Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.

"So… let me get this straight." Grodus said. "You attempt to blow up the Boggly Tree, you failed to do so and failed to snag the Crystal Star, on top of that, one of the Shadow Sirens betrayed us and is currently getting cozy with the heroes, and THEN you decide to blow up the tree with a spare detonator?"

"That's pretty much how it went, yes." Crump nodded.

"So basically, you pretty much blew up the Crystal Stars."

Crump started sweating. "Now now… uh… I'm preeeetty sure those things are indestructable."

"That may be true, but consider this: What if they weren't?"

"Um…" Crump started sweating even more. "Well, I uh…"

"Crump, you are both brilliant and completely idiotic at the same time." Grodus said. "It's one thing to slow down the heroes with a fight, it's another to explode them all willy nilly with the artifacts they possess."

"Uh… right… I'm just gonna go… rebuild Magnus." Crump said and took off running.

"Thunderbolt, a word." Grodus requested.

"Yes, Master Grodus?"

"Knowing how Grodus will be focusing on rebuilding his mech, I want you to go to Rogueport and follow the heroes to their next destination. Do not be seen unless it is absolutely necessary. When they get the next Crystal Star, strike. Do you understand?"

Thunderbolt saluted. "I will not let you down, master."

Meanwhile, down below…

BGM: Peach's Theme (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

Peach lay on the bed, sighing. "Something wrong?" Kairi asked, lying down on the floor with her hands behind her head.

"Oh, you know… just bored." Peach said. "Oh, of all the times to get kidnapped, it had to be around the time of the Mushroom Ball…"

"Mushroom Ball?"

Peach smiled. "Yeah! We hold a great festival and then we have a wonderful dance in the ballroom of my castle." She sighed heavenly. "Mario and I would dance together… just the two of us… just the thought of it gets me so excited…"

"…Ahem. Peach?" Kairi would wave her hand in front of her and snapped her fingers a few times.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I got lost in my train of thought…" Peach giggled. "Do you do dances with Sora?"

"I don't think we've ever had a dance together."

Peach let out a gasp. "Oh my… that needs to change! Perhaps we can set up the Mushroom Ball when we're freed and we can see you and Sora dancing the night away."

Kairi blushed. "O-oh… thanks, I guess…" She said, and then right on cue, the door opened up. "Hmm?"

"I guess TEC wants to talk to us again." Peach guessed as they walked to TEC's room.

End BGM

"Hello, you two." TEC greeted.

"So, what do you want to talk about? Feeling a bit lonely?" Kairi asked.

"Well no, I just couldn't help but overhear Princess Peach talking about a dance."

"Whoa! EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUSE ME? That was a private conversation!" Peach exclaimed.

"I know, but I have been ordered to monitor you."

"…Wait, when you say monitor… you don't mean you… watch us take a shower?"

"…I have standards, you know."

Peach and Kairi breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, good…" Kairi said.

"However, I am curious how you dance. Can you show me how?"

"What dancing do you want? Breakdancing?" Kairi asked.

"No. A more… formal dance, if you will. Princess Peach, Kairi… may I have this dance with you?"

"Oh, TEC… I'm flattered, but um… there's just one problem."

"You're a computer! You don't even have a body." Kairi pointed out.

"That is correct, which is why… you two will dance with each other."

"HUH?!" Kairi started blushing. "Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up now! I like Peach, but I don't like her that much! Sure, she's pretty but I don't think-"

"I'll do it!"

"Wha?!" Kairi was blushing even more.

Peach smiled sweetly at Kairi. "It'll be fine. Besides, I do it with Daisy and Rosalina all the time just so we don't get rusty during a formal dance! Don't be so shy, I won't bite~"

"Um… i-if you say so…" Kairi said as Peach grabbed her hands and brought Kairi close to her, like really close, which added more blushing to Kairi's face. Wow, was she always this pretty up close? …Those eyes…

"And now, we dance."

BGM: TEC's Waltz (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

Peach pulled Kairi, happily dancing with her while Kairi was as stiff as she could be. "Shhh, just relax…" Peach smiled as Kairi, still blushing, slowly started to loosen up as Peach would twirl her around, and waited for Kairi to do the same as Kairi would twirl Peach around.

"Interesting…" TEC quietly mused. "So this is a dance up close…" He said, watching Kairi annd Peach move around flawlessly while twirling around while Peach brought Kairi back close to her, the latter still blushing while Peach was silently giggling, though the former was forming a small smile.

End BGM

Once the dance ended, Peach would happily hug Kairi. "Thank you!" She whispered as Kairi smiled and hugged her back.

"That was honestly rather fun." TEC said. "…Wait a minute, fun?"

"Something wrong?" Peach asked.

"…This does not compute. I do not know how to have fun… and yet…"

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked.

"It's nothing, I'm fine. Let's just have you talk with your friends."

"Oookay." Kairi said, pulling out her Gummi Phone and inserted it into TEC. "Okay, it's inside you."

"Excellent. I will now make the call."

Meanwhile… with Bowser's crew…

BGM: Bowser's Theme (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

The Koopa Clown Car landed on the ground as Bowser hopped off. "Bwahahaha! Alright, let's get down to business! We find those Crystal Stars and beat up Mario while we're at it!"

"Lord Bowser, sir!" Paraplonk spoke up. "There is a castle not too far from here! It looks like it holds valuable treasure!"

"A castle, huh? Hmph! Well, let's go pay that a visit." He said. "Junior, you, the Elite Trio and the Koopa Bros are to go further along and see what you can find. The rest of us will go to that castle."

"You got it, papa!" Junior saluted as they took off running.

"Heh, you think the castle will be loaded with treasure?" Xigbar asked.

"Dang straight I do."

"Heh, if you say so." He smirked as they walked to Hooktail Castle, and once they did, they would immediately see the bridge was out.

"Careful! The bridge is out." General Guy said.

"…Bah! What kind of castle is this?" Bowser wondered, staring at the castle in front of him.

"This looks… interesting." Kammy mused.

"It's tacky, that's what it is! My castle is FAR superior than this!" He said, jumping across the gap and pulling his fist back as he punched hard enough for the doors to get punched off its hinges. "Let's go."

"Well, that's one way to open a door…" Kamek sweatdropped as they walked through.

End BGM

With Junior and Co…

BGM: Petalburg (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

"Wow, this place is lively!" Goomp said.

"Indeed. Looks pretty nice and cozy." Sergeant Guy said as they walked through, with the Koopa Bros spotting General White.

"Who's that?" Green asked.

"Beats me." Black shrugged.

"Probably an asshole that likes to waste people's time." Red said as the other three stared at him. "…What, like you don't have any other ideas?"

"I mean, you're probably not wrong." Yellow shrugged.

"Hold up!" Paraplonk exclaimed. "Princess Peach spotted at 2 o'clock!" He said, pointing to Peach on a wall.

"…That's a poster." Junior said as he walked off.

"Oh come off it, Lord Junior!" Goomp jumped over. "If this is a poster, then why does she feel so life-" He touched it. "-Like… oh, she feels… papery."

"It's a poster! Let's go!" Junior said and walked off.

"Riiiiight… my bad!" Goomp jumped after him.

"Better him than me." Sergeant Guy mumbled.

End BGM

Back with Bowser…

BGM: Hooktail Castle (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

Bowser pried open the cell bars and walked through, where they discovered an already-open black chest. "Bah! Someone already beat us to that!"

"Definitely looks a bit sinister." Kamek mused.

"I wonder if there's anything in the other room?" General Guy wondered as they approached the door and walked in, where they would see a lone treasure chest in the middle of the room.

"Score!" Bowser smirked and walked toward it.

"Hmm…" Xigbar would look around, seeing the various holes on the floor and then he looked up. "Heh, looks like it's not gonna be as easy as we think."

"What makes you say that?" Kammy asked.

"…Uh, look up!" Kamek said as they did so, where they would see spikes on the ceiling.

"Oh my!" Kammy exclaimed.

"Wait a moment… LORD BOWSER, STOP!" General Guy yelled right as Bowser opened up the chest.

"What? Just a key?" Bowser wondered… and then the spikes rose up from the ground. "What?!"

"Crap! What do we do now?!" Kamek exclaimed as Bowser would notice a crack in the wall.

"Over here!" He said as he ran toward it and punched it hard enough to cause it to break open as everyone walked inside right as the ceiling slammed into the ground.

"That went well." Kammy snarked.

"…Wait a moment, we're smarter than this! Usually WE make the traps!" Bowser snarled. "That's it, I'm going toe to toe with whoever made this!" He said as the ceiling rose up.

"Well, guess the architecht was kind enough to make it retract." Xigbar said.

"Shut it!" Bowser said and walked through the hole right when General Guy opened up a treasure chest and pulled out an arrow that was pointing up.

"Geez, just about anything can be stored in these things." General Guy said, tossing the Up arrow behind him and walked after them.

End BGM

Junior and Co…

BGM: Shhwonk Fortress (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

"Eugh! Sewer water…" Junior complained.

"I don't like this…" Red said. "Everyone, form up around Lord Junior. Make sure nothing comes his way!"

"I can take care of myself, ya know!"

"…Wait, does anyone hear that?" Sergeant Guy wondered.

"Eeeeyork! Meeeeyork!"

"…Permission to scream like a little girl?" Black asked.

"Permission denied!" Red responded before finding themselves surrounded by tons of Fuzzies. "…Okay, permission granted!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"ATTAAAAAAAACK!" The Gold Fuzzy yelled as they charged at them while everyone got ready for battle.

End BGM

Back with Bowser…

"MAKE WAY!" Bowser said, punching through the final doors as they walked inside and found… an empty room. "Seriously? Nothing!"

"Hold on, there's remnants of crystals here!" Kamek said as he walked over and picked one up. "Treasure!" He said… and then the crystal fell apart. "Okay, shattered treasure."

"It seems like we all wasted our time here." Xigbar chuckled.

"Bah, come on… let's go. I'm sure Junior and the others weren't successful either." Bowser said and they all walked off… unaware of an anthropomorphic bat flying in and landing.

"It's gotta be in here somewhere." She said, using a locator. "Gotta be… aha!" She grinned, seeing it light up as she walked toward it, but found herself walking into an invisible wall. "Oh! …Oh, it's going to be like that, is it?" She smirked as she flew up in the air and proceeded to Screw Kick the wall, shattering it and revealed the chest.

"Heh! Score one for Rouge the Bat!" She smirked as she walked over to the treasure chest and opened it up… revealing none other than a blue Chaos Emerald. "Oh my~ Come to mama!" She said and then flew out, unaware of Bowser and crew being there earlier.

Junior and Co…

"Back! Back you vile disgusting parasites!" Junior said, throwing goop around with his paintbrush as the Fuzzies hopped after them… and they all sank into the goop.

"Meee-bloop bloop…"

"And good riddance to ya!" Junior said.

"Welp, that was a bust." Goomp said.

"Might as well report to Lord Bowser over the failure… here's hoping they got something!" Black said as they all walked away.

Meanwhile, with Riku and Namine…

"Stay sharp." Riku said as they were walking through a forest.

"You got it." Namine nodded, the two of them on guard while the compass guided them to their destination… however, as they were deep into the forest, something moved in the shrubs that caught their attention.

"You heard that?"

"Yup." Namine nodded, fire appearing in her fingertips as they slowly approached the shrub… and then a rabbit bounced out of the shrubs and casually hopped away.

"I would say it's just a rabbit… buuut…" Riku sensed something behind him as he quickly turned around and slashed a Heartless before it could get him. "I figured as much!"

BGM: Night of Fate (Kingdom Hearts)

"Typical that they'd follow us here." Namine said, getting in a battle stance as several Soldiers and Shadows showed up and started lunging at them, with Riku countering their moves while Namine backflipped and snapped her fingers, with a Thundaga destroying a few Soldiers.

One Shadow snuck up behind Namine and got ready to pounce on her, but Riku would use a Dark Firaga to destroy the Shadow. Namine would respond by clapping her hands and thrusting them to the ground as pillars of fire rose up and destroyed a few Air Soldiers that popped up, then she turned around and Blizzaga Kicked a Shadow away.

One Air Soldier flew toward Riku as he turned around and was ready to destroy it… but suddenly, a white flash destroyed the Heartless. "Huh?" He wondered as the white flash would destroy the remaining Heartless.

End BGM

"Oh?" Namine wondered as they turned to see the white flash stopping… which was none other than a Blooper.

"You two okay?" The Blooper asked.

"Yeah, we're fine." Riku nodded. "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome. What are you two doing out here?" He wondered as the duo explained why they were out there. "Ah, you're on a journey too? So am I! I might as well accompany you." He said. "So! What are your names?"

"Riku."

"Namine."

"I'm Blooey! In my village, they call me the White Torpedo!"

"Catchy." Namine smiled.

"Indeed. Now then, let's go find that Marvelous Compass piece!" He said as the trio walked ahead, with the compass guiding them into a volcano as they dodged the traps that were in their way until they got into a main arena where they spotted the Marvelous Compass piece.

"There it is!" Blooey said.

"I've got an uneasy feeling…" Riku said.

"Yup…" Namine got in a battle stance. "Alright, big boss of this volcano! Where are you at? Show yourself!" She ordered, and right on cue, a massive golem activated and rose from the ground. "Whooooa… that's a big guy."

"Well, you did say to show himself." Riku said. "Now let's take this big guy down!"

"Right!"

BGM: Omega Metroid (Metroid: Samus Returns)

The golem roared and then fired a laser from his forehead, forcing them to dodge the attack as Riku ran over to the golem and slashed at the legs, but the golem would kick him away, but he would swiftly recover as the golem punched him, forcing him to Dark Roll out of the way while Namine would cast Balloonga and threw it at the golem.

The Golem stepped on the ground, creating rocky stalactites to try and pierce through the trio but they jumped back as Blooey would slam into the golem's chest, then the golem would grab Blooey and threw him back. "There has to be a way to weaken this guy!" Namine said.

Riku looked for a weak point while dodging the attacks, seeing a crystal on top of his head. "There's a crystal on top of his head! That should be a weak spot!"

"Great! …We just need to break his legs. Anyone got a hammer?" Namine asked.

"Who needs a hammer!" Blooey said as he shot off like a torpedo and struck the leg, only to be kicked away as Namine had an idea and clapped her hands before unleashing Graviga on the golem's crystal, making him fall on his knees which gave Blooey a shot at torpedoing into his crystal right at the same time as Riku used Dark Aura, both of them striking at the same time… which was enough for the golem to crumble to dust.

End BGM

"Woo! That's more like it!" Blooey said, high fiving the two with his tentacles. "Phew… glad I somehow didn't get thrown into the lava… not sure why I just thought of that just now." He said as Riku grabbed the compass piece and placed it in the Marvelous Compass, where it would show them the next location.

"Plumpbelly Village of the Strudel continent. Got it." Riku nodded.

"Great, now I'm hungry for both pudding and strudels." Namine sighed.

"I'm sure we'll find something to eat." Blooey said as the trio wandered out of the volcano, heading to their next destination.

As you can see, i'm aiming to make this story stand out compared to the millions of other TTYD stories i've written. (I know in actuality, i've written like... three or four, but sure feels like a lot more than that at times. *sweatdrops*)