Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
"Zhang… please, it's nearly been a decade…" His wife, Luce, who was taller than her husband had long brown hair, and wore a brown dress with a yellow blouse and bright red shoes. On each of her arms she wore several golden rings, while on her ears she wore golden ear rings. Around her neck she wore a black scarf. She let out a harsh cough. "We need to see Tai… we can't just never see him again…" She coughed again.
"Yes, we can! That wuss kept pushing us away with what happened… and that's fine by me."
Luce coughed again. "Maybe things have changed-" She let out another cough. "We shouldn't-" Cough. "We shouldn't shut out family…"
Zhang looked really annoyed. "No… to hell with that and to hell with you! I'm going to bed." He left the living room in a huff, leaving his wife who continued to cough like crazy.
The next morning…
Zhang came downstairs, seeing his wife asleep in the chair. "Did you sleep here all night?" He heard nothing. "Look, about what I've said… I'm sorry. I went too far and… I thought it over. You're right. We should try reaching out before it's still too late."
He still heard nothing from her, which caused him to look a bit concerned. She was still asleep as he put his ear to her mouth, where he couldn't even hear her breath. He tried to feel for a pulse… which he did feel a pulse, but it was very weak. He then heard a cough coming out of her mouth.
"Luce, please… say something…" He said, his voice nearly breaking, but she didn't respond. "No…" He whispered as tears ran down his cheeks as he hugged her. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have said that… please, if you can hear me, please forgive me! LUCE!" He yelled.
Later, at the hospital…
"Mr. Xiao Long?" The doctor called for him.
"Yes?"
"You can see her now, but I must warn you, she's in a very bad state. The pneumonia has inflamed her lungs and we are unfortunately not sure how long she has left. We can keep her here as long as possible, but you will need to say your goodbyes soon."
"I understand, doctor." He said solemnly as he walked to her room where he would see her hooked up with breathing tubes. "…I'm sorry, honey." He said as he was took her hand. "I'll fix this. I'll go see Tai as soon as possible."
A few weeks later, in the present…
"And that's what happened. Your mother had been suffering from pneumonia for quite some time, and the doctors said they weren't sure how much time she had left… because right now, it's very touch and go with her. It was at that moment, I swore I would come find you, but each time I was ready to find you, I got scared. And then… the evacuation happened. I couldn't reach the hospital and I just hope they got her to safety along with everyone else in the hospital… and I just want to say that I'm sorry… and I hope you can forgive me."
"So, all of this happened because… dad pushed you away?" Yang asked.
"He had every good reason to." Zhang admitted. "See, when Raven left him and Summer died, I was… not myself. I gave him a hard time for so long, telling him that every girl he ever dates and marries either end up leaving him or dying. I didn't take into account how Tai had felt after Summer's death… see, I mentored STRQ back in their early days and I shaped them up into the legendary team from Beacon… hearing my son lose two of his teammates not only affected him but me as well. I was grieving for them… and in my grief, I took it out on your father… so much so that he pushed me out, which of course, was enough to anger me a lot more than it should have. It should've been a wake up call for me… yet it wasn't."
Tai let out a sigh. "Dad, I was never mad at you… I was mad at myself that I allowed this to happen. Had I known Summer was going straight for her death, I would've convinced her to stay… but, I've moved on from that. I don't think I need to forgive you, I think you need to forgive yourself."
Zhang tapped Tai's leg with his cane. "You're right, and when this is over, I'll take you all to the hospital with me to come see her."
"Hmm, ya know, maybe with all the healing items, we could cure her and give her some extra time." Ruby spoke up.
Zhang smiled. "I wouldn't mind that."
"What? You're bluffing, Qrow."
"Seriously, I don't think-"
"Take a look, boneheads." Qrow said, walking out of the way as Summer and Raven would see Zhang.
"ZHANG?!" Raven and Summer yelled.
"As I live and breathe…" Zhang said in awe. "Raven? Summer? …Son, you aren't having a harem, are you?"
Tai snickered. "No."
"That's a shame, you were quite the lady's man back at Beacon, I even joked that you would someday have a harem." He said, causing Summer and Raven to giggle at this while Tai blushed a deep red.
"Dad!"
"Ooooh! Payback for all the times you've embarrassed us~!" Yang gleefully grinned.
"Score!" Ruby fist pumped, then high fived Yang.
"I thought for sure you were dead, Summer." Zhang said.
"I'm… actually still dead. It's a long story." Summer smiled.
"Indeed. We have catching up to do." Zhang nodded as he gave them both a hug, where Tai would notice something off about his left arm. He would then look out toward the cosmos. "My, what a view." He let out a yawn, revealing more of his left arm. "I could sleep under this view!"
"…Dad, why is your left arm purple?"
"Hmm? Oh that! That's the nerve damage from years of getting my arm hurt."
"Dad, you said you had that taken care of nearly fifteen years ago!"
"It's not that big of a deal. I don't need fixing."
"You could lose your arm!"
"You said the same thing fifteen years ago and it's still here, is it not?"
Tai pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, that's it. Infirmary. Now. You are getting that checked out."
"Like hell I am! I don't need fixing!"
"As you can see, this is where you got your stubbornness from." Qrow whispered to the sisters. "Definitely runs in the family."
"I HEARD THAT!" Zhang and Tai yelled.
"Heh, some things never change, do they?" Raven chuckled.
Summer giggled. "Nope!"
"Come on, let's go. We're seeing Mikan! …Wait a minute, where is she?"
BGM: Starship Mario C (Super Mario Galaxy 2)
With the four classmates…
Hiyoko rubbed her temples. "So let me get this straight… you fought Junko in the Underworld, almost died a third time, your three headed dog friend saved you, dunked Junko into the River Lethe, she forgot what it was like to feel despair and suddenly, she gets a heel-face turn just like that?"
"Pretty much. I think she's choosing a life of exile now." Chiaki said.
"You know, you could've just LEFT HER THERE!"
"I wanted to… but something was eating at me. Like… her evil side was erased and all that's left was a shell of her former evil self. Leaving her there just… didn't feel right."
Hiyoko sighed. "Chiaki, I love you… but may I remind you she put you in the maze of HELL and we were forced to watch you die, we partake of the despair and we all do this despair shit that we're not proud of! Let's not get started on the simulation where THAT version of you died! Seriously, I think the biggest "fuck you" to Junko would be to just kill her."
"Mmmm…" Ibuki had her arms folded. "Ibuki doesn't think so."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Hiyoko asked.
"Well, Junko tends to be a masochist so giving her death wouldn't exactly be a "fuck you" when she would just have a smile on her face. It'd be giving her what she wants… so honestly, Chiaki-chan dunking Junko into the river would be the ultimate "Fuck you" to Junko. She's like a clean slate now, right?"
"Exactly. She had a "What have I done?" look on her face." Chiaki nodded.
Ibuki nodded. "Mhm. Truly souds regretful… even if it is Junko we're talking about."
"It does sound believable buuuut I suggest we keep an eye on her just in case." Mikan suggested.
"This is JUNKO for crying out loud!" Hiyoko exclaimed before sighing in annoyance. "Chiaki, you're far too nice for your own good sometimes, I swear."
Chiaki nodded. "Yeah… but what exactly would you have done in my shoes? I couldn't just leave her there… as much as I wanted to."
"I know… I know, it's not who you are. It's just that I wasn't ready for the fact that Junko's back again!" She let out a sigh. "As long as she's not bothering us, we should be okay… hopefully."
"Sooooo… anywaaaaay, you can pretty much summon anything in those video game powers you got?" Ibuki asked.
"Pretty much… all the way to the Wii U era. As you know, I died before I had the chance to see the PS4 and Xbox One. Though I did dabble with the Switch and played some Breath of the Wild. Pretty fun, I have to say. Oh… and before that, I tried out ARMS and 1 2 Switch… that last one was a bit awkward."
"So, theoretically, you could easily bring in the Marvel gang from Marvel vs Capcom." Hiyoko said.
"Pretty much."
Ibuki's eyes sparkled. "Oh, awesome!" She said while Hiyoko and Mikan grimaced and pulled Chiaki to the side.
"Just to be safe, you might not want to summon Deadpool." Mikan admitted.
"Huh? Why?" Chiaki tilted her head.
Hiyoko pointed her thumb to Ibuki. "Because we already have a Deadpool! Bringing in Wade would probably cause the universe to go insane."
"Ooooh, good point."
"Hey! For the record, Ibuki's nothing like Wade Wilson, thank you very much. …Although, could you imagine the fun we can have together?"
"NO!" All three of them yelled.
Ibuki slumped a bit, pouting a little. "Party poopers…"
"Mikan! There you are." Tai walked over to her. "Think you can check on my dad real quick?"
"Oh! Of course." Mikan nodded as she headed toward the infirmary.
End BGM
Meanwhile…
"Where are you going?"
"Don't fret, dearest. I'm not going anywhere. I'm always watching over you, like the sun in the day and the moon in the night."
"What about when it rains, and I can't see the sun or the moon?"
"I will turn into a star in the clouds and wait for your tears to dry."
"…Who's there?"
BGM: Luma (Super Mario Galaxy)
Rosalina lifted her head and looked around with her bloodshot eyes, feeling a presence in the room. She could feel something behind her and turned her head but nobody was there. "Rosie…" Rosalina turned her head toward the door, as if someone was calling out to her.
She slowly lifted herself up, straightening herself and gently put Snom on her bed as they were all curled up and asleep, she walked out of the room and looked around. "Who's there?" She repeated as she could feel a presence from above as she looked up before levitating toward the top. She could feel the presence coming from behind the Garden, where she would look to see the Gateway. A place where she had sealed off just in case if any Phazon made its way through and infected the Observatory.
She flew toward the Gateway, wondering if she's gone crazy. "Rosie." The voice repeated as Rosalina hesitated but dismissed the seal and walked through the doorway, finding herself on the planet… and to her surprise, the planet wasn't infected.
"What on earth…" Rosalina wondered as she looked straight toward the monument and levitated toward the top. She walked toward the edge and looked over it.
"Rosie."
A bright light enveloped the monument as Rosalina turned her head to see a familiar figure, her eyes widened in surprise. "Mother…" She whispered.
"You've been through a lot this past intergalactic adventure, haven't you?"
Rosalina looked away. "I… yeah… it's been rough. But wait, how are you here? You're sleeping underneath the tree…"
"Let's just say you needed some loves… you could definitely need some. But fret not, I'm not like the little petal's mother. I won't be long."
Rosalina slumped a little. "Oh… right." She said, rubbing the back of her head. "You truly have been watching over me after all this time, haven't you?"
"Yes, and I can safely say I'm proud of you, darling. You made lots of new friends, especially that odd ball named Ibuki and that bounty hunter you call Samus. They definitely look after you, don't they?"
Rosalina let out a chuckle. "Yeah, they do." She smiled before frowning. "However, we lost one…"
Her mother solemnly nodded. "Yes… Mario."
"And I… I just don't get it!" Rosalina blurted out. "What does Dimentio want with us anyway? Why is he so fixated on chaos and destruction? It's all just… so confusing. Is he just bored out of his mind or is he such a… intergalactic hellfiring good for nothing black hole? Don't get me started on those Space Pirates…"
"Hmm… I can feel your frustrations. After all, it wasn't the first time you've gone Supernova. Although, in my opinion, I believe the second time was more catastrophic than the first time you went off. You've never once had to deal with anger… as you are not easy to anger. In your years, you've grown to be a very patient and compassionate young woman."
"I've done a lot of meditating… but… that didn't work out this time. I've meditated a lot, I've received a lot of hugs, I've been listening to some easy listening songs, I've vented my frustrations out in the Doom Slayer's fortress… none of this worked. I've desperately tried to keep myself from going supernova and… well, you can guess how that went. An entire galaxy just… wiped off the map."
"Indeed. Now why was that?"
"It's because of what they did to the first set of galaxies that… no matter how hard I try to tune out, I can't… and the more I thought about it, the angrier I got and it's just so… so… aggravating." She clenched her fists and closed her eyes, her body trembling and her voice breaking. "I… I don't even know what to do… for the first time in centuries, I'm so… lost and I don't know if I can keep on…"
Rosalina felt a comforting hand on her shoulders as her mother wrapped her into a hug. "Shhh… it's okay, my little cosmic one…" She whispered. "I know what the problem is… you're the protector of the universe and because of what the Space Pirates are doing, it's a massively heavy burden on your shoulders and you think it is yours to bear. Because of that, it's been stressing you out without realizing it, which played a huge part in your supernova and why you were unable to calm yourself down unlike those other times. Even when you were facing the X-Parasites, you were able to hold yourself together."
"What am I supposed to do…"
"Honey, don't fret… you shouldn't bear this burden alone. You may be the cosmic protector of the universe, but you shouldn't one woman army it all the time. You could have easily stopped Bowser and Eggman but you chose to protect your home and the Lumas from any other danger, and in that, you made lots of friends. You have friends who can share the burden with you. After all, this isn't just your fight… it's everyone's, especially with Samus."
Rosalina sniffed a little. "You're right…"
"I understand your frustrations, I would be frustrated as well… but you shouldn't lose yourself over this. You have so many friends, you should be able to lean on them for support… as I have done with your father on numerous occasions. It just pains me to see my precious girl despairing so much… with all the love everyone gives you, but the Space Pirates are refusing your peace that you desperately desire."
"Mhm…" Rosalina sniffed again.
"Rosie. I'll continue to watch over you always, as I have done these past centuries." She pulled away, looking at Rosalina before gently kissing her on the forehead. "I love you, as does everyone else."
"I love you too…" Rosalina smiled.
"Oh… and I apologize for leaving you so sud-"
"No, don't apologize. It wasn't your fault." Rosalina reassured her. "I don't blame you for never waking up after we spent the night sleeping under the stars."
Her mother smiled. "You always were easy to forgive. You get that from me. May the stars shine down on you, my little cosmic flower." She said and disappeared.
End BGM
"Wow!"
"Ah!" Rosalina yelped in surprise as she turned to see Ibuki approaching, and joining her were Chiaki, Palutena and Samus.
"What kind of light show was that? That was pretty!" Ibuki smiled.
"You feeling alright?" Samus asked. "We came to check on you but you weren't there. Then we saw the seal off of the Gateway and got a bit nervous, honestly."
"Sorry for scaring you." Rosalina said before looking out into the stars. "I was just… talking with an old friend."
"Aww!" Ibuki smiled.
"There's… something else." Rosalina took a deep breath. "I didn't think of it… but what the Space Pirates have done and what they've been doing, especially with what happened earlier with me going supernova… I… have been stressed out, which was what was preventing me from truly calming down."
"You know, I wondered if that was the case." Palutena said.
"So… this is something I never thought I'd do. I'm the protector of the cosmos, and yet… I can't always just one woman army it. I've been so focused on trying to stop this mess, I never once considered asking for help…" She put her hand on her chest, gently closing it. "Please… help me restore order to the cosmos and put an end to this phazon nightmare…"
Samus smiled. "Of course we'll help you. That's what we do." She put her hands on her shoulders. "Rosie, you might be the most powerful woman in the universe, but even someone like you needs someone to lean on every once in a while. Even the strongest needs a shoulder to cry on."
Rosalina sighed. "I've been strong for so long on this adventure…"
"Yeah, but now…" Samus smiled. "We'll take the Space Pirates on together… all of us will. No need to bear it alone."
"Yeah!" Palutena smiled.
"You got us, Rosie-chan!" Ibuki grinned.
Rosalina smiled and hugged the three, leaving Chiaki by herself. Awkward… She thought, awkwardly rubbing her arm.
"How… how do you do it for so long? You usually do it alone." Rosalina said.
"Mmm, comes with the territory of being a bounty hunter." Samus shrugged.
"By the way, did you get any of your abilities back?"
"Well, I got my Screw Attack back along with my Wave Beam… and this new Aeion ability called the Phantom Cloak. Makes me go invisible but it does drain my Energy Tanks if I have it activated for extended periods of time. That's all I got this round. Would I have liked my Zero Laser back, yes… but this'll do. Though… I'm curious to see what I can find in the Fortress of Doom, could be something worthwhile. After all, I have the Portal Beam that I got from Aperture so maybe I can find something in there."
"Ahem!" Ibuki cleared her throat, catching their attention. "We gonna acknowledge the elephant on the planet?" She motioned her head to Chiaki. "Rosie-chan, this is Chiaki-chan!"
"Chiaki?!" Rosalina said in surprise. "As in like, your friend that you've mentioned?"
"Yup yup! The very same!" Ibuki grinned as Rosalina looked at Chiaki, smiling.
"It's nice to meet you!" She said cheerfully.
Chiaki blushed. Oh wow, she's a lot more gorgeous and prettier in person! …Not to mention she's taller than I thought she'd be. She thought before smiling. "It's nice to meet you too, Rosie!"
"So, are you good?" Palutena asked as Rosalina looked up toward the stars.
"May the stars shine down on you, my little cosmic flower."
"Yes. I'm good." Rosalina smiled. "Let's go kick some cosmic butt."
"That's more like it." Samus smiled as they walked off and headed through the door as Rosalina snapped her fingers to re-seal the planet.
Meanwhile…
"Oh my, this is a lot of nerve damage." Mikan said. "I'll see what Eirin-san and I can do to fix this."
"Good." Tai nodded.
"Son, before you go, let me ask you something if it's not too much trouble." Zhang spoke up.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"You back on the dating scene yet?"
"Actually, yes. I'm currently dating someone."
"Atta boy. Glad to see you're building your harem." He teased, which they both heard a spit take coming from Mikan.
"You okay?" Tai asked.
"Y-yes, I'm fine! D-Don't worry about me!" Mikan said, trying her hardest to keep herself from giggling.
"So, who's the lucky girl? …And do I have to keep this a secret from Summer? You know how she gets."
Nearby, Reisen was busy getting Ghira comfortable with Kali and Blake by his side. "Thank you…" Ghira said.
"You feeling okay?" Blake asked.
"Aside from being shocked out of my mind, yes… it takes a lot more than that to knock me down."
Kali smiled. "That's good."
Outside…
"Heeeey! There's the cosmic gal!" Daisy waved. "How you holding up?"
"Oh, a lot better." Rosalina smiled as she stared into the worm hole that the Grand Star opened up. "So, shall we?"
"We were waitin' for you, my good woman!" Lubba said and with a nod, Rosalina raised her wand up to put a force field around the Observatory as they would then fly through the wormhole.
BGM: World 6 Map (Super Mario Galaxy 2)
As soon as they went through the wormhole, they would see a supermassive black hole nearby. "Ooooh… shite…" Gloria paled.
"Mmmph!" Hiyoko stiffened, remembering what happened the last time they were near a supermassive black hole.
"Seriously, that's where it took us?" Polari sweatdropped as Rosalina tilted her head.
"Interesting… the Space Pirates took us here?" Rosalina wondered.
"I've seen worse." Samus said.
"So uuuuuh, tell me we're nowhere near the Event Horizon…" Ruby hoped.
"Nope, but the gravitational pull is pulling us in. Hang on a second." Rosalina clapped her hands as a field surrounded all of the ships and teleported them far away from the black hole, where they would se the supermassive black hole in the horizon and they would see the darkness of space and surrounded by stars.
"Okay, that's way better." Weiss said.
"Indeed. We get to enjoy the view and not worry about death literally behind us." Willow agreed.
"Are we still in range of these galaxies?" Polari asked.
"Well, I have good news and bad news." Rosalina responded. "The good news is, we're in range. The bad news? Bowser's fortress is sitting comfortably close to the Event Horizon."
"Don't take me anywhere NEAR that monstrosity, Green Stars be DAMNED!" Hiyoko yelled.
"What's with her?" Chiaki whispered.
"Remember the black hole at the end of Super Mario Galaxy?" Ibuki whispered back.
"Yeah? …Oh… ooooooh…"
"Yeeeeeeah…"
"Don't worry, Hiyoko! I'll calm you down!" Chiaki said, summoning the Ocarina of Time and started to play a song… but all of them heard thunder as it started to rain on the Observatory.
"Cosmic rain is a thing?" Ruby asked.
"I… don't think that's a thing." Blake responded.
"Aaah, nice and refreshing!" Hat Kid smiled while Pichu and Newt happily played in the rain, even Caboose joined in.
"Whoops, that wasn't right… I was going for Zelda's Lullaby." Chiaki sweatdropped. "My Ocarina skills are rusty…"
"Well, the good news is… it cooled the Observatory down a little." Polari said.
"It's making Starship Mario a little greener!" Lubba said.
"It's flooding my shell!" Captain Koopa complained.
"Oh, you're just overexaggerating." Junior said as Captain Koopa took off his shell and dumped out buckets of water from it. "…Huh! I'll be darned." He mused as the rainstorm stopped.
"Well, it definitely improved my mood!" Viridi said.
"…I appreciate the help, Chiaki." Hiyoko sighed.
"So, we got anything going on?" Bowsette asked, while Rei, Marnie, Lillie, Ann, Makoto and Haru wrung out their hair.
"Yeah, we have two galaxies ready to be explored… Melty Monster Galaxy and Clockwork Ruins." Rosalina said.
"Clockwork? That's where Morton's at." Kamek said.
"Then let's go get that idiot!" Roy smirked as Launch Stars were made and they launched away.
End BGM
Melty Monster Galaxy Power Star #1 - The Magnificent Magma Sea - SPBRR, Penny, SAPR, Chiaki, Ibuki
BGM: Melty Monster Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy 2)
"MMMPH!" Chiaki grunted as they landed on the grounnd.
"You okay?" Ibuki asked.
"Ju-just give me a minute… that was a bit of a hard landing!" Chiaki said, putting her hands on her knees.
"Ah, you'll get used to it." Ibuki smiled.
"Woo, okay. Let's rock and roll!" Chiaki said as they headed toward the Pull Stars, but Chiaki would immediately see a Warp Pipe. "Ooooh!" She hopped on in where Ibuki would jump on in after her.
"Warning! Lava monsters are present throughout these lava planets." SAPR warned.
"I think those are Blaarghs… or at they Magmaarghs? I get them mixed up." Blake sheepishly said.
"Definitely Magmaarghs!" Penny said as one tried to bite down at them.
Pause BGM
Meanwhile…
"Yo! You up for some bowling? Try to score five thousand points or more to win!" The Chimp said.
"I got this." Chiaki said, summoning a Wii Remote. "Ibuki, do you have-"
"Yup!" Ibuki handed her a Rock Mushroom.
"Thank you!"
"What's with the white stick thing?" The Chimp wondered.
"Oh, experimenting." Chiaki responded, combining the Rock Mushroom with the Wii Remote, which turned into a gray Wii Remote with an antenna attached to it and a little LED screen in the middle.
"Ooooh, fancy…" Ibuki mused as Chiaki raised her arm up.
"Just like Wii Bowling-" She said and thrusted her arm as a rock shot out of it and bowled over the Pinheads, getting herself a strike, then she twisted the Wii Remote while keeping an eye on the screen. "-But with a twist."
Ibuki jawdropped. "What in the WORLD?" She said in disbelief.
"Remote controlled rocks… now I've seen everything!" The Chimp mumbled. "…Just look at that concentration." He said as Chiaki thrusted her arm up which made the rock jump over a ledge and bowled over more Pinheads, swiftly went around the spinning platform and soared over the ramps… while knocking over every Pinhead.
"Yay. I win." Chiaki smiled as Ibuki and The Chimp both jawdropped.
"H-here… t-take it, ya showoff!" He said, giving her the Power Star as the girls hopped back in the Warp Pipe.
"Ibuki always misses a few pins, how did you do that?"
Chiaki shrugged. "Practice, I suppose?"
Ibuki then turned her attention to the Rolling Lane planet. "You wanna try out the big leagues?"
With the others…
Resume BGM
The group landed on the Magma Sea Planet. "Whew, and I thought Melty Molten was hot." Blake said.
"Eh, this is nothing." Samus shrugged.
"Yeah, considering you're in your Gravity Suit." Blake rolled her eyes, then Rosalina snapped her fingers as the rest were cooled down.
"Pika!" Pikachu smiled.
"Boop boop."
"That's much better." Blake smiled as they hopped over the lava pits while seeing waves of lava going through the platforms where they would either wait or Rosalina would part the waves for them until they continued through.
"Hmm?" SAPR picked up on something in her radar. "Hey, sis? Are you-"
"Yeah, I'm picking up on it too." Penny said.
"What are you two talking about?" Blake asked.
"We're picking up on some large activity up ahead!" SAPR called out.
"Sounds to me they revived another monster of my past. Alright…" Samus cocked her arm cannon. "Who are we blowing up this time?" She smirked as they hurried along, jumping over climbable poles and landed on platforms, where Rosalina would lift them off the ground and levitated them over the lava falls where they would see their monster in front of them.
"…Okay, that's ugly." Blake said, watching the red monster casually chill and bathe in the lava.
"Hello Crocomire." Samus said, charging up her Plasma Beam. "This will only take a moment!"
"Wait!" Penny put her arm out.
"…What do you mean "wait"?" Samus asked.
"I don't think that creature means any harm." Penny said.
"What are you… okay, Penny? I think the heat got to you and your sister's circuitry. Stand aside!"
Pause BGM
"Hold it… they might be on to something said." Blake walked over to Crocomire, where it would turn its head toward the Faunus. It curiously looked at her before raising its hand up as Samus was about to fire… only to see it patting her on the head.
"…Huh?"
Blake blushed a little. "Okay, I take back the ugly part. This is actually kinda cute."
"Aww! He likes you!" Penny smiled.
"Okay, sure, cute, he has a thing for cats." Samus rolled her eyes. "I'm still blowing that head off!" She charged up her Plasma Beam, but then noticed Crocomire picking up Pikachu. "PUT MY LITTLE BUDDY DOWN RIGHT THIS VERY…" Crocomire put Pikachu on his head, causing Pikachu to laugh. "…Second…? Okay, he has a thing for cats and Pokemon… whatever! I'm still-"
"Goodness me, the size of this beast is unreal!" SAPR said.
"Not to mention the eyes are big and… cool looking!" Penny grinned as Crocomire let out a few roars. "Aww! He said thank you!"
"…And gets flustered by nice robots but I'm still-" She would see ROB scanning Crocomire.
"Boop beep."
"Yes yes, he's very healthy, now can I shoot-"
Rosalina floated over to Crocomire. "I have to say, you look very imposing for such a cute thing!" She said as Crocomire let out another roar.
"…What the hell is happening right now?" Samus wondered in disbelief.
"Samus, I think this one of the friendlier creatures!" Blake said.
"How can it be friendly? That thing attacked me on Zebes and I shot it into acid. A fitting end for the beast, I'd say! Plus I got the Grapple Beam out of it…"
"Rrrr. Roar Rar Roar. Grr. Grrr."
"Uh-huh. Mhm. Oh, I see. Ooooh…" Penny nodded and turned to Samus. "He says that he was lonely and seeing you drop in, he was going to give you a headpat but you kept shooting at him, so he fought back until you dropped him in the acid."
"Headpats?! Are you out of your mind! Everything on that planet was trying to kill me! …Okay, mostly everything was trying to kill me, but how… okay, I think the lava fried your circuitry!"
"Boop boop. Bop Bop Beep Boop."
"What do you mean they translated it correctly?!"
"Rrr. Roar Grr Roar Rar."
"If you wanted the Grapple Beam, you could've just asked." SAPR translated.
Samus dismissed her helmet, her eye twitching a bit as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's official. I've gone totally insane. Everyone's siding with the beast!"
"Roar roar rrrr."
"It was trying to be friendly and you wouldn't let it give you a hug." Penny responded.
"A HUG?! Are you even… what…?!"
"Mmm, I think he's just friendly." Blake said. "A friendly beast who was just trying to defend himself from the big bad bounty hunter." She said, rubbing his belly. "Yes, weren't you?"
Rosalina giggled. "I say he was~!"
"Totally!" Penny agreed with SAPR nodding.
"Boop boop bop bop bop."
"Bring him to the Observatory? Are you out of your-"
"Roar rrr roar."
"Says when he was revived, he didn't want anything to do with the Space Pirates and just wanted to chill and relax." Penny said.
"That's relatable." Blake said with Rosalina and Pikachu nodding.
"Wait… are you suggesting that all this time, Crocomire was just a docile creature?!" Samus said.
"Yes/Pika/Boop/Roar."
"…Unbelievable." Samus groaned as Crocomire suddenly grabbed Samus. "Whoa whoa, hey hey HEY! Put me down!" She yelled as Crocomire hugged her. "Mmmph!"
"Cute!" Penny giggled.
"This is humiliating…" Samus mumbled as Crocomire put Samus down and patted her on the head. "Mmmph…" She folded her arms in annoyance, a small blush was seen on her face.
"By the way, we're looking for the Power Star. Do you know where it is?" Penny asked as Crocomire reached into the lava and pulled out the Power Star, handing it to Penny. "Ah, sweet!"
"Well, that's all I needed to see. I'm extracting you all out of there now." Palutena said. "Plus, I've made another platform for Crocomire… because we're bringing him along for the ride too!"
"WAIT, WHAT?!" Samus yelled as they were all taken back to the Observatory.
Resume BGM
Melty Monster Galaxy Power Star #2 - Bowling For Two - Chiaki, Ibuki
"Aaaaagh!" Ibuki yelped.
Chiaki winced. "Well… you got further ahead that time."
"Come on, Ibuki's mastered this in Galaxy 2… this shouldn't be so hard!" Ibuki said as she pressed the A Button, holding it to make it grow until it formed into a boulder as she thrusted it like a bowling ball, controlling it and slamming it into the crystals to get more Star Bits as she would then bounce off the railings… and then saw the Power Star up ahead. "Yes… YES!" She grinned as she thrusted her hand up as the boulder jumped into the ring with the Power Star. "YES!" She fist pumped… which caused the boulder to jump off the ring and into the abyss. "ACK! NO NO NO NO!"
"That's heartbreaking…" Chiaki grimaced, then popped a Star Bit in her mouth. "On the bright side, we got a lot of Star Bits out of this."
Ibuki sighed, handing the Wii Remote to Chiaki. "You try it."
"Oh, my turn? Cool." Chiaki conjured up a boulder and then threw it. "Don't worry, Ibuki… this level was difficult for me too. That and, let's be honest, this is way different then sitting in front of a TV."
"Yeah, she knows. Thought she'd finally get the Power Star after like… ten tries." Ibuki sighed. "Soooo, you think you wanna upgrade your Gaming Powers?"
"Oh, I wouldn't mind that. Would be cool to see what kind of stuff I can pull in the later years. Maybe we can do that when we get back to the Mushroom Kingdom."
Ibuki smiled. "Yeah… soooo, another question, what was with the X-Wing?"
"Well, I was going to go for a 3D model of the Galaga Ship and- whoops, hold on." Chiaki corrected herself as the rock bounced off the railings and jumped over the gap, then she bounced back and jumped up to grab the Power Star, where it spun around and flew toward the group. "Got it!"
"First try?!"
"I know, I'm surprised myself." Chiaki chuckled. "Anyway, I was going for a 3D model of the Galaga Ship but we accidentally turned it into an X-Wing so it's… basically a Galaga/Star Wars Hybrid model."
Ibuki grinned. "Sweet!"
End BGM
"Yup." Chiaki nodded, taking the Power Star. "Alright, got it."
"Let's go!" Ibuki grinned as heavenly lights surrounded the duo as they went back to the Observatory.
Clockwork Ruins Galaxy Power Star #3 - The Ledge Hammer Trap - Koopalings, Bowsette, Rei, Marnie, Junior, Neo, Roman
BGM: Slipsand Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy 2)
"I guess this is where we're supposed to go?" Roy guessed as they were at a pink Launch Star.
"I believe so." Marnie nodded as they hopped into the Launch Star and flew off toward the Huge Hammer planet, all of them landing on the planet.
Pause BGM
"RAAAAAAAH!" A voice cried as they looked up to see a heavily blue and black colored Morton.
"Morton! There you are, big guy!" Lemmy said.
"Ah geez… the Phazon got him good." Marnie grimaced.
"Well, we'll just knock-"
"MORTON SEE CORRUPTED FRIENDS. MORTON KNOCK CORRUPTION OUT OF YOU."
"-It… out… of… him…? What did he just say?" Roman asked.
["Uh oh…"] Neo signed.
"MORTON CRUSH CORRUPTION WITH HAMMERS."
BGM: Mollusque Lanceur Battle (Super Mario Odyssey)
PHAZON CRUSH - Morton
Morton swung the hammers down on everyone, forcing them all to dodge but in Rei's case, she phazed through it. "Morton! Buddy! We're not corrupted, you are!" Junior exclaimed.
"CORRUPTION MAKE LORD JUNIOR LIE. LORD JUNIOR'S CORRUPTION MUST BE STOPPED."
"Okay! I think the corruption made him more of a dimwit!" Wendy said.
Rei phased out of the hammer. "You think that's the case?"
"I have absolutely no idea." Bowsette said as Morton swung the hammers down, trying to cry Lemmy and Larry.
"Yo! Big guy! You almost crushed us!" Larry exclaimed.
"You deflated one of my balls!" Lemmy said.
"BAHAHAHAHA! I think we can all agree that the Phazon made him dumber and we're all screwed!" Iggy said.
"GEE, YA THINK?!" Wendy yelled as a hammer was swung down on Bowsette but she caught it.
"Nnngh! Go!" She yelled as Marnie, Neo and Ludwig ran through.
"MORTON CRUSH PHAZON."
"We're not corrupted, ya moron!" Roy yelled.
"I don't think he's listening!" Roman nearly got flattened by a hammer.
"Alright, I'll go see what's up." Marnie said as she teleported to Morton. "Hey big guy!"
"HELLO MARNIE. MORTON SEES YOU ARE NOT CORRUPTED."
"Yeah, it's great. So wait, why are you attacking us and saying stuff like "Crush Phazon" or something?"
"PHAZON BAD. MORTON HELP BY CRUSHING PHAZON OFF OF EVERYONE."
"Hmm…" Marnie looked at the corruption more closely as she put her metal hand on it, then she pulled away to see a hand print, then looked at her metal palm, then used her biological finger to trace the blue color, then she pulled away. "…Oh, you gotta be kidding me." She said with a chuckle. "Guys! GUYS! He just has blue and black paint on him! He's not corrupted!"
"WHAT?! THEN WHY IS HE ATTACKING US?!" Roy yelled.
"Morton, sweetie… take a closer look at your siblings and friends. Do they have corruption on them?" Marnie asked him gently.
"HMM? …OH. MORTON UNDERSTAND." Morton said, turning off the hammers.
End BGM
"You dope!" Roy exclaimed as they climbed up to meet him. "You just pretended to be corrupted?! How did you get paint on you?"
Earlier, at Bowser's Castle…
"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
"MORTON HEAR LORD BOWSER IN TROUBLE! MORTON IS COMING!" Morton yelled as he took a running start and then jumped off the ledge… aaand into a giant can of black and blue paint. "Blub blub blub…" Morton came out, decked out in blue and black. "MORTON FILTHY BUT MORTON COME FOR LORD BOWSER."
Back in the present…
"Wait, did he jump into the… ooooh, I was gonna paint the Chomp house with those colors!" Junior sighed.
"I wondered why paint splattered everywhere…" Rei mused.
"The paint never dried?" Wendy raised an eyebrow. "No, seriously, that stuff should have dried by now."
"MORTON FELL IN MORE WET PAINT."
"…I'm not even going to ask."
"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!" A voice yelled as a dark portal opened up as Dark Samus came out, looking absolutely annoyed. "You mean to tell me you just dunked yourself in paint?!"
"PAINT CUSHION LANDING."
"…Well, you know what! That's fine… I'll just re-corrupt you all right here, then we'll see who has the last-" Morton picked up a hammer. "…Laugh…?"
"BLUE LADY TALK TOO MUCH." Morton said, swinging the hammer down right on Dark Samus.
"Oh!" Roman winced.
"Eh, she deserved it." Marnie shrugged with Neo nodding.
"BY THE WAY. GLOWING STAR THINGY." Morton said, pulling it out. "PLUS, MORTON NEEDS THIS OFF OF HIM."
"…I think I know a gal who could rinse that off of you." Ludwig said as the heavenly lights surrounded everyone and sent them away.
Clockwork Ruins Galaxy Power Star #1 - Time for Adventure - Toad Brigade, Sun, Neptune, Cardin, Laura, Nesta, Merlin
Resume Slipsand Galaxy BGM
"Now this looks like a good place to explore!" Captain Toad said after they landed, then turned his head to see Laura and Nesta having collapsed on their knees.
"You'll get used to it." Cardin said.
"Mmph… we gathered!" Laura said before standing back up. "Alright, let's explore this world!" She grinned before spotting a purple comet flying by. "Oh?"
"We got the Purple Coins!" Sun said as he and Neptune went off to collect them while the others walked on the mills and jumped across each one while they spun.
"I have to say, Cardin… I wasn't expecting you to jump into this kind of world." Nesta said as she looked around while at a stationary platform. "It's all so breathtaking…"
"Yeah, well… space gives ya the opportunity to explore." Cardin shrugged. "I mean, exploration's not much my thing… but hey, what can you do?"
Nesta smiled. "It's full of wonder." She said as they got into the Launch Star and launched away while Sun and Neptune took the purple Power Star.
"Got it!" Sun said, high fiving Neptune as they would head over to the Launch Star and flew toward the Pusher Wall planet.
"Help me! I'm trapped!" A Luma called out.
"Don't worry, I know just the thing!" Captain Toad pulled out his pickaxe and tried to break the lock. "Hmm…"
"Maybe you just need a key." Toadette said.
"Nonsense! I can do this…"
"This is gonna be a while…" Blue Toad mumbled as Nesta looked toward Merlin, who nodded and flew up to investigate before spotting a key and coming down with it, letting out a little screech.
"Huh?" Captain Toad turned his head. "Oh please, like that'll be so easy." He said as Cardin took it and then unlocked it.
"There." Cardin looked at him smugly.
"…Oh, I loosened it for ya." He mumbled as the Luma transformed into a Launch Star and they flew to the Rolling Drum Planet.
"Whooooa, those are some big… crushing wheels." Neptune said.
"Think we should get that big space man to help us out?" Laura asked.
"Doom Guy? Nah, we don't need him to help us out with this!" Sun responded as they would move around and ducking underneath the small gaps underneath the millstones as they hopped over the gap and did the same thing with the other millstones.
"Good thing they're slow." Nesta said as they walked ahead and then started to climb up while avoiding the spikes on the walls.
"Hey bro?" Laura spoke up.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have a girlfriend yet?"
"What's it to ya?"
"I just wanna know! Besides, there's plenty of cute girls at the Observatory!"
"I'm not interested in any of them."
"Okay, so how about that red head who's in Sea5ons? Chelsea, was it?"
Cardin blushed as he pulled her up. "We're in a platonic relationship."
"…Uh-huh." Laura looked at him with narrowed eyes. "You like her."
"Do not!"
"Then why are you blushing when I keep saying her name? Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea~"
"I do not like her!"
"Your ears are red!"
"So?!"
Neptune nudged Sun. "Was Leone ever like this with you and Blake?"
"Dude, she was like this every time I had a crush on anyone."
"Ha! Knew it." Neptune said as they climbed on a Millstone with the Toad Brigade.
"Oh, but sweetie, Chelsea's cute. You might have to ask her out some day." Nesta winked.
"Yeah right… I don't think she's that into me."
"Oookay, if you say so, hon." Nesta smiled.
"GOT IT!" Sun said, snagging the Power Star. "Let's go!" He exclaimed as they were all enveloped in a bright light and were sent away.
End BGM
"Soooo, truth or dare?" Mine asked boredly.
"Truth." Chelsea responded.
"If you could date anyone from CRDL, who would it be?"
Chelsea blushed a deep red. "Dare!"
Mine raised an eyebrow. "Oho! You're seeing somebody from CRDL."
"No, I'm not!"
"Your face says otherwise. Let's see… Russel? Dove? Sky? Or perhaps Cardi-" Chelsea's face went redder. "Aha! You'd date Cardin."
"N-no! You misunderstand! Cardin and I are good friends and we're in a platonic relationship and-"
"Uh-huh." Mine folded her arms. "The blush says otherwise."
"Mmmph!" Chelsea blushed harder, hiding her face. "You can't see it now!"
"There's steam coming out of your ears." Akame said.
"Ack!"
With Tatsumi…
"Hey, Sayo!" Tatsumi walked over to her. "I think I got something for ya."
"Hmm?" Sayo wondered as he tossed Selene's Bane to her.
"Figured this would suit you." He said as Sayo tilted her head and then activated it, as a cerulean blue photon bow appeared.
"Whoa! …Cool, this is awesome!"" Sayo said and then grinned. "Thanks, dude!" She said, high fiving Tatsumi.
With Crocomire…
"Interesting… a monster that was revived but wanted nothing to do with the Space Pirates…" Kamek mused. "Fascinating!"
"…Kamek, I know that look. What are you thinking about?" General Guy asked.
Kamek chuckled. "I, for one, think that we should have Crocomire be part of the Koopa Troop."
"This thing? …Ya know, I can definitely see that." General Guy said as Crocomire was on his back, bathing in lava and was acting casual about it, letting out some monstrous hums.
Nearby…
"Tch, that's the ugliest monster I've ever seen…" Cinder mumbled, as she heard thunder again as it started to rain again. "Ugh, again?"
"MORTON CLEAN. THANK YOU LITTLE GIRL." Morton said, hugging Chiaki.
"Mmph! Big softie, aren't you?" Chiaki giggled, patting him on the head.
"Tch, whatever." Cinder mumbled.
"Don't you want to socialize or are you too, a monster?"
Cinder rolled her eyes. "Madame… will you go away and shove it?"
"I'm only speaking the truth… after all, remember what happened that made you where you are today? You got exposed… and only true monsters get exposed."
"Zip it."
"Remember that time when you killed Rhodes?" She smirked. "You truly are a monster."
"Says the monster who kept tormenting me. Besides, you're just in my head, I can easily block you out if I wanted to."
"Only a monster calls other people monsters."
"The hell does that even-… that makes no sense!" Cinder said before shaking her head. "Beat it. Go back to hell or wherever you ended up."
"I only speak the truth. You… will never change." She said, pressing a button as Cinder felt the stinging pain all those years ago.
"Aaagh!"
"Without me, you are nothing." She said as Cinder fell on her hands and knees, growling.
"Too bad you're not in the physical plane… because I would throw you into room with that Charizard! I'd bring the marshmallows…" She smirked.
Madame smirked. "Is that so? Throwing me in there with that beast? How horrid of you, Cinder."
"I should've killed you the moment you electrocuted me the first time."
"But you didn't. You allowed it to happen."
"That's because your daughters were obnoxious whores! Yeah, I said what I said… brats aren't just good enough for-" Another "electrical shock". "Nngh! Damn you, power of suggestion!"
"I will always be here, Cinder… to remind you how horrid you really are."
"Fuck off…" Cinder mumbled.
A little ways away, Bowsette watched on with a hint of worry on her face. "Who is she talking to…?" She wondered.
"Man, that is just sad… she's like she's at war with herself." Emerald said before scowling. "Tch, not my problem anymore." She walked off as Bowsette walked over to her.
"Hey… Cinder, are you okay?"
"Nngh… I'm fine. Beat it… I'm just… not myself right now."
Bowsette frowned. "Okay, if you say so…" She said, rubbing her arm. "Look, I'm just worried about you."
"You shouldn't worry about me. I'll be…" She narrowed her eyes at a smirking Madame. "Just. Fine." She gritted her teeth, letting out a small snarl.
With the Space Pirates…
Dark Samus walked out of the portal, looking heavily bruised after her encounter with the hammer. "You look a little… bruised." A Zebesian said.
"Yeah, that's because those Koopa Troop idiots nailed it… or whatever. UGH! Whatever… my plan to dominate this universe is mine for the taking… and nothing is going to stand in my way!" She said and walked off.
"Is it me or has she become highly unstable after her armor came off?" A Space Pirate asked.
"I think she started to become unstable around when the Koopa Troop left…"
"I'm starting to think Ridley is the true leader."
"Yeah… he always has. She's just delusional… once the time comes, we cause a mutiny. It might kill us, but it'll be worth it."
"Agreed. I'm sick of her too. All of us are."
Meanwhile…
"Gah!" Esdeath yelped as she fell on one knee, her aura flickering. "Damn these creatures!" She said as several Phazon-infused Grimm roared as she turned her head to see the Winter Ops keeping the others at bay. "We shouldn't let these get through!" She said as she got in her stance as a Phazon-Infused Beringel lunged at her… when suddenly, a large sword slashed through it, destroying it easily. "Huh?"
"Don't worry. Everything will be alright." A voice said as Esdeath's eyes widened, seeing Sephiroth in front of her.
"Sephiroth?"
"Hey, don't forget us!" A voice said as Yuffie jumped in, then Red, Cloud, Aerith, Tifa and Barret sided with Sephiroth as they all had their weapons out.
"I didn't take you to save someone other than yourself." Cloud said.
Sephiroth smirked. "I suppose there's something special about that woman."
"Hey, will you two cut it out with your dick measuring contest for two seconds and focus?!" Yuffie spoke up.
"Right… we'll worry about this later." Cloud said and turned his head to Esdeath. "Leave it to us. We'll help you out."
"Right…" Esdeath nodded, her eyes fixated on Sephiroth as the Grimm charged and Cloud and the gang rushed ahead with Aerith providing the magic and Barret shooting down the stragglers.
Thanks Log for suggesting we spare Crocomire!
Ibuki: Does she detect something from Sephiroth and Esdeath?
Naaaah...
EDIT: I remembered wrong, Sayo gets Selene's Bane, not Ieyasu.