Reality and Virtual Reality
Kristen found herself in a strange room. To her right was a big machine. To her left was the one operating the machine.
She noticed that the machine's big arm had grabbed Stacey and was torturing her in ways unimaginable. She also noticed that the machine had burned up Geno, pried Mallow's arms off and was ready to behead Mario.
Before the action could commence, Kristen heard the Super Mario theme start up.
She awoke to find that the digital clock beside her was emitting the Mario theme. She breathed a sigh of relief realizing that it was just a dream and got dressed.
Upon exiting the house with a nice "Thank you" to back it up, she noticed that no one was ready to leave yet. She expected more along the lines of "Took you long enough, sleepyhead" or "What kept ya'?" but instead, the party was busy playing catch with Gaz.
Kristen approached them and stated, "Um… I'm up. We have to get home, you know." Suddenly, Stacey froze and uttered, "She's right. We've been so busy having fun that we forgot all about getting back home." Geno nodded. "It is important that you get back to your own world. You've already been in the Belome's belly. This place is too dangerous for a couple of frail girls such as you.
Stacey couldn't believe it. Sure, Geno was her hero, but calling her frail was #2 on her list of "things that piss me off". She pulled out a hammer out of nowhere and slammed Geno into a tree.
Mallow ran up to give the doll support as Mario proudly thought, 'I knew it! I knew that Geno couldn't possibly steal my spotlight!' Kristen also rushed in to comfort the hero who had now fallen victim to Stacey's most devastating attack.
Stacey soon realized what she had done and also ran up to comfort him. Mario couldn't believe his eyes. A tear dripped down his face as he thought, 'I won't let it get to me, I won't let it get to me.'
After Geno had fully recovered (An hour later) and Stacey had apologized 200 times, the party was ready to set off on their long journey. This journey involved many perils and dangers beyond your wildest imagination! Okay, so they fought a couple of goombas and wigglers. Are you happy now?
As soon as they passed through the forest, Mario piped up, "Okay, we just made total fools of ourselves. We weren't supposed to go that way! We were supposed to take the hidden warp pipe in Rose Town and go through Star Road." The girls glared and thought, 'This is the most cliched extra game I ever saw.'
As soon as the group managed to find their way back to Rose Town, Geno revealed to the girls a hidden pipe in the edge of town. (This isn't really from the game. I made it up.)
The girls glared at the pipe. They noticed a strange miasma coming from within the pipe. "What's up with that miasma?" asked Stacey. Geno closed his eyes and explained, "This pipe leads to the dimension where Peach is being held captive. Malphior rules a great kingdom there, but we must pass through five different towns and find the 7 'Dark Stars' (I just wanted to try SOMETHING Mario RPG-like in my fics for once) in order to gain access to his castle."
Kristen grimaced and remarked, "Figures that we have to find 7 stars. That's what it's always been about." Stacey nodded and asked, "Why do we have to visit five towns? Isn't each star hidden in a separate area?"
Geno shook his head. "Actually, two are hidden in the two portals hidden throughout the lands. This portal is the first. The other one leads to a place called 'Purgatory'."
Even Mario was confused now. "Aren't we in Purgatory right now?" he asked. (Wow, a smart question from Mario! This must be the apocalypse.) Mallow asked, "What's 'Purgatory'?" Geno explained, "Purgatory is a term used to describe the place between heaven and 'the bad place'. This Purgatory is different. This Purgatory is a completely white area where nothing exists. They say that before the Dark Stars came along, nothing except for a huge monster lurked there." 'Huge monster?' thought Kristen.
The group went down the pipe and into a dimension that looked a lot like Star Road. "It's peaceful down here." Commented Kristen. Geno thrust his hand out and barked, "Don't move!" He held out his two fists and shot them at a moving object.
The object emerged to reveal that it was a large peanut-shaped pot with eyes, a mouth, two hands and two feet. A small crack could be seen where the fists had landed. "So, you are stealthy! Anyway, I am the guardian of the Dark Star! My name is Tsubo, but you may call me 'Pot'." Kristen blinked and asked, "I know the Mushroom Kingdom and anything associated with it has strange enemies, but this is ridiculous and unoriginal! Also, Tsubo is Japanese for Pot! What's the difference?"
Pot just let down a highly unnoticeable sweat drop down his cheek and remarked, "Okay, smart girl, you're going down first!" Pot lowered his head and sucked Kristen into his top. "KRISTEN!" exclaimed Stacey. Geno noticed her expression and stated, "It's okay. If we can destroy this thing, she'll be free."
Stacey bound towards Pot upon hearing this and delivered a huge kick to his torso. A small crack appeared as the angered Pot picked her up and stuffed her into his top. The others were ready to move in and help when a whole line of cracks appeared around his fragile body as Pot burst open.
Stacey let out a holler of triumph as Kristen was shaking with fear. The others just stared as Geno stated, "You had that planned all along, hadn't you?" Stacey shook her head. "No, I was just going to kick his sorry butt. I didn't think he'd actually manage to get me into his body." The others sighed, decided not to question her authority and moved on. Kristen snapped out of her phase and picked up the Dark Star Pot had left behind as she followed the party.