A/N: Eh... slightly rushed chapter. On a completely different note, anyone want to exchange brawl codes? mine's 4081-5251-5737 nickname me whatever you want, and just pm or review yours to me

On with the show!

CHAPTER 25: With the Help of the Guardians

"You are Mr. L," Emmy said to Luigi. "And you're all my prisoners!" She lifted Mario, Peach and Luigi up into the air with her power bubble, obviously having fun with their plan. Luigi crossed his arms.

"I don't even know how Mr. L acts, except that he's my complete opposite," Luigi said.

"He points a lot and says 'have at you'," Mario said. "Does that help?"

"I just don't quite understand why you're not fighting Bowser."

"Quiet, guys!" Emmy said to them. "We're really close now. We can't give anything away. Actually, it would be better if you tried to struggle. You know, yell and stuff."

"You'll never get away with this!" Luigi said, pounding his fists against the bubble, making everyone laugh.

The path across the lava-like moat to the castle was brick, extending out far towards the lava fortress in front of them. They walked in silence across the bridge, Mario, Peach and Luigi trying to look as frustrated as possible.

Two koopas standing at guard at the front of the lair nodded to Emmy. "It's about time you showed up," they said. "Bowser's been getting impatient. The throne is straight back and to the…"

"I know where it is," Emmy pointed out, and walked hastily past the two guards. A few twists and turns, walking down stairs, and a few untrustworthy glances from koopas and goombas, and they were face to face with Bowser in the throne room.

It was a silent transaction. Bowser acknowledged Mario, Peach and Luigi as prisoners in Emmy's power bubble, and Emmy acknowledged the fact that she'd held true to her word. "Here they are," Emmy said. "All three of them. And now the world is yours."

"Now, Emmy," Luigi said under his breath.

"Excellent!" Bowser roared. Kammy stood beside his throne looking suspiciously at Emmy, and Mario, Peach and Luigi wondered why Emmy was letting them go yet. "Release them Emmy, I'll make sure they don't get away…"

Emmy nodded, then turned to her prisoners. "I'm so sorry…"

"Emmy, what are you doing? Let us go!" Mario asked quickly as goombas and koopas surrounded them in large numbers. She wasn't following the plan.

And then there was an evil glint in her eyes, a look that made all three shudder. Surely Emmy wasn't going back on her word? "I'm sorry," she said again. "But you're the ones being tricked." She released them into the swarm of goombas and koopas, who overtook them.

Bowser jumped out of his throne, and Kammy smiled. Emmy had kept her word after all. "Take them to separate chambers!" Bowser yelled out. "And make sure they don't get away!"

Luigi's heart felt like it had been ripped out of his rib cage. Emmy had betrayed them? But why? Bowser had her parents, didn't he? Or, was it really all a trick? A trick played out by everyone in the Macachi Tribe, and everyone they'd met. Tears came to Luigi's eyes. He'd even fallen for Emmy, and now she'd stabbed him in the back.

"Luigi!" Luigi turned to the sound of his brother's voice and reached out to him, but the koopas and goombas dragged them apart, sending all three down separate hallways, into separate rooms, confused and lost.

She'd done it. She'd actually gone through with it in the end. It's not as if she would have followed that plan anyways.

Turning to Bowser in the now very quiet throne room, she smiled at him.

"I know," Bowser said.

"I know too," Emmy replied. "And you will hand them over once this is done, right?"

"That's the agreement, okay. But you follow through first, or else."

"Of course. Mario, Peach and Luigi will disappear, just like that, and you can rule all of the world! How does that sound?"

Luigi's face collided with brick wall as he was thrown into his dungeon room. He hardly felt it. It was a trick. It had to be. Emmy wouldn't do something that stupid. She was smart. She knew what she was doing, right?

Luigi tried every thought possible to try and cheer himself up and convince himself that it would be fine. Suddenly his otter was at his side and looking up at his teary face.

"What do you want?" Luigi asked, wiping away the tears from his face. The otter squeaked and then ran to the other side, pointing at a single brick in the wall. Confused, Luigi made his way over to his spirit guardian and touched the brick lightly.

The otter squeaked even louder, and Luigi pushed the brick. It moved back into the wall.

There was an empty space.

Luigi grabbed the brick with the edges of his fingers and began to pull it back through, and eventually got it out. "Whoa," Luigi said, as he looked into the empty space and saw a single Luma, one of the star children from the observatory in space. The yellow Luma was happy to see Luigi as it jumped and floated out of its hiding spot to Luigi.

"What are you doing here?"

"Luigi!" Luma said. "Rosalina sent me here to hide! She had a feeling something like this would happen."

"What do you mean?"

"Rosalina watches over the Lota, just like she watches over all the stars. It is her duty as well. I have so much to tell you!"

Mario's lion had reappeared once more, and Mario was quite glad to see it. "She betrayed us," Mario told the lion. "Didn't she?"

The lion gave no answer, just stared straight into Mario's eyes.

"So, are you sure that you can do this?" Bowser asked Emmy, as she examined the machines using the power of the stars. Emmy nodded.

Each machine had a shimmering glow in the middle of a giant clear orb, the glow being the power stars. Power was being pumped out of the stars, and for some reason, that feeling was reflected in Emmy.

"Turn off the machines," Emmy said.

"We can't turn them off; it's what's keeping the lower rooms free of lava. Turning them off would cause the rivers to overflow," Kammy said.

"How long would it take them to overflow?"

"A day."

"Then turn, them, off." Emmy demanded. "It won't take longer than that. And I will need to see all three prisoners so I know what I am doing."

Kammy walked through the various machines towards Emmy. "You are sealing them in the center of the universe, right? All three of them?"

"Of course! That's why I need to see the prisoners. Out of my way," Emmy said as she shoved her way past Bowser and towards the place where the prisoners were being kept.

"Rosalina watches over the Lotas?" Luigi asked Luma.

"Yes! It is part of her duty. She gives the Lotas their power, and helps them find their way. There is something else you need to know. Emmy didn't betray you."

Luigi instantly smiled. "I knew it! It just seemed too impossible."

"There's a reason why we know she didn't. Rosalina controls Emmy's power, how strong it is and when she can use it. Only a Lota with good intentions may use their powers. If Emmy had been planning on using her powers against the good of the world, they wouldn't have worked!"

"So Emmy is good!" Just then a knock came at the wooden door of Luigi's holding room, and Emmy burst through the door.

"Luigi!" she said, smiling at him.

He jumped up and hugged her. "Emmy—"

"Luigi, I'm so sorry! I didn't betray you back there; I just didn't see how the plan could work."

"It's okay, I know. This Luma told me." Luigi explained to Emmy who Rosalina was and who the Lumas were, and Emmy explained the machines to Luigi.

"He's using them to harness the power of the stars. For what I don't know. But he said that they were holding in the lava rivers underground. You know, stopping them from flooding the place. But he's turned them off. Now they are convinced that I'm on their side."

"Great work. Now we just need to get out of here unnoticed."

Emmy's eyebrows rose. "Well, to be honest, I was thinking we could keep playing along with this until Bowser has you brought into the machine room to have you sealed away. Let me go check on the others, okay?"

Luigi felt devastated. "You're not going to leave me here alone, are you?"

Emmy smiled. "Of course not," she said, and then she grabbed his face and kissed him, before smiling at him and walking out the door.

Luigi slumped down next to his otter, which stared up at him and let out a whistle. Luigi laughed and cuddled his otter, then waited to be taken from his room.

Peach knew it was fake the moment it happened. Emmy set Bowser up, and he was taking the bait. And then suddenly before her eyes in the tiny holding room was her white horse. Her spirit guardian.

She walked over to the horse, who trotted over to her side, her hooves clicking on the hard floor. Peach realized as the horse began nodding her head, that she wanted Peach to ride her. Grabbing onto the horse's mane, Peach managed to pull herself up.

Peach was almost knocked off the horse as it reared up and charged its front hooves at the locked wooden door, sending shards of wood flying, and what remained of the door to the ground. The horse ran out of the room amidst shocked goombas, shyguys and koopas, and an even more surprised Emmy.

"Emmy?" Peach called out as the horse ran down the narrow hallway and towards an unknown destination.

"What is a horse doing in here?" koopas asked. "Someone go catch it!"

But no one did. The horse continued on, until it had crashed through another empty room, this time filled with gadgets and screens. The horse stood still and waited for Peach to get off.

"I don't think I ever want to ride you again," Peach said, as she lowered herself off the horse. "Where are we?"

The horse walked over and nudged a laptop looking device. Peach walked over and grabbed it, then opened it up. There was a screen and camera on top and a series of buttons on the bottom. She pocketed it and then looked at her spirit guardian. "That's it?" she asked. The horse nodded its head and Peach jumped back onto the horse, just as Emmy had entered the room and locked the door.