away. "…W-what did you say?"

Vivian fell limply against the barrier, but her reflexes kicked in, and soon she was gasping for breath, shaking like a leaf as her senses surged back. Her reflection held her by the shoulders – not out of malice, but out of a desperate fear that she might've heard wrong. "No one has ever said…" she ventured, but deep-seated paranoia drew her back. "T-this isn't some kind of foul trick, is it?"

"It turns out… we're very similar," Vivian answered, pulling herself together enough to offer a small smile. Truthfully, she had barely been aware of her words; but even now, with a clearer head, she couldn't bring herself to doubt them. "Mario once asked me to believe in myself, so I will, although I don't think this is quite what he had in mind…"

Her other self remained quiet, lost in a war of indecision. Finally, with her usual erratic quickness, she grabbed Vivian's wrist and began to swim upwards, out of the shadows and back onto the boulder. The gale nearly swept them away, but their tails managed to keep them tethered. The faux-siren summoned her hands, and Vivian watched as they began to tear at the rock, clawing and breaking until the stone split cleanly in two.

Each broken piece held a siren, and the snarl of shadowy limbs kept them together. For one sickening instant, Vivian believed that her half was going to be capsized. But then the hands were lifting her, and her double was gazing off toward the iceberg. "Love and light…" she said as Vivian's stone began to swing. The arms were spinning it – round and round, faster and faster like an old-fashioned sling. "If it's all so important, then we'd better not miss!"

Just like that, the hands turned loose, and Vivian held on fiercely as her broken stone blazed across the sky. She saw the frozen Empress rushing nearer, but she wasn't going to hit it. She was going to soar straight past it, close enough that Mario could jump aboard. "Mario, I'm here!" the siren called, praying that her voice carried above the storm. "Turn around, please! You have to!"

At the sound of her voice, Mario did a full double take. "Mama mia, Vivian! What are you doing here?!" he yelled; but when she gave the signal to jump, he wasted no time. The hero tucked in his legs, then pushed off from the glacier, launching himself into a triumphantly powerful leap of faith…

…And missed, utterly and awfully. Maybe it was the wind's fault, or the slipperiness of the ice, or the echo of Mario's old spear wound. Either way, his flight path wasn't leading him toward the boulder, but rather the emptiness it had occupied seconds earlier. For an instant, his shocked eyes met Vivian's. They both knew what this meant, and it was far too late for either to change their course.

…But then, in her panic, a single shadowy arm burst from the stone, snagging Mario in midair and delivering him to safety. She turned to thank her double for the assist, but faux-Vivian was nowhere to be seen, lost somewhere on the far side of the iceberg. "Was that… me?" she asked, stunned by the sight. "B-but… no siren has those powers, except…"

With a shake of her head, she dismissed the thought. Those were worries for another lifetime. The remainder of this one, however brief, would be spent by Mario's side. They sailed through the air in each other's arms, skimming across the darkness, towards an unknown landing and a perilous future.

Meanwhile, back atop the last remaining spires, Luigi and Bow were still trapped in their showdown with Kamek. It wasn't so much a battle, though, as a sadistic and flashy gauntlet of fear.

Luigi leapt over a fireball, then flung himself forward as it boomeranged back overhead. Kamek's attacks had no pattern, and his tactics grew more unhinged with each passing minute. He'd taken to warping along the handrails, striking gargoyle poses as he spammed an endless barrage of spells. To make things worse, pieces of the bridge were still flip-swapping at random, so there was no place to pause and catch a breath.

Bow floated up above, trying to provide some kind of air support. Her weariness had faded, but she still lamented having sacrificed her flower powers. If she still had them, then perhaps this fight would be over by now. Instead, she dived down to strafe Kamek with slaps, drawing his fury just long enough for Luigi to get back on his feet.

Recovering quickly, Luigi prepared to rush his enemy; but the platform between them shivered, and he drew up short before it flipped out from underneath him. "Is this your best effort?!" the Magikoopa taunted, cackling at the heroes' feeble attempts to pin him down. He warped to a new vantage, firing a spray of magic pellets that filled the air like bees. "With protectors like you, I'm surprised your world didn't end years ago!"

Bow went intangible as tiny blasts peppered the field around her. "There's no choice, we simply have to get that wand," she thought, eyeing the scepter as Kamek used it to direct the assault. This was no time to sit back and observe; not when it fell on her to turn the tide. "Will he still be smug once I've smacked his toy away?"

She flew to the right in a wide arc, making sure that Kamek saw her before she turned invisible. The mage began firing erratically in her direction, which meant the feint had succeeded. Swift and unseen, the ghost swooped beneath the bridge, rising up behind the enemy with a swish of her fan. Luigi was hopping around and waving his arms about something, but this chance was too perfect to miss. Bow put on her scariest face, revealed herself, and slapped the mage with as much strength as she could muster…

…But she passed right through him, and then the wizard's image flickered away. She barely had time to think, "it was a decoy?!" before a magic blast struck her in the side. The world shattered, and her thoughts along with it. Suddenly Bow was falling, and then she wasn't, and then she was again, but not by herself. Somebody was yelling, someone else was laughing, and life shrunk to a blur of wind and pain.

There was a small jolt, and it spurred one last moment of lucidity. Bow looked up, because that's all she could do, and saw herself and Luigi in peril. He'd caught the stunned Boo as she fell, but their segment of the bridge had inverted, and now he was hanging from the rail by his fingertips. Kamek – the real one this time – edged into view from the side, grinning like a maniac as he watched his win play out.

Lady Bow, in all her years of death, had never felt so precariously, fragilely alive. As her sight faded, she gazed past Luigi and glimpsed a single star, pale pink and far away. "That's not a star," she thought as consciousness left her. "Why, it almost looks like..."

In the last few minutes, the maelstrom's hunger had increased tenfold. It was like something within the curse had awoken, because suddenly the rift was spreading like floodwater, chewing apart the streets faster than Mario and Vivian could flee.

They scrambled through the rubble together, fighting to outpace the collapse. Guiding each other, they threaded their way between spacetime gaps that sheared open on every side. Behind them, the sound of cracking ice echoed through the storm. The sticker's magic had been all but spent, and now the Empress was beginning to thaw. "Was it really all for nothing?" Mario wondered, glancing backward as he ran. One of the frozen tendrils twitched, shedding a layer of icicles into the void.

Just then, the pavement underfoot split away from the road. Mario leapt the gap without thinking, but his stomach turned when he heard Vivian scream. He spun around and grabbed her hand, but it was a hopeless gesture. The debris was caught in the current… and the siren was unable to jump. "It's no use, you need to leave me behind," she said, wincing as her tail stretched to its absolute limit.

But letting go was never an option; especially not here, when their future had just begun. Vivian had unlocked new powers, but she hadn't mastered them yet, and they couldn't be relied on to save her. That left only one course of action. "You can detach yourself, right?" Mario had seen her do it once before, on their first adventure, although it hadn't exactly been pleasant. "I know it'll hurt; but please, Viv, you have to try…"

She looked at him, eyes wide, as if his request was more terrifying than certain death. For an instant, he felt her hand begin to slip away; but then she nodded and held on tighter. She gasped sharply as the tension increased… but then it was gone, and Vivian was resiling toward him, fully untethered and paling rapidly. She fell against him as she landed, letting out a breathless chuckle as he helped her reconnect.

…But her little victory didn't last, because the sidewalk broke around them, and the heroes were cast back into the stream before either could react. Mario bolted upright, preparing to escape with another jump; but Vivian shied out of his grasp, looking utterly fatigued. "I c-can't do that again, Mario. I'm sorry, b-but this time you have to go alone…"

The hero hesitated, watching the shoreline as it continued to ebb away from him. He could still make this leap, still reach safety, but where would life lead him from there? "P-please, just leave me here!" Vivian wept, nudging him toward the precipice with what little strength she still had. "It hurts so much to say goodbye, b-but it's time! Go save Luigi, and Princess Peach. You can be happy with them… With her…"

…But that wasn't true, was it? In another life, in another world, perhaps it could've been. But here, Mario had made a choice; and more importantly, he had made a promise. If this was how his game finally ended, then he could accept it – but not until he'd done one very last, vital thing. With a desperate need, he turned away from the chasm, gathered Vivian back into his arms…

…And captured her lips with his own. The shadow stiffened at first, blindsided; but when her mind reached the present, she returned the kiss with long years' worth of need. Mario never knew how much he'd craved her scent, her softness. His fingers entwined with her sugarspun hair, while her hands found his shoulders and pulled him in, fiercely, close enough to feel the wanting flutter of her heart.

She inched away to dry her tears, taking quick sips of breath that tickled his mustache, but soon returned to him for more. The hurricane clawed at them both; but to the hero and his siren, there was no storm, no threat, no fear. Nothing was real except for them, the warmth of their skin, and the light that mixed within their souls.

Still holding each other, they never even noticed as the vortex lagged, pitched over itself… and began to spin backwards. Time and space clashed, screamed, and traded places. Somewhere, across years and worlds and memory, eight hearts beat as the tides of chaos turned, unwound, and swept the lovers away.

This had to be it; the end of the world. The winds rose and thunder roared, and Luigi's strength – why was it never enough? – was leaving him fast.

He hung from the bridge by his left hand, while cradling Bow's still form with his right. If he'd had both hands free, then maybe he could've pulled himself up; yet despite the burden, he'd never think of risking Bow's safety. She was a Boo, and a prankster, a little bit lazy, and sometimes quite rude. But she'd also been loyal and selfless, and had given unwavering support since the very start. Luigi had done his share of giving up; but no matter what, he refused to abandon a friend.

His thumb slipped, but his eyes were drawn to a curious scene unfolding in the streets below. Some of the rifts were starting to close, spasmodically, as if the gears of a clock had been thrown into reverse. Was someone down there trying to cast a counterspell? "It's too little, too late," Luigi thought, watching as the portals bled into each other, refilling the space left behind. "Nothing can break the curse while Kamek is still breathing."

The mage surveyed the new events, briefly, before losing interest. "It's time to wrap this up," he said, claws clicking unevenly as he limped across the stone. He paused above the hero, hunched forward and grinning, spectacles gleaming in the light of his wand. "You're about to die, Luigi. Aren't you going to scream for me?"

But Luigi stayed silent, keeping his fears inside. His other self had been too scared to fight back, but that little boy wasn't him. The least he could do, here at the end, was look his enemy in the eyes. "Is this your idea of bravery?" the villain hissed, twitching in frustration. "You think you can pretend like things have changed?!" He aimed his wand at Luigi's face, charging up a blast as he snarled. "I'm still the one in control! It's always been me! I WANT TO HEAR YOU SCREA-"

…Kamek never spoke another word.

An energy bolt struck him in the back, knocking the scepter from his hand. The wizard sagged sideways, stunned, until a metallic thwang knocked him forward and over the edge. He fell past Luigi with a swish of his cloak, and then he was gone. Up above, two faces peered down from the bridge – one pretty and blonde, the other old and haggard. Kammy Koopa was the first to speak. "Like I said earlier, he always was a disappointment."

Princess Peach set her frying pan aside, then bent down to help the struggling heroes. Luigi passed Bow to her, and then accepted her hand as he hoisted himself to safety. "Thanks a lot, Princess," he said, arms still shaking as he flopped down between his rescuers. Kammy had already begun tending to Bow, while Peach stood up and dusted herself off. "But I don't get it, what are you two doing here?"

Peach glanced down at the iron pan, then offered a shrug and a coy smile. "Bowser sent me to the kitchens, so I grabbed that and came back to fight." She paused, catching sight of Kamek, reduced to a speck and still plummeting. "You don't think he'll get a soft landing, do you?" Luigi doubted it very much – after all, the rifts had pulled back, and there was pavement below.

The wizard fell and fell; until at last, with a sickening splat, the spell was broken.

A white flash; pitch darkness. Grave silence and discord, earthquakes and total stillness. Somehow, impossibly, all of this happened at once; but then it passed, and Vivian was sitting on a rock in the middle of ashen nowhere.

She pushed her tangled bangs out of her eyes, blearily taking in the state of her surroundings. Nearby, Mario groaned as he sat up, rubbing his temples to clear away the dizziness. Vivian felt herself blush at the sight of him, recalling how they'd spent their supposed last moments. "Um, I think it's finally over," she said, scooting closer as the wind stirred circles in the dust between them. "W-wait, I didn't just jinx us by saying that, did I?"

Mario chuckled, the weariness falling from his face. "Not this time. I think we really made it through," he said, turning his head to scan the horizon. Of Empress Shroob's palace, nothing remained but a vast lunar plain, pockmarked by craters and the occasional fang of twisted metal. Mario and Vivian sat at the edge of a stadium-sized basin, the maelstrom's scar, which sloped away in fractal spirals of ash, down to the Empress herself.

…Or rather, the half of her that still remained.

The alien, already a fetid mountain in life, had outdone herself in death. She'd been half-sunken through the void, and its closing had severed her cleanly in two. Limp hyphae lay about the field, bloated like earthworms drowned in the rain. Half of a jaw hung open, drooling bile through a scream, beneath the sightless gaze of one milky red eye.

"If only we'd managed to stop her before she caused so much damage," Mario muttered, looking far into the distance where Mushroom City had stood. It was gone, and its essence spilled, but hadn't the world still been saved? The wasteland seemed endless, but Vivian knew that beyond it lay trees and fields, farms and towns, people who hadn't come to the ill-fated Festival. People who would never have to live in fear of the Empress again.

She was about to say so, but then a familiar shape caught her eye. There was someone in the pit – barely visible beside the corpse – but Vivian soon recognized her alternate self. The siren was wandering along, poking and prodding at the beast. When she reached its face, she began to laugh, and all the darkness seemed to melt away. It wasn't crazed or tortured laughter, not anymore; it just sounded so… so relieved.

Meanwhile, atop the silent swells of flesh, a small light began to shine. A wisp of starlight, pink and delicate, lingered on the beast like a lost child. "It's her," Vivian realized as a chill went through her. "The princess, the little soul from before…" Timidly, as if unsure of her steps, the wraith began to sway and spin, swept into a dance that only she could follow.

…And then, one by one, the others appeared. Six souls in a medley of shades – two yellow, two green, a brown, and a red. They faded into view, twirling to the same silent elegy, as if they'd been there all along. Vivian didn't quite grasp what was happening, but she felt Mario tremble when the red wisp glanced back their way. The siren took her hero's hand, and together they watched the spectacle unfold.

The pink wisp took her place in the circle, graciously, and the seven starry souls began to rise. Higher and faster, spiraling into the sky like a varicolored carousel of light. They pierced the golden mist, and it trailed after them like sand running backwards up an hourglass. A galaxy of lost souls, following the promise of a purpose. The parade of lights ascended, melded, gathered at the very edge of sight, and then…

…A pulse, a soft sigh of the wind, and there they were. Stars, white and new, were beginning to wink awake like fireflies. Two or three at first, then a dozen, and then a twinkling veil that spread itself across the heavens. The stars wavered, found their places, learned their fire, and began to truly shine. They smiled in their shimmery way, bringing life to the night for the first time in twenty years.

Mario watched the sky in a trance of wonder. "It's a miracle," he breathed, smiling brighter with each new star. "The cycle of stardust… never repeats itself in quite the same way." He said it wistfully, as if he'd heard the words somewhere before. "They've been reborn, and with their help, then maybe this world can finally start to heal."

Vivian watched the stars too, but only as a reflection in Mario's eyes. "We shouldn't ask so much of such small lights," she said, looking down at her other self, who had collapsed on her back in a fit of giggles. For the very first time, they sounded truly, blessedly real. "But still, I think everything here is going to be alright."

She leaned against him, and felt his arm encircle her waist. There was still much to do, and more to say, but it could wait until the morning. For now, they were content to lose themselves in stargazing, side by side at the edge of a new beginning.

Chapter Text

Chapter 17 – Home by Sunrise

The light of a lone candle flickered in the mirror as Princess Peach combed the last tangles from her hair. She caught her hand shaking, as it sometimes did after long kidnappings, and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She was nobody's prisoner, and she'd be home again soon.

For the past six days, the Resistance had been letting Peach stay as a guest in their underground base. Her room was damp, and not much bigger than a cell, yet it felt like pure luxury after being trapped for so long in that lurid pink tower. The town above was lively, and its people had been nothing but gracious to her; but the princess was eager for nightfall, when she and her friends would be setting off for home.

"They'll miss Mario most of all," she mused, knowing whom to thank for the town's high spirits. Wherever he went, the hero had a way of leaving the world a brighter place than he found it. Peach would've liked to sit with him and hear about the adventure, the way she used to, but they had both stayed just a bit too busy. "He's still avoiding me, not that I blame him." To be perfectly honest, she was still avoiding him, too.

Sighing, Peach straightened her crown and gave herself a last, quick inspection in the mirror. Satisfied, she tucked the comb into a nearby satchel and slung it over her shoulder. That was it for packing – she hadn't been in Rogueport for long, and thus had few belongings; just some trinkets she'd bought at the boardwalk market. Leaving the room quietly, without looking back, the princess set off down the winding hall.

She made her way through the base, catching glimpses of her friends as she passed by. Yoshi was in the library, sharing a last drink of Chuckola Cola with Professor Frankly. A few rooms down, Toad and Toadette were bouncing on suitcases, trying to make them shut around a mountain of souvenirs. In the living area, Kammy Koopa was slumped on a sofa, wide awake but lost to the world.

Peach paused, wondering if she should say something to comfort the old witch. Ever since she'd learned of Bowser's fate, Kammy had been unshakably depressed. "What am I supposed to tell the kingdom?" she had asked two days ago, briefly breaking a long silence, before lapsing into another. "What am I going to tell Junior? He's not ready to lead by himself yet…"

The Koopa King had sacrificed himself to bring the Empress down, which had been a shock to most, but not to Peach. She'd seen his nobler side before, and only wished he'd chosen to show it more often. She reached out to put a hand on Kammy's shoulder, but thought better of it, letting it rest against the sofa back instead. "It's nearly time to go, if you're still willing to help us."

The party was traveling back to Peach's Castle, where this mess had begun; but when they arrived, they'd need a mage to open a path between timelines. "Don't get your frills in a frenzy," the witch answered, turning just enough to make eye contact. "I'll see to it that you get home safely. It's no less than Lord Bowser would've demanded."

The discussion ended there, so Peach headed out through the front door and into the sewers. "I can't say I'll be sad to leave this neighborhood behind…" A pair of Squeeks eyed her shiftily from across the water, but luckily neither dared to approach her. As quickly as she could, the princess made her way up the nearest maintenance staircase, out the iron door and into the grey pseudo-twilight.

The stars had been reappearing, a few more each night, for the past week; but the sun and moon had yet to show themselves. Peach wasn't sure they ever would; perhaps some astral wounds were simply too deep. Either way, the bustling seaport, with its hidden cache of Shine Sprites, was as busy as ever. This town had been a haven for those who shunned the Empress, after all, so very few of its citizens had gone to the tragic Star Festival.

As for the realm at large, it seemed to be rebuilding, as the Mushroom Kingdom always did. The Empress' fall had left a certain power vacuum, but the people were trying to fill it with as much care and tact as possible. A wealthy local named Flavio had bombastically announced his candidacy for president, although Peach hadn't heard anyone else mention an election. Whatever ended up happening, she trusted that this world would be in good hands.

Just across the street, Luigi was helping Raz and Raini load supplies into the back of a shiny new pickup truck. According to Goombella, 'this one' was a gift, and 'totally not stolen,' which raised some questions that Peach didn't want to ask. "I think that's the last of it," Luigi said, hoisting some luggage into the bed as the princess approached. When it was done, he turned to see her with a friendly wave. "Oh, Princess Peach, you're early! Nobody else is here yet."

"That's perfectly fine," she replied, finding a spot on the sidewalk where she could feel the ocean breeze. "I've been stuck inside for so long, some fresh air is just what I need." For a short while, she let her eyes wander the horizon. Her thoughts drifted to her subjects, and the reunion she hoped they'd have. "Luigi… do you think anyone will be waiting for us at the castle tomorrow?"

A few days ago, Peach had asked Goombella to help her send a message. It had been a simple signal hack, patched in during the news, addressed to any of Peach's subjects that may have survived that first night. "They'll totally be there," the Goomba herself said, waddling out from behind the truck. "Nobody refuses an invitation from a princess, especially when she promises them a way to get back home."

"I still think we should've left earlier," Raz frowned, sitting exhaustedly atop the supplies. In this world, driving by night wasn't much different than driving by day, but the big issue was time. The castle meetup was scheduled for tomorrow morning, so the heroes were cutting it awfully close. "I guess it fits, though, for the Resistance's last mission to be as clumsy as the rest of them."

Raini perked up from where she'd been resting in the passenger seat. "There's still plenty left for us to do, dear. We need to pitch in with the rebuilding!" With the capital destroyed, its escapees had been left homeless, and the Warp Pipe network had been completely shut down. Raini turned to Luigi with a bright grin, causing him to blush. "If only we had more hard workers like you and your brother to help us."

Peach turned back, confusion striking her at the mention of Mario. She had expected to find him here, helping with the supplies, but where was he? Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him all afternoon, and it wasn't like him to wander off without telling anyone. Surely there must be an explanation. "Luigi, if you don't mind me asking, where is Mario, anyway?"

Luigi looked a bit sheepish, glancing aside as he answered. "Well, uh, he and Vivian are…" He paused, rubbing the back of his neck before trying again. "Gee, this is hard to say. It was pretty weird hearing it myself, but…" Peach took a step closer, silently urging him on. "Er, I guess you could say that they're currently…"

"They," Goombella cut in, grinning with mischief and pride, "are on a date."

Sure enough, far across town, Vivian and Mario were sitting at a table in the Toad Sisters' restaurant. They'd both been wanting to eat here, so it had seemed like a perfect way to spend their last evening in this world.

This "parallel timeline" thing was still bizarre to Vivian; but right now, the implications weren't worth thinking about. She didn't know how many versions of herself were out there, how they had been born, or what their lives were like. But this Vivian knew she was the luckiest of them all – she'd been given a chance with Mario, and it was real.

"That was delicious," the hero said, letting a passing waiter retrieve his empty spaghetti platter. The restaurant was busy, as it had been that day in the past, but the lighting was soft and the patrons were hushed, creating an almost dreamlike ambiance. "Tayce T. and Zess T. act so differently, you'd think their tastes would clash, but they fit together so well!"

Vivian nodded, packing a bit of her Zess Special into a take-home box. "We should pitch the idea to the versions we know back home." She smiled at the thought, then leaned in to accept a slice of the sumptuous treat that sat before her. Her senses lit up when she took the first bite. "Mmm, oh wow. Have you ever tasted anything this fluffy and sweet before?"

By now, the meal itself had ended, and it was time for dessert – a Couple's Cake, a special menu item reserved for smitten young lovers. It had been brought out from the kitchens with a ceremony, complete with confetti and a little song. Supposedly, any couple who could eat the whole thing would get their picture put up on the wall. With Mario's determination and endless appetite, Vivian was sure they'd succeed.

"…Do you think she was telling the truth?" the siren asked, changing the subject to something a bit less nice. "My other self, that is, about me being a Shadow Queen." The issue had been haunting her all week, but her counterpart had refused to talk about it. "I didn't take her seriously, but then I made that shadow hand…" She hadn't used the skill since, but it felt like the hand was still inside her, with a cold grip on her soul. "…What if it's true, and I'm turning into…"

Mario held a forkful of cake, but he set it aside to take Vivian's hand. "I can't say why you were born," he admitted, "but I do know that it doesn't matter. You have a good heart, and that makes you completely different from the old Queen, no matter what powers you share." There he was again, the man whose kindness surprised her every day. His sincerity quelled the fear, so she let it go and reached for a second slice of dessert.

"I'm just me, and I'm finally happy with that," she decided as they lapsed into a warm, cake-filled silence. They tried feeding a few bites to each other, giggling like teenagers, but stopped when they got glares from the people beside them. Eventually, Vivian glimpsed the sky through a nearby window, and saw that twilight had left them behind. "It feels too early, but we need to get going. The others must be waiting for us by now…"

As Mario called for the check, the siren saw a tiny bit of cake left on the dish – a single cherry and a smear of frosting. She quickly swiped it into her mouth, leaving an empty plate behind. When the staff noticed, they began to applaud, and a photographer Toad scurried over to snap a photo. The two beamed for the camera, and its flash filled Vivian with a sweet nostalgia. No matter what craziness life dealt them, this moment would always be safe, a world away but theirs forever.

They left the restaurant, winding through the stalls of the evening market, which had stayed open late to account for the nighttime crowds. Since the sky's rebirth, stargazing had become a popular hobby – people filled the parks and plazas each night, exploring the heavens together. These new stars had formed new patterns, which meant fresh constellations just waiting to be seen; the sky a canvas ready to be filled.

Before long, they found themselves crossing through the harbor district, where sailors milled about, sharing drinks and tales by lantern light. Mighty trade ships loomed overhead, groaning softly in the sway of the tide. The docks were more built-up here, but Vivian could still see the old stone jetty where, back home, her first adventure had reached its end. "So much has changed since then, and yet…"

Mario drew up short, and the siren turned to see what had startled him. A few yards away, watching them curiously from beneath a lamppost, was the regal figure of Princess Peach. After a moment, she stepped forward to greet them, but diverted her eyes to the water. "I'm sorry," she began, "I realize I'm probably the last person you want to see on your date."

Tension blew in like an ocean fog, but Vivian tried her best to navigate it. "N-no, it's fine! Are you out taking a walk, too?" She couldn't help but feel judged by the blonde, even though she knew Peach wasn't the jealous type. "Or were you trying to find us? I hope we haven't kept you all waiting for long…"

Peach was about to answer, but that's when Mario found his voice. "You shouldn't have come this far by yourself," he told her, offering an arm. He was polite, but unusually stiff; and for the first time, Vivian saw the nature of the rift between them. "Come on, princess. We'll escort you back to the base, okay?"

The princess pulled back, a hint of vexation slipping through her mask. "Mario, I'm not a child. I don't need a guardian every time I walk down the street." She clutched her dress, as if she were afraid she might slap him otherwise. "And for the last time, please call me Peach! We're still friends, just like we were before we tried dating." It was hard to tell if the last bit was a belief or an order.

"It's so much easier for you, isn't it?" Mario asked, standing his ground just beyond the lamp's halo. "Maybe that's why you never explained why we broke up." His voice was calm, but the hurt was visible in his eyes. Vivian glided closer to him, a supportive presence, but kept quiet. She thought it wiser to let the exes hash this out; it would be healthier for all three of them in the end.

"You think it's easy, to put my kingdom before love?" Peach bristled, struck by the indignation. But bitterness didn't suit her, so she set it aside with a shake of her head. "The truth is, it felt sweet to pretend we could be together, but it was so unfair to you." Her next words were hushed, and tinged with resignation. "You have every right to be angry with me."

Mario looked down, chasing his thoughts through the cobblestones. "I was never angry with you, just confused," he finally said, putting the past to rest. He took a step forward, offering his own earnest apology. "I'm sorry too, for asking you to give something you couldn't. I should have respected your position from the start."

Peach met him halfway, letting the bridge be fixed. "You shouldn't be sorry, Mario; you should be happy. Vivian here is quite a catch." The siren nearly choked on her breath, stunned, as the princess turned to address them both. "Someday soon, I hope you'll visit for tea, and tell me all about how you found each other."

With those simple words, the stifling mist began to fade. Mario took a small bow, grateful to accept the invitation. "It would be my pleasure, princess." Vivian gave him a playful nudge, and he chuckled when he realized his mistake. "I mean, it would be our pleasure, Peach."

The princess giggled at the scene, and gave the pair a genuine smile. "The two of you really do make a cute couple, you know." Mario blushed at the complement, while Peach stepped in to whisper conspiratorially in Vivian's ear. "When we get home, I'll teach you my special cake recipe. That's how you'll really make him yours."

The hero leaned in to join them, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Ah, what are you two whispering about?" But then, all at once, he seemed to realize how long they'd been standing there. "Mama mia, we need to move it! Luigi must be worried sick by now!" He took off up the nearby stairs, leaping them five at a time, leaving the princess and siren to follow after.

Vivian took one last, long look at Rogueport harbor. "This time, my adventure is just starting," she thought, then turned to trail after the two friends; towards the future, back to everyone.

In his diary, Luigi kept track of the time he spent waiting for his friends. It was a big foldout spreadsheet, and these days it was due for a pretty big update.

After Peach had left to find the lovebirds, Raz and Raini had returned to the base to collect everyone else. Goombella was buying last-second snacks, which left Luigi to guard the truck by himself. He passed the time by people-watching, studying the Rogueport nightlife as strangers passed to and fro. Up the street, a bushy-mustached merchant was selling binoculars to young stargazers. Excited chatter filled the air, drifting in from the crowded beachfront.

"Omigosh, is that Luigi?" a voice squealed, echoing from somewhere unseen. Instantly alert, the hero glanced around in search of the source. A few seconds later, a wisp of girlish laughter lured his gaze to a nearby alley. Straining his eyes, he could just make out a pair of figures watching him shyly from the shadows. "He's such a hunk, isn't he, sis? Don't tell anyone, but I'm a total Luigi fangirl."

His interest piqued, Luigi hopped out of the truck bed and sauntered across the street. "He's headed this way! It's your big chance, sis!" a second voice gushed, matching the first in excitement. "You should totally ask for his autograph, and maybe give him a smooch~" This was all so very new; perhaps Luigi's wishes were finally coming true?

"Your hunky hero is here, ladies," he said, grinning as he turned the corner to find… an empty passage, stark and smelly with no signs of life. A lone streetlight buzzed, flickering weakly across graffiti-smeared walls. Somewhere, a cat yowled behind a chain-link fence and a pile of trash. "Huh, I guess they got scared and ran off," Luigi figured, scratching his head as he turned back to-

"GYAAAAAAAAAHHH!" It burst from thin air – a slimy cloud of fangs and tongues that tore the world to shreds. Luigi shrieked and tripped back, landing in the trash as he tried to plead for mercy. The thing surged in, ravenous… but its scream turned to laughter, and Luigi blinked up to see Peeka and Lahla, the twin Boos who had befriended Lady Bow. "That was perfect," Lahla snickered, giving the hero a wink. "Sorry Luigi, but we just had to say thanks for saving our Bestie."

As if on cue, Bow herself materialized near Luigi's shoulder, her eyes glinting with mirth. "For what it's worth, I tried to talk them out of it," she assured the man, brushing a bit of grime off his sleeve as he tried to stand. "But they said I was being a killjoy; and, well, I simply couldn't have that." Luigi was shaky on his feet, and soon had to sit back down. "Hm, are you alright? It was just a prank, dear…"

He knew from experience that he was about to cry; but somehow, that isn't what happened. To everyone's surprise, including his own, Luigi began to laugh. It was tired and weak, but it mixed with the sisters' giggling until they stopped to stare at him, confused. "I think we broke him," Peeka whispered, but Bow didn't answer. She just smiled, strangely proud, as her friend began to set fear aside.

Out in the street, Luigi heard his friends' voices, and soon he heard Mario shouting his name. He pushed himself up and hurried out to meet them, letting the ghosts follow as the party gathered for its last trip home.

Hours later, after a bumpy ride and several pit stops, the truck finally turned off-road into that weedy field by the river. Goombella sat up, hoping she'd be the first to spot the ruined castle in the distance.

There were fourteen of them packed into this pickup, somehow, which made the Goomba wish she'd hijacked a bus. Raz was up front with Professor Frankly – the old shroom had asked to see the castle for himself. Goombella and Raini were in the bed, like last time, with everyone from the other world. It was extra cramped now, because they'd insisted on giving the princess extra room. Faux-Vivian had tagged along too; but she mostly kept to herself, lurking in the shadows beneath their feet.

Soon, the smoke-stained spires of Peach's Castle rose into view beyond the trees. It looked eerie in the predawn grey, its burned-out windows gaping like the empty eyes of corpses. Peach let out a sob when she saw it; but Yoshi, who sat beside her, gave her a gentle pat on the arm. "It can be rebuilt," he promised, pointing to the sturdy walls. "It's mainly stone, so the structure itself is still intact."

When they pulled into the courtyard, a small group was there to greet them. Goombella and the princess shared a glance – their message had reached a few of her subjects, at least. One of them was an elderly Toad, who ran to Peach as fast as he could until she knelt to embrace him. "Oh, princess, I was so worried!" he sobbed, fussing over her like a parent. "To think you could be lost in such a foul, twisted place…"

Peach stood up, letting him go. "Hush, Toadsworth," she chided, turning back to smile at the party. "This world is quite nice, once you get used to it. Some of its people even helped save me!" As the two groups merged, she studied each of the new faces - unsung heroes who had seen that awful night and lived. "But what about all of you? How did you escape?"

One by one, each survivor shared their story. Toadsworth and a Beanish crone named Lady Lima had hidden together in a cupboard. A stout Bumpty, mayor of a place called Shiver City, had played dead very convincingly. A singer named Chanterelle had eluded the soldiers with a bit of feminine charm. A lanky guy in purple refused to explain himself – he simply WAAAH-nted to get out of here.

Without a word, Kammy flew off to prepare the transport ritual. While she scribbled runes across the castle walls, Professor Frankly approached the heroes thoughtfully. "You're not concerned with what you'll find over there?" he asked, squinting over his spectacles. "Your Mushroom Kingdom has gone quite a while without its leader…"

Yoshi spoke up on their behalf. "It's happened before, once or twice," the dinosaur said sheepishly, earning a subtle groan from Luigi. "I'm more worried about the situation here," he confessed, gazing out towards lands past the horizon. "After everything that's happened, will the empire be able to sustain itself?"

Peach nodded, giving her own opinions. "I saw on the news that the BeanBean and Sarasa provinces might secede," she put in, adding that other annexed kingdoms would be sure to follow. "With no army to stop them, I suspect it'll be easy." She smoothed the sides of her dress, breathing a last sigh. "With any luck, things will settle out peacefully…"

Quickly bored with politics, Goombella waddled over to join the two Vivians, who were attempting a last bit of reconciliation. They stood in the shade of a wilting hedge, sharing their plans for the future. "Where do you think you'll go?" the first siren asked, attempting a handshake. "You're free now, so you can see the whole world if you want."

Her duplicate pulled back, wincing at her own painful memories. "I'm not free yet; I've still got so many sins to atone for." Redemption was a long road, and she'd been Kamek's lackey for years – who knows how many lives they'd messed up? "I should start with Twilight Town. Someone needs to apologize for everything that happened there."

At that, Mario wandered over to join the conversation. "The Twilighters need more than an apology," he said with a sad shake of his head. "I haven't stopped thinking about what Mayor Dour said to me. They deserve to have a protector; someone who knows what it's like to be outcast…" The shadow looked at him in surprise, but after a moment of thought, she nodded. Perhaps this world had a place for her after all?

"…Y'know, I could help, if you wanted," Goombella offered, "since I don't have much else going on." In truth, she thought it might be fun to hang out with the siren for a while longer. "We'll keep misfits safe, wherever we find 'em!" Faux-Vivian listened curiously, and the Goomba felt a strange kind of excitement brewing. "They'll call us, 'Viv n' Bella: Twilight Defenders!' Has a nice ring to it, don't cha think?"

"…I think I'd like that very much~" the shadow sang, risking a smile; but then her face fell as she thought of something else. "Eventually, I suppose I'll have to meet my sister again. I've wanted to kill her for so long…" The mood suddenly chilled, until she shook her head and whispered, "But that won't help, will it?"

The first Vivian answered, speaking from a place of experience. "She's bitter and mean, but there's good in her. When the time comes, I know you'll do the right thing." She held out an arm, and this time her twin accepted the gesture. They held hands for a brief moment, finally understanding each other. "Whatever happens, I wish you all the best."

A while later, Kammy returned from her flight, the ritual drawn and ready to be cast. Runes encircled the plaza, stretching up the walls and snaking around the towers like Sproutle Vines. From on high, the old witch directed friends to part ways; those from her world into the circle, and those from this one to the edge.

Soon it was time, and a wind of wild magic began to blow. A cold violet mist spilled from the runes, cascading down the ramparts like an ethereal waterfall. It began to pool at the departing heroes' feet, urging them to huddle closer as the ground beneath them glowed white. Suddenly, Toadette dashed from their midst, sprinting over to grab Goombella in a last, desperate hug. "I don't wanna leave yet!" she cried, holding on for dear life. "I'll miss you so much!"

Goombella closed her eyes, wishing so badly she were able to hug back. "I'll miss you too, kid," she said, letting Toadette scamper away. Seeing the girl, so filled with dreams, reminded her of something important. As the mist swirled higher, she looked to Mario and yelled, "Hey, if you see that other Goombella, tell her about me, okay? Even without school, I want her to know that I turned out fine!"

Mario smiled and nodded, and then his face was lost behind the rising curtain of magic. As the Goomba took a cautious step back, rejoining the Professor and her friends, the voice of Princess Peach called out in farewell. "Thank you all, and may the stars shine down on you!" Slowly, a warmth filled the air, which Goombella put down to sentiment until she heard Raini gasp beside her. She turned around, back toward the east, where for the first time in years…

…The sun was beginning to rise. Its soft light broke above the horizon, pushing back the ashen sky with calm waves of pink and orange. Rays of color brushed across the land, bathing the field and distant hillsides in an aura of rebirth. The five on the ground could only stare in silent wonder as their world came back to life.

The married Toads held each other, while the professor began to put forth theories. Nearby, the Shadow Siren seemed unsure, but finally moved forward to let the light wash over her. As for the Goomba girl, she felt the winds of her fate begin to change. "We did it, Rowf," she thought, closing her eyes to soak in the dawn. "It wasn't easy, but together we made a future worth living in."

When she turned back, the castle and its heroes were gone without a trace.

The first thing Mario felt, when the dizziness passed, was the cool breeze of a midsummer's day. As the spell's light faded, he looked up to see the bright blue skies of home.

They'd finally made it, back to the Mushroom Kingdom they all knew and loved. Birdsong filled the air, and the very clouds seemed to smile upon the new arrivals. Peach's Castle stood tall overhead, its white walls bathed in sunlight, back in the place where it belonged. Beyond its gardens, leafy trees and mighty mushroom groves marched away toward the distant blue peak of Shooting Star Summit.

Here in the courtyard, nausea had claimed several victims; in the background, Toad was heaving his lunch into a fountain. Warp magic was never pleasant, especially when it spanned dimensions. Mario helped Luigi up, giving his brother a pat on the back. "Let's not do that again," Luigi said with a pitiful shudder. "Next time, can we pick an adventure where we get to stay in town?"

Vivian soon rejoined them, swaying woozily on the tip of her tail. "Gee whiz, that was a bit too wild for me," she agreed, but she hummed happily as Mario leaned in to support her. Before either could speak, a brilliant commotion made everyone look to the castle gates, into the oncoming rush of a joyous stampede.

The people of Toad Town were pouring from their homes, cheering wildly as they streamed into the streets. Toads of all colors; plus Goombas, Bub-ulbs, and everything in between. They came as one, all celebrating the return of their beloved princess. Here and there, voices even rang up from the rooftops. Yoshi, the nearest to the gate, pulled it open with his tongue to let the throng inside.

…But then, without warning, the crowd began to shriek in panic, scattering back into town the way it had come. Toads were tripping over themselves to flee as a Bullet Bill struck the plaza, forcing Mario to leap backwards. Suddenly, behind him, Princess Peach let out a terrified scream. "Let me go! Mario, help me!" The hero spun around, futilely reaching out a hand as the princess was yanked up into the sky. All at once, the sound of engines pierced the clouds.

Mario really shouldn't have been surprised.

From out behind the castle, a massive fleet of airships soared into view, heavily armed and casting blackness over the land. Peach flew towards it, kicking and yelling, carried by a pair of sturdy Paratroopas. Standing at the flagship's prow, against all reason, was King Bowser himself. "LOOK WHO'S BACK, CHUMPS!" he roared, throwing his arms wide to gloat. "While you guys were resting over there, I took a head start!"

In an instant, Kammy was back at his side, gushing about her king's power and timing. The Paratroopas delivered Peach straight into Bowser's waiting claws, and he let loose a laugh of triumph. "You can't be here, you brute!" the princess shouted, still squirming defiantly. "You fell into the void! Mario saw it happen!"

"Yeah, whatever," Bowser shrugged as the airships began to ascend. "Everything went white, and then I woke up in a park in Mushroom City." Perhaps he'd been ejected there? "Two Toad kids were poking me with sticks, but I taught them a lesson they won't soon forget." Peach gave him a look of horror, but the Koopa kept going, heedless. "That's right; I told 'em very sternly that it's rude to mess with strangers!"

He glanced over the side, grinning smugly at the heroes who were still scrambling in his shadow. "So long, losers! I got my princess, so I'd say this is a happy ending!" With that, the fleet turned north and climbed beyond reach, catching the wind as the ships' sails and engines swept them away, back to the Koopa Kingdom from whence they'd come.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," Luigi muttered, listening to the princess' fading cries. "We'd better go after her, bro." Mario was one step ahead, already astride Yoshi and eager to get moving. Vivian glided up beside them, faithfully prepared to fight by their side. A beat later, Lady Bow floated up to join, looking very much like a victim of peer pressure.

They set off, together, across the hills and fields of their wondrous world. "It's good to be back, eh Luigi?" Mario asked, turning to his brother with a smile. In his mind, he was already miles ahead, planning the routes which would bring the most adventure. Through this forest, over that ravine…

The possibilities were as boundless as the future.

Chapter Text

Epilogue

Two Years Later

Time passed, as time did; and life moved forward, as life must.

If anyone knew how to bounce back from crises, it was the people of the Mushroom Kingdom. Here in Toad Town, repairs were practically a way of life. Two years ago, Peach’s Castle had returned to them as a ruin, battered and burned. Now it stood tall above the city - its walls pristine, its towers mended, and its stained glass princess more beautiful than ever.

It shimmered especially brightly tonight – for as surely as the heavens spin, the Star Festival was here again. Last year, the holiday had been a quiet affair, in memory of the tragedy’s victims. But this night was too special to be stained with grief, so this year the festivities were back in full swing. All over town, the streets were bursting with laughter and light.

As usual, tourists had gathered from every corner of the realm, eager to be part of the celebration. All down the sidewalk, flying races worked together to string paper Star Bits between the lampposts. Nearby, a very long line of Yoshis stood before a certain Pianta’s yearly eggnog stall. The smell of homemade treats drifted through the air, mixing with the sound of carolers in the marketplace.

Amidst it all, a young couple made their way toward the castle, ready to join their friends at the Starlight Gala. “We don’t want to be late,” Mario said, watching as some teenage Toads played with sparklers in Minh T.’s garden. “This year’s gala will be super spectacular, or so I’ve heard.” In truth, he’d been the one spreading that rumor, but Vivian didn’t know that yet.

“Mm, it’s going to be wonderful,” the siren cooed, leaning softly into him as they walked. She smiled at him, her hair swirling cutely over one lavender eye. This evening, she was wearing a stylish red-and-white bead necklace, plus a pair of matching bracelets. Even after all these years, it seems she still admired Flurrie’s fashion sense. “It’ll be so nice to see everyone again…”

It was getting harder to bring the old gang back together nowadays. Peach was trying to be a more active ruler, which meant diplomatic trips all across the globe. A few months back, Luigi had moved to Sarasaland to be with Daisy, which had left the Mario homestead feeling pretty empty, until Vivian had suggested moving in. She was a welcome presence, even if living together did bring its own challenges.

For example, neither of them had known the first thing about cooking – Luigi and Marilyn had always handled that in their respective families. At first, Mario had been clumsy with measurements, and Vivian prone to starting kitchen fires; but they kept at it together, and were improving day by day. They’d never be master chefs, but the nights of takeout from Cruss T.’s Pizza Palace were growing fewer and further between.

And of course, there were the little squabbles that all couples faced. It was impossible to share a blanket with Vivian, because of how she liked to cocoon herself. Meanwhile, the siren wasn’t thrilled with Mario’s snoring, or the way he left empty dishes in the fridge. But such things were small, and easy to forgive when you’re very much in love.

For the umpteenth time that day, Mario felt himself idly tracing the hem of his pocket. “Two years isn’t enough,” a part of him whispered, but he quickly dismissed the notion. “No, we’re both ready for this.” Honestly, he never used to think about it, but one of his recent odysseys had given him an idea that he just couldn’t shake…

…Just then, his thoughts were scattered by a trio of Toad girls, who ran up asking excitedly for a photo. Always glad to meet fans, Mario happily agreed to share a selfie. Vivian offered to hold the camera for a group shot, but the Toads unanimously insisted that she be part of it, too. After all, she’d earned a fair bit of celebrity in her own right.

“Um, what if I did both?” the siren asked, unsure, as she summoned a pair of shadow hands to assist. They navigated the camera while Vivian herself huddled in with the group. After the fans ran off, a bit too quickly, she turned to Mario with a worried frown. “Using the hands was a bad idea, wasn’t it? Those girls must think I’m so creepy…”

The hero gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “They were just starstruck, Viv, that’s all.” Vivian was rarely shy with him anymore, not after so long; but sometimes strangers could still bring out her anxiety. “You’ve gotten pretty good with those powers, you know. I’m proud of you for deciding to practice them.”

They went on their way, and soon they were passing through the great brass gates of Peach’s Castle. Here in the grand plaza, the very air felt light and warm with luxury. High-society shrooms mingled by elegant fountain statues, while sounds of a symphony echoed in from the gardens. These sights were all familiar, yet they’d been sorely missed.

By the main doorway, a sentry saluted as the lovers approached. “No trouble from Bowser yet, sir,” the guard said, answering Mario’s unspoken question. “From what I’ve heard, he’s been in the feast hall all evening!” Lately, Peach had realized that the easiest way to keep Bowser from starting trouble at her events was by inviting him. It’s hard to crash a party if you belong there, after all.

Making a mental note to steer clear of that wing, Mario let himself be ushered inside. Each year, the castle’s great hall seemed to be decorated more splendidly than ever. Hanging candles and crystal chandeliers spiraled overhead, each flame enchanted to burn with silver starlight. Party guests gathered by tables made of white Boggly wood, set with trays of honeyed mushrooms and Goomnut cakes.

Up the stairs, visitors drifted in and out of the balcony hallways, passing from one spectacle to the next. Princess Peach was there too, chatting with a pair of puffy Nimbus folk, but she quickly excused herself at the sight of her friends. “Mario, Vivian, you made it!” she smiled, hurrying down the stairs as briskly as her dress would allow. “Thank the Stars, I’m getting so sick of strangers’ flattery.”

“Can you put up with friends’ flattery?” Vivian asked as she and the princess shared a brief hug. “Everything is so lovely, just like always.” The three made their way to the side of the staircase, where they could speak more intimately. “I’ve wanted to try planning a dinner party, but I may ask for help if you’re in town.”

Speaking of Peach’s foreign travels, there was an expected guest who Mario had not yet seen. “Say, where’s Prince Pine?” he joked, glancing up in search of the dashing lad. Recently, Peach had made several trips to visit the prince in Jewelry Land, and naturally the rumor mill was starting to churn. “I thought he might be here, stuck to you like tree sap.”

The princess rolled her eyes with a huff of mock frustration. “Honestly, Mario, those visits are for trade negotiations,” she insisted, although it was hard to miss her blush. “Pine is quite charming, but we’re still just friends… for now.” Mario, for his part, was truly happy for her, that she’d found someone she might finally be able to love.

They talked for a while, about life and love and adventure; but soon a party of confused-looking Whittles tottered in the door, and it was time for Peach to play hostess again. “We’ll speak again later,” she promised before heading back out to the floor. “Best of luck this evening,” she whispered to Mario in passing, quietly enough so Vivian wouldn’t hear.

Less than a minute later, a familiar pair of murky shapes emerged from the crowd. Vivian gasped in surprise, waving to get her sisters’ attention. “Guh! Guuh!” Marilyn called as she waved back, nearly crashing into a clustered stack of Shy Guys. Beside her, Beldam was yammering something indistinct, most likely about making a scene; but even she seemed to be in better spirits than usual.

“I still don’t know what you said to her,” Vivian whispered, referring to her eldest sister, “but this is the first time she’s left the forest in years.” The old hag met their stare, giving Mario a curt nod before beckoning for Vivian to follow. “I’m gonna go catch up, but I’ll meet you in time to watch the comet!” The siren glided over to meet her sisters, yelping slightly as Marilyn enveloped her in a crushing bear hug.

As Beldam led the trio away, Mario wandered off in search of his own entertainment. He took the nearest hallway out to the courtyard, where the party was thumping lively and loud. Partygoers danced and played carnival games, while children ran between tents waving light-up bubble wands. Up on a stage, some kind of blue robot was leading a frenzied crowd in karaoke.

It was a bit much to take in all at once, so the hero sat down at an empty table to get his bearings. “So this is where I find you, huh?” a voice said from behind him. Mario didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was – he could practically feel the cheeky enthusiasm coming off her in waves.

Goombella hopped up on the seat beside him – the original, and his friend of many years. True to his word, Mario had emailed her after the timeline mishap, to pass on her double’s last message. She’d replied within the hour with a dozen follow-up questions, but her answer to the school remark came first. “Well duh,” the email had said, “I could’ve told her that myself. U Goom taught me a lot, but the most important stuff I learned while traveling with you.”

These days, she was doing quite well – a full-fledged archaeologist, working out in the field. She looked professional, with her blonde hair pulled into a loose bun, but Mario got the sense it was mainly ironic. “I didn’t think you’d make it,” he said, looting some hors d'oeuvres from a passing trolley. “The last time we talked, you were excavating a lost library in Noki Bay.”

She shook her head, giving him a sly grin. “You’re kidding, right? This is history in the making; there’s no way I’d miss it!” They shared their snacks and reminisced, all while she asked – begged – for a glimpse of the tiny thing in his pocket. Eventually, the evening sun began to set behind the battlements, and Goombella needed to be on her way. “It’s nearly showtime! I’m gonna go look for a good seat.”

Mario sat for a while longer, fighting the Flutters in his stomach. Had it truly been wise to tell his friends about this? He hoped they weren’t all expecting grand theatrics – that just wasn’t his style. Finally, he began to make his way upstairs, to that familiar spot on the terrace, where he knew Luigi would be waiting for him. Sure enough, the taller twin was there when he arrived. “Hey bro, long time no see.”

It had been a very long time, so the brothers didn’t hesitate to reunite. “So, how’s life in Sarasaland?” Mario asked as they leaned side-by-side against the balcony rail. He gazed out over the gala, eyes passing between strangers and friends. “I’m proud of you for taking such a big step; striking out on your own…”

“It’s nice, and… very warm,” Luigi chuckled, wiping phantom sweat from his brow. “I’m not alone, though. Daisy bought me a big townhouse near the castle, so I see her every day.” He glanced at Mario, his next words nervously hushed. “But that’s nothing next to what you told me. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Mario had never been surer of anything, and that’s the part that frightened him. “Two years ago, this would’ve seemed crazy to me,” he started, thinking back on his journeys, his heartaches, and that night in the cell when everything had changed. “But here we are, and I can’t imagine any other future I’d want.”

Luigi smiled, satisfied with the answer. “You’re lucky Vivian feels the same way. I tried to ask Daisy once, but she just laughed and gave me a noogie.” He scratched the back of his neck, peering up and down the balcony. “Speaking of which, she’s here somewhere. I bet she’ll track me down soon.”

True enough, it wasn’t long before the tomboyish princess found them. She pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring the startled objections. “C’mon, sweetie,” she said, practically dragging Luigi to the sidelines. A second later, she turned back and added, “Good luck, Mario! I came a thousand miles for this, so don’t chicken out!”

They passed Vivian on the stairs, and the siren glanced uncertainly after them. “What was that all about?” she asked, slipping into the empty spot by the railing. A random Koopa passed by, giving Mario a genial pat on the back. “Everyone has been acting so strangely tonight, have you noticed?”

Mario could only shrug, grateful that Beldam and Marilyn hadn’t spilled the beans. “It’s probably nothing,” he lied poorly, earning Vivian’s curious side-eye. Thinking quickly, he held her hand and turned to stare up at the sky. “Sundown is here, so they’ve all got the pre-comet jitters.”

Time passed softly, moment by moment, as night’s shadow crept across the castle. Down below, the music and laughter began to ebb away, fading with the last breath of twilight. Lured by the silence, guests emerged from within, all anxiously awaiting the pale nativity of starlight.

Star by star, the night sky came to life; and there, shining at its heart, was the slender trail of the comet itself. Shouts of joy rang up from below as more partiers rushed out to see the spectacle. Two Star Bits, the evening’s first, skittered down the eaves to land at Mario’s feet. Vivian giggled as she noticed their colors – red and purple – but she fell silent when the next few caught her eye.

All across the courtyard, Star Bits rained like candy crystals, bouncing here and there from tents and rooftops. But there were no greens, no pinks, no yellows – there were only their colors; only violet and red. The same shades danced in Vivian’s eyes as she watched them fall, too stunned to speak. “Rosalina played her part beautifully,” Mario thought, “but the rest is up to me.”

He cleared his throat, and instantly all eyes fell on him. The hero looked out, scanning the faces of his friends. Vivian’s sisters, watching intently; and Doopliss, who gave the sheet equivalent of a thumbs-up. Lady Bow and Yoshi, Goombella, Daisy and Luigi… Princess Peach, who gave him a gently encouraging smile…

Finally he saw Vivian herself, and no one else mattered. “Two years ago,” he began, taking her hands between his, “you and I made a promise that we’d go the rest of the way together. Do you remember that?” The siren nodded, finally beginning to catch on. “Well, I want to make that same promise again, for the rest of our lives.”

He reached into his pocket, and carefully retrieved a glimmering diamond ring. Its box had been lost long ago, but the gem still shone like the day it was cut. This was it – the precious gift from Mario’s mother, meant one day for his future bride. Vivian recognized it immediately, and barely managed to stifle a sob. “M-mario, is that…? A-are we…?”

It was time to bare his soul, and he did. “Vivian, will you be my Player 2?” he asked, getting down on one knee. “Will you marry me?”

Silence fell for the length of a shared heartbeat, and then she was in his arms, showering him with ‘yesses’ that turned into kisses. Below, the crowd exploded into cheers as Mario swept his fiancée into a deep and passionate embrace.

So the gala resumed, and Star Bits fell around them all, mixing with fireworks that burst across the heavens. A medley of songs and laughter played up, over the rooftops and into the midnight air.

Beyond the castle walls, the festival continued long into the night. And high above, the comet sailed on, blessing the world with hope, love, and the light of the stars.

An End

And A Beginning