By the chapter's name, you'll know what's coming...! ;D

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 3: Past and Future Heroes meet

Previously, our heroes had arrived to the past through a mysterious time hole. They made their way to the top of the hill by crossing a path with tall red mushrooms so that they could reach the village that was under attack.

This village was named Hollijolli Village; a snow-covered town with a Christmas theme to it, as we could see many holiday trees around. The terrain had colorful stars as its pattern. It is located at the northeast of Star Hill, and this is where the fairies of the Mushroom Kingdom were born, and they are taken care of the Toad villagers at their infancies before leaving their nest to give order and protection to the kingdom. Each fairy that's born here has her own powers.

Of course, because of the recent attack, all of the fairies fled from the village, leaving it deserted. Speaking of deserted, the heroes had arrived too late; the UFOs were destroying the whole town. They gasped at the sights.

"Oh no! It's too late!" Luigi whimpered.

They saw the UFOs blasting the ground, leaving holes on it. What was more shocking was that some of those UFOs were also abducting innocent Toad villagers! After causing as much chaos as possible in this village, the UFOs left.

"W-Why were they abducting Toads for?" Mario questioned in shock.

"This is terrible! We better check everywhere for survivors!" Tails told them.

"You're right! Let's go!" Sonic nodded.

They wandered around this now devastated village. They could see destroyed houses, malfunctioning lights and lifeless trees. At the end, they found… Nothing. The whole village was indeed deserted.

"Guess we're out of luck…" Sonic sighed.

"Hold on… Do you guys hear that?" Tails' ears perked up as he heard strange alien noises from nearby.

They checked behind some group of surviving trees and saw a trio of Shroobs standing still. The heroes prepared to jump towards them and as they did so, they glared at them, and the Shroobs started to speak in a language that the heroes couldn't understand:

"&(%...?"

"&(%...?"

"%$!"

"%$!"

"%$!"

The heroes were confused at what they were saying, but after those words, the Shroobs launched an attack at them, meaning that they want to pick up a fight with them.

But then, one of the Shroobs called forth a UFO, showing the number 3 below it.

"What does that number mean?" Sonic asked.

"I think it means we only have three turns to attack before…who knows what happens!" Mario answered.

"Are you serious? We can't take them all at once with only three turns!"

"We have to try; it's the only choice we have."

Sonic realized that Mario was right. The brothers began by stomping two of the three Shroobs, and the counter dropped to two.

"That won't end well…" Sonic swaetdropped as he Home Attacks the other Shroob that didn't receive damage, and the counter reduced to one.

"We're not gonna make it!" Tails informed as he shoots all three Shroobs at once with a blast of his arm cannon. Even that, the Shroobs still weren't defeated!

"That's impossible! How can these guys have such high health?!" Mario flinched in disbelief.

Finally, the counter reaches zero. With that, a cannon appeared below the UFO and charged a large blast of energy while aiming at the heroes. After charging it to maximum, the UFO sends the blast falling towards them!

"HOLY MOLY!" Sonic shouted in shock as the blast was getting closer.

"IT'S THE END!" Luigi cried out in panic while covering his face with his cap.

The large blast hit the heroes, immediately KO'ing them. Once the UFO left, the Shroobs laughed in victory. What will become of our heroes…?

Meanwhile, high above Hollijolli Village…

We can see the Koopa Cruiser…well, cruising the skies. Inside, at the lower level, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Young Sonic and Young Tails were playing a game of tag while they ran around in circles, while Young Amy was holding Baby Peach in her arms, watching the boys play.

However, unknown to them, three UFOs snuck behind the cruiser, and one of them shot a blast, hitting the back of the cruiser. This startled the youngsters from the inside.

This also caused the cruiser to activate its alarm, making the babies cry in fright.

"WAAAAAAAAAAHH!" they wailed out loud.

The young animals flinched by their wail and tried their best to calm them down. Then, a megaphone came down and it says:

"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!"

"PRIIIIIIIIINCESS!" Young Toadsworth crawled his way from the exit towards Young Amy, who was still holding Baby Peach. "Oh! Oh, Mistress Rose! Trying to calm the princess down?"

"Yeah, but I think she won't stop crying because of the alarm!" Young Amy warned.

"Princess!" Young Toadsworth got in front of Baby Peach to call her attention. "Never fear, my dear. Toadsworth is here!"

Baby Peach stopped wailing, but she was still sobbing a bit. Young Amy handed her to Young Toadsworth as he spoke: "Come! Let's get you to safety!"

"How about the bridge?" Young Amy suggested.

"Sounds fine to me. Let's go."

Young Amy followed Young Toadsworth out of the area. Young Sonic and Young Tails were still trying their best to calm down the toddler brothers. Soon, the same megaphone came down, this time; Baby Bowser's voice came through:

"This is the great Prince Bowser! Kneel, minions! OK, now get up! All personnel to the bridge!"

After that, Young Sonic finally managed to calm Baby Mario down and he stopped crying. However, the same can't be said for Young Tails with Baby Luigi.

"Shh… Shh… It was just a startle, Luigi. Please don't cry." Young Tails spoke quietly while caressing Baby Luigi's head.

"I think it's best if we take him to the next room where this annoying alarm doesn't reach us." Young Sonic stated.

"Sounds like a clever idea." Young Tails replied and picks up Baby Luigi in his arms before he, Young Sonic and Baby Mario exited the area.

Once outside, since the alarm wasn't reaching them, Young Tails rubs Baby Luigi's back gently while speaking quietly:

"There, there, Luigi. The alarm is gone now. You don't have to cry anymore." He wipes off Baby Luigi's tears.

Baby Luigi does a few hiccups before finally calming down and stops crying, but still sobbing a little.

"Waaah… *sniff* alarm too loud!" he sniffled.

"It's okay; we're finally out." Young Tails smiled, making Baby Luigi smile a little bit, and Young Tails placed him down.

With that, the four young heroes made their way together out of the lower level of the cruiser and arrived at the bridge, where they found Young Amy with Young Toadsworth holding Baby Peach in his arms. Up ahead, there was Baby Bowser and his Koopa minions piloting the cruiser, which was still being attacked by the UFOs from behind.

"Time to show these alien jerks what the Koopa Cruiser can do!" Baby Bowser grinned before giving his order: "Fire the Koopa Cannon!"

"FIRE!" all of the Koopas shouted.

Eventually, the cannon placed at the deck of the cruiser loaded before firing a spiked ball at the UFOs, knocking all of them down.

"Bwah ha ha ha HAAA!" Baby Bowser laughed evilly. "I am just so dang EVIL! I hope they felt honored to be shot down by me!"

Then, two of the Koopas began to appraise Baby Bowser:

"You're the best, Prince Bowser!"

"You're a Koopa's Koopa!"

"Bwah ha ha ha!" Baby Bowser laughed in amusement.

Suddenly, the cruiser made a sudden downwards dive, startling Baby Bowser:

"YOW!"

With this event, the cruiser was now flying a few inches above Hollijolli Village.

"Hey! You call that piloting?! Pay attention, sky-nerd!" Baby Bowser stomps the ground angered.

Then, one of the Koopas saw something below them and reported:

"Prince Bowser! There! 4 o'clock!" he pointed to the area where the trio of Shroobs, who were still celebrating, KO'd the adult heroes. "Those villagers are under Shroob attack!"

"Your… Your orders? Should we help them?" another Koopa asked.

"Aw, man… It's half past snack time already!" Baby Bowser complained, ignoring the orders. "We… We saw nothing! Everybody clear on that?"

However, this news did not make Baby Peach too happy: she starts to cry loudly, startling everyone.

"Great hoogly-boogly! The princess does NOT approve of this!" Young Toadsworth warned. "Young Master Bowser! Abandoning those folk is reprehensible!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Baby Peach wailed so loud, it caused everyone to cover their ears.

"MY EARS! She'll ruin us all!" Baby Bowser yelled. "Fine! I'll help them if it'll just SHUT HER UP! Koopa Cannon! FIRE!"

"FIRE!" all of the Koopas shouted.

The cannon then shoots another spiked ball, sending the three Shroobs away. Soon after that, Baby Peach calmed down. Noticing that, Baby Bowser went to her and spoke sternly:

"There! Happy?"

"Eee hee hee!" Baby Peach giggled while clapping her hands.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Baby Bowser then turned to the toddler Mario Bros as well as the young Team Sonic. "You four take care of things from here. Go get 'em, Red and Blue! You too, Greenie and Yellow!"

"Leave it to us!" Young Tails nodded.

The Koopa Cruiser landed on the far west side of Hollijolli Village, and the young heroes exited from the bridge.

"Well, now that we took care of those aliens, we better go check on those unfortunate villagers." Young Sonic said.

"You're right. Then maybe it will make Princess Peach most pleased, and perhaps avoid future tantrums." Baby Mario added.

"I hope nothing grave happened to those poor villagers…" Young Tails spoke in a worried voice.

"Let's hope we can find them before more of those aliens attack them again." Baby Luigi stated.

The young heroes wandered around the village, gazing at the destruction caused by the Shroobs.

It didn't take quite long, since the cruiser landed on the spot that was closer to their respective destination. They went to the downed 'villagers' and tried to wake them up, not noticing that they looked oddly similar to our young heroes.

But then, two of the Shroobs that were sent away came back and one of them spoke in their native alien language:

"%(&…"

The young heroes heard that and turned around to find themselves face to face with the Shroobs.

"%$!"

"They're still here?!" Young Sonic flinched. "Well then, I guess we have no choice but to take them down. After all, we'll also avenge them for those villagers!"

Young Sonic and Young Tails charged their Spin Dashes and zoomed towards each Shroob, followed up by Baby Mario and Baby Luigi's stomps.

However, Young Sonic and Young Tails didn't expect the Shroobs shoot at them with their laser guns, and they were hit by their blasts.

"ACK!" they groaned from the impact.

"Sonic! Tails!" Baby Luigi cried out.

"I think direct attacks are too weak against the Shroobs, so we have to attack them from a distance!" Baby Mario warned.

"How?" Baby Luigi asked.

"Good thing Toadsworth packed in a few items for us!" Baby Mario pulled out a Green Shell from his pocket.

"Isn't that a Green Koopa Shell?"

"Yep! Remember how we used to play soccer together? Let's use that same way to attack these Shroobs! Like this!"

Baby Mario placed the shell next to his feet and kicks it towards one of the Shroobs. Once the shell hit the Shroob, it bounced back and was heading towards Baby Luigi.

"Now, Luigi! It's your turn to kick!" Baby Mario called out.

"Oh! I get it!" Baby Luigi grinned and kicks the shell next.

The toddler brothers continued their kicking until both Shroobs were defeated.

"That was fun! It's been awhile since we don't play soccer." Baby Luigi said.

"You guys did it!" Young Tails exclaimed. "All right, now that those Shroobs are out of the way, let's check on the villagers."

Being the fastest one, Young Sonic made his way towards them first. But once he took a look at them, he noticed something odd.

"Guys, look at this!" he called out. "Now that I see these villagers close up, they bear a striking resemblance to all of us! I mean, look, this blue guy looks almost like me!" he directs to the adult blue hedgehog.

"You're right, Sonic! This fox guy looks like an adult version of me or something!" Young Tails confirmed as he glances at the adult yellow fox. "Not to mention that those hairy guys are dressed just like Mario and Luigi…"

"This is odd…" Baby Luigi pondered.

"Well, whoever they are, I believe it's best to take them to Bowser's ship. Who knows when more of those awful aliens return?" Baby Mario told them while shrugging.

"You have a point there. Let's head back." Young Sonic said.

Later…

Once the adult heroes had woken up at the cruiser's bridge, Young Toadsworth began to tell them about what happened back at the castle:

"Those monsters… Their arrival seems like a horrible dream… It was all so sudden… Foul parasites from the Shroob planet, land of utter creepiness! Their purpose is oh-so clear! They wish to take all we hold dear in the Mushroom Kingdom! Our land… Our very lives! Oh, and the village is in ruins… And our beloved castle as well!"

Flashback

There was peace in Toad Town and all of the Toads were wandering happily. But that peace would be short-lived when suddenly, the UFOs came in, making their strange noises, catching all of the Toads' attention as they looked up at the sky.

Then, the UFOs released their energy blasts and shot them around the whole town, causing all of the Toads to go in panic.

Back in the castle, everyone inside was panicking; it seemed that the castle was about to crumble over them, since there were many pieces of debris that were falling from the ceiling and walls.

"I WANNA GET OUT!" Baby Luigi cried in desperation.

"Yeah! We must escape!" Young Tails called out.

"THE CASTLE! The castle is lost!" Young Toadsworth shouted in a dramatic tone.

"WOOAAH!" they all suddenly screamed when they felt a loud crash from the outside and they nearly lost their balances.

Acting quickly, Baby Bowser pulled out a communicator and spoke:

"Prince Bowser here! Come in, Kamek! Get the Koopa Cruiser here, on the double!"

Soon, a Koopa's voice came in:

"MY PRINCE!"

The Koopa Cruiser had also arrived and shoots out a spiked ball from its cannon to knock down the UFOs attacking the castle as the same Koopa spoke:

"Prince Bowser! Let's hightail it out of here!"

End of Flashback

"And THAT is how all of us were rescued by Master Bowser, odd as that sounds." Young Toadsworth finished.

"And now…almost all of the Mushroom Kingdom has fallen under Shroob control." Young Amy lamented.

"Status report, Your Badness! We are currently on approach to Peach's Castle." One of the Koopas informed.

"*sigh* our once beautiful castle… No… Look at it now." Young Toadsworth sighed and directed to the front.

The adult heroes gasped in shock at what they saw: the castle had suffered a dramatic change to fit the theme of the Shroobs. It was showing a purple glow, with its towers changed into tall purple mushrooms, along with the pillars and bushes. Glowing purple mushrooms grow all over, a giant statue of the Shroobs' ruler can be found, and Shroob UFOs fly around the exterior of the castle, searching for intruders.

"That's REALLY such a dramatic change!" Sonic was shocked.

"I know, right? No doubt those fiends call it Shroob Castle." Young Sonic stated.

"Rumor has it that their leader is there. Princess Shroob…" Young Toadsworth said.

Mario then was sure that Princess Peach and Amy were inside and possibly kept captive by the Shroobs once they've arrived at the past. He went to Young Toadsworth and explained that to him.

"Eh? What's that you say? Princess Peach and Mistress Rose are being held prisoners in the castle?" he questioned.

"What are you talking about? I and Peach are quite safe and sound right here!" Young Amy stated with a confused look on her face.

"Umm… You see…" Mario stuttered. "You're not gonna believe this at first, but… I was talking about the future versions of Peach and Amy. In addition to that, we're also the future versions of them." He directs to the young heroes at the last sentence.

"Did you really have to spit it out right now, Mario?" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Hmm? I beg your pardon? The futures Princess Peach and Mistress Rose? The future Masters Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails?" Young Toadsworth questioned. Mario nodded.

Upon hearing this, the young heroes became so astonished by that, that they went to each of their adult versions and stared curiously at them from all sides. Young Toadsworth, however, didn't believe that so easily and said playfully:

"Ho! Ho ho! You poor fellows… You've gone a bit daffy, eh? Your noggins must have gotten bonked. Perhaps a nap?"

"I… Uh…" Mario pondered.

All of a sudden, the same alarm activated again. Because of that, Young Tails was afraid that Baby Luigi might cry again. Surprisingly enough, he didn't this time.

"Status report! NOW!" Baby Bowser demanded.

"Your Foulness! We're receiving some sort of transmission from Peach's…I mean, Shroob Castle!" one of the Koopas informed. "It's from… Princess Shroob!"

"A transmission? Put it on the monitor! Let's see what's up."

The monitor from the ceiling shows Princess Shroob, and she speaks in the Shroobs' native language:

"&*)($%#! ()&…#%(!" she then lifts her hands into the air and continued: "$&()%#! %*)(#%$!"

Of course, nobody understood anything she was saying.

"Man… Does anyone have ANY idea what she's blabbing about?" Baby Bowser said sternly.

Then, the same alarm came in again.

"Ack! P-Prince Bowser! Fr-From Shroob Castle…" the same Koopa from early stuttered. "It's a Shroob missile, and it's headed straight for us!"

"SAY WHAT?!" everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Whoa! Evasive action! Koopa Cannon! FIRE!" Baby Bowser demanded.

"No… No ammo!" the same Koopa informed.

"What? You're fired."

"Now's not the time for that!" the other Koopa stated.

Eventually, the Shroob missile was flying straight at the Koopa Cruiser and once it hit it from behind, everyone was flung forward by the momentum.

"AAAAHH!" they screamed as they fell on the ground.

"Direct hit!" the Koopa shouted.

"#########!" Princess Shroob cackled as the transmission ended.

The cruiser was starting to malfunction as it was slowly diving downwards.

"Those alien DIRTBAGS! We gotta hold it together until we get back home!" Baby Bowser shouted angrily.

Soon, the Koopa Cruiser found itself plummeting towards Baby Bowser's Castle. It landed so hard on the floor that everyone was flung out of the ceiling, and separated from each other in the castle.

To be continued…

Uh oh... Everyone has been separated! Next chapter coming soon! Please review.