The place was chill, ominous. The walls of the cavernous room were washed with black, and painted flames were licking up the stone walls. Monstrous pillars of clear crystal supported the lofty domed ceiling, on which was emblazoned a large crescent moon. A gray sacrificial altar stood against the far wall, and above it was painted a life-sized replica of that mammoth door―the door in Penumbra's Tomb.
A lone woman stood at the foot of the altar, gazing up at the door painting. Her skin was fair and smooth, her eyes and hair black as ravens. Form-fitting was the rule for her outfit―both ruby-red top and sheer black skirt followed her curvature almost exactly. A lavender miniskirt was fitted over the ankle-length black skirt―somewhat of a strange fashion statement, but it fit her person well. Her entire wardrobe oozed a cold, evil beauty that would make even the strongest warrior shiver. Her bearing was icily regal and imposing.
The woman gazed at the painting for a moment more; then lowering her gaze to the altar, she knelt before it, taking a silver bracelet from her right wrist and placing the object on the altar.
The bracelet glittered in the ambient light. Around its band were engraved the phases of the moon.
"Ruler of the twilight," spoke the woman aloud, "I have returned to renew my covenant with you. See, before your ever-watchful eye I have placed the token of our pact Bestow on me once more, with renewed strength, the spell that gives never-ending life to mortal man. Seal me with the Seal of Fatalis, the fountain of immortality. Empower me with your darkness. And may the shadows of the twilight ever fall across this world!"
The bracelet began to gleam with a silvery-white radiance, casting a cold light not unlike moonlight over the woman's face.
"Preteran, Symthanato, Unihypno," uttered the woman in a rhythmic chant, the bracelet's moonbeams gleaming off her face, "Dynive, Trideca, Cisanima―Fatalis!"
The bracelet exploded into brilliance, bathing the woman in silver light. Her black hair began to stream out behind her as if blown by the wind as a strong force emanated from the silver band. Shutting her eyes, the woman lifted her hands to the sky as she knelt there and laughed a chilling, evil laugh.
"Again the Seal of Fatalis has been renewed!" she laughed as she felt the bracelet's powerful force flowing into her. "Again I am no longer mortal, but immortal, as the gods themselves! Aha ha ha ha ha ha!!"
The force pouring from the bracelet faded away, and the light ceased to flow from it. The woman stood, and, taking up her silver band again, replaced it on her right wrist over her arm-length white glove. She turned to leave the mysterious room.
"...Cyanaaaaaraaaaa..."
Cyanara stopped short and looked back at the altar.
"...It is I...Penuuuuumbraaaaa..."
An evil smile came over the woman's lips, and she turned about and returned to the altar. "I am here."
"...Yeeeeesss..." breathed the whispering voice. "I am freeeee...thanks to yooooou..."
"It would seem my little trap worked to perfection," Cyanara congratulated herself. "Mario has walked right into my hands. All I have to do now―" she curled her fingers into claws and clasped her hands together―"is grab him." Her steely black eyes gleamed in anticipation.
"Fiiiiirst...you must retrieve the thirteeeeen sacred aaaaartifacts..." whispered the voice.
Cyanara frowned. "Explain yourself."
"Those...saaaaacred objects...hidden in this kingdom..." Penumbra's voice was still faint. "At this momeeeeent...I inhabit the body of Mariooooo... But he is strooooong... I cannot force him to submiiiiit to me much longer... Only with the power of the aaaaartifacts...can I overcome him...and show forth my fuuuuull powerrrrr..."
"Then I will get them," answered Cyanara. "Rest assured, I will find them." Her expression hardened. "I'll see Mario lying dead at my feet yet!"
"You already possess...one of the aaaaartifacts..."
"Where?"
"That bracelet...on your right wriiiiist..."
Cyanara again removed the solid silver band and turned it in her hand. "This?"
"Yeeeeesss..." breathed the voice. "The Khensu Mooooonseal... It will guiiiiide you to the remaaaaaining objects..."
Cyanara replaced the Moonseal on her wrist. "I will bring the artifacts to Penumbra's Tomb when I have them all."
Turning, Empress Cyanara strode determinedly down the aisle of towering crystal pillars, skirt swishing in the deathly silence of the cavernous room. She reached the door. Looking back, she stole a last glimpse of the door replica and the altar before it, then opened the door and slipped out of the room.
Mario lay limp where he had been deposited on the padded floor of the quarantine cell. He had been unconscious for two hours. Peach still stood at the door, watching over him, the tears still dropping from her pretty eyes.
Suddenly Mario sat up with the desperate gasp of a drowning man, his eyes wild and frightened. He scooted backward and huddled against the cushioned wall. His breath came in heaving gasps of fright.
Peach pressed her face to the glass, watching him fearfully.
Slowly Mario gained control of himself. His breathing slowed until it was somewhat normal. He tried to move his arms but could not. Looking down, he saw the straitjacket that kept his arms pinned to his body. He stared at the encumbering restraint.
"Wh...What...I-I'm..."
He saw the padded walls, floor and ceiling and nearly fainted from shock. "I-I...What's going on? Why am I...here?!"
Peach reached for the keypad to enter the code that would open the door. The guard beside her arrested her hand. "Your Highness, he's dangerous! We can't allow you to go in there!"
"Let me in," she ordered peremptorily, "and lock the door behind me. "If he's dangerous, then only I will be hurt."
The guard hesitated.
"Do it!" Peach cried.
Reluctantly the guard entered the unlocking code, and Peach opened the door and stepped into the cell. The guard shut and locked the door behind her.
"...Mario? Is...Is it really you?" Peach asked timidly.
Mario stared up at his princess from his place on the floor, half comprehending that she was really there. "...Peach," he croaked, "what...what's going on? This room―this jacket―" He wrenched his arms but could not free them. His gaze returned to Peach's face. "Why am I here?!"
Peach knelt beside him and caressed his cheek. "Mario," she began quietly, "something's wrong with you. You've been―" She choked back the tears and tried again. "You've―" It was no use. She broke down and wept.
Mario watched her silently, himself in a sort of shocked stupor. "...Peach," he said at last, "the last thing I remember is being sucked through that big door in Penumbra's Tomb." His voice was despairing, desperate for answers. "What did I do?"
"The―the castle guards―almost fifty of them are dead," Peach choked out. "And you―" She could go no further.
"You're saying―I killed them?" gasped Mario.
Peach sobbed and nodded.
Mario's gut wrenched. He felt sick. Clenching his teeth, he hung his head and wept with Peach. The two cried together in hushed silence for a few minutes.
At length Mario raised his tear-stained face and looked at Peach. "Did...Did I say anything to you...when...when I..."
Peach looked up at him. "Yes," she answered brokenly. "You said―you said you were Penumbra."
"Penumbra?" Mario was thoroughly puzzled. Ever so slowly the truth began to dawn on his face―the realization of what had happened to him.
"Peach," he said quietly, staring into space, "do you remember what Cyanara told us about that door? She said that the ultimate evil slept behind it. I was the key to awakening it."
"But she would have needed your blood on that altar to open that door," Peach countered, frowning.
"...She did."
Peach's face registered shock.
"...I don't know how, but she did," Mario confessed. "She also said that that evil would make me...make me half good and half evil, leave me unable to control my own body. The two halves would war inside me―and eventually the dark half would win out."
"Mario..." Peach breathed fearfully. "You...You think...??"
"It's inside me, Peach," Mario answered bitterly. "That evil is in me. There's no other way I could have done what I did."
"Oh, Mario!" Peach threw her arms around him and wept. Mario, his arms still fitted inside the straitjacket, could only sit back and shut his eyes in despair, letting Peach embrace him.
"Can you...let me out of this thing?" he requested at last, nodding at the straitjacket.
Peach had him unbound in seconds. Mario rose to his feet in the white, padded cell and reached out to the Princess, who placed her hand in his.
"I hope this doesn't change anything between us," he said hopefully.
Peach smiled at him through her tears. "Mario, nothing will ever change that. I still love you, and I'll do anything I can to help you through this."
"Thanks," Mario replied gratefully.
Peach drew Mario to the door and signaled for the guard to open it. When he had done as ordered, the Princess led Mario out of the quarantine cell. The guard stepped back and drew his sword.
"Put that away," commanded Peach. "He's OK now."
Reluctantly the guard resheathed his blade, eyeing Mari warily. Peach and Mario left the infirmary behind and set a course for the castle courtyard. Soon the two emerged from the building into the wide, stone-paved garden courtyard, surrounded by the castle building on all sides, the clear blue sky shining down from above.
Peach led Mario to one of the stone benches beside the fountain in the courtyard's center. "Sit down," she invited him in accompaniment with the music of the fountain, patting the spot beside her.
"I see you're wearing your rainbow robe again," Mario observed as he took his seat beside Peach. "Any special reason?"
"Well...I..." Peach dropped her eyes. "I had to use my powers to stop you from killing everyone. I-I didn't want to hurt you but I had to do something." She looked up inquisitively. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"I don't feel a thing," Mario replied. "No pain at all."
"Good," Peach sighed in relief.
"Your mother knew what she was doing when she gave you her power," Mario remarked.
"If she hadn't done it when she did," Peach agreed, "Cyanara would have beaten us all yesterday."
"And you didn't even want the power of the Eighth Guardian when it was given to you," Mario chided gently.
Peach smiled. "Oh, stop it," she laughed. "I know I was unsure of myself at first, but now I see why Mom did it. It was to save me."
Absent-mindedly Peach reached beneath her robe and withdrew a shimmering disc made of black crystal, about a foot in diameter. She turned it over slowly in her hands, letting the sun play off its polished surface.
"The Twilight Disc," commented Mario.
"Mm-hm," Peach responded, still gazing at the black disc. "The one Mom entrusted to me." She was silent for a moment. "Remember the other Rainbow Guardians?"
"How could I forget them? They only saved our lives," Mario replied with a grin. "Seems like an eternity since we saw them last, even though it was only yesterday." He smiled at the recollection. "I still remember the way Ruby wowed me with her mind-reading power. It always was a little uncomfortable having her around, knowing she was probably sorting through your thoughts."
"Don't forget Amber," Peach added.
"She always was your favorite, huh?"
Peach nodded. "Always warm and friendly."
"Warm as in her powers of solar fire?" Mario punned. They both laughed.
"And Citrine, with her electricity powers," added Peach.
"And Emerald, with her teleporting ability," interposed Mario.
"And the Aquamarine, the ice wielder."
And the energy-bending Sapphire."
"And Amethyst," Peach sighed with a smile. "She was probably the most memorable of the eight. So loving and kind."
"I thought the Guardians were defined by their colors and powers, not their personalities," Mario reminded her. "Amethyst was the transformation artist."
"I know, but I guess I'm closer to the girls than most others are," Peach replied. "Let's not leave out the last Guardian."
"Diamond," both said together.
"Mother was such an ideal Guardian," Peach reminisced. "I still wish I were more like her, so kind and sweet and generous."
"And she passed her power and title of Eighth Guardian down to you," Mario finished, "so that makes you the Eighth Guardian now."
The two sat side by side in silence, remembering all of their friends and the adventures they had had together over the past several weeks.
"Oh! Mario, I didn't tell you, did I?" Peach laid a hand on his arm. "The annual MarioKart races are back on!"
"You're kidding!" Mario exclaimed. "I thought they'd been canceled this year due to Cyanara's attacks!"
"Well, now that she's gone, we don't have to worry about her, do we?" Peach reminded him. "And have I ever got a surprise for you!"
"Then let's hear it!" pressed Mario.
Peach turned away and feigned aloofness. "Well, if I showed you now, it wouldn't be much of a surprise later, would it?"
"Am I gonna have to make you tell?" threatened Mario in jest.
"Let's see you try," Peach dared him.
No sooner had Peach given her "invitation" than Mario scooped her up in his arms as if she were a china doll. "Put me down, Mario!" she protested laughingly.
"Nope," Mario replied as he sprang to the stone ledge surrounding the fountain pool. "I'm gonna drop you in if you don't tell me!"
"Is that any way to treat a princess?" demanded Peach with a playful smile. She raised an eyebrow.
"Three..." Mario began counting down.
"You wouldn't," Peach told him.
"Two..."
"Mario..." warned Peach.
"One..."
Peach's eyes widened. "Oh...MARIO!!"
"Zero!"
The instant Mario released Peach from her cradle in his arms, she locked her arms around his neck, her momentum dragging both herself and Mario to a splash landing in the fountain pool. Mario, not having expected a wetting, surfaced quickly and gasped oxygen into his lungs, wiping the water from his eyes. His brown hair was plastered to his head and streaming with water.
Peach, likewise soaked, stood up on the bottom, her head well above the waterline. She brushed her dripping locks out of her eyes and waded through the waist-deep water to Mario, who was blinking the last drops from his eyes.
"See what a mess you've made of me!" she scolded him, pretending to be angry. "Just look at my robe! It's soaking wet!"
"If you ask me," Mario told her over the rush of the fountain, "you never looked better."
"Oh, you little scamp! Get over here!" Peach reached for Mario's ear, but he ducked and began wading away as fast as he could. Peach pursued him, determined to get him and teach him a lesson for his sauciness.
No sooner did Mario climb dripping out of the fountain than Toadsworth came bursting through the courtyard doors. Peach ducked underwater and surface behind the fountain spray, out of sight of her elderly steward. It was obvious Toadsworth was not in his best mood.
"Master Mario!" he exploded, waving his cane in protest. "There is to be absolutely NO swimming in the courtyard fountain! Is that clear?"
"Sure, Toadsworth, but I wasn't really swimming. It was an accident," Mario apologized lamely.
"Don't give me some feeble excuse! I saw you with my own eyes! Now where is the Princess?"
Mario, still making puddles at a psychopathic rate, looked about the courtyard. Peach was nowhere to be seen.
"...I'm not sure," he answered slowly.
Toadsworth humphed and stalked out of the courtyard.
"Why does he have to interrupt everything?" rang out Peach's sweet voice as she came out from behind the fountain and climbed out of the pool to dry. "We were just having fun again. It's a pity he had to interrupt." She seated herself on the ledge around the pool.
Mario plunked his soaked self down beside Peach on the ledge. "Actually, he was a lifesaver this time," he joked. "I was being chased by an angry princess!"
Peach slapped his arm lightly. "Nonsense," she returned playfully. She turned Mario's face to hers and held him with her eyes. "You were being chased by a sweet princess who thinks the world of you." Her lips moved toward Mario's.
"Stop this INSTANT!"
Peach and Mario started and turned to see Toadsworth standing in the door of the courtyard.
"Cease this inappropriate conduct this INSTANT!" repeated the indignant steward. "Your Highness, of all the unmannerly, indecent, indecorous, scandalous―"
Peach kissed Mario anyway and stood up. "That's enough, Toadsworth. You were looking for me?"
Toadsworth suddenly remembered his mission. "Yes, yes, of course! There's a terrible disturbance in the kingdom!"
"Disturbance?" Peach frowned. "What do you mean?"
"It's a riot! A rampage! Nothing short of war, Your Highness! An attack on our fair land!"
"War?!" Peach exclaimed. "No, not now! Come on, Mario, we've got to find out what's going on!" She grabbed Mario's hand and flew with him back into the castle.
"Why are we going to your rooms?" Mario questioned breathlessly, noting the path they were taking through the halls. "Shouldn't we have a conference with the head staff and find out what's happening?"
"We're going to find out," Peach told him shortly as she flung open her door and sat him down on her bed. Her hand scooped a pink remote from her dresser drawer, and she pressed the power button. Immediately the wide mirror over the dresser flipped itself over to reveal a forty-inch plasma TV, already on and broadcasting the news. The image was incredibly clear.
Mario nearly fell off the bed. "Wow! Since when have you had THAT?!"
"Not too long, and you'd better believe Toadsworth doesn't know about this," Peach told him in confidential tones, seating herself in her favorite red velvet chair beside the bed. "It's a direct link to MKNN's live feed."
The two sat in silence, watching the Toad news anchor. The rotating golden mushroom logo in the corner of the screen denoted MKNN, the Mushroom Kingdom News Network.
"Just an hour ago we received word that the city of Glitzville, known the world over for its championship fighting tournaments, is under attack from an unknown terrorist group," spluttered the anchor, obviously not in the proper newscasting mood. His face was plainly worried. "Rockets and other explosives are pummeling the flying city as we speak. The Mushroom Kingdom Army is completely stalemated."
Peach gasped as the screen switched scenes to show the charred, cratered city of Glitzville, its colorful banners and shops almost completely demolished. "This is horrible!" she cried. "Why would anyone do this to the kingdom?!"
Now the camera flicked to the on-scene reporter, who was anxiously pushing her blond braids out of her eyes. "News reporter Vera T., live from Glitzville!" she hollered into her microphone over the noise of exploding rockets. "The famous city of Glitzville lies in ruins, as you can see behind me!" She frantically gestured at the smoking debris behind her. "For over an hour now we've been pounded by missiles from an as-yet-unconfirmed source. Our forces are at a standstill. We can't fight an enemy we can't see!"
Abruptly a shadow fell over the city. The reporter looked up and gasped, "Oh, my―!! Look at that!!"
The camera panned upward to reveal a gigantic black saucer floating over Glitzville, firing round after round of highly explosive warheads at the city. Emblazoned on the saucer's underbelly was a huge red flag with a white X cutting it diagonally.
Now it was Mario's turn to gasp. "That's Sir Grodus's flagship! This is the work of his X-Naut troops!"
"I-It seems the enemy has made its appearance!" screamed Vera T. as the camera, still focused on the monstrous UFO in the skies, captured hundreds of red-suited, white-masked X-Nauts rappelling down from the saucer toward the city below. There was more screaming as the citizens of Glitzville fled for their lives off-camera.
The camera returned to Vera T.'s scared face. "Princess Peach!" she cried hysterically. "If you're watching this, know that the people of Glitzville will fight to the bitter end; but we need help, and FAST! This is a losing battle!" Vera T. screamed and dove to one side as a missile exploded almost on top of her. She scrambled out of the rubble, now smudged and streaked with dust.
"Those poor souls!" Peach murmured, clasping her hands. Her eyes watered. "So frightened..."
"That's it, we're outta here! Pack it up―we're going home!" cried Vera to her camera crew. "MKNN reporter Vera T., live from Glitz―"
A fist socked Vera T.'s skull, knocking her out cold and dropping her to the rubble under foot. The camera followed her fall, then quickly banked up to look directly at Vera's attacker. Peach caught her breath as she saw a woman in a red form-fitting top and sheer black skirt bend over to pick up Vera's microphone. The assailant straightened up, tossing her straight black hair to the back of her neck. She smiled an icy smile at the camera.
"Cyanara," Peach breathed, stunned.
"Greetings to the Mushroom Kingdom," intoned Cyanara. "I declare myself your new ruler. The destruction you see here in Glitzville is only a sampling of what will happen throughout the land if Princess Peach does not turn over her throne to me."
"Ludicrous!" cried Mario. "Why, that monster of a woman! She's crazy if she thinks we'll give in!"
"I know you're watching this, Peach," Cyanara continued smoothly. "You've got two weeks to step down."
"Never!" Peach shot at the screen.
"I tried being nice about it, Peach. I tried it all―negotiation, bargaining, condescension, coercion, even threats and petty torture. But you wouldn't listen." Cyanara narrowed her eyes at the camera. "So if I can't get what is rightfully mine through fair play―I'll take it by force."
Cyanara riveted the viewers with an icy stare. "Breaking news," she said with a false smile. She pulled a fist back and aimed it at the camera.
"This kingdom is MINE!!"
Cyanara's fist connected with the camera lens, and the TV screen went blank.