Ghostly Forest lived up to its name, of being ghostly. Huge black trees, their branches bare, rose to meet the distant blue sky. A fog waffled between the trees. Leaves crunched underfoot. A slow moving wind sighed up in the treetops. The forest looked dry, as if it had not seen rain in a long time, which was true. Something howled mournfully in the distance.
"This place is creepy. Can't we go around it?" Luigi asked.
"There is no way." Geno said, "We will be through the forest by tomorrow night."
"Can't Solance warp us through it?" Luigi tried.
"I can't warp here because of the ghost charms in the trees. They suck your power right out of you." Solance explained.
"If I see a boo, I'm out of here." Luigi gulped nervously, and urged Sunfire forward. He stayed behind Beau, and focused on following the star.
"We get through here, and it's a half a day's trip to Star peak, and figuring out how to fight the Daybreaker." Mallow said.
Just then, an ear-piercing wail split the silence. Luigi could not stop the screams that came from his own throat. His eyes shot around the clearing, and he saw the pale blue boo with yellow eyes first. It had two dagger teeth on ether side of its mouth.
"Green Prince… must kill green Prince… yes, yes, yes…" The boo shot toward Luigi, who was frozen in terror.
"Geno beam!" Geno screamed, wand-blazing white.
"Thunderbolt!" Mallow called, adding his electricity to Genos beam of light.
"Here's a move I love! Earth Natural disaster!" Wario added his element to the attack.
"Fire is not my strong suit, so I'm going with Fireball frenzy!" Solance called, supplying fire to the attack.
"And don't forget me! I inherited a move or two from my dragonic ancestors! Spiritual Wave!" Mckonic called, adding his ghostly energy to the attack. Geno struggled to hold the attack.
"Let's give that attack a kick of star power! Shooting star rain!" Beau called, adding on the star power to the still growing attack.
"This thing may be a phantom like me, so here's some sparkling smash!" Sparky called. He was one of the three agents, like Beau, and Dawn.
"And don't forget me! Here's some Dragon Beam to remember me by!" Dawn called, "Sunfire, Spitfire, Sandbar, add your attacks now!"
(I add Stardust Blast!) Sunfire's horn glowed as she added her own attack to the mix.
"One Dream eater, coming right up!" Sandbar called, adding some Dream magic to the mix.
"I can't hold on to it much longer!" Geno called out.
(I help too! I add Ember breath to mix!) Spitfire added more fire to the attack.
"T-t-thunderhand! Activate! L-l-lightening Blitz!" Luigi forced out, attacking the boo with a weak thunder attack. The boo howled in agony as Geno let the group attack fly. It vanquished the boo on the spot.
"Luigi?" Wario called.
"Is it gone?" Luigi asked.
"Yes, it is gone. Next time, try the trick I told you about." Sandbar responded.
Luigi nodded, as the party moved forward. After several hours of walking, the Sky grew dark as night set in. Luigi noticed that if he listened hard enough, he could make out the voice of Lunella, his aunt, calling in the night. Her words soothed him, and he drifted off to sleep, unaware of the three sets of eyes watching in the trees.
"He is asleep, Darkstar! Do your stuff!" Darksun called softly.
He was answered by a snore. Darkstar met the business end of Darksuns back leg, and woke up mid fall. He squawked, unfurled his wings, and shot back up the tree. Darkmoon let out a mew of laughter. Darksun checked to see if Luigi was still asleep, which he was.
"Did you have to kick me out of the tree? You could have killed me!" Darkstar complained.
"Give him a nightmare he won't soon wake up from, Darkstar!" Darksun ordered, "Or I'll knock you out before I kick you out of this tree!"
"One mammoth nightmare coming up!" Darkstar leapt from the tree, and glowed for a second. He disappeared into Luigi's dream. Luigi was dreaming of home, in the mushroom kingdom.
Luigi's Dream
"Daisy!" Luigi called, giving the love of his life a hug.
"Luigi, I missed you! It's so good for you to have finally come home!" Daisy cried, but her tone was saddened.
"Dais? What's wrong?" Luigi asked, using his pet name for the Saraland princess.
"Luigi, there is no easy way to tell you this, but Bowser called. He said that Mario died." Daisy choked up.
"How? Why?" Luigi asked, cold terror in his heart.
"We don't know, yet. He went peacefully, in his sleep." Daisy said softly, "Kamick is going to perform the autopsy. We will know tonight. Are you going to go comfort Peach? She is beside herself with grief."
"I'll go." As Luigi stumbled out into the hallway of the castle, his mind reeled in shock.
"This is a dream! I'm only dreaming!" Luigi thought to himself.
"Or is it?" Someone whispered into his ear.
Luigi went rigid, and turned around slowly. The hallway was empty. He heard the sound of Peach sobbing, and went to her. As he sat with her, he looked outside to see Brighton, but something was wrong. The Sun looked brighter. Luigi went outside, and watched in horror as Brighton's hands glowed crimson. He attacked the world he promised to nourish, and love.
"Dad, no!" Luigi screamed, finally figuring out what was going on. Brighton had become pseudo. Luigi watched as Brighton's robes went black, a sign that he was becoming a cancerous sun. Luigi felt his stomach tie itself into knots as he realized what he would have to do. He went solar, and challenged the diseased Brighton into battle. No matter what he did, his father was always a step ahead of him. He found himself reeling backward as Brighton landed a series of devastating punches to his chest. The next thing he knew, it was dark.
"Luigi, you need to wake up! You are under Darkstar's nightmare spell!" Brighton called.
"No! I do I know you are not pseudo, still?" Luigi asked.
"Because, he still is pseudo." Darkstar slunk out of the shadows, "I shall now finish you off!"
"Luigi, listen to me! I am not pseudo! I am your father, and I love you, my son, and my heir to the skies! You know Darkstar is your enemy!" Brighton cried out.
"You wouldn't believe a pseudo sun, now would you, Luigi?" Darkstar asked.
"I… I know who I believe, Darkstar!" Luigi's right hand glowed blue and a blast of electricity struck the winged panthers shoulder.
"May I join you, Luigi?" Brighton asked.
"Please do." Luigi smiled softly as both father and son turned toward the enemy. Brighton's left hand glowed crimson, while his right glowed blue. He let his fury fly in the form of fire and electricity. Luigi added his own green fireballs and thunderhand to the mix. Darkstar did not have a chance to fight back. The cat went down, and did not move again.
Luigi woke up feeling oddly refreshed, and as he looked ahead, he saw the edge of the forest. The party moved forward an hour later. At around noon, they burst from the trees.
"We have to cross Anguish Way, and then we are at the mountains!" Geno called, "lets rope up while we still can!"
Wario passed out the ropes, and everybody tied himself or herself to the wagon so no one would get lost. They moved forward at a slower pace. Bare, blackened trees faded into view every now and then. It was colder, too, despite the attempts of Brightstar to heat up the day. Somewhere behind them, Darksun, and Darkmoon followed.
"The prince is strong. He defeated Darkstar." Darkmoon said.
"Now that the bumbling idiot is gone, our plan will succeed. You are up." Darksun said.
Darkmoon took off after Luigi. She used her voice, and began to wail a mournful song to the sky. Luigi felt a chill run down his spine, and turned to see if he could spot where the singing was coming from. Sunfire pawed the ground nervously, as the rope drew taunt, forcing her to move along. Luigi turned back around, and chose to ignore it. On his right, a pile of bones rose into the sky. He realized he could smell the decay, and then he heard a long, low wail that sent shivers up his spine. A white boo appeared in front of him, forcing him to scream.
He remembered Sandbars advice, and used it. He imagined the Boo in roller-skates, and watched it flounder around, and disappear. A low growl sounded behind him, and he turned to face Darkmoon.
"Oh not again!" He cried.
Luigi watched with a pounding heart as the dark tigress raised a sharp claw, and sliced through the rope tying him to the wagon.
"Now," she purred, "You are truly alone."
"That is where you are wrong! I'm never alone! My father is always with me in spirit!" Luigi cried, wondering where his sudden bravery was coming from.
(Master have me too!) Sunfire growled, opening her wings slightly to make herself look bigger.
"Yes, but they will leave you eventually, Prince Luigi." Darkmoon snarled.
(Not me! I bonded to Master! I die, Master die! Master die, I die!) Sunfire retorted.
"Not always, freak of nature!" Darkmoon screamed.
(You talk enough! Now Master and I fight you! Stardust Blast!) Sunfire's horn glowed white, and white energy swirled into Darkmoon. She screamed, and unleashed an attack of her own. Luigi found himself hanging on for dear life as his yoshi and the harbinger of fear battled each other. He was too busy clinging to Sunfire's saddle to offer any help to the yoshi. Suddenly, Beau and Solance burst through the fog. Solance and Spitfire warped as one to appear behind Darkmoon, while Dawn and Beau took up position near him. The tree yoshies formed a triangle, and raised their hands skyward.
"We will finish you off, Darkmoon!" Dawn cried, "Dragon power!"
(Mythical Power!) Sunfire called.
(Neutral power!) Spitfire called.
White light formed in all three yoshies hands, and connected, forming a triangle with each yoshi at its point. Luigi braced himself. He had seen Starstone, Sandstone, and Firestone, three of the hallowed yoshies, use the same attack, and knew what was coming. Solance and Beau braced themselves for the upcoming shockwave as well. Solance silently prayed that Spitfire would warp fast enough out of the way, while Dawn flexed her wings, getting ready to fly. Luigi felt Sunfire tense up her wing muscles, and knew she was going to fly with Dawn and Beau. The triangle of light shrank, not giving Darkmoon a chance to scream before she was obliterated in the blast. All three yoshies moved out of harms way.
"How did you know I was in trouble?" Luigi asked.
"Sunfire instant messaged me and Spitfire with her telepathy." Dawn explained, "lets go catch up to the others."
"Thanks, Sunfire." Luigi followed Solance, with Beau and Dawn behind him. The fog dissolved to reveal the rocky slopes of the Celestial Mountains. The mountain closest to them was light purple, and Luigi recognized it at once.
"Star Peak! We are almost there!" He cried.
"There are the rest of our party! Lets go!" Solance called.
They met up with everyone else, and the last leg of their journey began. Luigi didn't see the dark shape in front of him, as Darksun shot up the mountain side. The lion landed, and lifted his voice to the darkening sky. Night descended at an accelerated pace. Over head in the sky, Brightstar checked his watch, and glanced down to see Darksun, his body blazing, forcing darkness to descend early.
"Dis not happening to da sky!" The sun screamed, dive bombing the lion.
Darksun looked up to late, and got a face full of Brightstars fireballs. Hissing, the lion swatted at the Sun. Luigi arrived, and landed an attack on Darksun.
"You look like you could use a hand, Uncle!" Luigi called.
"Together, now! Thunderbolt!" Brightstar called.
"Firewinds! Attack!" Luigi called on one of his more powerful attacks. A wind made of fire blasted across the land, and rose like a fire snake, and came down on Darkstar at the same time Brightstars thunderbolt landed. Darksun did not have time to scream, as his body was vaporized. The Darkness kept coming.
"Luigi, go up da mountain and finish this!" Brightstar called, as he flamed out, "I'll protect Brighton!"
"Lets go!" Luigi called, taking the lead.
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Queen Sunstar: Next chapter is the long awaited finale of Critical. It is going to be a long chapter, so it will take me some time to finish it. It is under complete wraps, and I will do my best to have it up by June, hopefully.
Twila: Expect tons of action, and don't forget to review! Critical has over 1159 hits, and 43 reviews!
Queen Sunstar: I will let out one detail, better yet, here is a tiny preview.
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"I'm your brother, Waluigi! You know me! I know you can hear me!" Luigi screamed.
"Unfortunately, Waluigi is gone, Luigi." the Daybreaker spoke.
"Really? The Waluigi I know would be fighting his heart out to defeat you! Leave Waluigi's body alone, Daybreaker!" Luigi shot back.
"Luigi, it's not working, and I know what will!" Geno cried out, launching forward into a dead run at Waluigi. When they touched, a bright bluish light spread out over the deck of the Blade, and faintly, Luigi heard Geno scream.
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Queen Sunstar: That's all I'm giving out!
Twila: Reviews are greatly appreciated!
