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

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

"So now, all of you are off." Jolene said, referring to Team Sky. "…Is he gonna be okay?" She asked, referring to Sora.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Luigi said.

"Yeah, I will… I just wasn't expecting Riku to be wearing a bridesmaaaaid-" Sora laughed again. "Ooooh… I am NOT gonna let him live that down."

Mario sweatdropped. "Oookay." He said as Sora shook his head.

"Alright… focus!" He told himself.

"Well, you must be off… collecting the Crystal Stars are important. We'll be here repairing the damages that Grubba made." Jolene said.

"Right, see ya!" Sora waved as they took off… however, Noire, Bea and Aerith watched them.

"…Ya know, I think traveling with them for a while could be fun. Nice chance of pace." Noire said.

"Well, I've got nothing better to do." Bea said.

"Hmm… I don't think they have a designated medic in their group." Aerith said and then gripped her staff. "See ya Cloud, I'm gonna make sure they don't get themselves killed!" She said and ran off.

"…What? I'm… sure they'll be fine but… oookay." Cloud shrugged as Bea and Noire looked at each other before shrugging and went after them.

"This is gonna be fun!" Nocturne said as they walked into the blimp.

"Hey, wait up!" Aerith called out as they turned to the trio. "You guys got room for more on your adventure?"

Sora grinned. "Nah, the more the merrier. Right guys?"

"Yup!" Luigi nodded.

"Fine with me!" Mario smiled as Koops, Vivian and Nocturne nodded as well, and then the blimp took off.

However, a grappling hook latched onto the blimp as Akira started to climb up and as did the rest of the Phantom Thieves, then they snuck inside the blimp.

End BGM

Back at Rogueport…

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

The blimp docked at the station as everyone walked out. "Alright, so where are we headed?" Noire asked.

Mario smiled. "To the Thousand Year Door."

"Thousand... what?" Noire asked.

"It'll make sense when we get there." Koops said.

"Uh, okay, if you say so..." Noire shrugged.

"Tickets! Get your tickets here!" Lucky called out. "We have a new lottery number!"

"…Eh?" Noire turned her head. "…Knowing my luck, I'll get absolutely nothing."

"Welcome to my world." Luigi mumbled.

"Sounds like fun!" Aerith said as she walked over.

Bea shrugged. "Mmm, might as well try it out." She said as she walked over, and joining the two were Nocturne, Noire and Luigi.

Oooh, 1731, neat! Aerith thought.

9027? Huh… Bea thought.

3791… okaaay… Nocturne thought.

9391… okay, that's not bad. Noire thought.

8610? I feel this is bad luck. Luigi thought.

"Aaaaand today's lottery number iiiiiis: 8650!"

"…Wait, what?!" Luigi said in surprise.

"Oh my! That's some good luck there." Aerith said.

"Way to go, Luigi!" Nocturne cheered.

"…Uh… Noire?" Bea turned her head to see that she was gone… and noticed Noire was sulking in a corner with a dark blue aura surrounding her.

"I had good numbers… I was robbed…" Noire sulked, causing Bea to sweatdrop.

"There there, maybe next time." Sora said, patting her on the back.

"Here you go, a Zess Special!" Lucky said, handing it to Luigi.

"Oh… uh… grazie!" Luigi said, putting it away as they walked off while Nocturne carried away a still sulking Noire while Vivian and Mario were attempting to cheer her up.

End BGM

Later, at the Thousand Year Door…

BGM: Hall of the Thousand Year Door (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

"Whoa… I wonder what's behind that." Aerith said.

Bea folded her arms. "If I were to guess, probably some ancient demon or something." She said, then glanced over at the Pit of 100 Trials. Hmm… wonder what's in there? She wondered.

"Ancient demon… ancient treasure… I'm sure it holds something." Noire said.

"Probably a giant Yoshi egg. An ancient Yoshi!" Nocturne said.

"Uh…" Noire closed her eyes, picturing an ancient Yoshi. "That'd… be one wrinkly dinosaur."

"With a long beard to go with it." Vivian said, causing the Mario Bros to snicker… and one light show later, the map came down on Sora's hands as they all looked to see a steeple pop up on the map.

"That's… something." Nocturne said.

"Let's go back to the professor." Mario suggested as they nodded.

End BGM

Once at Frankly's…

BGM: Professor Frankly (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

"Good heavens, I wasn't expecting a massive party like this!" Frankly said. "Still… the more the merrier. Strength in numbers!"

"So true." Goombella said as she was looking at the map. "Hmm… hey professor… do you think…?"

"Judging by the looks of this… yes. The next Crystal Star is in Twilight Town!"

"Twilight Town?" Sora perked up. "Alright, we get to go meet up with Roxas and his friends!"

"Hmm…" Aerith looked at the map. "Sora… I think this is another Twilight Town. Judging by the landscape and this creepy looking steeple… yeah, it's another Twilight Town."

"There's ANOTHER one?" Sora sweatdropped.

"Two Twilight Towns… that's not gonna get confusing at all." Luigi said.

"Try an alternate Planeptune." Noire mumbled.

"Okay… so we know where the next Crystal Star is located, but how does one get to Twilight Town?" Bea asked.

"I think there's a warp pipe… but I'm not sure where." Vivian said.

"Well, in any case, we know where the next Crystal Star is, so let's-" Sora's Gummi Phone went off, interrupting Koops. "Oh?"

"Oh, must be Kairi." Sora said, pulling it out and answering. "Yo!"

"Ah, good… you guys are alright." Kairi smiled. "…Wait, is that Aerith?"

"Hi Kairi!" Aerith waved.

With the girls…

"Oh wow… they doubled up their party members." Peach said, seeing Bea and Noire.

"I have no idea who they are." Kairi said.

"Heya! Name's Noire. Nice to meet ya!" Noire waved.

"I'm Bea. Pleasure to meet you." Bea smiled.

"Sooo, what did you guys want to talk about this time?" Sora asked.

"Well… we discovered something a bit cliche that has Peach a bit livid…" Kairi said.

"Hmph!" Peach had her arms folded.

"Turns out the X-Nauts want to use the Crystal Stars fooooor… taking over the world."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Professor Frankly yelled while everyone else winced at Frankly's shout. "You mean to tell me that they're gonna use the Crystal Stars for world domination?!"

"Oh wow, they're gonna use a plot device to take over the world. How original…" Noire deadpanned. "Can't evil folks come up with ANYTHING new? I swear, the take over the world bit has been done to death."

"How about destroy the world to make a new one?" Sora suggested.

"That's already been dealt with… if you've seen a movie about a big purple guy with a gauntlet, you'll understand." Noire said.

"I've seen that movie… it was alright, I guess." Bea said.

"…I don't know what you're talking about." Sora said.

"Make a new world and leaving the old one to rot?" Aerith guessed.

"…Naaaah." Noire shook her head.

"Well, regardless… it's still pretty bad even though it's been probably overused hundreds of times." Kairi said. "We'll keep you guys posted."

"Alright. Take care!" Mario said and then TEC turned off the gummi phone.

End BGM

"They do have a point, now that I'm thinking about it." TEC said.

"Exactly." Peach sighed. "…Oh, that reminds me. Lightning should be heading out for the next Crystal Star… but she's still KO'd."

"Hmm… how do we replicate that?" Kairi wondered.

"Mind if I make a suggestion?" TEC asked, causing the girls to look at him curiously.

Back at Frankly's…

"Okay, soooo… basically we need to get the Crystal Stars before the X-Nauts do, otherwise… it's the end of the world… I guess." Sora said.

"Right. To Twilight Town!" Mario said as they took off running.

"Do we even know where it's at?" Luigi asked.

"Well, we just gotta do a little digging!" Vivian said. "It shouldn't be that difficult!"

A few minutes of searching later…

"Wait… have we tried this spot?" Bea asked, kneeling down and lifting up a sewer grate at the west side of Rogueport.

"You sure that's legal?" Noire asked.

"Well… this place is filled with crime, so I doubt anyone would notice." Bea said as she, Luigi and Noire hopped in and landed on a platform in the sewers.

"Hellooooo door!" Noire said as she hopped over toward it while Luigi and Bea would notice a gray block.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Bea asked.

"Destroying that block?" Luigi asked.

"Bingo." Bea got in a stance and gave it a solid punch… which didn't break it but it left a big crack. Bea pulled her hand back and shook her hand. "Alright…" She called out her Machamp.

"Chaaaamp!" Machamp cried as he picked up the gray block and tossed it behind him, crushing an unwitting Spania.

"Thanks, big guy." Bea said, fist bumping him before calling him back as they walked over to a blue warp pipe.

"You think this could be it?" Luigi asked. "I'm getting cold just being near this Warp Pipe."

"One way to find out." Bea said as she and Luigi hopped into the Warp Pipe.

BGM: Fahr Outpost (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

The duo hopped out, immediately greeted by a blizzard. "Brrr!" Luigi shivered.

"Mmm… yeah, this isn't Twilight Town."

"Ya think?!" Luigi shivered. "How are you not cold?!"

"Part of my training. I'm used to it." Bea said as Luigi looked down to see Bea's legs shivering like crazy.

Liar… Luigi thought.

"Come on, let's go back." Bea said.

"Agre-achoo!" Luigi sneezed as they went back in.

End BGM

"There, that wasn't so ba-… achoo!" Bea sneezed, causing Luigi to raise an eyebrow. "…Allergies."

"Uh-huh…" Luigi sounded unconvinced as they walked out and saw Noire walking out the door in annoyance.

"Ugh… stupid Warp Pipe…" She mumbled and noticed Bea and Luigi. "Why are you two covered in snow?"

"Don't worry about it." Bea said. "How about you?"

"Well, I found the warp pipe leading to Twilight Town but unfortunately, it keeps rejecting me." Noire sighed. "My luck…"

"Maybe you didn't go in it right." Luigi said as he walked into the door and hopped in… and was immediately shot out and landed on his head. "OOOOF!"

"Oh good! It's not just me!" Noire sighed with relief.

"Huh…" Bea mused. "Okay, we found the Warp Pipe, but how do we…?"

"Might as well go ask." Luigi said, rubbing his head.

"But who would know?"

Later…

"Hey Professor, we have a problem!" Sora said, opening the door once Luigi's group had told them what happened.

"What is it?"

"We found the Warp Pipe to Twilight Town, but we can't get inside. It just rejects us." Mario said.

"Is that right? How odd…"

"Oh! That reminds me." Goombella spoke up. "There's a Twilighter here that hangs around the Eastern part of town. His name goes by Darkly… and if I'm not mistaken, he tends to hang around dark places."

"Ah, that's a good idea. Look for Darkly! He might know the answer." Frankly said and with a nod, they walked out.

"Great… so how are we gonna find this Darkly guy?" Sora asked.

"Well, he's around here somewhere. We know that much." Vivian said.

"Maybe he's on the other side of the wall?" Mario asked.

"Ah yes, the one that's being guarded by a guy with a spear." Luigi said. "That's a wonderful idea!"

"I got this." Aerith said as she walked over to the guard. "Hey, I was wondering if you could let us through… just for a little bit."

"Heh, no can do, sweet thing. Unless you're willing to pay… about twenty coins per person."

"TWENTY COINS?!" Noire yelled. "…I mean, that's a steal but per person?!"

"Hey, walking through areas ain't cheap… so what's it gonna be?" He asked.

"Oh… and to think I was just asking nicely." Aerith said before cracking her knuckles.

"…Huh?" Sora looked at her in surprise.

"Pffft! You wanna tussle, sweet thing? I'll have you know… I don't discriminate." He said. "I can easily tussle with a chick like you. What's that staff gonna do to me?"

"Oh, it's not the staff you should be worried about~" Aerith said, putting it away with a smirk.

"Ohoho! You have a death wish… alright, you asked for it!" He said as he lunged at Aerith and attempted to stab her, but she stepped out of the way and grabbed the spear, yanking it away from him and used her knee to destroy the spear easily. "Wha?!"

Aerith grabbed him by the collar. "Buddy… I tend to knock people out with a steel chair. What makes you think I won't easily knock you out easily?"

"Ha… ha ha! You're bluffing! There's no chair here!"

"I can make one~" Aerith smirked, causing Gus to pale. "Now, you're going to let us pass free of charge or you're going to be lying on the ground in excruciating pain. Your choice."

"Uuuh… I'm still not afraid of you!" He said. "…But uh… maybe I can let this slide… for… a possible date?" He asked… which Aerith responded with a clean knee strike to his crotch. "MMMPH!" He grunted, falling on his knees. "Momma… is that you…?" He whimpered before falling on his side.

"Uuuuh…" Sora stared at Aerith in bewilderment. "Where and HOW." He said. "I don't remember THIS back at Radiant Garden!"

Aerith smiled. "Oh Sora… I was just holding back~" She giggled. "If I wasn't, the MCP would've gotten his ass kicked by yours truly~"

Sora paled a bit. "I… I'd believe it."

"I'm not sure what an MCP is, but I think I'd completely agree!" Koops sweatdropped.

"Ditto." Noire and Nocturne said in unison with the bros nodding.

"I knew there was something more to you than just hiding behind that staff." Bea said as they walked through the wall, but found absolutely nothing… until they walked into the trouble center.

"Mmm…" Noire looked at the bulletin board. "Sounds like personal problems if you ask me." She said as she turned around. "Not interested… they're not Lastation's problem." She said as they walked out.

A few minutes of searching later…

"Oh! Found something!" Vivian called out as they approached Vivian, then she guided them to an alleyway until they found a Twilighter chilling in the alleyway.

"Hmm?" The Twilighter turned around. "Oh hello there, what can I do for ya?"

"We're trying to get into Twilight Town, but the Warp Pipe keeps rejecting us." Sora said.

"Oh? Oh, why it's an easy solution! You just have to have your name written down." Darkly said.

"…You're kidding, right?" Noire deadpanned. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." Darkly smiled.

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing." Luigi shrugged as one by one, they had their names written on them.

"Oh! Oh goodness, that tickles!" Vivian giggled.

"Hey… hey, watch where you're writing!" Nocturne said.

"This… honestly feels weird." Bea admitted.

"Sweet, it's like I got a tattoo!" Sora said.

"Buddy, if you think this is like getting a tattoo… yeeeeeah, the real deal isn't fun. It's all stabby stabby." Noire said. "…Don't ask how I know."

"Aaaand you're set. Alright, have fun!" Darkly said and with a nod, everyone took off as they went back into the sewers and jumped into the warp pipe leading to Twilight Town.

Meanwhile, with the Phantom Thieves…

"The Pit of 100 Trials?" Makoto asked.

"It's worth a look." Akira said. "Perhaps we'll find something good in there."

"Here's hoping!" Ryuji grinned as one by one, they hopped in… with Futaba climbing in last.

"I… suddenly have a bad feeling about this." Futaba said before hopping in.

I mean... it's not like there's a powered up dragon at the end of the Pit of 100 Trials, right? Naaaah, that's crazy!