The noose's shadow stretched far towards the wall with the crawling journey of the sun. The gallows of the plaza remained isolated despite being surrounded by bustling mobs. Rogueport was synonymous with being wicked. Not the same level as evil conjured by the mention of the Dark Lands, but a more tolerable form of maliciousness. Many people who made their home in this seaside town were rarely welcomed to the Mushroom Kingdom with open arms. The legends of the town's founding only added to the atmosphere, the tales of four heroes battling against the Shadow Queen herself. Of course, these legends were proven true with time when Mario and Princess Peach interfered. Yet in the aftermath of the chaos, the town did not just survive, it thrived.
Mario seldom liked visiting, having found the residential crime families a bit difficult to understand at the best of times. It was no wonder Peach barely interfered with this city despite being part of her kingdom; Rogueport seemed to be a place that was content with governing itself. However he couldn't exactly argue when two large Piantas showed up on his doorstep that morning, dressed in the dark suits, grass skirts and shades synonymous with the Pianta Syndicate. He only had a few moments to gather his toolbox and head back to Rogueport in the company of these gangsters. The only instruction he had gotten was that the 'Don' had an extremely important job for him. He had been enjoying the peacefulness in the wake of the incident on Star Road. Now it seemed his few weeks of relaxation was over.
The Piantas led him past the gallows, to the west side of town. The front of their operation was a rather quaint item shop named Westside Goods. As usual the shop was filled with quality produce sold at a higher price compared to Toad Bros. Bazaar. Peeka, the Boo shopkeep who had a habit of wearing rabbit ears, gave Mario a wink as he was taken through the shop. The two goons only left his side after closing him into a posh office hidden at the back of the shop. Mario trembled for a moment; the chair had its back to the door, the fan slowly span overhead casting shadows on the floor. He let out a sigh of relief once the chair turned to reveal a female Pianta with yellow skin and pink flower on her head. She was wearing a trendy silk dress over her grass skirt.
Mario smiled "Francesca, long time no see. How was the honeymoon?"
"Magical, absolutely magical. Frankie and I had such a great time at Delfino Isle." Francesca tittered "By the way, when are you and that princess going to get engaged? I saw the way you two looked at each other at our wedding."
"Oh… the princess… ah… well…" Mario felt himself blushing at the thought of Peach "I'm afraid it's a little complicated for us."
"How so?" Francesca reassured "You do recall how I was going elope with Frankie because I was terrified of my Dad's reaction to the union?"
"I guess being part of the Pianta Syndicate complicates things too. Well… if me and the princess were to get married… we'd be a king and queen… and well…" Mario nervously admitted "Neither of us are ready for that severity and responsibility, and there's no way I'd ever ask Peach to stop being a princess and renounce her throne… it's just…" He almost trembled a little "If we became a king and queen we wouldn't have as much freedom to do what we want and to just be us…"
"No wonder, but maybe you two can work out something different to show your affection." Francesca kindly smiled "It's alright, I didn't mean to embarrass you, I just hope that you remember to do so at some point." She then shuffled some papers on the desk "Anyway, let's get to business. I called you down here because we have a problem with one of the warp pipes in town. Frankie is already down there to keep an eye on it."
"Alright, easy enough to fix. Where does the warp pipe lead?"
"The Malevolent Mires, but we need to seal it off due to their renovations. We'll probably need to call you out again to help establish the connection when they're all set up. Don't worry, I'll make sure you're compensated for your work."
Mario almost felt like cursing, they never had to brave the perils of the Thwomp Ruins to get to the Arcane Kingdom or Rhapsody. They could've just warped there from Rogueport. However, he reminded himself that he was in the company of a woman who had been born into the gangster life. Despite being the wife of a Don, she seemed to be more in command than her husband. Mario just held his tongue, not wanting to be on her wrong side and politely excused himself to tend to the repair. Again the Pianta goons were waiting for him and once again, Mario was led through Rogueport like a prisoner of the Pianta Syndicate.
Eventually he was led down a series of darkened alleyways. The walls blurred into similarities and Mario could barely see the sky between the tall buildings. Perhaps he was underground at some point? He couldn't tell as he kept walking with the Pianta goons who seemed to know where they needed to be. Like everything hidden by thieves, if you're to find it, you have to be shown. Although Mario doubted he could find his way back. When he arrived at a space among the buildings, he could see a warp pipe and immediately that there was something wrong with it. A foul, iridescent sludge was bubbling from it and there was a distinct crack in the side. A blue Pianta in the same suit, shades and grass skirt was nearby.
"Hey Frankie." Mario waved as he set his toolbox down "Francesca already told me I'm here to seal it off."
Frankie smirked then replied "Then do what you got to do, whatever my love wants, she gets."
"Alright, I'll have to go in there a few times to work out the extent of the pipe." Mario got the nod from Frankie to proceed. He then climbed into the warp pipe, finding it extremely large for a pipe then was caught off guard as the warp mechanisms kicked in.
Mario found himself flying at faster speeds than usual, someone had rigged this pipe to almost operate at unsafe levels. Blue and white light streamed past him in ribbons, collecting at rings lining the framework of the pipe. The pipe was already cracked in some places, allowing him to steal glimpses of other realms. He could've sworn he passed the Underwhere and the Overthere while moving through. Finally he could see a light ahead of him as he was tossed wildly out the other side of the warp.
He landed in clay and mud with a heavy squelch. Mario slowly rose to his feet, careful not to fall again and face plant it in the muck. The scene took a moment to adjust to; he could see the mountain range, the flying banners of Thwomp Ruins on its peaks. The Malevolent Mires and Arcane Kingdom were gone. The mires had almost been ripped from the land itself and judging by the large tracks in the earth it had drifted off to sea. The seawater pooled in the large gash in the land almost like something had scooped the entire ecosystem out. The Arcane Kingdom was equally in ruins, with no one to cast its enchantments; it had melted into sludgy water that drowned the shoreline to return to the sea. It had only been a week or so since returning from Star Road. Mario couldn't rationalise how entire kingdoms could disappear so quickly. Nevertheless, he recalled the task at hand. He knew not to keep the Pianta Syndicate waiting as he set to work.
By night, Mario finally trudged home covered in mud and soaked to the bone. His home was a little way from the Toad Town near Peach's Castle. A little more secluded with a small garden he could tend to when he wasn't busy. He could see the lights were on when he wandered up the garden path so he assumed Luigi was back from Sarasaland and suspected that Daisy was at the castle with Peach. A quick series of phone calls among princesses allowed them to work out where everyone had been warped by Eldstar. When Mario opened the door he found Luigi asleep on the couch with a book over his head, the mysterious ghost dog, Polterpup, was curled up by his side. The mysterious ghost had decided to visit their home every so often ever since Luigi had wandered into that mansion to save Mario. Now it just felt like a pet, Polterpup even had its own water and food bowls in the kitchen and a bed in Luigi's room.
Polterpup stirred then looked up with blank eyes at Mario, he quietly said "Nice doggie, don't wake him. I'll just clean myself up." Satisfied, Polterpup laid back down while Mario went to the bathroom to clean all the muck off his tired body. He could tell the others what he saw on the other side of the world tomorrow.
"Gone!?" Peach was utterly shocked by the news Mario had relayed. It was around midday by the time Mario and Luigi had shown up at the palace to help construction. Yet Mario had insisted on speaking to her, Daisy and Luigi in the throne room.
"Bro, really?" Luigi was already quaking "Like it was never there? Was everyone just ghosts!?"
"Surely not, it all seemed and felt too real…"
Mario stood firm on what he saw "I don't know how they did it, but they did. The entire Malevolent Mires is gone and the Arcane Kingdom has melted back into the sea."
"Oh dear… what do you think happened to all those people who lived there?"
"I don't know, I only found out when the Pianta Syndicate wanted me to seal a warp in Roguetown. They didn't seem overly worried though."
"We have to do something… don't we?"
"Like what?" Daisy spoke up with a casual shrug "What could we possibly do?"
Peach stammered "Well… I… maybe if we found them again."
"But you're forgetting that town operated fine without us, maybe it's just doing so again. People don't always want help, they see it as interfering. You have to wait for them to approach you."
"I suppose so."
"I know you want to help, Peach, but sometimes it's best to leave it alone. That's something I had to learn to keep the peace in Sarasaland. You can't meddle with everything."
"PRINCESS!" Toad screeched as he scuttled into the room near sobbing. Before he could explain he was cut off by the throne room door bashing open again. Bowser stormed into the room with minions, his son and the Koopalings in tow.
Toad breathlessly whimpered "Airship! Bow-"
"I think she gets it." A Goomba remarked as he stood beside Toad.
"Bowser? Look, now is good time for any adventures." Peach tried to remain diplomatic as she forced her politeness "My castle and kingdom are still in ruins an-"
"I know." Bowser had lifted a talon to silence her "That's why we're all here."
Peach blinked "Pardon?"
"We're here to help you out. I bought my minions and supplies on the airships. We'll even redecorate the place, I always thought this castle could use more spikes and lava."
"No thankyou, just restore it to how it was please."
"Fine, we'll stick to the boring niceness of it all." Bowser roared to his minions and family "Alright! GET TO WORK!"
After moments of utter chaos in the throne room, eventually everyone filtered out leaving just Peach, Mario, Luigi, Daisy and Bowser alone.
Mario saw a silver lining "With this many people helping everything will be fixed in no time!"
"As long as there are no sinister ulterior motives." Daisy glared at Bowser with her arms crossed over her chest.
"What? Would I do such a thing? That's low… you hurt my feelings." Bowser pouted, then laughed it off "Fine, no, I'm not up to anything weird today."
Luigi stopped laughing when he realised the backhanded remark "Today!?"
"Just," Peach took a deep breath "Thankyou… thankyou everyone."