Leaving friends behind is no easy thing to do. Even if a universe's fate rests on your shoulders, if they aren't by your side, things feel hollow.
When it finally came time to leave the Region of Light, Ray's friends wanted to take a different path from us. While it was his duty to protect the universe, Ray found the decision painful: his old friends or the universe?
Traveler's Log 018: A Streaming Star Appears
Stars: 16
Ray
The Region of Light is behind us now. Bowser's Star Stronghold is in ruins. Another Grand Star was obtained. And we're one step closer to saving the universe.
So why am I not happy?
Saving a universe is MUCH more dangerous than you'd think. Unlike in those "Save the World" stories, people can actually DIE here. So I had to leave behind the most important thing to me…my friends.
I hope I make it through this thing alive. I really hope I can make it back to my friends…
This is it! I thought, dashing across the path, using parkour to quickly get past the Mooks in my way. We're going to challenge the Big Bad and save our home! This is what they get for trashing the Speed Star World, for kidnapping Terra, for…wait, what? "…guys?" I asked, looking backwards. Everyone else was behind me, battling every single Mook I had left behind. "Oh crap! Sorry, guys!" I shouted, firing a bunch of beams from my hand and destroying several Mooks. But there were just too many…
Terra used a bunch of Mooks as a footstool to jump up next to me. "Ray, please don't leave us behind again," she said gently. Then she suddenly swayed and began to topple over.
"Whoa!" I caught her. "Terra, are you alright? You look as pale as a ghost!"
"I'm alright," Terra replied, standing up again with the help of a pillar nearby. "I don't know why, but I feel really tired right now…"
"Maybe it's because a Deux en Machina took you over and you just got released from his influence?" I suggested.
"Maybe," Terra said, taking a few more strides. She pointed at the Mook infested area beneath us, causing a massive earthquake that destroyed all of them. Terra swayed again, but regained her balance. I guess an attack of that magnitude must have been really taxing on her. "Guys, come on, we're going now."
Ruka ran up to me, and I could tell by her look I was most likely screwed. "Why the heck did you leave us behind? Do you realize what we just went through?"
"Um…uh…I…uh…heh heh…" I quickly ran off to get as far away as possible before Ruka could unleash her wrath.
Several suns stood at each tower of the keep, and a massive one hovered high above. There appeared to be a metallic planet hovering between it and the keep. I looked at the suns, wondering why the heck this Bowser guy would need suns anyway. Maybe it's to brighten up his day, I thought to myself, and smirked at the thought. "Come on, guys!" I shouted, running up a staircase.
Axel quickly jumped to the top of the staircase. "Try to move a bit faster," he cast over his shoulder, before running across a catwalk hanging above a sun. A bunch of Goombas jumped at him, one at a time, but Axel gave a few quick chops and sent them flying over the edge. "Come on, is that the best he's got?" Axel muttered.
"Apparently, yes," Aeron replied, smirking. "I guess all of Bowser's troops are pathetic-ZOH MAH GOD!"
A big…concrete…block…with a face…and arms…and feet…was standing above us. He roared randomly and FELL OVER, flattening us. "AUGH S*bleep**bleep**bleep**bleep**bleep*!" Aidan shouted.
One revival for each of us via 1-UP mushroom later…
"Owww…" Ruka groaned. "What was that? And who knew concrete hurt that much?"
"Ano…it DOES hurt when you fall on it," Terra noted. (She was the ONLY one who DIDN'T get hit by that thing.)
"But when IT falls on YOU?" Holly asked. "Aren't things kind of backwards there?"
"That's a Thwomp," Mario explained. "And it attacks by falling on you. But this is how you defeat it." He dashed towards the Thwomp head-on.
"WHAT THE F*bleep* ARE YOU DOING?" Aeron shouted, freaking out anime style (complete with vein throbbing).
The Thwomp roared and attempted to fall down on Mario, but Mario raced towards his legs and at the last second, suddenly landed on his back and slid underneath the Thwomp, allowing it to crash behind him. Then Mario backflipped and did a Ground Pound, destroying the piece of concrete. "Ha! Take that you big concrete block! :D" Mario shouted. "Come on, guys, let's keep going. Wonder what's in the next room?"
"Hey, guys, look, it's one of the Stars Grannel took from us earlier!" Leon shouted, pointing at a machine in the next room that appeared to be supplying power to one of the suns. He blasted an intense beam of light, breaking the machine, and grabbed the Star. "Got it!"
WE GOT A STAR!
"Um…you know Bowser's keeping a Grand Star in this castle, right?" Luigi asked.
*insert record scratch here*
"Wait, what?" Aidan asked. "What's that about?"
"Well, a Grand Star is a more powerful Star which will allow us to travel to another Region," Mario said. "And it has so much power that it is very bad if Bowser has it."
"So we have to go grab the Grand Star," Aeron said. "Guys, could you bring the Star back to Starship Mario? We'll grab the Grand Star."
"Okay! You can count on us," Holly replied. The Sunstrikers all placed their hands on the Star, and it began to glow, ready to take them back to the Starship
But then Ruka looked back at me. "Coming, Ray?" she asked, an air of concern suddenly entering her voice.
My heart suddenly skipped several beats. I never really thought of this part: When my friends take different paths, which one would I take? "Uhhhh…" I didn't know what to say.
Pretty much everyone was looking at me. "Ray, you can go back with your friends if you want," Terra told me gently.
"Yeah, but…" For once in my life, I found myself actually stammering. "I…um…"
"What's going on?" Mario asked. "What's the tough decision? It's a simple question, right? Do you want to help us get the Grand Star, or send the Star back to Starship Mario?"
"I just never thought about this," I said quietly. "I don't know where to go."
We were silent for several long moments, and then Terra finally tapped me on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Ray," she said. "We'll be alright against Bowser."
And then I realized. The Sunstrikers were risking their lives for my new friends, just because of me. And if Bowser was too powerful for even Axel and Aeron, their efforts would have been for nothing, and then…would I be able to face my friends who trusted me the same way as I had before? "I'll battle Bowser!" I declared.
All the Sunstrikers gasped. "But…" Ruka began. "Ray, don't you want to come with us?"
"You're risking your lives for the sake of them," I said, gesturing to Mario and co. "But if Bowser can't be stopped, then all your efforts will have been in vain. I'm going to take Bowser down and make sure he can never hurt this place again!"
"Ray…" Ruka sighed sadly. "Alright, but come back alive, okay?"
"I promise," I replied. "I'll beat Bowser up good for you guys!"
Ruka, Leon, Aidan, and Holly looked unhappy to leave, but each of them gave me a thumbs-up. Then the Star finally rocketed back to Starship Mario. As soon as the golden light faded, Aeron walked next to me. "You made a very painful choice," he commented.
"Yeah," I agreed. "I never thought I could leave my friends like that."
"Don't worry," Aeron reassured me. "Bonds can extend all the way across a universe. They're flexible things. You'll see your friends again."
I wondered to myself if I'd really be able to see them again, but then those thoughts were interrupted by Terra saying, "Um…we're almost at the tower. But…uh…we'd better remain quiet."
"No worries!" I shouted, and quickly put my back against the wall. "FALCON SNEAK!"
"R-Ray!" Terra whispered, with a horrified look on her face. "W-We have to be quiet! Don't-"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" I shouted, before inching a bit further, back still against the wall. I was almost at the corner… "FALCON SNEAK! FALCON SNEAK! FAL-"
WHAM!
"OWIE!" I shouted, going flying from a punch.
"WHO THE F*bleep* IS SHOUTING 'FALCON SNEAK!' GOD D*bleep*IT!" Shade shouted, running from around the corner.
"AUGH! SHADE!" Mario shouted, running at his clone. "DIE DIE DIE!" We all watched as Shade just stuck out his hand and stiff-armed Mario, who was randomly flailing his arms and legs at him.
"…do we really have to fight Shade now?" Aeron grumbled. "God, he has horrible timing. He should've waited until AFTER the boss fight."
"Screw this, IMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR BLAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGHHH!" Axel shouted, blasting a lazor into the sky and then causing it to crash down, frying Shade and Mario.
"Cough…" both of them fell over, unable to keep battling.
"Um…Axel…are you really a farmer in Malasia?" Terra asked, sweatdropping. (NOTE: "IMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR!" sounds strangely like "I'm a farmer in Malasia!")
"Wha-no! Where the heck did that come from?" Axel shouted (with white anime eyes). Terra looked incredibly embarrassed after that.
Luigi sighed, grabbed Shade, and stuffed him in a nearby closet. Then he grabbed a Shroom and put it in Mario's mouth, causing him to jump up and shout "Let's-a-go!" as if he was all better. (He got better from Axel's lazor, too.) "WAIT, WHERE THE F*bleep* DID SHADE GO?"
"I defeated him. :D" Axel said smugly. "So, shall we keep going?"
"Yeah, okay-Hey guys, look! It's a hangar!" Mario shouted. "And there's an airship! Let's go hijack it!"
Later…
Mario spun, launching a Goomba off the side of an Airship. "Geez! Jumping on the Airship wasn't a good idea! I'm going to own whoever came up with it!"
Terra jumped onto the Airship just as it began to rise out of the hangar. "Wait, Mario, you were the one who came up with that idea!"
"In other words, you gotta own yourself. :D" Luigi said, with an epic smug face.
"…OOF! S*bleep* *bleep* *bleep*!" And so, for no apparent reason, Mario spent a few minutes owning himself by kamikazeing into a bunch of Goombas.
"Sigh…" Axel muttered something and ran into the cabin. "Ray, come on, let's bust some heads."
"Right!" I shouted, running inside. A bunch of Koopas whirled around, ready to fight, except I went SHORYUKEN on them (yeah, I play Street Fighter :D), sending them flying into the walls. "Awesome, right?" I asked Axel, grinning.
"Yes, your Shoryuken was impressive," Axel replied offhandedly, grabbing a Koopa and throwing him over his shoulder. "Now come on!" He grabbed the Koopa at the wheel and then raised his sword. "Rule over the Midnight Heavens, Shiruba-Getsu!" he shouted, and then punched the Koopa while the blue-silver energy was still swirling around his left fist. The gauntlet quickly materialized, and the blade followed, skewering the Koopa and exploding it into Star Bits.
"Okay, hold on. HIYAH!" I threw out my hands, blasting a massive light wave that wiped out all the rest of the people at the systems. "Awesome, huh?"
"Yes, yes, very awesome, good work, and all that stuff," Axel said, grabbing the wheel. "I have no clue how to drive this thing, so EVERYONE HOLD ON!" Axel quickly drove the Airship towards the tower at the top of the castle, which the metallic moon hovered above, as well as the main sun.
"Um, Axel, you know where the brakes are, right?" I asked, noticing how fast we were going. If we kept going this fast, then we would…
"Nope," Axel said, his face paling. "Shall we abandon ship?" I quickly nodded, and Axel shouted to Mario, Luigi, Aeron, and Terra: "ABANDON SHIP!"
We all jumped off the deck (well, Axel and I jumped out of the windows) and landed on a catwalk just as the Airship flew headlong into the tower and impaled itself inside, cracking the tower greatly. "…Whoa…" Luigi said finally.
"If I had a license for that thing, I would have lost it today," Axel commented. Quickly changing the topic, he added, "Okay, we're not too far away, so we can easily get to the top of the t-" (I got bored with the planning about here.)
"Alright, time's up, let's do this! LEEEEEROOOOOOOOYYYYYY~ JEEEEEENNNKKKIIIIINNNS!" I shouted, jumping and grabbing onto the edge of the smoldering wreck of the Airship, running across it, and throwing myself at the tower. At the last second, I grabbed onto a ledge and planted my feet firmly on the side of the tower, beginning to climb up.
"GIVE US A BREAK, RAY!" Mario shouted, as they jumped at the Airship. But then, suddenly, there was a massive quake. "Wait, what?" Mario shouted, looking up. "OH NO, IT'S-"
"TIME TO DIE, 'HEROES'!" I heard. I looked up and saw a massive…uh…dragon in a spiky turtle shell? He had fiery red hair, four short horns sticking out of the top of his head, and yellow skin. And he was firing meteors from his mouth. Wait, what?
"HOLY S*bleep*!" Aeron shouted, jumping away as the meteors smashed into the catwalk, blasting it to smithereens. Terra, Mario, and Luigi jumped to another catwalk, while Axel and Aeron jumped onto the ship.
"There's no escape!" the dragon in the turtle shell shouted, blasting meteors at both the catwalk and the Airship. The meteors smashed into both, causing them to crumble.
I quickly scrambled to climb up the tower. That guy was going to kill us all! "DIE DEMON!" I shouted, jumping onto the top of the tower and gathered light around my fist in the shape of a falcon. "FALCON PUUUUUNCH!"
"AUGH!" the dragon shouted, stumbling backwards from the force of the attack. "Urf…heh! So the Shining Stars are here, eh?"
Terra, Mario, Luigi, Axel and Aeron all arrived at the top of the tower. "Time's up, Bowser! Give us the Grand Star!" Mario shouted.
"Wait, hold on, THAT'S Bowser?" I shouted. "Seriously, I expected he would be a man! Although, now that I think of it, Bowser is a weird namAAAAAAAAAUGGGH!"
"SHUT UP! MY NAME ISN'T WEIRD!" Bowser shouted, blasting meteors at me. "But you're too late to stop me now!"
"Say, what ARE you trying to do with the Grand Star, anyway?" Luigi asked. "Could you tell us?"
"Ha! As if I'd be that stupid!" Bowser replied. "Everyone knows that if you tell your enemies your plans, they'll use that info against you!"
"Oh come on, does that mean you're scared? :3" Aeron asked, smirking. "Gee, I never thought that the mighty Bowser would be a ch-"
"WHAT? ARE YOU CALLING ME A CHICKEN? WELL, SHOWING YOU MY PLANS WON'T AFFECT THEM ANYWAY!" Bowser shouted. (Aeron: :3) "If you must know, I'm using the Grand Star to create suns so that I use them as weapons! One supernova can create a lot of destruction!"
"And what's THAT?" Axel asked. "To shine so much light on us that we dry up and die?"
"No!" Bowser shouted, savoring his triumph. "By destroying galaxies and other matter, I can obtain enough kishi (matter) and reishi (spirit particles) to be able to DESTROY THE ENTIRE (I spaced out for several thousand unnecessary words for emphasis) UNIVERSE!"
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
"Destroy the universe?" Mario shouted. "Bowser, that's CRAZY! Why would you want to destroy it? What about your kids? Your troops! Everything you have! What'll happen to all of them?"
"They'll be spared from the destruction of THIS universe," Bowser replied, smirking. "But you WON'T, Mario Bros.! And…uh…all of your friends, too!"
"Ano…but what about Princess Peach?" Terra asked. I gave her a surprised look, because no one told me ANYTHING about princesses. "Why would you need to kidnap her?"
"Peach and Hanna Bladesinger both are Fullbringers," Bowser explained. "I shall use their power to help me in the second step: creating my NEW universe!"
"Wait, what's a Fullbringer?" Luigi asked.
"Something you'll never understand," Bowser replied. "Because they have the power to pull on the songs of everything that exists, allowing them to change the properties of whatever! In other words, they have almost divine influence over their surroundings! Therefore," Bowser clenched his fist. "Their powers will allow me to create a new universe using the ashes of this one!"
"Dude, that plan's just twisted," I commented. "In other words…we gotta stop this guy at all costs!" I raised my fists, ready to battle.
"BWAHAHAHA!" Bowser guffawed. "Interesting. But it's no use; you can't defeat me with the power you have. I'll show you that…by stomping you into space bits! Here! And! Now!"
Bowser let out a primal roar and stomped the ground with all his might. And before we knew it, we were all sent flying into the air, towards the metallic moon above. "WTF?" Aeron shouted. "HOW DID WE GET HERE?"
"Bowser's just THAT physically strong," Luigi explained. "Watch out for his attacks; he really packs a punch!"
Boss: Bowser
"Get ready for the pounding of your life!" The Koopa King shouted as he came flying down to the moon right after us. And as soon as he landed, a blue wave of light burst from the ground around him and pulsed out, surging across the surface of the moon towards us.
"? Nani?" Terra shouted, before we all jumped over the wave. Bowser made a flying leap at us, and we moved out of the way, but then another blue wave burst out of the ground, slamming us off our feet.
"GWAHAHAHA!" Bowser shouted, stomping and creating yet another blue wave. Then he jumped high into the air, and bronze-colored energy accumulated at his hand. "EAT DIRT, MARIO BROS!" he shouted, throwing the energy down. It smashed into the metal surface of the moon…and EARTH spikes sprang out of the ground.
"WTF?" I shouted, jumping out of the way. "This moon is METAL! How did he create EARTH?"
"That's something you'll never be able to comprehend," Bowser replied as he landed, creating yet another blue wave. "But how about THIS!" He stomped the ground, and roared. And then, light began to radiate from inside his mouth.
"CRAP! AERON, GET THE TACOS!" Axel shouted, moving to get a safe distance away from Bowser. "Wait, we have some, right?"
Aeron quickly dug through their pack which I never noticed they had before. And came up empty handed. "Uh…Axel? Where did they go exactly?"
"I don't kno…s*bleep*," Axel muttered. "Pikachu, I am going to kill you when you get back!"
"IF YOU EVER SEE HIM AGAIN!" Bowser shouted, before blasting a massive laser from his mouth. We all launched ourselves out of the way, allowing the massive beam to blast through the air and fry whatever it hit. "See how many you can take!" Bowser laughed, shooting laser after laser at us. "Come on, show me what little power you have! It would be boring if you couldn't put up a little bit of a fight!"
"If it's excitement you want, then we can give you plenty of that!" Aeron shouted, running at him. "Rule over the Raging Heavens, Tsubasa no Rai-oh!" The green and gold sword was racing at Bowser even before it finished its release. "And for good measure," Aeron shouted, raising his other hand to his blade. Green winds began to swirl around it, charging it with the might of green winds. "REPPUZAN!"
But to our shock, Bowser caught the blade, even when the razor-sharp gales were charging its blade. "What did I say?" he asked, grinning maliciously. "You can't defeat me with the power you have." And with that, he swung his hand around, throwing Aeron several meters away.
"Take THIS, then!" Mario shouted, holding up a Rock Mushroom and biting into it. Rocks quickly covered his body, and he gathered more to become a boulder, which rushed at Bowser quickly.
"Come on, Mario, you know you can't defeat me with THAT!" Bowser shouted, delivering a Megaton Punch to the boulder. Mario was sent flying, and his rock armor was smashed into pebbles. "When you use earth," Bowser continued, "you use it like THIS!" He raised his hand, and bronze energy once more accumulated in it. Then he blasted the energy and spikes rushed up, racing to impale Mario.
"Don't talk about to us about using earth the right way!" Terra shouted, thrusting her hand forth. The earth spikes suddenly halted, and Terra thrust her hand forth and sent them all flying at Bowser.
Bowser dodged each one, and began to advance. But guess what? For some reason, EVERY FRICKIN' STEP HE TOOK CREATED ONE OF THOSE BLUE WAVES! "HOLY S*bleep*!" I shouted, jumping over wave after wave. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm gonna put a stop to it!" I rushed at Bowser and blasted beams of light as fast as I could at him.
"You, put a stop to me?" Bowser scoffed. "Don't make me laugh!" He ducked into his shell and quickly spun around, smashing into me and sending me flying so fast I orbited the moon three times!
"Try this, then!" Axel shouted, jumping at him. "Tsukiren!" He punched Bowser in the face and blasted him backward with a massive jet of silver energy. "Yes!" Axel shouted. "That got hi-WHAT?"
Bowser emerged from the smoke, grinning…and completely unharmed. "Come on, don't let me repeat myself!" he shouted, and then he stomped the ground (another wave) and jerked his head up. Except then I noticed there was an orange glow in his mouth…
"You won't even be able to talk after this!" Aeron shouted, running for Bowser and swirling water around Tsubasa no Rai-oh. "Uzumaki Kyouran!" And a cascade of water went blasting towards Bowser…
Bowser just smirked and stomped the ground, and then a wave blasted out, repelling the water. And then the Koopa King let out a maniacal laugh before blasting many meteors into the sky. "Oh, dear, what's this? I think it'll rain today," Bowser laughed. "That is, METEOR rain!" And with that, the meteors began to crash into the ground, and THEY created THEIR OWN waves!
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~" Mario screamed his head off, running away from the meteors. But then a wave smashed into him, and he fell to the ground, stunned.
"Mario!" Luigi shouted. He dove out of the way of a meteor, and then quickly pulled out of his pocket an orange shroom with yellow circles on either side. But wait, what? An orange brim (like a cap) stuck out in front of its eyes, and there were YELLOW HELICOPTER BLADES on it! Luigi took a bite out of the shroom, and instantly was clad in a green jumpsuit with a helmet that had a propeller on top of it, and L on either side! "Let's fly!" Luigi shouted, spinning with the power of his Luma and blasting high into the air, gracefully gliding out of the way of each meteor. He descended quickly, grabbed Mario, and then ascended before a wave could hit him.
"Whoa! Cool!" I shouted. "Luigi, can I have one of those?" I quickly jumped away from one meteor and OFF another.
"If you live long enough to obtain one!" Bowser shouted, jumping so high into the air that HE WAS ACTUALLY ABOVE US. "Take this! BOWSER BOMB!" And before Luigi and I could do anything, we were smashed into the ground by his spiked shell. (Luigi's Propeller Suit was smashed to pieces by this.)
"AUGH!" Mario shouted (remember that he was being carried by Luigi?). "Bowser, you're heavier than you were last time! What the heck have you been eating lately?"
"SHUT UP MARIO!" Bowser shouted, jumping up and stomping again, creating another wave. We all screamed and ran away from it.
Terra jumped at Bowser and created twin emerald blades, which she slashed at Bowser with. Bowser began to take steps back, dodging or parrying her blows. And if he took steps back…you know what happens by now, right? "How can he make those energy waves?" Terra wondered. "Does Bowser really have that power?"
"I don't think so," we suddenly all heard Aeron boldly call out. "Because if he did, then the meteors wouldn't be able to create those waves!"And then a green and gold reiatsu filled the air. "I'll show you!" Aeron shouted. "This is my power, Bowser! BANKAI!"
A green beam of energy shot…whichever way was up for Aeron…and actually disappeared into the depths of darkness in the Star Stronghold. Then, there was a golden flash, and a golden lightning bolt surged back, crashing into Aeron, followed by more bolts. Great storm clouds began to gather in the distance. Suddenly, ice began to spike up where the lightning bolts hit, freezing some of the energy as it continued to grow. "What?" Bowser shouted. "What is this?"
I followed his gaze, and saw, to my shock, that waves were coming from the tower of ice! "HOLY CRAP!" I shouted, jumping over it.
Meanwhile, the ice continued to grow. The colossus of ice struck the tower we had stood on earlier, and ice began to spread across that. Several ice spikes touched other portions of the Star Stronghold, freezing THEM over. Even the SUNS were being frozen! "No! No!" Bowser shouted in horror. "My Star Stronghold!"
"Fake suns will never defeat my Tsubasa no Rai-oh," we heard, though we couldn't tell where it came from. And then, the tip of the obelisk of ice broke, revealing Aeron, holding a new sword. "Bankai. Senkei, Kage no Rai-oh! (Final release. Slaughterscape, Thunder King's Shadow!)"
"You!" Bowser shouted, furious. "What have you done?"
"I appear to have put a spanner in the works in your best laid plans," Aeron replied, and suddenly appeared in front of Bowser. "Take this! Reppuzan!"
"Ha! Nothing's going to happen! You still can't cut me, no matter how much you increase your power!" Bowser laughed, raising his hands to block it.
Aeron grinned. "Who said I was aiming for you, Bowser?" And suddenly, he somersaulted into the air, launching the intense winds AT THE PLANET!
"WHAT? NO!" Bowser shouted. "IF THAT MOVE MATCHES THE FORCE OF MY WEIGHT, THEN-"
"Oh, so if we strike the planet with enough force, a wave will appear?" Terra asked.
"CRAP! NO, NO, NO, NO, THAT'S NOT THE CASE! NOTHING WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DO THAT!" Bowser lied. (Too late. :D)
Terra raised her fist, and green energy in the shape of a falcon burst from it. She jumped high into the air, and then raced towards the planet. "HAAAAAAAAAH!"
Twin waves blasted out from Terra and Aeron's attacks, both rushing towards Bowser. "No!" Bowser attempted to jump over all of them, but then Mario and Luigi both ground-pounded, sending two MORE waves blasting out. "Impossible! I can't be defeated!" Bowser shouted, jumping over all the waves.
"Corn!" I shouted, jumping above him.
"OH SHI-" Bowser began before I footstooled him, sending him crashing into the planet and getting hit by all four waves. "AUGH!" Bowser went spinning across the planet on his shell.
"Get ready, Luigi!" Mario shouted, running after the spinning Bowser. He caught up and quickly spun, sending Bowser flying and crashing into the floor.
"Got it!" Luigi shouted, jumping over the waves and grabbing Bowser's tail. Then he began to slowly drag Bowser in a circle around him, rapidly picking up speed, until Bowser was actually flying, only kept from takeoff by Luigi's grip. "Bon Voyage, Bowser!" Luigi shouted, tossing Bowser away.
"OOOF!" Bowser shouted, crashing into the ground. "Urgh…" he growled as he got up. "NOW you've asked for it!" he roared, stomping the floor. And he began to spin around, launching large fireballs.
"Wait, Bowser can breathe fire?" I shouted, throwing myself out of the way of the fireballs. "Aren't meteors enough?"
"Yeah, he can," Luigi said. "You know, if he's a dragon, I think it would be pretty obvious."
"BUT HE HAS A TURTLE SHELL, SO HE'S NOT A REAL DRAGON!" I shouted. "AND HE DOESN'T HAVE WINGS, EITHER! SO-"
"SHUT UP!" Bowser shouted, holding up a massive ball above his head made of…Goombas?
"Nanda korewa?" Terra shouted. "Why would he have Goombas with him? And more importantly," she wondered. "Where did they come from?"
"I carry them with dimensional power!" Bowser explained. "In other words, I can allow them to appear by my side if I feel I need them!"
"In other words," Axel sighed. "I believe we'll be seeing a Mass Mook Charge." Some random fireball suddenly crashed into him from behind. "OWWWWIEEE!" Axel shouted, but he quickly put out the fire.
"Go, Goombas!" Bowser shouted, tossing the ball behind him and pointing at us. "Attack the heros!" The Goombas began shouting things in random languages and swarmed us. But strangely, Bowser punched several high into the air.
"Quick! Luigi! Get the Fire Flower!" Mario shouted. Luigi nodded, and grabbed the Fire Flower, and the two quickly became Fire Mario and Fire Luigi. They began blasting fireballs at the Goombas, knocking them out. "Yeah!" Mario shouted. "Goombas can't stop us!"
"Mario," Bowser chuckled. "Don't you know the nature of my Goomba Storm? What happens when the Goombas get punched?"
"Wait…" Mario looked up. "WHAT THE F*bleep*?" All of us looked up, and our jaws dropped. The Goombas that Bowser punched were coming down like meteors! They were even FLAMING!
Axel quickly whipped up his hand and gathered silver energy at his finger. "Ketatamashi Getsu!" He blasted several slended beams of light, sniping the Goombas out of the air.
"YOU LET DOWN YOUR GUARD!" Bowser shouted triumphantly, and then we ALL were hit in the back by massive lasers of light. Bowser didn't even give us a chance to recover before he jumped into the air, landed and created a wave, then sprang off the ground almost immediately and stomped again in another place, sending a second wave. And then he hurled bronze energy, causing spikes to rush up towards us. "My power is ultimate!" Bowser shouted. "You'll NEVER be able to stop me, Mario Bros!"
"Augh…" I watched the waves and spikes come closer. "Is this it? Did we come all this way for nothing?"
"It's not over!" I heard suddenly. I turned to see a yellow Luma hovering nearby. "Ray, hope's not lost completely!"
"You're one of the guys who were on Starship Mario," Axel said, looking very surprised. "What're you doing here?"
"I actually followed after you to see if you were in any sort of trouble," the Luma explained. "Ray, you can still win with my help!"
"Your help?" I asked skeptically. "But what's going to happen?"
"You'll see!" the Luma shouted, and he began to glow brightly, suddenly going into the symbol on the back of my jacket.
Suddenly, a new power coursed through my body. I felt my energy returning, and my pain washing away. And a white aura surrounded me now… "Whoa!" I shouted. "Is this the power the Luma gave me?"
"Yeah!" Mario shouted. "But the spikes are coming up, so DO SOMETHING QUICK!"
"Right!" I shouted. I jumped into the air, and a white falcon appeared around me. I concentrated my light power into my fist, but could tell something else was boosting it even further. Thanks, man, I thought to the Luma. "Falcon! PUNCH!" I shouted, flying downward and striking the planet with BOTH fists.
Two waves rushed out, one from each fist, and crashed into Bowser's waves, cancelling them out. I got ready to blast the spikes to pieces. "Take this!" I shouted, blasting the spikes to pieces.
"Impossible!" Bowser shouted. "Dang! It's those pesky Lumas' powers!" He began to charge up to fire meteors again…
"You won't be firing meteors after THIS!" Axel shouted, raising his sword. "BANKAI!" And then, silver winds burst up around him, and a blue-silver laser from the sky crashed into him.
"WHAT IS IT NOW?" Bowser shouted, dodging the wave that came. I quickly took this opportunity to punch the planet, emitting a wave that smashed into him, sending him flying. "AUGH!" Bowser shouted, spinning around on his shell.
"Okay, Axel! He's coming to you!" Mario shouted, spinning Bowser towards the beam of light. "Wait, WHAT THE F*bleep*?" Up above use, the clouds of Aeron's Bankai were clearing to reveal a moonlit sky! "WHEN DID IT BECOME NIGHT?" Mario shouted.
"When the god of night descends," we heard. And then the laser dispelled, and great angel wings flapped. Axel rose, holding two new swords connected by a chain. "Bankai. Doki no Shiruba-Getsu! (Silver Moon of Wrath) Prepare for ownage, Bowser…BY MAH LAZOR BLAAAAAAAAAAAARRGGHH!"
A massive silver laser appeared in front of Axel and fired at the moon, and then the moon went FULL and sent it flying back, coursing with blue energy. It crashed hard into Bowser, frying him. "AUGH!" Bowser shouted. "Urf…" he emerged from the blast greatly burned. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" he roared, jumping into the air as he did so.
"Guys, I think he's P*bleep*!" I shouted as Bowser brought out another ball of Goombas. "And he's bringing out the Goombas again!"
"They're no problem this time," Axel said, flapping his wings. Feathers shot out like missiles from his wings, crashing into the Goombas as they charged. Bowser prepared another Goomba ball, but then Axel thrust out his swords, and a giant clock with Roman numerals appeared behind him. The hour hand was pointed at XII, and the minute hand at VII. (Yeah, wierd.) "Shichi no Mayonaka! (The Seventh of Midnight)" he shouted, and water began to swirl in front of him, combining in three streams to form a creature with two wing-like fins, giant claws, an arrow-shaped head, and large talons. "Kaiyou no Kyouran! (Ocean's Fury)" The creature roared and surged forward, tearing at the Goomba ball with its fangs and claws, and then a huge tsunami followed, scattering them. Bowser had fallen from the attack, and was just trying to get up when the creature swept around and attacked from behind, tearing at Bowser with its fangs once more and obliterating the Goombas with the wave of water that followed.
"Argh...But you forgot the guys who're falling like meteors!" Bowser shouted, pointing up. "And the REAL meteors, too!" Apparently, he actually fired meteors while we weren't looking.
"What meteors?" Aeron asked. "Nagareboshi!" He blasted a white fireball up, destroying all of them in a fiery explosion.
"Argh…" Bowser growled. "This isn't fair! How can you be countering all my attacks?"
"Because we're just awesome like that," Luigi replied, holding up the Ice Flower and allowing its spores to land on him. "Bowser, you look stressed out. Why don't you take a chill for a moment?"
"I concur," Aeron agreed as Luigi launched blasts of ice, quickly freezing Bowser in a block of ice. "Hama Hyoketsu!" And then, a GLACIER stood in front of us. Bowser was trapped inside.
"Boruto no Kage!" Axel shouted, raising his swords. The blades crackled with dark blue lightning and blasted Bowser, shocking him (I think it hurt, but because he was frozen, I have no clue. ^_^)
"GRAH!" Bowser shouted, bursting out. "Guh…THIS CANNOT BE! I have mastered power over TWO forces of Nature, and yet you're STILL beating me! What's going on?"
"Because we have a power you DON'T have," I replied, walking forward. A white falcon blazed around me. "And that's the power of having…" My thoughts quickly darted back to my friends. "the power of friends! When you have friends backing you, you can overcome ANYTHING!"
"DON'T JOKE AROUND!" Bowser shouted. "What kind of lame power is friendship, anyway? It won't get rid of any of this world's contradictions!"
"Contradictions?" Terra asked. "What contradictions?"
"They say they seek 'justice'," Bowser growled. "Yet look at how they treat criminals! Locking them up, maybe even executing them!"
"Bowser, executions aren't very common these days!" Mario shouted. "What you're doing is just destruction and slaughter!"
"It doesn't matter! Look at the damage that's already been done!" Bowser shouted. "Think about it. World disputes, environmental destruction, human discrimination-aren't those examples of destruction and slaughter, too? This world is far too flawed to be redeemed!" he continued. "To solve these problems, one must rise above all others and become a god! And only then, with the shaping hand of a god, will they obtain redemption!"
"You're wrong!" I shouted. "What will truly redeem the world is if everyone joins together to solve those problems! If they can set aside their differences, they will save the world!"
"Whether or not our world is incorrect is up to us!" Aeron shouted. At that moment, rainbow-colored wings began to appear behind him. Aeron raised his sword, and rainbow-colored energy began to flow through it. "Sutasturaiku Burasto! (Starstrike Blast)" Aeron shouted, and an arrow of rainbow colored light flew out and struck Bowser in the face.
"And take THIS for good measure!" I shouted, dashing towards Bowser. The falcon appeared to rear back and screech at Bowser.
For some reason, as I continued to approach Bowser, I could hear my friends' voices on the wind. Keep fighting! Don't give up, Ray! Good luck! Hang in there! "Thanks, guys," I whispered, closing my eyes. Then when I opened them, unwavering resolve stood in them. "FALCON…PUUUUUUUUUNCH!"
KA-BLAAAAM!
"AAAAAARRRGGGHH!" Bowser roared as he fell down, down, down, back to the tower, landing on its hard, frozen surface. Suddenly, gravity defied itself, and we all landed on the tower with him. "Guh…" Bowser slowly struggled to his feet. "You're better than I expected," he complimented. "But don't expect the power of friendship to allow you to WIN next time! I'll be stronger…and you won't stand a chance!" Before we could respond, he jumped up and disappeared in a flash of red light.
"'Don't expect the power of friendship to allow you to win'?" Terra wondered. "What does he mean by that?"
"If he was a god, then he'd know he was right," I muttered to myself. My friends' voices had reached me this time from far away…but the next time…
"What are you talking about?" Mario asked. "And where's the Grand Star-OMG!" Suddenly, there was a rumbling, and the moon exploded, revealing the Grand Star!
"It's the Grand Star!" Axel shouted. "We win!" He reached up and grabbed the Grand Star. "Okay, guys, let's go home!"And everyone cheered…everyone except me.
WE GOT A GRAND STAR!
The Grand Star pulled us with it back to Starship Mario, and we turned in time to see the Star Stronghold explode violently and have a flaming case of Critical Existence Failure. (That was just for emphasis.) "Well, that takes care of THAT problem!" Lubba commented. "And now…" The Grand Star turned into a shining sphere of golden energy that surged forward, creating a massive, swirling sphere of sea green energy! "The portal to the next Region!" Lubba announced proudly. "Good work, team!"
"We did it!" Mario shouted. "Now let's head on to the next Region!"
"Um…actually, we'd like to go back to the Speed Star World," Ruka said. "So, if you're leaving, can you at least drop us off there?"
"Okay," Luigi replied, going up to the wheel. "Next stop, the Speed Star World!" And the engines burst to life, taking us back home.
"Soon we'll be back home, and we can rest up for adventures tomorrow. Right, Ray?" Leon asked.
Everything crashed at that point. This was the exact moment I was dreading. "Guys…I really don't know what I want to do now," I sighed.
"Wait, what?" Aidan shouted. "Are you saying you went through all that and you still want to go on this weird 'save the universe' thing?"
"It's not an idealistic crusade!" I protested. "That guy who we battled is really going to destroy the world, and apparently, because I'm a Shining Star, I gotta fight him!"
"So basically, you're saying for the sake of the world, you gotta leave us?"Aidan continued shouting at me.
"Both of you, STOP!" Holly shouted at both of us. She gave us both a look before saying, "We'd best rest for a bit. Ray, sleep on the issue if you want."
"Right," I muttered. Somehow, I didn't think sleeping on it would work.
Everyone thinks the sun never goes down on the Region of Light. But they're wrong; it does move to shine on different galaxies. However, the light still shines from many stars in the sky. And now, on the back of Starship Mario, I lay down next to a stump, watching the stars.
"Ray…are you still up?" I suddenly heard. I looked up to see Terra approaching. "Uh…what are you doing out here? I thought you were going to sleep in the cabin…" she said shyly.
"You may not have thought I'd be like this, but I needed some alone time to get my thoughts together," I said, sitting up. "Except I still haven't. That's the problem."
"You're still fighting the problem with going back with your friends or helping us, aren't you?" Terra asked. She sighed and sat down next to me. "Ray, you're not obligated to come with us. If you want to stay with your friends, I won't object; it's your wish. But…" She looked at me, and I could tell she was kind of sad. "I still would appreciate it if you could come with us…"
"Why? Because I'm a good fighter, so you'll need my skills?" I asked. "Really, stop. You'll be bloating my ego."
"It's not that," Terra replied, averting her gaze. "Actually…I'm a bit shy, so I don't have many friends. So…I…" She squeezed her eyes shut, and exhaled. "Never mind. It's your decision. I shouldn't be interfering with it." Terra quickly got up and headed back to the cabin. "Sorry for bothering y-"
Suddenly, the sky began to glow blue. The stars seemed to be shining even brighter than they usually did. And what appeared to be tiny bits of them were falling upon us! "Whoa!" I shouted. "What's going on?"
Terra extended a hand. "This is stardust! But how's it here? Could a shooting star be abo-"
There was a loud roar, and suddenly, the blue stardust began to gather in a half-circle shape, then form what appeared to be a dragon. Then with a flash, there really was a dragon there! Its body and wings were primarily white, and four violet gems were placed on its chest and shoulders. Several places were blue and had parallel white lines racing across, and its knees were covered by a pale blue armor. Its head was arrow-shaped, and more blue sections were on each "wing" of the arrow. A gentle breeze appeared to be blowing it along, and blue stardust slowly fell from its wings. There seemed to be a divine air with this dragon…
"What is that?" Terra wondered. "It looks like a fairy tale dragon…except much more majestic…"
The dragon glanced at us, and in that moment, I suddenly knew the answer to my question. Then it let out a roar, and flapped its wings, which shone brightly with stardust and propelled it far off into the night sky. "Whoa…" I whispered. Then I remembered what it looked like the dragon was telling me with only a look. I clenched my fist. "Terra, I've decided!" I declared. "I'm going with you guys!"
"R-really?" Terra asked, stunned. "But what about your friends?"
"They'll understand," I said. "But that dragon told me. Helping you guys save the universe will do my friends better good than just sitting here."
"Ray…" Terra whispered, the stunned look still in her eyes. Then she closed her eyes and smiled. "All right. I'm happy you could come with us, Ray. Let's tell the others in the morning."
"So…shall we enjoy watching the stars for the rest of the night?" I asked.
"Yeah," Terra replied.
The next day…
"So you're going to be going with them?" Ruka asked, looking worried.
"Yeah," I said, feeling that stress that you get whenever you do something that you think will be easy, but turns out to be really hard. "I know you guys are probably mad at me-"
"We're fine with it," Ruka replied. I gaped, and then I saw all my friends smiling. "If that's your decision, we'll be rooting for you, Ray!" Ruka said.
I was at a loss for words for a few moments. And then I finally smiled. "Thanks guys," I said. "Don't worry, I'll come back safely!"
The Sunstrikers all prepared to go back to the Speed Star World. "Bye, Ray!" all of them shouted.
"Bye guys!" I shouted. "And don't forget to have Nature's #1 Vegetable as much as possible!"
"What's that?" Terra asked me, while waving.
"Isn't it obvious? It's corn!" I replied, grinning.
The Sunstrikers finally blasted off back to the galaxy, but we didn't stop waving. "I thought you wouldn't come with us," Mario said.
"I dunno, maybe it was an urge to own Bowser again," I replied. "But I thought that by helping you guys, I could do much more than just sitting here."
"True," Aeron agreed. "Well, on to the next Region!" He walked up to the wheel, and then the engines blasted to life, propelling us through the portal into the next region.
We were very surprised when we came out of the portal. There was nothing but white beneath us. "Where are we?" Mario asked. "It looks like there are a lot of clouds down there!"
"Or maybe it's snow!" Luigi suggested. He suddenly shivered. "Geez, it's cold."
The thought of snow being down there activated Terra's vertigo, and she immediately swayed and toppled over. "Whoa!" I shouted, rushing and grabbing her. "Terra, you're not going to faint, are you?"
"I'm just fine…I think," Terra said, laughing shakily. Then she looked up and suddenly gasped. "S-sugoi!" she shouted.
"What?" Axel looked up. "Oh, wow!" For up above us, in a midnight blue sky, hung magnificent green and magenta auroras, slowly pulsating to the harmony of the universe.
"The Region of Ice…" Lubba breathed. "It's an incredible place. But you'd better warm up after each mission! Cause it can get coooooold here!"
"Well, that's cool," I commented. "Literally. But anyway, I can't wait for the awesome adventures we're gonna have here!"
"Good call," Aeron said, grinning. "Ready, guys?" We all nodded.
"Then, here we go!" Mario shouted, bringing up the Launch Star. "This galaxy's called the Tasty Treat Galaxy! Get ready for some sweets!"
And as we blasted off towards our next adventure, I couldn't help but think about how awesome it is to be saving the world when you have your friends by your side.