breath20k

We already knew that from the moment he was first revealed to Peach and Bowser. This is just Mario finding out.

LiamTheYoshi

AP is not the real monster. He's just the one being programmed to take orders no matter what. If there's anyone to blame, blame Topmaniac. He did this to him after all. And yes, the name is accurate. He is a maniac.

Amethyst Goldenwind

It's not the machinery that's controlling him. It's the chip powered by a Green Star that's controlling him. It is lucky that Alex saved him. The bond between the two broke through.

Bootrix's sisters are VERY narcissistic! In fact, if Mario cared more about his fame and riches, than about his heroism, friends, and family, he could've easily ended up just like them. Luigi is certainly lucky.

Aster has quite an interesting history with Battlerock and Dreadnaught. We'll get into that later.

nintendoscript15

Of course you had no idea, because this is the first time it's been revealed. Sure is a shocker, huh? But Luigi is starting to warm up to Bootrix despite his past with ghosts. Not all ghosts are bad. They may just be misunderstood.

You didn't think I'd just kill off Aster like that this early on in the story, did you? I just knocked him out so he wouldn't interfere in the personal conflict between Mario and Alpha Pandora.

Essentially, Alex will once in a while break out of his brainwashing whenever he interacts with someone he cares about. When he flew out, he just flew away. That's all. But he's not defeated yet.

StarlitDuck

You're welcome! Thank you for your cooperation! I really appreciate it!

I'm currently thinking about which path I should take. I'll let you see for yourself when the time comes.

Thank you! We'll see Mario and Aster have a REAL fight with him soon.

KazamaFam2006

I'm more familiar with Undertale and know absolutely nothing about Blazblue.

You know, you're actually right! Koopas have been disrespected for centuries because of their witchcraft practices back when Toads and Koopas were on good terms. That's why Bowser's family have been trying to take over, so they could gain back that respect.

C.T. Genius

Thank you! Bootrix's sisters are indeed very selfish.

Mario bros fan4ever

The irony of it all! Although this isn't the first time Luigi allied with a ghost. Remember Madame Clairvoya from Luigi's Mansion? Later on we got Morty in Luigi's Mansion 3.

Nataly Guardado

Interesting comparisons.

RareDomains

Don't worry about it. Welcome back! (And no, your last review was the last chapter before Aster's introduction.) If you don't want to sign in, you can just review as a guest. I'm happy you're still here and enjoying the story! There's a lot more to come, so feel free to stick around (whether you're reviewing as a guest or logged in). So far, 2021 has been okay for me, but here's hoping it gets better!

Ultimatejoseph13 Awesome! I hope you're enjoying it!

Chapter 20: Breaking into the Battlerock

Fountain

When coming back to the Comet Observatory, Mario would have a deep feeling of accomplishment and relief. He'd take his cap off, celebrate with Luma, then put it back on with the courage knowing he was one Star closer to rescuing his special one.

Well… usually. But now he just wasn't feeling it. When he and Aster got back, Mario slowly slumped out of the Fountain as if he had gotten up from the wrong side of the bed.

"Mario…?" Aster tried to reach out to him, but Mario just held out the back of his right hand and displayed his five fingers in a "talk to the hand" manner.

"Oh Lord Grambi… What am I gonna do?" the space warrior said to himself before he ran out to follow his friend.

Comet Observatory[BGM: Sad Girl - Super Mario Galaxy]

As Mario slumped like a sloth across the hard, stone floor, Lumas from all over the observatory gathered around him with worried looks in their dot-like black eyes.

"Mario, what happened?" "Why are you so sad?" "Mister Mario, are you okay?" "What happened back there?" "Mario?" "You have Star Bits in your eyes."

"KIDS, PLEASE!" Aster yelled, and they all stopped. "As you can see, Mario is not in a good mood right now, and he doesn't want to talk about it. It's best that you leave him alone."

Luma peeked out of Mario's cap. Since he was channeling into Mario's power, Luma could see everything Mario saw and wished to comfort him.

"Mario…" Aster gave him a look of disapproval and shook his head back and forth, making Luma return under the cap.

Mario slumped over to the Garage where the blue and green Starshrooms were under construction and sat down on the ledge. He didn't care if he slipped and fell since Rosalina told him that anyone who fell off the ship would be lifted back up to where they fell from. From then, Mario just stared out to his home planet. He started to reminisce all the times he had with Alex from the day they met, to the night of the Star Festival. Some notable events he could think of included the time Alex won the tennis tournament for him, the time they played GameCube games together at the hospital, the adventure they had where they collected the Magic Mushrooms, and more. These memories briefly garnered a weak smile on Mario's face. But it didn't last longer than a minute.

Soon, the happy memories faded away, being replaced with horrible flashbacks of seeing who was once his little brother figure, now turned into a killer machine. Just thinking about the hateful things he said, the traumatized look on his face when he briefly resisted, and the fact that he almost killed him crushed the tiny bits and pieces of his already shattered heart. He also mentioned that Leah was dead. That… couldn't be true… Would it?

Aster approached slowly as Mario stared down at the Mushroom World. He took a seat next to the moustached Mushroom hero and put his head in his hands. "Curse that galaxy," he muttered softly to himself. "Curse it all to the Underwhere."

"I… I can't believe… Bowser would… d-do this to an i-innocent… child," Mario cried.

Aster sighed "I know," He stared out into space, narrowing his eyes with disdain. "Some people just have no light in them."

Mario thought about this for a while, then put on a determined look.

"We have to rescue Alex!" he said with a sliver of hope.

Aster looked at him with a hint of ambivalence mixed in with his sadness.

"Mario. I understand that he's your friend. But-and don't hate me for saying this-the whole universe is at stake. We have to focus on the bigger picture here," claimed Aster.

"How can you say that?! Alex is my friend!" argued Mario.

Aster didn't flinch at Mario's sudden burst and kept his calm demeanor.

"Like I said, I understand that. But I've been to Battlerock before, and I know the techniques the Topman tribe use. They use a chip that has access to the victim's memories to allow emotional manipulation, and they force the conscious mind to watch everything the victim is doing, making them mentally suffer," Aster decribed. "Sometimes, this can damage the mind permanently. So even if we do rescue Alex, he could be so traumatized by his time as Alpha Pandora that he'd never function normally again."

Mario gripped his hand into a fist. He looked down at the ground as he gritted his teeth. Aster's explanation just made him want to save his friend even more

"Even still...I can't just sit back and let these people do this to an innocent bystander. I need to help Alex!"

"But what if he's beyond help?"

Mario wasn't having it and turned away, arms crossed.

"There's no such thing as 'beyond help'," Mario claimed as he walked out of the Garage.

Aster sighed again. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

[BGM end]

They rush over to the monitor, where Rosalina and Polari were standing.

"Honey, I saw what happened back there! Are you and Mario alright?" Rosalina asked.

"We're okay. But Mario found out the bad news the hard way," Aster lamented.

"I see, but don't worry. We have a plan that should hopefully rescue your friend. Polari?"

[BGM: Space Fantasy - Super Mario Galaxy]

"You got it!" Polari opened up a map of the Battlerock on the monitor. "Now then, the Battlerock has an extremely heavy defense system. As long as that's up, Topmaniac and his crew have the upper hand."

Polari zooms in on a green cubic structure connected to the Battlerock by three giant tubes. It housed a round opening with a yellow outside.

"The Topman Tribe operate their security system from this engine room. They've captured one of our fellow Lumas to use as a power source."

Rosalina was in tears seeing a Luma trapped within two layers of crystals. Mario and Aster were also visibly shocked and angered to see this.

"That poor Luma…" Mario lamented.

"We gotta save him!" said Luma from inside Mario's cap.

Aster didn't say anything, but his lowered eyebrows and still frowning mouth spoke for him.

"If you can free that Luma, the tribe's defenses should be destroyed and you should be able to storm their base and rescue your friend," instructed Polari.

"In that case, you ready Mario? This will not be a walk in the park." Aster held out his hand. Mario wiped out his last tear and shook it.

"For Alex."

The dynamic duo ran back to the fountain as Rosalina bid them farewell. Inside, they used the Pull Star and selected Battlerock Galaxy once again.

Battlerock Galaxy

[(transitioning from Space Fantasy) BGM: Battlerock Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy]

Both heroes arrived on the same set of flying saucers as last time. Though they were laid out slightly differently, and some of them now had glass domes and Bob-Omb dispensers.

"I see what we gotta do. Blow 'em up, right?" said Mario.

"Hmm… I have a strong feeling this will be important for later on." said Aster.

The moment Mario picked up a Bob Omb from the dispenser, it immediately ignited and starting glowing red, inducing sweat and panic in the plumber's veins. A beeping sound could also be heard in the explosive, which was getting louder and faster as the fire on the fuse inched closer to the center.

Mario threw the Bob Omb at a glass dome with a Launch Star inside, then both quickly backed away as the explosion took place.

Aster heaved a sigh of relief. "Whew! That scared me for a moment there, but at least it worked out."

Both used the Launch Star, taking them to a planet that appeared to be shaped like a molecule. It consisted of the four primary colors with the center being blue, while the three stems were red, yellow, and green. The green stem had a Bob Omb dispenser, the red stem had a Luma trapped in a glass dome, and the yellow stem featured a Hungry Luma. The planet also had several Chomps rolling all over its surface, so he and Aster had to proceed with caution.

"You free the trapped Luma," ordered Aster. "I'll handle the Hungry Luma."

Mario nodded in approval and both separated.

"Hey, you! Yeah, you! Got any-?"

"Yeah, yeah. I get the gist!" Aster interrupted. "How many Star Bits?"

"30!"

Aster took out his bag and gave the Luma 30 Star Bits.

"That's it… I'm stuffed!" the Luma heaved with puffed up cheeks. "Here we go! TRANSFOOOORM!"

The Hungry Luma flew off into the distance and underwent a transformation. Aster covered his eyes from the bright light, and a metallic half-sphere planet was unveiled.

A new planet was born!

Aster took the pink Launch Star right to the newly born planet. The place was an ammunition depot where weapons are meant to be stored for use by the Topman Tribe. But instead of weapons, the planet was covered in piles of rusted scrap metal. The only inhabitat of this planet was a single robot (a Gearmo). It had a large gear in it's head to resemble hair, dials for eyes, a square mouth, a green torso with claws for arms, and wheels in place of legs. It was also holding a large metal stick with a magnet at the end, used to pick up pieces of metal, and it appeared to be bickering in it's own robotic language.

"Um… excuse me sir… or ma'am… Whatever."

The Gearmo all of a sudden went nuts when Aster tried to grab it's attention. Steam began bursting out of it's sockets, and the dials were pointing in a different direction, presumably to look like angry eyebrows.

"This is the AMMO DEPOT, not a GARBAGE DUMP!" the Gearmo bickered. "What, do people think they can just toss their trash here and it'll magically disappear?"

Aster raised an eyebrow. "Hold on! This planet was literally just born 15 SECONDS ago! How would anyone even have time to throw their trash here?" Aster noted with suspicion. "Better yet, how did you get here within the fifteen seconds this planet was made? Were you born WITH the planet or something? This is really confusing…"

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about…" said the Gearmo.

"I… guess I'll buy it then." Aster shrugged.

The Gearmo then calmed down when it's processor received an idea.

"Heyyyy… we have plenty of bombs. Maybe you could use them to blow up all this trash?"

"What's in it for me?"

"I found a particularly shiny Star lying around the other day. I've got no use for it, so if you clear up all this trash, it's yours!"

"It's a deal!"

[BGM pause]

"Gee, thanks" the Gearmo said. "Okay, you got 30 seconds to blow up all this trash!"

"Is timing me really necce-?"

"Yes it is!" the Gearmo interrupted. "3! 2! 1! GO!"

[BGM: Aquatic Race - Super Mario Galaxy]

Aster quickly made haste. He noticed that the way the five glowing yellow spots were placed on the ground were very peculiar. So he decided to throw the bombs onto those spots to see what happens. He had to do it quickly, though, as the bombs ignited once he picked them up and they needed a few seconds before blowing up. Luckily, his strategy worked with just one second left on the timer, much to his relief.

[BGM end]

"Whew! Just barely made it." Aster was breathing heavily after that experience. "Again, was the timer really necessary?!"

"Who knew that bombs work so well as an industrial-strength cleaner?" the Gearmo joked, ignoring Aster's comment. "Thanks, I owe you big."

"Just give me the Star, and we're even," Aster demanded.

"Oh, sure! Here!"

The Gearmo took out a Power Star, and tossed it to Aster.

"Thanks, again! You really helped me out there," the Gearmo bidded farewell.

[BGM: Power Star get - Super Mario Galaxy]YOU GOT A STAR!

"YES!"

[BGM end]

Meanwhile…

[BGM: Space Fantasy - Super Mario Galaxy]

Mario had just saved the trapped Luma, who turned into a Launch Star for him in return. He reached a floating mine field just off to the side of the Battlerock itself. He had to use the Pull Stars to safely maneuver around the mines.

"Alright Mario, just focus! You can do it!" said Mario in his head.

He closed his eyes and remembered Aster's advice to concentrate. He naturally used the Pull Stars to try to find a path to the Launch Star. He did hit a mine a couple of times, but he did collect a Life Mushroom to recover that damage. Soon, he reached the Launch Star, and flew over to the entrance of the Battlerock's engine, where he and Aster met up.

[(transitioning from Space Fantasy) BGM: Battlerock Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy]

"Hey, you made it! I found a hidden Star on that planet," greeted Aster. "You won't believe what nonsense I had to go through to get it." He groaned. "Unnecessary time limits…"

"Been there," said Mario with an eye roll. "Anyways, should we press that switch up there?"

He was referring to the switch sitting on a mound in the center.

"I suppose." Aster tried to get up to the switch, but he kept slipping and sliding off. The slope was just too steep.

"I got this." Mario used his signature triple jump move to get up to the switch and ground pound it, releasing tons of Star Bits.

"Ah. Another new move! What do you call that trick?" Aster asked in amusement as he gathered the Star Bits.

"The Triple Jump. It's very useful for gaining height. Just gain momentum, jump, and jump again the moment after hitting the ground to gain height. You have to keep up your momentum as you do it, though. So, start performing it ahead of the place you wanna jump at," the Mushroom Kingdom superstar explained.

"Fascinating. Doesn't sound that hard to master either."

Both entered a pipe to reach the inside of the engine. They were immediately met with the gaze of a lonely luma imprisoned in two layers of crystal, floating right above them. It was being used to power the Battlerock's engine unit.

"Curse those robots!" Aster cursed. "I thought they wouldn't hurt a Luma, but now they've gone too far!"

Luma came out of Mario's cap and witnessed one of his fellow species members in his prison.

"Oh no! This is terrible! That poor Luma is being drained of his power! If we don't do something soon, he'll die! Mario, Aster, we need to save him!"

"Oh, mamma mia! Now, I'm getting Gateway Galaxy flashbacks!" Mario thought with a shiver.

All of a sudden, an alarm sounded off, and about a hundred cannons appeared and aimed at the three of them.

"EEK!" they all screamed. Aster quickly took out his bag of Star Bits. As Mario and Luma ducked for cover, Aster closed his eyes. When the cannons fired, the Star Bits went flying out of the bag and hit every cannonball, destroying them. Both the plumber and star creature opened their eyes, confused.

"Huh?"

"Tada! My cosmic ESP can manipulate Star Bits as well!" he said with satisfaction. "What, did you think these were just for eating?"

"Wow!" Luma awed.

"You never cease to amaze me, Aster! Thanks for saving our lives," said Mario.

"Don't mention it. It was just natural instincts. Now then, we need to save that Luma. Let's see if whatever's in that glass dome can help."

Mario used a nearby Bob Omb to blow up a glass dome. Under it was a tiny gray rocket with two beady eyes, similar to common powerups.

"Is this… a powerup?" Mario wondered. "Never seen this type before. I wonder what it does."

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" said Luma.

"Be careful, guys! It could be dangerous," Aster warned.

Mario grabbed the rocket and pulled it out of the ground. At first it did nothing, much to his confusion. Then it disappeared.

"... What?" Mario gawked as Luma went back into his cap.

Then all of a sudden, both heroes were magnetically pulled together and couldn't break out.

"Hey! Get off me!"

"No! You get off!"

"What's going on?!"

The duo were enveloped by a metal coating that took the form of a silver rocket. All they could see now was the trapped Luma right above them.

"Wait a second! I think I know what this is! This is the Super Rocket!" realized Aster. "I've heard stories about this one! Anyone who gets ahold of this gets the chance to aim at their target!"

"So, we can use this to free the Luma!" said Mario. "Let's get this over with. I'm getting cramped in here."

Both of them took careful aim at their moving target. Once they figured they got the right position, they lifted off. The aim was slightly off and they only hit the outer layer. All that was left was the smaller layer. Luckily, another Super Rocket awaited them on the other side.

"Alright, leave this next one to me. I have experience with target practice," said Aster.

They took another Super Rocket. Aster aimed very carefully, and waited patiently for the right position.

"NOW!"

They blasted off yet again. This time they hit the smaller crystal layer, freeing the Luma.

"Yippee! I'm free! Thank you guys!"

"Don't mention it, little guy!" smiled Mario.

But their celebration was cut short, as an alarm sounded off again while explosions were occurring.

"Mamma Mia! What's going on?!"

"We have to get out of here! Without an energy source, this place is gonna blow!" Aster panicked.

"Oh no! Quick! Hop in!" The Luma transformed into a Launch Star, which the two didn't hesitate to take.

When the two blasted off from the Battlerock's engine, they could hear it exploding behind them.

"Cool guys don't look at explosions!" Mario cheered.

[(transitioning from Battlerock Galaxy) BGM: Space Fantasy - Super Mario Galaxy]

Both space explorers ended their journey on a giant blast missile with a yellow top, as well as blue, orange, and silver tiles all over the surface. Both carried a bomb over to the other side, where they unveiled another Super Rocket. Once they transformed, the star was right there in plain sight. They just had to wait for the right moment to fire, since three layers of moving pieces of metal were orbiting around it.

"FIRE!"

Both flew right into the Power Star at just the right time, and…

[BGM: Power Star get - Super Mario Galaxy]YOU GOT A STAR!

"WAHOO!"

"YES!"

[BGM end]

Just as Mario and Aster blew up the engine, Topmaniac and AP witnessed said explosion, along with the duo surviving.

"NOT BAD, OLD FRIEND," Topmaniac admitted, honestly impressed. "BUT YOU'RE MISTAKEN IF YOU THINK THIS INCONVENIENCE WILL LEAVE US ENTIRELY DEFENSELESS. ALPHA PANDORA, PREPARE THE SHIP! THIS IS THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR."

"Finally! A fight of former friends. Our battle will be legendary!" cheered AP as he left to start up their UFO.

"HOPEFULLY THIS ONE WON'T FAIL LIKE THE PROTOTYPE DID," the robot leader said to himself.