Reality and Virtual Reality
The party emerged from the warp pipe leading into the New World. Upon exiting, they were greeted by ten guards. Not only were these guards mad, but they had pointy spears and helmets!
"What's going on?" asked Kristen. Geno shrugged and stated, "I have no idea. The only people who don't revolt against Malphior live in his kingdom. They have no reason to hurt us since we're here to put a stop to Malphior's evil." The guards lowered their weapons and asked, "You mean to say that you're not working for Malphior?" Geno nodded.
The guards breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew their weapons. "Thank god. It's just that you have a dark star on you and only Malphior's elite guards are allowed to have those." Mario explained, "We need the dark stars in order to rescue one of his captives."
The guards nodded in understanding, as one guard shook their hands. "You are indeed brave to stand up to Malphior. Who are you?" Kristen, Stacey, Mallow and Geno introduced themselves… then Mario started to tremble.
"What's wrong?" asked Stacey. Mallow hid away into a corner and exclaimed, "HE'S GONNA' DO IT!" The girls immediately knew what was coming, but they saw no reason to hide... nor did Geno. Mario shook hard as he announced, "It's a-me, Mario!"
The guards stared in awe. "You mean… you're THE Mario?" Mario nodded. The one lone guard came forward again and asked, "Tell me, did you get that dark star from a stone pot?" Mario nodded. "Aha!" exclaimed the guard. "This means that they have the star because Mario beat up the evil pot!"
The guards cheered for their freedom from that cursed monster as Mario blushed and stated, "Actually, I didn't get to do a thing. Stacey was the one who cracked him open." The guards all stopped cheering and looked Stacey over. She didn't look like a powerful hero. Her body was frail and thin. She may have been beautiful, but she didn't look tough at all.
"Wow! This girl obviously deceived the enemy into believing she was weak, and then took advantage of him!" The guards started cheering again. Stacey and Kristen glared a one-another and decided to live with the fact that false hope was one of the many things almost all Mario characters possessed.
Geno approached the guards and asked, "Where is the next dark star?" The guards stopped cheering as the lone guard pondered this. "Which one are you looking for? Are you looking for the star in Dako Forest, Gorian Greens, Magmatosa Volcano, Muddy Swamp, Gruesome Graveyard or, the closest location to our town, Blitz Mountain?" "Blitz Mountain!" answered Geno.
The guard thought about this and said, "The guardian, Rock-n-Rolla' lives at the top of Blitz Mountain. Climb up to the top and you shall find the next dark star." Kristen decided not to comment on the ridiculous name as Stacey decided not to comment on the simplicity of this challenge.
Mallow walked toward Blitz Mountain and stated, "We'd better go! The day's growing thin!" Geno and Mario's eyes nearly bulged out of their circuits as Mario asked, "Did Mallow just say something smart?" Geno shook his head and remarked, "Let's say he didn't and get on with our lives."
As they progressed up the mountain, killing various falcons and wild birds along the way, they noticed thunder starting to strike the mountain. "This must be why it's called Blitz Mountain!" exclaimed Kristen. The thunder started to get worse as three yellow balls appeared in front of them.
One yellow ball bounced up to Mario and snapped, "We are the thunder balls! If you wish to get up this mountain, you'll have to get passed us!" Stacey stepped forward and retorted, "We'll take you any day!"
The thunder ball laughed and remarked, "You are either very brave or very foolish! No one has ever defeated us!" There was a long pause with cricket chirps in the background as the party stared at the three thunder balls. They were tiny and insignificant. "You expect us to believe that no one has ever defeated you." Commented Geno. "They have almost no thunder control!" commented Mallow. The others stared as they tried to compensate just how someone so gullible and ignorant could sense electrical signals.
The thunder balls grouped together and remarked, "Do not be fooled by our size or signals! We are weak now, but you shall never defeat us!" The thunder balls formed together to form a huge serpent. "Beware the power of THUNDER SNAKE!" all three announced together.
Two seconds later, the thunder balls lay on the ground in defeat. "We've got to stop believing that we can fool people with that ploy." Uttered the thunder ball leader.
Finally, the party had reached the top. Kristen looked around and stated, "I don't see a huge guardian up here." The others looked around as a huge bolt of lightning struck the middle of the mountaintop. Suddenly, a chunk of rock rose from the ground and formed into a figure. Along with it came a steamroller attached to the figure's two arms.
"Hello, I'm the guardian, Rock-n-Rolla'!" the creature stated.