Mario

Mario and Luigi both landed on their feet in the middle of the forest. Like Mario always said, it payed off to do your own stunts. The two brothers turned to face each other, determined expressions on their faces.

"So, any clue where to start?" Luigi asked. Mario shrugged.

"Nope. When the professor left, no one knew where he went, just that it was somewhere in this forest," he explained. Luigi nodded as they began walking down the path, hoping they were going in the right direction.

"So, you killed Bowser, right?" Luigi asked. Mario nodded. "How, exactly?" Mario had told him the story before, but this time he was clearly listening. So, Mario recounted the entire adventure, from the pipe appearing in the closet, to the climactic battle in the volcano. "But, didn't we throw him into lava before? How do we know that he isn't still alive?"

"Because if he were, King Boo wouldn't be possessing his body."

"Fair enough." Then, both of them noticed something.

"It's too quiet..." Mario whispered. Before, there had been birds chirping and leaves rustling in the wind, but now everything was silent. "Who's there?" he called out. As he said it, a Koopa Troopa leapt out of a bush, then another, and another. Before they knew it, the two brothers were surrounded. "Well, I've gotten out of worse-" Mario was cut off as the small form of Bowser Jr. landed in front of him, his iconic paintbrush at his side.

"King Boo isn't too happy that the two of you escaped, so he sent me to deal with you." The young Koopa laughed, but Mario was ignoring him.

"Well, nice try." He leapt over Junior and landed on one of the Koopas, who immediately retreated into its shell. Picking the shell up, Mario lined up the shot so that it would wipe out the remaining Koopas, which it did. Turning back towards Bowser Jr., however, he noticed something odd. Boos were coming out of the Koopas bodies one by one, and they were not happy with Mario.

"Nice work, bro!" Luigi called out sarcastically.

"How was I supposed to know they were possessed?!" Mario retorted. Bowser Jr., however, appeaared equally mortified.

"W-What?!" he shouted. The Boos began to surround all three of them.

"The kid's seen too much. He's got to go." One of them ordered. The Boos were only inches away when everyone heard a whirr from within the bushes. "Ahhhh!" The lead Boo screamed as they were sucked into the bushes. One by one, they all disappeared, and before long it was only Mario, Luigi and Bowser Jr. that remained. Huddled together, the three of them jumped when a small figure stepped out from the darkness, laughing at the group.

"Really? You're scared of an old man with a vacuum cleaner? Hahahaha!" Laughed E. Gadd as they all jumped away from each other in embarrassment. "Well, come on! You found me, I might as well take you to my lab." They followed him down the path, Mario and Junior throwing angry looks at each other. Neither of them wanted to even be in close proximity to each other, but there weren't many options right now. After some walking, they found a cabin that could only be the professor's. Everyone stepped inside and stood in a circle.

"Hold still!" He shouted as he stepped over to the wall to pull a lever. As soon as he pulled it, they all began to descend into the lab. It was a sight to behold, if a bit messy. All around there were gadgets that people could only guess what their purpose was. "Welcome to my humble abode, please take a seat." As he gestured, two chairs rose out of the floor. Naturally, this meant someone would have to stand, and neither Junior or Mario seemed interested in doing so.

"Alright...I'll stand," Luigi muttered. He was ignored, though, as Mario and Junior took their seats.

"Well, now that that is out of the way, I already know why you're here," E. Gadd began. "You want my Poltergust 3000!"

"How did you-" Mario started.

"Please, I already know all about King Boo. I've been watching his mansion for months!"

"Then why didn't you warn us?!"

"Because I knew if I did, you would interfere with my research. Never before have I been able to watch ghosts so closely, and I wasn't about to throw that chance away. Now, however, I see he's grown too powerful. Therefore, I will let you take the Poltergust on one condition."

"And that is?"

"You will not only return it to me, but also help me with my research in the future. Specifically, it would be nice for Luigi to help out." At this, Luigi finally perked up.

"Me?"

"Yes, you! You seem like a fellow that it would be fun to work with. What do you say?" Luigi looked at Mario, who simply shrugged.

"Your call, bro." After a few moments of thought, he nodded.

"Deal," he said before shaking the professor's hand.

"Excellent! Well, here you go!" He tossed the Poltergust to Luigi, who began strapping it to his back. "There is a shed outside containing two jetpacks. Those should have enough power to get you back to the Comet Observatory. Now, if you'll be so kind, I would like to speak to the kid alone." After a moment of hesitation, Mario nodded, and took the elevator back to the surface with Luigi.

Bowser Jr.

"Alright, old man, what do you want?" Junior snarked after Mario and Luigi were gone.

"Come now, my boy, don't be so hostile. Was I ever this rude to you? I even gave you a gift the first time we met!" He gestured towards the paintbrush, which Junior had forgotten he even had. "When I gave you that brush, I thought that you might turn out to be a good kid. Boy, was I wrong."

"Really? You realize my dad was biggest enemy of the entire Mushroom Kingdom, right?"

"Our parents do not define who we are. Tell me, wasn't the brush destroyed? How exactly did you fix it? And, even better, why?" Junior stared down at the brush. The last time he had fought Mario, the brush had been destroyed.

"...This isn't the same brush," he finally admitted. "It's a fake."

"I thought so. Then, why would you make a fake brush? I would have gladly made you a new one."

"For starters, no one knew where you were," Junior pointed out, to which the professor simply shrugged. "...But, it was really special to me. No one else had ever done something like that for me, not even dad..."

"Your father really did love you, you know that? But he wasn't always the best person. It's not too late to make up for your mistakes, however." Reaching behind his chair, the professor pulled out a new paintbrush. "Here. Take this, but promise me that you'll use it for good this time. And you can start by assisting in defeating King Boo."

"But, he's my part-"

"Please, he doesn't care about you. All he wants is power, and you were merely a pawn in his plans. Those Boos were ready to kill you the second you found out too much." Junior simply stared at the ground, saying nothing. "Whether or not your prior actions will be forgiven, I cannot say. All I know is that this is your chance for redemption."

"But, this isn't what my dad would want..."

"Your dad may have loved you, yes, but he never really cared about what you wanted, did he? You enjoyed making gadgets, right? How often would your dad let you do that instead of other things?" This was also true. Junior had been the one to invent the Clown Car, a favorite of his dad's. However, he rarely got credit for it, and never got the chance to make many other things. "This is a chance to start over, and be who you really want to be." Finally, Junior nodded.

"Fine. I'll help, but I refuse to talk to Mario."

"That's fair, though you might have to before this battle is over. Come, let's go back to the surface." They stepped off of the elevator just in time to see the Mario Bros. about to take off. "Wait!" he shouted at the last second.

"What is it, professor?" Mario asked.

"You have a third party member," he explained, nodding his head towards Junior. Mario raised an eyebrow.

"You seriously trust him?" He asked, skeptically.

"Yes, I do. He wants to start over, and I told him this seemed like the perfect chance to do so. Mind giving him a ride to the observatory?"

"I don't-"

"Look, Mario," Junior begged, "I want to change. I want to be someone I'm proud of. I haven't forgiven you for killing my father, but I'm willing to start over. So, please, let me have this chance." After this, Mario finally sighed.

"Fine. But if you betray us, I'll throw you back down to Earth myself. Now, come on." He held out his arms so that he could carry Junior when suddenly they heard a loud explosion.

"What was that?" Luigi asked. Suddenly, there was another one. At once, everyone looked up and watched as Bowser's fleet moved in on the Observatory.

"Let's go," Mario ordered as he and Luigi started their jetpacks.

Rosalina

"Mother, look!" Polari, Rosalina's right hand Luma, shouted. In the distance, multiple airships were making their way towards the Observatory.

"Polari, get the Lumas through the portal to the Gateway Galaxy. You'll be safe there. I will hold them off for as long as I can."

"But what about you, mother?"

"That wasn't a request," she said in a slightly raised voice. In all his years of serving her, Polari had never heard her raise her voice, so he knew this was serious.

"...Alright. Just, be careful." He flew off to gather the Lumas, preparing to evacuate the Comet Observatory.

"Let us hope the Mario brothers get here soon," she whispered as she summoned the shield around the observatory.

Author's note: I'll keep this short, I just want to let you know that the next chapter will most likely be the last one unless I decide to make an epilogue. Since we're at the end, I've gathered a little more motivation, but I'm still ready to be done with this fic. With that said, I'll see you soon!