One week earlier

Deep within the haunted forest of the Mushroom Kingdom was a haunted mansion, one of many in fact. These mansions were prime bases for the creatures known as Boos.

Boos loved to scare and terrorize the townsfolk of the Mushroom Kingdom, to them it was the best joy in life and what a true boo was born to do. And the leader of them all kept that rule going for centuries.

King Boo.

King Boo considered himself a god among his fellow ghosts, he had been dead far longer than any of them and knew how the world worked perfectly. He wasn't scared of anything or anyone, and he wasn't going to let that change. He and his kind were the true horrors of the Mushroom Kingdom.

So, you can imagine why King Boo was frustrated as to why his fellow Boos were scared off by a Red Flaming Torching in their foyer. The torch appeared out of thin air about a day ago, none of the Boos put the torch there and no one lived in the mansion anymore, so who put it there? Whenever a Boo would go near the torch, a small red ghost would appear wielding the torch. This small ghost would giggle and laugh while it threw flames from the torch at the Boos, preventing many from coming near.

Now, King Boo was in the foyer of the mansion, looking at the torch, with two Boos with him, one on his left, the other on his right.

"So, if someone goes near it, some ghost appears correct?" asked King Boo.

"Yes, your majesty. Whoever it is, they use the torch as a weapon." Said the Boo on his left.

"I wonder what this guy looks like." King Boo thought to himself before looking toward the Boo on his right. "You, what's your name?"

"Jerry." Said the little Boo.

"Jerry, go near it, and touch it."

"M-Me?" the ghost stuttered.

"Yes, you. Go near it, I wish to speak with this new ghost."

"B-But- "

"Go. Near. It." King Boo got closer with each word as he spoke, getting angrier as he waited for the Boo to do his bidding.

"Y-Yes your majesty." Jerry began moving closer to the torch.

King Boo waited for this red ghost to appear as he's underling got closer. The little Boo was only a few feet away, he could feel the heat of the torch and he knew the red ghost would appear any second. Jerry was now only a few inches away, he closed his eyes and reached out to touch the torch.

Three inches.

Two inches.

One inch.

His hand was now touching it, except, nothing happened.

"Huh, well that's disappointing." Said King Boo as he turned around to leave.

"Strange." Said Jerry as he touched the torch. "I thought- "

Before the little Boo could finish speaking the torch disappeared. A loud giggle could be heard in the foyer, it sounded like a child. The red ghost appeared near Jerry, wielding the torch. It looked directly at him for a few seconds before saying;

"Boo."

Jerry yelped before running away, he didn't get far though. As he ran the red ghost used his torch to send a fast-red flaming fireball at Jerry. The fire immediately sent him in a blaze, the small Boo cried out in pain and within a few seconds, he was no more. King Boo and the other Boo with him looked in horror at what they just saw.

"Holy shit." Said the Boo to the left.

"But it was fire. Were ghosts how does that-" King Boo was cut off by a loud giggling voice.

"The powers of the Nightmare Realm have no limit." Said the small red ghost. "Your constant bombardment of the flame is getting annoying, as punishment," the ghost twirled the torch and then pointed it into the air. "I'LL BURN THIS MANSION!"

The red ghost suddenly started throwing flames all around the foyer. Within just a minute it was engulfed in fire and smoke, Boos started flying around, trying their best to the fire.

Most of them failed and burned away into nothing.

"Your majesty, it's not safe here, we must go!" said the Boo at his said.

"No kidding!" yelled King Boo.

They made their way to the front door, avoiding the flames that grew near them. Soon they were there but right before they left, King Boo looked back. The red ghost was looking directly back at him, unmoving as the flames behind him ate away the mansion and the instance colors of the fire emanated the silhouette of the ghost.

"Who are you?" yelled King Boo.

"I am Grimm Novice, a member of the Grimm Troupe." Said Novice with a giggle.

"He's a friend of Knight?" said Samus through her device's screen.

"Yup." Said Peach. "I'm starting to guess that Hallownest is some sort of bug kingdom. Given Quirrels look."

Peach had been talking with Samus for a while, explaining her situation with Quirrel. Samus was curious about Quirrel, he seemed interesting and the fact that there was another person who knew Knight was a bit of a shock. She was starting to feel jealous; all the interesting stuff was happening back home.

"Did he mention anything he and Knight did together?" Samus asked.

"Not really, he needed rest, so I didn't pry. He's still asleep now actually, I don't think he slept well." Peach started to worry, it was noon and Quirrel was still passed out.

"Hey, keep your hopes up. He'll be fine. He's in the hands of Princess Peach." Samus made her voice deeper when she said Peach's name. It brought a small chuckle from Peach.

"Thanks…"

"Peach, you okay?" Samus's joking tone was gone, replaced with a concerning and soft tone.

"It's… It's just…" Peach took a deep breath before speaking. "I have Quirrel who needs tending to, King Boo wants a truce for some stupid reason, these Red Flames keep popping up and some have even disappeared somehow. And Bowser hasn't done anything in three months, three months! That's not normal unless he's planning something big. I don't even know where Hallownest is or if Quirrel will even make it home it'… it's just… stressful." Peach put her hands on her face after finishing her rant. She was glad she got everything out but was somewhat embarrassed by it.

Samus thought to herself, thinking of everything Peach just said. Samus looked at her frustrated girlfriend and let out a sigh.

"Peach, it'll be okay. Me, Boba Fett and Commander Shepard are almost done with this mission, and when we are, I'm coming straight back." Peach moved her hands off her face and saw Samus looking at her with a caring look. "I'll be there to help and get you through this stressful time together. We did it at the Smash Brothers Tournament remember?"

Peach did remember. After hearing Samus speak she felt a lot better. Knowing Samus was almost done, knowing they could talk face to face and feel each other again. "Thanks' Samus, I needed that." Peach smiled. Now that her head was clear, Peach suddenly had an idea.

"Hey Samus, I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"On your way back do you think you could find Hallownest?"

"Uh, maybe? That might be hard since I don't have any leads."

"Well, Smash Bros sent him a letter. They must know where he is."

"Probably, I could contact them. Why do you want to know?" Samus's curiosity was increasing.

"I want Knight to meet up with Quirrel, help him with his recovery. Plus, we could give them a ride back since I think it's far from my kingdom."

Samus had to agree, it made sense. Plus, she didn't mind helping. "Alright, I'll see what I can do. You all good?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright, thanks again."

"Anytime babe." Samus winked before ending the call.

Peach let out a sigh, that felt good. Getting it all out, having Samus help and give her confidence, and Knight would be her soon. Maybe things weren't as bad as her mind made it out to be. She had to remember that she had been through a lot and that no matter how bad things seemed, she and her friends pulled through. She had to remember not to forget that. There was then a small knock at the door.

"Come in." Toadette walked in. "Quirrel is awake now."

"Ah, let's see how he's doing."

Peach made her way to Quirrel's room and knocked, he said she could enter, and he was sitting upright on the bed. Except for this time the covers were off, and his legs were hanging off the bed.

"Feeling better?" asked Peach.

"Much better, I think I can walk as well." Said Quirrel as he slowly stood up. He stumbled at first and Toadette and Peach were about to help, but he recovered quickly and was standing. "I think I'm ready to leave as well."

Peach suddenly felt a little guilty, she probably should have brought up her idea to him before asking Samus. "Right uh, so I asked a friend to bring Knight here actually."

"Oh… really?"

"Yes, and she's willing to bring you both back to your homes to save you from walking. I hope that's alright."

Quirrel thought to himself for a moment. He didn't plan on going back to Hallownest, he had nothing left there. And now Peach had already set plans in motion to help him get back to his kingdom. He wanted to tell her to that he'd rather go anywhere else but, she had been so nice and caring to help him recover. So, he responded with; "Yeah that's alright, besides, I miss my small friend." He lied.

"Good to hear." Peach felt relieved. "You hungry? We have plenty of food here."

"Yes please, what kind of food do you have in this kingdom?"

Peach grinned at him.

"The best kind."