There we go! Next chapter done!

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 21: Individual Tasks

Upon returning to the Observatory, Cream was so happy to see her friends and Cheese safe and sound. She was also enjoying seeing Cheese playing with the Lumas. Mario and Sonic were having a talk with Rosalina.

"Look at that! When you found the Power Star, the number below has decreased to 07." Rosalina said.

"Wow…that Star Counter sure works then!" Sonic exclaimed.

"You bet!" Mario joined in. "And-…Oof…" but suddenly, he felt a bit woozy and placed his hand on his head.

"Is something wrong with you, Mario?" Rosalina asked worriedly.

"Well, we've just stumbled across a new Power-Up at Toy Time Galaxy which made Mario flip on his head over and over again. He's now feeling a bit dizzy, that's it." Sonic explained.

"Hmm, if that's the case, he should probably head to a galaxy that has a lot of water; that'll help him refresh his head a little bit before taking a rest." Rosalina said.

"I see. Is there a galaxy at the Engine Room that has water, by the way?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, it's called Bonefin Galaxy. Mario better be careful though, because this galaxy is home to a deadly fish…" Rosalina warned.

"Oh boy… Mario, do you think you can handle that? Because you're about to head to a galaxy that's home to a dangerous fish…" Sonic asked unsure.

"Don't worry, I can handle this." Mario said with confidence.

"Okay then. I'll be waiting here." Sonic nodded.

"Be careful." Rosalina said.

Mario then heads out on his own to the next opened galaxy: Bonefin Galaxy.

This galaxy was a simple planet of water, which was home to a giant fish made entirely of bones; Kingfin.

Mario first landed on a Green Starshoroom, located a bit miles away from the planet. He uses the Launch Star right in front of him, and takes off towards the planet.

Upon landing underwater, Mario suddenly hears a noise that sounded like cracking bones.

"Is he here already?!" Mario gasped in his thoughts.

Indeed he was right; out of nowhere came a scary bone fish with yellow laser lights coming out from his eyes and very sharp fangs, like a shark's. It was Kingfin.

Kingfin didn't even try to attack Mario; he just swims around the water doing nothing.

"I better find a way to beat this guy!" Mario said in his thoughts. He swims everywhere, and then came upon a red Koopa Shell. "A Koopa Shell! This will damage him!"

Without hesitating, Mario swims towards the Koopa Shell and grabs it. He rode with it, hoping to locate Kingfin. Upon spotting Kingfin, Mario quickly follows him, and when he was close enough, he throws the shell. It hits Kingfin's ribs.

After receiving the first strike from Mario, Kingfin starts his other attacking method: he summons robotic fishes out of the volcanic craters. The robot fishes chase after Mario.

"Uh oh!" Mario gasped and quickly hid behind one of the underwater volcanoes so that the robot fishes lose track of him. "I must find another Koopa Shell around here somewhere, and fast!"

He swims through the volcanoes, and spotted another Koopa Shell; that one was green, so Mario had to aim it right in order to hit Kingfin again.

He once again swims with the shell, grabbing an air bubble since he was almost losing air, and chased after Kingfin. Mario stays close behind Kingfin, and throws the shell, hitting Kingfin at the ribs again.

Mario quickly grabs another green shell that just reappeared from where he grabbed it, and throws it at Kingfin's jaw this time.

Kingfin's bones started to crumble a bit. Noticing this, he summons even more robot fishes to attack Mario.

"Great, he's summoning even more of these guys!" Mario cursed. He quickly swims away from the robot fishes.

This time, Kingfin was destroying nearly everything in his path, which was the reason why Mario was hearing crumbling noises. He quickly grabs another Koopa Shell, and almost startled when Kingfin swam right above his head.

"Whoa!" Mario startled as he throws the shell at the same time. Luckily for him, the bad-thrown shell hit Kingfin at his tail.

"Well, that was lucky." Mario said.

But then, he was ambushed by one of the robot fishes and was hit by it.

"Uhof!" Mario groaned from the impact. "I need to be more careful! Oh god, I need air!"

He quickly swims to an air bubble to regain air back.

"Whew! That was close. Now, where's the Koopa Shell?" He said as he searches for a Koopa Shell since the fish hit him out of his track. "Oh! There it is! Time to finish him for good!"

He grabs the shell, and located Kingfin.

"Just a little closer…!"

Mario then throws the shell, hitting Kingfin at the ribs again. Eventually, Kingfin starts to wobble and started to stop swimming. Then, his body explodes. Once his head exploded, a Power Star showed up.

"I did it!" Mario cheered and swims to the Power Star.

Once he grabbed it, the Star glowed so brightly that even its light was reflected in the water.

Mario was back at the Observatory. Rosalina and Sonic noticed the counter going down to 06 and noticed Mario. They were impressed that he managed to make it back alive.

"Wow, Mario! I can't believe you actually defeated that huge bone fish!" Sonic congratulated.

"Wait, you were seeing me doing it?" Mario asked.

"Yes, I used my magic to create an image of you at the galaxy. I and Sonic watched your whole fight against Kingfin. That was very impressive for someone feeling dizzy." Rosalina said.

"Oh, it was nothing!" Mario said with a smile.

Soon, the Mailtoad came to Mario.

"Mario! Just in time you came back here!" the Mailtoad said. "You have a letter from Luigi again!" he then hands Mario a green letter with the same writing as before. Upon reading the letter, Mario shook his head.

"Let me guess; Tails and your brother went on their own again?" Sonic guessed. Mario nodded. "Great, looks like we have to locate them once again…" he face palmed. "So, what's the picture he sent this time?"

Mario picked up the picture; it showed Luigi grabbing hold of a tree's trunk, looking quite scared, and Tails was just below the tree where Luigi was. On the background was a fountain.

"Wait a second… I've seen that fountain before!" Mario said. "That's where I found the question mark coin which triggered the Bee Mushroom-a!"

"Really? And where was this place?" Sonic asked.

"Honeyhive Galaxy." Mario answered.

"Alright then, let's go!"

"I'm afraid Mario won't be able to tag along…" Rosalina suddenly came in.

"What? Why?" Sonic asked.

"Mario must rest now. The water was just for refreshing, remember? He's still a bit dizzy, so only you should go instead, Sonic."

"Well… Okay then. I'll try and find Luigi and Tails by myself. I hope you'll recover soon, Mario." Sonic said.

"I'll be fine, Sonic. Oh, take the picture so that you won't forget where the right location is-a." Mario gave the picture to Sonic before going with Rosalina. "Good luck!"

Sonic waved to Mario and set off on his own. Rosalina led Mario to the Fountain.

"The Fountain's relaxing waters will help cure your dizziness." Rosalina said.

Back with Sonic, he goes inside the Terrace, and gets launched to Honeyhive Galaxy.

Upon arriving there, he first goes to the area where the fountain was and checked the picture again.

"Okay, Mario was right; this fountain is the exact same one from this picture." Sonic said, looking at the picture for comparison. "So I should be at the right spot. I'm guessing that they might be at… The top of that hill!" he turns his head to a hill next to the location he just landed; there was a tree right next to the waterfall. He dashes back there.

As he was climbing the hill, he could hear Tails' voice from above:

"Come on, Luigi! I've already took out that bug guy! Now could you please get down from there?!" Tails called, with a serious expression on his face.

"I-I-I can't-a! Seriously, I can't get down here by myself!" Luigi panicked, still holding on the tree trunk.

"Oh, brother…" Tails face palmed. Soon, he turned his head and noticed Sonic. "Sonic! Thank goodness you're here! Luigi got himself into trouble again and can't seem to get down from there. Could you help me?"

"Don't worry, Tails. I got this." Sonic replied. He then stands on the spot right below Luigi's.

"Okay, Luigi. It's time for you to get down here. I'll show you how it's done!" Sonic smirked as he curls into a ball and home attacks Luigi. Eventually, upon getting hit by Sonic's Homing Attack, Luigi lost his grip on the trunk and falls down to the ground on his butt. Luigi got himself back up.

"Owowowow…" he groaned as he gets up. "Oh, hey Sonic! I hid because of that big, scary bug!"

"Yeah…and even after I defeated it, Luigi still didn't get down!" Tails rolled his eyes.

"Whatever… Let's just get the Power Star and go home." Luigi said and reached his pocket to reveal the Power Star. "Grab that Power Star, and let's head back!"

"Uh, Sonic, wait. Where's Mario? Isn't he always with you?" Tails asked.

"Umm, I'll explain when we get back." Sonic said as the group grabbed the Power Star and transported back to the Observatory.

Upon arriving there, Sonic explained to Luigi and Tails what happened to Mario.

"Oh, so my brother is recovering from dizziness?" Luigi said.

"Yep." Sonic nodded.

"If Mario is resting now, we should probably rest too." Tails suggested.

"You're right, Tails. After all, Mario and I never got a moment to rest actually." Sonic said.

"Yeah, I'm also beat too…going out collecting Power Stars can be very tiring…" Luigi sweated. "So, I and Tails will leave the rest of the Power Stars to you."

"You can count on us, Luigi." Sonic said, doing a nod.

To be continued…

Because I didn't want to put the dome boss right away, I decided for Mario and Sonic going into separate tasks: one heading to another galaxy of the dome, and the other doing the last Luigi and Tails mission!

The next chapter will finally have the boss fight from the Engine Room dome! Until then! Please review.