"Look, Timpani. The stars are beautiful, aren't they?

"...there's a tradition in my village. We believe that wishes on stars come true."

"Oh? Is that so? In that case, we'd better get wishing, don't you think?"

"I don't need to wish anymore."

"Mmm?"

"I already got my wish. Now...I have everything I need right here."

"Timpani...aren't you cold?"

"Not at all. I'm very warm. Can we stay like this? Just a little longer?"


"Tippi? Tippi!"

Tippi finally woke and saw that Merlon was holding her in her hand, looking worried. Peach and Mario also looked worried and Bowser...well, he's evil so he didn't count.

She asked, "Wha...?"

Peach answered, "What's the matter, Tippi? You seemed a little out of there..."

Merlon added, "Yeah, I had to put you in my hand, I was getting worried..."

Mario stated, "As was I."

Tippi looked confused as she questioned, "Well... Didn't you just hear something?"

Bowser shook his head and answered, "No, not at all."

Tippi still looked confused and reasoned that it was possible that she remembered something. 'Question is, what was it,' Tippi thought. That's when the ground shook and The Void grew bigger. Our heroes knew that they had to find another Heart Pillar and fast. Melon expressed his worry about the worlds that might've already decayed. Since the Light Prognosticus was written to counterattack the dark one, it was unclear how much time they had.

Peach confessed, "I'm still worried about Luigi..."

Mario whispered, "I hope he'll be okay..."

Bowser merely nodded and responded, "I'm sure Luigi will be fine."

Tippi added, "I'm sure your friend is okay."

Merlon commented, "As am I."

The mushroom queen walked off in worry. Mario had to admit that he was worried too. The adventure was almost over and there was still no sign of Luigi. Bowser could care less but Luigi was still his... Mario quickly shook his head. No, not now. He couldn't think about that now... After getting what they needed for their next chapter and putting the Pure Heart in the Heart Pillar, they headed for the Samurai World. With the scripture from the Light Prognosticus in their minds, the four heroes headed out.

Tippi commented, "This is a rather strange world."

Bowser said, "Not much like my castle..."

Peach rolled her eyes and asked Mario, "What's the plan here?"

Mario shrugged and answered, "We just roll with the punches."

However, the Void was closer on this world than in previous worlds so our heroes were a bit more cautious. One fighter ran off in shame as our heroes met up with King Sammer, the leader of the Samurai. He told them in ordinary to get the Pure Heart, they needed to defeat 100 samurais.

"100 Samurais," the mushroom queen repeated, a bit surprise that they would have that many battles.

The Koopa King blew a raspberry and stated, "That's no big deal for me. I mean, I'm Bowser!"

The red clad man ignored his former father as he instructed, "Then we have each of us fight 10 fights before switching to the next fighter. I go first, Peach goes second, and Bowser goes third."

The pixl commented, "Good thinking. Let's get going!"

With that, the three heroes went onto many fights to defeat the Samurai Guys. However, when they reached the twentieth battle and Peach defeated the Samurai there... The Void started to grow larger and our heroes knew that they had to hurry.

A voice asked, "Hurry? Why not pause and savor the show?"

Everyone perked up and looked around for the source of the voice. That's when Count Bleck appeared.

Tippi gasped, "Count Bleck!"

Bowser hissed, "You got some nerve coming here! Now I can finally stomp on your ass!"

Count Bleck commented, "It is already too late to stop Count Bleck! The prophecy unfolds smoothly, thanks to the Chaos Heart. The light of each world will be snuffed out one by one..."

Peach yelled, "You're the one that made us summon it!"

Mario added, "Yeah and we're gonna stop you before you can even blink!"

Tippi questioned, "Why would you want to do something so...unspeakable?"

Count Bleck explained, "You question Count Bleck?! This worthless world's destruction matters not! Far better for Count Bleck to wipe it out of existence than let it remain!"

Tippi asked, "How can you say that? That's...horrible!"

Count Bleck answered, "Count Bleck scoffs at you! An insignificant Pixl lectures Count Bleck on what is right and wrong?"

Tippi stated, "This is not up for discussion! You're sick...and wrong! All living things have a heart. They're all priceless. You can't just...erase them!"

Count Bleck replied, "Of all things, you defend the heart? Nothing could be more worthless... All things...are meaningless. Aside from Timpani, no treasure mattered in the least to me..."

Tippi nearly choked, "...Tim...Timpani...?"

Count Bleck quietly said, "...Speak no more! This world is dying under the monocled gaze of...Count Bleck! But don't let that stop you from trying to find a Pure Heart that you will never acquire!"

With a chuckle, Count Bleck was gone - making Tippi more confused. Everyone started to bolt out of the chapter and fast. They knew that they had to do something and fast. They just had to get to the king. The king greeted them and told them to go to the 26th gate. The group headed there and when they arrived, they got a surprise. The box had a bomb in it! The bomb exploded and none of the heroes took damage. Turns out that the king was Mimi in disguise. Peach stepped up and told her friends that she would face Mimi. After awhile, Mimi was defeated. But as Mimi smirked, The Void grew larger.

Tippi commented, "We have to get out of here!"

Bowser added, "Yeah, The Void is about to consume everything!"

Mimi stated, "All according to plan!"

Peach turned to Mario and responded, "Tippi and Bowser are right, we have to run!"

Mario nodded in agreement and said, "Right!"

With that, everyone ran out of the dying world as fast as they could...


AK1028: Run for the hills everyone! The destruction of the Samurai Kingdom has come... Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!