Author's Notes: Hello, everyone! Welcome to the first episode of the series that I'm writing, Caelestis Alpha. If you're familiar with the TV show Stargate, this story is basically where a Stargate is discovered on the Mushroom World. You don't need to know a thing about Stargate in order to read this story, though! This story (and its sequels) will be written in an episodic format and will feature several crossovers with various other franchises. There are a few more things I should note before beginning the story. First, this takes place in a timeline where the Galaxy games never happened. Second, in this timeline, the Baby Mario Bros got stuck in the future at the end of Partners in Time (that'll be explained further in the story). Third, I bumped up the technology level of the Mushroom Kingdom compared to what we usually see in the main games. Considering Super Mario Galaxy's intergalactic airships and galaxy reactors, I don't think I went too overboard with this (the Mushroom Kingdom in this story is a bit more advanced than the modern-day US). There will still be extensive use of magic, such as power-ups, alongside technology. Fourth, the name of the Mushroom World in this story is Plit; it's a fanon term that was used on the now-defunct Lemmy's Land website. Any and all criticism is welcomed. Enjoy!
An explosion shot through the mountain as the Bob-omb placed at the end of the tunnel detonated, revealing another chamber within the ancient fortress.
Several Human guards quickly moved into the uncovered chamber, using their flashlights to penetrate the dust caused by the explosion and see if there was anything inside. After a couple seconds, one of them said, "Clear," and a small group of Toads and Koopas moved in.
"We finally made it," a Koopa who seemed to be the leader of the expedition said. "We've known for decades that a secret chamber existed inside this mountain-fortress, but we've never found it."
"Until now," another Koopa, who was the first Koopa's assistant, said. This Koopa wore a blue shell and a red bandana, making it obvious who he was; he was Kooper, a Koopa living in Koopa Village who helped Mario defeat Bowser when the Koopa King had stolen the Star Rod and became invincible.
"It'll take a while for the dust to clear," the lead Koopa said. "Set up just outside and prepare to do a survey."
"Uh, professor…?" a Toad nervously said. The Koopa professor and Kooper ran up to him.
"What is it?" Kooper asked. He looked to where the Toad was looking, and his jaw dropped in awe. "Woah…"
At the far end of the room, a large ring stood upright, elevated above the rest of the room on a large ramp. The ring was completely smooth and silver in color, and was composed of two main parts; the outer ring, which had eleven chevrons on it facing forward into the ring spaced equidistant from each other, and the inner ring, which was much thinner than the outer ring and divided into ten sections, each one having a number from zero to nine on it. A couple of meters from the ring was a floating sphere with two curved objects floating to the sides of it. There was an indent on the top of the sphere, where a remote-like device was sitting. The small, curved structures and the sphere were both dark yellow in color.
Kooper began asking, "Is…is that-?!"
"I think it is," the Koopa professor said.
"But…but that's a myth!" Kooper said.
"Not anymore," the Koopa said. The three continued to stare at the ring for a couple seconds, when the Koopa said, "Oh, yes. I'm winning a Nobel Prize."
A large, black, triangular-shaped building served as the headquarters for the Mushroom Kingdom's army and defense forces. This building was named the MKDC, which stood for Mushroom Kingdom Defense Command. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi walked up to the entrance, showed their security passes to a Toad guard, and entered the building.
Baby Mario and Baby Luigi were the younger versions of the Mushroom Kingdom's two heroes, Mario and Luigi. In the year 2003, Professor Elvin Gadd built a time machine, which Princess Peach used to go back to the year 1973, when the Shroobs, a race of extraterrestrials looking for a new home, were invading the Mushroom Kingdom. She was captured by the Shroobs, and Mario and Luigi followed her to the past to rescue her. The two older Marios met up with their baby selves, and the four Marios teamed up to rescue Peach. After defeating the monarch of the Shroobs and rescuing Peach, the babies went with the older Marios to the present, and the rips in time caused by Peach being kidnapped were mended, leaving them stranded in this time.
They created lives for themselves in the 2000s. Baby Mario, eager to become as good a fighter as his older self was, trained at the Toad Town Dojo with the Master, becoming an expert in fighting. He then began going with Mario and Luigi on adventures whenever Bowser attacked, and he also began participating in tennis tournaments and go-kart races. His success at such an early age caused him to become somewhat cocky and even a bit arrogant, differentiating his personality from the older Mario.
Meanwhile, Baby Luigi was fascinated by the time machine, and resolved to learn more about science and technology. E. Gadd took the new arrival to this time under his wing, and within a few months, Baby Luigi was an expert at physics. He also accompanied Mario, Luigi, and Baby Mario on adventures, frequently coming up with solutions to tough problems they encounter. Baby Luigi is a master at both the theoretical and the experimental, and he considers himself both a physicist and an engineer.
It was said that even if you could grow a perfect clone of someone, they wouldn't be the same as that person, because the clone would have different experiences and a different environment from that person. It would seem that the case of the Marios/Baby Marios proved that. If it weren't for the time traveling, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi would be 41 by now; yet, because of the journey through time, they had essentially skipped over thirty years and were only 11 years old. They basically just looked like younger versions of Mario and Luigi. However, they were much more intelligent than the average 11 year old. Legend states that every century, seven stars fall from the sky and enter the hearts of seven children, granting them extraordinary power and intelligence. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi were two of these Star Children, which explained why they were so much more powerful and intelligent than other children their age. Even though they weren't exactly babies anymore, they still just called themselves the Baby Mario Bros, to distinguish themselves from the older Mario Bros.
Baby Mario and Baby Luigi made it to the top of MKDC, where they showed their security passes to yet another guard, and entered a large rectangular meeting room with red carpet and a large wooden table. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toadsworth, the lead Koopa from before, Kooper, General White (a Bob-omb general who helped Mario get to the moon during the X-Naut campaign), and several security guards were in the room.
"Ah, Masters Baby Mario and Baby Luigi!" Toadsworth said. "Please, come in and have a seat."
"Thanks," Baby Mario said.
"Alright!" Peach said. "Now that everyone is here, let's get started."
The major figures in the room all sat down at the table. "So, what's this about?" Baby Mario asked.
General White spoke up. "A couple of weeks ago, Professor Karter Koopa, along with his assistant, Kooper, led an expedition into the ancient Koopa mountain-fortress of Sandsword. He discovered a chamber that has been lost for over a millennium, and inside, found something amazing."
Professor Karter said, "Well, I don't think 'amazing' quite describes this! Are any of you familiar with the Caelestis?"
"It's an ancient, mythological device," Baby Luigi said. "The legend says that it was used for interplanetary travel by ancient Koopas, until some sort of disaster overtook them. The Caelestis was then sealed away."
"Yes, that's right!" Kooper said. "Except for the part where you said that it was mythological."
"Wait," Mario said, "you mean that the Koopas actually went to other planets thousands of years ago, using this Caelestis thing?"
"Yeah!" Kooper said.
"That's impossible," Baby Luigi said. "No evidence has ever been found to support that-"
"Until now," Professor Karter said. "We found the Caelestis."
Silence overtook the room. Eventually, Luigi asked, "H-how?"
"It was in that secret chamber we discovered," Professor Karter said. "We've deciphered most of the writing in that room, and we think we've found out how it works."
"There are billions of Caelestis throughout the galaxy," Kooper said. "Each one has a unique eleven-digit identifier number. There's a sort of 'remote' that allows a Caelestis to 'dial' another Caelestis, if you know its identifier number, creating a portal between them."
"Wait, do you mean a wormhole?" Baby Luigi asked.
"The translation could mean either," Kooper said.
"Wow. This is huge," Baby Luigi said. "If I'm understanding this correctly, you can use one Caelestis to dial another Caelestis on another planet lightyears away. A wormhole will form between the two Caelestis, facilitating instant travel between planets!"
"That's our understanding as well," Professor Karter said.
"…Wow," Baby Luigi said. "So, using the Caelestis, we could instantly go to other planets and explore them!" After a moment, he asked, "What are the power requirements?"
"We're not sure," Kooper said. "From what we're able to decipher, we think that the other object we discovered near the Caelestis provides all the power for the wormhole."
"We've already discovered the identifier for the last Caelestis that this one was connected to," Professor Karter said. "It was in the remote that you use to dial the Caelestis; apparently, that planet was the last one that the ancient Koopas went to before sealing away the Caelestis. We'd like to explore it."
"…Wow. Exploring another planet?" Princess Peach said. "What about aliens like the Shroobs?"
"That's why we're going to go, too!" Mario said.
"Wait…we?" Luigi repeated.
"Of course!" Mario said. "We're the Super Mario Bros!"
"Umm…thanks, Mario, but…I think I may have left the oven on, and…"
"Come on, Luigi! Don't chicken out on this," Mario said. "The chance to explore another planet. That's got to be exciting, even for you!"
"But…aw, fine."
"So, it's settled," Peach said. "Professor Karter and Kooper will lead an expedition to this planet, with backup from Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi."
"Let's add the Yoshi Squadron," Baby Luigi said. "They're good at covering our backs."
"Alright then," Peach said.
"I'm just concerned about if Bowser attacks while we're gone," Baby Mario said.
"Don't worry, Baby Mario," General White said. "Those of us in the Mushroom Kingdom military have been training. We're ready for anything now."
"Oh, yeah," Baby Luigi said, "how are we going to get back? Do we know the identifier for our Caelestis?"
"We do," Professor Karter said. "It was one of the first things we deciphered. It's two zero-zero four, eight two nine four, four six four."
"That's kinda tough to remember," Baby Mario said.
"We'll write it down," Mario said.
"Alright," Peach said. "It's a go."
Baby Mario and a security guard entered Peach's Castle. "This way, sir," the guard said. They entered a room of the castle that was out of the way and hadn't been used for years.
"Sure this is the way?" Baby Mario asked.
"Positive," the guard said.
"Okay," Baby Mario said. They went down a long hallway, and down a flight of stairs, until they came to a door with a keypad next to it.
"If you'll swipe your card there…" the guard said. Baby Mario nodded, took out his security card, and swiped it on the keypad. The guard then entered a four-digit combination, and the door opened. They entered into an elevator, where the guard entered another passcode and pressed a button. The elevator began descending at over thirty miles per hour, with g-forces threatening to splat Baby Mario into the ceiling. After a couple seconds, they abruptly stopped, and the elevator door opened. They exited and approached another door with a keypad. "Again," the guard said. Baby Mario shrugged and swiped his card again, upon which the guard entered a different four-digit combination, and the door unlocked. They entered into a massive underground complex, with people running around everywhere. The walls were made out of bright steel plating. The room had a large table in the middle, and had a green carpet.
"Woah…" Baby Mario said.
"Baby Mario," General White said, "welcome to the Caelestis Agency."
Baby Mario turned to face him, and saw Mario and Baby Luigi standing next to the Bob-omb general. "Wow. This is a…pretty big place," Baby Mario said. "How long did it take to build?"
"Not long," Baby Luigi said. "You know how fourteen years ago, Bowser used the Star Rod to lift both his and Peach's castles into the atmosphere? That caused a giant cave network to form underneath the castle, and we just excavated the rest of it out."
Baby Mario walked a couple feet forward, towards a glass window overlooking another part of the facility. There was the Caelestis, sitting on a ramp with several technicians working around it.
"So that's the Caelestis," Baby Mario said, "the thing that'll let us cross lightyears in moments."
"Yep," Baby Luigi said. "We've managed to interface it with our systems."
"Didn't Professor Karter say there was another thing with the Caelestis?" Baby Mario asked.
"The control sphere," General White said. "It's in the control room, one level below."
"Let's see it," Baby Mario said. They went down a stairwell and came to the main control room of the Caelestis Agency. At the front of the room was another glass window which overlooked the Caelestis. At the back were several computers, with wires hooked up to them which went through the walls and connected them and the Caelestis. In the middle of the room was the floating sphere and the two curved objects floating to the sides of it, with multiple wires hooked up to them. Baby Mario stepped up to the sphere, grabbed the remote that was embedded into the top of it, and began examining it.
"We've determined that that's how you dial other Caelestis," Baby Luigi said. "You enter the identifier number into the remote, put it back into its slot on the sphere, and place your hands over the sphere. It then sends a signal to the Caelestis, telling it which Caelestis in the galaxy to open a wormhole to."
"Neat," Baby Mario said.
Mario came up and said, "We're just about getting ready to leave. We've got all the equipment that the archaeological team will need, and tons of power-ups."
"Great!" Baby Mario said. "What kind?"
"The usual," Mario said. "Fire Flowers, Cape Feathers, and more."
"Let's head up to the briefing room," General White said. "Professor Karter and his team are waiting."
The four took the stairwell up a level, and took seats at the table. Luigi, Professor Karter, Kooper, six other archaeologists and researchers, and the Yoshi Squadron were already sitting.
The Yoshi Squadron was a team of four young Yoshis who had banded together to defeat Bowser when he threatened Yoshi's Island several years ago. After defeating him, they decided to become a team dedicated to battling the Koopas. There was Quake, a yellow Yoshi with super strength, Flare, a red Yoshi with the ability to spit super-hot fire, Zipper, a light blue Yoshi with the ability of super speed, and Colorful, a dark blue Yoshi with the ability to make whatever he draws come to life.
"Ten-hut!" Quake said. The Yoshi Squadron saluted as General White, Mario, and the Baby Mario Bros. entered the room.
"At ease," General White said. The Squadron broke the salute and sat down.
"They're not even in the military," Baby Luigi whispered to Baby Mario. "They just like doing that."
The four new arrivals took seats at the table. "Now," General White began, "the purpose of this mission is for Professor Karter and his team to explore this new planet that we have the Caelestis combination to. The Mario Bros, Baby Mario Bros, and Yoshi Squadron will provide backup, in case there are any hostile aliens on the planet. If there are, you need to get back to Plit as soon as possible. With the Koopas building up their military, we cannot afford an invasion. "
"What if the aliens follow us through?" Baby Mario asked.
"We'll have defense teams on standby at all times," General White said. "Now, does everyone remember the identifier for Plit's Caelestis?"
"Ehhh…" Baby Mario said. "It begins with 2004. Can't remember the rest."
Colorful said, "The rest is eight two nine four-four six four."
"Each of you will have to memorize the code," General White said. "If something happens off-world and you're the only one to make it back to the Caelestis, you'll need that code to get home."
"Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to remember it," Baby Mario said.
"Good. Let's do this," General White said. The group got up and went back down to the control room. Mario stepped up to the floating sphere and picked the remote up from it.
Professor Karter said, "Enter the numbers into the remote as I say them. Seven four eight five nine, zero six seven four, two three." Mario entered the digits and placed the remote back in its spot. He then placed his hands over the sphere, and both the sphere and the two curved objects floating to the sides lit up, along with the chevrons on the Caelestis. A completely dark blue wall of energy formed inside of the Caelestis, originating in the center and quickly spreading across the entire interior of the Caelestis. The energy then faded to show a desert landscape. There were some cacti a couple meters away, and the dialing sphere for that Caelestis was also nearby. There was a slight change in the pressure and temperature of the Caelestis Agency as air and heat began to flow through the Caelestis between the two worlds.
"So the Caelestis we're going to is in a desert?" Baby Mario asked.
"Seems like that," Baby Luigi said. "The dialing sphere on the other planet looks to be intact. We should be good to go."
"Good luck," General White said.
"Thanks," Mario and Professor Karter said at the same time.
"Let's start getting equipment loaded up onto vehicles," Kooper said. All of the expedition's equipment was loaded onto robotic transport vehicles, and sent through the Caelestis first. After three vehicles went through, Professor Karter went up to the event horizon, with Baby Luigi at his side.
"What do you think it'll feel like to go through this wormhole?" Professor Karter asked.
"Nothing," Baby Luigi said. "Wormholes bridge two places in the universe together. Think of it like opening a door in your house and stepping through. You won't feel a thing."
"If you say so," Professor Karter said. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped through. Baby Luigi quickly followed, as did the other members of the expedition.
As Karter stepped out onto the alien desert landscape, he nearly tripped over himself, surprised at how uneventful the journey was. He took a couple steps forward and examined the area as Baby Luigi, Mario, the Yoshi Squadron, and then Luigi and the rest of the members of the expedition started coming through.
"Get set up, guys," Quake said. The archaeologists nodded and began setting up their research equipment.
"Wow," Karter said. "I can't believe I'm actually on an alien planet."
General White stood in front of the Caelestis on the Plit side. Baby Luigi stood right in front of the wormhole on his side and said, "We'll dial Plit from this side to confirm that the Caelestis here is working. If we can't make a connection within five minutes, dial back and we'll come back through the wormhole.
"Got it," General White said. Baby Luigi stepped to the dialing device on his side of the wormhole, and placed both hands over the sphere. The sphere stopped glowing, and the wormhole disengaged.
Baby Luigi then grabbed the remote and input the numbers for Plit's Caelestis. "Let's see…2004, eighty-two ninety-four, four sixty-four." He put the remote back and placed his hands over the sphere. Once again, dark blue energy burst into existence inside the Caelestis, then faded to show the Caelestis Agency on the other side.
"It worked," Baby Luigi said to General White, who was still standing on the other side.
Baby Mario stepped up to the event horizon and said, "Every twenty-four hours, we'll dial back and tell you what's goin' on. If we don't, dial here yourselves. If you can't make radio contact with us, then I recommend burying the Caelestis. Like you said, we can't afford an alien invasion right now."
"Let's hope we don't have to do that," General White said through the wormhole. "Good luck."
Baby Mario nodded as Baby Luigi put his hands over the sphere once more and severed the wormhole connection.
"Okay, let's make camp," Mario said.
"We'll begin a soil analysis," Karter said.
"Good idea," Baby Mario said. "Always do the soil analysis first."
"…Right," Karter said. He went with the rest of the archaeologists, including Kooper, and began working, while the Marios and the Yoshi Squadron pitched tents.
A couple hours later, night began descending over the desert. Professor Karter's analysis of the sand turned up nothing anomalous, and the group went to sleep. The next day, they woke up and started deconstructing the tents.
"So," Baby Mario said, "what's the agenda for today?"
"Explore," Mario said. "Let's see if we can find some of the natives."
"Alright then. The sun rises this way," Baby Mario pointed to his left, "so let's call that east. Let's explore east." The rest of the group agreed, and they set off in that direction.
A couple of hours later, they reached a grassland. Mario and Luigi scaled a mountain, and spotted a settlement in the distance. The group reached the settlement just as the sun reached its peak.
"Kooper should handle contact with the natives," Professor Karter said. "He's become an expert in ancient languages, and he's somewhat of a diplomat."
"Alright then," Mario said.
They entered the village, and saw that all the inhabitants were Humans. "They're certainly not Shroobs," Baby Mario said.
"Well, that's good," Luigi said. Suddenly, a chariot rode up to the group, ridden by a man in purple and red regal garments with a strange marking on his arm.
"Greetings!" the man said. "Welcome to our little village. What king do you belong to?"
"Umm…the same one you do, I guess," Kooper said.
"Servants of Saronial are always welcome here," the man said. "I am Vircule, leader of this village. Perhaps you would like to join us for dinner? A lieutenant of Saronial himself will be visiting soon, and I'm sure you'd like to meet him."
"Dinner's good," Baby Mario said. "I'm hungry already."
"We accept your offer," Kooper said.
"Good!" Vircule said. "Come, climb up into the chariot. I'll take you to the castle."
"Hang on. Would you mind excusing us for a moment?" Baby Mario asked.
Vircule shrugged. "Okay."
The Plitians walked and huddled into a corner nearby. "Okay, first of all," Baby Mario said, "who's Saronial, and why did you say we serve him?"
"I don't know who he is," Kooper said, "but when in Rome…"
"…What's Rome?" Baby Mario asked.
"Never mind," Kooper said. "What I'm saying is that we have a better chance of forging good relations with these people if we conform to their society."
"Kooper's right," Mario said. "We probably have a better chance of figuring out who this Saronial guy is this way."
"Fine," Baby Mario said, "but the archaeologists stay in town. The Yoshi Squadron will stay with them and keep 'em out of trouble."
"Who put you in charge?" Baby Luigi asked.
"Yeah, Mario should be the one calling the shots," Luigi said.
"I'm the most strategic-minded," Baby Mario said. "Besides, don't want to bring too many people. Get some of that good food before it's all gone."
"Fine," Mario said. "We'll do it your way. Or, mine…since you're basically me…but okay. Karter, you and your team stay in town and keep in radio contact. Zipper, scout around near the village. Quake, you and your team try and make a defensive perimeter. Kooper, you'll be with us."
"Got it," came the general response.
"Let's-a go," Mario said. The team divided to accomplish their assigned tasks. Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Kooper climbed into the chariot with Vircule.
"What about the others?" Vircule asked.
"They'll be staying in town," Kooper said.
"Fine by me," Vircule said. He whipped the horse pulling the chariot, and they began going south. "So, what are your names?"
"I'm Mario," Mario said. "This is Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Kooper."
"…Baby Mario and…Baby Luigi?" Vircule repeated.
"Don't ask," Baby Mario said. "Complicated timey-wimey…stuff."
Vircule shrugged. "Kooper, I haven't seen any of your kind before."
"Oh, yeah, uh…" Kooper said, "…my kind has just recently been inducted into Saronial's army."
"Must've been recent," Vircule said.
"Oh yeah, fairly recent."
"We're almost there," Vircule said. In the distance, they could see a large stone castle. They reached it within a minute, and disembarked at the entrance. "Come on in." They entered the castle. It wasn't very well decorated, mostly just stone walls and chandeliers. The room they entered was a large hallway, with various windows and doors into other rooms. "The dining hall is this way," Vircule motioned towards a nearby door. They entered, and saw a very long dining room table with dozens of seats, as well as various servants running around preparing food. "Come, sit at the far side with me."
They went to the far end of the table and took seats there. Servants began bringing them food on silver platters. Baby Mario whispered to Baby Luigi, "Well, so far, I'd say first contact is going along swell." He took the lid off a platter, and saw some sort of purple soup with little black things floating around in it. "Could be going better…" He said to Vircule, "I don't suppose you have any…chicken strips?"
"Uh…" Vircule gave a confused look. "We have…turkey."
"Oh, good, then I'll take some of that," Baby Mario said, pushing the soup away. A servant came and gave a platter to Baby Mario, who promptly took the top off and saw a live turkey, with its guts hanging out and the inside of its throat exposed. "Or not…" He quickly put the lid back on, pushed the platter away, and looked to the side, trying to forget the image. Luigi struggled to not throw up.
"I don't understand," Vircule said. "Is this not the type of cuisine you usually ingest?"
"Not…usually," Mario said. "Vircule, we have some questions, to…test your loyalty to Saronial. Are you up for it?"
"Of course."
"Alright," Mario said. "First…who is Saronial?"
"There's no one in the galaxy who hasn't heard of him," Vircule said. "He is one of the Elder Kings; the most powerful one, in fact. He rules over a great portion of this galaxy and commands many trillions of soldiers."
"Alright…who are the Elder Kings?"
Vircule scoffed. "This 'quiz' is a waste of my time."
"Just answer," Baby Mario said.
Vircule sighed, rolled his eyes, and said, "They are the ones who rule over us. The Elder Kings are the leaders of the Old King civilization, although they fight amongst each other for sole control of the Old Empire."
"So these…Elder Kings," Kooper said, "rule over the entire galaxy?"
"Yes," Vircule confirmed. A servant came up to him and whispered something to him. "If you have any more 'trivia questions' to ask, they will have to wait. The lieutenant of Saronial arrives."
Outside, a trumpet blared as a crier announced, "All hail, the commander of His King's armies, Roiumus!" A man in golden garments wearing a silver mask walked into the dining room, flanked by ten guards wielding what appeared to be small ray guns.
Vircule walked up to Roiumus and kneeled. "Great Commander, I am humbled by your presence."
"Rise," Roiumus said. He took off the mask and revealed his face, which seemed to be made entirely out of stone. Even his eyes were a dull gray color. He then approached Mario and co. "Who are these?"
"We're fellow servants of Saronial," Kooper said.
"I've never seen one such as you," Roiumus said. "Check them for the mark."
Guards quickly grabbed ahold of the Marios and pulled up their right sleeves. "No mark," a guard said.
Roiumus grabbed Mario by the throat. "You're not servants of Saronial, are you? Answer me, cretin."
"N-no," Mario barely managed to say.
"Do you serve Igneus? Perhaps Zephial? Are you undercover agents from Cordatia? Answer now!" Mario didn't answer. Roiumus grinned and said, "You, and your little friends, will tell me all I want to know, soon enough." He dropped Mario to the ground.
"HEY!" Baby Mario shouted. "Why don't you fight me like a man?!"
Roiumus scoffed. "You? A mere child, challenges the might of Roiumus?"
"Yeah! But I'll bet you're too chicken to fight!"
Roiumus just smirked, and pressed a button on a device he was wearing around his arm. The guards stepped back, and a wave of electricity shot out at lightspeed from the device, instantly knocking the Marios and Kooper unconscious.
"Bring them to the Gateway," Roiumus said.
"My liege," Vircule said, "there were others with them. They stayed in the village."
"Then find them," Roiumus said, "and bring them also. These infidels shall reveal all their secrets, soon enough."
"Yes, my liege." Vircule knelt before Roiumus, got up, barked some commands at a couple guards, and left. Roiumus grinned malevolently, and left as well, with his personal guard dragging the bodies of the Plitians behind him.
Quake and Flare patrolled the part of the village where they entered, while Zipper scouted out the surrounding area and Colorful watched the entrance from a hill. The archaeologists had set up a small base just outside the village and were taking more rock and soil samples.
"I'm kinda surprised these aliens know English," Flare said.
"Yeah. I thought they'd be speaking an alien language, like the Shroobs did," Quake said. "Oh well, better for us, eh?"
"Yep. Say, you know General White, the commanding officer of the Caelestis Agency? Didn't he used to run that cannon in Fahr Outpost?"
"Yep," Quake said. "After the Koopas invaded in 2006, he was called back into active duty and tasked with training the Mushroom Kingdom's military to repel invasions. I'd say he's done pretty well, all things considered."
"Yeah, well, it's still kinda weird to be led by a three-foot tall living bomb," Flare said. Suddenly, Flare's radio clicked. He grabbed it and said into it, "YS Delta-2."
"YS Delta-2, this is YS Delta-1," Colorful's voice came out from the radio. "We've got one-one UPs in the area of EXP-five. Over."
"YS Delta-1, copy," Flare said. "Meet at base alpha three. Out." He clicked his radio and said, "YS Beta-2, YS Delta-2. Meet at base alpha three. Over."
Zipper's voice then came out of Flare's radio, "YS Beta-2, roger that. Out."
Flare put his radio back into idle mode and said to Quake, "Sometimes I think that using all these radio and military terms is more trouble than it's worth. Why can't I just say, 'Hey, Zipper, meet us at the camp.'?"
"Never mind that," Quake said. "What's going on?"
"Colorful spotted eleven unidentified persons going into the castle that the Marios went into." The two Yoshis began running to the camp the archaeologists set up.
"We'll try and establish radio contact with the Marios when we get to base," Quake said. A couple seconds later, Colorful caught up with them, and they began going up the hill that the base was situated on. They reached the top quickly, and began walking through the small forest of trees. As they got close to the camp, Colorful suddenly heard something.
"Get down," he said. The three Yoshis got down and looked toward the camp.
Zipper was already there, tapping his foot as the archaeologists were at work doing surveys. Then, a wave of electricity shot out into the camp, instantly incapacitating everyone there. Six Humans ran into the encampment, each one holding a ray gun, and one of them wearing a similar device on his arm as the one that Roiumus used to knock out the Marios. "Take them to the Gateway," the unique one said.
"Gateway?" Flare repeated. "That sounds like…the Caelestis."
The guards did a quick search inside the tents of the encampment, and then began dragging Zipper and the archaeologists away, in the direction of the Caelestis. "Let's follow them," Colorful said.
"Wait," Quake said. He ran into the encampment, went inside one of the tents, and came out carrying a bag. "Items," he said. "We might need them."
"Alright. Let's go," Flare said. The three Yoshis stood low and trailed a moderate distance behind the Humans, until they reached the Caelestis. One of the Humans grabbed the remote, input a string of numbers into it, and placed his hands over the sphere to activate the Caelestis.
"I've got a visual on the wormhole," Quake said. "It looks heavily guarded. Not counting the guys going through the wormhole, I count at least twenty guards on the other side, and there may be more. It also looks like there's one guy who just operates the Caelestis. He's not carrying a weapon." Shortly after Quake finished, all six Humans entered the Caelestis. The Caelestis operator placed both of his hands over the sphere on that side of the wormhole, and the wormhole disengaged.
Quake, Flare, and Colorful quickly ran up to the Caelestis. Colorful dashed to the sphere and said, "Oh, thank goodness. It looks like the combination they entered is still in the remote. It might only be overwritten when someone else dials, or they dial another number."
"Let's mount a rescue op!" Flare said.
"No way," Quake said. "There were way too many of them."
"Come on!" Flare said. "How tough could they be?"
"Well, they had the ability to instantly knock out eight people using a wave of electricity!" Quake said. "I'd say they're more powerful than we'd expect."
"Well, we've got to do something!" Flare said. "Agh, if only Zipper were here. He could just speedblitz 'em, and then we'd be good to go."
"Well, Zipper's not here, so-" Quake suddenly paused. "Wait a moment. We can speedblitz them!"
"How?" Flare and Colorful both asked.
Quake reached into the bag he was carrying and pulled out a Stop Watch. "Using this! Dial the Caelestis, and as soon as it activates, use the Stop Watch and stop time for ten seconds. We quickly step through, disable as many guards as we can while time's frozen, and then take out the rest when time's unfrozen, because they'll be too surprised to react!"
"That sounds like a good plan!" Flare said.
"We'll need to be within two feet of each other for the Stop Watch to affect us all," Quake said. Flare moved closer to him. Colorful placed his hands over the sphere, and quickly ran to Flare and Quake. The wormhole formed inside the Caelestis and showed a grassland, with a dozen guards immediately in front of the Caelestis and more a couple meters away. They instantly pointed their guns at the Yoshis. One fired, causing a bolt of energy to zoom at Flare. Quake used the Stop Watch, freezing time for all but themselves.
"Woah…" The frozen bolt of energy hovered just over two feet in front of Flare's nose. "Sheesh…"
"Come on, no time to lose!" Quake said. The three Yoshis dashed into the Caelestis and began attacking the guards. Quake punched out eight guards, Flare incinerated twelve with his fireballs, and Colorful flutter kicked four. Though the guards didn't show any immediate reaction, they all screamed and fell unconscious as soon as time unfroze. The remaining two guards, as well as the Caelestis operator, were all taken by surprise. The guards were incinerated and punched out, while Colorful knocked the operator to the floor.
"Where have our friends been taken?" Colorful demanded.
"I…I know nothing!" the operator quickly said. Flare shot a fireball at the ground nearby, instantly incinerating the grass. "Okay! Okay! I tell! Roiumus took strangers to castle. Castle, over there." They saw in the distance, beyond a forest and up a hill, a massive, gold-painted castle with several spires and countless floors.
"Alright, thanks." Quake punched the operator and knocked him out. "We can't have anyone reporting back. Come on." The three Yoshis began dashing towards the castle.
"Oh, I knew this was a bad idea…" Luigi said.
"That's the fifth time you've said that…" Baby Mario said.
Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Kooper were in the dungeon of the gold-painted castle. Their cell was a small area with brick walls, a dirt floor, and no decoration of any kind. The entrance to the cell was a brick wall which retracted, making the area completely sealed off when the cell wasn't open. Luigi was sitting in the corner drawing in the dirt, Baby Mario was sitting in the opposite corner with his head buried in his hands, Baby Luigi was in the middle of the room examining the roof, Kooper was off to the side laying down on his stomach, and Mario was feeling around where the wall retracted for any weak spots.
"Yep, very bad idea to explore an alien planet…" Luigi mumbled.
"Sixth time…" Baby Mario said.
"Don't worry, guys," Mario said. "As soon as they come in, we attack them, find our power-ups, and break out of here." He continued examining the wall, when he suddenly paused. "Hang on…I hear footsteps."
Baby Mario and Kooper both quickly got up and positioned themselves in front of the frontward wall, preparing to attack. Suddenly, the wall behind them retracted, revealing more empty space and doubling the area of the prison cell. The frontward wall then retracted, and they saw ten guards, all already pointing their ray guns inside the cell.
"Don't even try attacking," a guard said.
"What? Us? Attack you?" Baby Mario said. "Nah, you must be kidding…" Baby Mario went back to his corner of the cell.
The guards pushed eight other people in. Mario recognized them instantly: Professor Karter, Zipper, and the other six archaeologists. They were all unconscious.
"Roiumus will see the one called Baby Mario," the guard said.
"Oh, look at me, so famous," Baby Mario said. He grudgingly got up, left the cell, and began following the guards. The door then closed.
Baby Mario walked into the throne room of the castle, which was a long hallway leading up to steps upon which a purple and golden throne sat. The floor was made from solid gold, and the path to the throne had a red carpet laid out on it. The ceiling was several meters high, and multiple chandeliers hung from it. The guards escorted Baby Mario to the foot of the throne and kneeled before Roiumus, who was sitting on the throne.
"Nice place you got here," Baby Mario said, looking around. "How much did it cost?" One of the guards kicked Baby Mario's leg with extreme force, causing him to fall to his knees. "Agh! Ow…"
"Saronial ordered this castle built as a reward for my unwavering decades of loyalty to him," Roiumus said.
"Decades, eh?"
"Back at the village, you challenged me to a battle."
"Yeah. And the offer's still on the table."
Roiumus made a motion to his guards, and they all stepped a few meters to the side. Roiumus stood and grabbed what seemed to be a training staff from a rack hanging nearby. He threw it to Baby Mario, who barely managed to catch it right after standing up, and then got another staff for himself.
"Oh, a staff," Baby Mario said, disappointed. "If we're going to battle, I'd prefer my hammer."
"Very well." Roiumus motioned to a guard, who turned around, opened a box, took out Baby Mario's hammer, and threw it to him.
Baby Mario effortlessly caught his hammer by the handle and said, "Oh, yeah. You're looking at over 25,000 cubic centimeters of steel. You're doomed."
Roiumus just smirked and said, "Let the battle…begin."
Baby Mario instantly held his hammer over his head and leapt at Roiumus, smashing the hammer down onto the enemy. Though he would've expected the hammer to be parried by Roiumus's staff, he didn't expect it to be parried by…nothing. The hammer smashed through the air where Roiumus used to stand, and caused a crack in the ground as it hit. Baby Mario looked behind him and saw Roiumus standing there, staff at the ready. Roiumus smashed the staff into Baby Mario's back, sending the hero flying into a wall face-first and slightly damaging his spine. Baby Mario slumped to the ground, but quickly got back up, only to see Roiumus standing right there. Roiumus smashed the staff into the side of Baby Mario's head, sending Baby Mario flying into the floor. Baby Mario quickly got back up and swung his hammer at Roiumus, but once again hit nothing but air. Roiumus had teleported to Baby Mario's side, and smashed his fist into the hero, sending him flying towards the center of the room. Friction barely managed to stop him just as he reached the center.
"Agh…" Baby Mario took a deep breath, and then stood up, with his hammer at the ready. Suddenly, he felt something fly past him and smash him with a staff at the same time. Baby Mario fell, but quickly got back up and turned around to see Roiumus dashing at him at inhuman speeds. Roiumus sped to the other end of the room in less than a millisecond, smashing his staff into Baby Mario along the way. He continued speedblitzing the hero for a couple more seconds, until he stopped right in front of Baby Mario, who was laying on the floor battered and beaten.
"Do you surrender?"
"Gah…" Baby Mario took one final swing with his hammer at Roiumus, but missed once again, as Roiumus teleported to the side. The enemy then smashed Baby Mario into the adjacent wall. Baby Mario slumped to the ground, but Roiumus teleported in front of the hero, grabbed him by the throat, and held him up against the wall.
"I'll ask once again…do…you…surrender?" Roiumus said menacingly.
"Y-yes…" Baby Mario barely managed to say. Roiumus dropped Baby Mario to the floor and teleported back onto his throne. "Teleporting…is cheating," Baby Mario said. "Fight me…without using any…powers…or…or super speed…"
Roiumus shook his head. "I am faster, more durable, and more magic-adept than you. Are you willing to bet you're physically stronger than me?"
"I guess…not," Baby Mario said. He took a deep breath and rose. He then made his way to in front of the throne.
"I am an Old King," Roiumus said, "the master race of this galaxy. My kind rules over tens of billions of worlds. Yours is next. What is the combination for your Gateway?"
"Gateway?"
"I believe you call it the Caelestis."
"Ah, yes, the Caelestis. Well, we're from…uh…Cordatia, so you should know."
"One of the archaeologists we captured was kind enough to provide me with the name of your world, after some persuasion, of course. Now, tell me…what is the combination for Plit's Caelestis?"
"Uh…it starts with…erm, 1969. I don't remember any numbers past that."
"Perhaps not," Roiumus said, standing up, "but they will come to you, in time. My persuasion methods have not failed me in seventy years."
"Oh, you're over seventy years old? Pretty good fighter for that age..."
"Actually, I'm 224. You didn't really think that we called ourselves the Old Kings just because we liked the name, did you?"
"Eh…guess not."
Roiumus motioned to his guards, and they reassembled to surround Baby Mario. "Take him back to the cell, and bring me the blue dinosaur."
As the guards carried him away, Baby Mario shouted to Roiumus, "You know, his name is Zipper! And he can speedblitz way better than you could ever dream of!"
Quake, Flare, and Colorful dashed to take cover behind a bush. They had successfully managed to evade all of the guards and patrols so far, and now they were just a couple meters from the castle entrance. It was guarded by four Humans holding ray guns, and the flow of traffic in and out of the castle was near-constant.
"Right now, I count twelve," Quake said. "There'll be a bigger group of guards entering in thirty seconds, too."
"Got another Stop Watch?" Flare asked.
"Yeah, but these things are expensive nowadays," Quake said. "We might need them later."
"What about a POW Block?" Colorful asked.
"No, the earthquake would cause too much noise," Quake said. "We could try our luck with a Sleepy Sheep, but if it doesn't work, our position's been made."
"Let's do it," Flare said. "If it doesn't work, we'll use an Ice Storm or something."
"Alright," Quake said. He took out and used a Sleepy Sheep, and dozens of sheep began running towards the castle entrance.
The sheep reached the guards, and began licking them. "What the heck…" a guard said. He knelt down and felt the coat of the sheep that was licking him, checking for any anomalous items. He then looked over to the Yoshis' position. Suddenly, the sheep disappeared, and all the guards instantly fell asleep.
"Move! Move!" Quake said. The three Yoshis quickly made their way inside the castle. The entrance room was much like the throne room, with a very high ceiling and a floor paved with gold. However, there were multiple stairwells going both up and down, as well as several doors to other rooms.
"Now where?" Colorful asked.
"Probably the dungeon," Flare said.
"Which is…where?" Colorful asked.
"Cover!" Quake whispered loudly. The three Yoshis ducked behind a staircase. Flare peered out from behind it, and saw ten guards escorting Baby Mario somewhere. They went through a door on the left and went down a stairwell. "Let's follow," Quake said.
The Yoshis followed the guards until they reached what seemed to be a dead end in an underground tunnel. A guard used his foot to move a rock onto a certain position, and the wall to the side began retracting to reveal the prison cell the others were in. "Hey, guys," Baby Mario said. "I'm back."
"Baby Mario!" Quake shouted. Baby Mario and the guards all turned to face the Yoshis. "Get out of the way!" Baby Mario leapt inside the cell. The guards pointed their ray guns at the Yoshis, but were unable to fire before Quake used an Ice Storm and froze the guards.
Quake, Flare, and Colorful ran up to the cell entrance and saw Mario and the others. "Guys!" Quake said.
"Quake!" Mario said. "Good timing!"
"Yeah, let's get out of here!" Luigi said. He dashed out of the prison, followed by Zipper, Baby Mario, and the rest.
"Hang on!" Baby Luigi said. "We'll need our power-ups."
"I think I know where they are," Baby Mario said. "Follow me."
Meanwhile, a servant went up to Roiumus's throne, knelt, and said, "My liege, the prisoners have escaped!"
"What?!" Roiumus stood up. "Incompetence…must I do everything myself? Regardless, they won't get far…"
The Marios and the Yoshi Squadron ducked inside a room with a computer and several shelves. "Check the shelves for our items," Mario said. "Luigi and I will guard the door."
Quake smashed open two locked chests with his fists and found all four of the Marios' hammers in there. "Here, guys!" Quake tossed the four hammers at the Marios.
"Ah, it's good to be back," Baby Mario said, stroking his hammer. He then got up on a chair and reached for the top shelf, where he found their bag of power-ups. "Got 'em, let's go."
"Hang on," Baby Luigi said. Baby Luigi grabbed his tablet from a shelf, and then pulled the chair out from under Baby Mario, who barely managed to jump off without falling. Baby Luigi pushed the chair in front of the computer desk and sat down.
"What are you doing?" Mario asked.
"Hooking my tablet up to this computer," Baby Luigi said.
"How, exactly?" Colorful asked. "Whatever systems the Old Kings use for their computers, I'm pretty sure they're extremely different from the systems we use."
"Thank you, I didn't know that," Baby Luigi sarcastically said.
"We don't exactly have a lot of time," Flare said.
"I know. Give me two minutes." Baby Luigi pressed a couple buttons on his tablet and then said, "I'm in. This is some sort of database. Seems to be a list of numbers…"
Baby Mario took a look at the tablet screen and counted the number of digits in a string of numbers. "Four, eight, eleven…I bet they're Caelestis identifiers."
"I'll download them to the tablet," Baby Luigi said. He pressed a couple buttons and said, "It's surprising they don't have a password on this machine…"
"Well, there's no text or anything to identify which Caelestis these codes lead to," Baby Mario said. "There's something like five hundred codes in this database. Maybe just one of them is important to the Old Kings, and the rest are junk."
"Well, we'll see," Baby Luigi said. "I've got 'em all downloaded. Let's go."
They quickly left the room. Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Professor Karter, Kooper, the six archaeologists part of the expedition, and the Yoshi Squadron moved swiftly, quietly, and undetected through the fortress. However, despite their precautions, they were spotted when they made it past the castle walls. "THERE!" a guard shouted. A trumpet blared, and hundreds of Roiumus's guards began running towards the group.
"Darn it, we've been made!" Baby Mario said. "Zipper, get to the Caelestis and dial back to Plit!" Zipper nodded and boosted towards the Caelestis, already out of sight the instant Baby Mario finished his sentence. "Alright, guys, let's move!"
Blasts of energy began whizzing past the group, fired from the ray guns that Roiumus's guards were carrying. The group quickly made it to the base of the hill. The Marios, as well as Flare, took defensive positions behind large stones and began shooting fireballs at the approaching army, providing cover fire for the archaeologists who dashed into the forest.
"Flare!" Mario said. "Hand us some power-ups!"
"You got it!" Flare threw a Cape Feather at Mario, and an Ice Flower at Luigi. The two grabbed and instantly used the items, granting them new powers.
"Here we go!" Mario said. He flew right into the opposing army and smashed into one of the troops. He began spinning around at several thousand rounds per minute, slicing the troop into pieces, and then he quickly began speedblitzing the rest of the army, flying from soldier to soldier faster than their energy blasts could reach him. At each soldier, he either did a quick spin to slice deep into their skin, or punched them with enough force to create a small explosion, before dashing to the next. He quickly took out dozens of soldiers, and then flew back to the forest entrance faster than the blink of an eye.
"We're clear for now!" Flare said.
"Let's go!" Baby Mario said. The group moved into the forest, quickly followed by hundreds more of Roiumus's troops.
The Marios and Flare quickly caught up with the expedition, Quake, and Colorful. The group dashed, ran, and jumped through the forest, dodging all sorts of trees and foliage. Shortly after, energy blasts began shooting at them. The guards made their way into the forest, ducking under branches, jumping over roots, and launching blasts of energy from their ray guns at the Plitians.
The expedition jumped over and ducked under energy blasts. The blasts smashed into bushes, erupting them into flames, and caused trees they hit to explode in a shower of sparks and fire.
Suddenly, six Humans teleported just above the expedition, levitating above the ground and gliding quickly enough to keep their relative position the same. The expedition quickly noticed that the Humans had on their arms the same bracelets that Roiumus and his underling had used to instantly incapacitate them, back on the other planet. The Humans moved their hands over the buttons on their bracelets, but before they could activate the wave of electricity, they were attacked by the expedition.
Mario moved so quickly from the ground to one of the Humans that it seemed he teleported; he span around at thousands of rounds per minute and sliced the Human to bits. Meanwhile, Baby Mario jumped up, held his hammer over his head, and smashed one of the Humans into the ground. Kooper got into his shell, and Luigi smashed his hammer into Kooper, sending the Koopa flying into one of the Humans and instantly destroying the enemy. Quake jumped up and slammed his fist into one of the Humans, knocking him to the ground. Quake then did a ground pound on that Human and pummeled him with his fists. Colorful quickly pulled out a small, portable whiteboard, and drew a Bullet Bill on it. The Bullet Bill then came to life and rocketed towards the Human, exploding as it hit him. One of the archaeologists pulled out a super scope and fired two shots at the remaining Human, while Flare launched a fireball at the enemy. The combination of lead and intense flames instantly knocked out the Human.
"Almost there!" Baby Luigi shouted. They exited the forest and entered into a flatland paved with grass and almost no slope to speak of. From here, it was a straight 100-meter dash to the Caelestis. In the distance, they could see a bunch of knocked-out guards, and Zipper waving.
They barely made it twenty meters before the pursuing army made it out of the forest and began firing energy blasts at them once again. Luigi fired a bolt of ice at one of the soldiers, whom Mario promptly flew to. Mario picked up the frozen soldier and smashed him like a battering ram into another soldier, destroying both. Mario then began speedblitzing the army again, taking out several soldiers each second. The soldiers decided to focus their fire on the fleeing expedition. One energy blast hit Professor Karter's leg, who cried out in pain and dropped to the ground. Kooper and another archaeologist lifted him up, but he suddenly disappeared.
"Professor Karter's been teleported away!" Kooper shouted.
"We need to cover the scientists!" Quake said. He, Flare, Luigi, and Colorful dropped to the ground. Quake pulled out a Shooting Star and shouted, "Mario!" Mario zoomed back to the Yoshis, and then Quake used the Shooting Star.
Dozens of meteors began raining down from the sky, pummeling the enemy army and creating small mushroom clouds with each impact. Some of the troops tried retreating back into the forest for cover, but the meteors effortlessly pounded through the treetops and annihilated them. By the time the bombardment was over, a mere dozen enemy soldiers stood where hundreds used to stand.
"Alright!" Mario said. "Time to clean this up!" Mario smashed into one of the troops, punched him into a tree, flew at another soldier, uppercut him into the sky, and zoomed at another soldier – when suddenly, he was intercepted.
Roiumus teleported into Mario's path, grabbed the hero, and smashed his fist into Mario's stomach, sending the hero flying into the horizon. Roiumus then teleported into Mario's path again and uppercut him, sending Mario flying into the atmosphere. The Old King then teleported above Mario and smashed his fist into him, sending the hero flying back down to the planet faster than an asteroid.
Mario smashed into the ground, sending a small mushroom cloud into the air and creating an impact crater over fifteen meters deep. "Agh…" He tried to get up, but failed and fell to the ground. His Super Cape disappeared. Roiumus teleported right beside him and snapped his fingers. Mario then suddenly disappeared.
Luigi and the Yoshi Squadron gasped. "MARIO!" Luigi shouted.
"Mwahahaha…" Roiumus chuckled. "You really thought that you could escape. How amusing. Unfortunately for you, I myself am not nearly as incompetent as those sorry excuses for soldiers that you mowed down so easily. Now, lay down your weapons and surrender."
"What did you do to Mario?!" Luigi demanded.
"Oh, he'll be staying with me for a little while longer," Roiumus said. "As will all of you!"
"I don't think so!" a voice came. Baby Mario leapt up and over the Yoshi Squadron, holding his hammer over his head. He jumped at Roiumus and smashed his hammer down. Roiumus teleported to the side, and Baby Mario's hammer slammed into the grass, knocking up dirt and sending cracks into the ground.
"You never learn, do you?" Roiumus asked. "Do you really wish to go up against my might once again?"
"Quake!" Luigi shouted. "You and the Yoshi Squadron get back to Plit! Baby Mario and I will hold this guy off!"
"You sure?" Quake asked.
"Eh, what could go wrong?"
Quake uneasily nodded, and the Yoshi Squadron dashed towards the Caelestis. Luigi and Baby Mario took out their hammers and took up battle positions.
Roiumus chuckled. "Fools! You'll learn your error soon enough."
Quake, Flare, and the rest of the expedition got up to the Caelestis. "Where are Mario, Luigi, and Baby Mario?" Zipper asked.
"Mario's gone," Quake said, "the other two are holding off Roiumus for us. Dial the Caelestis back to Plit, quickly!"
Zipper nodded, grabbed the remote, and input the numbers for Plit's Caelestis. He then put the remote back into its slot and placed his hands over the sphere. The Caelestis activated, and showed the Caelestis Agency through the wormhole.
On the other side of the wormhole, a Toad technician shouted through the intercom, "General White! There's an incoming wormhole!"
General White walked into the control room. The technician said, "The expedition is already coming through the wormhole. They say they're under attack."
General White spoke into the intercom, "Defense teams, standby." Several Humans prepped their super scopes and pointed them at the Caelestis. The Yoshi Squadron and Baby Luigi came through the wormhole.
Quake shouted, "General, we've got an extremely powerful alien hostile on the other side of that wormhole! Luigi and Baby Mario are trying to hold him off, but he's way too powerful!"
"We can't let him come through the Caelestis, then!" General White said.
"Can we cut the wormhole off from here?" Colorful asked.
"We can!" the technician said.
"Hold on!" Baby Luigi said. "What about Luigi and Baby Mario?"
After a pause, General White said, "…We'll give them a minute."
Baby Luigi and the Yoshi Squadron walked down to the bottom of the Caelestis ramp and looked through the wormhole. They all heard sounds of high-powered fighting, but could see nothing of the battle through the wormhole.
After twenty seconds, Quake asked, "Agh…Zipper, can't you just speedblitz him?!"
"Not if he's as fast as you say he is!" Zipper said.
Flare shook his head and said, "It's no hope! That guy has probably beaten them by now."
Baby Luigi opened his mouth to say something, and then paused. "Hang on…I've got an idea! Let's get down to the armory, stat!"
Roiumus infused his fist with flames and smashed it into Baby Mario, sending the hero flying backwards. Luigi jumped at Roiumus from behind him and swung his hammer, but Roiumus teleported behind Luigi and uppercut him into the air. Roiumus teleported above Luigi and thrust his fist into the hero, sending him flying down back to earth.
Baby Mario leapt up and placed his head just below Luigi. Luigi quickly reoriented himself and performed a footstool jump, giving him more altitude and placing him a couple meters from Roiumus. Baby Mario then leapt up just behind Luigi, pulled out his hammer, and smashed it into his older brother just as Luigi charged up a green missile attack, giving him more velocity. Luigi flew at Roiumus faster than a rocket, but the Old King was just too fast, and effortlessly avoided the attack.
Baby Mario anticipated Roiumus's next move. He quickly turned around and swung his hammer. Roiumus appeared out of thin air at that position, but quickly caught Baby Mario's hammer by the handle, easily wrangled control of it from Baby Mario's hands, and then smashed it into the hero's head, sending him rocketing to the ground. Roiumus then flung the hammer at sonic speeds towards Baby Mario. Baby Mario was hit head-on by his own hammer, and the impact created a large explosion and kicked a massive dust cloud up into the air.
Roiumus teleported five meters from Baby Mario, moved his hand to waist level, and moved his fingers so they were all pointing towards the center of his hand. An orb of dark energy formed in the middle of his hand. He then lifted his hand up to eye level (with the orb of energy following), and moved his hand so it was pointed towards Baby Mario. The orb of energy grew more, and Roiumus thrust his hand forward.
Before he did that, though, Luigi smashed his hammer into Roiumus's back. Roiumus jerked his hand upward, and the orb of energy flew into the sky, missing Baby Mario. Roiumus growled and teleported behind Luigi. Luigi did a frenzy punch, throwing multiple punches in quick succession, but all of them only hitting thin air. Roiumus then kicked Luigi, sending him flying upwards. Roiumus teleported just above Luigi and smashed his feet into the green hero, sending him flying back down to earth like a meteor. When Luigi was still a couple meters above the ground, Roiumus teleported a meter to the side of Luigi and smashed his fists together. Time froze as Roiumus closed his eyes and began charging up an attack. He then snapped his fingers, and just as time unfroze, thousands of small explosions occurred at Luigi's position. Luigi weakly fell to the ground, unconscious and with his hammer landing a small distance away.
"Hmph," Roiumus said. "Pitiful."
Baby Mario got up and tried to leap at Roiumus, but only managed to jump a few meters. Upon hitting the ground, he let out a small cry as pain jolted through his leg, and he slumped to the ground.
Roiumus turned to face Baby Mario. "Is this what your world has to offer? Washed-up half-heroes who can't defeat a single Old King two-on-one? I have to wonder what exactly caused your race to fall so far down the evolutionary ladder."
"Against everything my world has to offer…" Baby Mario said, "…you wouldn't even be able to move before you were annihilated."
"Perhaps so," Roiumus said. "Maybe I should go to Plit myself and see if you're telling the truth. For now…"
"Hey! Old King freak!" someone shouted. Both Baby Mario and Roiumus looked to the source of the voice, and saw Baby Luigi standing there.
"You've come back to confront me?" Roiumus asked. "Fine. Another slave to drag back to the homeworld."
"I don't think so!" Baby Luigi said. He took out a yellow, star-shaped power-up.
"A Starman!" Baby Mario gasped.
"Bah," Roiumus dismissively said. "That little trinket can't possibly match my power."
Baby Luigi just smirked and used the Starman. His body began glowing a rainbow of colors. Before Roiumus could even react, Baby Luigi had delivered a superfast punch to the Old King, knocking him into the air. Baby Luigi quickly teleported to the side of Roiumus and delivered a flurry of extremely fast punches and kicks. Roiumus recovered and teleported behind Baby Luigi, but before he could even think to attack, Baby Luigi had teleported behind Roiumus, grabbed him, and flung him into the ground. Roiumus quickly got up, teleported hundreds of meters above the ground, held his hands above his head, and began charging up a massive orb of dark energy. Roiumus flung it at Baby Luigi at massive velocities, but thanks to the powers of the Starman, Baby Luigi effortlessly shook it off. Baby Luigi then teleported above Roiumus and did a massive star powered-infused punch, sending the Old King falling back down to earth like a meteor.
Baby Luigi teleported next to Baby Mario, just as the Starman power wore off. "Yeah!" Baby Mario cheered. "You really kicked his-"
A sonic punch knocked Baby Mario out cold. "Silence!" Roiumus shouted. He sighed, and then slumped to the ground.
"You're tough," Baby Luigi said.
"So…your race DOES have some powerful abilities…" Roiumus weakly said. "Of course, only when you're using a trinket…"
"Return Mario right now," Baby Luigi said. He pointed at the Caelestis and continued, "Right through that wormhole, we've got even more Starmen. I won't hesitate to beat you senseless again."
"Beat me senseless?" Roiumus repeated. He chuckled and said, "Your attacks, while they may make you some sort of undefeatable omnipotent on your world, were laughable by Old King standards. If you hadn't initially caught me off-guard, I would've simply countered your attacks and waited for the powers of that trinket to wear off."
"Oh, please…" Baby Luigi muttered.
"Nevertheless, you did manage to harm me in a fair fight. For that, I commend you. However, I will be taking one more spoil of war…" Luigi was suddenly teleported away.
"No! Luigi!" Baby Luigi shouted.
"One warning, Plitian…when Saronial finds time to attack your world, his invasion will be absolute. No trinket in the galaxy will stop his wrath. And if we ever personally meet again…" The ground around Baby Luigi exploded. "…you will die." Roiumus teleported away.
"OWWWW…" Baby Mario shouted loudly as he got up. "Gah…my head is freaking killing me…where's Luigi?"
"Roiumus teleported him away…" Baby Luigi said. He fell to his knees and stared at the ground. He had never really stared failure in the face before.
"Well…that means…both our adult selves are gone," Baby Mario said. He then shook his head and said, "No. We have that list of Caelestis codes you downloaded. We'll explore those planets that those Caelestis lead to. We'll find them. We won today. We'll win again."
"No, Baby Mario. We didn't win. Roiumus let us live because he respected me. I only got him to respect me by using a Starman, and you know how rare they are." Baby Luigi paused. "Couldn't defeat him even with a Starman…"
"That's why we need to go out there and explore this galaxy. To train, get more powerful, find items to help us defeat the Old Kings, and rescue Mario and Luigi."
Baby Luigi looked up at Baby Mario. A few moments later, he said, "…Let's do it."
The two brothers nodded and walked through the Caelestis, back to Plit. A new adventure began.