"Commander, I need your help!" Bowser proclaimed while sitting on his throne. Two Lakitus, heavily sweating, were carrying a large monitor while hovering on their clouds. They had needed 30 meters of extension cord so Bowser was able to hold his conversation with Gendo in his throne room.

Gendo narrowed his eyes while his head was resting on his folded hands. "Why should I send you any help, Bowser?" he finally asked.

"Wh-wh-what? Did you know that coward Weavel abandoned my factory? Wario and Ashley lost against those pesky Mario Brothers and their allies, and my son just told me there was an intruder in my castle who stole many of my trophies. On top of that, the two hedgehogs I captured seem to have escaped Kraid's pit..."

"Your trophies?" Gendo asked. "If I may remind you, these trophies have been given to you so you can store them. They are the property of the Subspace Council. My agent simply brought them to... a safer place."

"Wait a minute... that crazy psycho chick that beat up my son was sent here by YOU?" Bowser gasped.

"You heard me, King of the Koopas! Your castle is not safe anymore. Our enemies know about the trophies and will come soon to save them. We relocated our most important captives, so not everything will have been in vain."

"W-wait a second," Bowser stuttered. "You can't just leave me hanging... who knows what they are gonna do to me after they come here? The Marios will most probably leave me in one piece, but what about that space hunter I heard is traveling with them? I also heard they have a vicious monster fighting on their side, with an appetite that is even bigger than that of a Yoshi... you can't just leave me hanging!"

"Tell me one good reason why I should leave you in our services?" Gendo asked coldly.

"Please..." Bowser did something that he rarely did before. In front of the eyes of his surprised servants, he went down to his knees and raised his scaly paws in a pleading gesture. "I'll do anything! I heard about that race... you want me to win it? My Koopa Kar is the fastest vehicle of the Mushroom World, and I..."

"I already have several racers partaking in this race," Gendo explained. "Most of them with vehicles that make your little jalopy look like a soap box."

"I... I can tell my men to install traps that throw all the other racers off course, except for yours, of course! Thwomps, Bullet Bills, lava pits... just give the word and they'll get to work!"

"I admit it, the architecture of your castle was always intriguing..." Gendo muttered. "And your troops have proven to be effective cannon fodder..."

The Koopas that were present went as white as a bedsheet when they heard that.

"All right, you have convinced me... prepare your most competent troops for transfer. And before you go through yourself, set the transdimensional drive on self-destruct... we don't want to leave any trace behind that might lead them into our main stronghold!"

"But... but that would destroy my beautiful castle..." Bowser protested.

"I have more than enough tools and material you can use to build a new one on Venom... now get going, or I'll leave you behind on your silly excuse for a planet after all!"

Bowser sweatdropped and quickly nodded.

The screen went dark, and everyone in the room, Bowser included, sighed deeply.

"What are you waiting for?" Bowser barked. "You heard the Commander! Prepare the troops for evacuation. I want all our important supplies, weapons and tools to be taken along, as much as we can carry with us while using the transdimensional drive. Get going!"

And while the Koopas ran to carry out their king's order, and the Lakitus carried the huge screen back to where it belonged, Bowser looked down at his youngest son, who was standing next to his throne, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Go inform your siblings, Junior... we're gonna move somewhere else!"

"B-but Papa... what about Princess Peach? I thought you wanted to make her my new Mama..."

"We have bigger problems now," Bowser roared. "We can always come back when our dark masters have conquered the universe, and I will be the ruler of the Mushroom World! Now go and tell your brothers and sister!"

"Yes, Papa!"


Queen Elincia sighed and leaned back in her chair after the last guest had left. It had been a nice party, but also tiresome. And she couldn't stop thinking of what was going to happen the next day... she was going to meet with a real goddess...

She saw how Asuka, Link, Midna, Maya and her Pokémon walked up to her.

Asuka smiled, while Link gave Elincia a respectful bow.

"It was a nice little party..." Asuka said. "And even though I was terrified at first, I actually had fun. And the food was absolutely delicious..."

"Piiiiikaaaaaa..." 'Yeeessshhhh... an' da booze wash the best...' a certain, yellow-furred rodent babbled. The only reason why Misato was still standing upright was that Ritsuko and Kaworu were holding her with their arms and vines, respectively.

Ritsuko frowned at her friend. "Squirtle squirtle!" 'I'll never take you to any parties anymore...'

"Is there... something wrong with your yellow, little friend?" Elincia wondered.

Maya grimaced. "Well, yeah, it turned out that Pikachus have a much lower alcohol tolerance than humans..."

"Isn't she like this every time she has drunk?" Asuka muttered.

"Anyways, we wanted to thank you for this enjoyable feast, princess!" Link said. "It was an honor to be here, and like Princess Asuka said, we enjoyed ourselves."

"I never knew you were such a great dancer, Link..." Midna purred, a sultry look on her face.

Link blushed. "Midna, please... not in front of the princesses."

"Hey, I'm a princess as well, you know?"

Asuka frowned. 'At least wait until you're in your room with him, you floozy...' she mentally grumbled.

"I'm glad you liked it," Elincia said in a tired voice.

"Elincia, are you okay?" Asuka asked. "You sound beat..."

"Well, I just need some sleep, I guess... today was really a long day. As for you, my maids have prepared your rooms. I am sure you will sleep well tonight. And tomorrow, we can..."

She stopped herself. Tomorrow, she would have her own meeting... with the Goddess Palutena.

"Um, I meant to say, Lucia and Geoffrey can show you around the castle tomorrow. Please stay my guests for one more day... I have an important appointment, so I'm afraid I can't join you for that day... but in the evening, we can talk about everything that is important. I wish you a good night."

"Good night!" everyone said.

When they turned around to leave, Kaworu and Ritsuko had to drag Misato with them.

"Piiii... chuuu..." 'Heeeyyyyy, I have a great idea... how about we go into the kitchen and see if there are some bottles of wine left...' Misato mumbled.

"Squirtle..." 'That's it! NO alcohol for you until we're back home!' Ritsuko commanded.

"Pikaaaaa..." 'Awww, you're no fun...'

Maya sighed. Back home? The question was, did Ritsuko mean the Pokémon World... or Tokyo-3, back on their real home world?

When she saw how Link and Midna parted from the group to go to their own chamber, Maya approached Asuka. She winced when she nearly tripped over her dress. She would be glad to take it off once she was in her room. But first, she had to ask Asuka something.

"Asuka..." she said. "Can I ask you something?"

The red-haired princess turned around in surprise. She had never talked with Maya much, not even after they had become prisoners on this strange new world. "Um... sure, what's up?"

Maya fiddled with her thumbs and looked down at her feet. Finally, she asked: "Asuka... in case we won't be able to return back to Kanto... could we stay with you? In your new kingdom?"

"You want to come with me to Hyrule?" Asuka asked in surprise. To be honest, she hadn't thought about what would happen after tomorrow, not once during the entire day. They obviously were stuck on this world until Mew would inform them that Palkia wasn't as disgruntled with them anymore...

"Well... Elincia said that she will always have enough ships ready that can bring Link and Midna back to Hyrule... and as the princess, I guess I will come with them... as for you, sure, why not? I mean, the people in Hyrule will probably be surprised when they see Misato and the others, but... to tell the truth, they are not the most curious creatures that live over there, you know?"

"Thanks, Asuka!" Maya said with a smile. "I've really been worried that I might be forced to stay here, in a land where nobody knows me... you know, back on Kanto, I had at least a purpose... but what am I here? Just a little girl with a few colorful pets..."

"Hey, I'm sure we'll be able to return home pretty soon," Asuka said.

"Yes, maybe..." Maya murmured. "But how soon is that?"

Asuka didn't have an answer for that. With another sigh, Maya followed her Pokémon into their room.

Asuka's room was the next door, but before she could go in, she saw a diminutive swordsman with a mask that covered almost his whole body approaching her.

She frowned. She knew this mysterious knight had arrived here with Ike... but what did he want from her?

"We did not get the chance to talk to each other," he said in a deep voice. She couldn't quite place his accent. "I am Meta Knight... you might have heard my name from our mutual acquaintance, Sir Ike."

"Yes, I have... but is there a reason why you are coming to me, this late in the evening? I am very tired, you know?" It was the truth, Asuka was so tired that she barely was able to keep her eyes open. For that reason, she didn't even care about etiquette right now.

"It won't take long," Meta Knight said. "I have heard that you know a boy named Shinji... is that true?"

Asuka almost forgot her tiredness. "How do you know?" she wondered.

"Because I met him..." Meta Knight explained. "I met him and trained him. He is a courageous boy, and he mentioned you several times, I believe... is it true that you were... colleagues, before he turned into an almost exact copy of Kirby?"

"Well, you could say that," Asuka muttered. Now that she was reminded of Shinji, all of a sudden, she suddenly realized that she missed him... even if he was a wimp and a jerk!

"I've seen him shortly..." Asuka said. "Just before we were brought here to Tellius... but we barely had any time to talk, since many bad guys showed up almost instantly..."

"Did he fight with honor?" Meta Knight asked with interest.

"Well, he certainly fought with appetite..." Asuka grumbled when she recalled how Shinji had inhaled his enemies during the battle on the Battlefield.

The masked knight chuckled. "Yes, that sounds like him... he is so different from our own hero, Kirby, and yet so similar... and not just in appearance. I beg your pardon, but I just wanted to meet the girl he told me about. I hope the best for your future, my lady... maybe some day, there will be the chance for you and the boy to be together again."

"Wh-what gave you the idea I'd miss that baka?" Asuka blushed.

Meta Knight smirked behind his mask. "I wish you a good night, princess..." He opened the window and hopped onto the windowsill, where he unfolded his wings.

"Aren't you sleeping in the castle?" Asuka asked in surprise.

But the caped Dream Lander shook his head. "My home is the Halberd, and will always be. My ship and my crew are waiting for me, and I don't want to keep them waiting." And with these words, he spread his wings and flew off, into the dark night.

Asuka smirked. "Such an odd fellow... but certainly more polite than Shinji. Well, maybe that was one of the things he taught him..."

She went into her room and closed the door. Her mother's robot body was standing next to her bed. Her eyes were completely dim, and just a tiny, green light blinked next to the panel 'Standby Mode'.

Asuka smiled. "G'night, Mom..." she murmured before taking off her dress and putting on the nightgown. Then she climbed into her bed and fell asleep almost instantly.


In the middle of the night, Asuka awoke to a whirring noise. She blinked and looked sidewards, only to see her mother looking at her.

"Asuka-chan..." she whispered. "There's something on the balcony..."

Asuka looked through the glass panels of the door that was leading outside to the balcony. And her mother was right, she could see the silhouettes of several persons standing there.

"Stay back, Mom..." she grumbled and summoned her Sheikah battle suit. She jumped out of her bed. "If those are burglars, they have chosen the wrong princess to steal from..."

She was quite surprised when the balcony door opened a bit, and a pink head looked inside.

"Hello again, Asuka!" Mew smiled.

Asuka groaned. "Mew, do you have to sneak up on me in the middle of the night? You gave us quite the scare! And I'm so tired..."

"I'm sorry. But we need to talk." The Pokémon looked at the robot. "Good evening, Kyoko! Nice to see you again!"

"Is there a special reason for your visit?" Kyoko asked.

"Actually, there is... Asuka, I brought some visitors... first, my colleague and friend, Navi..."

A blue ball of light, which turned out to be a cute fairy, came flitting into the room. "Greetings! I am the guardian fairy of Shinji Ikari!"

"You are? Then why are you here?" Asuka asked.

"Asuka!" her mother chided. "Don't be so rude!"

"No, she is right," Navi smiled. "I am really just here because Mew and I have some important things to talk about..."

"As for my next guest, he is a very close friend, the prince of the sea, Manaphy..."

"Hello!" the cute, blue Pokémon smiled as he floated in. "Nice to meet you! I am the guardian of Rei Ayanami... no, it's Rei Ikari now, isn't it?"

"Can you finally tell me what's going on?" Asuka snapped, losing her temper.

"Yes, she is as impatient as Rei said," Manaphy giggled. "Very well, then I will present to you our other guests..." And together with Mew, he opened the door leading to the balcony wide.

Asuka's eyes widened when she saw the pink puffball, the blue-furred fox-girl and a woman she did not quite recognize.

"Shinji... wondergirl..." she muttered.

"Hey, Asuka!" Shinji smiled and waved. "Didn't expect us, did you?"

"Good evening, Pilot Soryu," Rei said with the hint of a smirk.

Yui, however, looked at the spherical robot standing next to Asuka's bed.

"Kyoko...?" she muttered. "Is that really you?"

"YUI!" Kyoko gasped. "You... I heard you'd be saved as well, but... oh, it's GREAT to see you! But what are you doing here?"

"We're just here for a very short visit," Shinji explained. "Navi said we couldn't stay for long... but we just have to tell you about what's going on."

"We have received important informations from a foe we have fought," Rei said. "He is working for the same people that have caused trouble on this world as well, if what Navi told us is true."

"The Subspace Council..." Asuka murmured. Then she gasped. "Mein gott, I totally forgot! Shinji! Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki... believe it or not, he was fighting on their side! And your father..."

"I know..." Shinji sighed. "He is one of their commanders, it's true... But that is one of the reasons why we are here."

"Care to elaborate on that?" Kyoko asked.

"Certainly," Manaphy smiled. "You see, these three children, Shinji, Asuka and Rei, are the children of destiny on your home world. And with their help, we might just be able to stop the Subspace Council to acquire too much power."

"And one important step includes making sure that they don't get any more Artifacts of Destiny," Mew added. "We have told you all about them by now... and a couple of them are now safe, thanks to you and your new friends from the different worlds you have visited."

"Get to the point and tell us what it is you want from us already!" Asuka grumbled.

Shinji chuckled. "They... want us to win a race, Asuka!"

Asuka blinked.

"What?"