Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
BGM: Count Bleck's Plan (Super Paper Mario)
"And that is how the heroes have bested me." Dimentio said, completely leaving out the part that he just got back from utterly destroying Salem's logic. "Ahahaha, they're strong. Heck, I'm imagining that they might be the ones who will defy the Dark Prognosticus!"
Count Bleck let out a cocky chuckle. "Spare Count Bleck your theatrics. The Light Prognosticus is false. The Dark Prognosticus holds the answer to eliminating those who defy it."
"Oh ho~! I think that's the first time my ears have heard such words! Do tell!" Dimentio grinned.
"Bleh heh heh heh heh… in due time, Dimentio. In due time." Count Bleck then turned to Nastasia. "Nastasia, I believe it is time we have "them" take care of those pesky heroes."
"Right. I will let them know." Nastasia nodded as Count Bleck turned to face his minions.
"Return to your posts, my dear minions!"
"As you wish, count. Hail Bleck!" They said and then hopped down or teleported off of their platforms.
Suddenly Nastasia looked a little sad. "…Um… Count, do you have a minute…?"
"Yes? Does something trouble you, Nastasia?"
"Yeah, um… there's still time… you can always still change your mind…"
"That is enough, Nastasia. We've already come this far, so we shall forge on. However, you do not need to stay by Count Bleck's side. You can depart with my blessing."
"Mmmph! No… no of course not. I would never do that. My life is already sworn to you… it's been that way ever since you saved me… I'll be sticking it out with you until my game ends… kay?"
"If that pleases you…" Count Bleck said before disappearing along with the Dark Prognosticus.
It's not that I don't want to serve him… I just feel like this is too much. His heart aches for that girl that he was in love with… Nastasia thought. Count… would she actually want this? She wondered before she walked away, disappearing from view.
"My my my~! The Count and Nastasia sure have deep conversations when no one else is in the room!" A voice said as Dimentio reappeared. "Ah, just what is our dear count playing at, I wonder? Oh well, I'll let him worry about that. I must attend to my own… projects. And perhaps torment that lady some more if I want to~! Hmhmhmhm~!" Dimentio would then disappear. "If you can call her a lady, that is…"
End BGM
Back at Flipside…
BGM: Flipside (Super Paper Mario)
Everyone hopped out of the Warp Pipe, but Bowser found himself a little stuck getting out. "Um… guys? A little help here!" He said.
"I knew it was wise for His Nastiness to go last." Kamek said. "Let this be a lesson to you all. Never ignore your gut feeling!"
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Bowser yelled as Yang activated her ARMS and pulled Bowser out of the Return Pipe. "Ah, thank you." He said as the Return Pipe disappeared. "…Ya know, I'm curious about something, hot head."
"My ARMS?"
"Yeah, that! Since when could you do that? As far as I know, that only happens in Min Min and her friend's world." Bowser said.
"Bestovious."
"…Best who now?"
"Oh, don't worry about it." Yang waved him off after she deactivated her ARMs.
"Ah, friends! It's good to see you again." Merlon walked over to them. "Ah, I see that you gained more hero-" He spotted Weiss. "Goodness me, Weiss! You planning on going on a date later?"
"Um… no. I just haven't changed back to my original attire." Weiss explained.
"Ah, I was thinking you were planning on taking one of your friends out to dinner."
Weiss blushed. "N-No! Not like that!"
"Ah, it's alright, ice queen. We won't judge." Roman said with a chuckle.
"Oh, don't you start!"
Merlon let out a chuckle. "So, how did it go with the Pure Heart?"
"Well, it just… came out of me after I was kidnapped by some weirdo who was into a lot of anime." Tippi explained. "Said I'd look perfect next to his Hatsune Miku shrine… whatever that is."
"Goodness! It just came out of you?" Merlon asked.
"I wonder what that could mean…" Peach wondered.
"Hmm, it is possible that you were taken to a castle that was built by the ancient. They even hid a Pure Heart there, so the Light Prognosticus was written. It was said that through love and trust would the Pure Heart be given to the noblest of souls."
"So, Tippi gave us the Pure Heart because she trusts us?" Ruby asked. "Man, the Light Polymorph is veeeery… uh… what's another word for specific?"
"Precise?" Blake suggested.
"Distinct?" Weiss asked.
"Peculiar?" Mario blurted out.
"Concrete?" Gloria guessed.
"Special?" General Guy suggested.
"Clear Cut?" Kamek suggested.
"Unique!" Bowser said.
"Exact!" Hop grinned.
"Uh… one of those will do." Ruby said with a shrug. "I was trying not to do that "oddly specific" joke that we've done one too many times."
"Huh, didn't even notice we used that joke too much." Bowser chuckled.
"…Wait a minute, Light Polymorph?" Marnie raised an eyebrow. "After he just said Prognosticus?"
"Welcome to our world!" WBY, Mario, Peach, the Pixls, Gloria, Hop, Bede and even Merlon said.
"It's hard for me to say it and I don't know why…" Ruby pouted.
"While yes, the Prognosticus is precise… it also mentioned a peculiar passage that caught my attention. Something about monsters burning it to the ground… I'm not sure why it was written." Merlon said, as everyone turned to Bowser as he turned his head while whistling. "I'm guessing one of the ancients was bored, but in any case… Tippi has seemed to warm up to you, so that could be the reason why. But in any case, have fun locating the next Pure Heart before-"
Suddenly the ground started to shake as they noticed the void starting to grow again. "Oh… time is running short. Make haste!" Merlon said. "I must go back to my studies on the Prognosticus." He then walked away.
"Alright, let's-a go find this Heart Pillar!" Mario said as they started walking, though Weiss requested a wardrobe change as she walked into a ring portal by Hoopa as she wandered into it with a hum.
"Oh, Weiss! You look fabulous! Are you going on a date?"
"No, mom, it's… far more complicated than that."
"Oh? Oh, you're probably on an another adventure and it required you to look gorgeous on one occasion?"
"Yeah… let's go with that. I'll be a second."
"Aww, cute. Talking with her mother." Roman chuckled.
"At least she has one…" Ruby quietly said under her breath.
"Hmm? You say something, Red?"
"Oh! Nothing!"
"See you when I get home, mom! Love you!"
"Love you too, sweetie!"
Weiss walked out wearing her normal attire, plus her ponytail was back up. "Alright, much better!" She smiled and then turned to Peach once the portal closed. "How can you stand wearing high heels?"
"You get used to it." Peach giggled as they walked around while guided by Tippi as they would find some pedestals that had up and down arrows so they had to use Thudley for experimentation until eventually, the Heart Pillar popped up.
"Ah, there it is!" Ruby said as they approached it.
"Hmm… ya know, I just noticed the Swords aren't here right now." Bowser said.
"They left after the castle was destroyed, remember?" Marnie pointed out.
"Oh, right…" Bowser nodded, and when the next Heart Door appeared on the tower, they went back via the Return Pipe though Bowser was the first one ejected out of the pipe. "WAAAAAAH!"
"Nice use of the butter." Kamek told Steve who silently nodded while Bowser faceplanted.
"Ugh… can we not butter my bod next time?" Bowser groaned as they walked into the door.
Pause BGM
World 4-1 - Space Voyage!
Everyone walked out of the door and found themselves in the vacuum of space. "Oh wow! We're in space again!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Oh, it's so pretty." Yang said.
"My word, I never thought it could be so gorgeous!" Tippi said.
"Mmph…! C-Can't… breathe…!" Mario suddenly gasped for air as everyone was struggling besides the Pixls.
"Oh… uh… right, space doesn't have oxygen. Uh… um… crap… uh… this is a problem… um… well… I… oh what do I do, what do I do?!"
"Provide a barrier?" Barry asked.
"Combine their girth points?"
"Throw oxygen at them?" Thoreau asked.
"How do you throw oxygen at someone?" Slim asked.
"I dunno!"
"We can blow up the suffocating vacuum, that can help!"
"We could also carry them to a planet with oxygen!" Carrie said.
"Uh… wait! Ring portal!" Tippi exclaimed. "Hoopa! Ring portal! NOW!"
"Mmmph… mmmph…!" Hoopa gasped, opening up a ring portal back to Flipside as the Pixls would push everyone back into Flipside.
Resume BGM
Everyone gasped for air the moment they fell into the portal. "Holy moly, I never thought I'd take oxygen for granted!" Ruby exclaimed.
"You said it…" Yang said.
"Wait wait wait WAIT!" Weiss said. "We could breathe in space normally when we were launched to the moon! How was this any different? That doesn't make sense!"
"…Didn't Luigi have a "book of logic" or whatever?" Blake wondered.
"Book of logic? Who would be crazy enough to read through that?" Bowser wondered.
Pause BGM
Meanwhile, on the moon…
BGM: The Moon (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
"Oh? Space junk?" A certain cosmic woman approached the book. "Book of Logic…" She read with a raised eyebrow. "Huh, this might be an interesting read."
"Mama!" A Luma came flying over. "You're not gonna believe this! There's junk all over the moon!"
"Especially this random monitor!" Another said. "I think the scribblings on it said… TEC-XX?"
"Hmm, I wonder if we could use some of that material for the Observatory…" Rosalina wondered.
End BGM
Back at Flipside…
Resume Flipside BGM
"Well, in any case, we're focked." Gloria said. "Anyone got any bright ideas?"
"Maybe we can ask Merlon about it?" Ruby shrugged.
"…Wait! I just remembered something that'll help us." Mew said as she created bubbles out of her hand and squished them inside of everyone.
"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Gloria asked.
Mew sweatdropped. "I forgot I could use that."
"Yeah, you used it like… once, right? When Mewtwo wasn't exactly right in the head?" Diancie asked.
"Pretty much." Mew nodded as Gloria and Hoopa translated for them, then the two looked at each other.
"When could you-"
"Bestovius." Gloria responded.
"…That would explain why you can suddenly turn into a Human/Pokemon hybrid."
"Isn't that just called a Gjinka?" Marshadow wondered.
"Reverse Gjinka, probably… I never heard of humans turning into a Pokemon hybrid. Odd…" Hoopa shrugged as they went back into the door.
End BGM
BGM: Outer Space (Super Paper Mario)
World 4-1: Space Voyage! (Take 2)
"Aaah, that's much better." Yang said.
"Great, so… where's the Pure Heart?" Ruby asked.
"Well, considering we're in space… I say… it's somewhere light years away and we're nowhere even close." Hop said.
"Bloody hell… we're gonna be here a while." Gloria groaned.
"Hmm, anyone know of a space station we can borrow?" Mario wondered.
"Doubtful… unless we have a Power Star on our hands." Peach said.
"Welp, might as well start swimming. That Pure Heart isn't gonna save itself!" Bowser said as they started to swim around, but as they did, they heard an SOS that caught their attention as they went over to investigate, then Tippi scanned the area until a ship popped out of thin air.
"Is that supposed to be a ship?" Weiss wondered as they noticed a hatch opening up as they brought out their weapons when they saw a small alien hop out.
"Squeeeeerp!" The alien said. "Hello there! You looking for the Pure Heart?"
"Pure Hear-… how do you know that?" Tippi wondered. "How do you know us? Are you allied with Count Bleck? We just met you and… aaaagh! I demand answers."
"No! No scary faces, you can call me Squirps! I'm your captain now… your team leader! And if you want your Pure Heart, we gotta work together."
"Whoa, hold up now!" Ruby exclaimed. "I'm the team leader here! Team RWBY. Last I checked, it wasn't SRWBY." She said.
"Red, you are in the presence of two royal monarchs. I think we outrank you." Bowser said. "I'm the team leader of this ragtag group!"
"Oh, sure, I don't get a say in this?" Peach folded her arms in annoyance. "I don't think we outrank Ruby…"
"We all have our own teams… like I'm the leader of Team Galar!"
"So, what… in Remnant terms, it's… G-H-B-M?" Hop wondered.
"Obviously, it's G-B-H-M." Bede said.
"…You sure it's not G-M-B-H?" Marnie said.
"Why am I in the back?" Hop sweatdropped.
"Regardless of the team formation!" Ruby spoke up. "I don't think-"
"SQEEEOOONK! SILENCE!" Squirps yelled. "Squirps can't tell you much, but you must trust him! Therefore, Squirps is captain while all of you are space grunts!"
"GRUNT?!" Bowser yelled.
"…Oh no he didn't…" Roman rolled up his sleeves.
"…I've been demoted to grunt… I hate him already…" Ruby growled.
"Let me at 'em!" Gloria growled.
"You can't strip me of general like that!" General Guy yelled.
Neo, meanwhile, was ready to skewer him with her umbrella while giving him a nasty glare. "I don't like him." She signed.
"Squeh squeh squeh, glad to see Squirps put you in your place."
"Okay, aside from all of us being… grunts…" Peach rolled her eyes. "Maybe the… captain… can help us out with the Pure Heart."
"Squirps knew you would find reason! Now then, grab a hold of me and use my energy so we can squarp!"
"…What?" Weiss asked.
"Squarp! It's like warping, but Squirps invented it." He responded.
"This is gonna be a long journey, I can just tell…" Blake groaned.
"Now then, just use your energy and then Squirps will use the energy to make a Squarp Hole!" He said as Peach would do so and had Squirps fire out a shot that had transformed into a worm hole… or in this case, a squarp hole. "Excellent! Now let's go!" Squirps said. "Ooh-rah!"
"Ooo-rah…" Everyone chanted unenthusiastically as they went inside the Squarp Hole, unaware of a Pokemon following them inside the Squarp Hole.
"Huh?" Squirps wondered as they came out of the Squarp Hole. "We're nowhere near the Pure Heart… AAARGH! You good for nothing space grunt! Squirps was an idiot for thinking you had more!"
Good for nothing?! Mario and Bowser clenched their fists, ready to smack him senseless for calling Peach "good for nothing".
"Hey, I'm trying. I'm not used to using my energy to open up a worm hole!" Peach defended.
"Excuses, excuses! Guess we'll have to go the long way… but not to worry, I can help out by firing blasts at any enemy that we come in contact with, so not all hope is lost!"
"…Theoretically, I can call out Eternatus…" Gloria mumbled.
"Isn't he still sleeping?" Hop asked. "Won't do us much good."
"Ugh, fine time to take a nap…"
"Anyway, let's press-… wah! Who's that?!" Squirps yelled as they turned to see Deoxys who had just come out of the Squarp Hole.'
"Oh! Hey Deoxys! Wanted to come with, huh?" Yang asked as the Deoxys nodded. "Alrighty then!" She turned to Squirps. "Don't worry, he's friendly."
"Squirps is doubtful. He looks like he'll be merged with mushrooms and turn evil. Squirps doesn't trust him!"
"One time…" Deoxys said quietly as Hoopa and Marshadow patted him on the shoulders, then they floated through with them taking out Fotons, Jelliens and Warpids around space as even Deoxys would help out by firing a Hyper Beam on an army of Jelliens.
As they floated along, they would notice two orbs floating around in space. "Huh?" Ruby wondered.
"Space. Space. I love space! Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!"
"I don't even know how we got here…"
"…Didn't we see those guys when we were shot to the moon?" Blake asked.
"Honestly, it was such a blur, I didn't even notice." Weiss responded as they floated over to them.
"Hmm? Oh! Hello there!"
"Ack! Space police!"
"Why are you guys floating around out here?" Marnie asked.
"Long story…" The blue core muttered. "Anywho! Name's Wheatley, nice to meet you. This is my friend-"
"Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!"
"-Space core. We were thrown out here into space for… complicated reasons. Aheheheh…" Wheatley sweatdropped. "Listen, I was wondering if you could help me out. Perhaps you can help my friend explore space a little more? Help him broaden his horizons…"
"Oh sure, we can definitely do that!" Gloria said.
"Nothin' to it!" Hop said, taking the Space Core as they started to float away.
"Thank you!" Wheatley said. "…Ah… peace and quiet. Now if I can just find a way to get to Chell and apologize to her…"
"Space! Space! Spaaaaaaace! I love space. Space space space space space~! Aaaaall the spaaaaace!"
"Wow, definitely excited, isn't he?" Yang chuckled.
"I can see why! New scenery can be exciting." Ruby said.
"Not like there's much of anything out here." Bowser muttered.
Five minutes later…
"Space! Spaaaaaace~! All of us are space cowboys~!"
"Ha ha, yeah… that's real funny…" Bede said quietly.
Ten minutes later…
"Space space space~! Space space space~! Spaaaaaaaaaace~!"
"Okay, this is getting annoying…" Ruby said.
Fifteen minutes later…
"Space! Space! Space~! Spaaaaace~! Constellations in spaaaaace~! Space dancing~!"
"Can't he say anything else?!" Roman said in annoyance.
Twenty minutes later…
"Let's see, where oh where can I find my way home…" Wheatley wondered, and then right on cue, he saw a ring portal open up. "Hmm?" He wondered as the Space Core was pushed out.
"Weeee! Spaaaace!"
"ACK! NO NO NO NO! TAKE ME TAKE ME TAKE ME TAKE ME TAKE ME-" The ring portal closed. "Take… me… aaaah bollocks…"
"Spaaaaaace! Space space space~!"
"Welp…"
"Thank you!" Gloria said in annoyance. "If I heard him say "space" one more time, I was gonna explode…"
"I think we all were." Weiss said as they continued on.
"Oooh, Squirps sees a planet up ahead! Perfect, we're almost to our destination!" Squirps exclaimed as they went further along until they reached the planet.
World 4-2 - Bathroom Emergency
"Alright, we're here!" Squirps smiled as they landed on the planet's surface.
"What's so special about this place?" Blake asked.
"Ah, so glad you asked, space grunt! You see, Planet Blobule holds the entrance to a Space Byway, which is our next destination!"
"And where is this "space byway"?" Mario asked.
"Uh… Squirps forgot." He said, causing everyone to anime fall.
"How can you possibly forget that?!" Bede yelled.
"Hey, Squirps is trying! Cut Squirps some slack!" Squirps defended. "Now then, we should explore this place befo-" He started to pale a bit. "Oh no…" He groaned, starting to dance a little.
"What's with that dance?" Tippi wondered.
"Squirps… really needs to use the bathroom! Be right back!" He exclaimed and took off running.
"Ah… bathroom emergency. I can relate." Ruby said as they started walking until they found an outhouse on the planet where Squirps was bashing his head on the door.
"Occupied!"
"Ooooh! Hurry up in there!" Squirps yelled.
"Not unless I get toilet paper! I've been sitting here for a hundred years with no ply!"
"…So this is what we've come to. Toilet humor." Weiss groaned.
"A hundred years? …That's way too long." Bowser said. "What kind of newspaper is he reading?"
"How can someone… I don't even WANT to know how you can stay in the loo that long." Marnie sweatdropped.
"Aye… agreed…" Gloria nodded.
"Hang on, I got just the thing for ya!" Hoopa said, opening up a portal and looking inside. "Let's see, baseball, Strikers, Luigi's diary about Daisy… ah, here we are!" Hoopa pulled out some toilet paper and knocked on the door. "Hey, I got some paper for ya!" He said as the door opened as Hoopa threw it in.
"Oh glorious! Just what I needed!"
"HNNNNGH! HURRY UP!" Squirps yelled as a Pixl then opened up the door, causing Squirps to run inside and shut the door.
"Hello, pleased to meet you. Name's Fleep! I can open up rifts by flipping them, I can make enemies dizzy… all of that fun stuff~!"
"Oh, nice to meet you." Tippi said.
"…I say we ditch the kid." Bowser said.
"What?! Bowser!" Peach scolded.
"You heard what he said to you, right? He called you a good for nothing grunt." Bowser said. "He belittled everyone, demoted everyone, heck… even The Rose doesn't like him!"
"Kick me off as leader of Team RWBY… who does that…" Ruby grumbled.
"I dunno… it feels wrong…" Peach said.
"Let's put it to a vote then." Bowser said. "All in favor of ditching the brat, raise your hand!" He requested as nearly everyone raised their hands, except for Peach and Steve.
"WHAT?! Mario?!" Peach yelled in surprise.
"Sorry Peach… but the way he called you "good for nothing" rubbed me the wrong way." He explained.
"See? Even the plumber doesn't like him! …Steve, how come you're not raising your hand?"
Steve pulled out a sign and wrote something on it, then gave it to Bowser. "I say we stick with the kid just a little longer. He's helping us get to the Pure Heart. Plus, I don't think he's outright malicious."
"I have to agree with Steve." Peach said. "Sure, he can be a bit… rude, but he's not really meaning any harm. Plus, let's put it this way. Would you rather stick with the kid, or would you rather listen to that core spouting "space" a hundred times a minute?"
"…Ya know, when you put it that way…" Kamek mused.
"Mmm, come ta think of it, the lad isn't that annoying…" Gloria folded her arms. "Mmmph…"
"Guys, I'm like second best out of Team RWBY now! I'm like Weiss! …No offense." Ruby said.
"…Oh, I was second best? …Wait, does that mean Yang is fourth best? As in, not the best teammate ever?"
Ruby paled. "Crap, that's not what I meant! Aaagh… I didn't realize how poorly worded that was! I meant to say all of us are good equally!"
"Someone's frustrated…" Yang said.
"Easy there…" Blake put her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "We know you didn't mean it… just take a deep breath. We can get through this. We just have to put up with him a little longer."
"I know…" Ruby sighed.
Just then, Squirps walked out of the outhouse. "Aaaah, much better! Why is the red space grunt looking sad?"
"Oh… don't worry about it." Ruby quietly said.
"Alrighty then! Let's go!" Squirps said as they walked around the planet where they would come across a locked door. "Squack! Locked?!"
"Not for long!" Bowser said, tearing the lock off with his hands and throwing it across the planet, where it would smack into some unsuspecting Fuzzies that KO'd them.
"Coooool~!" Squirps' eyes sparkled. "From now on, you are second captain!" He said and then walked into the door.
"Second captain, eh? I can live with that." Bowser smirked and walked through.
"Oh sure, he gets a promotion…" Ruby grumbled under her breath as they walked through where they discovered Fuzzies hopping around underneath a tree.
"Fuzzies… in space?!" Weiss said in surprise. "HOW?!"
"I'm willing to bet they met a Bewear or something." Hop said.
"Meeeeeyoooooork!" A Fuzzy cried before getting roasted alive by Bowser as they would make their way to the edge of the planet.
"Ah, here it is! The Space Byway!" Squirps exclaimed. "We're almost to the Pure Heart!" He said as they started floating away from the planet, all of them wondering how much longer they'd have to deal with Squirps.
Ah, Chapter 4... my least favorite world in Super Paper Mario. Easy to get lost in, Squirps is... Squirps... honestly, the only good thing about Chapter 4 is The Whoa Zone.
Also, I just realized I didn't do a Portal joke in Galaxy... whoops.