Chapter 9 Stuck Playing

Peach's jaw dropped. As she looked at Rosalina, she couldn't help but feel a tidal wave of emotions. What was going on here? Why was Rose doing this? She wanted to ask all the questions rapid firing around in her head. However, all that her mouth could say was "Rose…"

Rosalina sniffed. She rose a foot into the air, staring down everyone with a scrunched up brow. The lights flickered. The air in the room grew colder by at least five degrees.

"You ALL are going to play," she said. Her voice was like the voice a robber would use when they are holding someone at gunpoint. Same could be said about her expression and stance. "I have spent a lot of time and effort putting together this meeting. I do NOT want it all to go to waste."

All three princesses stared at Rosalina with dropped jaws. Even Solar looked at his adopted mother with some sort of fear. Bowser, however, just chuckled.

"Cracking down the whip, are you?" He went over and playfully elbowed the Lady of the Shooting Stars in the arm. "You are way more authoritative than I thought." He chuckled again, chortled actually. "Why I didn't go after you instead of Peach, I have no idea."

Rosalina's expression didn't even change at that joke (at least, Peach hoped it was a joke). She just looked over at her group of players. The iciness in her face was so strong that it even made the Koopalings look a little scared.

Iggy even went so far as to fumble for the doorknob, his bespectacled eyes wide and his pupils small. "Um…I think…I think…" It sure was odd to see the genius, who usually had a retort or statement prepared for every occasion, stumble over his words.

Rosalina rose even higher into the air. She got out her wand, holding it high over her head like a flag. She waved it in a circular motion as foreign, alien words came out of her mouth at a high volume. "Guba Flidef Mayre Budfer MAX!"

A strong wind zipped across the room. The tables in the inn rattled, the flickering of the lights became even worse. As Peach's dress and hair were pushed around by the fierce gusts, she made her way over to her sisters. Daisy had her hands wrapped around Aqua, trying to look brave even though both of them trembled. Peach wrapped her arms around Daisy, shielding both of her sisters. She uttered a prayer to Grambi. Fear induced sweat formed all across her body, chilling the surface like a lake in the winter time. A lump formed in her throat when she heard a cracking noise. She looked up and saw cracks appearing in the ceiling. She held onto her sisters tighter, fearing the ceiling potentially caving in.

All while this was happening, Rosalina had not stopped chanting. "Gooza Mabba Gyre Gee. Fuwa Haber Donnad Mirr…"

To Peach's horror, the pieces of the ceiling fell away. Instead of falling down and breaking open their skulls, however, they flew upwards. More chunks of the ceiling peeled back like stickers, flying off into the sky. Or, rather, a void. It was pitch black up above. No sun, no clouds, not even a single star could be seen. Peach's heart pattered in her heart, dangerously close from stopping in fear.

Please let this stop! She screamed in her head. PLEASE LET THIS STOP!

It didn't stop. In fact, chunks of the floor peeled back too. Unlike with the ceiling, which only had an endless void up above to display, there was plenty to see. A nebula, big, blue, and cloudlike, was visible underneath. Stars shined, some of them close enough to be the size of grapefruits, others so far away that they looked like pinpricks. Tables in the inn fell away as the floor gave out from under them. Peach nearly screamed when she saw the floor on which she stood fall away. To her surprise, she didn't fall. She still stood, her feet as secured as firmly as they would be if the floor was still present.

"Mackel Fwoom," Rosalina chanted, her voice raising in volume. "Mackel FREIGN!"

And then…stillness. No more wind threatening to blow anyone over, no ceiling or floor falling back. The only sights were the nebula underfoot, the blackness up above,and the Koopa King holding onto his children in a way not too dissimilar to what Peach was doing to her sisters. Shockingly, Rosalina was gone. Solar was still there, sitting at one of the two tables that hadn't fallen into the ether. His mother, however, had completely vanished.

Peach rose to a standing, as did Aqua and Daisy. Aqua looked nauseous standing on the visible floor, as she wobbled like she would on a boat. Daisy looked shocked, and while she probably wouldn't admit it out loud, she more than likely felt afraid.

"Where's Rose?" she asked, a note of caution putting a spike in her voice.

Bowser unleashed his grip on his kids. His eyes lit up for a split second upon seeing the nebula underfoot, but fell just as quickly when he failed to spot Rosalina. "Where's the space lady?" He hyperventilated. "WHERE DID SHE GO?"

Peach made her way over to Solar, as did Iggy and Ludwig. "Solar, where'd your mother go?"

Solar hesitated, fragments of words hastily making their way out of his mouth. "I..I do…I don't…"

"YOU DON'T KNOW?" Iggy exclaimed.

Blue flames sprung up around Ludwig's arms. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?"

Solar trembled. "She…she never used this spell before." He looked back between Peach and the Koopas, displaying fear and confusion to both of the present factions. "This was completely new."

Aqua came over, her eyes wide. "So you have no idea where we are?"

"No, I don't!" Solar looked down. "The nebula does resemble one I've seen in the Giftel Quadrant, though. But…I don't know for sure."

Peach's breathing rate sped up. Her heart leapt into her throat. "We need to go back!"

"Yeah!" said Ludwig. "We can't stay here; for all we know, we have a limited air supply and could suffocate any minute!"

"Yeah!" said Daisy. "You need to bring us back, Solar!"

Solar's shaking got worse. "I…I can't! I don't know as much magic as Mama does!" He looked between both parties. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you!"

Morton sniffed from across the room. "So we're stuck in limbo. Fantastic."

"We're gonna die here!" Iggy exclaimed, his hands grasping his temples. "We don't have any water or food!"

Peach tried to get her breathing rate under control. "Let's not panic, everyone," she said, her tone as diplomatic as possible. "There's obviously gotta be a way out of here. We just need to figure out what it is."

Iggy sighed. "You're right." He put his hand to his head, as did the rest of the Koopalings. Solar also bit his lip in thoughtful concentration.

After about a minute, Lemmy spoke up. "What if we need to play?"

Peach blinked at the smallest Koopaling. "Excuse me?"

Lemmy stepped forward. "Well, Rosalina invited us here to play a game of A Thousand Blank White Cards. What if that's how we get out of this pocket dimension; we need to complete a game."

Daisy snorted. "That's ridiculous."

"It might be," Ludwig said thoughtfully. "But what other ways are there?"

Aqua chuckled. "You seriously believe that the way back home is by playing that stupid card game?"

"Hey," Ludwig said, holding his hands up in defense. "I'm not the crazy space lady who got us stuck here. I'm just stating a possibility."

Junior giggled. "Well, if that is the way to get out, it certainly feels like a fun way."

Solar nodded. "That…it may be the way." He looked at Peach. "I think this is just Mama's way of getting all of us to get along."

"HA!" Larry guffawed. "Yeah, cause there's no better way for enemies to get along than sticking them together in a far off, potentially dangerous pocket dimension!"

Peach shook her head, her defiance growing strong. "I am NOT playing a game with the Koopas."

"Me neither," said Aqua. She crossed her arms. "I'd rather die here."

"Oh come on!" Bowser exclaimed as he walked forward. "Are you seriously telling me you'd rather never see your home and friends again instead of put your pride to the side?"

Peach felt a pang, and a particularly painful one at that. "I'm sorry, my pride?"

"He's got a point," said Iggy as he adjusted his glasses. "We need to work together if we want to escape. Whether or not we all like it is irrelevant. If we have any hope of seeing our homeland again, we are required to partake in this game."

Peach exchanged a look with her sisters. Neither one of them looked thrilled, and she didn't blame them. Her own heart was sinking right as they spoke. However, she unfortunately had to admit that she did see the Koopas' point. Rose did call them together to play the game. How else would they get out of here besides playing a game and completing it?

"I…" she struggled to speak. Even though she could see their point, she still found the idea of playing a game with the Koopas sickening. "I…"

Solar stood up. "Your highnesses, I think that Iggy has a point." He looked at Bowser and his party. "We need to do this. We have no other way of getting out of here."

Bowser smiled. "See? Even Shiny Boy here agrees with me!" He walked over to the table, as did the rest of his children. "Who am I to say that Shiny Boy is wrong?"

Solar blushed. "My name is Solar, actually."

Bowser laughed. "Okay. You're still Shiny Boy to me."

Iggy rolled his eyes. He reached into his hammerspace and pulled out a set of index cards and set them on the table. "So. Why don't we get started on this game, shall we?'