10 power moons.

"Oh boy oh boy..." Cappy was panting as we rested in the air pocket in the anglerfish arena, "That wasn't pleasant at all..."

I couldn't agree more. The thing just wouldn't go away! It was so resilient that I lost several fish trying to fight it, and sometimes I wasn't able to get out of the way in time. I don't even know what finally made it leave, it was all a blur. There were no air bubbles down here either. The only source of air was this one air pocket, the low-health warning beeped in my ears before I could grab the moon to reset it.

"This doesn't inspire confidence...come on, one more time..."

I mechanically pulled the new key from my pocket. Rainbow. Holographic. The exact color of the door we needed to open.

"Okay...okay I think I'm ready now..." Cappy settled himself on my head, "You ready?"

I nodded, carefully standing up and cracking my back. I'm getting too old for this. Which was an interesting thought, because I'm only 24 years old.

"Okay, let's do this."

It was a quiet swim up to the surface, and a quiet walk to the door. We were both tired, and we just wanted to get the girls back so we could stop worrying about them and resume our vacation. I ran the back of my fist against my forehead as I approached the door. The final frontier.

I slid the key into the keyhole and twisted, it fit perfectly. It clicked, and then let us in. There was no time to waste, we hurried inside, the door slamming shut behind us. We were engulfed in complete darkness.

As my eyes adjusted, I could see a few things. For one, the inside looked just like the outside; Black brick walls. The room was circular, with one straight hallway across from the door we'd just entered, stretching side by side to connect to the towers on the outside.

"H-hey..." Cappy whispered as he shivered in fear, "Be careful in that hallway, okay? I have a bad feeling about it..."

Seeing no other way to proceed, I looked around the corner of one of the hallways, seeing a ladder that led upwards at the end.

"What's that sound?"

I listened. A quick thumping, and it was getting closer-!

"WAAAH!"

I fell backwards, hearing a huge iron door open and slam shut. I jumped up, looking around for what could have hit me. I was alone. I put both hands on my head. Cappy was gone.

I looked down the hall, seeing something dressed all in heavy armor bolt down the hall and disappear inside the wall. Realizing what must have happened, I jumped into the hallway and watched the armored figure get closer and closer until it grabbed me by my leg and dragged me into the wall as well. When I managed to open my eyes, the figure threw me into a corner, where my back hit a pile of coins and jewels and other kinds of riches.

It then proceeded to stand by the far wall, waiting for something else to come through.

I kept my voice quiet, so I wouldn't draw its attention, "Cappy."

"I'm over here."

I turned to the voice. Cappy was still in his red cap form, sitting on a pedestal among other hats. All of them were ordinary hats, and even from here I could see Cappy shivering in fear. I carefully brought a finger to my lips, signaling that he should be quiet. He gave a single, terrified nod.

I carefully sat up, then stood, tip-toeing towards the pedestal where Cappy sat. When I'd almost reached out to grab him, the armored figure blocked me with his arm. Cappy flinched, but he didn't make a sound.

"You can have that hat of yours..." it opened its palm, showing off a colorful power moon that shone through the darkness, "Or you can have this..."

I rolled my eyes, reaching once again for Cappy. It was probably some kind of bargain to keep more rare treasures in exchange for power moons...but as I reached for Cappy again, my hand hit a barrier. It was like he was in a glass case, but there was no glass. My heart sank. Did I have no choice?

"Mario." Cappy breathed, just barely loud enough for me to hear, "Take the power moon. I have an idea."

I shook my head. Why would I just leave him here?

"I think that moon is powering the barrier. I might be able to fly out if you take it."

I was skeptical, but I saw no other option. So, bracing myself, I reached for the power moon in the thing's other hand. As soon as I had it in my hands, Cappy flew off the pedestal and around the room.

"What the-!?"

I handed the moon back to the monster with a bow, quickly grabbing Cappy out of the air and throwing him at the knight monster. Its helmet came off, and then I was able to capture it, taking advantage of its dizziness afterwards to grab the moon again and get out of there.

"Whew! That was terrifying!" Cappy didn't relax, but he was visibly relieved, "For a second I was afraid you would abandon me!"

Why would I do that? I may be tough on Bowser's minions, but I'm not a monster.

"I know, but still..." Cappy shook himself, "Anyway, which way now?"

I bolted down the hallway to the ladder, climbing it before the thing from before could catch us again. The next room up was where the ladder stopped, and the ceiling up here blocked me from jumping, so I stepped onto the second floor. I heard something around this corner, into the circular room above the one we'd first entered. It sounded like...paws...

Turning the corner, I saw that the circular room had a wolf in it. A giant black wolf with big sharp teeth. I looked across the hall to the other side, which had a locked door at the end of it. If I had to guess, I would have to get past the wolf to get the key.

The wolf sniffed the air, then growled.

Cappy let out a terrified squeak, and the wolf lunged. I jumped just in time, diving behind the beast as it lunged again, its teeth bared. It didn't get me, but its jaws closed on Cappy, and it ran off with its prize.

"AAAHHH! HEEELP MEEE!"

I shook my head, trying to clear the sudden dizziness. Where did it go?

This was no ordinary wolf. It seemed to realize that it wouldn't have to chase after me if it stole Cappy, because it would run away from me as soon as I tried to get close. What was I supposed to do? If I got too close then both of us would die!

"MARIO! DO SOMETHING!"

I looked around the room, looking for anything I could use to get rid of the wolf. It was getting impatient, and if I didn't think of something right now...

The wolf lunged at me, its jaws still closed around Cappy, and I jumped to avoid the attack. Running around it in a circle, I waited for it to stop moving just long enough for me to grab its tail and spin it into the wall. It cracked its nose on the bricks, dropping Cappy and howling in pain. It then disappeared, leaving a small silver key in its wake.

"Cappy?" I kneeled down to his level, where he was lying on the ground. I poked him a few times. The top of his cap had already healed from being bitten, but Cappy hadn't seemed to register that the danger was gone. His shivering and shaking was rattling his entire frame, and he had both arms over his eyes.

"Um, yeah...sorry…" he straightened up shaking his head, "Thanks for the save. Again. I'm fine, let's keep going."

I didn't totally believe him, but he wasn't shaking too bad once he had his perch back, so I figured I could calm him down after Peach and Tiara had been rescued.

The rest of the castle wasn't very tall, it was just a matter of finding the right tower. Climbing up the giant spiral staircase was unnerving, though, because the higher I climbed, the darker and quieter it became. Every one of my footsteps seemed to pound in my ears as the darkness claimed more and more of my field of view, until I finally reached the heavy stone door at the very top. It was unlocked.

The light inside was a warm yellow, created by several lanterns along the wall. The soft sound of fire crackling could be heard now, along with my cautious footsteps as I made my way into the large room. There were a few more doors in here, maybe one of them led to another staircase.

"Wait."

Cappy's voice startled me out of my skin.

"Sorry…" Cappy slid off my head, after my startled jump knocked him askew, "Look up there."

I couldn't believe my eyes. Thousands of statues of beautiful women. Some with long hair, some with shorter hair, some wearing dresses with lace, some wearing a simpler shirt and pants. All of them looked terrified.

Cappy's eyes widened, any color he had in his face draining away.

"What?" I turned in that direction.

"They're…" Cappy watched me numbly walk forward, "They're…"

One of the stone statues was about a head taller than me. She had long, fluffy blonde hair, that lovely pink dress…

I placed my hand gently on her cheek. Princess Peach - Tiara frozen on her head - in silent fear.

"What happened to them?" Cappy quivered as he floated closer to my head, "Hey, do you hear that?"

I listened. I couldn't make it out clearly at first, but it became more obvious as it got louder, closer…

It sounded like...a heartbeat…

"Mario watch out!"

I jumped as the gnarled woman from before crashed into the room. More than three times her previous height, her head scraped the ceiling as she reared back and roared.

"AAAAAAAA!"

I grabbed a now-panicking Cappy as the woman struck, with terrifying accuracy. I would have to stay on my feet if I wanted to get rid of her.

"Mario!"

I looked up, just dodging another swing of her vicious claws. I could tell I wouldn't have the same amount of time to figure out a strategy, but I couldn't properly think if I was so focused on not getting hit, and, I mean, I'm not old by any means, but that didn't mean I could last forever.

"MARIO!"

Cappy flew off my head as the monster's back-hand hit me in the stomach, sending me sprawling across the ground. My vision swam as the impact caused a giant bump to form on my head. 2/3

The floor began to cave underneath me. I cried out for help.

"Mario!" I heard Cappy's distant voice, "It's okay! I'll help you! I'm coming!"

The static began to build in my head. Cappy was a fast flier, so why was he taking so long?

The monster roared again. I attempted to stand, not wanting to fall into the abyss of the castle should the floor totally collapse. My vision doubled, I could barely see or hear anything. I was at a loss. What could I do now!?

Another impact hit, tearing through my skin and sending me flying. I burst through the castle walls. I heard Cappy scream.

That was my last memory before I hit the water.

It was the middle of the night.