A Game2002 Production
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The skies of Ruined Kingdom was dark and stormy like always, perhaps more so than usual.
BGM: Ruined Dragon (Super Mario Odyssey)
The massive purple dragon that inhabits this kingdom, known only as the Ruined Dragon, let a out a roar of anger as he soared through the air, mercilessly in pursuit of a flying wooden airship sporting the figurehead of a reptilian with a hairstyle resembling that of famous musician Ludwig van Beethoven.
Looking back at the approaching dragon, Larry shouted to the rest of his siblings, "He's catching up! What do we do?"
"Don't worry! We were expecting this when we came here, so this ship is fully prepared to take on him!" Ludwig called out to him response from the middle of the deck.
"Then you better use it fast! I don't think he's in the mood to only chase us anymore" replied Larry, sounding worried.
The Ruined Dragon opened his mouth as electricity began to emit from inside, and then with a roar, a beam of electricity was fired straight at the airship. Larry screamed as he held his arms over his face for protection, but the electric beam struck a barrier that appeared out of nowhere, protecting the airship from the projectile.
"Told you everything will be all right!" Ludwig told his brother. "This airship is equipped with all that is necessary to defend against the likes of him!" He then took out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it, "Roy, you can now activate the weapon!"
"All right! I've been waiting for this!" said Roy from the other end of the communication device. The Koopaling with shades was currently in the control room, sitting in front of a control panel with a screen that showed the Ruined Dragon. Pressing a button on the panel, he made a pair of large mechanical arms appear from the sides of the airship, close to the back end.
The hands taunted the dragon into coming close, and the latter did so by speeding up. The hands folded into fists and gave the dragon a powerful right hook to the head before delivering a left hook. The dragon roared in anger in response and attempted to shoot electricity at the airship from his mouth.
Anticipating this, the hands grabbed the dragon's snout and forced it shut just as he was about to unleash his breath attack. This resulted in an explosion of electricity within the dragon's mouth, harming the massive reptile greatly. The Ruined Dragon opened his mouth to let a large amount of smoke come out, and he was also crying in pain.
Roy pressed another button that caused the mechanical hands to heat up, as evident of its orange glow, and then one hand grabbed and burned the dragon by the neck, while the other one punched him in the head rapidly. After several punches, the hand let go of the dragon, who had pretty much passed out, though he was still struggling to stay in air.
"Now let's finish him!" commanded Ludwig into the walkie-talkie.
The airship then slowly turned to its side, revealing its cannons at him. Under Ludwig's command, the cannons open fired at the dragon, blasting him with exploding cannon balls nonstop.
The dragon eventually fell through the air and landed with a powerful crash onto the rocky surface below.
BGM Ends
Looking down from the airship, the Koopalings and some of the henchmen cheered in triumph. "All right! We got him!" exclaimed Iggy.
"That is what you get for messing with us Koopalings!" said Wendy.
"We're reaching our destination!" a Koopa Troopa cried out from the crow's nest. Everyone then turned to the front to see an old castle appearing in the distance.
The airship arrived close to the castle, and then an anchor was dropped to the ground to keep it from moving. The Koopalings all got down from the airship while telling their henchmen to look after it, and then they entered the castle.
Looking around, they saw that the place was dirty and also a mess. There was nobody around at all. "No wonder this place is called the Ruined Kingdom..." commented Iggy.
"Makes me curious what happened to this place in the first place," said Larry.
"That's no important. We're here to find the artifact we found out about," Ludwig reminded them. "We should find it as soon as possible and then leave. Who knows if that dragon will get back up again or if there are any other dangers here."
The group traveled to the back end of the room and saw a treasure chest there. Thinking it might contain what they were looking for, they opened it after Ludwig used his magic wand to destroy its lock. Inside, they found a scroll.
"Is this it?" asked Roy.
Ludwig picked up the scroll and unrolled it to read its contents. After taking about a minute to read through its contents, a smile appeared on his face as he said, "This may not be exactly what we are looking for, but at least we didn't come here in vain! I'm sure Lord Bowser will still be glad to hear about our discovery! Heheheh!"
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ZOMBIE LAND SAGA
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MARIO
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ZOMBIES' SUPERSTAR SAGA
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Chapter 1
The Return to Mushroom Kingdom
It had been seven weeks since Franchouchou returned from the alternate universe known as the Mushroom Kingdom, and to this day, they still had a hard time believing that such an adventure and experience happened to them.
Since then, they had occasionally returned to the sewer where they found the Golden Pipe to see if the pipe was there, hoping to visit that place again. However, they never found it.
Despite this, they were adamant that the pipe would someday show up again and that they would be able to see Mario and his friends once again.
It was a truly a fun place that they enjoyed going to, and it was also one where they did not have to hide their identities as zombies, as the people there had proven to like them for what they are and even praised their looks.
During these seven weeks, Franchouchou hadn't been doing much other than holding mini concerts and meet and greets. It was the usual routine for them.
Ever since Sakura delivered the cryptic speech regarding their identities, there was quite a bit of discussion regarding who they are online.
Currently, the zombies were gathered in front of Kotarou's computer, with Ai taking charge of it, looking up forums about discussions related to them. Sure enough, there were threads that dealt with their identities. While nobody managed to deduce who they are, they did point out how some of them resembled certain people who died in the past, most notably Ai, Lily, and Junko.
Seeing all these discussions made Junko worried. "They're starting to suspect and find out..."
"Looks like what I said that time really is starting to work its magic, though I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not..." said Sakura.
"Isn't this what we wanted?" said Saki in response. "We want to stop hiding ourselves but also not reveal our identities so suddenly, so keeping people guessing until they come to their own conclusions is the next best thing."
"Lily is actually looking forward to it but also a bit scared about how people may react..." said Lily.
"Honestly saying, I don't really mind," said Yuugiri. "I don't think their reactions will be that bad. We have never done anything to warrant them antagonizing us after all."
"Are you sure you all are really all right with exposing our true identities to the public?" asked an unsure Ai. "Aren't you afraid that our appearances will be off putting to them?"
"Nah, I have confidence that they will still like us! We look really good for zombies!" Saki said to her.
"Easy for you to say when none of you are covered head to toe in bandages like me..." said a saddened Ai. "I can't even go around without them, lest you get nightmares..."
"I can understand you, Ai," Sakura said to her while putting her hand on her shoulder, "but I'm sure their reaction won't be that bad. Give them time, and I'm sure they will slowly come to accept our appearances!"
"Yeah! We'll show the world that even zombies can look hot!" Saki said to Ai. "The next thing you know, people are going to come asking for our hands in marriage! Heheh!"
Hearing this made Junko think of herself being proposed to by a fan with a love letter, and the thought of it made her blush but also smile.
Dorami members Maria, Migikawa, and Sayama were driving down the road on their scooters, looking for something interesting to do.
As Maria was taking the lead, she thought she saw the manhole cover up ahead moving. All of a sudden, the manhole cover popped out of its spot and flew into the air, immediately followed by a man jumping out from the hole. Maria freaked out but was too late to swerve to the side. Fortunately for the man, he stepped to the side in the nick of time.
Maria zoomed past him and turned her scooter to the side to come to a skidding stop, and her two companions stopped their bikes as well.
"Maria! Are you all right?" Sayama asked her.
Maria was breathing heavily with a look of shock on her face. "I'm fine..." she replied in between heavy breathing.
The man then approached her and said, "Sorry for shocking you just now... I should've watched first before jumping out..."
Maria looked up and glared at the man. He appeared to be a middle-aged man wearing red and blue overalls, not to mention wearing a red hat with the letter M on his head. He also had quite a mustache. It was Mario.
"You! How dare you appear in front of Dorami's boss all of a sudden like that and nearly costed her life?!" Maria angrily said to him.
Mario removed his hat and lowered his head in shame. "I am very sorry! I hope you are not-a hurt..."
"You're lucky I'm not hurt, because we're going to make you pay dearly if I did!" Maria angrily said to him. "But on second thought, maybe you should pay now as a warning!"
"Maria, he's an adult, and he also looks like a foreigner, so I don't think we should be getting into a fight with him..." Migikawa said to her.
"I don't care! We're badass bikers who should be able to instill fear to anyone, so adult or foreigner, he still has to learn his place and not get on our bad side!" replied Maria.
"I truly apologize, and as an act of apology, I hope-a theez coins will make do," said Mario as he pulled out a couple of golden coins from his pocket and handed them to her.
Maria observed the coin front to back, and her two companions looked at it with great interest. "Is this real gold?" asked Sayama.
"What currency is this? Is this even actual money?" wondered Migikawa.
"Theez eez currency from where I come from, though I don't-a think eet'll be of much use here, but you can at-a least keep eet as a souvenir," the man said to them.
Maria then stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "Where do you come from anyway?"
Mario looked nervous when he heard this. He wasn't sure about telling them that he comes from an alternate universe, but then he remembered he was told by Franchouchou before that he had an Italian accent. "I come from Italy!" he told them. "Those are Italian coins!"
"You sure? I'm very sure they don't use money like this in Italy, unless I've been living under a rock, which I'm sure I'm not," said Maria.
"Okay, eet'z not actually money, but... gold accessories..." replied Mario. "I'm sure people who like gold will enjoy eetz company!"
Maria felt like this man was hiding something, but she decided not to pursue this any further. "Fine, I'll be taking this," she said as she put them into her coat's pocket. "What were you doing down in the sewer any way?"
"I'm a plumba, so I was checking to see eef there eez anything wrong with da sewage system," replied Mario.
"An Italian plumber?" said Maria curiously, and Mario nodded in response. "Coming all the way from Italy to work as a plumber in Japan... I don't know if that's smart or not... Whatever, you better not get on Dorami's bad side again, or else I will make you suffer!"
The three bikers then got back onto their motorcycles and took off. Mario sighed with relief that things didn't get bad. He then remembered that he should've asked them about Franchouchou's whereabouts.
He recalled the zombies telling him that they live in a large mansion believed by the public to be abandoned. Thinking that such a mansion should be close by and easy to find, he began running around to look for the building by himself.
As per usual when they had meetings, Franchouchou and Kotarou were in the dungeon, talking about what was there to do in the coming days. "Good job these past few days! You have been working very hard keeping the people entertained," the producer said to them. "Because you have been working so hard, you all deserve a break! There will be no idol events for a while, so take your time to relax!"
"Does that mean we get to take a vacation?" asked Lily.
"While that sounds like a good idea, I can't think of a good place to take you zombies to, considering your appearances," replied Kotarou. "Makeups won't necessary help in the long run, so I'm afraid you will have no choice but to hang out in the mansion and rest."
"Boring... What's there to do here anyway?" asked Saki.
"It's not like we don't have a television to keep you entertained, and I'm allowing you to use my computer for entertainment as well," Kotarou told her. "Anyway, if I do come up with any fun ideas, I'll let you know. All right, meeting adjourned!"
Later, the zombies were together in the living room, sitting and standing around with relatively bored looks. "Geez, exactly how much does that guy care about us?" grumbled Saki as she reclined on the sofa. "It's like we are his prisoners that we have to stay cooped up in here all day..."
"It can't be helped considering what we are," said Ai.
"All the more reason we should expose ourselves," said Saki. "Man, I really want to go out there and shout to everyone that I'm a zombie right now..."
"Lily really wants to go somewhere fun..." said Lily as he lied he kicked his legs slowly while seated on the sofa. "Maybe we should go back to the Mushroom Kingdom, where the people happily accept us."
"I wonder how Mario and the others are doing," said Junko.
"The pipe hasn't shown up all this time, so it's unsure if we will ever be able to see them again," Yuugiri reminded her.
"I'm sure the pipe will definitely show up again," said a hopeful Sakura. "They promised us they would make it appear, so I'm sure they will keep their words!"
"Well, that didn't take-a long!" Mario said to himself with a smile as he looked at the large mansion before him. It took only a few minutes of running around before he finally came across this building.
He remembered that Franchouchou wanted to keep their living quarters a secret from the public, so he refrained from asking people for directions. He thought to himself that in a place with few buildings and mostly empty lots, it shouldn't be too hard finding a large mansion, and sure enough, he was proven right.
Walking up to the gate and pushing it open, Mario approached the front door and took a deep breath before knocking on it. "I hope-a theez eez really da place," he told himself.
As Sakura was returning to the living room, she heard someone knocking at the door. Surprised, she said in her mind, "What?! Someone's knocking at the door?! Who can it be?! Nobody's ever knocked at the door before!"
The mansion was believed by the public to be abandoned, so it made sense that nobody ever came to this place, which also made it the perfect place for the zombies to live at. As the person continued to knock on the door, Sakura panicked and wondered what to do. Should she keep quiet and pretend that nobody was home, or should she go and get Kotarou to answer it.
Obviously, she couldn't open it herself, as she didn't have her makeup currently, and even if she did, it would be bad if the public found out where Franchouchou lives.
Just as she was wondering about this, the person out there called out, "Eez anybody home? It's-a me, Mario!"
Sakura's eyes widened when he heard the voice and the person's name. "Mario?!" She then rushed to the door and opened it, and to her surprise, she saw the plumber in red standing out there.
Taking off his hat to greet her, Mario said with a large smile, "Sakura! Surprise to see me?"
"Mario! It really is you!" she said excitedly. "I didn't expect to see you at all!" She then turned to the living room and called out loudly, "Everyone! Mario is here!"
Immediately, the other zombies rushed out of the living room and were as surprised as her to see Mario standing at the doorway. "Mario!" said Lily happily.
"Wow! It really is you!" said Saki excitedly.
"My, what a surprise!" commented Yuugiri.
Mario came inside, and then Sakura closed the door. Everyone gathered around the plumber with excitement and chatted with him. Tae also bit him lightly in the head, or rather, his hat, though he didn't mind at all, as he already knew the mindless zombie's habit.
"Wow! It's so good to see you! I didn't expect you to pop up here at all!" Saki said to him.
"How did you get here?" Ai asked him.
"Same way you used for going to my world and then back-a here!" Mario told her. "Professa E. Gadd managed to establish a link with your world again, and theez time, da Golden Pipe won't-a disappear when used!"
"That means we can go to your world and return whenever we want to?" asked Lily, and the plumber nodded in response.
"All right! We get to go to Mushroom Kingdom again!" exclaimed Saki as she threw her arms into the air. Sakura, Lily, and Tae jumped with joy in response.
"What's with all the noise?!" shouted an annoyed Kotarou as he came down the stairs. "Can't you stupid zombies keep quiet?!" He then saw Mario, and his attitude immediately changed to be nicer-sounding. "Oh, hello there."
The zombies thought he would freak out to see someone else in the mansion, so they were surprised to see that he his response was calm. Mario waved at him and said, "Are you their produca? Eet'z nice to meet-a you! My name eez Mario!"
Soon afterwards, everyone was a the living room. Mario was on the sofa, while Kotarou sat on a couch. Mario had told the producer about how the zombies went to his world and their time there, thus verifying what they told the latter seven weeks ago.
"I never doubted them, actually," Kotarou told Mario. "And also, thank you for looking after them while they were there. I hope they hadn't caused you any trouble."
"Hey, how much trouble can we cause?" an offended Saki asked him.
"Well, there's Tae..." Junko reminded her, though Saki pretended she didn't hear that.
"Don't-a worry; they are very nice girls!" Mario told Kotarou. "They got-a along with everyone there nicely. Even though they are zombies, da people of my world are not-a afraid of them at all!"
"That's good to know," said Kotarou.
"So... do da people here know da truth about these girls yet?" asked Mario.
"We haven't revealed out identities to the public yet," Sakura told him. "However, we did tease them a bit to make them guess, hoping that they will eventually figure it out themselves and potentially make things... For the lack of better terms, less shocking..."
"Well, so long as things are under control, that's-a good," said Mario.
"You have to understand, Mister Mario, that in our world, supernatural concepts such as zombies shouldn't exist," Kotarou told him. "Furthermore, the reputation of zombies aren't all that good thanks to their portrayal in medias. Who knows what sort of backlash and panic may result from the idols' identities being exposed. That said, I do understand that they cannot hide themselves forever, but rest assure that I have everything under control and am prepared for the day when this comes."
"Why don't you just spill it out what you have in mind already?" Saki said to him in a annoyed tone, but Kotarou ignored her.
"I can tell that-a you wish da best for theez girls," Mario said to the producer. "Anyway, I am wondering if da idols have any interest in visiting my world again, since the connection between our worlds have been reestablished, so traveling between da two at all times eez no longer an issue."
"Hell yeah! We're going!" said Saki excitedly.
"Lily wants to go to again!" said Lily excitedly. Tae let out an excited-sounding cry as well.
"I would totally love to!" said Sakura.
"It would be great!" said Junko.
"Why not? It's not like we have anything to do around these days," said Ai.
"I would love to go back there too!" said Yuugiri.
"Well, if you zombies really want to, then go ahead," Kotarou said to them. "Just remember not to be away for too long. You are still needed back here."
"You're really letting us go?" Sakura asked Kotarou, who nodded in response.
"Like I said, there are no idol events in these coming days, so if you have nothing to do, go ahead and have fun," the producer told her.
Sakura was excited to hear this, as well as her companions. "Thank you very much, Tatsumi!"
That night, the zombies were ready to go to the Mushroom Kingdom with Mario. They chose to leave at night because there were little to no people outside during this time of the day. It was also for this reason they decided not to put on makeups. They were dressed in their "default" school uniforms. In Yuugiri and Tae's cases, it's Japanese clothing and nun clothing respectively.
After packing a bit of luggage containing clothing, the zombies all gathered at the front door of the mansion with Mario. Romero was going with them as well. Kotarou was there to see them off. "We're leaving now, Tatsumi," Sakura said to him.
"Have fun," he told them.
"Why don't you come with us?" Lily asked him. "I'm sure you can use a bit of vacation."
"It's all right. I need to stay here and look after the mansion and also prepare for your future events," the producer told them.
"Well, don't miss us too much," Saki said to him.
"Rest assure that they will all be safe under my protection!" Mario told the producer.
The zombies said good-bye to their producer before stepping outside with Mario. Once out there, they hurriedly ran in the direction of the sewer. "Quick! Let's-a get there before anyone sees us!" said Mario.
"I don't think we'll run into anyone during this time of the day," said Saki. She was proven wrong when suddenly a policeman holding a flashlight appeared before them, shining the light onto them. A look of horror appeared on the zombies' faces as they realized it was the same policeman who constantly ran into them.
The policeman just stared at them without saying anything, and then he said, "Screw this... I'll just pretend its a bad dream like always..." Then he turned around and walked away.
The zombies and Mario were confused about his behavior. "Wow... He sure took-a theez very easily..." commented the plumber. "Eez he someone you know?"
"We have run-ins with him rather often... Guess he's used to this..." said Sakura.
"I'm surprised he hasn't spread the word about us yet..." said Ai.
The group pressed forward until they arrived at the manhole Mario came out of. Looking around to make sure nobody was watching, they jumped inside and made their way through the place until they came across the Golden Pipe. The zombies were glad to see the large shiny pipe sticking out of the wall, with rainbow-colored light pouring out from within it. "It really is the Golden Pipe!" said Junko happily.
"It is good to see it again!" said Yuugiri.
"How did you manage to make it not disappear?" Ai asked Mario.
"It turns out that-a as long as there eez something in eet, eet'll never disappear," Mario told them. He then pointed at what appeared to be a lengthy tape at the side of the pipe wall. "You see theez tape? E. Gadd prepared theez super long tape for me to carry all da way here and tape-a eet here so that there eez always something inside da pipe to keep-a eet from disappearing."
"Huh, that's an easy solution," commented Lily.
"Anyway, let's-a go!" Mario told them. He was going to go inside the pipe when Ai brought up something.
"Wait, won't we get separated again like last time?" she asked him.
"Don't-a worry about-a that!" Mario told her. "Theez tape will serve as a barricade to keep-a uz traveling togetha! We will definitely arrive at Mushroom Kingdom togetha!"
"You sure?" asked a skeptical Ai.
"Oh, come on! Stop worrying so much, will ya?!" Saki said to her. "They've put all their effort into making our reunion possible, so nothing will definitely go wrong."
"Fine, fine..." grumbled Ai.
Mario then went into the pipe, immediately followed by everyone else. They were greeted with the same rainbow scenery they saw when they first entered the pipe back then, and it was still a sight that amazed them. "I still get amazed by how beautiful this is!" said Junko.
"Indeed, I can never get tired of this sight!" said Yuugiri.
"Okay, we're going for da slide now," Mario said to them. "Here we go!" He then sat down and moved forward to slide down the pipe. Seeing this, the other zombies sat down before sliding down the pipe one by one.
The group of eight, or nine if one includes Romero, traveled down the pipe at a fast speed and traveled in paths that winded up and down and left and right. Thanks to the tape to their left side serving as a makeshift barrier, they all stayed in the same path, even when they came to a fork that separated them previously.
After about a minute of sliding around at a fast speed, they all shot out of the pipe and were greeted with the night sky once again. Mario landed in front of the pipe, while everyone else landed around him and the pipe. All except Sakura and Junko landed on their feet; those two landed on their rear ends.
"We're here!" said Mario.
Looking around, the zombies saw streetlights lighting up the night scenery of Toad Town. There were lights coming out from within the windows, and they could see a couple of Toads walking around the place. As it was nighttime, there were few people outside at the moment.
"Great to see this place again!" said Saki happily as she took some steps forward while looking around. "Nothing's change!"
"Well, it's been only seven weeks. I doubt anything would change," Sakura said to her while standing back up.
"By da way, da princess knows you are coming today, so she reserved for you girls a room at a five-star hotel to stay at," Mario told them.
"Five-star hotel?! Wow! That's great!" exclaimed Lily.
"What does five-star mean?" asked Yuugiri.
Turning to her, Lily explained, "It means the hotel is very luxurious and high quality. Famous and rich people usually stay in those kinds of hotels."
"I will then tell da princess about-a you, and she will go to da hotel to meet-a you," Mario said to them.
"I can't wait to see Princess Peach again!" said Sakura with enthusiasm.
The plumber led down through the place, and they ran across a Toad. "Hey Mario! Didn't expect to see you out here during this time of the night," the Toad said to him in a high-pitched, raspy voice.
"Good-a evening, Toad!" Mario said to him. "Look who I brought-a with me!" He pointed his hand at the zombies, who waved back at him.
Toad leaned forward to get a better look, as it was nighttime, and the streetlights didn't actually help makes things any better. He freaked out when he saw what they were. "ZOMBIES!"
The zombies were surprised by his response, and then Saki said to him, "Have you forgotten who we are?!"
Toad took a better look again and then said, "Oh! It's you girls! You're back?! Wow! I didn't expect this!"
"Mario didn't tell you we were coming back today?" Sakura asked him.
"Yeah, I didn't tell him," Mario said to her. "Only a few people know about-a theez, as I want-a to keep eet a secret."
Toad walked up to the zombies and stretched out his hand to shake Saki's. "Nice to see you girls back here again!" he happily said to them. "All this time, we have been talking a lot about how awesome you girls are and how much we wanted to see you again! Your merchandises sold really well!"
"Our merchandises?" asked Ai curiously.
Toad nodded. "Yeah, after your awesome performance, many merchandises with your pictures printed on were sold. They went out of stock in a short amount of time!"
"Wow! We're that famous and well-loved here? I can't believe it!" said Sakura happily.
"You better believe it!" Toad said to her. "I actually bought some and kept them at home. I can show you them if you want to!"
"We can save that-a for tomorrow, for we need-a to go their hotel da princess reserved for them," Mario told him.
"Okay, we'll meet again tomorrow!" said Toad. "Hope you girls have a fun time here again!"
"We will!" Sakura said to him.
They waved good-bye to Toad and then followed Mario through the place to get to the castle. Along the way, they met some passing by Toads who recognized them, so they stopped for a few seconds to greet them, with the promise that they would meet again more properly in the morning.
Mario took the zombies to a tall and grand building with a golden mushroom cap at the top. The interior of the building was even more spectacular, with beautiful and high quality decorations everywhere. There was even a fountain in the middle of the lobby.
"Wow! This place looks so beautiful!" said Sakura in awe.
"I can't believe we're going to stay in this kind of place!" said Saki happily.
"When I was still alive, I've stayed in five-star hotels before, so this isn't actually new to me," Junko told them.
"Good for you, since my idol group and I never got to stay in such places like this," said Ai in response.
Mario went up to the front desk and told the receptionist about the room that was reserved under Peach's name. The receptionist took a few seconds to look up the name and then confirmed that the princess did indeed reserve a room for the Franchouchou. After receiving the key to the room, Mario told the zombies that they could go to their rooms now.
The zombies were excited to hear this, and then a hotel staff came over and said that he would guide them to their room and even offered to help carry their luggage, though they declined and said that they could do it by themselves. The hotel staff then guided the zombies and Mario to an elevator and rode it to the highest floor, the tenth floor.
After arriving there, the zombies were taken to their room, or rather, suite. When the door was open, they were greeted with a large and beautiful suite. It had a living room, a kitchen, and two bedrooms, each of them containing a total of four king-sized beds.
"Wow! We're going to live here?! I can't believe it!" said Sakura with sparkling eyes.
"What a wonderful living quarters!" commented Yuugiri.
Lily and Saki wasted no time and throwing their luggage onto the sofa and then running around the place to explore. The hotel staff gave them a brief introduction of the various aspects of the room and how to use certain pieces of equipment. After he was done, he asked, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Can you please contact Princess Peach and let-a them know that-a Franchouchou eez here?" Mario asked him. "She will definitely come over once she learns of theez."
"I will do it right away, sir. I hope you enjoy your stay here!" said the hotel staff before leaving the room.
Mario then turned to the zombies and said, "I hope theez place is suitable for you!"
"It's more than perfect! It's grander than the ones I've stayed at when I was alive!" said Junko. "Thank you so much for preparing such a place for us!"
"You should thank da princess when she come!" Mario told her with a smile.
"Man! Check out the bathroom! The bath tub is like a miniature swimming pool!" said Saki as she poked her head out of the bathroom.
"The bed is so cushy and comfortable!" said Lily happily as he lied down on one of the beds and moved his arms and legs as if trying to create an angel imprint. Tae was on another bed, bouncing up and down on it.
"Never I thought I would be able to be in this kind of place!" said Ai as she plopped down onto the cushy sofa.
"We really are fortunate, aren't we?" Yuugiri asked her.
Saki turned to Mario and asked him, "So... what's new while we were gone?"
"Nothing new, really," replied Mario. "Life eez still da same as usual."
"Is Bowser still an issue?" the blonde zombie asked him. "You claim he is still somehow alive after we kicked his butt."
Mario shrugged. "Haven't seen him since you defeated him that-a time, so I don't-a know. I wouldn't be surprised eef he eez still alive and plotting something, though."
"Well, tell him to come! We'll be sure to give him a beating again!" said Saki with confidence while flexing an arm.
The phone then rang, and Junko picked it up. "Hello? Yes... Okay, we'll go down there soon!" She hung up the phone and said to the others, "The receptionist said she's contacted the princess, who is on her way here."
"That's great!" said Sakura happily.
"Then let's-a get ready to go down there to meet-a her!" said Mario.
The zombies and Mario arrived at the lobby, where they saw Peach, Toadsworth, and some soldiers arriving at the same moment. Approaching the latter group, Mario took off his hat and bowed down before Peach, and the zombies did the same. "Sorry that I took-a so long," Mario said to her.
"It's all right. I'm sure there were complications in getting them here," Peach said to him.
"It's an honor to meet you again, princess!" Ai said to Peach.
"It's great to see you girls again! You may raise your heads now!" Peach said to them, and they did so. "I welcome you to Mushroom Kingdom again! I hope you will enjoy your stay here like last time!"
"Thank you for inviting us back here, princess!" Sakura happily said to her.
Romero ran up to Toadsworth, who bent down to pick him up. "My good boy! It's great to see you again!" the elder Toad happily said to him. The zombie dog happily wagged his tail and also licked him in the face. "Heheh! It's a good thing you can't turn people into zombies with licks or even anything!"
Toadsworth then looked up to see Tae looking at him. "Well, we meet again, young lady," he said to her with a not so impressed look. "I hope you have learned to behave yourself this time." Tae nodded in response. "I'll take that as a yes. I do hope you act more like a real lady this time around, even if you still cannot speak."
"Don't worry; we'll keep an eye on her," Sakura assured him.
"Your performance left quite an impact on the people here. They all love you!" Peach told the zombies. "They don't know that you are returning, so I'm sure your appearance will definitely be a huge surprise tomorrow!"
"We're looking forward to seeing their faces!" said an enthusiastic Saki.
"If they want to, we will hold a performance for them again," said Ai. "We brought some discs containing songs we can use to play during the performances!"
"I'm sure the citizens will definitely enjoy it! We look forward to seeing you perform again!" Peach said to them.
"We won't disappoint you, princess!" Sakura said to her.
"By the way, this may be a bit sudden, but I'm going on a trip two days from now," Peach said to them. "Since you are still considered new to this world, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me and discover more things about this world. I'm going to New Donk City, the capital of Metro Kingdom, and then to a popular vacation hot spot called Isle Delfino after that."
Mario said to the zombies, "Luigi and I are going with da princess too. Theez eez a great opportunity, so I recommend-a eet!"
"Really? We can go with you?" asked Junko, and Peach nodded.
"You are more than welcome to accompany me! In fact, I actually wish that you will go!" Peach said to her.
"How can we give no for an answer? We're definitely tagging along!" said Saki.
"Lily wants to go too!" said Lily excitedly.
"All right! We'll be leaving two days from now!" Peach told them. "In the meantime, please enjoy your stay here! I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you tomorrow!"
Peach, her men, and Mario eventually left, returning to their places to turn in for the night, while the zombies returned to their suite. "All right! We're going on a trip soon!" said Lily happily while throwing his arms into the air.
"A trip within a trip... How funny!" commented Sakura.
"Can't wait to see all the excited faces of the people when they see us tomorrow! It's going to be a blast!" said Saki happily.
Looking at the clock, Ai saw that it was already ten at night. "In that case, let's hit the sack now if we want to get to tomorrow quick."
"We haven't taken a bath yet, so I'm going to go take one now," said Junko.
"Oh yeah! Let's all take a bath together!" suggested Saki. "I'm sure the bath tub should be able to fit us all!"
"No thanks... I looked at the bath tub earlier, and six people is too much..." Ai said to her.
"Six? You mean seven?" Saki said to her.
"Yes, six," Ai assured her with a nod, and then she shifted her eyes to Lily. "Because I'm very sure Lily has enough chivalry to not get into bath with us..."
"Though like I said before, I don't mind, since Lady Lily is just a child," said Yuugiri with a smile as she eyed the young zombie, who politely declined while waving his hand, all the while blushing a bit.
The next morning, the zombies, wearing their "public performance" clothing, the ones with number designations on their shirts, had waken up from their good night's sleep. They were even treated with breakfast taken straight to their suite by the hotel staff.
After finishing up their delicious breakfast, they began making their way out of the building. Taking the lead, Saki said to her companions, "So... ready to take on the world?"
"If you mean greeting our fans, sure!" said Sakura with a nod happily. "I can't wait to see how everyone will react upon seeing us!"
"Lily is looking forward to this!" said Lily with enthusiasm.
The zombies made their way out of the hotel's front door, and the moment they stepped out, they were greeted with a large number of Mushroom Kingdom citizens standing out there, some of them holding signs that displayed welcome messages. "WELCOME BACK, FRANCHOUCHOU!" they all shouted.
The zombies were surprised to see this, as they did not expect the townsfolk to come over to surprise them. "Wow! They've already prepared to welcome us!" said Junko.
"How did word spread out so fast?!" said Ai in shock.
The crowd then parted way for Peach to come forward with Toadsworth. "Good morning, Franchouchou!" she cheerfully greeted them. "I hope you had a good sleep last night!"
"We did, princess!" Sakura told her.
"You see, I actually made an announcement yesterday that you all were coming back, so the townsfolk happily prepared to meet you," Peach explained to them. "Since you didn't show up the during the day, they thought you were likely arriving at night, so they decided to give you this surprise today instead. I hope you like it!"
"We love it!" said Saki happily. "Nothing makes us happier than being welcomed by our fans!"
The zombies stepped forward as the crowd closed in around them to greet them.
"Welcome back, Franchouchou!"
"We miss you so much!"
"It's so great to see you again!"
"You girls are as beautiful as always!"
"I love you! Please take a picture with me!"
"Please shake hands with me!"
"Can you dance and sing for us anytime soon?"
The zombies happily greeted their fans and interacted with them. Junko showed embarrassment and even slight fear, however, and hid behind Yuugiri, though she still smiled and waved at those who wanted to greet her. She was still not used to interacting with her fans up close.
Some children were happily gathered around Tae as the she lifted one of them into the air. The young Toad lifted into the air happily laughed as he looked down at the zombie playing with him. He was even more excited when she placed him onto her shoulders to give him a ride. The other kids jumped up and down happily, begging to ride on her as well.
Seeing this and feeling happy for Tae, Sakura said, "Looks like you're really popular with children, Tae!"
Some people even played with Romero, and the zombie dog enjoyed their company.
For the rest of the day, Franchouchou traveled around, greeting and interacting with the people. They soon held a miniature concert at the park, where they used a radio provided by someone to play some of their songs so that they could dance to them.
The audiences watched with great joy, cheering for them and clapping their hands. The zombies were having a great time performing for them and also enjoying the appreciation they were getting.
Later, the zombies were shown the merchandises created based on them. Such merchandises included cups, shirts, towels, figurines and more.
Saki thought it was great to have her face plastered onto several things, and she especially liked that there were figurines of her. Junko seemed to have issues with her figurines, however, and even felt embarrassed that such things were made.
After a long day of playing out in town, the zombies were going to return to their hotel. On their way back, Saki said, "Man! What a day! I had lots of fun today!" She then held up the figurine of herself. "And I even got something cool! They sure put in a lot of effort into making a toy of me look really awesome!"
"Lily agrees too!" said Lily, looking at a figurine of himself. He then removed the head. "They even made the head and limbs removable!" He then turned to Yuugiri, who was looking at her own figurine. The courtesan had an unimpressed look as she removed its head. "You don't have to remove it if you feel uncomfortable about it, Sister Yuugiri..."
"I'm not sure how I feel about this..." said Junko while looking at her own figurine. She looked underneath the skirt to see that it was just flat surface there with no details. "At least they omitted the embarrassing parts..."
The group then ran into Mario and Luigi, and the green plumber happily greeted them.
"How wuz your day today?" the red plumber asked them.
"It was great!" Saki said to him. "Where have you two been all day?"
"We were busy with plumba work," Mario told them. "But good thing we're taking a break to go on vacation with Peach tomorrow. You're coming along, right?"
"You bet we are!" replied the blonde zombie happily.
"I hope-a you look forward to eet!" Mario said to them. "We'll be leaving at morning around eleven. Da princess told-a uz to go to her castle to wait-a for her."
"Okay, we'll be ready by then," Ai told them.
"I'm sure eet'll be a great trip!" Mario said to them.
"By the way, we haven't seen Professor E. Gadd yet," Yuugiri said to plumber. "We would like to thank him for making it possible for us to return again."
"Professa E. Gadd went traveling," Luigi told her. "I'm sure you'll be able to thank him some otha time."
The next morning, the Mario Bros. and the zombies gathered at Peach's castle, and then the princess came out with Toadsworth and some servants to take them to the transportation device that would take them to New Donk City.
When they arrived at the transportation device, Junko turned completely pale, more so than the paler parts of her skin, upon seeing what it was.
Why?
Because they were going to ride an airplane.
TO BE CONTINUED
Welcome to the sequel to Zombies' Superstar Saga! I'm sure all of you have been waiting for this! Thank you for your patience! This story has officially begun! I'm sure this will be a lot more exciting than the first installment, so please look forward to things!
I don't really have that much ideas with Get With the Times! currently, so don't really expect any more chapters from that in the coming days, unless new ideas suddenly come to me. As for Justice on Two Worlds... Let's just say I will still work on that, but just don't expect fast updates for it, okay?
In case you haven't figured it out, the beginning of the story with the Koopalings takes place around the same time as when Bowser and Franchouchou first met. Remember Kamek saying they went on a mission, and later in the post credit scene, they returned to report to Bowser their findings? Yeah, the beginning is detailing what they were doing on their mission. I hope I made things clear.