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Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, at the top of the kingdom's tallest mountain, the Toadstool Observatory was in a flash of hysteria. Observations from the previous night showed something very large and unusual just beyond the planet Saturn that seemed to be headed towards the Earth and at a very high speed, faster than any comet or solar eruption that had ever been observed. Inside the main observation deck, the Mushroom Kingdom's chief astronomer barged into the room with a frightened look on his face.

"These readings are way off the charts!" he exclaimed. "I cannot explain what this thing could be! It almost looks like a giant cloud."

"What did the spectral analysis reveal?" one of the other Toad astronomers asked. "What is it made of?"

"We were unable to determine any chemical make up." said the chief astronomer. "All I can say is that it's not made up of anything we're familiar with."

"What do you mean?" asked another Toad.

"It's made of dark energy." said the chief astronomer. Everyone else in the room gasped and the room was deathly silent.

"Have any other astronomers from elsewhere confirmed our observations?" asked another Toad.

"It's been confirmed around the world." said the chief astronomer. "Something made of dark energy is headed straight for us! Right now it's passing Saturn and will probably pass by Jupiter in about four to five days."

Everyone in the room gasped again.

"When will it reach Earth?" another Toad asked.

"Well," the chief astronomer began, "we have less than two weeks before it reaches us. After that, God knows what will remain of us! We're doomed!"

Everyone in the room fell silent, except for one of the Toads who started crying. "First our king dies, then Bowser kidnaps Peach and Daisy and the world economies are starting to fall apart. Now we have to worry about this thing?! It truly is the end of the world! Please, Mario and Luigi! Wherever you two are, please fulfill our ancient prophecy! Help our world and defeat that blasted King Koopa once and for all!"

Meanwhile, among the moons of Saturn, the mysterious black haze of dark energy was zipping by at an incredible speed. After passing by cloud-shrouded Titan, Saturn's largest moon, it proceeded past much of the other major satellites in orbit around the ringed planet, without coming into contact with any of them and without being affected at all by their gravities. Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Hyperion all witnessed the arrival of the strange newcomer as their icy barren surfaces were diffusely eclipsed by the cloud of dark energy as the distant sun's light struggled to penetrate through it. Even from the high and windy yellowish-tan clouds of Saturn, the light reflecting from its bright arching rings seemed slightly darker than usual as the cloud of darkness passed in front of the giant planet. However, it was not long before the dark energy was far enough away for the normal Saturnian input of sunlight to reappear and for peace to be restored to the ringed planet and its icy moons.

The cloud left the Saturn system unaffected, but still had plenty of mileage to go before reaching Earth. It continued flying through the solar system like a dark, haunting demon.

Next stop...Jupiter

Uh oh! It looks like the whole world is in for a catastrophic celestial threat! Could this be the end of times? The astronomers at Toadstool Observatory sure think so. All they can do now is pray and hope that Mario and Luigi will become the great heroes that the prophecy predicted. However, Mario and Luigi still have no idea about the two-week deadline (besides hearing from Bowser that they have that much time to rescue the princesses)! Bowser already knows, but will the brothers ever figure this out? The pressure is definitely on now! See you in the next chapter :)

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