Author's Note: This is the official start of Sarah's adventure, I know it's a little slow but the job of this chapter was simply to help advance the storyline. Anyway, enjoy!

Sarah waited impatiently as she watched the train slowly halt to a stop at a bright, rich town on a tall mountain named Poshley Heights. Nearly everyone in the town was well-off and the town clearly reflected their high status.

The streets were of polished white marble, not a crack nor a blemish could be seen in the shiny white stone. The streets, which were aligned with fancy carriages and foreign cars, were made of specially carved brick made specifically for the town. Next Sarah stared at a few of the buildings, one of which was a hotel. This building towered over the town and was clearly the tallest and most magnificent building she had ever seen in the three weeks she had been working for the Excess Express. On the opposite side of the town was a much, much wider building, it was only about half as tall, though its circumference covered at least a quarter of the town.

"Wow," she stared at the sights as she walked off the train and onto the platform. "I can't believe how nice everything looks." She began to stroll off the boarding station and into the town. Directly in front of her she saw a group of small, stubby, men dressed in red suits with giant X's and white masks with protective goggles. They were heading towards the wide building near the edge of the town, she paid them little mind and continued on her merry way.

She eventually stopped at a fountain near the center of town. She leaned over the stone wall that held the water in and looked at her reflection, young and curious. "I still don't remember anything," her hand touched the water, slightly distorting her image. Suddenly she felt herself topple into the water. Angrily, she jumped out and looked at the person who shoved her. Not too far away she saw the same small robed men from earlier, the one who pushed her glanced back at her and even though his face was masked she could tell that he was laughing. "Wait up," she charged towards the man and landed a kick, forcing him to fall down onto the ground, landing on his face.

"D-dude," one of the other similarly clothed men said as he nudged one of his other comrades. "Jon's about to get beaten up by a girl."

"Hey," Sarah barked at the fallen man.

He didn't answer and Sarah picked him up began shaking him viciously. "Answer me you idiot!"

"Uh, shouldn't we help," one of the men questioned.

"N-no dude, I think, um, I think we're good." This one continued to watch the spectacle unfold. He stared in awe at the girl as she pummeled the other man to a pulp. He took special notice of her grace, her beauty, the special way she used her fists to beat the man mercilessly. It pained him to say it, but it was beautiful at its most primitive state. "Wow,"

"Dave, Dave, what are you doing? Let's go!" The man next to him tried to snap Dave out of his daze, waving his hand in front of his goggles.

Once Sarah was done torturing the man she turned her attention to the group. "Okay, who wants some," she said, angrily wringing out her hair.

The men stepped back, all except Dave who took a pounding to the face, eventually falling down with a thud.

A large, round, man stepped up front, effortlessly pushing the other small men to the side. He had a colossal, purple Viking's hat on his head with a large red beard. He too had a pair of round goggles and, on his black and purple jumpsuit, a large white X could be seen. Oddly he had a long, battered, red cape that trailed behind him, ending midway down his plump backside. "What's going on here?" He inquired, looking at the smaller men who seemed to be his minions. "Did you guys get the crystal star?"

"Y-Yeah, dude, I mean sir, I mean Sir Lord Crump, dude."

"Okay, then why are you, the X-Nauts, idly standing here with a little girl?"

"Little?" Sarah angrily gritted her teeth.

"Dude, s-she beat up Jon and Dave!" The X-Naut pointed to the two fallen soldiers at Sarah's feet.

"So," Lord Crump slowly walked towards the girl, eyeing her meticulously. "Did you beat up these guys all by yourself, buh huh huh?" He said to her in a condescending tone. He next began to pinch her cheeks. "Oh, you're so-"

"Stop it," Sarah threw a punch at the man but he managed to block the move with an open palm. Without missing a beat he landed a left hook on the girl, sending her careening away. Next he launched a kick at her; this blow sent her trailing back in pain.

Sarah saw Lord Crump jump up high into the air, preparing to land on her, but she dodged the man's body slam with a swift movement. She ran forward, attempting to land a hit but the man dodged it. How could a man so big be so quick?

He swung at the girl again, but before the attack could connect with Sarah's body a small, swift figure blocked the attack the landed another to the man, sending him flying back.

"No way," one of the X-Nauts exclaimed.

"Crud," Lord Crump said with anger. "Let's split." He pulled out a couple of black balls from his pocket and flung them at the ground. Black smoke instantly appeared, when it cleared Lord Crump and his minions were gone.

"What was that about?" Sarah looked at the figure that had just saved her; he was a Toad about her height who wore a white, cotton, Karate Gi.

"Those jerks pushed me into the fountain, and then that fat jerk tried to fight me!" She began to run her fingers through her hair to straighten it again. "I'm all wet now."

"Well," the Toad smiled, showing his pearly whites. "I saved you; I guess that means I'm a hero, right?"

Sarah simply stared at the Toad with an annoyed looked. "I didn't need your help."

The Toad looked like he was about to say something but was interrupted by a small, blue penguin who marched between the two, pointing his magnifying glass to the ground inquisitively before standing up straight, and readjusting his detective hat. He cleared his throat and stared at the two, though he didn't speak. Instead he fixed his red bowtie and pulled out a pipe from his plaid satchel.

"Well," Sarah motioned her hands for him to speak.

"As, I was saying, my superior detective skills have led me," he walked a few more steps, stopping where the X-Nauts had dropped the smoke bombs. "Here, and so the case of 'The Missing Garnet Star and the Thieves who Stole it' continues. Yes, I rather like that name," he lifted up his pipe and began to smoke it, a questioning look on his face

"Um…" the Toad spoke up. "What,"

"Alright, I need names." He used his free flipper to point at the two.

"Sarah,"

"Little T."

"A-ha, prime suspect numbers one and two."

"Listen bub, I didn't steal your star! I got attacked by those X-Naut jerks for crying out loud!"

"A likely story," the Penguin detective then looked at the Toad. "And you, what were you doing?"

"I, uh, I was fighting."

"A,ha," He began to pace back and forth, mumbling gibberish to himself before reverting his attention to Sarah. Once again he simply stared at her suspiciously.

Sarah had had enough of this by now and began to walk back to the train.

"Oh, in a rush to get back to your train, eh? Want to flee the scene of the crime as soon as you can, eh?" The penguin followed her, meticulously using his magnifying glass to examine her footprints as she walked.

Swiftly, she turned around and picked up the penguin, who was only about ¾ her size. "What do you want?"

"The truth,"

"I didn't steal your stupid star!"

"Okay," Sarah put the Penguin down and watched him pace back and forth. "It seems that I, Pennington, the master detective, have hit a snag in his investigation. It seems that the culprits who stole the missing Garnet Star have escaped! However, I will not end the case of 'The Missing Garnet Star and the Thieves Who Stole it' until I receive it and put those crooks behind bars."

"Garnet Star," The toad, Little T. spoke up. "Isn't that one of the seven Crystal Stars?"

"Indeed, it is said that once all seven of them are brought together miracles can happen and the Thousand Year Door can be opened."

This brought Sarah back into the conversation. "Miracles? Go on,"

"Using my vastly superior detective skills I was able to learn that each of the Seven Crystal Stars contains a great deal of magical power and anyone bestowed with their power can have nearly anything."

"Anything, like my memory?"

"Precisely, though I fear that those X-Nauts are going to use their power for evil instead of good." He looked up to see that Sarah has already charged back to the train, which was sounding its whistle, letting everyone know that it would be leaving soon.

"The Crystal Stars," Sarah thought. "Do they really have the power to bring my memory back?"