"….Commander, I am so…So terribly sorry that Commander Zeta perished like that…" "…He died happy, even if Cackletta was still happy, and he made sure his last moments were glorious as before he fell he took out two of the witch's lives and hundreds of Heartless while giving me a way to escape…" "And yet you weren't traumatized by all that happened in the Realm of Darkness?" "…Of course I was Gemini. I was so frightened by all that happened that I should logically have been paralyzed down to my soles…Yet, even as I walked back to the M.S.I. base with my heart pounding rapidly in fear that Cackletta would come for me again, I only began to realize that the last thing I should be doing is letting myself be handicapped by fear when the world needed a savior to deal with the evil looming over it…"

"I steeled my mind and walked back to the base, my heart instead going heavy with sadness as I realized I would have to reveal the truth to the few members standing around, and would have to bear their doubting stares as I told them that I was made the new Commander in Zeta's final moments…Of course, naturally the first reaction by those there was towards the loss of my eye, though I ignored that and asked them to follow me to the largest room in the base so I could give them an announcement about Zeta's demise. Our numbers proved to be about a hundred strong including myself, but all the murmurs coming from them were silenced once I said to them 'Commander Zeta is dead'."

"It caused me a lot of anxiety at first to watch as two-hundred something eyes looked my way, wondering deep down if I had lost my mind to say such a thing to them. But I knew that if I was going to make the M.S.I. a strong organization designed to help the people of our troubled world, I would be seeing even more eyes looking my way as time passed on. If anything, this silence helped me to accept what the future would hold for us all. After briefly explaining how Zeta came to perish without mentioning the Realm of Darkness itself to avoid mass paranoia, I told them that I had been asked in his last moments to become the new Commander of the M.S.I….As expected, this was a change that was hard for them to accept, especially considering my youth and lack of experience on the battlefield…As far as they knew on that last one, anyways…"

"But I gave as rousing of a speech I could, much in the vein of something Commander Zeta himself would have likely said to convince those who doubts him…It didn't defuse the tension from their expressions, but at least it ended the direct questions for the time being…Giving me a moment's reprieve to leave the room and work on my own affairs for quite a while. The Doctor Shy Guy that had treated me long ago followed me out of the room that would eventually become the cafeteria and told me that he had a bit of faith in my capabilities, especially since he had heard about the potential of my arms from Commander Zeta himself. So he offered me a suggestion, with respect towards my new position of power of course…"

"He took me to a room close to the center of the base, one that was rather spherical in appearance yet had nothing inside of it besides the cold steel on the walls. He said that most noise doesn't filter into this room unless the door is open, so if I needed seclusion from everyone else in order to work on a few projects, I could use this area…As you can likely guess, the room he took me too would eventually become the Commander Sphere, but that is a story unrelated to the one I speak of now. Anyways, as thanks for showing me this room, I in turn asked if he would be willing to help deal with the other men in the base for a while until I built myself a new eye and got Zeta's hyperspace pockets working again. Naturally, the Doctor accepted my request, but told me that I had two weeks to get all that together since he needed to be able to tend to the weary that are saved by the other members of the organization…"

"He also felt sorry for my loss, saying that even though he wasn't too deeply connected to Zeta, he did see that he had the right idea in making the M.S.I., much like the Commander said before he died…And after that, he left me to my devices and shut the door behind me. I walked forward, looked at the room around me, and began to envision a grand room from which I could sit upon a pedestal and observe what happened around the world…Thus knowing whenever people needed to be saved from disasters brought on by the tyrant in a more timely manner than before. For the moment though, I remembered the condition of my eye and turned around to head out and grab some supplies to begin work on a mechanical one to place into my empty socket…"

"Admittedly, it required a lot of intuition on my part to figure out the finer details of putting an eye together, especially since I didn't exactly have a manual I could pull out to help me out…But its strange looking back on it all, how I just easily pieced everything together as if it was all natural to me…The eye was completed within five days, and I made sure not to forget to eat all the while. The process of putting the eye in was a bit excruciating, and I ended up requiring the good Doctor's help to make sure that I didn't end up causing myself more pain then necessary. Once it was operational, I decided that I didn't want to look too much like a robotic freak of nature, especially since such appearances might cause distrust among our men, so I asked the Doctor to craft me an eye patch to cover the robotic eye…"

"After fitting that over my head, I began to work on Zeta's trench coat endlessly, my mind slumbering on occasion because I was going non-stop without rest to make sure I met the deadline. Zeta's hyperspace pockets were a lot harder to figure out then expected, especially since the technology was completely foreign to me and the Doctor knew nothing about the gadgetry himself. But it mattered not what my body wished, I was going to prove myself worthy of this role by figuring out how the coat worked…My motivation was to eventually better myself and surpass Cackletta, killing her when Commander Zeta had failed to do so himself…"

"It was amazing though how after all the times my body dozed off only to be awoken by the witch's deafening, nightmarish laughter, I thought about the tyrant every now and then and wondered to myself just how I could have ever let myself be scared by him when all he was after all this time was a fear monger…And that he truly wouldn't have a grip on the world like he did were it not for his monstrous appearance…Cackletta had the power to back up her attempts to break the minds of everyone who came her way, which is why I was so scared of her back then…But even though I thought about all that, I couldn't deny that the tyrant was still a threat to the planet, and if no one else was going to stand up in brave defiance of his power then I would be the one to end him once and for all…"

"Anyways, after a few more days of work, I managed to get Zeta's trench coat to work, and after putting it back on I tried to reach into the right pocket and pull out a laser pistol. It worked…Far too well, if I have to admit. As I held the gun in my hand I was immediately reminded of my time spent with the old Commander before his untimely demise, and the rush of memories felt incredibly nostalgic even if they had occurred just a short while ago. I took a heavy breath in and sighed before noting to myself to not loom too much on the past right now, especially when I needed to create a future for everyone else now. So with a heavy heart I put the laser pistol away and went outside the eventually Command Sphere in order to get some much needed rest since I had a few days before the deadline was met…"

"I woke up two days later, hungry but reinvigorated as far as my sleep debt went…So I got myself some food and went to go find Doctor Shy Guy not long afterwards. He was impressed by the fact that I got the coat working in such a short amount of time, but told me that he didn't have long to talk since new recruits were coming in today. I decided to join him, and welcome these new people into the M.S.I. with open arms…Even though said arms would likely frighten them due to how unbecoming it is for a Goomba to have them. Amazingly, that didn't prove to be their main concern at the time, but rather they were surprised that someone as young as me was the Commander of the M.S.I…."

"Still, they were respective of my authority beyond the first few comments, an act which surprised me greatly as I left the room not long afterwards. But I would have to learn to keep that respect intact, especially during these troubling times…So, without further ado, I went back to the Commander Sphere and began to work on a way to adapt most of the technology in the hyperspace dimension into my own arms. It was a tireless process that I toiled over for many days, which then turned into many weeks and eventually a few months…The only things I took a break for were to help guide the people of the base while also eating and resting. Otherwise, I used my spare time to work on my arms. I had to keep going…Otherwise I would never be ready when the time arrived for my battle with the tyrant…"

"Eventually, it had been four months since Commander Zeta had perished in the Realm of Darkness, and I had adapted about three-fourths of his weapons and gadgets into my arms…Some of them proved tougher then others, and I would have to wait to get some of the more complex machinery into my arms until we were able to get more supplies into the base…But I had a massive arsenal compacted into these arms, and for the moment that would have to be more than enough considering what I was about to learn…The good Doctor busted into the room and told me some dire news…the tyrant Balroc was on the move by himself, and he was headed towards Toad Town while destroying everything that lied in his path…"

"The given estimate was that he was going to reach the place in twenty-five minutes, which was a few longer then what it would take me to get there even by copter…Still, this was my time to act and end this madness once and for all…The Day of Liberation was about to occur, and there would be no going back once I left the base. I knew this all too well, yet told the Doctor that I would go and face the tyrant on my own. Calling me a madman, he offered to send a battalion of men along with me in order to help slay the tyrant, but I told him that I could handle the monster all on my own…But if I were to not return, then I didn't want to be recognized as anything more then a fool for besmirching the chance at life Commander Zeta gave me…So with a quick dash towards the docking bay, I boarded the copter that once belonged to Commander Zeta and made my way to Toad Town…"

The once peaceful town of Toads was almost completely engulfed in flames, the destruction caused by the monstrous Koopa almost nearing the levels seen at the Goomba Village he destroyed many months ago. The monster loomed over the crimson flames with his head bent down and noxious steam bursting through his nostrils, his serpentine eyes gazed upon four figured that are weakened and cuddled together at the edge of the flames he had created specifically to trap them inside. Alpha watches the scene as his copter descends onto the ground outside of the burning carnage. As the blades whir down above him, the Goomba looks out the window and is immediately horrified by the hundreds of skeletons and melting flesh that belonged to the Toads.

But though it affected him deeply, there was something beyond that caught his attention more then even a thousand corpses could have. There were survivors beyond the flames…and who else would it be but Fernando, his beautiful, homely amber haired wife, and his two kids…Both of which are wearing baby-sized blue overalls along with a green and red shirt each below the shadows of their "M" and "L" insignia caps. To say that desperation was in Alpha's mind as he hurried out the door was an understatement. His feet moved at such speeds that it was any wonder he didn't just fly right into the flames instead of leaping over them with such precision and mobility that he landed straight between the beast and the people he was seeking out.

As Alpha gained control of his body and turned to stare the beast down with his one vulnerable eye, he felt the heat around try to force a sweat out of him, but ignored it all in favor of glancing over his right shoulder to see the frightened looks on their faces and hope that the familiar sight of his mechanical arms would be more than enough to get a reaction of recognition and ease from Fernando. "…Mother of god…" The Italian accented man spoke in disbelief as he saw the eye patch on Alpha's face and wondered just what happened to make his body look as roughed up as it was. The young Commander turned back towards the beast and heard the babies' crying behind him, their fragile minds understandably frightened by the nightmare made real in front of them.

But now Alpha could only think to himself about one thing… "Why has this monster kept them alive when he has killed everyone else?" It was an inquiry that would swiftly receive and answer, for there were not two but rather THREE factions looking down upon him at this moment with intrigue and confusion on their faces. The Star Spirits, the guardian entities of Plit, were taking part in these events simply because of something dire that the tyrant was seeking to acquire in this town. The eldest of them, a being fittingly called Eldstar, spoke telepathically into the mind of Alpha, while the tyrant snarled and said and Fernando wife asked in confusion "Who are you?" The young Commander, bravely staring into the palpitating eyes of the tyrant Koopa with his arms folded behind his back and a confident grin on his face as he discards any past fears towards Balroc and boldly declares…

"My name is Commander Alpha of the M.S.I.! Given to me by a man I deeply respected as both a person and a brother, my name means the Beginning, for he believed me to be the beginning of a new era for this planet, and that I would guide everyone away from the fear that your tyranny has brought! Tyrant Balroc, for acts of genocide, fear mongering, environmental destruction, and many other incidents too numerous to list…You shall be executed here and now!" It was a powerful boast that carried no hint of doubt in the speaker's voice, but as he looked down at the pitiful Goomba standing before him and heard him through all the way he Balroc thought only one thing about him.

His laughter was quiet yet long-lasting via the echoes that bounced off of the ground and flames, and he looked down at the young Commander and said to him "You must truly wish to forfeit your life if you wish to confront me, runt. Thousands of miles of land have burned at my feet, millions of corpses have fed my appetite, and I have the strength to dominate even the stars if I so desired! What makes you think that you stand so much of a chance against me when all other have died?!" As the monster tries to strike fear into the young Goomba, Alpha merely rolls his eyes at how expected his actions were and turned back to his mind for a moment to speak to the Star Spirits "Hey, whoever you are inside of my head, think you can spare a moment to explain to me why Balroc has left Fernando and his kids alive?"

Eldstar, surprised at how bold the Goomba is to demand such knowledge, quickly relents to his surprise when he realizes how desperate the situation is and he slowly begins to explain the tale about how Balroc tried to attack Star Haven and acquire the Star Rod with an army, but instead failed and broke part of the Star Road off to prevent the Star Spirits from giving pursuit. The road broke off into seven pieces that went into seven specific children around the world. Two of them just so happened to be Fernando's kids, though the two weakened parents are unaware of that fact at the moment. As Eldstar explains everything, including his plan to rob Balroc of the kids' powers, Alpha nods his head and occasionally looks back at the four humans. "Alright Eldstar…I'll help you out, just so long as you make sure that no one else interferes with my battle against the tyrant…"

"You are a brave if insane Goomba…Alpha. Be careful, and good luck." With the last of his words, Eldstar and the rest of the Star Spirits focus their powers to create a star powered dimensional void beyond the flames behind the four humans. Alpha turns around and looks at them, and with a simple thought he bends his right hand down and aims towards the flames keeping the four of them separated from their escape route. A nozzle pops out and shoots a stream of water that cuts down the flames and gives them an open path. As the nozzle pulls back in Fernando looks up at Alpha and asks him "…So ol' Zeta perished, didn't he?" Alpha has a bit silent at first, his body turning around as it appeared as though he wouldn't acknowledge the question, something which saddened the father of two greatly. "…He is sorry for what happened…"

Fernando lifted his head up and looked at Alpha's back after hearing him speak, and with one glance over his shoulders the young Commander said "Now go! Get those two to a safe place before you perish from your wounds!" Alpha looked back towards the beast as the two parents nodded their heads and complied, and they took their kids and ran to the portal much to the annoyance and anger of the tyrant "NO! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME STAR KIDS!" He exclaims as he stamps forward ready to stop the humans before they escaped his sight. However, Alpha quickly leaps into the air and halts the beast with a power punch to the face that knocked him onto his shell with a powerful thud that also spread away some of the flames around him. As he landed on the ground the young Commander arched his eyebrows and said to the beast, "You may claim to be strong, but you'll find that I have more to offer then you'd come to expect from a Goomba! This reign of yours is going to end here and now, Balroc!"

"Once Balroc got to his feet, our climatic battle began…I must admit, I have to give more credit towards the tyrant then I should really be allowed to give…He truly backed up his claims of strength with every move he made. His feet could cause an entire three story building to collapse just from the sheer pressure of his stomp alone, his claws would rend even the strongest metals without so much as an effort expended on his part, and his flames were comparable to the lava that spewed from an active volcano. But for every advantage he had, I too had one of my own. My body size meant that I was many times faster, and I could maneuver around him and strike his massive body at any given moment."

"That's the advantage I went for at first, where I used my sword to cut across multiple parts of his skin and open up wounds to attack with my other weapons. On occasion, I would stick grenades into the wounds by spinning around and throwing one towards them. Toad Town was devastated even further because of our battle, and it was a miracle to think that the place could ever have been restored after we were through. As my grand battle with the tyrant drew to a close, the beast became consumed with nothing more than the grandest of malice, and unleashed the mother of all flames through his mouth with the purpose of incinerating me down to the last atom. I met his attack with my ionic beam, the ensuing clash releasing a mighty shockwave composed of the two energies that blew away all the flames and left nothing but the two of us standing on the scorched, even ground."

"With the soot covered skies acting as our only backdrop, I was reminded of the day Commander Zeta found me amongst the flames, and the destruction my new self was born in the midst of…In turn, my determination to end the madness grew stronger, and with every last bit of energy I could muster from my cannon arm I overcame the monster's beam and sent the combined force of his flames and my ionic energy through his mouth. His body bloated outward in all directions one inch every second, and it only took a scarce amount of time for his entire body to explode into a storm of blood, viscera and flesh…Thus ending the life, of Plit's greatest tyrant…"

"Naturally, the effort it took for me to finish the tyrant off exhausted me, and after my arm converted back to its normal state I fell to my knees and almost collapsed face first onto the ground. My face was covered in ash and bruises, while my arms were short-circuiting from the amount of heat and overexertion, and my vision was distorted. Still, I pushed myself to get up and walk myself over to my copter. I didn't want anyone to see what I had done, especially since the only witnesses to my confrontation had gone off to another world entirely…So as the story goes, nobody knows for sure just how Balroc was killed besides the Star Spirits and possibly Cackletta, and everyone threw out their theories about whether it was divine intervention or the tyrant's own powers backfired on him…But what mattered the most to me was that when I finally woke up after recovering from my wounds the good Doctor told me that everyone was celebrating across the planet, and that any uprisings being formed by other members of the Koopa Kingdom were being dealt with in secret by the other M.S.I. members…The world was going down the right path, and even though it would take time to re-adjust to the new order I would always be there to help guide people whenever it was necessary for me to do so…"

"And that's the end of my story…Gemini…" Back in the present day, Alpha finished his story off and looks up at his Lieutenant's face, adding in a few more details with a tired sound "Of course, that's not getting into everything that happened between the end of that and the time I met you, but that would take days upon days to complete if we just stood around and continued now…We will get into those some other day….So, what do you think?" "…Well, I really have nothing more to express besides words of awe and sorrow, but I feel as though it would be rather cliché of me to say them…So I'll just move on to the one question left on my mind…What happened to Fernando and his wife after they took the baby Mario Bros. away?" Gemini's question was a poignant one, but it was sadly one that Alpha could only take a few guesses at.

With a shrug of his shoulders the Commander said to his Lieutenant "If anything, I'd say they likely died of their wounds after making sure Mario and Luigi had a new home on Earth…The Star Spirit's portal sent them to a large city on an Earth far different from the one Alex came from, and created a warp pipe there that would bring the two Mario Bros. back when the time was right…" "…I see. I'm sorry to hear that." "The worst part is that Mario and Luigi don't actually know about their parent's demise or their final moment…Not to my best of knowledge anyways. I accidentally let slip that I knew Mario's father back when him and I dealt with Cackletta, but seeing as he never brought it up to me again afterwards I don't know if he cares about it or not. Either way, glad you stuck around for god knows how long to hear an old man talk about his past…"

"It was my pleasure Commander…Perhaps in the morning we can talk more about it, huh?" The Lieutenant smiled, having enjoyed the whole story and his mind curious to figure out a few more details when it was fresh with rest. After suggesting his Commander got some sleep, Alpha nodded his head in agreement but noted that he had one more thing to take care of before he went to sleep. Gemini soon left the room, as did Alpha after shutting the Command Sphere down so the circuits don't overload. He then walked down the many hallways, using his thoughts to pull up a map in his right arm that has some directions prerecorded in them for him to bring up at any given moment. Even so, he only pulls this map up once every year, and the reason for that will be revealed rather shortly as he reaches what appears to be a plain old steel wall and turns to walk through it.

The hologram vibrates as he passes through it, and behind it lies a staircase that the Goomba climbs to reach the roof of the base. The stars are sparkling down upon the planet, the sky rather clear save for a few foggy clouds looming about. Alpha walked ahead towards a solitary gravestone that he planted into the roof many, many years ago. On it says "Commander Zeta" in bold, engraved text while below it lies the quote "A mentor, a leader, a brother…" Since Alpha did not know how long Zeta lived for, only the date of his death lies below that quote. With one hand held in front of his chest, the Commander bowed in front of the gravestone and then proceeded to fold both arms behind his back.

With a heavy look in his eyes from both melancholy and sleepiness, Alpha said to the gravestone "Hey there Zeta…Its me again. You know, its been about 31 something years since you died, and almost 2 years since I took care of Cackletta once and for all…I still do miss you being around on occasion, even if I have matured beyond the need of your guidance for a very, very long time…I've made sure that the M.S.I. has grown into a healthy and dutiful organization, even if many members have come and gone over the years…I am ashamed to admit though that there were plenty of times where I strayed off the right path, only to find my way back after remembering what you told me…"

"Heh…I guess I really got nothing much to say besides that…" Alpha, at the end of his little eulogy towards the grave of his former mentor, turns around and glances over his shoulder, giving the stone a smile while saying to him "Hey, see you next year brother…" With nothing more to say, the Commander left the area, leaving behind the grave and in turn his past until it would be time for him to speak to the stone again. But there was another past that Alpha had never bothered to pursue, and the consequences of failing to acknowledge it would soon come to haunt him…Far away, in the distant mountains, a shadowy figure looked down at the M.S.I. Base and said with a hazy, nearly incomprehensible tone of voice "Soon enough…I will end you for forgetting me…" The being left the area with a turn of his body, and the rattling of bones against the thin wooden expanse of the staff he carried around…

To be continued in "Tales from Plit: Alpha I"

GO TO PARTS 1, 2 and 3 FOR A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT PART 4.