With parachutes fastened onto their backs, Victoria and the Brothers are ready to deploy. All they have to do is walk out that red door on the lower levels of the Airship and they'll be right with Subcon shortly after.

Victoria takes a deep breath, still remembering her last fall from the Hospital to the Island. But that won't happen again. Not with a parachute strapped to her back.

As she and the Brothers look at the red door, the former Gulag prisoners right behind them. Victoria turns to tell them calmly, "The airship will be placed on auto-pilot, straight to the house my friends own. You'll all be safe there. Got it?" Seeing their resolve on their faces answer for them, Victoria gifts them a smile.

She sets her sights back on the red door and opens it, feeling the wind hit her in the face.

This'll be one for the history books: the Astral Plane's first HALO jump.

Mario jumps out of the airship first, triumphantly shouting "Let's-a goooooo!".

Victoria would be up next, but she notices the shiver in Luigi's body. He tells her, "I've-a never really done-a this before!"

With an understanding sigh, she tells him, "Me neither." Quickly, she holds his hand, hoping to calm him down. "Let's jump together, okay? On three!"

As Luigi gulps, still afraid out of his mind, Victoria counts him down: "One… Two… THREE!"

They jump, with Luigi screaming in fear as he falls! For a few seconds, he feels like he's gonna die, like he doesn't have a parachute on his back, or a hand holding him together.

Make that two hands, as Mario paddles through the air to hold onto his brother's other hand. "It's okay, bro!", he says to Luigi reassuringly. "I'm-a here too!"

Luigi opens his eyes, and the ground becomes clearer and clearer; the buildings crafted from brown bricks, the grassy knoll that the trio are targeting for their landing, the deep blue waterfalls pouring from the hilltops, the crimson hoodmen patrolling the ground, the albatrosses soaring through the sky, all that chromatic jazz. Just as he remembers.

To give him some time to reminisce a bit more, Mario pulls the cord on his backpack, deploying the parachute. He and Victoria let go of Luigi's hand, seeing the smile on his face.

Mario follows suit, and Victoria does too. Their parachutes flap against the resistance of the wind, bringing their descent to a gentle crawl.

Victoria lands at the top of the grassy mountain. It provides a good tactical vantage point as she can see a fortress in the distance.

Luigi lands right next to her. She claps for him, genuinely, much to his delight, and asks, "Now how do we get to Wart?"

Mario misses the mountain entirely, instead opting to escape from his chute and aim his landing for the head of a Shy Guy down below. He kicks the Shy Guy before grabbing him and tossing him at another Shy Guy in front of him.

Luigi points to the far away fortress, still remembering his last journey. "He's up ahead, in his big-a castle, past all these-a Guys. I-a say we follow my bro."

And so, the two run along, past the battered bodies of Mario's opponents. The breeze is gentle, and the fluffy clouds above smile upon the world beneath them. The flowers dance pointedly, urging the three to their destination on the horizon.

It's not as if there's another atmosphere, it's all the same air, all the same life as the Hospital, the Gulag, the House, the Island. It just feels freer.

As Victoria runs, she feels freer. Atop a hill, she stops and takes in a deep breath of fresh air. Is this what freedom feels like? Is this what change looks like? She sure hopes it does, as she smiles and basks in the sunlight.

Waves of shade cover Victoria in brief bursts, much to her confusion. She looks up and sees a young girl soaring overhead, her feathered wings fluttering with color like a rainbow.

She doesn't seem to be a threat , Victoria ponders. She waves at the flying girl and says to her, "Oh, hello!"

The flying girl - Sarah Lee - lands and turns to look at Victoria. "Are you friendly?"

"Yeah. I'm Victoria Chase, I'm here to get you out of here. You're-"

"Sarah Lee. Nice to meet you."

Victoria holds out her hand and Sarah Lee shakes it. "Nice to meet you too. Your brother says you're a good kid."

Her face glows as she asks of Jacob, "He's safe?"

"Safe and sound. Him and his friends, and about four dozen other people. As I said, I'm here to get you out of here."

Sarah Lee sighs in disappointment and tells Victoria, "Aw, I don't want to leave just yet. Not without saying goodbye to King Mamu."

Victoria shrugs her shoulders, not really caring for the despot. "Trust me, he'll be fine." She's forgetting something, she knows it… Oh, yeah . "Wait, is there anyone else with him?"

"Lots of people, I've been helping him find them all! He's given us a place to stay in his factory."

With shifty eyes, Victoria asks Sarah Lee, "Is this a ransom?"

Sarah Lee answers with a laugh, thinking the idea a bit ridiculous as she shakes her head. "No, just… let him explain."

Victoria crosses her arms and laughs fakely, doubting that statement. "I will most certainly-"

A tune whistles through the wind. Without a moment's notice, a swirling vortex, six feet in stature, spirits away the two girls, headed straight for the fortress out in the distance.

Luigi hurries over, knowing the song of the Warp Whistle well. He calls out to her, "Miss-a Victoria!", but she's gone.

Across fields of grass and sand, past baddies galore, around the building itself, and into the shipping docks below goes the Warp Whistle's whirlwind. It drops off the two, allowing Victoria to finish: "-NOT let him explainnnnnuh, what the hell just happened?" She looks at the Whales lying in wait in the water, sleeping as tiny birds soar over their heads.

"Welcome to King Mamu's factory: 'Yume Kōjō'."

Victoria turns her eyes from Sarah Lee to the girders holding the place up, as well as the sleeping Whales. "Nifty name. I guess he uses these whales to transmit bad dreams. Maybe they've got weapons."

"Either way, you've got a good imagination."

"I try.", Victoria says, giggling. The laughter ends quickly, however, as a door atop some stairs. Out of it steps a Mouser and a Birdo, and they look just about ready to fight. "Well, shit, uh, it's you. You're…"

"Real as a donut, blondie.", Mouser answers harshly, glaring at Victoria through the shades on his face.

Birdo chimes in, "Bwoom. Bwoo-bw-bwo!"

While Victoria doesn't understand a word coming out of Birdo's snout, Sarah Lee does. "It's okay, she's here to speak with King Mamu."

Mouser lightly nods his head, "Oh, so she's the one the boss called?", before pointing at Victoria and asking her, "You with the Mario Brothers?"

Without skipping a beat, Victoria lies, "No." An egg to the face, shot out of Birdo's snout, makes her correct herself quickly, "Fine, I am! Er, I was."

Sarah Lee informs the two goons, "She doesn't mean any harm. Right?"

Victoria answers, perturbed and rubbing her wounded cheek, "Yeah. Just trying to negotiate here. Jesus."

Birdo motions for the two to follow her, and they do, leaving Mouser behind to guard the docks.

On the brisk walk through the factory, Victoria can see the walls lined with row upon row of books. Artistry - paintings and photographs - hang on the walls, but there's something off about them in that they're clearly abandoned works; sketches, linework, inkings, all undone but still attempted. I guess the books are the same then. Incomplete, left alone as is. She can think back on a few shoots of her own that she left behind.

At the end of the hall, a gate with the face of a bird awaits. As the three ladies approach, it opens its mouth to grant them access to King Mamu's elegant office. There, he sits - a giant frog with a royal blue cape on his back - on his comfy leather chair. Heartily, with a sort of rhythm to his words, he declares, "Ah, just the woman we were hoping to see."

"Who's 'we'?"

Two ghosts rise from the floor, standing next to Mamu as he answers, "Supporters of the Black Goat, as she supports us. She brings to us light and life upon the Astral Plane."

"Hm." Victoria crosses her arms; she's not buying it. "I take it you're King Mamu?"

He laughs, though the two ghosts don't get why as they look at each other and nod. "Correct, young lady! I am the Great Ruler of Subcon!"

Victoria rolls her eyes. "Do your subjects refer to you as such? I know two guys who certainly don't."

"You speak of a younger me, madam. The me who led my army into unjust conflict, who took the crown by force. But as Ms. Hackerman can inform you, that is not what I have done now."

Victoria looks over to Sarah Lee, and she explains, "He told me he won democratically. There was a vote, and he got the crown."

Noticing that she's still not buying it, the ghosts walk over to Victoria and begin to take shape. "I get it, kid. Trust me, I played the game too." Judging by Victoria's odd looks in his direction, the ghost chuckles in embarrassment. "Where are my manners? I'm Esteban Diaz. My friend here is William Price." He holds his hand out for Victoria to shake it.

"Yeah, I know you. You actually fixed my car once." She shakes Esteban's hand and looks over at the other ghost, William Price; she's heard his name once or twice. "And you're… Chloe's dad."

William nods his head with a smile on his face, "That would indeed be me. I believe we've met before."

Victoria raises an eyebrow, not sure what he's talking about. Sure, Esteban - vaguely, he helped me once - but Chloe's dad? "We have?"

He sighs, figuring that she wouldn't remember his stage performance back in 2010, the night of Chloe's stage debut. "Nevermind, sorry."

Victoria shrugs it off. "Small world… Anyways, you two are working with this guy?"

Esteban explains to her, "We're here because there's an insidious plot at hand. One that goes against the Black Goat's plan."

I must be going crazy , Victoria ponders to herself. "I just gotta wrap my head around that, because, uh, Isn't SHE the bad guy here?"

Mamu chimes in to add, "It's more complicated than that."

"I mean, she's been kidnapping people! She stole Seattle, Beaver Creek, probably more places as we speak!"

"I get it, Victoria, but she's doing this for the benefit of the world. It's not ideal, sure, but what's happening is gonna go a long way with helping people."

Victoria glares at Mamu, but he can only tell her the truth: "The Black Goat will save your people. Whether you accept it or not, her plan is in your favor."

She's done fighting. "I guess you can put me in the latter camp, hm? Just tell me where your prisoners are."

Mamu heartily cackles, "You're not looking for my prisoners, you're looking for my guests."

"Same thing!"

He shakes his head. "No. Not at all." Mamu hops off of his throne and begins making his way for the door, with Sarah Lee, Esteban and William following suit. "Come. Let us- Oh, hang on." His phone is ringing, so he pulls it out of his cape and answers. On the other end, it sounds like a panic of action and explosions. "So I've gathered… Very well." He hangs up the phone and it transforms into a recorder.

After producing a small ditty from the instrument, another mini-tornado blows into the room, bringing with it the Brothers. "Miss-a Victoria! There you are!", says a frazzled Luigi. Victoria waves back at him, happy to see that him and Mario are alright.

Mario's back up on his feet and he's ready to battle Mamu once more. "What is your-a plan here, Wart?"

Before Mamu can answer, Victoria answers for him: "Nothing. He's on our side, I suppose. We're just gonna have to trust him."

"And the Black Goat.", Sarah Lee adds.

"And the Black Goat.", Victoria repeats.

Mamu lets out another laugh, happy to see the whole gang together. "Now, if you'll just follow me, I'll show you the barracks." He hops along to a secret stairwell by the back of the office, and the group follows him.

Outside, there aren't rusted cells or shacks that house the guests from the waking world. They reside in small but sizable houses, built in the form of mushrooms, to keep them comfortable and safe from any outside dangers. "There's about two dozen guests here.", Mamu explains.

While the Brothers and Sarah Lee get to work on gathering the guests together, Victoria asks the King, "Are you finding more people?"

"We're averaging three survivors per hour."

That's reassuring . Victoria nods her head and says, "Good. We'll be taking them from here. My friend's house is located on this really lovely field up North."

Mamu plays a note on his recorder and sees out to the world beyond Subcon. But he doesn't see a house… "I see an apartment building. And it's growing too. It looks like the place you described. Green fields, giant mountains, a lovely horizon. Would you like to travel there?"

"Yeah. Yes, please."

"Very well. Supposing that you're a just person, you're always welcome to my domain, Victoria."

"I'll consider it." Victoria walks over to the gathering crowd, with Mario, Luigi and Sarah Lee accompanying them too.

"Do take care, Sarah Lee." Before he can play the recorder, the girl flies over to Mamu and gives him a hug, which the King returns with a smile on his face. After she rejoins the crowd, Mamu delivers one last message to the crowd: "Stay safe, travellers! May the Black Goat grant you protection in these trying times!"

And in an instant, they're whisked away by the warping, whistling whirlwind to safety. To home.

But something still bugs Victoria, and she knows it. She just saw ghosts. Dead men, reborn from dreams, straight from the minds of loved ones... Did I do the same of Courtney and Taylor? She shivers thinking about it. Does she really want to know the truth?

Is that the truth?