nintendoscript15
He won't rest until Alex is saved! They are buddies after all.
The trash mission can be frustrating, but once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad.
Glad you like the powerup! I got some more ideas up ahead.
FairyTalePrincess16
I came up with this powerup to replace all of the cannons. I want to create powerups that fit in with the space theme of the game, which the original failed to do (with the exception of the Red Star, since that's essentially a zero gravity powerup).
LiamTheYoshi
You can't break into the story. If you did, I'd immediately write you out. There's nothing you can do but watch.
breath20k
It's a replacement for the cannons.
Amethyst Goldenwind
No, he was referring to something else. I'm not supposed to reveal it yet. Just foreshadowing.
The trick to beating the mission is to throw the bombs on top of the yellow spots. But you have to do it fast, because the bombs ignite the moment you grab them and need a few seconds before they explode.
Yes, the Super Rocket is a custom powerup that will show up quite a few times throughout this story. Expect to see them whenever you would run into a cannon in the game.
StarlitDuck
Mario logic is sometimes questionable. It'll be left unanswered. Sometimes, Mario doesn't think before he acts. He can also be a little too optimistic and trusting for his own good. Plus, due to his lack of experience in outer space, he no longer can take the role of being the leader of the team as he did in previous stories. Aster takes that role now.
KazamaFam2006
Don't question it. Aster tried to, but it led him nowhere.
That was only the second mission, but now we're at the third! I promise you won't be disappointed! I don't mind you calling him by a different name, but just remember that it's actually Alpha Pandora.
I'm not gonna tell you the context behind that yet.
Nataly Guardado
I'm not a Pokémon fan, so I have no idea what you mean by that. Mario's not gonna do anything like that. All he needs to do is get the chip that Topmaniac inserted out of his head and destroy it. Enough beating should do the trick. It obviously won't be easy, though.
Chapter 21: Topmaniac and the Topman Tribe
After breaking into the Battlerock and getting a star from it, Mario and Aster were brought back to the starting area. This time, there were even less saucer platforms than before, and Mario could tell that they weren't heading back to the Observatory until they beat Ale- err… Alpha Pandora.
"Now that the main defense unit has been taken down, we can take down the Topman Tribe once and for all. Are you ready for this Mario?"
"I… I guess…" Mario swallowed a lump in his throat. A sense of dread filled his mind with nothing but horrorous thoughts. He tried his hardest to resist the urge to breakdown.
"Mario? Are you okay?"
[BGM: Sadness and Happiness - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door]
Mario didn't answer. He just starred towards a particularly large chrome UFO in the distance. He could tell that's where the villain's hideout was, given that it stood out like the only meatball left on a plate of spaghetti.
"Are you… still mad at me for what I said regarding Alex earlier?" he asked.
"A… a little bit…" Mario admitted.
Aster sighed. Maybe he was a bit too harsh on that notion?
"I'm sorry about that, Mario. I was…" He cleared his throat. "It's just that while your optimism is admirable, I really don't go by those notions. And to be honest, I don't know whether we'll be able to save Alex or not. It could be 50-50, very unlikely, or very likely. I can't say for certain. Better to assume the worst than end up disappointed later on."
"Well… I WANT to save him!" Mario shouted all of a sudden. "I know in my gut that we will, and I'm not gonna let your pessimism tell me otherwise!"
"Oh, brother… What am I going to do with him?" Aster thought.
Mario turned away from Aster, not wishing to show the internal pain he felt in his heart.
"I'm sorry…" He sighed before continuing. "I know that just weeping like a baby and throwing tantrums about Alex is not going to save him, but… I don't want to hurt him… I… I don't want to lose him…"
He shed a 'Star Bit', though it didn't have the happy-go-lucky energy to bounce once it hit the floor.
"I understand your fear, Mario," Aster empathized. "I too was in fear of losing close ones, and… I had to deal with the grief. It's sad, but it's part of life. Losing one's game is inevitable for everyone. If Alex ends up losing his, we'll make sure his sacrifice won't be for nothing. Grambi will take good care of him. If we can save his game, we'll help him get better,"
"O… Okay…"
[BGM end]
They spent a few minutes sitting down and calming down. Aster made sure to keep an eye out in case Topmen were to come and ambush them. Soon enough, Mario got up with his eyes free of Star Bits.
"You ready?"
Mario took a deep breath. "I am. This… won't be easy. But I'll do it!"
"Okay. Now remember. In a place as dangerous as this, despair is your greatest enemy. You have to keep it together, even if it's hard. Otherwise, you're gonna lose. Believe me, I had to learn that the hard way. Understand?" Aster advised.
Mario nodded. No further questions asked.
"Alright, good. Then let's get to it."
[BGM: Battlerock Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy]
Both began their journey. Mario quickly showed Aster the long jump and they used that to cross the three saucer platforms. From there, they used a path of Pull Stars to reach a Sling Star up top.
The Sling Star flew them to another saucer, which instantly moved forward upon landing. All they had to do was dodge a few floating mines, which were easy. At the end, a Lauch Star flew the duo over to a half spherical planet. The first thing they noticed was a Luma who was trapped in a glass forcefield surrounded by electric wires.
"Help me!"
"Oh no! Cosmo! What happened?!" Aster called out.
"They have names? You never told me that," said Mario.
"You never asked," Aster responded.
"I was trying to look for a Power Star, but these weird spinny thingies found and captured me!" Cosmo explained. "Please, get me out! I feel like the walls are closing in!"
"Don't worry! We'll get you out! Just hang in there!" Aster turned to Mario. "The power lines are what's keeping Cosmo locked inside! We'll need to hit them with something to cut off the power."
"Like what?"
Just as the plumber asked, a red robot about Mario's height appeared from a wormhole. It had tiny black eyes, yellow spheres on its sides to protect its body, and it spun around like a top that kids would play with at playdates. Mario was about to try and jump on it without hesitation, but upon seeing the spike on top of it's head, he stopped. For unless his shoes were metal cleats, he knew that jumping on top of spiked enemies was a big no, no!
"INTRUDERS DETECTED! SURRENDER TO OUR LEADER, OR PERISH!" the robot barked.
"Hmph! I don't think so!" Aster kicked the Topman into the wires, expecting it to be electrified and malfunction. But somehow, it left the wires unharmed.
"Wait, WHAT?!"
"IMBECILES! IT CAME TO OUR KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU KNEW OUR WEAKNESS, SO WE MADE UPGRADES TO RENDER US IMMUNE TO ELECTRICITY," the Topman taunted.
"You've gotta be kidding me! That's the only weakness I knew! How can we stop them now?"
"Don't give up!" assured Mario. "My father always told me that every enemy has a weakness no matter how strong they seem. It just sometimes needs to be exploited."
"Well then, we'd better start thinking outside of the box," said Aster.
Both scoured the arena for a possible way to weaken the Topman's defenses. The Topman soldier would often try to push either into the electric wires, but they'd kick it back.
Mario jumped onto a pillar that was moving up and down. At the top was a strange looking green mushroom. It was a darker shade of green than a 1up Mushroom, had black spots instead of the usual white with the middle dot having a skull with crossbones, and the bottom half was black rather than the usual peach colors with glowing red angry eyes. Intrigued by this mushroom, Mario grabbed it and took it back down. When Aster saw the mushroom, he backed away with hesitation.
"Mario, I wouldn't eat that. It doesn't look trustworthy," Aster warned.
"Oh give it a chance! This could be our answer," Mario ate half of it before his ally could argue any further.
"NO!" he screamed.
To his surprise, Mario didn't die. Rather, he underwent a new transformation. Mario's shirt turned green, and his overalls turned purple with black buckles. His cap also turned purple to match the overalls with the "M" being replaced by a skull with crossbones, plus his gloves were now black. Perhaps the two most interesting changes made to the plumber's appearance were that his skin became dark green like he was a little green man from Mars, along with the hair under his cap and on his face turning into a deadly purple ooze.
Mario slowly took a look at himself. Resisting the urge to scream, he instead shouted out his catchphrase.
"Mamma Mia!"
Mario was so frightened that he threw a ball of acid over at the Topman. This caused the robot to short circuit with its eyes drooping down with a sad look.
"SYSTEMS CRITICALLY DAMAGED! CHANCES OF SELF REPAIR: 0.01%. IT'S NOT LOOKING GOOD. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! YOU MONSTER! I AM ERROR!"
Aster spotted an opportunity and smirked. He then kicked the Topman into the wires again. This time, the Topman blew up upon electrocution, and Cosmo was freed.
"Thank you! Oh, sweet freedom!" Cosmo embraced. "I'll show you a shortcut as your reward. And… TRANSFORM!"
Cosmo transformed into a Launch Star as thanks.
"I guess you were onto something, but please be careful next time. You never know," said Aster.
"Got it. Well, since I discovered this powerup, I get to name it!" claimed Mario. "I'll call it, the Toxic Mushroom!"
"I can see why you call it that. It does look deadly. By the way, you saved that other half for me, right?"
"Of course! Catch!"
Mario tossed the uneaten half of the Toxic Mushroom over to Aster, who chewed it up with a nauseated face. He hesitantly swallowed it and felt his stomach churn as he put his hands to his chest.
Aster coughed. "I think I'm gonna be sick! How do you handle stuff like this?!"
Toxic Mario shrugged. "Hey, I eat Fire Flowers all the time. And those taste like gasoline."
Luckily, that burning sensation in his stomach ended when Aster transformed. Like Mario, his skin turned green like an alien, and his hair, both head and facial, turned into purple acid. His spacesuit also got a visual change, now being black with glowing green parts.
"This is certainly a strange powerup. But we'll have to see more of what it does later. Shall we continue?"
"Let's a go!" exclaimed Mario as they got into Cosmo's Launch Star.
The two flew off to a ledge at the side of the Battlerock. There wasn't much to it besides a couple of crates and a Monty, which toxic Mario suffocated with poison gas. But Toxic Mario broke one of the crates to reveal a pipe. Naturally, both entered.
[BGM end]
[BGM: Whoa Zone - Super Paper Mario]
Inside, they were treated to a corridor where the wall was blue with arrows pointing upwards. Unbeknownst to the heroes, they were upside down.
"What's this thing?" Toxic Mario was referring to a green arrow mechanism they were next to.
"That's a gravity arrow," explained Toxic Aster. "If you flip it, gravity will flip as well."
Toxic Mario used his spin attack to flip the arrow over, changing it into a magenta color. Along with that, the wall became red, and the arrows pointed downwards. Toxic Aster naturally flipped over while Toxic Mario bonked his head on the floor.
"Ow!" he winced.
"Hey, I told you what it does. What did you expect?" Toxic Aster questioned.
"I don't do stuff like this on my home planet. It's a lot to adapt to," said Toxic Mario. "Not to mention, last time I was in one of these, I nearly threw up!"
"Don't worry. These types of sections are usually really short. It'll be over before you know it," Toxic Aster assured.
Both proceeded through the gravity corridor. At first it was just a few platforms moving up and down along with an Octoomba which Toxic Aster sprayed acid at to end it's game, but then it got really intense when the two had to traverse metallic wheels with molten hot lava.
"What the heck is lava doing in here?" wondered Toxic Mario.
"No idea. All I know is that the Topman Tribe are willing to do whatever it takes to stop us," replied Toxic Aster. "So just roll with it."
"Ha! I get it! Cause wheels roll!"
Toxic Aster glared at his plumber ally with a strict "not funny" face.
"Sorry…"
At the end of the pathway, they flipped another gravity arrow, allowing them to reach the ceiling. On the ceiling, both had to wait for the platforms to lower so they could proceed. Otherwise, they'd get sent back down to the other gravity field. Luckily, it was easy as cake.
But it wasn't over yet. The two fell down into the next section where they had to avoid getting crushed by certain platforms. Thankfully it was very short as the two were able to exit via pipe.
Now, Toxic Mario and Aster found themselves in a room which seemingly was inside the Battlerock. The room was a circular chamber with a green floor, white walls with machinery designing cyborg battle suits and brainwashing chips.
"What is this place?" Toxic Mario questioned as he looked around the barrier chamber.
"Wait a second. I've seen this room before…" Toxic Aster took a moment to think before it finally came to him. "That's it! Mario! This is where the Topman Tribe make the technology they use to experiment on and control victims, including your friend Alex."
"Wait, what?! They've done this to more people than just Alex?!" responded Toxic Mario in shock.
"You couldn't imagine. These robots have done countless experiments that were all tried and failed. From the readings I've gathered back in the lab, Alpha Pandora could possibly be their final product. Though I'm not certain about it."
"Well, you know what? That ends today!" Toxic Mario declared. "We need to shut down this place for good so that no one has to suffer Alex's fate ever again!"
"I appreciate your concern, Mario. But I don't see how we could do that. It's not like the tribe are stupid enough to put a self-destruct button in here," said Toxic Aster.
"Well, there's gotta be something we can do," Toxic Mario said as he stepped over a grate and looked down into it.
"How do we get out of here anyw-" Toxic Aster's thought was interrupted when he saw Toxic Mario liquidizing and seeping through the grates. "What the-?"
"What?" the poisonous plumber saw himself falling through the grate and splatting into a puddle on the floor below. Then he reconstructed himself. "Okay, this powerup is really freaky, but practical. Hey Aster, come down!"
Toxic Aster seeped through the grates just as Mario did. "Not bad! This might be our ticket to victory!"
Both toxic space travelers walked through what was seemingly the basement of the barrier chamber. Down there, they had to take down some Goombas in special poison gas fashion, but also had to dodge ice lasers. Apparently ice was the toxic powerup's greatest weakness, as getting frozen would turn the heroes back to normal. Luckily, there was a Toxic Mushroom back at the beginning of the area. Soon they reached the gravity switch, which was behind a grate and they had to seep through. Flipping the switch turned gravity on its head, and they fell onto a yellow spot on the ceiling, which sunk downwards (or upwards?) as an alarm went off.
"Who would've thought that ice was this powerup's weakness?" wondered Toxic Mario.
"No time for questions! We've got company!" dismissed Toxic Aster.
And he was right. Both were taken up to a smaller chamber where two Topmen were waiting, surrounded by orange and green electric wires.
"You fools! They're gonna reach us! Destroy them now!" said an offscreen voice that sounded like AP.
"YOU WILL NOT DESTROY OUR OPERATIONS!"
"PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR GAMES ENDED!"
Both toxic factions smirked to each other and spat acid out of their mouths at the robots, who short circuited upon contact.
"CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE PRESS ANY KEY TO RESTART!"
"CTRL ALT DEL!"
Toxic Mario spun them both into the electric wires, destroying them and taking down the wires. Luma unexpectedly came out of Mario's cap afterwards.
"Yay! We did it! We're a great team, guys!" Luma stopped celebrating when he saw a big red button on the ceiling. "What's this do?"
He pressed it and an even louder alarm was set off.
"LUMA!" both heroes screamed.
"Self destruct initiated! 10, 9, 8…"
The artificial gravity turned off and the two flew towards a Launch Star. Luma went back into Mario's cap.
"7, 6, 5…"
Both flew off immediately.
"4, 3, 2, 1!"
[BGM end]
The barrier chamber exploded behind them just as the engine room before it. But they weren't done yet. Soon after, the duo reached Topmaniac's Saucer. It was a gigantic chrome saucer filled with several green electric wires, Topman soldiers, and Topmaniac himself was floating aimlessly above it. The two landed at the bottom of the ship.
[BGM: A Tense Moment - Super Mario Galaxy
"Well… this is it," Toxic Mario noted with a lack of sincerity.
"Just focus. Don't think of him as you-know-who. Think of him as someone you really hate. Like Bowser," advised Toxic Aster. It was clear to Mario who he was referring to.
Both defeated the nearby Topmen and proceeded to the other side. There, they saw what looked like either windows, or screens to display results during a minigame. Mario figured perhaps this UFO could be converted into a fun spinning arena to jump and run around for a special event if he were to claim it. Perhaps he and some friends could jump over hurdles or something. But for now, it was a deathtrap.
Anyways, our heroes jumped up the staircase that led up to the battlefield on top. A flying disc floating above the saucer detected their presence and slowly descended. Once it hit the ground, the black piece of metal took on a more menacing appearance. Tons of yellow blades protruded from its sides, it had yellowish eyes that had their tops slanted downward to show an angry expression, small blue arrows just above the blades to show which direction they were spinning, and a large red button on its head.
"It's him…" Toxic Aster muttered as he closed his two fists.
"WELL, WELL, WELL. IF IT ISN'T MY OLD ADMIN. I'VE WAITED LONG FOR YOU BOTH," the robot greeted.
"So you're the one behind all this? WHERE'S ALEX?!" Toxic Mario furiously demanded. Before he could pressure it further, Toxic Aster held him back.
"Let me handle this Mario," he insisted as Topmaniac let out a chuckle. Or at least what sounded like a chuckle coming out of a robot.
"MY AREN'T WE RUSHING INTO THINGS? QUITE A HEADSTRONG FRIEND YOU'VE GOT THERE, ASTER," Topmaniac replied.
"Never mind him. Listen Topmania-"
"IT'S TOPMANIAC!" the robot corrected.
"Whatever!" Toxic Aster rebuked. "Now listen up! You promised me that you would never kidnap innocent Lumas again, and yet you keep insisting on making my life and the lives of others miserable. You attacked my family, you destroyed hundreds, if not thousands of galaxies over the centuries you were roaming the cosmos all because you thought they were "corrupt", you torture innocent people and turn them into dangerous killing machines, and now you team up with some maniac that wants to rule the universe!" As Toxic Aster spoke, Toxic Mario raised an eyebrow.
"He knows these robots?"
"You never cease to surprise me in how horrible you can be! But it ends today! We destroyed your defenses, we blew up your machine factory, and we also took three of the stars you had here. Now, I'm giving you one last chance! Release all your captured Lumas, give us your remaining Stars, let Alex go, and we'll leave peacefully without a fight."
"I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU! NOT ANYMORE." Topmaniac denied. "BOWSER IS MY NEW ADMIN NOW. AND WITH HIS HELP, WE WILL FINALLY SUCCEED IN THE GOAL WE WERE CREATED FOR: A PROSPEROUS FUTURE LIES AHEAD FOR US ALL, ASTER. AND YOU WILL NOT STOP US!"
"You have a very crude and twisted definition of 'prosperous'." retorted Toxic Aster. "Bowser's not trying to make the universe better. He's going to plunge it into chaos! Someone more noble is deserving of the title 'emperor of the universe'."
"SUIT YOURSELF. YOU'RE EITHER WITH US, OR AGAINST US. THOSE WHO ARE THE LATTER…"
[BGM end]
"Oh, Mamma Mia…" thought Toxic Mario.
[BGM: Vs. The Wicked Company - Kirby Planet Robobot]
"...MUST BE DESTROYED!" Topmaniac finished. He summoned an electric-proof shield coating over his roboti body, and his blades turned blue like ice.
Toxic Mario was quick to respond and tried to jump on the mad machine's overly large red button, but Topmaniac's shield simply deflected him back.
"What the…?" Toxic Mario pondered.
"IT WON'T BE THAT EASY! NOT THIS TIME!" taunted Topmanic as he summoned three Topminis, which were tiny yellow Topmen without spikes. "ATTACK, MY CHILDREN!"
Toxic Mario chuckled. "Those are your minions?! They're just pipsqueaks!"
The Topminis' adorable little eyes suddenly glared at the plumber fiercely and they pushed him right into the electric wires.
"PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPHA!" Toxic Mario fell down to the floor (and luckily didn't lose his powerup since it wasn't ice), then Aster picked up and slapped him.
"Focus!" Toxic Aster yelled at his friend as he kicked the three Topmen away. That triggered the Topman leader to start charging towards the two.
"Now!" Toxic Mario signaled as Topmaniac grinded on the floor. He jumped up and sprayed acid at Topmaniac's shield from above.
"WHAT?" the robot couldn't comprehend what was happening as the poison seeped through and destroyed the shield. With said shield gone, Toxic Aster jumped on Topmaniac's large button, turning it green and making him sheath his blades.
"Now's our chance! Do your thing, Mario!" said Toxic Aster.
"Aw yeah!" Toxic Mario used his spin to knock Topmaniac right into the green electric wires surrounding the arena. With one hit down, their foe rearmed himself with another shield.
"NOT BAD, FOR A COUPLE OF INSIGNIFICANT LIFEFORMS," Topmaniac admitted. "BUT I'M NOT GOING DOWN THAT EASILY!"
He inserted himself into a screw in the center of the arena and spun in it to summon a large cylindrical pillar. Then he attached himself to the side of the pillar, and performed a whirling spin dash, tracing a spiral down the platform and hitting Toxic Aster with his ice blades, turning him back to normal. Toxic Mario reacted in time and turned into a puddle of acid, even briefly damaging Topmaniac. As soon as he resurfaced, Toxic Mario unfroze the now normal space explorer.
"You okay?!"
"I'm f-f-fine…" Aster shivered from getting frozen. "You've… certainly… learned some new moves."
"YOU CAN THANK OUR SECOND IN COMMAND FOR THAT," replied Topmaniac. Then he summoned three regular Topmen. They all jumped to different sides of the platform and spun around it in the same direction and speed. Toxic Mario and Aster hurdled over a few, with the exception of one, whose spike hit Mario in the bottom. As they were hurdling, Toxic Mario left some puddles of acid on the ground to damage the Topmen. He even charged with full force at Topmanic by riding a whole wave of poison, followed by a jump on the button by Aster.
The robot sheathed his blades again, and Toxic Mario hit him into the electricity once recollected himself again, now with his eyes glowing red. "CODE RED! ACTIVATING RESTRUCTURING SHOCKS!"
Topmaniac jumped onto the side of the pillar and conjured four gigantic holes in it, leaving it as hollow as an empty seashell. Toxic Mario and Aster kept their guards up even though they were confused.
"What's he doing now?" Toxic Mario asked.
"I don't know, but we'd better prepare ourselves," responded Aster.
Now with the platform completely hollowed out, Topmaniac inserted himself into the center and spun around inside it. As he did, the platform itself began to rotate. It stopped with one of the four holes in front of the duo and said hole (along with the hole on the opposite side) began to charge up a blast.
"LOOK OUT!" Toxic Mario screamed as he dived into Aster, saving them both from the huge icy blast that fired out of both holes. Aster landed in the safe area, but Toxic Mario unfortunately bounced right in front of the hole next to it, and it was too big to jump over.
"MARIO, GET UP!" Aster yelled. It was too late. Once he got up, the icy blast came out the other two holes, and Toxic Mario was caught in it, turning him back to normal. The mushroom superstar briefly became a herosicle before being blasted towards the screen. Luckily, he didn't break the camera, but Mario was now on low health.
"Mario, are you okay?" Aster pleaded.
"L-Look out…" he briefly muttered.
Aster saw that the pillar was spinning again. So he quickly grabbed Mario and hid in a safe spot. Once it stopped spinning, icy blasts fired out of all four holes. With that attack done, Topmaniac exited and summoned two more Topmen to aid him.
"Well shoot! We need another Toxic Mushroom!" Aster minorly cursed. They quickly looked around while dodging another spinning attack from one of the Topmen. The man in space saw a Toxic Mushroom on top of the pillar and hoisted Mario up top. He got the strength to run again and tossed half the shroom to his buddy.
Both heroes turned into their toxic forms again and sprayed poison puddles on the ground to damage Topmaniac's shield once again. Toxic Aster jumped on him once again and prepared to deal the final blow.
"I'm sorry…" Toxic Aster whispered as he kicked Topmaniac into the electric wires for the last time, shutting the wires down and causing the robot leader to short circuit.
[BGM end]
"CRITICAL… SYS… TEM… FAILURE…" He shut down as the pillar he created sunk into the ground, and the Power Star he was holding appeared. Both heroes turned back to normal as well.
Aster took out his Star Bit bag and aimed two Star Bits at the glowing coin lights to heal Mario.
"Woo. Thanks Aster. That was tough, mamma mia…" Mario muttered.
"You're welcome, and… thanks for saving me earlier, even if you still got hit." He turned to the now dysfunctional Topmaniac. "Well, I think we put the maniac in his place."
"But we still haven't found Al-"
"I know Mario. I promise we will find him," Aster interrupted. "After all, it shouldn't be hard after we took down the one responsible. Now then, let's take this Star and-"
"Wait! Shouldn't we dispose of the killer robot's remains first? Y'know, so it doesn't cause anymore harm?"
"Hmm…" Aster thought for a second. "Nah. Leave it."
"WHAT?!" shouted Mario in disbelief. "But Aster-!"
"Thou shalt not end another's game!" Aster quoted Grambi's bible. "There is a difference between simply defeating your enemies, and ending them. I don't resort to the latter unless absolutely necessary. I wish not to put a stain in Grambi's name."
"But you mentioned that he attacked your family, destroyed countless galaxies, and enslaved innocent people INCLUDING MY BEST FRIEND! And yet you're just gonna let him live?! What if he gets repaired and ends up causing even more damage later on?!" Mario argued.
"Mario, look at him! We beat him to the point where he's unable to function normally. I doubt he's in a state to get repaired at this point. Besides, we have bigger things to worry about then waste our time with this hunk of metal any longer," retorted Aster.
"I…" Mario sighed. "You're right. Let's-a go."
[BGM: Power Star get - Super Mario Galaxy
YOU GOT A STAR!
Just as the star finished spinning around him and the plumber would grab the Star as normal, a grey flash suddenly swiped the star from Mario's grasp, making his and Aster's smiles instantly disappear.
[BGM is cut off]
YOU GOT A STAR?
They both fell to the floor unexpectedly, feeling annoyed.
"What gives?!" Mario complained.
"It's not over…" Aster muttered.
Alpha Pandora flew in along with a couple of Topmen, much to Mario's horror and grief.
"No…"
"Take our master away for repair sessions. I'll take care of these two." AP ordered. As ordered, the two Topmen took Topmaniac's remains away. With them gone, AP glared at the duo with an evil grin.
To be continued…
Special thanks to Mario bros fan 4ever for the powerup idea!