The square-shaped squiglets scattered as a black portal manifested in the sky. Mimi stumbled out, the Mr. L disguise falling from her form. The real Mr. L followed, grabbing at his arm somewhat disoriented from the travel and everything he'd just experienced.
"Where are we?" Mimi surveyed the area, trying to find anything that looked familiar. The sky was black. The grass was a deep black with stark white flowers sprouting up. A few squiglets cowered behind a stark white tree. Castle Bleck was in the distance. They were in Bleck's world but for some reason far outside the castle. "Golly! You're mad at me, aren't you? You're going to yell at me and leave me here to walk home!"
"I'm not angry at you!" he hissed, drawing a hand to his forehead. His head still hurt from hitting that tree, his ears ringing from that explosion. "We need to talk and the walls have ears in the castle."
"There are ears on my wall?! Gross!" She stuck out her tongue.
Mr. L sighed. Idioms didn't transcend worlds, it seemed. "It's an expression. Nevermind. I-"
"Gosh, you're bleeding!" she interrupted him, grabbing for his arm. He quickly yanked it away, scowling at her. "DOOFUS! GIVE IT TO MIMI!" she hissed, grabbing it again, pleased that this time, he didn't fight her. There was a nice gash on the back of his wrist. She pulled a bow out of her hair, unwinding it and wrapping the fabric around his wrist to bandage it up. She wasn't really good at this sort of thing, but she wanted to at least help. He was appeared so incredibly defeated. He hadn't lost before.
He sighed miserably, watching her wind the fabric around his wrist. "Something's going on, some sort of massive conspiracy."
"You figured this out by nearly getting blown up?!" Mimi huffed, frowning.
"It was after that," Mr. L frowned. The conversation with Mario still sat heavily on his mind. That look that Mario had given him shook L to the core. He knew that look. He'd seen it before, but he didn't know where or why. They were rivals, through and through. Mario was always the better, leaving L to live in his shadow, but Mr. L wanted to change that. He fought mercilessly to do so, careful to never kill anyone, only bring a victory.
And yet even the pain and shock of defeat was overshadowed by something even bigger. In the two encounters with Mario and his friends, Mr. L had heard the same thing. Destroying the worlds, turning them into nothingness. They were pretty convinced that was the outcome of this journey. Was it true? Was someone lying to Bleck's minions or was someone lying to Mario's friends? "I think someone might be deceiving us. Either us or them. I'm not sure, but I'm starting to think it's us."
"WHAT?!" Mimi screeched.
"Keep it down!" Mr. L hissed. He didn't need any prying ears to listen in on their conversation in case it was someone within Bleck's ranks deceiving them. "You can't tell anyone about this."
"What? Why?!" Mimi fussed some more. "What's going on? Who's lying?!"
"Quiet!" Mr. L hissed again. He stared down at his wrist. If there were a traitor amongst the ranks, Mimi probably wasn't it. "The star shards may not be what we think they are. They may turn the worlds into nothingness instead of granting a wish."
Mimi stared, wide-eyed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But... it's supposed to make the Count's wish come true."
"I don't think the Count is deceiving us," Mr. L shook his head, "nor are Mr. Hero and his little posse." He had no reason to believe the Count had some insidious plan stuffed up his sleeve. That only left two others to be the traitor, if their version of the star shards was false. O'chunks was too stupid to pull this off, unless it was completely an act. L had already crossed him off the list, and that left Dimentio and Nastasia as potentials. Nastasia was the Count's right hand woman, and L knew close to nothing about Dimentio other than the clown-faced minion just deeply annoyed him. "Someone else is, which is why you can't say anything."
"Sh-shouldn't the Count know?!" Mimi quickly protested.
"When I find proof of who has the true prophecy, us or them, but until then," Mr. L added with emphasis, "tell no one about this. If I were the traitor, then I'd kill whoever knew to cover up my plan. I need you alive, especially if..." He gritted his teeth, thinking of the worst-case scenario. If Mario could best him so easily, what chance would he have against the deceiver. "...if the deceiver catches up to me. I can't trust anyone else with this information. I need you to keep it secret and carry on like normal."
Mimi nodded slowly, unsure at first, but then soon certain she would keep everything secret. Mr. L was trusting her, and and as he seemed to trust close to no one at all, this was a big thing he was asking her to do. She nodded much more confidently this time. "You can count on Mimi."
...
The rain had shifted from a quiet hiss to a dull roar. The rain fell in sheets, dousing the forest and any smouldering Brobot remains within. Mario shielded the star shard tracker from the rain, hoping to pick up any signals nearby with no luck. The shards which once appeared on the beach now fell silent. Mario reasoned the false L had gathered them before intervening.
Tucking the device into a pocket, Mario stared silently down the pathway. His encounter with Mr. L still rattled around in his mind. What had happened to him? Was he brainwashed? Coerced? Or was he something stranger like a shadow double? It was hard to say, but he was absolutely certain Mr. L was not the enemy he appeared to be.
Daisy trudged behind the other three. She'd given up on trying to keep her dress and shoes clean. Unlike Peach, she was neither delicate nor was she skilled at walking in mud in heels. Pulling off her heels, she resorted to carrying them, feeling the mud squish between her toes as she walked.
The situation lay heavily on her mind. The more they traveled, the more grim everything felt. Sure, they had 16 shards of their own, but what if that wasn't enough to stop the return of the Dark Star, even a mini one? She had no power to stop it. Unlike Mario with his fire ability and Peach with her subtle magic, Daisy had nothing but her brute strength. She valued that strength, yet she was pretty certain she couldn't just punch a star. Maybe if it were a little star. Maybe she could punch that.
A chill ran up her spine suddenly, and Daisy whipped around, staring at the pathway behind them. The view had been obscured by the pouring rain. Trees swayed in the distance, yet all else seemed quiet. The only footprints behind her were their own, yet she was certain someone had touched her satchel.
She shook her head. It was probably the wind. A few more steps and she felt the chill again. She froze in her steps, attempting to look beside her without moving her head. This time she was absolutely certain she saw a black and white face hovering beside her. With a yelp, she turned sharply, ready to punch whatever was behind her, yet nothing was there.
"Are you alright, Daisy?" Peach turned to her troubled friend, worry tugging at her soft features.
"No, I'm not alright!" Daisy fussed. "I swear I saw something following us! It was like a black and white mask!" Her attention darted back and forth, attempting to find some sort of evidence that she wasn't crazy.
"Maybe we should find some place to rest," Peach suggested. "I think this situation is affecting us all."
Daisy gritted her teeth. "I'm not going crazy!" She huffed a sigh, staring down at the ground. Her bag caught her attention, a new snag in the seam. "Uh oh." She grabbed the bag, pulling it from her shoulder. Nearly ripping the satchel open, she found a hole in the exact spot where the star shards once sat.
"No no no no no no no!" Turning the bag upside down, she dumped the contents out into the mud. Several tanooki leaves in baggies. A mushroom shake. Lipstick. Sports tape. A box of adhesive bandages. Tissues. A pair of spare earrings. A half-eaten powerbar. A cat bell and a cape feather in baggies. A photo of Peach and Daisy as children playing. She had many useful things in her bag but it was noticeably lacking star shards.
"Oh my..." Peach gasped. Had someone really sneaked up on them and stolen the star shards without them knowing it? But who? Mr. L and the imposter L had returned home hours ago. There was the large chunky man, but he hardly seemed like the sneaking sort. Certainly it wasn't Bowser or any of his Koopa Troop. They were never the quiet sort.
"I know!" Daisy shouted. "I had one job and I can't even do that! I don't have magic. I don't have any special powers. I don't even know how the Chai princess caused the Dark Star to shatter in the first place! I'm nothing like my ancestors! I'm just useless!" The situation was getting to her, twisting her heart into a knot. She feared the worst. She missed Luigi. She felt like she was failing everyone.
With an angry huff, she threw the empty satchel at Peach. "Just go on without me! I'll find that mask and beat him up 'til he give me my shards back!" Spinning on her toes, she caught her foot on some of the baggies and promptly slipped, falling onto her face. She crumpled up looking like an inchworm ready to inch away. Pushing herself off the ground, she picked up the toy Luigi had given to her, stuffed it in her shirt, and huffed as she stormed off, not even bothering to pick up her fallen crown. "Don't even bother following me! I'll just weigh you down!"
The masked man spied from the shadows, watching Daisy storm off. He was pleased the successor of the legendary Chai princess wouldn't be a hindrance for his plans. This play would continue on as scheduled.
"Daisy!" Peach called out for her, but her friend didn't respond. She stared down at the stray things on the ground, all of Daisy's belongings. Stepping forward, she began to put all the things back into the bag, pausing to gaze at the photo with nostalgia. "Ninjetta, please look after my dear friend for me." Peach tucked the photo and Daisy's crown into the satchel.
"Of course!" Ninjetta agreed with a nod. She'd always look after Daisy, even on her reckless adventures and wild goose chases. She was Daisy's self-appointed retainer, after all. She'd follow Daisy to the ends of the World.
"We'll keep her things safe for her." Picking up the satchel and slinging it over her shoulder, Peach added as she handed Ninjetta the mushroom shake, "Contact us when she clears her head. I'm sure she'll be just fine soon enough."
The ninji nodded, clutching the shake in her arms as she hopped off down the dark path. She followed the erratic barefoot prints in the mud, hoping that Daisy hadn't gotten too far away. The forest was dark and scary. There were noises she didn't recognize and were hard to hear over the sound of the pouring rain. She wasn't the bravest but she had to put on a brave face to be there for her princess, to watch over her.
Ninjetta hopped into the clearing, finding Daisy kneeling in the mud, attempting to push it away and find the star shards. "Princess..."
"Argh! What's wrong with me, Ninjetta?!" Daisy punched the mud mercilessly. That's what she was good at. Punching things. Her dress was muddy. She'd lost a shoe some ways back. Her gloves were caked in mud. "I'm not mad at them, and I drove them away! I just... I wanted to be the hero, to save everyone from this Dark Star. Maybe... maybe I'm not that different from Mr. L after all."
She could understand how he felt all too well. Mario informed the princesses that he'd talked to L, attempted to steer him off his path of destruction. She'd pegged Mr. L wrong. It was just like Peach and Mario said after the battle near the waterfall. He wasn't a villain. He had some self-proclaimed rivalry with Mario, but she knew others like that. Waluigi was like that with Luigi. It happened.
Yet what hit her more was that Mario was absolutely convinced Mr. L had been brainwashed or at least severely misguided. He was also convinced Mr. L was someone they all knew. That idea explained that overwhelming sense of familiarity she had when she saw him.
She shook her head. Why was she thinking about Mr. L at a time like this? The world ending should probably be a greater concern. She didn't know how many star shards the opposition had now or how many there were in total. She didn't remember any mention of it in the storybooks, just that the Chai princess Dahlia had broken the star apart with magic.
She felt Ninjetta lean against her. Daisy wrapped her arm around her ninji retainer, pulling her closer. "I don't know how you put up with me."
"You make it sound so terrible," Ninjetta protested, offering the mushroom shake to Daisy. "When we fled our original home, I lost everything. You were always so nice to us, taking us ninji in when we had nowhere else to go. I made it my life's purpose to always stay by your side and show you the kindness you showed us."
Daisy sighed, shaking her head. "Aw man, you're gonna make me cry." She hadn't thought much about when she opened the gates of Sarasaland to the pidgit and ninji refugees. They made their home in Sarasaland, the ninji taking to Chai and the pidgit taking to the desert Birabuto Kingdom. She did what she thought was right at the time. Maybe she couldn't save the world like Princess Dahlia could, but she could protect those who called her land their home. She could save their world.
She pushed herself to her feet, careful not to crush the mushroom shake or Ninjetta in the process. "Alright, Ninjetta! Let's go home! It's time for research. There must be something in the history books and that legend that we're missing!"
The two intrepid travelers trudged through the mud with great fervor, yet by the time they reached the edge of the Chai Kingdom, the two were exhausted. The rain and the mud weighed them down before they reached even the closest warp pipe. Daisy collapsed to her knees, running a hand through her hair. She'd discarded her mud-caked gloves somewhere within the forest. "I... I think we have time to get some brain food."
She thumbed at the nearby building, a restaurant nestled in the middle of the bamboo forest along the primary road within Chai. The forest covered a good portion of Chai, many businesses springing up along the large road since the mass migration into the kingdom after Mario chased Tatanga away. This particular restaurant, the Bamboo Pipe, was a favorite of hers. She'd taken Luigi to it before on one of her not-exactly-a-date times to get soup.
Ninjetta flopped down, leaning against Daisy. While she didn't have the layers of dress to weigh her down like her princess did, the ninji was still caked in mud and soaked from the rain. Thankfully when they finally reached Chai, the sun was shining. Unfortunately that also caked the mud to her skin. She nodded wearily. "Y-yes that's a great idea, princess."
The restaurant quickly snagged Daisy's attention as several ninji hop frantically from the front door. One of the ninji dressed in a yellow wrapped shirt decorated with flowers hopped frantically towards Daisy. "Princess! Princess! Just the person we need!"
Daisy frowned. She feared for the worst. Sarasaland was generally considered a sanctuary, a place that few of the World's villains ever seemed to go. Her land was peaceful and rarely did people run in a panic. Exhausted as she may be, only surviving on half a mushroom shake as she gave the other half to Ninjetta, she'd simply have to fight to protect her home. She did punch very well, after all. "What's going on?"
"Th-that guy from the newspaper is here!" The ninji frantically pointed at the restaurant. "That phantom thief!"
"Mr. L?! Here?!" Daisy stared at the ninji. What was that guy doing here of all places?!
….
Author's musings
Daisy is, and probably always will be, one of my favorite characters to write. I like to think under that tough, punching exterior, there's a deeper side to her that only her friends see. Ninjetta is this balancing force that is always at her side in my fanfictions, this loyal ninji who sticks by Daisy's side, even at the worst of times.
Sarasaland itself really doesn't have a lot of lore and is barely mentioned after Super Mario Land. It's kind of forgotten, just listed as Daisy's home. The kingdoms mentioned are from SML, and I tend to break them up like they were in the game. Some of my favorite enemies have migrated there to live normal, ordinary lives.
Also I have a thing for putting power up items in plastic baggies. I think it's hilarious and convenient.