"...uuunhh... uugh... uuuuuuhh..."

Ruby lay on the dank floor of the tiny solitary confinement cell. She moaned with a deathly rattle in her throat; her eyes were shut in exhaustion, and her shining red hair splayed dirty and matted over the damp stone floor. Her breathing was weak and tortured.

"Ruby?" asked Amber, kneeling beside her sister again, her orange locks dangling over Ruby's face. "Ruby?"

"...Amber..." rasped Ruby, throat parched.

"Ruby, listen to me," spoke Amber urgently. "You have to fight this! You can't let that evil force destroy your mind! Fight it, Ruby!"

"I've...tried..." moaned Ruby almost inaudibly, "but...it's...no...use... I...can't...fight...any...more..."

"You must, Ruby!" insisted Amber. "Ruby, if you give in—if you let this thing kill you—" she bit her lip—"the unity of the rainbow will be broken. We Guardians are the protecting force keeping the power of the rainbow under control. If our unity is destroyed, the rainbow power will turn to chaos." Amber whispered into Ruby's ear. "Think of the consequences, Ruby! The safety of this world hinges on your survival! You have to fight!" The tears welled up in Amber's eyes. "Please! I can't bear to lose you!"

Ruby was silent except for her ragged breathing. Amber buried her face in her hands and wept.

"What a dreary place," Peach sighed as she, Mario, Luigi, and Toadsworth gazed across miles of endless desert. Cacti and shrubs were the only features that broke the monotony of burning sand. The air shimmered as heat waves rose from the surface of the desert.

"From the freezer right into the oven," Mario quipped. "Great."

"Temperature is 102 degrees Fahrenheit and climbing," droned DT from Mario's pocket.

"This is outrageous!" spluttered Toadsworth. "I will not allow the Princess to go out in this dreadful heat! She'll simply burn up!"

Mario gave the steward a withering look. "In case you haven't noticed, Toadsworth, we're all out here already."

"Well, er..." Toadsworth squinted at the blazing sun directly ahead of them, nearly halfway to the horizon. "Yes, of course. Carry on, Master Mario."

"Let's get moving," Mario announced. "The sooner we find shelter from the sun, the better."

Peach tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the right. Mario followed her finger and saw a large sand-coated building shaped like a huge turtle sitting about a mile away.

"It's the Koopaseum!" Mario exclaimed. "We must be in Gritzy Desert. Come on, let's get inside and out of the heat and sun!" The four trekked across the hot sand for several minutes before arriving at their destination.

"The door's sealed shut," Mario said in disappointment as he pounded a fist against the Koopa shell-reinforced green door. "And there's no switch to open it."

Luigi, who was pacing back and forth impatiently in front of the Koopaseum, suddenly tripped over something half-buried in the sand and fell flat on his face, the hot sand scalding his skin. He yelped in pain and scrambled to his feet, frantically brushing the burning sand from his face.

"The switch!" cried Mario and rushed to the spot where Luigi had tripped. He fell to his knees and began scooping the hot sand away with his gloved hands. Slowly a blue square came into view from beneath the sand. Mario finished digging and stood on the switch. Nothing happened.

"Come on, you guys! This takes four to operate!" called Mario, and the others quickly came over and added their weight to the four-person switch. The switch groaned as if rusty and sank a full foot into the ground, and the Koopaseum door opened.

"We're in! Now hurry, it won't stay open forever!" Mario rushed forward to the door, the others following closely. They disappeared into the Koopaseum, and the door shut automatically.

"Master, let me finish Mario once and for all!"

Cyanara put a hand up to silence Diamond. "Not now, Diamond. You'll get your chance. Where is that Ring?"

The black-haired, rainbow-clad Diamond held up her left hand. An indigo gem sparkled from the ring on her fourth finger.

"You know what that means," Cyanara said simply as she again began walking down the stone corridor, her black hair swaying slightly. "Your place is in Indigo Dimension."

"But my power is far greater than that of any of your other servants!" exclaimed Diamond passionately. "Where even Princess Shroob failed, I will not! Let me destroy him now!"

"I do not want you to kill him yet," answered Cyanara calmly, still walking. "Only to capture him."

Diamond hurried to catch up with her leader. "Then let me capture him!"

Cyanara stopped and faced Diamond. "No," she pronounced deliberately. "Let the Shadows Royal have their chance. When they fail to stop Mario—" her voice intensified—"you may prove that your abilities are superior to theirs." She resumed her stroll down the hall, and Diamond stuck close by her.

"You forget how I cleverly evaded the shot which Hardshell intended should kill me," Diamond persisted. "How I survived being crushed by this fortress when it collapsed. How—"

"Enough!" Cyanara interrupted in frustration. "You have my orders. Go to Indigo Dimension at once!"

Diamond glowered. "Yes, Master," she answered spitefully.

"Amazing," breathed Toadsworth as he stepped into the Koopaseum anteroom. "This place is a veritable museum! An archaeological wonder! Incredible!" He gazed up at the high ceiling. "Walls and ceiling all of precious gold, and the floor of emerald! Riches untold!"

"I'm not so sure about the gold and emerald parts, Toadsworth," Peach corrected with an amused smile. "The gold is just paint, and the floor is green marble, not emerald."

Toadsworth looked disappointed. "Ahem, yes, I see, er...ahem."

Peach walked forward into the adjoining hallway and looked both ways. Since the building was shaped like a Koopa, the hallway was necessarily circular to accommodate the Koopa shell shape. The hall she stood in ringed the outer edge of the shell, and several windows in the inner wall permitted viewing of the central area. The Princess peered through one of these windows. Spread out before her eyes was a vast colosseum bowl with thousands of empty seats lining the sides of the bowl. At the bowl's bottom was a large golden platform which had apparently once been used as a battle arena.

"Mario, this is where the Shroobs brought me when they conquered the Mushroom Kingdom," she said with a bit of a shudder, still looking through the window.

Mario nodded. "And where Luigi and I fought that Shrooboid Brat, the whiny wimp."

Suddenly the Jade Ring began to glow brightly. Mario knew instinctively what that meant.

"There's another Rainbow Ring in this place somewhere," he said aloud.

Peach turned. "How do you know?" she asked, puzzled.

Mario pointed to the glowing Jade Ring. "When we get close to a Ring, the last Ring we got starts to glow, and the closer we get the brighter it glows."

"Like playing hot and cold," Peach summarized.

"Exactly. So let's start looking." Mari led the group out of the entryway into the main hall and started off to the left.

"Strawberries!!"

The four whirled around and were blinded by a camera flash.

"Wowzers! What a scoop! 'Princess Leads Tour Group through Ancient Colosseum'! This'll be a HUGE story!"

Mario groaned. "Not her again..."

The camera flashed again, capturing the exasperated look on Mario's face. The Koopa wielding the camera whipped out her notepad and scribbled some quick notes, adjusting her green cap as she did so. Then she looked back at Mario's party, and her face fell.

"...Wait. You're not a tour group, are you?"

"Nope," Luigi promptly responded.

"Do I know you two?" asked the Koopa journalist, brushing back her jumbled blonde locks and indicating Mario and Luigi.

"I'm Mario," replied Mario with a roll of his eyes, "and he's Luigi."

Instantly the reporter's face lit up with that unearthly, half-insane smile. "Strawberries! It's Mario and Luigi! This is gonna be even BIGGER than I thought! 'Heroes Escort Princess through Forbidden Colosseum of Doom'! EXCELLENT!!" She scratched out her previous notes and jotted down fresh ones.

"Heavens!" exclaimed Toadsworth. "What's all the excitement about, eh?" He tapped his cane impatiently against the polished green floor. "Speak up!"

"I'm Kylie Koopa, the Koopa Kronicle's best!" pronounced the reporter dramatically, giving herself a thumbs-up. "This ace reporter's landed another BIG story! Front-page headlines! Big, bold text! The excitement! The thrill of journalism! The unrivaled—"

"Enough already!" exploded Mario. "We're here looking for something called a Rainbow Ring. Heard anything about it?"

"Heroes and Princess Hunt for Mystic Ring in Forbidden Colosseum of Doom'! LOADS better!" exclaimed Kylie, again rewriting her notes. She looked up from her notepad. "Sorry, but no dirt on any Rainbow Ring thing. Guess you're on your own on that one!" She snapped one last photo. "And with that—I—am—outta here!" She spun into her green shell and whirled out of the Koopaseum.

"Well, she was certainly helpful enough," Mario remarked sarcastically.

"Quite an...interesting girl," Peach said slowly.

"She really gets on your nerves after a while," confided Mario. "Come on, we need to start looking for that Ring!"

"It's past midnight, bro," complained Luigi in exhaustion as the group continued to hunt relentlessly for the fifth Rainbow Ring. "Has it crossed anyone's mind that nighttime is generally used for sleeping?"

"There's still one place we haven't checked yet," Mario announced, pretending not to hear Luigi.

Peach shot him a warning look. "Mario, I told you I don't want you going into the main colosseum. It's too dangerous. Who knows what might be in there?"

"That's just the point, Peach," Mario replied. "The Rainbow Ring could be in there."

"And so could anything else!" she exclaimed. "Please, Mario, don't go in there!"

Mario put a hand on her shoulder. "Either I go in there and find the Ring, or Cyanara takes control of the Mushroom Kingdom—which she will, eventually."

Peach stood in indecision for a moment. "All right," she answered reluctantly. "Toadsworth and I will pray for your safety."

"We may need it. Come on, Luigi, we've got a Ring to find!"

"As if we should even be looking at this time of night," grumbled Luigi as he followed Mario through the main colosseum doors and into the vast bowl. For a moment he forgot his tiredness as he scanned the huge arena.

"Come on," Mario repeated, heading down the narrow walkway that led from the bowl's rim down into its bottom. Together the brothers threaded their way toward the center of the arena.

At last they reached the golden battle platform. They mounted the steps and stood atop the circular stage, looking warily around. The silence in the vast empty space was surreal, eerie.

"I don't see the Ring anywhere," muttered Luigi.

"That's because you're not looking," Mario responded. The Jade Ring was glowing more brightly than ever. "Make yourself useful."

As Mario continued to scour the platform, Luigi felt the hair prickle on the back of his neck. He felt like he was being watched. But there was no one else to be seen in the vast colosseum.

Daisy tossed and turned on her plush royal bed, rumpling the flower-sprinkled comforter. She couldn't sleep. Time and again she got up and paced across the darkened room, back and forth, until she nearly dropped from exhaustion. Then she would lie down and try to rest. But the instant her head touched the pillow, all sleep would be driven from her mind, and she would find herself thinking of her little sister.

"Aster," she murmured as she stared at the orange silk bed canopy overhead, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Is there nothing I can do to rescue you from that horrible Great One?" She closed her tear-brimmed eyes and sobbed quietly. Her tears stained the pillow under her head. For over an hour she wept silently into her pillow.

At last she could weep no more and lay prone o her bed, her mind in a sorrowful turmoil. "There must be something I can do," she whispered. "But what? What could I possibly do?" For hours she asked herself that question, on into the sleepless, restless night, anguishing over her beloved sister. What she couldn't know was that, miles away, inside Cyanara's fortress, a very lonely and frightened little princess was also crying, crying for the sister she missed very much.

"M-Mario," stammered Luigi, "I-I think we should l-leave n-now..."

"C'mon, Luigi, what are you so scared of?" Mario asked without even turning around. "Ghosts?" He straightened up and looked around the colosseum's dim interior. "The Ring's here somewhere, and we're going to find it. We're not leaving until we do."

"W-We've been in here for over two hours and h-haven't found a th-thing," protested Luigi weakly.

"It's gotta be here," repeated Mario. "The Jade Ring glows brightest here."

Suddenly the Jade Ring's green glow burst into lustrous brilliance, coloring the brothers with green.

Mario shielded his eyes from the intense light. "Brace yourself, Luigi. Here comes that Ring!"

The platform beneath their feet began to rumble. Instinctively they stepped back to the edge and waited.

With a tremendous shattering sound the entire center of the platform exploded upward in a million pieces, leaving a jagged hole in the platform. Slowly, menacingly, two figures rose from the smoking hole as if floating on nothing. The first was tall and masculine, with a black cloak over his red tunic and gray leggings. A blood-red crown sat atop his thick black hair. The second figure was female, with long black hair and a black dress, gray arm-length gloves, and a crown that matched the one worn by the man.

Mario gasped. "The Shadows Royal!"

The two Royals rose further into the air, revealing the elevator platform they stood on. "Greetings, Mario," spoke the Shadow King with a trace of hatred. "We meet yet again."

"Empress Cyanara has commissioned us to bring you to her," the Shadow Queen added, a taunting in her voice. "Why should you resist? Fighting is futile. Your combined strength is no match for ours."

"You should know by now that I don't just give up," Mario retorted, readying his fists. Luigi nodded angrily to back up his brother's words.

By now the Shadow King and Queen were a good ten feet over the brothers' heads. "Don't even think of defeating us," the King challenged. "We will soon crush your triumphant aspirations to powder beneath the iron heel of the Empress. You will feel the wrath of shadows once again!"

Just as the Shadow King finished pronouncing his threat, the Queen's black eyes gleamed red, and two shadowy bolts of lightning shot down from nowhere and zapped Mario and Luigi, temporarily stunning them. They recovered from the shocks and began hurling fireballs at their enemies, who still stood on the elevator platform. The Queen raised her hand, and a black energy barrier instantly encased the Shadows Royal, deflecting the fireball barrage.

"Die already!" shouted Mario in frustration, striving to penetrate the barrier with still more fireballs.

"You will be the ones to perish!" roared the Shadow King in answer. He reached under his cloak and drew out a huge gleaming sword. "For the glorious Shadow Legion—YOU WILL DIE!!"

With that, the King gripped the Sword in both hands, pointed it at Mario, and channeled his energy into it. Instantly a huge beam of dark energy barreled from the blade. Mario leaped clear just as the beam smashed into the battle platform, literally burning a hole a foot wide through its surface.

"We've gotta get them off that platform!" Mario yelled to Luigi. "As long as they're up there, we'll never be able to touch them!"

"Leave it to me!" Luigi yelled back. He stepped back and began charging up his fireballs in both hands.

Mario realized he'd have to attract attention to himself and draw the Royals' fire or Luigi wouldn't be able to complete his charge-up. He crouched and sprang up the the platform's edge, grasping it tightly with his fingers to keep from falling into the gaping hole left by the Royals' dramatic entry.

"Get down from there!" screamed the Shadow Queen at him as he dangled over the hole.

The Shadow King moved forward and placed the tip of the Aeshma Sword on Mario's fingertips. "Let go, foolish hero!"

"No!" retorted Mario. "I'm gonna get up there and take both of you down!" He struggled to pull himself up.

The King slowly drew the Sword across Mario's unprotected fingers, cutting them open and staining the blade with blood. Mario winced but still refused to let go his grip on the platform's edge.

"Very well, Mario. The Aeshma Sword shall sever your fingers if you insist on this nonsense!" spat the King.

Luigi's charge-up was complete. He held a huge ball of green flames in his hands. "Bro!" he yelled. "LET GO!!"

"Do it already!" Mario yelled back. "Shoot!!"

Up went the Aeshma Sword. The King's face contorted with hatred. "Goodbye, Mario!"

"Grrrr-YAAAAH!" cried Luigi as he unleashed the giant fireball. It flew straight toward Mario's dangling form. "Bro, LET GO!!!"

At the last second, just as the Shadow King swung the Aeshma Sword at his exposed fingers, Mario released his hold on the elevator platform and began falling into the pit below. The Aeshma Sword struck only the platform's edge. Before the King could open his mouth to curse Mario, Luigi's fireball smashed into the barrier around the Royals, shattered it, and totally disintegrated the platform, sending both King and Queen tumbling into the pit after Mario.

Mario crashed into the blue rock of Gritzy Caverns face-first, nearly rendering him unconscious. He groaned, rolled onto his back, and staggered to his feet, wiping some of the dirt and blood from his scratched-up face. Seconds later the Shadows Royal impacted the floor of the Koopaseum sub-caverns and lay in a heap for a moment.

Gritting his teeth, the Shadow King shoved the Queen off his back and hauled himself onto his feet again, still clutching the menacing Aeshma Sword in his right hand. The Shadow Queen sat up, spat the dirt from her mouth, and stood, retaining somewhat of her royal bearing despite her dirtied appearance.

"It would seem your foolish plan has backfired," intoned the Shadow Queen with arrogance. "Two against one is more than impossible odds. It is inconceivable that you alone could defeat us both!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Mario shot back. "I've always wanted to shred you both single-handedly!"

"If the flesh does not frighten you, Mario," threatened the Shadow King, "perhaps the spirit will." He grasped the Queen's hand.

"Allow us to show you our true might!"

With a tremendous rushing noise and a torrent of blackness, the Shadow King and Queen rose into the air and manifested their true forms. Where once had been two demon-possessed humans, there now floated side by side two mammoth demon spirits, each thirty feet tall, their purple ethereal bodies encasing their human vessels. The Shadow King demon wore a tall golden crown on his head, covering his crop of thick white hair. A menacing look flashed across his demonic face. His giant hands, floating on either side of his main body, each grasped a huge half-sword. The Shadow Queen demon was nearly identical in form, except her white hair was long and flowing, and a crafty expression covered her face. She wielded no obvious weapons.

Mario gulped.

"Now do you understand our power?" roared the King demon, his deep male voice booming the the cavernous space beneath the colosseum. "You are a mere nothing to us. Learn your place, slave!"

"You will die with the honor of having seen true terror and power!" hissed the Queen demon. "Now PERISH!!"

The King hurled his two great blades at Mario. Mario ducked, and they flew harmlessly over his head.

"Try improving your aim next time!" Mario shouted up to the towering demon as he got to his feet again.

The King clapped his mammoth hands, and the two blades came flying silently back, directly at Mario's backside. He turned, saw the deadly cleavers whirling straight toward him, and threw himself to the ground again. One of the blades passed over him, but the other, like a flying buzzsaw, cut a gash into the back of Mario's left leg and went tumbling to the floor.

"AAAAH!" Mario rolled over and clutched at the slash wound in his leg, grimacing in pain.

"Weakling," boomed the Shadow King demon.

Mario struggled back to his feet, limping noticeably. He seized the half-sword that had not returned to the King and heaved it up from the ground with both hands, brandishing it with a fiery determination in his eyes.

"Round one goes to you, Shadows Royal. But the match is far from over!"

Immediately Mario rushed the monstrous demons, the half-sword upraised in his hands. The King demon laughed an ominous, rumbling laugh and brought his gigantic right hand down to crush Mario outright. Mario stopped his charge and swung the heavy sword at the fast-falling hand, scoring a direct hit. The King withdrew his hand with a roar of pain.

Without warning, one of the Queen's giant hands swept down and caught Mario from behind, knocking his feet out from under him and sending his weapon clanging to the stone floor. The Queen's hands vanished, and when Mario hit the floor, hundreds of smaller hands rose up from the ground and grabbed him, preventing him from rising.

"Pull him into the Shadows, Dead Hands!" commanded the Shadow Queen. "Let him feel the hidden might of the Shadows Royal!"

Immediately the Dead Hands dragged Mario down through the very surface of the ground and into utter blackness beneath. He could see nothing. His sense of touch, however, was not impaired in the least, as the Dead Hands painfully and relentlessly pummeled him from all sides. At last the Dead Hands dragged Mario back up to the surface and dumped him there, bruised and bleeding. They vanished, and the Queen's two massive hands reappeared.

Mario heaved himself onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. "Don't...think...you've won. This...isn't...over...yet!" He staggered back to his feet and steadied himself.

The Royals laughed. "You are right, Mario," agreed the Shadow King. "This is not over yet. You are not DEAD yet!"

"I can arrange for that very soon," added the Queen smoothly, almost tauntingly. "I summon the Ring!"

There was a burst of blue light from the Queen's giant left hand, and a golden ring set with a blue stone appeared on her fifth finger.

"The fifth Ring!" gasped Mario. "So you had it!"

"Not only do I have the Turquoise Ring, Mario," corrected the Queen, "but I also intend to use it against you! Feel the power—the unmatchable power of shadows!"

The Turquoise Ring glowed with its blue brilliance, and the Queen summoned a dark lightning bolt that struck the floor directly in front of Mario. The searing strike left behind a blue ooze that began to spread across the floor.

"P-Poison!" cried Mario as he scrambled away from the deadly substance.

"You cannot avoid it forever, Mario," rumbled the King demon. He laughed again. "My queen! Hold nothing back, but let him taste death!"

The Shadow Queen struck Mario dead-on with another lightning bolt, contaminating him with the blue poison. "Gladly."

Mario gasped in pain as the acidic poison ate at his skin and oozed over his body. He staggered and fell to the ground, the world swirling before his eyes. Desperately he tried to rise but could not. "Ungh...gah! Aaaah!" he cried through clenched teeth, feeling the burning pain of the poison. "Can't...lose...like...this! Must...fight...aagh!" He shuddered and tensed in pain.

"Good night, Mario," laughed the Queen demon. "At last we have rid ourselves of you, pathetic troublemaker!"