Night passed and the morning arrived. The time was 9 AM. Most of the people at the hospital were just waking up and getting their breakfast. This was the day that the ultimate choice would have to be made among all of them.

Mario lazily opened his eyes and yawned. He rolled his head over to the left and saw Peach snoozing in a chair.

"What the? Peach? When did you get here?" Mario loudly asked. This woke up Peach and made her fall out of her chair.

"I'M AWAKE, I'M AWAKE! PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY HAIR EXTENSIONS AWAY!" Peach cried and scrambled on the floor.

"Uhh, Peach? It's me, Mario! Snap out of it!" Mario yelled and Peach stopped scrambling and looked at him.

"Oh, Mario! You're awake! Me and the others came to the hospital late last night because half of our group got disgusting injuries from a bunch of cocky ghosts so I just decided to stay here with you all night long," Peach weirdly described. Mario raised his eyebrow.

"Wait a second, half of your group got injuries!? Luigi...is he okay? And you were with me all night, you say? Well, where the hell was Pauline during all of this!?" He demanded to know.

"Pauline? Why would you mention the devil's daughter to me like that!? I came here to see you because I love you, duh! Who cares about Pauline!" Peach yelled in frustration.

"Well, I'm sorry Peach but I don't-"

"Mario, you're awake!" Yelled Daisy from the other side of the room. She walked over to his bed.

"Daisy? You were here too? Okay, can someone tell me what the hell happened here!?" Mario asked.

"Basically, last night we returned from our mission and successfully got the gem. However, there were some of us who had sustained injuries from the boss fight so we all decided to head on over to the hospital, have the injured people get treated, and spend the night here. We also decided to make a huge announcement today here. We need more people to come with us on the mission for the gems. Honestly, we could've gotten killed during that boss fight, so it's a miracle that we managed to scrape by. That's the gist of it," Daisy explained.

Mario sat up, looking a bit overwhelmed by all the info he just heard. "I see...I understand. But Luigi, did he get hurt? Where is he!?"

"Yes, he did get hurt, but he's alright. He's over there," Daisy pointed to the opposite corner of the room. Luigi was lying on a bed and Mario could easily notice the black eye he had.

"Oh my god, what happened to him!? He's not in a coma, is he!?" Mario rushed out of his bed and ran over to Luigi's in immediate panic.

"No no no, he's fine, Mario! He just got punched in the eye by one of those annoying ghosts that actually look more like blobs if I were to be honest with you," Daisy explained.

"Wait...ghosts? Where the hell were you guys at exactly?" Mario asked.

"At Luigi's Mansion. The second gem was said to be located there and we encountered Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss there along with, surprise surprise, King Boo," Daisy answered.

Mario looked like he was going to faint because of how much shocking info he had been told. "My god, and you guys managed to defeat ALL OF THEM!? Jesus, looks like you were going through total hell there. Those ghosts do NOT like to play around."

"Tell me about it. Thankfully, thanks to Doopliss, we found more info about Tatanga's world domination plans and we'll reveal it all at the announcement in the cafeteria," Daisy explained further.

"Ugh...M...Mario?" Luigi uttered. Mario turned and gasped.

"Luigi! You're awake! Daisy told me what happened. I'm so glad you managed to get out okay! You didn't crap your pants, did you?" Mario asked.

Luigi shook his head. "No. I was brave, Mario. I defeated King Boo and he gave up the gem to me. I won against him for the second time...it felt amazing."

Mario showed a wide grin once he heard that. He felt proud of his brother for taking charge and defeating the big bad once again. It almost made him want to cry because of how strong and confident he has gotten over the years.

"What's going on in here?" Pauline asked as she walked on in.

"Ugh! Is it me or did the air just get totally rank?" Peach scowled and Daisy snickered.

"Pauline, there you are! You had me worried sick! Where have you been?" Mario asked in worry and ran up to her. Peach raised her eyebrow at this.

"Sorry Mario...I fell asleep in one of the other rooms last night after eating my dinner. I'm almost positive that Kammy Koopa slipped something into my dinner since I saw her wave her wand and point it at my food from the corner of my eye. She most likely put sleeping powder on it," Pauline explained.

"Aww, it's okay. I was just worried something had happened to you..." Mario said and smiled a little.

Peach started to feel awkward because of how close Mario seemed to be getting to Pauline.

"Uhh...hey Mario, look at my dress! It got ripped because Fire Bro tore some of it off to help with Waluigi's slice wound! Don't you agree that he should've torn off Daisy's dress instead?" Peach tried to direct his attention back to her.

"Huh? Did you say something, Peach?" Mario asked, not bothering to turn his head to her. Pauline was clearly trying to hold in a laugh.

"Uhh...alrighty then! So Mario, we're going to get our group together now so we can discuss what we're going to be saying at the cafeteria. Meet us down there in 15 minutes, okay? Come on Luigi!" Daisy instructed and helped Luigi out of the bed. The couple quickly walked out of the room, but Peach just stood there, looking completely confused toward Mario and Pauline.

"Why don't you take a picture, Peach? It'll last longer!" Pauline insulted and smirked, noticing that the princess had been staring for quite a while.

"Peach! Are you coming with us!?" Daisy called out from the doorway. Peach snapped out of her 'state' and went with them.

"So what was that all about exactly? Why were they here?" Pauline asked.

"Oh, they just slept here last night apparently. I think they were exhausted and injured from their mission so they decided to come here to rest," Mario explained.

"Ah, I see. And what's going in 15 minutes at the cafeteria? Is Peach finally going to confess to everyone that she's the worst princess the kingdom's ever had and will give her position of power to someone worse, like Waluigi?" Pauline asked.

"Hey! Peach isn't that bad! Yeah, she doesn't make a lot of smart decisions...and she also spent over a billion coins last year on fur coats which could've easily been sent to charity...but she's a responsible and mature woman who always knows what she's doing. Just like you, Pauline. Peach could learn SO much more from you!" Mario complimented and got red in the face. Pauline nodded in agreement.

"I know she can. Such a shame she hates me...oh well, her loss is my gain!" She smirked and kissed Mario.

"Daisy, did you see everything that happened in there? Mario looked like he was totally into Pauline more than me! It's because my dress is ripped, isn't it!? That totally turned him off!" Peach cried.

"Ugh, Peach! It's not because of your dress. Mario was just...I don't know. I'm guessing him and Pauline are becoming friends since they've been stuck here together while we've been out doing our mission. But trust me Peach, I know Mario and he is DEFINITELY not the type of guy who would ever cheat," Daisy tried to assure the panicking princess.

"If you say so..."

Peach, Daisy, and Luigi walked down the stairs to the first floor and met the others by the staircase.

"There you guys are! Do you not know how long we've been waiting here!? My grandpa can walk faster than you three combined, AND HE ONLY HAS ONE LEG!" Birdo roared.

"Woah! What up with the attitude, girl?" Daisy asked in shock.

"Sorry about that. Me and Birdo didn't get much sleep last night. The room we were sleeping in was right next to a room that a guy and a girl were in and they were...making a lot of noise...yeah, I don't think I need to need to go further than that," Yoshi awkwardly explained.

"So how come you didn't just change rooms then?" Luigi asked.

"Because it was the only room we could find that had no one else in it! Plus, I found a stash of apples in there! PRAISE THE STARS!" Yoshi cheered.

"Okay, can we please move on to more important matters now? We need to talk about what we're going to discuss in the cafeteria and how to convince people that they should come with us on the mission," Dixie said.

"Well, Mario is practically guaranteed to come with us, so that's one. Can anyone think of others that would hop on board right away?" Daisy asked.

"Um...not really. Not to sound rude but the majority of the people here aren't that strong and so, they would be pretty skeptical and unconfident about going with us. Yeah, we're going to need A LOT of persuasion if we want this to work out right," DK said.

"Wow DK! Judgmental much? And I thought that I was the asshole of the group!" Waluigi scowled.

"That's because you are, you pink-nosed, overgrown elf!" DK retorted.

"Okay okay that's enough you two! Stop the drama and start the seriousness. We're going to have to capitalize the importance of the mission by telling them about Tatanga's machine and what it will do if we don't get all the gems in time. It will put most of them in fear, but that kind of emotion will drive some of them to want to help in order to save the world. Any thoughts?" Fire Bro thoroughly explained. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Wow! That was actually...smart and...not annoying, weird, stupid, or crazy at all! Are you feeling okay, Fire Bro? Please tell me you're not on drugs!" Toadette asked out of curiosity.

"Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Don't I always act this way?" Fire Bro questioned.

"Uhh...no you don't. In fact, you act the extreme opposite. I didn't know cocaine could make crazy people act normal!" Toad shrieked.

"I'm not on drugs! And crazy? What? Are you guys playing some sort of mind game with me here? Because it ain't funny!" Fire Bro exclaimed in worry.

"Well this is certainly odd. His energies aren't as unbalanced as they were before, they're much more stable now. Perhaps Kylie injuring his head caused his brain to work back to its normal self?" Rosalina suggested.

"What!? Since when did my head get injured? Have you all gone nuts!?" Fire Bro shrieked, wide-eyed.

"Um...we, like, need to discuss this at a later time. Like, we don't wanna waste any time because we, like, wanna make sure we get all the gems before Tatanga does his generic world domination plan!" Goombella exclaimed.

"She's right, let's get back on topic here. So what Fire Bro said is a really good point. We're gonna HAVE to reveal what Tatanga is up to to everyone otherwise it's going to be much harder to get people on board. Can anyone think of anything else to say that can help add support to our speech?" Daisy asked.

"We should tell them all to bring fruit with them, because you know, they're gonna get hungry while doing the mission!" Yoshi said with a wink. Daisy facepalmed herself.

"Okay, I assume that's the gist of it. I'll get in there and draw everyone's attention towards us and then I'll begin the speech. You guys all understand?" Daisy asked and everyone nodded except for Waluigi.

"Ugh, seriously Daisy!? Trying to hog the spotlight again? You just never change, do you?" Waluigi smirked.

Daisy growled and her face turned red. "OKAY FINE! IF YOU THINK I'M SOME ATTENTION WHORE BECAUSE I JUST WANNA BE A LEADER, THEN HAVE DK DO THE FREAKING SPEECH THEN! GOD!"

Everyone was taken back by her sudden explosion.

"Geez! Chill out Daisy, I was just being my sarcastic douche self!" Waluigi cringed.

"Yeah well, kinda hard to not take your sarcasm seriously WHEN YOU ACT LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME!" Daisy yelled again.

"Oh...that is very true," Waluigi nodded in agreement.

"Ugh! DK, you're doing the speech, or at least you're starting it off. Anyone else can join in if they have something they want to add. And I want NO argument on this!" Daisy demanded.

"Wait...so does this mean that I don't have to say anything and act like I know everything about what I'm doing?" Peach asked.

"Um...yes?" Daisy responded in conclusion.

"YES, FINALLY! I am SO tired of doing speeches to the public, do you know much time all that wastes? I could be, like, using the time to shop for new pink dresses!" Peach complained.

"Are we suppose to be surprised by this?" Birdo questioned.

"I don't know! I just need to go use the bathroom and powder my face since I think my spray tan is running. Back in a few hours!" Peach said and ran off.

"Since when does Peach use spray tan? And...since when does it take her hours to powder her face!? I swear to god, I'll NEVER be able to figure her out..." Toad scratched his head.

"I have to go to the bathroom as well. While I'm there, I can just force Peach to come with me if she happens to be doing something entirely different than powdering her face. Back in a few!" Rosalina said then ran off as well.

"Okay then. Well, let's get in there and get started, shall we?" DK said and led the group to the cafeteria.

"Toadette, how long do you think we can keep it a secret that Mario is cheating on Peach? If this keeps going on, then we're gonna have to tell her sooner or later!" Toad whispered.

"I don't know, okay!? If we tell Peach now, it's going to break her heart and it could screw up the mission! If we don't tell her, then we're just delaying the inevitable! I have to think more of this through!" Toadette yelled.

"Tell Peach what exactly?" Yoshi interrupted the conversation.

"AGH! YOSHI! Uh...we were just...um...we were saying that we can't tell Peach that...um...s-someone stole her strawberries! Yeah! How unfortunate is that? That means she's gonna have to go all the way to the store and buy some more! Talk about exhausting!" Toadette lied.

"Seriously Toadette? You're the worst liar ever! Tell us the real truth about what could break Peach's heart right now!" Birdo demanded.

Toadette slowly turned to the pink creature. "Wait...you...heard all of that?"

"Uhh, we all did, Toadette! You were literally yelling that sentence out loud for the whole world to hear!" Daisy spoke. Toadette noticed that all the group's eyes were on here.

"Way to go sis, now look at what you've done! Curse you and your naturally loud voice!" Toad insulted.

Toadette shifted her eyes back and forth. "NO! THE SECRET SHALL DIE WITH ME! I'LL NEVER TELL YOU!" She then tried to run away...only to run into a garbage bin and both of them were knocked over.

Waluigi rolled his eyes and turned to Toad. "Alright mushroom head, what's going on here? And you better tell us the truth!"

Toad sighed, knowing that there is no way to avoid this now. "Fine...I'll tell you. I didn't experience this personally, Toadette and Goombella did. But, to sum it all up...Mario is cheating on Peach for Pauline."

Everyone else gasped except for Goombella since she obviously knew the truth.

"WHAT!? No...that...can't be! GOOMBELLA, IS THIS TRUE!?" Dixie asked loudly.

"It is...me and Toadette saw the two, like, making out and groping each other when we went to say hi to him last time we were here. YUCK!" Goombella answered.

"What in the actual HELL!? Man oh man, I would never thought in a billion of years that Mario of all people would be the one to cheat on his partner! Especially since he's cheating with someone who's known to 'get around'!" DK exclaimed.

"I know, right!? I mean, if I ever did that, at least you guys would see it coming! But since this is Mario we're talking about, there is no excuse!" Waluigi shook his head.

"But I don't understand! Why would my brother do...THAT? He knows that kind of stuff is wrong and he knows that poor Peach is going to be heartbroken when she finds out!" Luigi cried.

"Well, actually...him and Pauline have been seeming real close together ever since we first visited the hospital. Everytime we visited Mario, Pauline would always be there. I'm guessing the two bonded when we were gone and...fell for each other, I suppose?" Daisy revealed.

"That's still no excuse for him to cheat on her! We need to tell everything about this to Peach as soon as she comes back!" Birdo demanded.

Toadette skidded back to the group. "NO! WE CAN'T! If we tell her now, it might screw up our mission! That's why us three wanted to keep it a secret for a long while because we didn't want any unneeded drama in our group!"

"Well Toadette, if Mario doesn't stop this BS soon then we're gonna HAVE to tell her anyways! What kind of friends would we be if we knew about all of this, but never told her? She would be furious with all of us!" Fire Bro pointed out, surprising everyone again.

"Wow! Again, that was totally logical and helpful! You might not be on drugs, but maybe you're on some kind of pill? ...Or do those count as drugs anyways?" Yoshi wondered out loud.

DK rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Okay look, we need to get this speech in the cafeteria done NOW. I know this might sound rude, but we're gonna have to come back to this topic at a later time since we've got bigger issues at hand."

"But what about Mario though? What are we going to say him, knowing that he's cheating on Peach?" Goombella asked.

"Simple. We beat the crap out of him until he learns his lesson! HA HA HA!" Waluigi evilly laughed.

"IDIOT! Violence won't solve anything in this matter! When we see Mario, we'll just talk with him, okay? Do NOT bombard him with questions or give him an attitude because we don't wanna make it seem like we're ganging up on him. Do you guys understand?" Daisy asked and everyone nodded. "Good. Now, we have to keep it a secret that Mario is cheating on Peach with Pauline from everyone else, and that includes Rosalina! Only us 11 will know about it!"

"WAIT, WHAT!? MARIO IS CHEATING ON PEACH WITH PAULINE!?" Jojora screamed in shock, who just so happened to be walking by. Luckily, no one else was around to hear her.

Daisy's jaw dropped and she slapped her forehead again. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

"This has nothing to do with you, Jojora! Mind your own business!" Birdo angrily stated.

"Um, excuse me, but as head gossip reporter at Channel 64 News, IT IS ALL MY BUSINESS! Plus, I'm curious to know as to why Mario would do such a thing. I mean come on, him...cheating on Peach...FOR PAULINE!? If you're gonna cheat on a princess, at least do it with someone classy!" Jojora complained.

"Can you keep your voice down already!? There's more than enough people knowing about it as it is!" Dixie yelled.

"Jojora, I know you have no life because you're obsessed with getting the latest gossip put on your blog, but please, DO NOT REVEAL THIS TO ANYONE ELSE! The less people that know, the better!" Toad pleaded.

"Okay fine, I won't tell anyone...on one condition! You have to tell me where you got the this info from! AND I DO TOO HAVE A LIFE!" Jojora yelled.

"Me and Toadette, like, witnessed it all the last time we were here to see Mario. I'm gonna have nightmares for, like, weeks!" Goombella shuddered.

"Interesting...an eye witness account. That's the best kind. Let me go make a status on Twitter bragging about how I learned a huge secret but won't bother telling anyone about it, this frustrating my fanbase," Jojora said and whipped out her cellphone.

"Alright now, let's get this over and done with!" Daisy said and led the group into the cafeteria. Jojora followed along to see what they were doing.

DK got up on an empty table in the middle of the room and proceeded to get everyone's attention. "HEY EVERYONE! OVER HERE! I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE THAT YOU ALL SHOULD HEAR AND NOT IGNORE!"

Everyone quieted down and turned their heads to the ape. Mario, Pauline, Peach, and Rosalina came in right when this happened.

"Oh hey, it's that sexy ape! How ya doin' big boy!?" Bombette flirted.

"So, I'm gonna make this as brief as I possibly can. Do any of you guys remember seeing a short, purple alien-like creature when you were all captured?" DK asked. Most of the people in there nodded. "Well, if you didn't know, the alien's name is Tatanga. Me and my group helped get you all out of the castle and chased Tatanga away. However...you guys still are not safe."

The people had confused looks and began to murmur to each other.

"W-What do you mean we're not safe!? Are you telling me that there is more to that scallywag's plans!?" Bobbery asked.

"What I mean by that is, Tatanga is planning to do a generic world domination plan. To go further in detail, Tatanga is going to take over the world by using some sort of machine that is going to kill half the people in this world and make the other half his slaves...which I guess isn't so generic in itself," DK revealed. A lot of gasps were heard and the talking grew louder.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH! HOLD ON A DAMN SECOND HERE! IF ANYONE IS GOING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD, IT'S GOING TO BE ME! I DEMAND TO KNOW WHERE THIS ALIEN BIZNATCH IS AT RIGHT NOW SO I CAN FLAME HIS PURPLE ASS!" Bowser roared and stomped near the middle.

DK rolled his eyes at the koopa's overreaction. "That's actually the next part. Now, there IS a way to stop Tatanga from doing this. We need 9 gems in order to unlock this 'safe' thing at Isle Delfino that will give us a mystical item called the Crystal Star Rod. Why do we need this, you ask? Well, an island that Tatanga is on has some kind of invisible barrier around it, we can't get in. Apparently, the Crystal Star Rod is powerful enough to break through this barrier and invade the island. We can use this item to help us defeat Tatanga and any enemies he has there and save the world."

There was a look of hope in some of the spectator's faces, though they still seemed iffy about all of it.

"Now, we have two of these gems, but we need seven more. Arfur, one of the guys that helped build this place and runs a secret agency called Mushroom Corporations, knows the locations of these gems and he can help us. However, what I'm about to ask of you guys is probably going to sound incredibly risky and perhaps idiotic as well," DK warned.

"What? Are you going to ask us to give you a million bananas because you think you're the head ape in the game!? YOU MONKEYS ARE ALL THE SAME!" Kazooie yelled and shot a grenade egg from her mouth.

"WHAT THE FU-"

BOOM!

DK was blown away and he crashed through the back wall, creating a large hole to the outside. Everyone else gasped and some even screamed at the sight.

"KAZOOIE, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT TO INNOCENT PEOPLE! AND I THOUGHT YOU LOST YOUR EGG ABILITY!?" Banjo got in her face.

"I DID lose it, but that old witch over there granted me it back! I've always thought that all witches were evil, but boy was I wrong!" Kazooie cheered and pointed to Kammy.

"And so you assume that every monkey is an egotistical asshole as well?" Banjo asked and slapped his forehead.

"Um, I'll take it from here! And can someone see if DK is okay?" Rosalina called out as she went to stand on the same table DK was standing on before. "Okay...where was he? Ah, that's right, I remember. Let's start by asking the 'big' question that me and my group want all to decide on as soon as possible."

"How about let's start with you kissing my furry ass!?" Kazooie yelled again, and people gasped at her inappropriate language.

"KAZOOIE! KNOCK IT OFF!" Banjo raised his voice.

Rosalina was deeply offended by this. "Okay, I'm sorry, but can you please escort your friend out of here? She needs to understand that this is EXTREMELY important and we can't have any time for unneeded drama right now."

"OH, I'M SURE YOU'LL FIND MY EGGS HARD TO UNDERSTAND!" Kazooie roared and shot another grenade egg from her mouth.

"Oh my!" Rosalina shrieked.

BOOM!

Rosalina was blasted away and crashed through the wall, right next to where DK did.

"Alright, that's it! THIS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH!" Banjo screamed and grabbed Kazooie out of his backpack and began slamming her body down on the floor by her neck all over the place. People cringed at how violent it looked. After about a minute, Banjo was done and Kazooie was knocked out cold.

"I terribly apologize for that. Please continue on, she'll be no more trouble," Banjo said with sincere respect.

"Um...okaaaaaayyyy then...I guess I'll continue the speech from here," Daisy said in awkwardness as she stood on the same table. "Anyways, this is the question we need to ask you all. Actually, no, not a question, it's more of a request. We need more help on this mission to collect the gems. The last time we went to collect the second gem, all of us were brutally injured and were close to being killed. We wanna make sure that we can get all these gems so we can ensure our guarantee in defeating Tatanga in saving the world. We wanna make sure that, in case some of us die, there will still be other people that can carry on with the mission. I know that this seems dangerous and overwhelming and trust me, it is. But if we want to prevent Tatanga from carrying out his plan, then we NEED at least some of you to join. I know that most of Mushroom City is destroyed, but think of what would happen once Tatanga took over. You think Mushroom City being ruined is scary? Try the entire country being in ruins all because of one guy. Hell, try the entire WORLD being in ruins all because of one guy! Plus, millions of innocent people are going to die due to him, and some of them are most likely going to be you guys! Like I said, I know this task is terrifying and stressful, but it's worth an enormous cause in the end. So...what do you all say?"

The room was silent for a minute. It became clear that everyone was trying to take the shocking news in as best as they could. Some looked scared. Some looked confused. Some looked sad. Literally everyone was having different emotions and thoughts about this.

"You know that I'm in," Mario spoke and walked to Daisy. "I could never let an opportunity like this go away in my life. We ARE going to defeat this guy no matter what."

Daisy smiled a little and nodded her head, still having the thought of Mario cheating on Peach lingering in her mind.

"Oh Mario, I knew you would join! You are soooooooo brave! You should get a nickname for that like...uhh...oh! Super Mario!" Peach cheered and hugged him.

"Um, Peach? That IS his nickname," Birdo said and rolled her eyes.

"I suppose I'll join too. I know your little group detests me, but you're gonna have to deal with it. I wanna be there when this Tatanga is defeated for good," Pauline said. Peach scowled a bit at her, but Daisy looked more understanding.

"I'm in! It wouldn't feel right if I backed out on kicking some evil ass! Plus, I couldn't bare to stand another moment with not having Dixie around!" Diddy cheered and ran over to the monkey gal. Dixie heavily blushed at this.

"Errrr...fine! I'll join! But only because my brother is a part of the justice group! If he wasn't, then I would just be sitting on the rooftop and eating garlic like I always do!" Wario groaned and high-fived Waluigi, who both cackled.

Daisy rolled her eyes, not believing a word the fat man was saying. "Gee, thanks for your support. Anybody else?"

Goombario jumped up in response. "ME! I wanna go too! I have an IQ of 180 so my obnoxiously superior genius capabilities can be of real use on the journey! Plus...I get to be with Goombella!"

Goombella nervously gulped. "Um...sounds like loads of fun..."

"Koops? Are you thinking about joining?" Koopie Koo asked.

"I...I...I wanna join! I feel like with this mission, I can grow so much more. I wanna help people...I wanna help beat evil! I know that I've already done this with Mario almost a decade ago but...I wanna do it again. I wanna see how far I can push my limits," Koops said in courage.

Koopie Koo sighed almost disappointedly. "I kinda figured you were going to say that. Okay then. If you wanna go, then I won't stop you. You are a courageous Koopa after all."

"Wait a second, you don't wanna come with me?" Koops asked.

"No. Koops...if something bad happens to you...or me...I want one of us to be alive and continue living. They said that the mission was going to be incredibly dangerous and I hate to say it, but it's possible something bad might happen to you out there. If I go with you, something bad could happen to me too. But here...there's safety for now at least. If you...d...die...I want to carry on and have you in my memory. If this world domination happens sooner than expected and I...die...then I want you to do the same for me. I don't want both of us to go out there and having to see one of or both of us die. It'll be too much to handle all at once. And obviously, both of us can't stay here because you wanna go really bad, so...go. I'll always be here, waiting for you," Koopie said in the most comforting and caring voice. She kissed him on the lips and Koops was almost on the verge of tears.

"I'm with you guys all the way. I really wanna say some extremely long and important monologue right now but I can't think of anything that sounds smart so I'll just leave it at that," Kooper stated.

"Well, if the fate of the world lays in our hands, then we must take advantage of it, shouldn't we Vivian? Besides, I've certainly grown tired of just sitting here and munching on Kit-Kat bars all the time! I'm in!" Flurrie cheered.

"I'm right there with you, Flurrie! Are you coming along, Ms. Mowz?" Vivian asked and turned around, expecting to see the thief but there was no one there. "Huh? Where did she go?"

"HEY! WHO THE HELL STOLE MY CHERRY CAKE!? CHERRY IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE AND IF I DON'T GET IT BACK IN THE NEXT 60 SECONDS, SOMEONE'S GOING TO GET BITCHSLAPPED!" Sushie roared and flipped a table over in anger.

Vivian shook her head. "Miss Mowz...not again..."

"Ooh, I am SO joining in, especially since the sexy ape is coming! Plus I can bomb the crap out of random enemies! What about you, Watt?" Bombette joyously asked.

"I...I guess I'll come. I mean, what's the worst that could happen besides death, pain, destruction, and anxiety?" Watt hesitantly asked.

"Um...is that a rhetorical question?" Bombette raised her eyebrow.

"Since it seems that there are more people opting out than coming along, I'm gonna join," Parakarry blandly stated but Birdo got in her face.

"Hold up right there, mailboy! I've heard rumors about you, how you act like a wannabe hipster and 'go against the crowd' just cause you think it makes you look cool and smart, but that BETTER not be the only reason you wanna join!" She angrily said.

"Um...n-no it's not...I-I do wanna help! Really!" Parakarry said in fear.

"What do you think, Charmy? Should we join? I mean...if we go on the adventure with these guys, there's a possibility that one of the places they'll go to is Exploding Banana City, which means we'll have an easy route home!" Amy theorized.

"OOH! That plan sounds absolutely delicious! IT'S TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL!" Charmy roared and punched the air, accidentally hitting Amy in the process.

"Hey you guys, is it okay if me and Kazooie go too? I know my friend pretty much just blasted your two friends away, but trust me, she isn't like that. She has these...mood swings that sometimes get out of control, but it can be taken care of with the right kind of pills," Banjo shyly asked.

"As long as you manage to find something to keep that whackjob under control, you're in!" Daisy said.

"Perfect! I'll be back as soon as I can!" Banjo cheered and ran off.

"I'm going to join in as well! Winning against evil seems to be the ultimate goal here, which is my kind of speciality! Nothing is more important than winning so I'm gonna make sure we take victory!" Mona proudly said.

"Watch out Daisy, looks like you're going to be replaced!" Waluigi cackled.

"Bleck? Are you going?" Tippi asked.

"I...I DO wanna go but...I feel compelled to stay here for some reason. I don't know why it's just...I feel like there is something important for me here. I can't explain it well..." Bleck shook his head in embarassment.

"Bleck, it's okay if you don't wanna go. No one is stopping you and I don't blame you for wanting to say. We don't want to guilt trip you into doing this," Daisy spoke to him. Bleck nodded and turned around to Tippi, Nastasia, and O'Chunks.

"...I need to speak to you all right now. Privately," Bleck said in a change of tone. The three looked confused but understood anyways and they all left the cafeteria in a hurry.

"Well well well, what do we have going on there? Sounds like important business...or something that could bring a lot of drama to this place, knowing those guys," Paper Yoshi said, witnessing what just happened with Bleck's group. He followed them out the cafeteria.

"Roy, are you going?" Mimi asked.

"No, there's no point. We all know the heroes are going to win, just like in every video game and movie. Those people are making too big of a deal about this," Roy scowled.

"Well maybe it could be different this time. You can't be too sure of everything..." Mimi said in worry.

"Either way, I'm not going. I just wanna lay on the rooftop, stare at the sky, and dream a better life," Roy responded and slowly walked out of the cafeteria. Mimi was starting to feel that Roy is completely hopeless and there's no point in hanging out with someone so negative anyways. But, she wanted to take it a little further just in case.

"Dad? Are you gonna go with them?" Ludwig asked.

Bowser stared at him when he asked that question and then at the rest of his kids. He then tried to look for Roy in the cafeteria but couldn't see him anywhere. He sighed in disappointment.

"Yes, I am going. That group is going to need all the strength and power they can get...but I'm only doing it because no one is going to take over the world except for ME! I refuse to let a villain's world domination plan succeed before mine does!" Bowser yelled.

"And I'm coming with you, Lord Bowser! No adventure is complete without some witchcraft to aid the group! Yes, technically, they already have a witch in there, but that girl is boring and too soft, so I should come to balance out the personalities!" Kammy said.

"HUH!? But...what about us? We're going to miss you, dad! We wouldn't know what to do without you!" Lemmy cried.

"Kids, please, I do not want you to worry about me. You're all almost on the verge of being adults and it's time you deal with the fact that I'm not always gonna be there to help you. It's just the way it is sometimes. It sucks, I know. But I want to do this...no...I...NEED to do this. You all can take care of yourselves fine, I've seen it before. Besides, I'm only gonna be gone for a few days, possibly up to a week, at the very most. I'm sure you all can handle that amount of time," Bowser responded in maturity for once. The Koopalings all had sad and worried looks and they all hugged him at once. Even Kammy couldn't help but feel sad at the sight of this.

After a minute, they all broke off the hug and Iggy wiped his nose. "Well dad...good luck then. We'll miss you. Please be careful!"

Bowser nodded and him and Kammy walked over to the main group.

"Well, Goombella...I guess this is goodbye for now. I can safely say that I'm proud to have seen you come so far over the years. I know you're going to be a viable asset to the group and I also know that you guys have a fighting chance to defeat Tatanga," Frankly said.

"Thanks professor! You know I will, like, always try my hardest!" Goombella said with a wink.

"Can I join as well? I think with my flying ability and use of spinies, I can be a real help on the journey!" Lakilulu innocently asked.

"SCREW OFF!" Everyone yelled and threw food at her. Lakilulu cried and dashed out of the cafeteria.

"I would join you guys but...okay, I'll come out with it, I'm just too scared. I know, I know, I've been on adventures before but this, this seems like a whole new level of scary. I'm not confident that I could handle all of it," Tiny spoke to Diddy and Dixie.

"It's fine, Dixie. Like Daisy said to Bleck, we don't wanna guilt you into joining us. We perfectly understand but of course, I'm going to miss you a lot..." Dixie replied and hugged Tiny.

"Yeah, try not to worry too much about us, okay? Me, Dixie, and DK are tough monkeys, we can make it through practically anything! I promise that all of this will be over before you know it!" Diddy said in confidence and also hugged her.

"Alright you guys. I trust you. Now go on and give it your all!" Tiny cheered in encouragement.

"I'm coming along too! If we're traveling to different places, then this gives me the opportunity to promote my music to gain more fans! My popularity is going to skyrocket once again!" Lady SaSa cheered.

"I've thought long and hard about this, and I've decided to join too. But the thing that bothers me is that, who's gonna replace me and Bowser on the variety show? You all can't deny that we OWN that thing!" Jojora said. Bow floated to her.

"I can take over for you. I'm not as overly-dramatic as you are, but I can make entertainment happen for sure plus, I've always wanted to be on TV," The boo said.

"Hmm...well...alright, I trust you, but who's gonna replace Bowser?" Jojora asked again. Ludwig skidded up to her.

"Me me me! I wanna be popular and show off my cool accent and screw around with ze panel members! I'm quite a trouble maker, don't you know?" Ludwig said in desperation.

"Ugh, fine, you're on. Looks like I'm officially in!" Jojora said in satisfaction.

"So, is this everyone then? No one else wants to join?" Toad asked but no one else spoke up.

Daisy sighed. "Alright then. We're heading out right now. Everyone...this is goodbye for now. We promise to be back as soon as possible with all the gems collected. We ARE going to beat Tatanga. That is my word to all of you. Now, everyone who's coming on the mission, follow me, we are walking to Mushroom Corps and talking to Arfur and Kylie Koopa who will explain the mission more in depth."

As the big group began to head out, the Koopalings talked to each other concernedly.

"Is it a bad thing that I kind of wanna go with them on the adventure? I mean, Mario is there, maybe I can give him an atomic wedgie like I've been wanting to all these years!" Larry schemed.

"Dad specifically told us to stay here, you idiot! Do you not realize how pissed off he would be if he found you were coming along too?" Morton spat.

"I'm with Larry on this one, I wanna come too. It's boring staying in this place and I'd rather be on a journey kicking some ass that's hopefully smaller than mine's!" Bowser Jr. yelled.

"Well gee, if you wanna go THAT bad, then go on ahead. We're not stopping you. Just know that you'll probably be forced to come back once dad finds out. It all seems pointless to me..." Iggy shrugged.

"Not if I give him the puppy dog face and annoyingly beg him to! Come on Larry!" Bowser Jr. laughed and ran off with Larry.

"I...wanna go and help but...I don't want to at the same time...ugh, I just know I'm going to regret this!" Wendy struggled to make a decision but ultimately decided to head out as well.

Tatanga witnessed all of this through his scepter's ball.

"So, the bastards got more help now, eh!? DAMNIT! This means that their process of finding the gems is going to speed up now! Looks like I have to resort to threatening my workers to hurry up on finishing the machine...and I wanna find out where the hell that location was. It looked like some cafeteria..." Tatanga ranted to himself and stomped off.

EOC.

So, this is the official group that's gonna be going on the adventure as of now. Sorry if one of your favorite characters didn't get to go, but I really didn't want to make the group TOO large otherwise it would be confusing and a bit overwhelming for me. Next chapter will have the group visit Mushroom Corps and then fly off to the third world, which is NOT a Mario world. Let's just say that this place is a city in a very popular game series...

Oh, and the next time we come back to the hospital, something tragic is going to happen. The only thing I'm going to say is that it will involve the remaining Koopalings + Bleck's group + Paper Yoshi.