Chapter 6: Coming Home

(DisclaimerI I owe nothing of Nintendo or any memorable quotes used to make this story!)

I was looking at the sky. "Am I doing the right thing?" I asked, "Staying here protecting this world?" I had memories of all the fun I use to have with the gang. "What would Toadstool think of me?" I asked. I then realized my promise I made to Ike that I would never turn my back on people who need me. That meant anyone whether they were from this world or mine. "I have to go back!" I said. I spent the next few hours making blueprints for an excellent plan to take on the Puppet Mistress. I went to Professor Elvin's lab. "Nicholas," he said, "What a surprise." "We gotta go back and fight The Puppet Mistress," I said. Something broke. "Sorry," I said. "Well how do you plan to do that?" he asked. "I have a plan," I said as I laid some blueprints down. "This is amazing," said Luna, "This is bound to work, but you'll need quite a few hands." "I've got some help," I said. Some hammer bros and koopas came down. "Let's get to work!" I said. Chelsea joined us. "You're gonna need some theatrical appearances too," said Chelsea, "Allow me to help." We were making machines and other things for my plan. Elvin showed me his projection screen. "Elvin you outdid yourself and I've only known you for one chapter," I said. "I try," said Professor Elvin.

Link and the others were sneaking into Forest Road to take on the Puppet Mistress. "There it is," said Link, "Her new fortress." They were sneaking in to find her. "Keep quiet and make sure no one catches us," said Link. Someone looked and thought they saw them. "Tubba-Blubba!" said Natalie, "Do you think he saw us?" Some soldiers caught them. "Yes, I did," he said. We were heading back to my world for the fight of our life. "Remember your positions," I said, "We're doing this for Earth and for the Mushroom Kingdom!" Everyone went in position and I put on my Graffiti Ghost costume. "Its show time," I said. The Puppet Mistress showed my friends to everyone in Forest Road. "These creatans tried to defy their ruler and take the throne for themselves," she said, "Today we will make an example!" The puppets cheered. "Let this be a lesson to all you humans," she said, "Defy me and you will end up like them." "You can't do this!" said Natalie. "I already have," said Puppet Mistress, "Now I call the big shots!" "Not so fast Puppet Mistress!" I said. She turned and saw me in my costume. "You again?" she said, "Don't you ever give up?"

"Your reign of terror ends now!" I said. "You can't fool me with your little parlor tricks," she said, "You pretend to be this guardian but in reality you are just a kid in tights." Saria managed to escape the ropes and sneak away. "I have no idea what you mean," I said. "I know your identity," she said, "There's no hiding it from me." She was right. "Very well, I will unmask myself," I said, "If you can force me to do so!" I cast my staff out and nothing happened. "My staff must be malfunctioning," I said. "Fool!" she said. She tried to attack me and I dodged her. Tubba-Blubba came at me and I tried to fight him off. He was too powerful for my fighting skills to outmatch him. I did my best to hold my own but he was too strong. I had scars on my mask. "Now you die!" said Puppet Mistress. She shot a ball of fire at me and I fell to the floor. "NOOOOOOOOO!" said Saria. I was defeated. "Not so powerful after all," said Puppet Mistress. Saria went to me. "Nicholas…." She said, "Speak to me." She then cried and her tears fell onto my costume. I was down for the count. Defeated. Or… so everyone thought. Someone tapped her on the shoulders. It was me in a trench coat.

She hugged me. "You're ok!" she said. "Of course," I said, "Don't count me out just yet," I said, "We still got a show to put on," I said. I pointed her to a hideaway and we went over to it. "The hero of Horror Town is dead like the many warriors who spoke of him, and the boy who tried to continue his legacy!" said Puppet Mistress, "And he'll be joined in death by these children. She charged up for a powerful attack. She was about to launch it when the flames around her fortress went out. A giant explosion came out of nowhere and a giant ghost appeared. Everyone screamed in fear. "Fear me not earthlings, fear me not," he said, "For it is I, the legend of Horror Town, The Graffiti Ghost!" "More tricks after all I've done for you!" said Puppet Mistress, "How dare you defy me!" "How dare you?" he asked, "No one defies the Graffiti Ghost. "Tubba-Blubba!" said Puppet Mistress. "Soldiers," he said, "Destroy him!" The puppet soldiers threw spears at the ghost but they went right through them. He swung his staff and a giant gust of wind blew them away. They ran. "Soldiers come back here!" she said.

(Pause! Ha! You actually thought I was dead didn't you? No, I used a ghost as a decoy and now I'm doing the voice over of a ghost from a projection screen provided by Chelsea and her amazing puppeteer skills. Resume!) I laughed in triumph. "You thought you could destroy me?" I said in a microphone changing my voice to a loud booming voice, "Me?!" Luna came with a knife and snuck past the guards. "Thanks to you I shed my mortal shell and have taken my true form," I said, "I am far more powerful than ever! Do you still doubt me Puppet Mistress?" "Doubt you?" she asked, "I DEFY YOU!" she shot a ball of fire at the Graffiti Ghost and it fell down and started to disappear. "Amazing, my lady," said Tubba-Blubba. "Thank you," she said. "Hurry," said Professor Elvin. "Hold it," I said, "Hold it." "You're taking too much time," said Chelsea, "They think they're winning." "Now!" I said. Saria pulled a switch. "Turn it on," I said. "We have a loose wire," said Saria. "Use this," I said as I tossed it to her. She fixed the wire. "Got it," she said. She pulled the switch.

The explosion came again and the giant puppet came back to life. "This is impossible," said Puppet Mistress. "You cannot defeat me," I said through the microphone, "I am the guardian of Horror Town, the Graffiti Ghost!" Everyone cheered. "Now witness and observe as I unleash the stars!" I said, "Behold!" Balls of fire came raining down and exploded. "Fireworks!" said Izzy. The koopalings were lighting up fireworks and sending them out to the sky. "He really is a powerful person," said Tubba-Blubba. Luna snuck behind him and cut the others free. "You!" said Puppet Mistress. She stopped her in her tracks. "Its time to end this," she said. Natalie attacked her with force fields. "Not so fast," said Natalie, "You mess with her, then you mess with us." The others surrounded her. The puppet shot a fireball at her and she dodged. "You cannot stop me!" she said. Tubba-Blubba tried to attack when Maddy kicked him in the gut. "I've had enough of this punk," she said. She kicked him into the pipe and he fell.

"Time for the grand finale!" I said, "Saria, now!" I jumped into the puppet's hand and Saria summoned a gust of wind. Chelsea threw me at Puppet Mistress. I charged up for a powerful fire punch. "Time to put everything I got into this!" I said. I punched the Puppet Mistress in the face and defeated her. Everyone cheered. Yoshi ran around her tying her up with a rope. "You fools!" she said, "Even if you defeat me once, I will come back and this time I'll kill you!" "Tell us that after you get out of prison," said Natalie, "Now let's see who you really are." She took off her mask. It was Chita. "Chita?!" we all said. Everyone gasped. "I knew it!" said Chelsea. "How?" asked Saria. "She was absent since book 3," said Chelsea, "Duh." "You ruined everything!" said Chita, "I would've finally had my dream." "What made you do all this?" asked Bootler. "I wanted to prove to my teacher that I was a great puppeteer," said Chita, "He saw potential only in my rival and I wanted his approval to be his star pupil." "So you dressed up as this puppet mistress character to try and prove to your master that you were worthy."

"That's right, I wanted to make a world of puppets and amaze him," said Chita, "And the glory and everything would've been mine….. if it weren't for you meddling kids." Everyone looked at Scooby Doo and the mystery gang. "Not them you idiot!" said Chita. The camera turned back to us. "As I was saying," she said, "If it weren't for you meddling kids and your dinosaur." "That's me," said Yoshi. Moments later Chita was hauled away to prison. Everyone cheered as we headed back to the Mushroom Kingdom. We were at Horror Town. I looked at the river with a sad face. "I knew along there was no real Puppet Mistress," said Luna. Something exploded. "Oops," said Luna "What's wrong Nicholas?" asked Saria, "You got your chance to show the world what you could really do with your powers and saved both that world and this world." "Yeah, but too bad my parents didn't see all the good I could do," I said, "They thought I was a curse to the family and sent me to that boarding school. I ran away from them and they probably will never forgive me for all the trouble I put them through. Something came on video. "Hello?" said a familiar voice. "Mom?" I asked, "Dad?"

"We wanna give this message to our son, Nicholas wherever he might be," said my dad. "Nicholas, we're sorry we didn't support you," said my mom, "We were wrong." "You had every right to be angry with your uncle," said my dad, "But we just want you to come home because….." "We love you!" said both of them. I smiled. I started heading out. "Where are you going?" asked Link. "I'm going back home," I said, "I have some loose ends to cover up." "You mean you're not upset with your parents?" asked Lucina. "Not as upset as I was before," I said, "Besides, I had to go back sometime." "Ok," said Natalie, "I'm in." "Me too," said Saria, "I followed you to this world. I'm just gonna follow you wherever you go. But don't take it THAT way." "Saria, Natalie, I appreciate this," I said, "But I can't take you with me." "I don't believe you have a choice," said Maddy, "I'm coming too." "Me three," said Izzy. I smiled. "Thanks guys," I said. I started saying my goodbyes to everyone in the Mushroom world. "You better come back," said Link, "You hear me?" I was just about ready to leave. But first, I had a friend to see. I was heading to Princess Toadstool's castle. "Princess," I said. "You're leaving aren't you?" she asked. I saw her at the doorstep. I went to her.

"How did you know?" I asked. She smiled and came closer to me."I always knew you would go back to your world," said Toadstool, "Because you and I are not from the same world. I looked down to the floor. "Yeah," I said, "I gotta do what I gotta do." She made me face her and looked at me with a smile. "But that's ok," said Toadstool, "Because we will be friends forever won't we?" I smiled yeah. "I wanna say thank you," said Toadstool, "For giving us back our freedom, our strength, and our courage. You have inspired all of us around this world." I smiled.

She gave me a hug and kissed my forehead. "I want you to have this bracelet," she said, "Cherish it and think of us when you're back at your world. I opened it and saw a picture of all of us at Orphan Town. I had a tear in my eye. I hugged her and started crying. "There, there," she said. "I'm gonna miss you Toadstool," I said. "I'll miss you too," said Toadstool, "But that gate between worlds is always open, and you can always come back." I smiled and started heading down the pipe with everyone.

I finally made it to my house. I knocked on the door and my parents answered it. "Nicholas!" she said as she gave me a hug, "My baby's come home!" Isaac and dad came and gave me a hug. I hugged them all back. "I'm so sorry I ran away," I said with a tear in my eye. "No buddy, we're the ones who should be sorry," said my dad, "We should've supported you all this time for who you wanted to be." I hugged him. "I know that I made some mistakes but I'm learning from them," I said, "But I know that they're nowhere worse than the chances I don't take." "Nicholas…" said my mom. "We need to listen to our son," said my dad. "I want you to accept me for who I am," I said, "Can you at least try?" They nodded. "I'm really sorry," I said, "I thought with these powers I was brave enough to do things on my own, that I didn't need you. But I was wrong." They smiled.

"You're a part of my life and an inspiration to everything I do," I said as I hugged them, "I love you guys." "We love you too Nicholas," said mom, "Having a super powered kid for a son may not be easy but its always amazing. You make us so proud." "You sure do." I told them everything that happened ever since I was gone. "….And if you don't believe me, ask my friends," I said, "They'll tell you." "We believe you son," said my dad, "But its just that we knew this day would come." "What day?" I asked. "Where we tell you the truth," said my mom. "Nicholas, there's something your mom and I have been meaning to…. To tell you," said my dad. They told me everything. "So if you found me then where would I come from?" I asked. She showed me a necklace.

"This was with you when we found you," said my mom. It was Professor Elvin's symbol. It read "From GSI located in Seattle." "That's it!" I said, "I can go to Seattle and find out where I'm from and…." I looked back at my family. "Mom, Dad, Isaac," I said, "You're the best family a kid could ask for…. But I gotta know." "Go son," he said, "And our door is always open and you can always come back." I hugged them. Me, Natalie, Saria, Izzy, and Maddy got on a train to Seattle. After we got off we headed to an apartment. "This is it," I said, "Our spot." I knocked on the door. Someone opened the door. "Nicholas?" he asked. "Toadbert," I said. He smiled.

Nicholas: And that wraps it up for part II.

Daisy: What happens next?

Nicholas: You'll find out soon.

Daisy: Yay!

Nicholas: In part III

Ikki: Part III? (Tugs on him)

Nicholas: Yep.

Saria: I wanna know what happens next. I love this story so far!

Natalie: Me too!

(A whole crowd of people asked for more)

Korra: Any story worth telling is worth telling twice

Kai: Yeah, let's see it

Finn: I wanna see

Link: Come on man!

Nicholas: HOLD IT! I am currently working on the film and we are gonna see it soon. But, how about we watch the movie again, parts 1 and 2.

(everyone cheers)

Nicholas: And you'll be the first to see a sneak preview Aariqua (Puts his arm around her)

Daisy: I heard that!

The Spectacular End

Cast:

Nicholas Shay

Princess Toadstool

Saria Fate

Link

Zelda

Lucina

Toad

Yoshi

Robin

Kirby

Luna

King Dedede

Escargoon

Chelsea

Natalie

Chita/Puppet Mistress

Bootler

Tubba-Blubba

Ghost Henchmen

Puppet Soldiers

Koopalings

Nicholas' Parents

Isaac

Toadbert (Soon to be seen in Star Kids Origins III)