Updated 06-06-2019. About damn time I updated this horrid chapter. Beefed up with 1400 words and smoothed over. Thanks to Stardown for proofreading as usual :)

Chapter 12: Compass Of Amalgamation

By the time Luigi and Starlow returned from the Dream World, Mario was still sound asleep in his room. His slumber was both carefree and deep, detached from his current situation.

Vivian, on the other hand, had trouble falling asleep. She was resting in the room adjacent to Mario, drifting between sleep and wakefulness. Things had gotten too hectic for her to simply sleep it off. Disregarding her fear of actually hampering Mario's movements and survival, there was the matter of the pressure that she felt. It was similar to the oppressive aura exuded by Fawful, but it lacked a certain malice to it. It was, however, constant, and it gave an unsettling feeling of being watched by something, or perhaps, someone. Vivian wasn't sure how long she could resist before getting crushed by such a feeling.

knock knock

There was a knock on Mario's door, but the one that knocked didn't really wait for an answer from within. The green figure phased through the door and entered the slumbering hero's chamber.

"Cannoli... Tiramisu... Carpaccio... Tieni il resto..." Mario drawled in his sleep, hugging his pillow closely and chewing on it slightly.

"Old habits die hard, I see." Bow rolled her eyes and tittered. As someone who traveled alongside Mario, she was familiar with his sleeping habits and how hard it was to break him out of it. She even got familiar with his sophisticated dessert palette that he frequently dreamed about.

"Wake up, tough guy! Luigi's back! It's not the time to dream about desserts!" the Boo shouted, poking Mario. She knew it was futile, but she had to give it a try the classic way. Maybe the years had changed her heroic friend's sleeping habits. All the futility of it only amounted to Mario rolling on his other shoulder and alerting Vivian in the next room.

Bow sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. "You leave me no choice in which case I have to take you there myself." She hovered over Mario and passed her now intangible arms through his chest, preparing to dive into his body. The door opened with a slight creak, a familiar figure poking her head from it.

"Is everything alright?" Vivian poked her head in the room, a confused look on her face. "Um, what are you doing?"

"You didn't travel with us before, so I suppose it's only fair that I explain." Bow shrugged nonchalantly and backed away a little from the still sleeping man. "I was going to possess him and take him outside. The usual, really. This was my primary share of the off-battle duties in our team. It was the only way to keep our schedule."

"Really? We never really had any issues waking him up when needed," Vivian said with slight confusion. She knew Mario would often exert himself and thus need to recover for a little longer than usual, but he very rarely overslept and needed to be woken up. "Maybe we should leave him be for a little longer. He went through a lot yesterday," Vivian continued. Fighting the small army of Fawful Guys, donning the Crown of Shadows, and the various chores they'd done would surely have drained him. Anyone else would have passed out for a few days.

"I couldn't tell you if I wanted to, my dear. I think he grew out of it eventually by the time he came to travel with you and your friends. Often I had taken over his body as he continued sleeping and carried him to our next destination," Bow explained, seemingly proud of herself. Traveling with a sizable number of companions meant that they had to share certain duties for a smooth experience. Her regal upbringing and snooty attitude, especially in her younger years, left much to be desired of her for more mundane chores such as cooking or tending to the needs of the group. Her ability to stand watch and use Mario's skin was indeed invaluable, however.

"Honestly, I don't know much about this Dream World and its frequencies, but I can tell you that it is spurious. Mario's a lot heavy sleeper than his brother ever hopes to be." Bow crossed her arms as she rolled her eyes. She had meant it mostly as a jest to have the Shadow Siren relax a bit, but she often thought about it, at least with her own merry band of Mario partners.

Vivian couldn't help but giggle. It was hard to imagine Mario being so un-hero like during an adventure.

Everyone has to start somewhere, I suppose. She remembered the times of her own adventure with him and their friends. Vivian had been one of the main cooks in the group. She wasn't a master chef or anything, but it was much more serviceable than the rest of the group.

As Vivian and Bow drifted down the memory lane, Mario's mailbox SP went off and he immediately snapped awake.

"About damn time!" He picked up the communication device that rested on top of a night table next to his bed before noticing his two friends hovering about next to it. "Good morning, girls! What's going on?"

"Luigi is back, so I came here to fetch you. Unfortunately, I managed to wake Vivian up instead," Bow said, passing an apologetic look onto Vivian.

"It's alright, really! I was already awake anyway," the Shadow Siren replied. "We should join up with the others."

"Good idea! I'll just check what Peach's been up to quick." Mario opened the mailbox and checked the message he received from the princess. His face took on a darker expression as he went through the text. The Princess was with Bowser. Perhaps not anyone's first choice for a partner, but it did mean that she was safe for the most part. He worried about the long term consequences, however.

Mario quickly hopped off the bed and jumped out of the open window. For some reason, he was able to stray from Vivian a considerable distance before feeling the pull of their fusion.

Vivian and Bow exchanged confused looks.

"I bet that was from the Princess," the Boo reasoned, folding her arms. "Whatever she said must have been a doozy if he just jumped out of the window."

"I'm kind of worried. We should go check what's going on," Vivian said.

"I'm on it!" Bow nodded and took off outside the building herself, leaving the Shadow Siren on her own.

Uh, I'll just take the stairs...

Mario landed just a few steps away from Luigi and the table they had occupied before his dive into the Dream World.

"Nice of you to drop in, bro!" Luigi smiled as he took a bite of his Shroom Steak. Bow had apparently ordered him one courtesy of Tayce T.

"I have an image to keep, you know," Mario smiled back as he pulled up a chair. "How did your first dive go? It did not disappoint, I'd wager."

"Oh, yes! Definitely did not disappoint!" Luigi rolled his eyes and laughed. "It's not often that I get to fight overly bitter and angry Empresses."

Cocking his eyebrow, Mario frowned in confusion. Starlow was trying to keep herself from laughing, but he took note of it.

"Oh my! That sounds positively chilling. Why don't you enlighten us?" Bow appeared in front of the brothers, having caught up with Mario.

"Cut the comedy and just tell me, Luigi. You know how much I hate waiting for details like this," Mario pressed Luigi, his eyes shining with anticipation. He loved hearing about other people's fights as much as he loved taking part in them.

"Hi, guys! Welcome back, Luigi and Starlow!" Vivian greeted, having finally arrived.

"Looks like everybody's here, except for the Professor and Dreambert," Starlow said as if to urge Luigi to tell the tale of their exploits, especially her own. She could hardly contain her own excitement much like Mario.

"I'm right here!" came the disgruntled voice of Dreambert as he rushed to the scene. "You went ahead and stuffed me in that cramped robot. No way you're not telling me what had transpired in there!"

"Alright, alright!" Luigi laughed and put down his eating utensils. "It started as soon as we left the Dreamworld's Forever Forest..."

Luigi recounted the tale of his escapade in minute detail, focusing especially on the state of the denizens and the mashed-up forces of both kingdoms

Mario, of course, had been expecting something like this after reading the message. He still didn't share it with anyone, but he had ventured into the Dream World enough times to know what the reflections within meant.

"And then we snuck into the throne room through the small vent, only to find our dear 'princess' in one impressive fit of rage," Luigi said as he made an air quotation gesture when he mentioned the princess. Starlow simply snorted and picked up on his comment.

"There we found Bowser with a large stack of Mario busts..."

Mario cocked his eyebrow in confusion. "What for, dare I ask?"

"Why, for Peach to blow them to smithereens of course!"

"That was...unexpected," Mario noted. He had a feeling he knew the nature of the outburst, but he didn't expect anything of that magnitude. The princess did get a little annoyed with him sometimes when he took far too long engaging in various side business or even getting distracted by tournaments and other competitions.

There was an awkward pause as everyone shifted their gazes to Mario. Then—all of a sudden— Bow started laugh. Her outburst sparked Starlow, and eventually Luigi himself broke into laughter.

"Ugh, seriously?" Mario rolled his eyes, which only provoked them further. Dreambert wasn't doing much better, and even Vivian cracked a smile.

Mario rubbed his forehead and let out a deep sigh. "You had your laugh, now continue."

"I know, I know," Luigi said, taking deep breaths. "It's just..."

"The image of you, Mario," Bow said. "being strangled by our beloved princess. I can't think of anything more hilarious!"

"This isn't my fault," Mario said with a serious expression. "It must be Bowser's influence that brought that up."

"Now that you mention it, he was very calm and even enjoyed the situation," Luigi rubbed his chin in thought. "He even encouraged us to rile the 'Empress' up."

"I wonder why the princess, though?" Vivian asked, finally joining in the conversation.

"Chakron did say powerful entities, and Peach fits the bill no matter which way you slice it," Luigi said, thinking back on the conversation he had with the Star Sage.

"Hmm..." Mario seemed to be pondering this. Peach's strength was not on a physical or martial level, but on a much more spiritual plane. Her pure heart was the catalyst for one too many villains in the past. "At least she is safe for the time being. I'm not sure we can do anything to help out at this point in time."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Bowser will undoubtedly take care of her. I don't think he'd be willing to die easily," Luigi shrugged, looking somewhat uneasy.

"No, I suppose not." Mario sighed, looking conflicted. "Anyway, what happened next?"

"We stol-, I mean, 'borrowed' the object Chakron mentioned. The Professor is currently analyzing it," Starlow said. "The Regulia Stone, as Dreamy Peach called it. I thought Chakron said objects, as in multiple. Did we miss one?"

"Maybe they both fused into the Regulia when that happened to Peach," Luigi suggested, having noticed that the Empress did not carry the sapphire brooch Peach always kept on herself. "And I thought I told you we're never calling anything 'dreamy' again."

"Hey! You can't disregard our naming conventions!" Dreambert objected.

"I can, and I will! You weren't there. I don't care what Mario thinks, but the elements of that place are too hellish to be called 'dreamy'."

"Oh? I smell a battle," Mario's eyes' shone in anticipation. "You really need to stop beating around the bush, Luigi."

"I like to give a perfect background to my stories, unlike a certain someone."

"Save that for your diary, just tell us!"

Luigi shrugged and let out a sigh. "The Empress obviously chased us once we obtained the stone. Her massive army of shadows and mix-and-match circus freak soldiers converged on us. They locked us in a large dome and we couldn't pierce through it. We just had to fight."

"That part was easy," Starlow said. "But then she came around wanting to kill us, or more specifically, Luigi."

Luigi shot a quick glare at Starlow. He cleared his throat and spoke. "She accused me of treason and wanted to have me executed. The troops surrounding her all collapsed into shadows and engulfed her within."

Mario and Dreambert knew exactly what that mean, which brought the question of Luigi managed to outdo someone several times his size.

"I know what you're thinking," Luigi smiled. "I had a little bit of assistance of a very personal friend of mine: Myself!"

"You mean..."

"Yup, the other Luigi jumped into the fray and helped us gain a few meters," Starlow said, picking up on Luigi's smile.

Luigi and Starlow shared the details to an overly eager Mario. Not just for the sake of amusement, but also to study the workings of how the powers transfer between the fused and the fusee. More importantly, they discussed the shadowy tendril that shot into Luigi's body after he defeated the empress.

"I could only assume that that is the energy we're supposed to collect," Luigi concluded and crossed his arms.

"Collect it from who, exactly?" Dreambert asked, mulling over. They knew they had to find other fused individuals and extract their energies, but how they would go on their way to do so remained a mystery.

Suddenly, Starlow's star shone brightly and, to some extent, so did Luigi's mustache. A majestic light shot down from the heavens and two silhouettes descended, slowly twirling around the luminous beam. As the light finally faded, Mario and Bow took note of two old acquaintances.

"Well met, Mario!" Eldstar began, inching down towards the group, Skolar following after.

"Your excellency?!" Starlow blinked. She had never met the revered Eldstar before, despite him being the head honcho of the Star Haven. "It is such an honor to finally meet you!" Beside her, Luigi rolled his eyes and pulled her slightly. "You can fangirl later. They obviously came here for a reason." He shook his head. Starlow stood still for a second before complying.

"Mario, we have heard about you and your companions' plight from Chakron. We came here on his request in order to offer you our assistance in hopes that you'd accept it," Eldstar explained, garnering everyone's undivided attention. It wasn't often they met someone of such status, barring the Marios at least.

"I appreciate it," Mario remarked. "Am I wrong in assuming that it is a way to seek out the energy we need?"

"Indeed, it is!" Skolar inched forward. "The parasites inhabiting you emit a peculiar form of Star power. This will make it easier to detect and track." The purple star waved his stubby arms in a circular motion, materializing a tool out of the light emanating from his body. "This compass will lead you where you need to be." He bestowed it.

"What about me and the princess?" Luigi asked, unsure of what was to follow.

Without as much as a word, Eldstar shot a soft beam of light towards Starlow. Her body aura flashed briefly before dimming to its usual brightness. "Starlow will act as your guide. I have imparted her with the ability to seek out Star energy," the elder star said with a comforting smile that was difficult to discern due to the size of his thick mustache. Starlow could barely contain her joy. Meeting the revered Eldstar would never have occurred to her, let alone getting blessed by him.

"We have prepared one for the Princess as well. It just needs to be delivered."

"I can arrange that!" Bow piped up. "Bootler, be a dear and summon Parakarry here."

"There is no need," Eldstar interjected. "We have already called upon your winged friend. He should be arriving soon."

"Should have expected that from you," Bow shrugged and smiled.

"We're still not out of the fire yet," Luigi sighed and folded his arms. "We only have two artifacts. Where are we supposed to get a third one that is receptive to Star power?"

"That is the purpose of the compass I imparted to Mario," Skolar said, floating closer over them. "Its function is to point to pieces of a very special star. I believe it is the only thing capable of housing the energy Mario exudes."

"Indeed! Mario's connection with the shadows runs very deep," Eldstar closed his eyes and shook his head. "As such, only a dark artifact could hope to contain such energy."

Vivian suddenly looked nervous and blushed. "Oh... Sorry..." Her voice trailed off. "I keep making things harder for you..."

Taking notice, Mario patted her on the shoulder. "Relax. We got this," He reassured her. "Have I ever let you down before?"

"No..." Vivian perked up. "Never. you can never let me down, Mario."

"He sure let me down more times than I can remember," Luigi chuckled heartily, earning him a glare from Mario. "Don't you have anything better to do? Like maybe get going?"

"Agreed! You are strapped for time," Skolar nodded. Conjuring another compass, he handed it to Bow. "Give this to your winged friend when he gets here. We must return to the Star Haven!"

"Take care, friends! Good luck on your journey." Eldstar bid the group farewell and then turned to Vivian. "Fear not, young lass. The darkness is also capable of being benevolent," He said before he and Skolar took to the skies, disappearing in another beam of light.

Vivian looked up, lost in thoughts. She wondered if Eldstar told her that because he meant it, or because he wanted her to feel better. I hope he's right...

"Well, that settles it," Mario said as he leapt off his chair and stretched his shoulders. "We should get going."

"You do that, bro. I'm calling it a day." Luigi stood up in turn and yawned. His fatigue caught up with him.

"How do we use the compass, though?" Vivian asked, unsure of how it would work. The map to the thousand year door required a star and the altar to point to the next one.

"I bet it's as easy as one-two-three." Mario smiled smugly and lifted the compass closer to the Shadow Siren. "Do your thing, Vivian!"

Somewhat confused, Vivian her hand to meet the compass. As soon as she came close to Mario's hand, a shadowy aura emanated from both of them and seeped into the compass. Its needle spun uncontrollably at high speed before immediately stopping in its tracks. The dark aura spewed out as a shadowy cloud with the words 'Tawny Woods' floating inside.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Mario asked, looking around the group for an answer. He had been places before, but he had never heard of this one.

"I've got nothing for once," Luigi shrugged rubbing the back of his head.

Before anyone could add anything, an upbeat voice came up with the answer. "It's in the Lentinula region."

"About time you got here, Parakarry." Bow floated upwards to meet up with the cyan-shelled Paratroopa. "Did you lose some of your mail again?

"Uh, no! No more of that." He waved his hands and shook his head. "Pardon my tardiness. I got as quickly as I received the message."

"Lentinula? Doesn't that border Sarasaland?" Luigi tried to recall the geography of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"It is! I deliver post there too, occasionally anyway. Tawny Woods is a short way from the port," he explained. "Your best bet is to take a blimp from Toad Town to Crimson Bay.

"How long does it take to get there? We're kind of in a hurry," Vivian asked, looking a bit worried.

"It takes about three hours if the weather permits it. The blimp runs 24/7, so you should get going if you're in that much of a hurry."

"You heard the man. Off you go now, bro!" Luigi said as he stood up and walked to Mario. "You better come back in one piece."

Both leaned forward and exchanged a hug with a tap on the back. "Look who's talking. I've technically been there before when I went to Sarasaland."

"You don't have to keep reminding me, you know," Luigi chuckled and fixed his cap. "But seriously, I'm going to bed now."

"You do that, and do remind Bow to not pull her tricks on you," Mario snickered as both of them shot a look at the green ghost.

"Ho ho ho, do not tempt me." Seemingly proud of herself, Bow giggled mischievously. "More importantly, take this and make sure the princess gets it with haste!" She gave the compass to the loyal postman and he stashed it away in his bag.

"And where would that be?"

"Bowser's castle." Starlow said casually.

Parakarry's eyes widened. "B-Bowser's castle?"

"Do not worry. The princess is there too. You'll be fine," Starlow reassured.

"I-If you say so..." The Paratroopa swallowed with difficulty and prepared to take off. "I'll see you guys later... I hope." He waved goodbye and took off to the skies. Mario prepared to leave as well, only to stop and turn around.

"That reminds me. What about you, Dreambert? Are you going home?"

"I think you should stay here in case we need access to the Dreamworld again," Luigi suggested. They had to go in once after all. Better be safe than sorry.

"I'll do just that, especially if it keeps Doctor Snoozemore off my back," Dreambert agreed, more to his own service than to actually helping out for once. "I'll stick around and help the professor with his research or something."

And so, after another exchange of farewells, Mario and his trusty companion made it their way back to Toad Town. The Lentinula region promised to be one adventure that is vastly different from the one before.

Kammy and Kamek had been up the entire night, slinging spells and incantations into a large bubbling cauldron. The contents took on the form of viscous black sludge that was offensive to the eyes and oppressive to the nose. It was part of the ritual that Kammy had devised to piggyback the mutation off the Koopa King and unto herself. She knew she couldn't do it in front of him as he'd figure something was up, which is why she opted for an indirect approach.

With one last wave of both their wands, the pot's contents reclined into a still. The black tar sank to the bottom as a syrup-like white liquid surfaced.

"It is done!" Kammy announced, filling a large vial with the fluid. "Give this to His Grouchiness, and be discrete!"

Kamek hesitantly picked it from his mother's hand. "Are you sure there is no other way?"

Kammy simply shook her head. "The answer is still the same, son."

Kamek looked down dejectedly. He knew that when she set her mind to something, she'd do it regardless of the outcome. "As you wish. I'll make sure he ingests this."

"Good. Now go! I need to prepare for the second phase," Kammy instructed before teleporting away. Kamek looked back one last time, before leaving to the King's chamber with a heavy heart.

Kammy popped up in the basement's cold room.

"Brr... Not the best place for skin as smooth as mine, but I have to do it for His Lordship!" Kammy said. Taking a deep breath, she began slinging numerous spells at the door, creating reinforced chains every time they collided with it. The castle would miss out on some of its frozen delicacies, but they could live without it. It was the best place by far for her to lock herself in and everybody else out.

After she was done barricading the freezer, the royal Magikoopa sat down and crossed her legs, meditating.

"The link between me and the king is almost complete. He just needs to drink that tonic..." Kammy's entire thought process was dedicated to Bowser's safety. Her focus was so intense that she ignored the freezing cold within.

From within the depths of her mind, a small white dot appeared. It shifted around, playfully jumping from one spot to another. It seemed to expand with every bounce, taking the form of a crescent of sorts.

As the partial moon grew in size, it turned horizontally and got immediately segmented into twelve large squares. The toothy smile stretched wide and spoke all of a sudden.

"I say to you WELCOME! Welcome to Fawful's head show within the head of you! You're in for a treat of realeast proportions, the only and the one: ME!"

The high pitched laugh resonated within her head as she felt mind drifting apart...

NormanWhitesmith: Glad you liked it because I enjoyed writing it myself. No tidbit is useless. It's nice to hear some thoughts and all. Probably not as fast as I would want them to be xD

Derick Lindsey: Indeed! Now it's Mario's time, and it's a doozy with all the things I planned for him. Technically the WWE was unintentional at first as I wanted a more of pun based title, like A king size problem or something akin to that. I stuck with the WWE at the end due to lack of other ideas.

Thanks for reading and see ya next time :)