Author's Notes: Alright, it's time for another chapter. I got this one up sooner then I expected, that's for sure.
Chapter 8: Star Light, Star Bright, Star Flight
Three figures shouted and fell through the portal's other end.
"They're back!" Goombella shouted.
Everyone, minus Double D, Vivian, Eduardo jr, and including TEC whom had recovered, looked on. Beldam fell through the portal first, followed by the blue-haired Marie and Doopliss.
"What the heck is he doing here?" Eddy asked, pointing at Doopliss.
"Eddy-boy, pay your attention at Beldam!" Rolf shouted.
"Beldam…" Kevin sighed. While the others where not looking, he quickly grabbed a pipe that had severed from Double D's machinery. It was bent at a twenty degree angle, with a small gear, half a foot in length, remained stuck. It was a dirty, rusty old item, but it seemed it would do the job… or so Kevin hoped.
With a sudden scream, he rushed ahead, holding the pipe like someone would hold a sword.
Beldam looked up at Kevin, who was rushing toward her.
Beldam merely laughed and ran right in front of him.
"Come on, give me your best shop. Nazz will be the one who takes the hit!"
Kevin stopped himself. "…curse you."
Nobody else had dared to say anything else. Kevin stood there, quivering. He didn't know whether to attack and risk Nazz's life, or not attack and leave Nazz as a puppet.
"…what are yours demands?" Rolf asked.
"…nothing. I am through here." Beldam said. She reached behind her, then revealed some large, glowing items.
"The crystal stars!" Punio shouted.
"She brought them here?" Koopie Koo asked.
Koops ran ahead of his girlfriend and blocked her. Goombella gasped. Goombirro and Eddy both ran to defend her, to merely collide into one another and hit the floor.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Goombirro asked.
"Keeping Goombella protected." Eddy said. "Now move aside."
"No, I can handle it." Goombirro said.
"I said I'll do it!" Eddy said
"I can do it instead!" Goombirro shouted.
They where both interrupted by the sound of a bang. They both let out an "Ow!", before Goombella, whom had just hit them both, growled. "I can take care of myself!"
"Smooth, Eddy." Eddy's brother said, before looking back at Beldam. "So, those are the Crystal stars?"
"…yes, and now they are all mine." Beldam said.
"How'd you get all of the stars?" Eddy asked.
"It took us over a month to get them, and you go and get them in five minutes?" Koop asked.
"Oh, must I explain this again?" Beldam asked.
As the others distracted her, Kevin rushed ahead, with the pipe still in hand.
"…what?" beldam asked.
"Nazz won't kind if I hurt her just a bit, as long as I'm getting' rid of ya!" Kevin shouted.
"Kevin-boy!" Rolf shouted. "NO!"
Suddenly, Beldam began to glow.
Kevin stopped in his tracks. Beldam looked just equally surprised and everyone else.
"…what's going on?" She asked, in a panic.
"You fools." Rolf said. "Everyone, run!"
"…what?" Jimmy asked
"I find this irrational." TEC said, of course, lacking emotion.
"RUN!" Rolf shouted.
Everyone panicked and rushed toward the door, then all stood there and watched as Beldam let out a scream.
All seven of the stars where glowing brightly, beginning to hover overhead.
"…no!" Beldam shouted. She reached up and tried to grab them, though unfortunately for her, they had hovered beyond her grasp.
All seven of the stars began to float toward each other. They all began to shake rapidly.
"She's gonna blow!" Eddy shouted hysterically, throwing himself on the floor.
Beldam shielded her eyes from the bright light of the seven stars. They finally all meet each other.
Just like that, it was like old times. Ancient writing was forming on the floor, then the walls, and then the ceiling. It was spreading rapidly, leaving the exit and infecting the corridors, then the rooms. In a matter of mere seconds, the entire house was coated in ancient texts, glowing bright blue, illuminating the entire cul-de-sac.
The others, especially Eddy's brother stood, shocked at the bright lights.
"What the heck's going on!" Eddy's bro asked.
The stars continued to rise, levitating higher and higher into the air. As them flew up, they came closer and closer together. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the stars met.
There was a column of light that shot right at the stars. As it burst through, the smashed the roof, leaving a gaping hole, exposing the air and wind.
The on-lookers gasped and protected themselves from the elements. Beldam shouted in agony. "My stars!"
The rose through the hole in the roof, shining in the sky, still while rising in the great column of light that towered above Peach Creek. Higher and higher the rose, into the stormy clouds, vanishing into the sky. As they reached the height of the clouds, they suddenly created a hole, like the power of the stars was blocking the storm.
"They stop storms?" Eddy's brother asked. "…what kind of thing is this?"
Suddenly, the column exploded, as if it where made of glass. Shards of light flew everywhere, crashing into a few items and breaking them. Among them was the machine responsible for holding the portal in place. The portal flashed and vanished, like how a television would look when the power goes out.
"The portal!" Koopie Koo shouted.
"MY STARS!" beldam shouted in agony. Everyone looked up and saw that the seven stars where all very high in the sky, separating in 7 equal directions. Flying until they where out of sight.
"…you fool." Rolf said. "…don't you know? There is no magic on this world, so the stars ended up reacting by dividing into seven different places."
"No!" Beldam shouted. She jumped into the air and through the hole in the ceiling.
"Oh no, you don't!" Kevin shouted. He grabbed the pipe again and ran out of the door.
"Kevin, come back!" Jimmy shouted.
Beldam's figure landed outside of Double D's damaged house. She began to run down the street, screaming. "MY STARS! MY CRYSTAL STARS!"
Her wretched voice echoed as she ran down the streets.
Kevin burst through the front door of his house.
"Nazz! I won't let her take you!" Kevin shouted.
He ran across the street, still holding the pipe with the gear on it. He rushed to Eddy's yard, and pulled up his damaged bike. Though wet, cold, and damaged, Kevin didn't care. He pulled it up, accidentally, breaking it's kickstand.
At that same time, Mario opened up Double D's door.
"Kevin! Don't, Beldam could-a be too far by now!" Mario shouted.
"I don't care!" Kevin shouted. He jumped on his bike, placing the pipe into it's handlebars, and kicked on the pedals. The gears gave a whining noise as he rushed down the street. "Nazz has been kidnapped, and I won't stop until I get her back!"
Mario's attempts proved pointless. Within seconds, Kevin was gone, leaving no trace.
Eduardo jr gasped as he saw the bathroom door open.
"What the heck was all that noise?" he asked.
"There's no time." Rolf said. "Put this on Double D-Edd boy's head, now!"
Eduardo jr was handed the eye of wisdom.
"…what is this, Rolf?" the yoshi asked.
"Ask no questions!" Rolf shouted.
Eduardo jr sighed and placed the eye of wisdom on Double D's head.
Double D suddenly began to glow red. In a matter of seconds, the stone broke apart, being replaced by flesh.
Double D gasped for air, and fell down.
"…what is this thing, Rolf?" Eduardo jr asked.
"Awaken Vivian-girl." Rolf said, running out of the bathroom. "Then go and bring them both into Double D-Edd boy's living quarters! Something serious has happened!"
"Let's make sure we get this strait…" Double D sighed, sitting on his couch, with the others sitting nearby. "My Bathroom's destroyed, the workshop is destroyed, the portal is broken, the seven crystal stars are scattered across Earth, and Beldam, who's both possessing and kidnapping Nazz, and an avenging Kevin have vanished into the night."
"…if you put it that way…" Eddy said.
"Eddy, this is no joke." Double D said. "Ed, Sarah, Lee, May, and Jonny are all trapped in Mario's world."
"And Mario, Peach, Goombella, Goombirro, Koops, Koopie Koo, Punio, Petuni, Eduardo jr, Vivian, and Ms. Mowz are trapped in ours." Eddy said. "I know, I've been here, you know."
"This is so strange…" Vivian said. "…I can't believe I… can't go back. My life was finally rebuilding for the better… and now…"
"…Vivian, I'm sorry." Double D said, looking down.
Double D slapped his face. "Messy, messy, messy… mother and father will surely punish me when they discover how badly damaged the house is.
"…come on, Double D." Koops said. "…we need to think, how in the world are we going to fix all of this?"
"Guys!" came a voice.
Everyone looked up and saw Jimmy running down the stairs. He held a small boom-box in his arm.
"What is it?" Pentuni asked.
Jimmy was still gasping for air. He placed the radio on a glass table, and pressed a small button.
"That… stars… crash…"
In between the words was static.
Double D gasped and tuned the radio.
"…that's right, folks!" a male voice said. "There's chaos across the world! We are getting word that it seems like stars are literally falling from the skies! Reporter Jasmine Smith has details, Jasmine?"
The group gathered around the radio, listening carefully.
"That's right, Tom!" a female reporter replied. "There are already two reports of stars, literally falling from the skies. We're hearing that a city somewhere in California USA has been struck by a falling star. …what's this? There was another reported incident of a star crashing into somewhere down in South America, not yet determined where, but we'll bring you updates as we go along- wait, what's this?"
The group got even closer to the radio, listening with great concern.
"Unbelievable, Folks!" the female reporter continued. "We're getting reports of another star, landing in England, just moments ago! It's pandemonium, as people are being urged to evacuate the crash sites at once… wait, unbelievable! Another crash has been reported in Japan! Another's coming in from Egypt! …this is crazy, the count has escalated to 5 crashes so far!"
"…what's going on…" Jimmy asked. "These stars… the crystal starts are flying all over the world!"
"Rolf knows it's a side effect of the stars… when they come into known new places, especially places devoid of magic, that the crystals stars will divide…"
"Yes, another crash has been reported in Australia!" the reported continued. "…and wait, more? Yes, unbelievable! A seven crash has been sighted in Antarctica!"
Double D gasped. "The stars have divided amongst the seven continents of Earth!"
"…the what?" Punio asked.
"…sort of like-a seven different areas in our world." Mario said.
"…oh." Punio said, still feeling confused.
"…the point is, they've scattered, just like they did in our world." Ms. Mowz said.
Just like that, the power slowly faded back on. The group gave a sigh of relief.
Double D looked down. "…if I hadn't been turned to stone, I could have prevented this."
"Do not put blame on yourself." TEC said. "…I could not even defeat her. That battle destroyed my computer-self… I'm trapped in human form now."
"Ah, I can help with that!" Doopliss said, looking happy, unlike everyone else. He held up a thumbs-up and pointed at himself with it. "With a single snap of my fingers, I can turn you into a pig again!"
Jimmy squeaked and fell backwards in his chair. As he got back up, he gave Doopliss a startled expression. "Please, not again!"
"Chill slick, I won't." Doopliss said. He turned around. "Party pooper… maybe I'll leave him a little surprise when he wakes up tomorrow."
Doopliss turned around and gave a sinister smile.
Jimmy gasped and nearly fell from his chair again, but Vivian caught him.
"Knock it off!" Pentuni shouted.
Doopliss sighed. "…right, I keep forgetting."
"This isn't a joke." Double D said. "…what are we going to do now?"
"I say we go and get them!" Goombirro said.
"Are you serious?" Eddy asked. "It will take forever to cross the world, let alone the expenses of traveling! How the heck are we supposed to cross the world, let alone save Nazz, find Kevin, and get Ed and the other dudes back here? You're insane, Goombirro!"
He was replied by a prompt smack on the head. "Give it a rest, Eddy." Koopie Koo said. "…how hard ca it be to cross a world?"
"Don't get yourself exited. You haven't even been outside yet." Double D said. "There's no magic here, and humans are the only species capable of intelligent thought here."
"…that must get lonely." Goombella said.
Double D sighed. "…I never thought of it like that before…"
"So then, we're the first non-humans who can think?" Koops asked. "Well then, this world will be in for a surprise."
"No!" Eddy shouted. "There's no way we can let you guys be seen out there?"
"Aw, why not?" Doopliss asked.
"Many people here aren't exactly as accepting as they are in your world. Not to mention the media will attack, as well as other sorts of negative attention. Then the government will want to meddle…" Double D said.
"…wow." Eduardo jr said. "…what a world."
"It will be hard to transverse in this town, let alone across the world." Double D said. "…but the portal is broken now, and we have no choice. …we have to leave."
"This will be dangerous." Goombella said.
"Nonsense!" Ms. Mowz said. "This will be quite a treasure hunt. Trust me kids, if you have me on this team, you'll no doubt get your stars back in no time."
"Then… we'll leave tomorrow?" Marie asked.
"…I guess so. This time tomorrow, we'll be on the road." Eddy said.
"My word, what happened here?" Toadsworth asked.
He reached the docks of Rogueport to find Ed, Sarah, Jonny, Lee, May, Bobbery, and Flurrie.
"…my, where's that portal?" he asked.
"Toadsworth, it closed!" Flurrie said.
"Yeah, we're stuck here!" Sarah shouted.
"I already miss Plank." Jonny said.
"Double D and Eddy, I, Ed, must see them… uh, again!" Ed added in.
"Marie won't last five minutes alone." Lee said.
"We got to get that thing up again!" May said.
"Wait! Princess Peach is trapped in that other world! My dear, and so is Mario! What will the mushroom kingdom do now?" Toadsworth asked.
"Calm down, bucko!" Ed said.
"Yeah… isn't there… you know, another way to open a portal?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know anything about that portal tom-foolery. I will bet that there is someone in the mushroom kingdom that may know a way." Toadsworth said.
"Then we gotta find that guy and get back to earth! Planks a goner if I can't talk for him!" Jonny shouted.
"We can take my new ship." Bobbery said.
"Good, we can go to Princess Peach's castle!" Toadsworth said. "…but let's go tomorrow, I am too tired."
"Whatever, old man." Lee said. "More time for me to check out the town!"
She took off into the town.
"I'll be at the Inn." Toadsworth said, walking away.
"I'm tired too, after that performance." Flurrie said, walking with him.
"I need time to gather my crew." Bobbery said, before walking off too.
"I'm going to find a place where I can get a drink!" Jonny shouted, rushing off as well.
"Ok, I'm gonna go check out the staff of the Excess Express. I wonder if that train's still running."
May laughed and threw her arms around Ed, who gasped.
"…looks like it just you and me, big Ed!" May said.
Ed gasped, shaking as he stood.
"Move it, ya big lug!" Sarah shouted.
Ed smiled and rushed after his sister, dragging May along with him.
"Oh… this is going to be a long quest." May sighed, as she was being dragged away.
Author's Notes: So what's next? Well, expect to see more of Mario's world, but more of Earth. Yes, and the crossovers are coming soon. I don't want to say which ones are coming yet, but I guarantee that there will be a crossover tided into all seven stars. It's still not too late to make more crossover suggestions, if you want… because the true story begins next!