Main/Adventure group: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Yoshi, Birdo, Toad, Toadette, DK, Dixie, Goombella, Fire Bro

Monster truck group: Koopatrols/Rebels

Hospital group: Goombario, Kooper (comatose), Bombette, Parakarry, Bow, Lakilester, Lakilulu, Koops, Koopie, Flurrie, Spike (aka Paper-Yoshi), Vivian, Bleck/Blumiere, Tippi/Timpani, Toadiko, Toadsworth, Professor Frankly, Boshi, Fly Guy, Tiny, Toadessa, Toado, Toady, Dr. Nokano, Kallan, Bowser, Iggy, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Larry, Wendy, Bowser Jr., Toadiana's mom and dad, Wario, Pauline, Mona, Jojora, Tadano, Professor E. Gadd, Starlow, Luvbi, Clawdia, Katia, Kenneth, Toodles

Mushroom Corps.: Arfur, Kylie

Island group: Tatanga, Beldam, Roy, Doopliss, Dimentio, Mimi, Diddy

Moon: Grodus, TEC

Bleck and Tippi were transported to the top of Shooting Star Summit, right before the entrance to the Star Path.

"Huh. Very odd...I thought my magic was supposed to let me transport into Star Haven directly," Bleck said in confusion.

"Hmm? Maybe you didn't put in enough focus on the spell?" Tippi guessed.

"No no. It's definitely something else...something that's giving me a weird vibe...hmm, oh well. Let's continue," Bleck spoke in a suspicious manner but brushed it off for now. The two went into the portal that transferred them onto the Star Path. They then began their walk up on the path, admiring the beauty of the millions of stars surrounding them.

"This is beyond gorgeous. Timpani, do you remember those nights at our home where we would lay out in our backyard and count the stars and tried to find all kinds of constellations?" Bleck happily reminisced.

"Yeah, of course I do. Made me feel like time slowed down and that there really was peace in the world. But then...this happened to us...and it really ruined me…" Tippi ended her talk in a sad tone.

"It's all gonna be okay, my dear! Don't let what happened to use get you down forever. We'll help Mario beat Tatanga and we'll find something that'll get us back to our old selves. We have to keep the faith," Bleck said, hoping to encourage her.

"I'm trying to, but it's really hard. There's no spell you can think of that would change us back, though?" she asked.

"No, the magic must be done through something that's beyond divine, like the pure hearts. Perhaps I can find something that'll strengthen my magic to perform it, or we'll find someone or something along the way that can help change us back...or, perhaps, the Star Spirits can help us! I certainly didn't even realize that until just now," Bleck explained with a hint of excitement. He heard a depressing sigh from Tippi.

"It just feels like the chaos never ends...things were bad many years ago...then they were good...now they're back to being bad again. It's an awful cycle that I never want to go through again!" she cried.

"I know, my dear. The only thing I can say to you is be strong. You've done it before, you can do it again. We've suffered through things just as bad as this, haven't we?" he said.

"Yes, we have...it's just the 'suffering' part that makes me feel like I'm slowly dying and wanting it all to end as soon as humanly possible…"

The pair approached Star Haven. They immediately noticed the vibe of the tiny town reeked of despair.

"Woah! Now, I've never been to Star Haven before, but...is it just me or does this place feel...um...how do I put it...unheavenly?" Tippi asked, struggling to explain the air of mystery around them.

"I know what you mean. I've only visited once before, but the 'feel' of that last visit compared to this one is completely different. Where are the Star residents? Last time, I was welcomed here, but now...it seems as if this town has been deserted. Surely, that can't be! Unless...unless something horrible happened here…" Bleck said, hand to his chin, feeling more uncomfortable by the second by the odd desolateness.

"Well, let's just find the Star Spirits. Maybe they'll tell us what's going on," Tippi suggested and the pair continued forward, looking all around them for any sign of life or other unusual activity.

They eventually approached the palace and the feeling of weirdness and discomfort still didn't end. The two became even more nervous, hoping that nothing bad happened to anyone in the town, let alone the Star Spirits themselves.

They entered the palace, known as the Star Sanctuary, and were immediately horrified at the sight before them.

All 7 Star Spirits were in there, but they were lying on the floor, looking completely defeated.

"Oh no! NO! Uhh, STAR SPIRITS! WAKE UP! WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?" Bleck screamed.

"Erggghhh...you...you're...Count Bleck, right?" Eldstar struggled to speak.

"Yes, yes I am! Do you remember me!? I visited here a couple of years ago to know more about you guys!" Bleck confirmed.

"Of course...I...am so sorry you...ugh...have to see all this...we were ambushed very recently...that man's magic attacks were so much more powerful than we realized...he took the Star Rod and weakened us all...scared away the residents of the town with his power...we used the last of our powers to put a magic block on the town, so no one can simply get into the town via magic...erggghh…" Eldstar explained weakly, barely lifted himself up from the floor. Bleck was frightened, and looked at the spot where the Star Rod was always held in the dead center of the sanctuary. It had indeed been stolen.

"Oh my god, that's awful! Wh-what can we do to help!? There has to be something we can do!" Tippi cried.

"F...find the Star Rod...or...even the legendary Crystal Star Rod that your friends seek will help us...it'll help us regain our strengths to aid in the defeat of that monster…" Mamar spoke.

"Yeah, that's what our friends are doing right now. They have to collect 9 gems in order to find the Crystal Star Rod though! I'm assuming there's no faster way to do it?" Bleck asked.

"Unfortunately, no...ooh…" Skolar spoke with clear pain in his voice. "The Crystal Star Rod is the world's most powerful weapon to ever exist...such a thing had to be kept secret and hidden by extraordinary means…"

"I see...but, um, if I may ask...and this is gonna seem like a random and odd question, but, I must know; I had a vision of a room going up in flames, with people screaming and crying, and I could even physically smell and taste the smoke! I'm pretty sure this vision is showing St. Toadofsky's cafeteria going up in flames. Do you know why I received this vision? Why me, out of everyone? I have magical powers, but I've never had anything like this before!" Bleck explained.

"Yes...we can explain that…" Muskular spoke, and managed to lift his entire body up from the ground to face the pair. "The minute the chaos in the world below began...we did everything in our power to aid in the heroes who would triumph over the monsters trying to destroy it. But...we were blindsided from someone in that group...this person knew about us and used his magic to ruin us, make us drained and weak...the only power that we were able to successfully perform was multiple visions that we were going to input in one selected person who was destined to become part of the group of heroes and help prevail. However...it seems as if we were only able to output one vision..and that was the one of the cafeteria burning down…"

Bleck sighed and looked down, tearing up a little. "Good god. So...that's why I got the vision. But...there has to be a reason why you guys chose me specifically, right? What's so special about me? I nearly destroyed the world myself years ago! Why didn't you choose someone who made more sense, like Mario?"

"You play an enormous role in the vision, Count Bleck...that is why," Misstar spoke. "We Star Spirits can see bits and pieces into the future, but never the whole picture...agh...for we cannot and should not control anyone's destiny...or fate...or however you want to call it. We know your past, present, and part of your future. We know your magic is only used for good now...and you are much more powerful right now than you realize."

"Wow. That's so amazing, but, um, if you see bits and pieces into the future, do you know if we win against Tatanga? You had to have seen at least a part of that future, right?" Tippi asked the one question that determines it all.

"Truth be told, we have seen chaos and turmoil brought unto your land," Klevar spoke, grasping his own book as if his life depended on it. "But, we've also seen daylight and bliss make its mark in the midst of everything. As we've experienced before...ooooggh...good will always defeat evil in the end...it has to...but like with everything...it always comes at a cost…"

"Of course, makes sense. Even if we win, many will die still...but I suppose that kind of thing is inevitable…" Bleck said disappointedly.

"It's the way of the world, our friend…" Kalmar spoke in a relaxing tone despite his hurt state. "The world was never destined to be perfect...never destined to be free of darkness...but, it's that darkness...that kind of cruelty...those elements that people witness and experiences that make them stray from those things into the hands of justice and goodness. That's why there are people fighting against evil right now...that's why the majority of the world sees what Tatanga is doing as nothing but an awful blemish on the face of the world that needs to be eradicated…"

"Yeah...believe me, we both know how cold and cruel the world can be, but also how meaningful and joyous it can also be," Tippi added, noting from her experiences with Bleck in the past.

"So...okay then. Ok. We'll get you that Star Rod that Tatanga stole. We'll get you your powers back. We WILL win," Bleck spoke very determinedly.

"Tatanga…? Hmm...that wasn't the name of that man that stole our Star Rod...but perhaps he sent him to do it...no! That can't be, after everything he told us…" Eldstar said, provoking a lot of confusion from Bleck and Tippi.

"What? So, it wasn't Tatanga that stole the Star Rod? How!? Who else could it have been!?" Tippi shrieked.

"What did he say his name was...something very similar to dimensions…" Mamar said. Bleck and Tippi nearly fainted in horror the second they realized who it was.

"NO! It was...D...DIMENTIO! That's who came here and stole it! I can't believe...but, you also said you don't think Tatanga sent him here to steal!?" Bleck asked.

"No...I remember clearly him boasting about how he will be the true ruler of the world once his 'boss' was done rolling out his plans, with the Star Rod...that's why he stole...he wants more power and control than Tatanga...that man will stop at nothing to fuel himself on domination…" Skolar recalled.

"Oh my god...that bastard...he's doing the exact same thing he did to me when I was trying to destroy the world…" Bleck whispered, still in complete shock that Dimentio was going to blindside Tatanga.

"So, not only we have to deal with Tatanga, but also with Dimentio and the Star Rod...I loathe him," Tippi coldly spoke.

"Dimentio is waiting for the perfect moment to use the Star Rod to his advantage, which is why he probably hasn't used it at all yet...he's making Tatanga put all his trust into him, and then...when it comes...the biggest betrayal that the world has ever seen will occur and put everything into even more chaos…" Muskular said.

"The only thing more powerful than the Star Rod is the Crystal Star Rod...that is your guys' key to overpowering Dimentio...we had this backup plan in case something like this were to ever happen...it's somewhat easy to access Star Haven if you know the proper channels...but it's impossible to access the Crystal Star Rod without the 9 gems…" Misstar said.

"Okay. We're gonna tell the others about all of this. They're not gonna like it, and it might even put more pressure on them, but it must be done," Bleck stated.

"There is still plenty of time left...don't worry about any 'what-ifs' or worry about Dimentio...focus on helping your friends and getting those gems...that is all that will matter in the end…" Klevar said.

"And good luck to all of you...may the good grace of the stars shine down upon you all!" Kalmar exclaimed.


Grodus was in the laboratory of the X-Naut Fortress, moving the chemical bottles around in the air with his magic from his book.

"Hehe! See this, TEC? It's so easy to move things around with one simple spell straight from the mouth. All you need to do is concentrate and use your mind to do it all, as if you have telekinesis!" Grodus joyously said.

"I see...very peculiar. You've only shown me the telekinesis aspect of your book of magic though. Are you able to show me anything else?" TEC asked.

"Well, I've only showed you that part because most of the other spells in the book can be very dangerous, but...hmm...let's see here...aha! IGNIS!" Grodus shouted, and one of the chemical glasses exploded into flames, not even scaring Grodus at all.

"Interesting. Please be careful though, magic can sometimes go a little more out of control than how we want it to…" TEC warned.

"I know, I've been mastering it for quite a while now, though. Plus, I don't have my scepter anymore so I'm gonna have to make up for it with this! ULTRICES!" Grodus shouted again, and a bolt of electricity shot out from his index finger and bounced all over the room, destroying a few glass containers.

"Woah! Okay, stop! STOP!" Grodus screamed, and the bolt disappeared in smoke. "Okay...definitely could've done that better. Uhh, let's see here...DESCENDIT!" Grodus did another spell which made part of the ceiling in the room crash down, destroying one of the light fixtures in the process. "Ooh. That was a bigger mess than I thought it'd be. Hmm...VENTUS!"

A huge gust of wind started blowing in the room, and it eventually turned into a whirlwind as all the objects in the room started moving everywhere in a circular motion.

"Agh! ENOUGH! STOP!" he cried, and then the whirlwind died down slowly. "Yeah...perhaps this isn't the BEST place to practice my magic...but, hey, some spells I can do without even saying anything now! All I gotta do is focus my mind."

"Sir Grodus, I must ask, where did you get that book from? It looks...I can't compute the proper word for it at the moment…" TEC spoke with a little uncertainty.

Grodus' expression turned a little serious. "Umm...well, I guess there's no harm in telling you. I'll give you the short version of this story: Beldam knew an old, wicked witch shadow woman named Hexana and introduced me to her when we were working together during that Shadow Queen stuff. She told me that she has dark magic that's more powerful than Beldam and Marilyn's and had the one book that, according to her, is the only book in existence that is a guide on performing the dark arts.

She said some weird things like calling herself the 'Shadow Princess' and that she knew the Shadow Queen in her real form when she was way younger, and she bragged about doing a spell to send her abusive father back in time 100 years and that she created a huge forest in Sarasaland where only she resides and anyone that dares enter it is doomed to be lost forever...yeah, back then, with my mentality, I thought she was full of it and pretty much blew her off.

But...after I joined Tatanga, and started noticing how bad he was treating me...I remembered Hexana, and the conversation I had with her. I wanted to utilize her help in case things went bad for me. So, one night, I snuck out and I went to a desolate forest near where we were staying at. I called for her, constantly, and waited for hours, and finally, she showed up. She heard my pleas! I begged her for her help and apologized for how I treated her. I cried and wanted so much for something good to happen for once in a long time...and then she gave it to me. But...TEC...it came at a price…"

"What was the price, Sir Grodus? What did you do!?" TEC asked in one of his rare, emotional manners.

"The price was...that I would never find true love. That I would die alone. It may have sounded like an easy decision to make, TEC, but it wasn't. I've always wanted to know what it would be like to be in love with someone, to share a life with another person, and spend everyday knowing more and more about each other's lives...but I can't ever have it. And I have to accept that. Even before I made that deal, TEC, I was never confident that love would come into my life, even though deep down I so desperately wanted it. I've been alone my entire life, with my parents practically dropping me the second I became an adult. I can handle it, but...it still hurts…" Grodus started to sob a little and could feel the hurt in his heart as he explained it all.

"Sir Grodus...you really chose vengeance over love? Why? You do realize that makes you no different than Tatanga, correct?" TEC pointed out. Grodus rolled his eyes a little and wiped his tears away.

"No. We may be similar, but we're not the same. I'm doing this to help save the world, I'm not doing it just for me, TEC! That was never my intention in the first place. The only reason why I went along with him in the first place was because I had no other place to go. I was lonely without him. But now...I'm at the point where I don't care if I'm alone. All I want right now is for Tatanga to die and for his stupid plan to be ruined," he clarified.

"You don't need to take on all of it all by yourself, Sir Grodus. You don't deserve to be alone," TEC tried to uplift him.

"I appreciate the sentiments, TEC, but once you're gone, I'll have no one left. That's the way it's going to be and I have to accept that," Grodus refused to listen to a more optimistic viewpoint at this stage.

"Well...perhaps not. Come into my room, Sir Grodus. There's something I need to show you," TEC said. Grodus looked a little confused, but was interested in what he had to show him. Grodus went into TEC's room and faced the big screen.

"Well...I'm here! What is it?" he asked.

"I was hesitant on showing you this, Sir Grodus. It's a video from Lord Crump and his message is directed towards you. Considering your guys' history together, I didn't find it appropriate to show you this video right when you got here...but now...it might actually be helpful," TEC revealed. Grodus caught his breath and got a little bewildered on the inside from this news.

"A-A video from Crump...to-TO ME!? What? Why!? Let me guess, he's telling me how much he hates my guts and wishes I was dead?" Grodus assumed the worst. He almost walked right out of the room too because he still had a strong hate for Crump never returning him back to normal.

"No. Just watch the video, Sir Grodus. It will put everything into perspective…" TEC demanded. The screen suddenly changed to showing Lord Crump in the same room Grodus was in, standing in the exact spot he was.

"We are recording," TEC spoke in the video.

"Alright. Uhh...shoot, I don't even know how to start this off. Hmm. If you may or may not know, this is Lord Crump speaking. This video is addressed to my former chief...err, boss...well, whatever the hell ya wanna call it, Sir Grodus, but I suppose anyone else who stumbles upon this video can take it however they want it.

So...Grodus. You ran away from me to who the hell knows where. Me and the X-Nauts looked for you for some time, but ended up just giving up because we figured you didn't wanna be found. I can't blame you, though. TEC says you haven't been at your old fortress either at all, so...wherever you are, I honestly hope you're okay. Hell, there might not even be much point in talking to you because you could also be dead for all I know. It's been months since the last time I saw you, maybe even years? I dunno, I kinda stopped counting the days. The last thing I remember of you is in that hotel room at Poshley Heights...I remember arguing with you about something, then I heard someone banging on our door and then...I woke up on the floor. I figured you knocked me out and escaped that day. Well, I deserved it cause I was so vile to you! Yeah, I'm not that mad at all, to be honest, but that karma thing really is a bitch, isn't it?

My life is in fucking shambles right now, too. It really really is. The X-Nauts decided to betray me and do their own thing by causing chaos somewhere else on their own terms. They didn't want me to be their leader anymore because...well, I don't really know why! Yeah, it fucking sucks big time.

So...here I am, all alone, and not a damn clue on what to do. I have nowhere to go and no friends to stay with. I was thinking of staying here until I die, but...shit. I think that'd be my last resort. I've been hearing rumors of a great treasure in the countryside of Mushroom City, located in a tall tower place. I did some research and it's called Blackstone Tower, and there's a lot of interesting history to it. Basically, I've heard of a golden snake relic being stashed in there somewhere and that explorers have tried to find it for years but, supposedly, it's sooooo scary that no one can handle being in there for too long, or they end up missing, or...even dead. Saw a few chilling stories on the web about that place.

I'm mentioning all of this because I'm gonna go to Blackstone Tower to find the relic and make bank off of it. Yeah, it's a long shot, and probably even a death sentence, but man...I've got nothing else at this point. This is a very depressing video, isn't it? Shit, sorry, didn't mean for this to come out so dark, but I'm at probably the lowest point of my life right here.

I gotta let this out too while I'm talking about all this...Grodus, if you're listening to this right now, I'm horribly sorry for how I treated you. I'm sorry for not giving you your body back when I easily could've. I'm a total bastard and I'm probably going to hell for all the shit I've done, but I guess better late than never to try and make it better, right? Maybe? Eh, who the hell knows. So...I'm gonna rest up here for the night, and then be on my way to Mushroom City in the morning. Hey, maybe I'll find some luck on the way there and make a new foundation for myself? Never lived or even worked in a big city before, but I guess I can't be picky now, can I? Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh!

So, this is it. That's my spiel. I meant every word I said to you, Grodus. I would understand if you never forgive me or even resented me still for the rest of your life...I'm a shitty person. And if I die all alone, then, well, I'm gonna go out with a bang! Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh! Good luck with yourself, Grodus!" Crump spoke, and Grodus knew right then that he meant every word of it. The screen went back to black as he felt himself beginning to sob again.

"TEC...wh...why did you show me this?" he asked.

"Because there is another friend out there that needs you, that can be with you through your hard times. You two were bound to reconnect. I know that. I can't be a shoulder for you to hang on in the long-term, Sir Grodus, especially since I will cease to exist once this fortress detaches and hits its target," TEC answered, but his response made Grodus more emotional.

"What!? But...TEC! How long ago was this video made!? How the hell do I even start to find him!?" Grodus yelled.

"This video was recorded two weeks ago. I can pinpoint the location of where he was originally going on my screen for you, displaying a map of the area. I know this video upsets you, but I had to show you because you needed to know that you're not alone in the world. You may not find true love, but you can find true friendship still. It's never too late," TEC said in encouragement.

"I just...TEC, do you hear yourself right now!? TWO WEEKS AGO! Anything could've happened between when that video was made and now! He could've died at that place he was going to! He could've actually found that relic and go somewhere else! Maybe he changed his plan along the way and is now doing something completely different!" Grodus erratically rambled.

"Sir Grodus, I must urge you to calm down, I-"

"I'M NOT GONNA CALM DOWN! All of this is fucking crazy and ridiculous and unrealistic! I don't know what the hell you're trying to do here, TEC, but this is beyond insane!" Grodus shouted and ran out of the room in a major meltdown.

"I...I was just trying to help, Sir Grodus…sigh...detachment of fortress is now at 40%..."


"LET GO OF ME! STOP!" Diddy shouted as he was being dragged into the fortress by numerous Koopatrols.

"Oh, Tatangaaaaaaaa!" Dimentio playfully called out as glided through the hallways with Doopliss and Beldam, leading everyone else to the alien.

"What's going on down there!? Is that you, Dimentio!?" Tatanga yelled from afar, who, with Roy, eventually met up with them all.

"WOAH! Diddy!? What the hell are you doing here!?" Roy was stunned at the chimp of all people showing up.

"He was a part of that stupid crew that showed up! His good ol' loyal friend, Rosalina, shot his arwing down and landed in the ocean, but lookie here! He's still alive like a mouse surviving a stampede of humans!" Dimentio laughed.

"Woah! I can't believe she would do that to her own friend! What the hell got into her!?" Roy asked.

"Who the fuck cares!? That bitch killed Marilyn and destroyed part of MY fortress! And now YOU, chimpy boy, are gonna pay on behalf of her shit!" Tatanga demanded.

"Screw you! I'm not answering for her! And I'm definitely not telling you anything you ask of me!" Diddy spat, which pissed Tatanga off even more, so he walked up to Diddy, smacked him, and then spat in his eye.

"You little son of a bitch, you WILL answer to us OR you will die a very, VERY painful death! Send him to the cells!" he commanded, and the koopatrols dragged Diddy down into the same chamber Mimi was held, leaving the five to themselves.

"I just...still can't believe she killed my sister...I've always thought it would be me to die before her…" Beldam cried a little and shook her head, still struggling to accept the fact that she's gone.

"I know, Beldam, but we're going to avenge her, okay? Her death won't be for nothing!" Doopliss tried to cheer her up.

"I've got a plan: we torture Diddy and Mimi for information until one or both of them gives us something good, and if they keep refusing, then we just kill them. I was thinking of tying them down and pricking nails into their skin. What do you guys think?" Tatanga suggested so casually.

"Ooh! Small, yet effective! I'm sure we got a whole bunch of old, rusty nails lying around here. And, big bonus, they could even get a bacterial infection from it!" Doopliss cheered.

"I was thinking more along the lines of bashing a body part of theirs with a brick or something of the sort everytime they refuse to answer a question," Dimentio added to the torture planning.

Roy couldn't believe what he was hearing from those three. They were talking about torturing Mimi and Diddy so casually and playfully as if it was some average extracurricular activity. He tried his best not to show any disgust from what they were saying.

"I wanna bury her body first," Beldam spoke, breaking the 'fun' mood that was briefly happening. "I don't want her to remain up there all of this time. That fire needs to be put out, and we need to get her body and just bury in the sands...or maybe even in the ocean…"

"Of course, Beldam. Your sister is a priority in this case. I'll gather some koopatrols to help us out. Roy! Go to the cells and make sure chimpy boy is comfy," Tatanga ordered.

"What? But, I wanna help with Marilyn!" Roy protested, legitimately feeling bad for Beldam.

"Now! That's an order. I'll let you know when the time is for the burial...or whatever Beldam decides to do with Marilyn," Tatanga affirmed. Roy looked down and nodded, then went down to the cells.

Roy made his way to the room containing the cells and walked up to Diddy's. The poor chimp laid against the back wall tiredly and was crying a little.

"Diddy? That's you, isn't it? How did you get here?" Mimi asked, only catching a glimpse of him being brought in a minute ago.

"Mimi...what the hell? I...my friends and I came here in our arwings to stop Rosalina from going more out of control, but...she fucking shot my arwing down and it crashed into the ocean," Diddy spoke and Mimi could hear he was choking up. "I-I made it out of my arwing and swam to the beach, but Dimentio saw me, grabbed me, told the koopatrols about me...and now I'm here in this cell. I rather would've died in that crash than be here…"

"Oh my god! What is wrong with Rosalina!? How could she do that to you!? What the hell happened to her, Diddy? Why is she being like this?" Mimi cried.

"Some monster killed Waluigi, her boyfriend...she juiced herself up with dark magic to fight the monster...and she's gotten more vengeful ever since…" Diddy explained.

Roy came in quickly and headed directly to Diddy's cell.

"Diddy? Hey. Look at me. It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna get you out of here," Roy spoke softly.

"What…? What the hell are you trying to do!? Stay the fuck away from me!" Diddy yelled angrily.

"No no, it's okay, Diddy! Roy isn't like those guys, he's gonna get us out of here!" Mimi tried to calm him down.

"What!? What the hell are you talking about!? How did YOU even get here, Mimi!?" Diddy confusedly asked.

"Diddy, listen. I made a mistake joining these guys. I NEVER should've come here in the first place. Mimi and Tatanga's twin brother, Tadano, came here to try to get us to change our minds about doing all this crap, but they ended up capturing Mimi while Tadano managed to escape. Talking with Mimi made me realize that this isn't the place for me. Well...I mean, I think I've always felt that way, but I guess I just needed someone to knock it into my head. My dad coming here played a part in it as well. I promise you, Diddy, I'm not trying to trick you, this is for all for real!" Roy said sincerely.

Diddy still didn't look convinced, but tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. "...Fine. What's the plan to get out of here then?"

"I just need to find the key to unlock these cells and then we're gonna sneak out of here. There's a teleportation device in one of the storage rooms here where we can use it to bring us back to Northern Knight's Castle in Mushroom City, which is the same place you all were captured at when this all began!" Roy explained.

"And Tatanga has the key either on him or in his room somewhere. Roy just has to be sneaky in finding it," Mimi added.

Diddy sighed in frustration. "Roy, do you really think you deserve to come back after what you did? I know the Nastasia thing was just an accident, so I can forgive that, but you purposely killed Dry Bones and revealed our location to Tatanga, which led to the shooting. Not only that, but you've put your family, especially Bowser, through hell! The man has gone practically insane because of you, and EVERYONE knows of what you did! It's not gonna be as easy going back as you think!"

"Look, I know I fucked up, Diddy. I made terrible mistakes and I will NEVER forgive myself for doing what I did. But, I have to try. People can change for the better. All I know is, is that I NEED to get out of here. If I'm outcasted by my family or no one at the hospital wants me to stay there, then fine, whatever, I'll deal with it, but I just can't stay here! You have to understand that!" Roy begged for him to see his point of view.

Diddy still looked pissed off though. He was clearly thinking hard about everything and sighed again. "Fine. Go and find the key. But, Roy...I'm letting you know this now. If we're not out of here by the time my friends come here, they're going to kill you. They already think you've chosen this side permanently, and they're all at the point where they will not hesitate anymore to kill."

Roy looked horrified when he said all of that, but he also understood their reasonings. "Wow...I see. I guess I can't blame them. But...you're including my family in that too, right? They'll really kill me that easily?"

"Not too sure about your family, but yes to everyone else. But, let's not waste too much wondering about that and get started on getting that key before they show up!" Diddy said.

"ROY!" Tatanga shouted from the hall, making him jump in surprise.

"Oh! Tatanga?" he yelped.

The alien walked in, looking a little mad as he scanned the room. "Beldam used a spell to immediately cleanse the fire. We got the koopatrols putting Marilyn in a long crate that'll be used for a coffin and we're gonna send her out to sea. Come, we're gonna say our parting words to Marilyn."

"O-Ok. Sucks that she died, she was a great help to the team…" Roy said.

"Yeah. She had great loyalty to the team. Unlike...Grodus…" Tatanga spoke in an odd manner. Roy caught this and wondered if Tatanga knew about Roy also being 'unloyal,' which greatly unnerved him.

The two got out onto the beach and saw the koopatrols put Marilyn's burnt body into the long crate and began to nail it shut.

"So...Beldam? Anything to say about Marilyn while they're closing it up?" Doopliss asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Marilyn…" Beldam spoke, doing her best to hold back her tears to get out her whole speech completely. "You were the kind of sister that I wished Vivian could be. Stealthy, loyal, didn't take shit from anyone, powerful...you were the one who I felt like I could vent all my frustrations about everything without being judged for it. Even though you were so silent...you were strong and brave. You didn't need to say much for me to figure out what you were thinking or feeling. You've been on my side throughout my whole life and now...it just feels like a big piece of me is dead too...just dead.

Part of me wants to tell Vivian what happened to you...but the other part of me wants to also never speak of her again. She doesn't understand our way of being, our mentalities, how we were meant to be makers of mayhem...and I don't think she'll ever, but you know what? That's ok. I have to accept that she doesn't align with our path. She has that choice, just like we have our choice. I love you, Marilyn, and I promise I'll do my best to get back at that bitch that killed you."

"Wow...that speech kinda sounded like it was more about Vivian, than Marilyn, don't you think?" Doopliss whispered to Dimentio.

"Yeah. Grief brings out the strangest feelings and thoughts from people," he whispered back.

"Very beautiful, Beldam. Let's take a moment of silence for Marilyn, then we'll send her crate on its way," Tatanga said, and everyone stood silent. All the noise there was was the crashing of the waves and the sounds of seagulls flocking nearby. Roy looked at Marilyn's crate, then out to the ocean. This place embodied the definition of isolation. It made him think why Tatanga specifically chose this island, smack in the middle of the ocean, so far away from civilization. It made sense from an evil, strategic standpoint, but the thought of being in this place, all alone in the world kind of frightened him.

"Okay. Let's send the crate off. After this, we need to repair the barrier and make a few changes around here," Tatanga spoke. The koopatrols pushed her crate out into the waters, slowly drifting away from the shallow. Beldam let out another cry as Doopliss held her close.

"Goodbye Marilyn...goodbye…" she whispered.


8 A.M.

A beautiful morning arrived in Mushroom City after a treacherous evening from the previous day. Panic and paranoia set in on the common folks after witnessing the chaos from yesterday, wondering if danger really is afoot to them all once again.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, DK, Dixie, Toad, Toadette, Pauline, Mona, Jojora, Goombella, Flurrie, Spike, Goombario, Bombette, Parakarry, Bow, Lakilester, Lakilulu, Toadiko, Wario, Bleck, Tippi, Tiny, Boshi, Toadsworth, Bowser, and the koopalings were in a meeting room on the third floor, discussing the events from yesterday.

"So...I'm assuming none of us here got any sleep last night?" Daisy asked, noting the drained looks from everyone else.

"The kids and I got a few hours, but that's about it. I know Rosalina is back to normal now, but I still can't get all the stuff she did and said to us out of my head," Bowser replied, and some nods were seen all around.

"I still can't believe she killed Diddy! I hid myself from everything she did yesterday, b-but I'm so sorry to you all that I couldn't help! I was so scared of her!" Tiny cried, and Dixie gave her a hug to try to cheer her up.

"It's okay dearie, you mustn't beat yourself up for it! She scared all of us! And even hurt us a lot too. My back is still aching from those vines!" Flurrie exclaimed.

"Yeah, and sometimes I feel like it's still hard for me to breathe because those vines nearly squeezed my body to death. She really did a number on all of us. This sounds bad, but I don't think I can look at her the same way ever again," Pauline stated, and more nods were seen.

"God, how awful. She really did all of those things to you guys? I'm surprised no one was killed! So...are we really going to keep her around after all that?" Bleck asked the defining question that was on everyone's minds.

"I'm gonna say it right now, I don't think we should," Parakarry stated, prompting all eyes to him. "She hurt and said horrible things to us. Koopie Koo is currently unconscious because of her, and Professor Frankly is bedridden till who knows when! There's a chance she may go all 'bad' again and we can't risk that!"

"Well, that's what we're going to discuss further later on. Me and a few others have planned a 'meeting' at noon to discuss what we should do about Rosalina, among a few other things, and Kylie and Arfur will be there too. For those of you who don't know, Mona came to me an hour ago wanting to talk about these Koopatrol thugs who almost killed her on the streets while we were at Freezeflame, so that's also gonna be a discussion. Is there anything else to talk about during the meeting? Or even any comments in general?" Mario spoke.

"Koopatrol thugs!? Shit, you mean we got more assholes to deal with it!? Goddamn, we may as well nuke the city at this point because this place is crawling with maniacs!" Boshi exclaimed.

"That would mean no place for US to go to have shelter and food, dummy," Goombario spat.

"Blumiere and I want to talk about the Star Spirits in the meeting. We visited them in hopes of getting more information about Blumiere's 'vision' and...well, we came out with a lot more info than expected," Tippi said.

"Oh! And, I'm assuming it's all bad news?" Peach asked. Tippi nodded, confirming her and everyone else's fears.

"Okay then, so, that's added to the list. Anything else?" Mario asked.

"There's some of you in here that don't know the truth about Fire Bro," Jojora spoke. "Kooper and Koopie told us everything about him, his whole backstory. This is something that needs to be talked about immediately after the topic of Rosalina because we're keeping a potentially dangerous person around."

"Fire Bro!? You mean that weird, hyperactive fellow? Where is he anyways? I'm quite certain I haven't even seen him for some time!" Toadsworth pointed out.

"Yeah, me too! Has ANYONE seen him at all since we got back from Freezeflame?" Goombella asked the room. Everyone else shook their heads.

"What the hell...so, he's someone we should be weary of then!? That's fucking awesome, another person to look out for," Toadiko grumbled in annoyance.

"I see…" Mario said, confirming his own suspicions about Fire Bro from before. "That's added to the list then. Any more?" All was silent.

"I have a question," Morton spoke. "Why don't we just have the meeting now instead of later? We're all here! Might as well get it overwith!"

"Because a few of the staff members here are going to do a proper burial for Waluigi in a little while and I think we should all go. We're also doing a burial for Diddy too, although his body isn't here, we want to honor him too. Then, Dr. Nokano wants me to meet a few people who came in last night. He said it's a 'special friend' though I can't really think of anyone that comes to mind right now that would be a special friend. I also think that not everyone is here...we're missing Vivian and Koops, right? Is there anyone else?" Mario asked, and no one gave an answer.

"We'll find them later on before the meeting. So, if that's all there is, I guess we'll see you all in a little while for Waluigi and Diddy's burial, and then at noon for the official meeting!" Luigi said. Everyone prepared to leave but was immediately stopped by a shout in the room.

"WAIT!" It came from Lakilulu. "What do we do about Birdo? She has memory loss from that magic attack! How are we supposed to involve her now?"

It was a great question that no one knew the answer to. Some eyes turned to Yoshi, whereas others just awkwardly shrugged or looked elsewhere.

"Umm...the-the doctor told me last night that the attack may have given her short-term memory loss due to the impact and for how long she was unconscious for, but they weren't 100% sure because it was inflicted via 'non-physical' means according to them. They said that I should give her time and space for her to recoup, but I guess I'll try to have her come to the meeting…" Yoshi spoke, sounding like he was about to cry. Bow put her hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

"I'm so sorry, Yoshi. I know this has to be very hard on you," she said.

"We'll handle the Birdo situation the best we can," Mario stated, also sharing a look of sympathy for Yoshi. So, if that's all now, we'll see you guys later. I'm gonna go outside to check on when they'll do the burial for Waluigi. Wario? Did you wanna-"

Wario exited the room before he could finish his sentence. He seemed upset.

"I'll go check on him," Mona said and quickly followed behind.

"Poor guy. He's hurting the most out of all of us...we definitely should all be there for him during the burial. I don't think he has any other family members, so he needs us more than ever now!" Spike exclaimed.

"Yeah, and then Rosalina said some horrible stuff to him about Waluigi, about how Wario should've died instead of him, and that he couldn't protect Waluigi. Stuff like that REALLY fucks with your head and makes you feel like dirt," Pauline added.

"My god. It's bad enough that he lost his brother, but to have THAT said to him too? That's just...this whole entire thing is seriously messed up. We're ALL gonna need major therapy after this is over," Dixie said in a little bit of a joking manner, but intentionally meant for it to be serious.

"Yeah. Wario needs us, and we all need each other, especially now. I don't know a lot of you guys that well, but, um, can we be each other's support? No matter what the problem is?" Lemmy asked in a true, genuine manner.

"Of course! We're all practically family now, and I hope it remains that way after we win!" Toad said with optimism and enthusiasm. Lemmy laughed a little and patted him on the shoulder.

Everyone began to exit and part ways from the conference room. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Yoshi were the first to leave together, but suddenly, Vivian came running up to the group.

"YOU GUYS! Have you seen Koops anywhere!?" she frantically asked.

"Uhh, no we haven't. Where were you though? Everyone said that they didn't know where you and Koops were," Daisy said.

"That's because I've been looking for Koops everywhere! Yesterday, he ran off after he saw Koopie unconscious, and I've been looking for him EVERYWHERE ever since! I barely even got any sleep last night! I'm so worried for him!" she cried while tugging on her hair, indicating her restlessness.

"Woah. Ok, Vivian, calm down a little bit. We'll find him! There's no way he could've gone far from here," Mario assured.

"That's awful though! I wonder if seeing Koopie like that 'broke' him again?" Peach wondered out loud.

"MARIO! And friends! There you are!" Dr. Nokano shouted from down the hallway behind Vivian. They looked behind Dr. Nokano to see a few familiar faces following him.

"No way! I don't believe it!" Luigi yelled in complete surprise.

"Good morning, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, and shadow woman! I see you all are quite shocked at me showing up!" E. Gadd pointed out and heartily laughed.

"Well, yeah! But it's a good kind of shock!" Mario laughed and gave him a hug.

"Man, the last time we saw you was back at my mansion! Feels like forever ago, but I think it's only been around a week actually!" Luigi exclaimed and gave him a hug as well, followed by Peach, then Daisy. Yoshi waved at him, forcing a smile as he was still very upset at the Birdo situation.

"My name is Vivian, by the way. Pleasure to meet you," the shadow siren kindly spoke and shook his hand.

"Hello Vivian! And I'm sure you guys remember these two lovely ladies? Starlow, who has become my assistant in recent months, and her friend, Luvbi!" E. Gadd introduced the gal pals.

"Geez, what are the odds!? So great to see you two again, and we're glad that you're here!" Mario laughed again, feeling joyous in what felt like a long time, with everyone else waving hi and smiling at them.

"Likewise! We've been up to date on what's happened with the city and with you guys, and so, we really wanna help however we can!" Starlow upbeatedly cheered.

"Yeah. That woman's name is Rosalina, right? The one that went all gloomy psychotic? Thank goodness she didn't kill any of you!" Luvbi said.

"Well...she DID kill one of our friends. Diddy Kong. She crashed his arwing into the ocean, and so there's no body for us to bury," Yoshi sadly revealed.

"GOOD GRIEF! I am so unbelievably sorry to hear that! So...what does that mean then? What are you going to do about Rosalina?" E. Gadd asked in horror.

"We're going to have a discussion about that with the rest of our friends at noon today on what we'll do with her," Daisy clarified.

"Wait, you're saying she's still here? Why!? I would've exiled her immediately! What she did was BEYOND unacceptable!" Luvbi spat.

"It's not as easy as you think, Luvbi. We've had a long history with Rosalina and it technically wasn't her fault that she did those things!" Peach defended her friend, but wasn't angry at all at what Luvbi said, because she understood both sides.

"Right. It was the magic's fault, right? That's why she did it? Well, don't you think it's risky having her around with that kind of magic after what happened?" Luvbi questioned them a little roughly which got on the others' nerves a little.

"Well, um, I'm sure you guys will make the right decision! We'll support you no matter what!" Starlow tried to lift up the mood from Luvbi's interrogating.

"Anyways, you guys, the reason why I came here was because I have a few 'inventions' of mine that'll be of good use on your journey! I'm so sorry I disappeared after you guys got finished at the mansion, but it was for the best as I worked on those 'inventions' and got it all done!" E. Gadd explained.

"Oh! Well, that's alright, E. Gadd. You know that anything at all will help us!" Mario said.

"YOU GUYS!" Toado yelled from the elevator, running towards the group. "You need to get downstairs! There's, like, a huge riot going and everyone's ticked off at you guys!"

"What!?" everyone shouted in response. They all immediately dreaded to deal with yet another ordeal as they went down with Toado to see what was going on.

The second they got to the first floor, they could hear shouts, cries, and screams coming from a crowd in the lobby. Everyone's nerves immediately kicked in as the voices got even louder when they approached the lobby.

"WOAH! Okay, what in the world is going on here!?" Dr. Nokano yelled, getting into the crowd.

"THEM!" Toadiana's mom pointed to Mario's group. "THEY CAUSED ALL OF THIS CHAOS TO HAPPEN! That blonde woman who belongs to Mario and his friends nearly wrecked this place and also nearly killed some of us!"

"You guys are supposed to be superheroes, right!?" Toadiana's dad jumped in quickly after. "Why is it that we constantly are in danger then!? If this hospital gets destroyed, then none of us will have anywhere to go! We'll lose food, water, shelter, and the people that need to be taken care of by the doctors and nurses will die quickly!"

"Woah woah woah! Just stay calm for a minute here!" Mario tried to settle everyone's anger. "We are doing everything in our power to keep you guys safe. About what happened yesterday, we weren't prepared for our friend to go out of control like that, she completely blindsided us with her magic, but we settled it and she's back to normal now! Nothing like that will ever happen again!"

However, Mario's response only made them even more clearly pissed off and the shouting began again.

"Out of control!? You call destroying part of the hospital, setting a huge fire to the courtyard, and injuring a bunch of people simply 'out of control'!? Your psychotic friend went BALLISTIC! She should be EXECUTED for what she did!" yelled a middle-aged toad man and shouts of agreement were heard right after. What he said gave a shock to Mario and the group. They didn't wanna think about killing Rosalina for what she did.

"Please listen to us! We completely understand that you're all mad and afraid at everything that's been going on! We are doing everything in our power to keep you all safe and to get rid of Tatanga as quick as possible. All we ask is that you be patient with us. Things WILL be back to normal!" Peach declared kindly in hopes of clearing the air.

"OH, SHUT UP!" screamed Toadiana's mom, provoking some gasps and shocked expressions from some people. It was unheard of to disrespect the princess like that. "You call yourself a princess!? You have done NOTHING to help us out! If anything, YOU should've seen this whole disaster coming right from the start! You should've done something to protect this country from Tatanga, like send out the military, BUT YOU'VE DONE NOTHING!"

This made Peach beyond pissed off. She got red in the face, clenched her fists, and screamed right back, "DON'T TELL ME THAT I'VE DONE NOTHING! I CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH, YOU UNDERSTAND ME!? YOU TRY GOING OUT THERE AND RISKING YOUR LIFE FOR THE PEOPLE AND KINGDOM YOU CARE ABOUT! YOU TRY GOING OUT THERE AND DEALING WITH LOSING YOUR FRIENDS AND KNOWING THAT THERE'S NOTHING YOU COULD'VE DONE TO SAVE THEM BECAUSE THE THINGS THAT WE FACE ARE SO FUCKING STRONGER THAN ALL OF US!"

Peach then stormed off, looking like she was about to cry. Daisy and Luigi went after her, while everyone else stood silent as the kingdom's princess, who was known to be fairly calm and somewhat submissive, shook everyone to the core with her rage. Mario did his best to keep his temper down as well, rubbing his hand over his face, also furious inside that these people led Peach to a breaking point.

"Um, you know, a-all we're saying is that-" a koopa was about to speak, but Mario shot him down.

"Just stop. You guys expect everything to go smoothly and perfectly, and for us to be nice and miracle workers, but that's not how this works. If you don't like the work we do, or how we do it, then you can take your asses out of here and find somewhere else to stay. For the first time in my entire life, I've never felt so disrespected by the citizens of this city. I get it, you're all pissed off, hurt, tired, scared, and so on, but this is unacceptable. You have no idea of the shit that we go through and the compromises we make to keep you guys safe," Mario lectured the riots with a very pissed off tone, but managed to keep his voice from rising because he didn't want to add more fuel to the fire. He then walked off to go find Peach as the entire lobby fell silent again.

Bowser, who saw the whole thing from afar, stepped into the lobby and angrily faced the rioters. "Well? The show's over! Get back to whatever the hell you were doing before all this crap!"

Everyone in the lobby dispersed with some murmurs going around and dirty looks towards Bowser.

Goombella ran up to Vivian in a panic. "VIV! One of the nurses found Koops on the fifth floor! She said he's in some kind of catatonic state!"

"What!? Oh god, um, let's round up some of the others first, then we'll go see him!" Vivian said in both relief and even more worry.


"Koops?" said a familiar voice.

Koops was sitting upright in the fetal position and slowly raised his head to see Vivian standing there with Goombella, Flurrie, Spike, Goombario, Bombette, Parakarry, Bow, Lakilester, Lakilulu, Jojora, Toad, and Toadette behind her. He was sitting in a corner of an examination room, and had dirt all over his clothes and his eyes had dark circles and bags around them.

"You...what is happening…" Koops softly spoke in a distorted manner as if he was on a drug.

"Hey, Koops. It's us. Where did you go yesterday? Were you here in this room the whole time?" Spike kindly asked, carefully stepping forward to him.

"I...went somewhere...everywhere...then here...I can't be out there anymore…" Koops replied, looking directly at the wall instead of anyone else.

"Uhh, it's all over now, you know! Rosalina's back to normal and we're all fine now," Jojora said.

"I'm not fine though...I can't...I don't wanna be me anymore…" Koops said as he began to choke up.

"Huh? Koops...did you run away because you thought Koopie was dead? If so, then you don't have to isolate yourself anymore! She's still alive, she's just unconscious," Goombario clarified for him, hoping that it would bring him back to sanity.

"Unconscious? That...that doesn't mean anything…" Koops shook his head and began to visibly cry now.

"Of course it does! That means she's alive, DUH! Therefore, you should get up and go see her cause it'll make you feel better!" Lakilester obnoxiously said, prompting some frustrated looks from the others.

"No...I can't...I feel the same way I felt last time when I found out Koopie cheated on me for Kooper...I feel like a disaster. I feel sick to my stomach. I don't wanna keep doing this anymore…" Koops said while digging his face into his lap.

"Koops, it's gonna be okay! We're all here for you! You're never alone here. Don't try to take this all on by yourself," Toadette tried to cheer him up.

"Are you being like this because Rosalina hurt you? Did she do or say something that really messed with your head, besides hurting Koopie?" Bow questioned.

Koops slowly looked back up at them. "Aren't you all tired of this? Tired of dealing with disaster after disaster...tired of being hurt...tired of being lost...tired of being...myself…"

"Well, like, of course all of us are tired of dealing with everything that we've been dealing with, but that's part of the mission we chose to go on! It's okay if you wanna sit out from this from now on, Koops. No one is going to judge you for it!" Goombella tried to give him reassurance for his worries.

"But, what do you mean by 'tired of being yourself'? Are you saying that, uhh, you don't like yourself?" Lakilulu asked.

"I just…" Koops began to speak, and looked at everyone, but then there was a 'flash' and he suddenly saw Rosalina in her dark form, grinning wickedly at him. He tightly gripped his shorts and breathed faster.

"No...NO NO NO!" he suddenly screamed and cried again.

"Koops!? Please, talk to us, dearie! You don't need to be scared anymore, you have us!" Flurrie cried.

"I think the trauma from what Rosalina did had a bigger effect on him than the rest of us...well, trauma that we're all deciding to not show at least," Goombario said.

"Yeah, I feel for him right now. Rosalina said stuff to me that brought all those memories and feelings from a long time ago," Bombette said in total empathy.

"Maybe all of us being here is too much for him? I think only one of us should stay behind and keep an eye on him," Parakarry suggested.

"When I ran away...I fell into the grass. I laid there for a few minutes and remember thinking to myself...if I die right now and this is the last thing I'll ever see...I think I'd be okay with that. Because this world is scary...dark...disgusting...cruel...and the fact that there's these people that get off on hurting and killing other people...I can't do it anymore. I can't. I'm not as strong as you all.

It's also why I can't be with you anymore, Vivian. Seeing Koopie like that made me realize that I still have feelings for her...and that Rosalina was right about us. It's not going to work. It can't work. I'm not the kind of guy you all knew years ago that became brave and helped take enemies down anymore...you don't know who I am now...I don't even know who I am now…" Koops finally let out his feelings and thoughts, which hit Vivian hard. Tears rolled down her cheek from hearing his words of defeat and despair. Although her true feelings about being with Koops romantically had been mixed, she could feel her heart breaking a little.


Bowser Jr. went off by himself to go get a carton of orange juice in the cafeteria. Right after he got it, he turned around to exit, but was stopped when he saw a koopa woman, sitting by herself not too far away from him. She was drinking water, and looked like she was deep in thought.

This woman looked so familiar to him though. It's as if he's seen her somewhere before.

She looked quite taller than your average koopa lady. She had long golden blonde hair and gorgeous ocean blue eyes. But, why did she look so familiar? What was it about her?

She then looked around the room and stopped when she saw Bowser Jr. He yelped and immediately looked away in embarrassment, hoping he didn't creep her out. He started to walk out of the cafeteria, but glanced over at the woman again to find that she was still looking at him, but with a curious expression. He noticed this and got this gut feeling that he should talk to her. He tried to calm his nerves by breathing in and out slowly and deeply, then turned around, and walked to her.

"Umm, excuse me? Do I, uhh, know you from somewhere? You look really familiar to me," Bowser Jr. shyly asked.

The woman took a minute to respond. It looked as if she was examining his face. She then smiled a little. "I...I think you may know OF me…"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Bowser Jr. asked.

"You're King Bowser Koopa's son, right? Bowser Jr.? Wow...you look almost exactly like him…" said the woman in amazement.

Bowser Jr. wasn't sure if he should be weirded out by this woman. "Um, y-yeah, I'm his son. Why? Are you friends with my dad?"

The woman looked a little nervous now. "Well...not exactly, but we WERE very close...I think you know who I am, Jr."

Bowser Jr. looked very confused for a second, but then thought about it. He then figured out where he saw her from. It was from a picture his dad showed him a long time ago. He was showing him what his mom looked like.

That's it! This woman was his mom! That's why there was so much familiarity between the two.

"No...really!? You're my...m-m-m-MOM!?" he shrieked.

"Yes. I'm positive of it. I still remember that day I gave birth to you, I remember thinking of how much you looked like your father, even though you were just a baby...it's me, junior. It's Clawdia," she revealed.

Bowser Jr. dropped his jaw in great shock. He had never expected to see his biological mother ever again, especially after all the stories Bowser told to him, and especially in the mess they're in right now.

"I...I...I just...wh-what do I even say!? Haha. Um. Wow. Err...well, dad has told me stories about how you left him right after I was born…" Bowser Jr. awkwardly spoke.

Clawdia nodded and looked a little sad. "I'm sure he has. I know I hurt him so much but, you know the saying, 'there's always two sides to every story'? I'm not implying that I'm innocent here, because I know I did something so horrible to your father...but he only told you his version of events."

"Oh...really? So, uhh, there's more to what happened then? Wait, have you been here this whole time!? How have I not seen you before!?" Bowser Jr. asked.

"I just got in last night with my family and a few others. Tatanga's koopatrols destroyed our house so we had to walk all the way to get here and we joined a few others along the way," Clawdia explained.

"Wait wait, you just said 'family.' Is, um, that the guy you-"

"Yes. I have a family with the guy I left Bowser for. I have a daughter with him, her name is Katia, and his name is Kenneth," Clawdia let the truth out, confirming his deep suspicions.

"Oh wow. That's...um...ok. So, where are they right now?" he asked.

"They're exploring the hospital, wanting to see what's all here. I didn't tag along because my legs are still hurting from all that walking yesterday," she answered.

"Uh huh. Wow. So...I still can't believe I ran into you here...my own mother. Doesn't feel real…" Bowser Jr. still struggled to accept the situation at hand.

"I know this is weird, and hard, and a little awkward. It's a lot to take in. I even had a feeling I would eventually run into you guys sooner or later...didn't think I'd be able to avoid you all forever," Clawdia said.

"Yeah...umm...well, my family are all here. Do you...like, wanna see them? Talk to them? I mean, you're gonna run into them eventually, sooo…" he suggested.

"Hmm. You sure it's a good idea right now? Dr. Nokano told me you guys just finished dealing with a friend of yours that almost tried to kill you all," she said.

"I think it's better to get it over with. But, first, let me catch you up to speed on what's happened in our family…" he said, dreading to go through the details of Kammy dying, Roy joining Tatanga, Wendy being raped, etc., but it had to be done.


Knock knock knock!

"Come in…"

Mario slowly opened the door and stepped in. He saw Rosalina standing there looking out at the window. She was all alone in a patient room on the sixth floor. The group had put her there after falling into a deep sleep after returning back to normal.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" he asked, closing the door.

Rosalina looked over her shoulder. "Drained. I feel like I can barely stand myself up...and I feel like the entire world has a grudge against me now."

"A lot of people are mad about what you did. We know it wasn't the real you but...we all need time to adjust and heal from what you did to us," Mario said bluntly.

"I understand. I remember everything that I said and did to you all. I remember it as if I, myself, had done them, but it wasn't me…" she replied.

"Yeah. Like I said, though...it's gonna take a lot of time to get over this. Me and the gang are meeting later on to discuss some things, and one of those things is what we're going to do about you," Mario revealed. This made Rosalina turn around fully.

"Do about me? Wh-what do you plan to do about me?" she asked in worry.

"Some of us here want you to leave. Some of us don't want to take that risk of you falling into the dark magics again. We're gonna take a vote on the choices laid out and go from there," Mario answered.

Hearing that made Rosalina cry a little, but she nodded understandingly. "Makes sense...I cannot undo all the damage I've done upon you all...the people I care for and love the most…"

Mario stepped a little closer to her. "But, before that meeting, we're gonna do a small funeral for Waluigi and Diddy. It's best if you don't come to that when we're all there, mainly because it'll provoke some nasty reactions from some people, but you can come after the meeting is done."

Rosalina sighed through her sobbing and nodded again. "I get it. Can't blame any of you at all. I just still hate that Waluigi, the only man I've ever fell in love with, was taken away from me...it's all so unfair."

"I know you loved him, and he had proven to you multiple times that he loved you too. I, uhh, I almost can't blame you for going down the route you did. If someone killed Peach or Luigi...well, I have no idea what I would do with myself," Mario admitted.

"I went overboard though. I became mad with power...Mario, I must tell you something I never told anyone before. The magic I have has a downside...if I'm enraged, it 'triggers' the black magics and begins to take over my body. I've been able to stop it most times because I've been aware of it happening to me, but this time, and the time before when that man first came...I wanted to hurt him so bad for what he did to me and the people I loved. I let blind rage take over me, and...I'm just so sorry for everything that I've done to you and everyone else…" Rosalina explained, giving Mario a little clarity.

"I know you are, and I think everyone else knows that too, but, we all need time to process the forgiveness...especially considering Diddy was killed…" he said.

"Yeah. I just...whatever you guys decide, I'll accept and deal with the consequences. I can't go on without being punished. It wouldn't be just," she said, slowly stopping her crying and looked back out through the window. "God...so beautiful outside today. I can see the mountains in the distance. The sunlight over the land makes it look golden. Th-there is so much to the world I wanted to see and share with Waluigi…"

Mario could feel the pain in her voice. He hated being cold to Rosalina and having to potentially send her away. He didn't want to cut the friendship ties between the two, but the events that occurred yesterday proved to him that something needed to happen. She crossed the line too many times and it was going to be incredibly hard to forgive and forget.

"I need to get back now. Do you need anything from the cafeteria?" Mario asked as he headed to the door.

"No. I'll be fine…"

"Ok. I'll let you know what the group decides to do."

"Ok…"

Mario exited the room and saw DK standing a few feet before him.

"Oh. DK?"

"Mario. How is she?" he asked.

"She's...sad and regrets everything she did. But, she also understands why we want to keep our distance from her," Mario answered.

"Hmm. Ok. I was just curious," DK said with watery eyes.

"How do you feel about it, though? You know...considering she killed Diddy but you made her turn back…" Mario asked.

"I...I don't know. Part of me is angry at her for doing not just that, but everything else, and wants her to get out of my sight permanently. But, another part of me still cares for her and loves her and just wants her to feel better about everything," DK revealed.

"Yeah. I think I feel the same way you do. If Rosalina was someone we barely knew, the decision would be easier to make. But...that's not the case cause we all have history with her," Mario empathized.

"Yeah. By the way, how is Peach? I heard about what happened earlier."

"She's calmed down now and is resting in one of the rooms. Those people down there really pushed her over the edge. I get it, they're all angry and scared because of what's been happening, but, they can't treat us so disrespectfully like that. We're all doing everything in our power to do what we think is right for, not just us, but for everyone else involved as well," Mario said.

"True. Some people think they know the whole story, but until they've witnessed it all for themselves, they don't really know the whole story."

EOC.

This chapter ended up being a little longer than I anticipated, but the next three chapters won't be as long. Next chapter, the group has a discussion on what to do with Rosalina, Mona's encounter with the Koopatrols/Rebels, Bleck and Tippi's discoveries at Star Haven, and about Fire Bro. Birdo struggles to adjust with her memory loss, Bowser Jr.'s plan for Clawdia to meet Bowser and the rest of the kids doesn't go as well as planned, Fire Bro reveals the whole truth about his backstory, and as always, much more! Next chapter will be up before Christmas. Thanks for reading!