Suddenly the courtyard burst into white radiance. All four Shadows Royal cringed and cowered back from the harsh, penetrating glare of the brilliant light.

Princess Peach stood in the courtyard doorway, arrayed in her rainbow robes. Her burns were gone. She held her outstretched hands toward the Royals, and that brilliant white light emanated directly from her hands, nearly paralyzing the four Royals.

"Aaaagh!" cried the Shadow King, shielding his face with his hand. "This power—too—strong! It—it is the—"

"The Eighth Rainbow Guardian!!" finished the Queen, herself blinded by the light. "Diamond should have been killed long ago!"

"That is not Diamond!" protested the Prince in agony. "It is Princess Peach!"

"What?!" gasped the Queen. "It is! No! Diamond has passed the powers of the Eighth Guardian to Peach! We are doomed!!"

"I'm not about to let you kill Mario or anyone else!" Peach shouted, hurling her voice through the courtyard. "You've lived too long already, Shadows Royal! It's time you were sent back to the place you came from!!"

"N-No! This light—AAAAUGH!! I—cannot resist—this—light!" cried the Queen. "I—am going to—NO! I CANNOT DIE!!!"

Suddenly a black cloud enveloped the Shadow Queen, and a black ghost-like being was torn from her body. The demon gave a horrible scream.

"CURSE YOU PEACH!!!"

As the words left its mouth it disintegrated under the force of the blinding light. The Shadow Queen's body, no longer under the demon's control, collapsed to the stone pavement, and its physical features began to return to normal. Her dress morphed from black to sky blue, the gem on her chest from red to orange, her crown from red to gold. She lay as one dead. A similar transformation was happening to the other three Royals as their possessing demons were drawn out and destroyed. The light from Peach's hands faded away, showing the courtyard in twilight once again.

Peach rushed to Mario and knelt beside him. Daisy was right behind her, flying past Mario's prone form and going straight to her no-longer-possessed little sister Aster, now lying on the ground looking perfectly normal.

"Mario!" Peach placed her hands on Mario and revitalized him with a pulse of white magic. His energy restored, Mario sat up, looking in bewilderment at Peach.

"Peach, that light—was that—you?"

She nodded. "I had to do something."

"How in the world did you do that?! I mean, of all the people who might have destroyed the Shadows Royal, I never thought it would be you!"

"I don't know," she confessed. "I opened the courtyard door just as the Shadow Princess sucked out your energy, and...something in me just rose up in indignation. It was almost instinctive." She held out her hands in frustration. "I can't explain it any better than that."

"Does this mean you're...willing to be the eighth Guardian now?" asked Mario.

Peach shook her head. "...No, I still don't want to. I still think this was all just a big mistake." She rose to her feet and finished reviving the rest of the fallen fighters. Then she returned to Mario.

"Peach," Mario began, "when you challenged the Shadows Royal like that... That wasn't the Princess Peach I know. What came over you to make you act like that?"

"I-I don't know, Mario," she admitted. "I have two conflicting sides inside me right now. Part of me wants to embrace Guardianship, and part of me wants to reject it. Right then...I guess the embracing part took over for a minute." She sighed. "I don't want to change. I want to be the same person I've always been."

"Looks like it's going to take something serious to get you to change your mind about this Eighth Guardian thing," Mario remarked. His eyes wandered over the courtyard's central fountain and lingered on a figure in a sky-blue dress who was slowly sitting up. "Hey, isn't that—"

"Éclair!!" Peach rushed to her friend. "Princess Éclair!!"

"Peach?" questioned the black-haired princess in bewilderment. "...A-Am I—?"

"Oh, Éclair!" Peach enveloped her friend in a bear hug, the tears falling fast. "You're safe now. The Shadows Royal are dead." Éclair said nothing else and hugged Peach back. Daisy was a few feet away, repeating the same scene with her little sister Aster.

"Looks like the reunion's just getting started," Luigi remarked as he came over to Mario. "...Huh? Who's that?" He pointed to the right of the fountain at a handsome, clean-cut figure arrayed in scarlet. A golden crown sat atop his head.

"I don't know," Mario admitted. "Maybe—"

Éclair suddenly noticed the man standing near the fountain and gasped. She jumped to her feet, pushed past a startled Peach, and ran to him, calling his name.

"CREME!!"

The man turned, saw Éclair, and caught her in his strong arms with a look of astonishment on his face. "...Éclair?!"

"Creme!" cried Éclair joyfully. "It's you! I was so worried!"

"I'm fine, Éclair," he responded, embracing her tenderly. "It's good to know you're safe!"

Éclair released Creme from her arms and turned to the puzzled Peach. "Peach, this is Prince Creme, my fiancé."

"Fiancé?!" exclaimed Peach. "Éclair, you never told me you were engaged!"

Prince Creme laughed and looked Éclair in the eye. "I told you you were a little too secretive for your own good, remember?"

"I'll admit it," Éclair replied with a sweet smile.

"Well, we know Éclair and Aster already, and Creme's been introduced," Mario said aloud, "but who's that?" He pointed at the teenage boy who had previously been the vessel for the Shadow Prince and who was now struggling to his feet. His clothing had not changed. His eyes narrowed.

"Traitors!" he screamed, pulling a DTD from his pocket. "You still resist the Empress?" A black portal opened before him, and he started to step through, then turned.

"She will be waiting for you!"

He disappeared through the portal, and it closed behind him.

"Looks like Cyanara made sure there was one bad egg in the basket," remarked Mario dryly. "She'll have advance warning that we're on our way now. Come on, let's go."

Daisy took the purple Kunzite Ring from Aster's finger and gave it to Mario. "Just another ring to add to your collection," she said with a smile, indicating the six Rings already on Mario's fingers.

"Thanks." Mario slipped the seventh Ring onto his left middle finger. Pulling his own DTD out, he fitted the Kunzite Ring's gem into the proper place. In seconds a portal as black as midnight opened before him.

"Black Dimension," breathed Mario. "Cyanara's in there somewhere, and we're gonna find her!"

"Shall I save you the trouble, Mario?"

Before Mario's astonished eyes, Cyanara herself stepped out through the portal. She eyed Mario craftily. "Talking about me?"

Mario quickly backed away and put his fists up. "C-Cyanara!"

"The Great One!" gasped Daisy. She wrapped her arms around Aster a little more protectively.

Cyanara turned and smiled at Daisy. "Why, hello again, Princess Daisy. So nice to see you again. Pity you aren't still a pile of ash in my town square."

Daisy glared back at the Empress and said nothing.

"I must thank you for the loan of your little sister," Cyanara added. "It was so kind of you."

The Empress turned to Mario again, black eyes penetrating his blue ones. "And Mario. Still causing mischief, I see. I'm not exactly appreciative of your killing off the Shadows Royal." She fingered her moon-topped iron staff impatiently. "Not nice of you."

"You're next in line, Cyanara," Mario informed her hotly.

"Really? That's too bad, because you'll be very disappointed when you try to kill me." She smiled that cunning smile of hers. "I'm completely immortal."

Peach laid a hand on Mario's shoulder. "She's telling the truth," she whispered.

Mario steamed. "...I-I'll get you somehow!"

Cyanara ignored the statement and turned her attention to Peach, who paled immediately. "Hello, little sister," she greeted Peach pleasantly. "You're coming with me."

"I am not!" shot back Peach.

"You'll not take the Eighth Guardian!" cried Leika.

Cyanara's eyebrows shot up. "Eighth Guardian, hm? So Mother finally decided she was too old for the job and gave it to you, did she?" Her smile turned evil. "Then perhaps you can tell me where the Twilight Disc is."

"I won't tell you anything!" Peach responded hotly.

"We'll see about that." Cyanara raised her voice. "Bring out the prisoners!"

A solid line of red-tunicked, silver-armored Paroidian Guards marched out of the black portal behind Cyanara, each leading a single prisoner. Russ T., Rachel, Michael, Toad, Toadette, and Hardshell were there, all tied tightly with yards of rope, completely helpless. The guards and their prisoners lined up in front of the Empress. At her command they drew their swords and brought the razor-sharp blades up to the prisoners' throats.

"No!" gasped Peach. "Don't!"

"Surrender yourself and the Disc, Peach," Cyanara breathed threateningly. "Come with me and they live. Refuse, and—" Her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't want me to have to kill them one by one, would you?"

Peach stood in helpless indecision for a few moments more. Then she heaved a deep, tired sigh and started toward her older sister. Mario immediately caught her by the arm.

"No, Peach!"

"Mario," Peach said quietly without looking at him, "let me go."

"No!" he repeated anxiously. "If Cyanara gets you she'll kill you! You know that! I won't let you give yourself up like Amethyst did!"

Peach turned and looked at Mario, pain in her eyes. Silently he pleaded with her.

Suddenly Peach pushed Mario away and continued walking toward Cyanara. Mario recovered from the shove and would have rushed after her, but something inside him held him back. He could only stare in horror, heart-wrenched, as his beloved Princess Peach gave herself into the hands of her worst enemy. He felt sick to his stomach.

Peach stopped in front of her sister. "Take me, Cyanara," she offered quietly. "Take me and let them go."

Cyanara smiled craftily. "Release them," she barked to the guards lined up before her. Immediately the Paroidian Guards obeyed, slicing the ropes with their swords and allowing the prisoners to go free. The captives immediately clustered behind Mario, well away from the Empress.

Cyanara brought Peach's hands behind her back and held them there. "Compassion always was your greatest weakness, little sister," she stated suavely, snapping the shackles onto Peach's wrists. "Very foolish of you, giving yourself up for them. You have nothing to gain but the loss of your own life."

Peach hung her head. "I don't care. Just so long as my people are safe."

"How touching," Cyanara replied sarcastically. "How selfless. How giving. How utterly ridiculous. Just remember, Peach—" her voice dropped to a mere whisper, and she leaned forward to speak into Peach's ear—"you are the bait for luring Mario in..."

The Princess paled. She'd forgotten that detail.

"Yes," Cyanara said aloud, her cunning smile returning to her face, "I'm sure your oh-so-sweet Mario will come after you and try to rescue you. Don't worry." Turning, she ordered her guards back through the black portal behind her, and they filed through. With one last glare of defiant hatred at Mario, Cyanara led her captive sister through the portal, and it closed behind them, leaving the castle courtyard as still as death in the early morning.

No sooner had the dimensional portal closed than Mario tried to reopen it with the DTD. He wasn't expecting the message DT gave him.

"Destination under temporary lockdown."

"Lockdown?!" exclaimed Mario.

"Affirmative," droned DT. "The signal to Black Dimension is being jammed. Portal is inaccessible."

"How long until we can get there?" Mario asked anxiously.

DT paused, computing the answer. "Exactly twenty-six hours, five minutes, and thirteen seconds until temporary lockdown status ceases to exist."

"More than a day?!" Mario was tempted to smash DT to bits on the courtyard flagstones but restrained himself. "We can't wait that long! By the time we get to Black Dimension, Peach could be—" He choked.

"Calm yourself, Master Mario!" urged Toadsworth. "I too am worried, but going all to pieces certainly won't help Her Highness."

Mario took a deep breath and steadied himself. "You're right, Toadsworth. Guess all we can do is wait."

Russ T., captain of the royal guard, tapped him on the shoulder. "Mario?"

Mario turned and gave him an almost-smile. "Sure is good to see you again, Russ, and the others too," he greeted them heavily. Russ shook Mario's hand. Michael sensed the tension in the air and was quiet for a change. His mother Rachel pulled him close, and the eight-year-old Toad snuggled against his mom's pink-dotted purple dress.

Hardshell shook Mario's hand gravely. His face was straight, and his dark sunglasses concealed his eyes completely. "I should've gone instead of her," the crusty commando told Mario frankly. "We all should have. She shouldn't have turned herself in like that."

"I know," Mario replied reluctantly, "but I didn't want you killed anymore than she did. I think I would have done the same if I'd been her just then."

"You can't talk that way," Hardshell cautioned him. "She did what she thought was best, but I can't say I agree with it. She's endangered the entire kingdom by her actions." Seeing Mario's dejection, he added, "Get your head up, Mario. There's still a chance we can save her."

"Yeah," Mario agreed half-heartedly.

"Mario?" Daisy spoke up. "Aster and I are going back to Sarasaland. Éclair and Creme are coming with us so they can get back to the Waffle Kingdom."

"How?" Mario inquired. "You forget we're stuck in this dimension. You can't just walk out. You've got to have an exit portal."

Spy Guy produced a remote and pushed a button on it, and a white portal opened up behind him. "That's why I've got this."

"You got a DTD too?" Luigi asked, amazed.

"It's a similar device," Spy Guy replied. "Goodbye, all of you."

"Bye, Mario! Bye, Luigi!" called Daisy and Aster before stepping through the portal with Éclair and Creme. Spy Guy followed them through, and the portal closed behind them.

Leika settled on Mario's shoulder. "Come on, Mario, cheer up. We'll get Cyanara yet!"

"Yeah, bro, don't sweat it!" chimed in Luigi.

Heartened, Mario allowed himself to smile again. Looking up, he saw the sun finally peeking over the courtyard wall, bathing the courtyard in golden light.

"You're right, guys. We'll win this fight yet. Now come on. Since we're waiting anyway, let's get this castle cleaned up and back in shape."

"Mario wants to help me clean house?" Rachel asked, surprised. "I'll take help any day. Let's get moving!"

Peach reeled under the force of her sister's fist and stumbled backward, nearly falling to the marble floor of the throne room. Her face began to swell.

"Where is the Twilight Disc?" demanded Cyanara, threatening another blow.

"I-I don't know!" cried Peach.

"Oh, I think you do," Cyanara replied, circling Peach slowly, hungrily. "You're the Eighth Guardian now, aren't you?"

"I am not!" protested Peach vehemently. That much was true—at least she wanted it to be.

Cyanara, still circling her younger sibling, eyed Peach's rainbow robes critically. "Then why are you wearing the robe of the Eighth Guardian?"

Peach said nothing. She had no answer for that question.

Suddenly Cyanara deftly reached out and slipped the Twilight Disc out from Peach's robe. Peach gasped and would have grabbed at the Disc, but her hands were still shackled behind her back. Cyanara gloated over the Disc.

"As I suspected, Peach. Sometimes you are so transparent in your lying."

"No! NO!!" Peach cried. "The eight Discs—Cyanara, STOP!!!"

The black-haired Empress produced the other seven Rainbow Discs. "Ah, yes, the eight Discs. All mine now, at long last. All that remains is to retrieve the Rings Mario stole from my servants." She set the stack of eight Discs on the arm of her silver throne and returned to Peach. "I've got something very special planned for you tomorrow, little sister. Until then—" She looked past Peach. "Guards!"

Immediately two red-tunicked Paroidians stepped through the silver double doors and bowed.

"Take Peach to the holding room. Do not let her escape. I need her for my little trap." The Empress's eyes gleamed in anticipation.

"Cyanara!"

Cyanara regarded Peach coolly.

"Cyanara, if—if you're going to kill me, just do it now," Peach pleaded. "Don't torment me with waiting!"

"That is not your concern, Peach," replied Cyanara smoothly. "I am the one in control, not you."

"Why do you enjoy putting me through such mental anguish?" asked Peach, the tears starting to flow.

Cyanara's response was direct, cold, penetrating. Her steely black eyes pierced Peach's face like daggers. "Because I find, in your waiting, a certain satisfaction—a repayment for the twelve years I've waited to get my crown back from you. And I will have that crown yet."

"Cyanara, I—"

"Don't even bother." Cyanara turned her back to her younger sister. "I have no use for feeble excuses. You stole my crown, and I want it back. Tomorrow, Peach—you will die." Her eyes narrowed to hateful slits. "Slowly." She whirled about to face her guards. "Take her away!"

The Rainbow Guardian sat clustered together in Amber's bare, tiny cell. Not that they were imprisoned—Citrine had shorted the door lock. They were waiting. For what, they did not know. Amber, Citrine, Emerald, Aquamarine, and the Ruby/Sapphire fusion named Corundum sat in silence for an eternity. They'd been waiting for nearly two days in this single cell, waiting for something, anything...

Suddenly Corundum tensed. "The Discs...I feel them near..."

"I can sense their power," Citrine affirmed. "But so much of it..."

Emerald brightened. "They've all been put together!"

"Wait," Aquamarine said slowly. "If the Discs are truly all together, then that means—"

The Guardians simultaneously gasped. "Cyanara has the Twilight Disc!" Amber exclaimed. "She must!"

"Amethyst." Corundum stood. "We've got to get Amethyst. Together we Guardians might be able to stop the Empress from using them."

"You can't go out there, Corundum!" Emerald cried. "It's too dangerous!"

"My shields can hold off anything, including the guards," Corundum replied decisively. "I'm going to find Amethyst!"

Corundum slipped silently out of Amber's cell, shutting the door behind her. Glancing furtively to both sides, she saw that the hallway was deserted. Corundum, acting on impulse, chose to go left. She crept to the hall's end and turned right, going down a flight of stone stairs to the next lower level. Stepping off the staircase, she arbitrarily selected a direction and turned right, into another stone hallway.

As she neared the end of the hall, where it turned abruptly to the left, she suddenly heard voices from around the corner. She peeked around the corner and saw a troop of Paroidian Guards coming directly toward her. Instantly she caught her breath and flattened herself against the wall, hiding behind the corner. Perhaps they would turn off their course before coming around that corner.

The leading guard of the group, face emotionless as was typical of the Paroidians, led his squad directly forward and turned the corner, heading right for Corundum—and on they went still, marching down the hall as if nothing were there. The Guardian was nowhere to be seen—unless they had chanced to look up, for there, with her back pressed to the ceiling, was Corundum!

After the guards were out of sight, Corundum levitated back down to the floor. She let out a deep breath. "That was close." In a few moments she resumed her search through Cyanara's fortress.

For hours Corundum moved unnoticed through the fortress like a stealthy shadow, hunting for the missing Guardian, Amethyst. Finally she stumbled upon the mind-control room quite by accident. Entering the dimly lit dungeon room, she found the central table unoccupied, the legions of computer equipment in standby mode. Corundum picked up one of the mind-control helmets with a stunned look on her face.

Suddenly the door to the room was flung open. Corundum dropped the helmet and ducked behind the computer towers, holding her breath lest its sound betray her presence.

A cluster of Paroidian Guards led Amethyst herself into the room and clamped her to the steel table. They left as silently as they had come—not a word spoken, only the muffled clanking of their silver armor.

No sooner had the door shut behind them than Corundum was at the table, bending over her sister. "Amethyst!"

The purple-haired seventh Guardian slowly opened her eyes. "...C-Corundum?"

"Yes, it's me, Amethyst."

Tears welled in Amethyst's eyes. "Thank goodness for you, Corundum. I can't take any more of this torture!"

"I'm going to get you out of here—just hang on!" Corundum pried at the clamps fastening Amethyst's neck, wrists, and ankles down but could not loosen them. "There's got to be a release button for these somewhere."

"It's on the control panel," Amethyst said weakly. "Big, red—you know the cliché..."

Corundum spotted the correct button almost immediately and pushed it without hesitation. Amethyst was instantly freed. The seventh Guardian sat up painfully and swung her legs over the edge. Corundum caught her as she began to slip. She hugged her tightly.

"Come on, we've got to get back to the others," urged Corundum. "Cyanara has all eight Rainbow Discs, and we've got to get them back."

Amethyst paled. "She what?!"

"Shhh," Corundum cautioned her. "Follow me." She led the way to the door and turned to find that Amethyst was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm still here," came Amethyst's voice from nowhere. "I'm just in my invisible form right now. Go ahead; I'll try to keep up with you."

"Can you make it all right?" Corundum asked, concerned.

"I-I think so. Let's go."

Once safely back in Amber's tiny cell, Corundum and Amethyst were welcomed heartily by their sister Guardians. "Amethyst!" Emerald cried, throwing her arms around Amethyst in joyous greeting.

Amethyst smiled wanly. "It's me, Emerald. Good to see you, too."

Emerald backed away with a smile on her face. The smile slowly faded as she looked at Amethyst more closely.

"...Amethyst? What's wrong?"

Amethyst's smile vanished, and her eyes seemed to glaze over. Slowly she began to topple forward.

"Catch her!" cried Amber in alarm, and Citrine and Aquamarine quickly grabbed Amethyst's arms to stop her fall. Emerald pushed her back onto her feet.

"Amethyst, are you all right?" inquired Aquamarine.

Amethyst blinked. "Oh—oh, I'm sorry... I'm so...tired...four days of no sleep... Cyanara...gave...me...no...rest..." Again she faded out and sagged limply in her sister's arms. Gently they lowered her to the floor.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere until Amethyst gets her sleep," Amber said soberly. "No sleep for four days... I can hardly imagine what she must feel like."

"But the Discs—!!" exclaimed Emerald.

"Amethyst is more important," Citrine put in quietly. "Without all of us working together, the Empress will easily overcome us. Her power is not to be underestimated. No, we need Amethyst's strength as well as ours. The Discs will have to wait."