Looks like I managed to find another date for update. Mario and his party have obtained the first cosmic orb from the Dawn kingdom, and now they are about to find the second one in the Nimbus kingdom. However the path to the Nimbus kingdom wasn't going to be an easy one since they have to reach the world's end and through the Monstro Town, and then they must for to the bean valley where the beanstalk can take them to the kingdom in the sky. Will they go through them alright? Find out as soon as you read this.

Support

Sinmark and Hexica 2

Sinmark: Are you ready?

Hexica: I'm still confused; you want me to try to hit you with my magic?

Sinmark: That's right.

Hexica: But you aren't going to survive if you get hit!

Sinmark: I'm aware of that, and I am willing to risk my life in order to help maintain your abilities. Do not worry; I might be too quick for your power to hit me.

Hexica: Then what would be the point in firing them if they won't hit anything?

Sinmark: You'll understand soon, now throw in everything you got!

Hexica: Hurgh!

Hexica blasted black ice smoke at Sinmark. As she fired them Sinmark began to dodge them. The magic's force was so great that the entire area was frozen in black ice. Despite the aftermath from her magic, Sinmark managed to elude them all. After a while she stopped firing, because she was beginning to feel exhausted. As she fell into her knees, Sinmark came to her side to help her.

Sinmark: You have performed remarkably.

Hexica: But…look at this place…I froze them completely, and I think I drained away all my energy from firing all my ice magic. I don't think I've achieved anything but tiring myself here.

Sinmark: Actually, that was the whole point in all this.

Hexica: I don't understand…

Sinmark: You see, the reason you weren't able to maintain your power was because you kept then contained in you all the time. Without giving yourself the chance to release them, the magic inside you overwhelmed and started to take effect in your body. Therefore, I had you release all your magic until you tired yourself. I believe after all this, you won't have any problem with your magic anymore, however you should continue to use them more often as the magic will grow in you once more.

Hexica: How did you figure that all out?

Sinmark: It is the same basic principle used on steam engines and chimney, for instance when you don't let the smoke out of the engine they will begin to fall apart.

Hexica: But I don't still understand; I've been unintentionally releasing them when I was very little, yet I wasn't able to control them.

Sinmark: Perhaps back then, your power was too great for your small body to handle. It seems to have been very fearsome, being able to store so much when you were little.

Hexica: You know, I think my power have calmed down a little, I think releasing them all helped out a bit.

Sinmark: Of course it did, it was thanks to my plan that it did, and my plans hardly ever fail.

Hexica: Thank you Sinmark, looks like they won't bother me for a while thanks to you.

Sinmark: Do not thank me just yet, since this is only the beginning, once your power grows again we'll have to go through it again, only next time it would be much more severe.

Hexica: Okay, I'll do my best to cooperate from now on.

Sinmark and Hexica support reached flower rank

Binx and Jazzlyn:

Binx: Huh? Is that lady trying to conspire with a chain chomp?

Jazzlyn: Hello chain chomp, nice weather today, isn't it?

The chain chomp tries to attack her.

Binx: Whoa! Watch out!

Binx jumps towards her and they both avoided the chain chomp's fangs.

Chain Chomp: Grrrr!

Binx: Are you okay ma'am?

Jazzlyn: My goodness, that was ferocious, I did not think it would greet me by attempting to attack me.

Binx: What were you thinking? You were trying to greet the chain chomp, when it was bound to attack you as you approached it.

Jazzlyn: I was trying to put it to good mood.

Binx: You were wasting your time, it is the chain chomps' nature to be violent and attack anyone close to their reach, and therefore their moods cannot be altered I'm afraid.

Jazzlyn: Why does nature have to be cruel?

Binx: That is how life is, they can either be peaceful or disruptive, but either way we can't do anything to change them.

Jazzlyn: I must thank you for helping me earlier, I am very fragile and that chain chomp's assault could have ended me permanently.

Binx: Your welcome, but please refrain yourself from doing such things next time. Many people have something called "common sense" nowadays and it is mostly wise to follow them.

Jazzlyn: Yes, the chain chomp suddenly coming towards me did put me off-guard, I was so shocked that I almost fainted. Your sudden rescue has also surprised me, and when you pushed me away, I felt like I could collapse…

Jazzlyn fainted.

Binx: Uh, ma'am? Great, she fainted on me; I have never dealt with this kind of situation before, what should I do? I should call for help or I can just take her to safety. Hmm, from close observation she looks quite beautiful…WHAT AM I SAYING! This isn't time for that; I have to take her to the infirmary, I'll have to carry her there.

Binx and Jazzlyn support reached mushroom rank

Chapter 14AB

It's been 12 hours since they left Dawn Kingdom, before their departure they had to say farewells to few people, such as the king and queen and the mayor of Melfa village Merlon. After some few preparations for their journey, they were heading west towards Monstro Town, but first they had to go through the land's end in order to reach there.

Peach: I remember coming here with you long ago Mario, the desert had full of quick sands but we needed to enter them in order to reach our destination.

Starlow: I don't see any quicksands though.

Geno: It's the ztar curse, its curse have already affected this part of the land. As a result, the sands have stopped in time, unable to create any vortex on the ground.

Starlow: So how are we to get to Monstro town now?

Geno: We must go around this place. Now that the easy path is blocked, we must resort to taking the longer path. Frankly, I think that would be the safer path, because the ztar curse could make this place more dangerous, I can sense much unpleasantness coming from this area.

Peach: Thank goodness, I wasn't looking forward to going down those quicksands at all.

Geno: But taking the long way to the Monstro town will take us until sundown. We will have to rest once we get there.

Peach: Did the Monstro town ever had any inns when we went there last time?

Geno: Much has changed since then, you will be surprised how big the town has become now.

As Geno said, by the time they reached the town, it was already dawn. On their way they have heard rumors that the town was haunted during the night. Mario did not find that surprising, since he have encountered the three Muskafears when he spend the night there once. What did surprise him though was that there was another rumor involving folks seeing monsters at night. But he has faced many monsters in the past so he wasn't really concerned much about it. The group managed to find an inn for them to stay, due to their big numbers they had to reserve most of its rooms, lucky for them that the town did not have many tourists because of the monster rumors.

Starlow: This town is kind of barren, don't you think? There are some useful attractions here, a shame that there's not many to visit them. Anyway, how about we go out to visit them?

Mario agreed and went to some shops nearby. There was a new place called the antic store, where they could forge badges and other accessories, like rings. There was also a bistro where they could make foods with ingredients they found from their battles earlier.

A quick note: the antic store is where they can make badges with materials found during battle, this is also where you can make wedding rings for each pairings (they are required to forge an S rank aka marriage, but sometimes they can just be rings for eternal friendship like for Goombrey and Bitwick since they are too young to get married) Do you guys recall them obtaining gems and many other rare rocks from defeating enemies or stealing them from them? Gems like diamonds can be used to forge those rings in exchange for big amount of coins. Right now I'll make some rings out of them; so far I could only make five different rings for each of them. Which gems I used did not matter, whether I made them with emerald or rubies, they all share the same values and are basically the same, the only difference is their colors.

After Mario visited the antic store, he went to the bistro to make some foods out of the ingredients his party members gathered during battles. He has combined some of these ingredients to make more valuable delicacies.

Mystic eggs + Cake mix = Pancakes

Lettuce + Mystic eggs = Egg salad

Jelly beans + Cake mix = Jell-O pudding

Pasta + Spices = Ramen

Cheese wedge + Cake mix = Cheese cake

Fresh fish + Barbeque sauce = Fried salmon steak

Flour + Butter = Croissant

Warm Milk + Choco bean = Hot Choco

Caramel cube + Coffee bean = Caramel Macchiato

Corn + Butter = Popcorn

Inky sauce + Baked Potato = Ink potato stew

Honey Dew + Freezy = Melon Popsicle

Choco bean + Freezy = Rocky Road ice cream cone

Some of the ingredients you wouldn't recognize because they were purchased in shops off-screen (or should I say off-pages?).

Mario still had some ingredients left but decided to save them until he finds new ingredients to mix with more unique combinations. It was getting late, so he decided to visit one more place before he join with the others back at the inn. The place in question was the dojo, where it was run by a powerful warrior named Jinx. Mario entered and saw that Jinx was training some of his young pupils. After he beat up some of his pupil, he saw Mario and decided to greet him.

Jinx: Well if it isn't the overweight plumber who somehow managed to defeat me. How are you? I notice that you are staying fit nowadays, have you been fighting a lot lately?

Mario nodded.

Starlow: Mario? Do you know this midget?

Jinx: Midget?! How dare you! I am the master of this dojo! Jinx is my name! Do not look down on me just because of my height! I have once trounced the koopa king himself down to the floor once, and I have pummeled thousands of his troops with my bare hands! And from the looks of it, you look much of a midget yourself!

Starlow: Of course I'm short, I'm a star sprite!

Jinx: Anyway, what brings you to my dojo?

Mario explained his journey involving the ztar and that he and his party members were on their way to the Nimbus kingdom.

Jinx: So you came to visit me since it has been a while, right? I'm assuming that princess Peach is also with you?

Starlow: How did you know that?

Jinx: I can smell her peachy perfume, even from here where it reeks of sweats. It would be nice for me to give her my regards personally; unfortunately I am in the middle of training my good-for-nothing pupils here. Seriously, the only worthy student here is that guy over there!

Jinx was pointing at the twilighter sitting in the corner, meditating. He wore gray-colored judo outfit, wearing black belt and had dark skin. He also had dark hairs facing behind his head and had massive x-shaped scar on his left cheek.

Jinx: That boy, he came out of nowhere and begged me to train here. I have seen him fighting, he wielded tremendous strength, and it was incredible.

Starlow: Wow, I can tell that he is just by looking at him. How long has he been training here?

Jinx: For three days, I see him going out during the night and come back in the morning. He must be training really hard. If only these guys can show such effort here, then I wouldn't be so disappointed! So do you want to train here, too?

Starlow: Thanks, but we only came to visit. We have to return to our other companions so we can continue our journey in the morning.

Jinx: Suit yourselves. If you wish to ask for my help, you know where to find me, then I'll assist you anyway I can.

Starlow: Thanks, c'mon Mario.

And so the two left the building, as they both left, the twilighter who was meditating woke up from his trance and watched them leave.

That night, the entire group was sleeping in their respective rooms. The town was quiet during this hour, maybe too quiet. Starlow and Geno stayed awake to talk; after all it has been a while since they've met.

Geno: You seem restless.

Starlow: Sorry, it's just that I had a hard time sleeping lately, ever since Mario suddenly turned to that scary manifestation from the ztar. For all we know, it could happen again any moment.

Geno: If Mario isn't able to contain his darker ego, then he'll lose himself completely. I'm afraid all we could do is hope for him.

Starlow: Say Geno, do you know if the ztar had an effect on someone once, just like Mario?

Geno: There was a similar incident thousand years ago when the ztar curse was unleashed into the world. Ever since that day, the world had changed completely.

Starlow: But have it affected a person before?

Geno: Yes, the queen who ruled the kingdom which has sunk under the sea years ago. Once she was fair and majestic, but that was until she lost her husband.

Starlow: What happened?

Geno: The king suffered from an illness and had perished. The queen wasn't herself ever since. Around the time a ztar fragment landed in the queen's balcony and she have approached it with caution. The ztar's influence was slowing draining her soul and later has corrupted her.

Starlow: How do you know?

Geno: Because I was there, the queen called for the star spirits, hoping that they could grant her one wish, to bring back the king from the dead. However they were unable to grant such wish, since bringing back the dead to life was considered taboo. The queen lost hope and torn her ties with the star haven. At that time, she has found her new hope to the ztar, which has ever since changed her. The ztar curse spread all over the place and has affected the atmosphere surrounding the whole kingdom and caused all kinds of unnatural disasters, and as a result the kingdom sank underneath to the bottom.

Starlow: So what about the queen?

Geno: She became twisted and evil, and it was thanks to her that her kingdom sank. Her powers could have devastated the entire world if it wasn't for the four heroes got in her way. They eradicated her and sealed her souls to the relics of her own design, the crystal star.

Starlow: What? Are you saying that this queen is actually the shadow queen? The same shadow queen Mario defeated years ago?

Geno: Yes, and it was actually because of the ztar that she was the shadow queen in the first place. So you see, the ztar nearly destroyed this world once, we do whatever we can to prevent it at all cost. And we must also prevent Mario from falling victim to the ztar, just as that queen did thousand years ago. Mario must confront his darkness alone, and all we could do for him is to give him our support.

Starlow: Okay. Um, is it me or has the atmosphere have gotten more eerie?

Geno: It's time; the ghosts of this village have awoken. But this aura, it is full of evil.

The village was covered with strange mists on the ground, the sky was getting darker and something was coming, it looked like some sort of phantom wearing crimson cloak and had creepy looking face with glowing red eyes. The phantom passed by them and into the nearby woods.

Starlow: What was that?

Geno: Oh no, that was one of the servants who served the shadow lord in the precious age of dark era. Whenever it appears means a bad sign. We have to eradicate it at all costs.

Starlow: But the others are still asleep!

Geno: I don't like disturbing their slumbers either, but we have no choice, neither of us are capable of doing anything at the moment. But let us just wake Mario and other older fighters, while the younger ones remain resting along with Peach.

Starlow: I hate this, but I agree, c'mon.

After waking up few of the party members including Mario, they all made it out of the building. They were tired but were prepared.

Chuck: You had better have good reason for waking us up at this hour.

Harlink: I sense an evil presence so close from here; does it have to do with that?

Geno: That is right, it was a demon spirit known as Ragnarok, and for some reason he has come here. We have to get him out of here before he does whatever he came here to do.

Nautica: Oohh! A fight with the undead; this would be a challenge~.

Sinmark: Be on guard, someone approaches!

Someone was coming towards them all right, but it was none other than Jinx. Who knows what he wants from them now?

Starlow: Jinx? Why have you come here?

Jinx: To ask for your request, I know I offered to help but I am ashamed to have come to ask for your help instead.

Starlow: What is it?

Jinx: One of my pupils has gone out and has never returned. He does always go out at night possibly for late night training but something seems awfully wrong about him this time. When a spirit passed by, he suddenly left. I fear that he'll be up against something he might not win against so I ask you to find him and help him out.

Starlow: Are you talking about the twilighter who was meditating when we met you?

Jinx: If you mean Dawson, then yes.

Geno: We must help him; this twilighter you speak of will not be able to handle against this phantom alone. If we hurry, we can catch up to him.

Starlow: Then what are you waiting for? C'mon guys, I know you are all tired but this is something we can't just simply ignore.

Jinx: More phantoms are bound to appear; me and my other remaining pupils will stay here and handle them.

Geno: Then let us go now.

The group was heading into the forest where Ragnarok went into. The woods had similar atmosphere as the woods back in the Dawn kingdom. They made it to the grove but there was no sign of the phantom.

Sinmark: Where has he gone?

Harlink: Perhaps he went into that ruin over there?

Harlink pointed at the ruin entrance 10 yards in front of them.

Geno: She's right; we must get in there and confront the phantom.

They have entered the ruin where it was tight-spaced. The Phantom was at the end of the room floating on top of a young girl who had tattoos all over her; she had pale skin, wore white dress, and had long blond hairs. The girl was in a trance of some sort, while lying down on her back on an altar. In front of them was Dawson the twilighter, who was in his battle stance.

Ragnarok: So, you have come to save her at last.

Dawson: Let her go, this battle is between you and me.

Ragnarok: I agree, but have you thought this through before you decided to confront me? I am a phantom; you aren't even going to be able to touch me. So how about I even the playing field by taking over this girl's body? I like to see how you can fight me while I'm in her body.

Dawson: Damn you!

Ragnarok: What's this? Looks like I have more guests. I can test my capabilities on you all.

Dawson: What the…You guys! Get out of here! This is my fight!

Starlow: Are you crazy?! There's no way you can handle him alone! I don't care how strong you are, you won't be able to win without our help!

Dawson: You don't understand…when I'm in great rage…I go…berserk…and becomes rather a bit…crazy…AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!

Then something unexpected happened, the twilighter has turned into a giant grizzly wolf man. The wolf stood on its two legs; the furs were dark-colored like his hairs were, had sharp claws and fangs and had glowing red eyes.

Starlow: What on EARTH?!

Geno: He has turned into the beast of the legend, werewolf.

Starlow: But I thought werewolves were just myths and cryptids established from rumors and legend!

Geno: Apparently they were real, and we have just witnessed actual proof of existence of such beings. So is the phantom, and we must take him out before he really do intent to possess that girl.

Ragnarok: You think you can stop me?! Think again! I'll tear you all apart before you can lay a finger on me!

Of course, Mario and his companions were willing to try anyway. Mario and his party members were all gathered at the bottom of the map, while Dawson in his beast form was in front of them. Ragnarok have summoned the creatures of the undead to slow down their progress towards his direction, such as: dark boos, dry bones, rotten clefts, phantom embers, and mummy pokeys. The groups who got into positions all have made their move against the enemies. Tober took a keel mango from a mummy pokey with the pickpocket technique and received 30 starpoints, and became level 7.

HP: 25+3 FP: 13+2 Power: 24+2 Block: 10+4 Technique: 22+3 Magic: 2+0 Immunity: 14+1 Luck: 25+4

Harlink fought against a Dark Boo, which proved to be tougher than anticipated. Illuminair finished the dark boo off with microshock move and received 40 starpoints, leveling her to level 9.

HP: 23+2 FP: 22+5 Power: 9+3 Block: 16+5 Technique: 21+4 Magic: 30+4 Immunity: 27+6 Luck: 23+4

Bo used bullet fun on a rotten cleft; it dealt okay damage against a rock foe. Nautica faced against a dry bone and poisoned it with her venom kiss technique. Markay defeated the mummy pokey that got robbed by Tober and gained 40 starpoints. Dedré approached the dark boo Harlink was facing and used Frenzy melody on it, the enemy did not fell asleep instead it got KOed, and Dedré received 40 starpoints. Hexica made the next move and freezes the other mummy pokey with her deadly frost attack, the frozen pokey was defeated by Koopiri, who shattered the frozen cactus with her shell kick attack. Koopiri received 40 starpoints for defeating it. Mario used his defense-piercing hammer to take out a rotten cleft, and he received 45 starpoints, he was so close to leveling up. Sinmark went up against a phantom ember, he used his silent blade attack to deal some damage to it, and then it was then taken out by Chuck's javelin throw attack which gave him 40 starpoints and became level 9.

HP: 34+3 FP: 24+3 Power: 35+6 Block: 24+3 Technique: 22+6 Magic: 7+2 Immunity: 15+3 Luck: 22+5

Megwen activated her crushing zephyr move in order to damage multiple enemies at once. The move was more effective against the mummy pokeys since the move managed to remove some of their segments making them shorter. She took out one pokey and gained 40 starpoints and leveled up to level 9.

HP: 27+5 FP: 34+2 Power: 17+2 Block: 19+3 Technique: 28+2 Magic: 32+6 Immunity: 28+5 Luck: 23+4

Aira took out a phantom ember by using her FP move called lock-on glide, and she received 40 starpoints. Binx approached the rotten cleft and used mace sledge on it, the move did not cause big damage but it did flip it over, rendering it defenseless. The new member of the party, Dawson, approached towards the phantom, which he wasn't able to reach, so instead he used a move called howling confidence to raise his power stat, the boost made him glow with multiple colors. The healers just moved closer to their teammates and away from the enemy reach. Farrow summoned her spiny troops and had them scatter around the area to drain enemy attacks as decoys. Viola used her tender voice move on Binx and she received 30 starpoints for the support. Binx then used his extra turn to attack the defenseless rotten cleft and finish it off with his mace sledge; after gaining 45 starpoints he leveled up to level 8.

HP: 19+4 FP: 10+3 Power: 16+7 Block: 10+4 Technique: 10+6 Magic: 5+2 Immunity: 6+3 Luck: 3+3

The enemies were now making their moves; the pokeys either attacked by swing themselves to their targets or throwing one of their segments at them. Clefts rammed at them, the embers blasted fires, and the dark boos just used their sneak attacks at them, but some of their attacks were aimed at Farrow's spiny beetles so the damages on their force were minimal. Ragnarok just stood in his place, and instead began to store his power for him to unleash. Ikki and Jazzlyn started to heal their teammates, Ikki used her wonder heal move to heal more than one ally, while Jazzlyn used her healing rain technique to heal an ally from distance. Ikki's effort granted her 30 starpoints while Jazzlyn received 20 starpoints. Chuck attacked a dark boo, and took it out with his spear; Markay also used his spear against a phantom ember, he received 40 starpoints and became level 9.

HP: 25+3 FP: 15+5 Power: 26+4 Block: 16+7 Technique: 23+5 Magic: 7+3 Immunity: 8+4 Luck: 15+3

Bo had his puppet use bullet fun once again, but this time on a dark boo, the dark boo could not take its consecutive hits and was taken out, he received 40 starpoints and became level 9.

HP: 30+5 FP: 28+3 Power: 32+4 Block: 20+6 Technique: 29+5 Magic: 20+2 Immunity: 19+7 Luck: 22+3

Koopiri knocked off one of the mummy pokey's segment with her shell kick move, and caused 20 HP worth damages against it. Harlink dealt with the last phantom ember with her destiny cleaver move, granting her 40 starpoints and leveled up to level 9.

HP: 30+3 FP: 33+4 Power: 32+5 Block: 22+4 Technique: 31+2 Magic: 17+1 Immunity: 24+6 Luck: 23+2

Hexica finished off the last rotten cleft by using her hex ice beam on it, and she received 45 starpoints. Dedré took out the pokey which Koopiri damaged with her frenzy melody technique, and received 40 starpoints, leveling her to level 7.

HP: 22+4 FP: 20+6 Power: 11+4 Block: 7+5 Technique: 13+5 Magic: 22+8 Immunity: 14+5 Luck: 14+3

Aira finished off the last dark with her lock-on glide, and received 40 starpoints. Farrow took out the last enemy, the mummy pokey with her spike pain attack, leveling her up to level 7.

HP: 21+3 FP: 22+4 Power: 23+4 Block: 18+4 Technique: 16+4 Magic: 9+0 Immunity: 19+4 Luck:17+5

Mario, along with the rest of his companions who haven't moved in this turn only approached towards Ragnarok. Ragnarok was now the only threat in this battle, with his stored power, he began to unleash a powerful attack magic. The wave managed to land on all friendly units and caused massive damage on them, although some of them managed to guard well from it. Ikki had duty to keep healing her teammates from the damages they received, her wonder heal move was a big help here. Her capability to heal multiple allies granted her 50 starpoints which leveled her up to level 6.

HP: 25+6 FP: 22+7 Power: 13+6 Block: 11+4 Technique: 17+3 Magic: 10+2 Immunity: 11+5 Luck: 15+5

After blasting the powerful wave, Ragnarok was now vulnerable to normal attacks; this was their chance to attack him before he regains his energy once more. Mario began by jumping on the phantom which caused quite some damages to him. Nautica helped by poisoning him with her venom kiss move. Tober stole a black pearl from Ragnarok and got 30 starpoints for the theft. Viola used tender voice on Koopiri, who couldn't reach the phantom earlier, and Koopiri used her long ranged attack to deal some damage to the boss, Viola received 30 starpoints for assistance. Dawson approached the phantom and started to show his true potentials, in his beastly form, he has activated his primary move called Massacre of the Grim, this move allowed him to perform acrobatic maneuvers as the beast moved around and then slashed at his target in lightning speed, after that he leaped into the air and as he landed on the target he strikes again, dealing massive sum of damages, and thanks to the effect of his howling confidence from the earlier turn the damages were a lot greater. But despite the effort the move could not take him out, and the effect from howling confidence has worn off. Luckily Ragnarok had to rest for another turn in order to move again. In the next turn Jazzlyn started to heal some of the ally units with her healing technique and she gained 15 starpoints in the process. Dawson approached to attack Ragnarok once more, with his beastly form, he unleashed the Massacre of the grim technique once again, even without the howling confidence the move was strong enough to take down the phantom once and for all.

Ragnarok: Grr….so you have bested me, and I was so close too…oh well, I will retreat for now, but don't get cocky just because you've won. Next time we meet, I'll tear you all apart!

The phantom retreated, but Dawson still received 100 starpoints for defeating him. The lycanthrope howled to the sky as he gained a level up, he became level 8.

HP: 25+3 FP: 15+4 Power: 20+9 Block: 18+4 Technique: 23+1 Magic: 10+3 Immunity: 25+3 Luck: 14+3

They have won another battle, and they also rescued the girl Dawson was trying to save.

After the battle the girl has woke up while Dawson was holding her.

The girl: Augh…I feel tired…

Dawson: Do not worry, you are safe now.

The girl: Huh? Where's that phantom? We have to deal with him!

Dawson: He's already taken care of, but he got away. Fear not as he won't be bothering you as long as I live.

The girl: Thank you, whoever you are.

Starlow: Wait a minute; I thought you were saving her because she meant something to you. But all this time you helped her when you never knew her?

Dawson: To be honest I am actually her bodyguard, I was told to protect this girl at all cost and I have been doing it for all these years without her even knowing. This is the first time I protected her with direct approach.

The girl: You've been, protecting me? For how long and why did you protect me?

Dawson: Since you were born, as you know you kind is rare and powerful and when your tribe had been lost, your parents asked me to watch over you as their tribes became lost. You are now the last of your kind and it is my job to ensure your race can move on in order for you to rebuild them in the future.

The girl: I see, so I was. The phantom called Ragnarok was after me because of that fact; he planned to take control of my body so he can wreak havoc on it.

Starlow: I am sorry but can anyone please explain to me what's going on here?

Geno: This girl is one of the changelings which were powerful race until the tribes were lost long ago. This gentleman is here to protect her at all cost.

Starlow: Changelings? So they weren't all extinct?

Geno: Apparently not, and the werewolf has also proven to be real.

Starlow: Ah that's right, you are a werewolf?

Dawson: That's right; I was born and raised in Twilight town until I was bitten by a lycanthrope. I was exiled from the village ever since, but them the changelings have seen my potentials and decided to took me in. They have taught me how to handle my beast form, and so I was indebted to them. You now know why I had to protect this girl at all cost, and until now I have protected her without her ever knowing. One day however, she was abducted by Ragnarok's henchmen and they were headed here. I planned to remain at the dojo close to the forest in order to find her quicker.

The girl: So you were my secret knight in shining armor, or a furry one. Thank you for what you've done.

Geno: Something tells me that we will be seeing that phantom again, which won't be good.

Starlow: Well, it's still dark out and we all need our rest, so why don't go back to the inn now?

Dawson: By the way, when you were talking about your journey with Jinx, I couldn't help but overhear. Perhaps it would be alright if I came along with you as well? I can explain Jinx about my departure.

Starlow: Will that be alright? I mean you have that girl to watch over.

The girl: Then I'll come along as well, I wish to return the favor to him for saving me back there and my ability can come in handy, I will tear apart our foes by transforming into a heavenly dragon.

Starlow: Wow! We now have two shape shifters in our party; this will make our quest a lot easier now.

Dawson: By the way, since this is the first time we've met I'll introduce myself, I am Dawson.

The girl: Cool! And I'm Ellie, nice to meet you at last!

Starlow: Well, we have gotten enough excitement for one night, how about we return to the inn now? Peach might get worried.

Geno: Agreed, and we'll need all the rest we can get so we can continue to Nimbus kingdom tomorrow with great amount of stamina. We'll need them as things will get a lot busier tomorrow.

The group went back with their two new members, and their addition just might make their quest a lot easier. Could Ragnarok have any connection to the ztar or does he hold purpose from different source of evil? In time we'll know.

Finally, I have added shape-shifters for Mario's party. The Maneketes, Laguz and Taguel characters from Fire Emblem series were all useful, and since this story is similar to the series, why not add something similar to them? Should I pair the two of them or should I have some different characters pair with each of them? Please leave comments and look forward to the next chapter where they will finally reach the Nimbus Kingdom.