Momentum:
"Here's hoping you're really a quick learner," Warra said to Daisy. "The sooner we can get the basics done, the better."
The next day had started in the late morning at South Island's Elemental Training Grounds with Warra and Daisy standing across from one another. Both of them had their Ultima Staffs put away across their backs in accordance with the fighting techniques Warra planned to demonstrate and pass on. Daisy's laser-like focus told Warra that she was ready.
"With Iaido, you'll stick to hand-to-hand as your default combat method, saving your elemental tool for use with select attacks," Warra said. "This will work with you to your advantage, because you'll get to stick to your strengths while also incorporating the effectiveness of your elemental tool."
Warra crouched into stance and put up his hands. He gave a couple quick palm strikes, followed by a spin kick; and then, in one swift motion, he grabbed the staff shaft of his Tidal Swordstaff and pulled it out for a spinning upward slash. His lone attack with the staff flowed back into a replacement of the tool back into its holster, leaving his hands empty once more. He did not have the staff in his grasp for more than three seconds.
For another demonstration, Warra took three lateral leaps to his right, then another hop forward. As he set his feet down, he pulled out his swordstaff again, letting elemental energy flow through to its blade to create a sweep of water that flew out as he made a horizontal slash. With a quick twirl of the staff to reset its position in his hands, he again put the tool back in its place and left his hands free.
Warra marched back close to Daisy. "Whether it be as part of a chain of attacks, or just as an attack on its own, you only have to have the tool in your hands long enough to execute the maneuvers you want to do; after which, you put it away and go back to hand-to-hand combat. Any Iaido attack you have starts and ends with your staff in its holster across your back. That means you have to be quick on the draw, but you'll likely catch your opponents off guard with the sudden change. This is actually an advanced style for those experienced with melee weapon play, but you're the exception. Every attack or technique of yours involving your bladestaff will be of an Iaido nature, so your hand-to-hand moves will always be accessible."
"Alright, that sounds pretty awesome!" Daisy exclaimed. "It's a draw, a quick strike, and a sheathe."
Warra nodded. "All at the same time."
"All at the same time," Daisy repeated. "One flowing into the next."
"One flowing into the next," Warra replied. "Try going slow this first time with a basic horizontal slash."
Daisy turned and stepped away, then crouched into position. She waited for a few seconds, then grabbed her Terra Bladestaff to pull out and strike through the air with a horizontal slash. The nature of slashing with the staff felt awkward, especially since she had to be careful about slashing herself with the blade end nearest to her due to the bladestaff's double-sided build. After a somewhat jerky swing, she spun the blade back around to replace it in its original position.
"How's that?" she asked.
"Not great, but okay," said Warra. "If I were Toad, though, I would've made your elemental tool a swordstaff instead of a bladestaff. It's trickier using a double-bladed implement as opposed to a single-bladed one, even though the two blades are smaller. Watch what I do."
Warra set his swordstaff down and walked over to Daisy to take her bladestaff. He set up in a position where Daisy could easily see his grip on the tool, and then he proceeded to demonstrate the best way to hold it as he made some slashes through the air.
"Like this," Warra said, demonstrating the swings again. "Remember where I am gripping in relation to both blades, and also remember how my elbows and shoulders are bending in relation to the where the blades are too."
Daisy paid close attention to Warra's positioning as he showed each swipe with a pause before and after to check for form. Before she knew it, Warra handed the bladestaff back to Daisy for her to try. Keeping in mind Warra's cues, her slashes with her bladestaff looked smoother and swifter than before.
"That's right," said Warra. "Great use of the shoulders there! Now that looks a lot better. That's exactly how you should strike when pulling the staff out from its holster."
Daisy blushed and grinned as she kept making slashes. Yeah, that's right! Uh-huh! I'm 'bouta dice 'em up down there on the surface! I'm dangerous! With an a-r-u-s-s! Dane-garuss Daisy! Slashin' Sarasa! Ooh! Watch out for the Mass-Slashin' Sarasa!
She really is picking this up quick... Warra thought.
Unfortunately, Daisy got a little too comfortable and lost focus on the blade path. She ended up putting a cut in her left upper arm with the blade closest to her. Though shallow, it still bled quick. Warra pulled out a bandage wrap from his belt and went over to patch Daisy's arm up.
"You gotta be careful!" Warra snapped. "Being loose is good, but if you're too loose, you won't have control of the staff! Not to mention, the blades of a new tool are always at their sharpest! "
"As long as I don't mess up my mug, I'm good!" replied Daisy. "But...thanks."
Warra sighed and shook his head as he finished tying the knot on the bandage. "Just be more careful, okay? I know it seems like I always say that, but seriously, I mean it."
"And how about elemental attacks?" Daisy asked, re-sheathing her staff. "You know, like that water slash you did?"
Warra stepped back and pulled out his Tidal Swordstaff, holding it skyward as it glowed blue. "In the same way you channel elemental power through those wrist and ankle weights of yours, channel that energy through to your bladestaff."
Daisy took her Terra Bladestaff in hand and tried forcing her elemental power through to it. Several moments passed before anything happened, but what did transpire was not at all what she intended to have happen. Instead of her tool glowing, it shot out of her hands several yards in front of her.
"Don't push and jam it in there!" said Warra. "Just let it flow. You don't have to force anything out until the elemental power has flowed into your tool. Your power flows through your body, so let it flow through to the staff. Use the staff as an extension of your body. Then, when the energy flows through both your body and your staff, you force out the power."
"Get down from there, ya flying stick!" Wario screamed.
On the other side of the Elemental Training grounds, Wario, DK, Athelstan, Neva, and Koops watched as Marut twirled around his Dragon Bladestaff like a helicopter propeller to hover in the air.
Bowser sat in deep meditation, with Ramona and Andrew sitting back-to-back, following his lead nearby. Though Bowser never mentioned the reasoning for his sudden use of frequent meditation, Ramona and Andrew both wanted to show their support for him and his apparent new habit.
Marut descended to set his feet down on the ground as he brought his propeller motion to a stop. "What – so you don't think there would be any situation where this would be useful?"
"No," Neva flatly said. "If you're gonna use the staff to fly, just hook your boomerangs up to it like you did before and activate your Alkemei. Why are you gonna try and be an attack copter?"
"I don't know! Options!" hollered Marut, throwing his hands up.
Suddenly, a rumble rocked through the Elemental Training Grounds in tandem with a hard, deep cracking sound. Everyone looked over to where Daisy and Warra had been working and saw the Kruna Yura of Earth knelt down with one end of her bladestaff jammed into the ground. From her staff, a lane of ripped-up earth had formed a little more than ten yards ahead of her. Daisy backflipped a great distance behind the strike point and charged energy through the staff once more. Her tool now glowing silver, she released a seismic rumble in front of her as she made the diagonal slash. And just as quickly as she dealt out the swipe, she returned the staff to its place across her back.
Andrew momentarily cracked open an eye and took a glance over at Daisy's handiwork. Fast learner, he thought.
"Wow!" exclaimed Athelstan. "She's gonna be ready to dice 'em up down there on the surface real soon!"
"She is dan-ge-rous!" Marut cheered. "With an a-r-u-s-s! Dane-garuss Daisy! Slashin' Sarasa! Ooh! Watch out for the Mass-Slashin' Sarasa! That's what Marissa and her goons'll be saying!"
From that point on, the Kruna Yura's training for their return to the hostile surface of the Earth took off. And they never looked back.
From honing and perfecting basic and intermediate skills, to improving their physicality and conditioning, to escalating their elemental capabilities, the Kruna made every day count towards something; even if that meant just taking a day off here and there to facilitate the recovery needed to continue progressing. Tests of strength, bursts of power, speed runs, agility drills, ranged challenges, and endurance trials – all stressing aerial, defensive, and elemental skills and fluency – filled their days, increasing in intensity, complexity, and difficulty as time went on.
The weeks flew by on the heavenly island citadel of Rainbow City, the skies around it rocked by the increasing intensity of the Kruna Yura's training. They trained each day driven to put an end to the Nirvana Barrier and Marissa's reign on the planet below. The blood, sweat, tears, and pain made the eight Kruna faster, stronger, tougher, nimbler, swifter, steadier, and far more powerful than they had ever been. With their good friends of the Rainbow City Guard – Wario, Waluigi, Toadette, Koops, and DK – and the five Black Mages helping out here and there, the Kruna broke through barriers in their powers never thought imaginable before.
Four weeks in, Rosalina praised the eight Kruna Yura for their work ethic and progression. The Kruna saw getting some focused, unhurried time for dedicated training as a godsend, for their time with Geno had been too short to really expand on their capabilities. Now, they had the opportunity to enhance their powers and ascend to new plateaus; something that Polari continued to be skeptical of. It seemed as if every opportunity the elder Luma got, he told Rosalina of any and every reason why the Kruna Yura would not be able to stand against the dangers of the surface world. But each time, Rosalina either laughed, gave a subtle retort, or just ignored him. Polari's at times harsh criticisms only gave Daisy, Neva, and Andrew added incentive to bolster their elemental might. Yet despite the team's overall steady development, Polari refused still to acknowledge them as worthy allies and continued to expect no better than disappointing results.
"It doesn't make any sense!" Andrew growled, hurling a ranged shadow bolt at Daisy as the two dueled one night at the training grounds. "That damned Luma keeps wishing for super idealized versions of us!"
Daisy held out her hands to catch the shadow energy and snap it up into the air, equally as agitated as her dark counterpart. "I know! What's his deal?! It's like he's mad at us for failing in the first place and is urging Rosalina to find new Kruna!" Daisy then stomped a foot in the ground to knock free a mass of earth. She rushed at the earth and jammed her shoulder in it to send it in the Kruna of Shadow's direction.
Andrew pulled back a fist and charged concentrated dark energy around it as he brought it forward to rip through the incoming mass. "We can show him we're just as good as any other Kruna that came before us, right?"
"Of course we can!" Daisy shouted. In unison, they both prepared and charged their most powerful ranged attacks; Daisy's Seismic Wave and Andrew's Gemivado. As they unleashed the techniques upon one another, the sounds of their powers echoed through the quiet night and thundered at the moment of their clash. The two siphoned their energies into their continuous attacks, both on equal ground with one another fighting for supremacy of the field.
"HEY!" Neva called out from the entrance to the training grounds, standing beside Warra. "It's getting late! Not that I care about what you guys do, but cut that crap out and get to bed already! Big training day tomorrow!"
Daisy and Andrew both ceased their attacks and lowered their energy levels. The rumble and humming from the disturbances of their conflicting continuous blasts went away almost as quick. Though Daisy and Andrew calmed their powers, they failed to calm themselves.
"We were just in the middle of something!" Daisy yelled.
"We didn't need you to come all the way out here just to yell at us!" Andrew screamed.
"Apparently YA DID!" Neva snapped back. "Otherwise, Warra wouldn't've dragged me out here to come get you guys!"
"We can take care of ourselves, Warra!" Daisy barked.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Warra cried, waving his hands. "Don't drag me into this! All I did was ask where you two were! I swear!"
Daisy smirked. "Well as you can see, we were working! It's great to stay as adept at night as in the day, especially since the world under the Nirvana Barrier is pretty much always dark. So why wouldn't a little extra time at night go a long way?"
"Better than slacking off at the Milk Bar!" Andrew added.
"You think I'm slacking, Shady?!" Neva screamed, clutching her Blizzard Bladestaff. "I need my milk! It gives me the energy to do cool stuff like this-"
"Please don't," said Warra, putting up an arm in front of the fiery Kruna of Ice.
"No, please do!" Daisy demanded, sticking her arms out and puffing up her chest. "Take a free shot from right there!"
"All three of you are a bunch of volatile hotheads," Warra muttered with a sigh. "Past midnight and you're all still wound up..."
Several more weeks passed, through which every one of the Kruna Yura made great improvements. Daisy's skill with Iaido combat grew thanks to Warra's help, and her offensive capacities skyrocketed. She trained both in her normal state and in Nova Form to further maintain the synchronization between them that had formed through Geno's work and influence. Her growth in her abilities made her even more of the fast, agile, hard-hitting, powerful fighter that she had already been.
Marut's speed shot up and exploded, at times appearing like a green whirlwind of gusting fury. Athelstan's muscular magnitude ramped up to titanic forces, and the potential that came through the Alkemei Odina's ability to double the user's strength made for possibilities beyond what the world had deemed logical – or even sane. Warra's skill and control ascended to that of a tactical genius and a true water master as he demonstrated sage-like control of every puddle and droplet nearby; not to mention the ease he had with summoning or even creating water. Ramona's light energy and scope of power took a great leap, and Andrew's combative aggression stepped-up to magnify all of his offensive capabilities. Neva improved substantially in all areas, though she still remained dominant with fast, agile techniques and ranged attacks to take advantage of her extensive power.
Bowser managed to regain a large portion of the ability and might that the Giga Soul within had been hording from him, and he finally looked to be the formidable force he knew he could be. On several occasions, he stunned the others with his fast pace of improvements all-around. In fact, increasing his reviving powers with his training meant that he was experiencing a much greater boost and ascension than the other Kruna. Rosalina and Polari both kept close attention on Bowser, noting his accelerated growth and keeping an eye out for any possible unpleasant disturbances his Giga Soul could cause.
Polari, though still reluctant to accept the eight Kruna Yura as real elemental guardians, spectated the eight of them one night deep into their training at the Astral Stadium with surprise. Rosalina stood beside him, watching the upscale in intensity and ferocity the eight displayed compared to their battle against Marissa in the Sarasaland Castle Town.
"Only now are they starting to look like legitimate Kruna, Grand Elder," Polari said. "Still, not necessarily impressive by the standards set by those that came before them; but I will admit, their determination and will power has got to be unmatched to have progressed this far from where they were."
"You still doubt they'll be effective down on the surface, hmm?" Rosalina replied. "Give them some more time. Then we'll see how apprehensive you really should be."
"I came just in time!" Lubba said as he floated to Rosalina's side. Bowser had hunched over and erected a swirling torrent of golden-crimson flames reaching high over the stadium floor. Marut stood across from him, ready to react to the prepared move. All the other Kruna stopped and watched Bowser's magnificent display. And as the Kruna of Fire unleashed one of the most powerful Tavado blasts the others had ever seen from any fire wielder, Marut formed a rotational orb of air in his hands that spun with fierce revolution speed. Bowser's seven flaming torpedoes arced and angled at Marut as the Kruna of Air slammed his orb down into the ground and spun around to flare up his defensive Dome Rotation technique. Interestingly enough, the torpedoes bounced off of the rotational shield and went on a new course; each one heading in the direction of another Kruna and prompting a unique response from every wielder to either dodge, block, or deflect away.
The final stray Tavado torpedo went for Polari and nearly knocked him out of the stadium in a vicious fireball; and it would have done so had Rosalina not stepped in to defend him. With a mere flick of her left arm, she swatted the flames up into the sky, sending the Tavado torpedo rocketing away at a speed nearly twice as fast as the pace it flew at Polari. Its brightness and increasing height in the atmosphere brought brilliant illumination through the Rainbow City night sky until it faded and dissipated.
"Talk about crossfire, am I right?" said Lubba.
"Watch where you're slinging those! Hey!" Polari screamed at the Kruna.
"I take it you're still not impressed yet," said Rosalina. "If I had not stepped in when I did, you would have had some serious burns to deal with."
"I doubt they would have been that severe, coming from them," Polari grumbled.
At that instant, Rosalina stared Polari dead in the eyes and held up her blocking arm. On the unarmored portion of her forearm, her skin had darkened to a charcoal, ashy shade. Smoke and steam flowed from the impact point of the blast. Though only a moderate burn, the sight alarmed Polari.
"Grand Elder," Polari mumbled, stuttering. "No one has been able to burn you like that since..."
"Marissa," Rosalina finished. "And though her fires are still far worse, keep in mind that this damage on my arm just now came from a deflected hit and not a direct one." She put her scorched arm down, taking care not to straighten it all the way. "If I didn't have my defenses up, that would've done a lot more than just some nuisance scorch."
"This is the reminder I needed to know not to mess with you!" Lubba said to Rosalina. "Or any of them, for that matter!"
Rosalina chuckled a little. "Polari, I'll admit – when they first started out, they were weak by Kruna standards. But something happens when these eight train. They respond exceptionally quick; it's unlike anything I've ever seen. They can make a week of training seem like four. And with their work ethic, it makes for a truly remarkable effect."
"Is that why you let that ice wielder stay?" asked Lubba.
"Not the only reason, but it is one," Rosalina replied with a shrug.
Polari stared at each of the Kruna Yura in turn. All of them stood on the arena floor, ready to continue their training. It was only then that Polari had some revelation as to why Rosalina had such high confidence in them.
"It's been thirteen weeks now and still no word on when we're going to go down to the surface," Warra said to Bowser as the two watched Daisy and Marut's battle at the Elemental Training Grounds. "We're already into the new year. The only reason they would've delayed our descent is if we're not showing that we're powerful enough to handle the world below. I'm not sure if that bodes well for us..."
Daisy's proficiency in Iaido went on full display as she rolled away from Marut's Gust Boomerangs and whipped out her Terra Bladestaff to shake the ground under the Kruna of Air's feet, knocking him off balance. Replacing her tool across her back, she dashed at him and unleashed a Crystal Kick. Marut's quick reflexes and agility were the only things that got him out of the way of the speedy attack.
"I don't know about you, but I feel ready to take on two Marissas at once!" said Bowser. "I'm surprised they gave us this extra time to work with!"
"What kind of meditation is it that you've been doing?" asked Warra, raising an eyebrow.
"...Nothing special, really," a suddenly quieted Kruna of Fire replied. He added nothing else and just watched Daisy and Marut enter a furious exchange and blocking of rapid fists and kicks.
Huh... Warra thought. He's done the least training out of all of us, and yet it seems as if he has made just as much progress – if not more.
"You know, brother, you don't have to be secretive about anything with us," said Warra.
"Brother?" repeated Bowser.
"Yes; what you and Marut and Athelstan say," replied Warra. "I also understand Mario and Luigi used that term a lot, although probably in a more literal sense. I'm personally not too keen on slang language."
"I get ya, bro," Bowser said, chuckling. "And thanks."
Following a reverberating connection between Daisy's outstretched arm and Marut's raised leg, the two ceased their sparring and leapt back and away from each other to catch their breath. They smiled at each other, keeping their intense stares locked on one another.
"Alright, you two," said Warra. "I'd hate to break up your fun, but it's time to call it for the evening."
"Cool! Rad moves, Daisy!" Marut said as they came together to dap.
"Right back at ya, bruh-man!" said Daisy.
"I'm gonna duck out to the Rainbow Suite real quick – I'm starving!" said Marut, running for the entrance of the training grounds.
"I'll race ya there!" replied Daisy, tailing him.
"Look who's in a hurry!" said Bowser. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think the food's running away from you guys!"
"If it is, I don't know if that's something we should be eating!" Marut shouted back.
"The food's got valid reason for running from you two!" Bowser hollered. "And don't go messing around at that Wario Ware Inc. place for too long because I know that's where you're going when you finish!"
"Not me!" yelled Daisy. "The gym's the only play-station I need!"
"Well, one thing's apparent," Warra said to Bowser. "We've definitely got some momentum going for us whenever it's our time to go under the cloud barrier."
"We should probably follow them before they eat out the diner," Bowser said. "...Again..."
The sunset in the golden sky cast a brilliant sheen throughout Rainbow City as Neva and Andrew walked from Astral Stadium to Central Island. The two had spent the afternoon training session for the day with Athelstan until he had left early to go see Toad and Alden, leaving the ice and shadow wielders by themselves.
"You definitely showed up today, for real!" Andrew said. "You had me on the run quite a few times. I'm fairly impressed."
"Thanks," Neva said, blushing. "I mean, I wasn't trying to impress you or anything – it's just that it'll be real satisfying to show Polari what happens when he underestimates us!"
"Oh yeah, that's for sure," the Kruna of Shadow replied. "He's been getting under my skin ever since we got here. It'll be nice if he'll shut up for once and accept us for who we are..."
"Definitely," said Neva. She turned her head up and away as she asked him a question. "So, uh, what's the deal with you and Ramona? Like, what are you two? Just curious, is all."
"That's my best friend," said Andrew. "We knew each other since elementary school."
Neva looked at him, waiting for him to say more, but he didn't. "So, that's it? Nothing else?"
"Well, I mean, we're just really close. I don't know – when you have someone special in your life, you just know what they mean to you and you can't really explain it, nor do you need to."
"What does that mean?!"
"She's just a really important person in my life is all," the Kruna of Shadow said. Somewhat annoyed, he added, "Why are you looking into this so much? I don't even look into it that much!"
"I'm just curious! Inquiring, feminine eighteen-year-old minds want to know why you guys always seem kinda...I guess, well...um... Oh! Bowser and Ramona seem to be spending a lot of extra time together!"
"Your point?"
"Well, doesn't that make you uncomfortable?"
"Uh, in what way?"
"Come on, man!" Neva snapped. "Why are you so oblivious?! I wanna know if you're jealous that she's hanging out a lot with some other guy!"
Andrew laughed. "First of all, he's like a giant dragon-dinosaur-turtle, so there ain't nothing going on there right off the bat. Not to mention that they're spending most of that time meditating. Bowser still hasn't told us why he's been doing so much of that lately, but it certainly seems to be making him quite a lot more powerful! Remember that huge burst of fire he made the other day?"
Neva blinked rapidly with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Okay, new question – say Ramona meets some guy tomorrow and they like each other. Would that bother you?"
"I don't know – I haven't thought about it, really."
"Wait, so you mean you never saw her as being more than just a friend?"
"Hmm...well...I guess not. Maybe. I don't know.
"You don't know?! How do you not know when you two are so close?!"
"We just never really talked about anything like that. I tend to avoid that kind of stuff anyways."
Neva made a sly smile. "Alright, another question; let's just say you meet some really super hot girl tomorrow who's totally into you and starts flirting with you. What would you do? You wouldn't just avoid her, would you?"
Andrew blushed. "Uh, I don't know... I'm not really into that kind of a person-"
"What's your type then?!" Neva said in record time. "Do you even have a type? Have you even met your type? Do you even know what your type is?" She gasped. "You met her already! It's Daisy, isn't it?! You have got to be kidding me-"
"What?! No way!" replied Andrew, shocked. "Where did that come from? She's the last person I'd be thinking about in that manner! You've been at that Milk Bar too much!"
"Uh – I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking! I'm sorry!"
"Ah, you're fine! Don't get me wrong though, she's an awesome person, and she's the core of our group. She's the main reason we all made it here to begin with. And as far as I know, the only thing she's attracted to is elemental wielding! Well, that and sports...and food."
"Heh, right, eh-heh," Neva replied. She smiled and rubbed her head, though the pale skin of her face turned red.
"You know what; you've been acting awfully weird lately," said Andrew. "Are you sure you're able enough to come to the gym tonight?"
"I'm not acting weird!" Neva yelled. "I'm just making conversation with you! Sheesh! I ask you what your type is and you can't even give a response to that! It's not my fault you can't answer simple questions!" She turned her head away and gritted her teeth.
Andrew made a similar expression as he stared at her. And I thought I was temperamental.
Ramona sat alone at a table in the Rainbow City Library and Archives on Western Island. Though she had a book opened in front of her, she had long since stopped reading. Too lost in thought, she lost track of the words every time she tried to start reading again.
What's taking so long? Ramona wondered. We should've been down on Earth by now. It's not that I want to fight. It's just...we've been stuck in this time for so long. I just want us to get things settled here and fixed and then go back to our own time. This is such a lonely world. I miss our world. Rainbow City's great for what it is, but, I feel like being in this time is a just a big, huge trap.
The light from the windows had all but disappeared as the sun ceased shining, prompting the library lights to turn on. A couple koopas and some Nokis were meandering about in the halls, but other than that, the area had a quaint stillness about it.
I wish we didn't have to do any fighting, said Ramona. Why does there have to be so much fighting? Is that all history is? It seems like with each book I pick up, I find more historical documents and accounts of battles and wars. It's like life's purpose and existence only thrives through violence. All it's been for months now since becoming a Kruna is fighting and training. Are we really heroes in all this? If we weren't around, would there be more fighting or less fighting?...
The Kruna of Light reached into the inside of her pants pocket and pulled her wallet out to look at a picture of her and Andrew as kids. They both looked happy and cheery throwing shells at item blocks outside on a cloudy day. Sullen, she stared at the photo in silence, her chunky hair shadowing parts of her face.
At that moment, all Ramona could do was dwell on a single thought. Things were so much simpler back then...
Just as Ramona closed her book and got up to leave, she sensed Rosalina's presence coming from behind her. She turned around to see the Elder of the Cosmos walking towards her with a locked case in her hands.
"Grand Elder..." Ramona murmured.
"It's time, Ramona," said Rosalina.
Athelstan barged through the doors of the Wario Ware Inc. HQ, "Guess who's back to rock the night tonight! There's a song in there somewhere – rock the night tonight!"
"Aw yeah! I hear it!" Marut hollered, running up to slap fives with the stone wielder. "Just got here myself a few minutes ago, bro!"
"Ah, there's my favorite gamers!" Wario said, walking over to the two Kruna from the rows and rows of widescreens set up. "You guys ready to make some noise?"
"You bet!" replied Marut. "What do we got on tap tonight?"
"New game!" Wario exclaimed, gesturing to the screen and gold gamepad in the back corner. "You fly around in a fast 2.5D rail-type game, and you go through as many consecutive rings as you can to try and boost your score!"
"OOOOOOH! Give me first crack!" Marut screamed.
"Hold on, you get to fly all the time in real life!" noted Athelstan. "I say I go first!"
"How about Rock-Paper-Scissors?" said Wario.
Athelstan and Marut nodded at each other. They both shook their right hands as they shouted in unison to make their throws. "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS – SHOOT!... I WIN!"
Wario looked at the two in confusion just as Athelstan and Marut stood staring at each other with equal befuddlement. Athelstan had shown "paper" with his hand. Marut had thrown out a "rock."
"Dude, what do you mean you win?" Athelstan said. "Paper covers rock – that means I win!"
"Uh, no, bro," said Marut. "You clearly lost. Rock crushes paper."
"No it doesn't!"
"Uh, yes it does. If you didn't want to lose, you shouldn't've thrown down paper."
"What? It's called 'Rock, Paper, Scissors,' Marut! You throw down either one of the three!"
"And that's stupid when you think about it. Really, rock is OP. Rock crushes scissors and paper. I don't know why anyone would chose anything other than rock."
"I say you two just pick someone and go!" said Wario. "You'll only have a chance at having the high score for a little while before The Chimp swoops in later on and steals it from yas."
"...I don't like that chimp..." Marut mumbled.
"Should've known I'd find you two here!" Bowser said as he entered the building. "C'mon! Lubba told me that Rosalina's got an important announcement for us!"
"Aw, right now?!" Marut said, groaning. "Can't you just tell us what it is later?"
"She wants us all there," said Bowser. He added nothing else, only showing a stern face. Judging by the seriousness that developed in Athelstan, Marut, and Wario, Bowser did not need to say anything more.