A burst of light illuminated a cave as a dark blue matter formed inside the Caelestis and then faded to show an underground complex on the other side. Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Kooper stepped through the Caelestis into the cave on this new world. The Caelestis disengaged, and the light from the wormhole dissipated. The team took out their flashlights to illuminate the area. Kooper said, "Seems we're in some sort of cave."
Baby Luigi said, "I think I see a way to the surface." He pointed upwards, to a short crevice where a small amount of light could be seen. Baby Mario took point, climbing through the passage to the top. He removed a small piece of rock and climbed out of the cave, closely followed by the rest of his team.
They were on a large mountain range filled with grass, trees, and animals. "I don't see any signs of civilization," Baby Luigi said.
Baby Mario took out his binoculars and looked out to the horizon, which glowed a dark red color as the sun of this world began to set. "Yeah, me neither," Baby Mario said.
Kooper said, "Well, not every civilization has to be within a short distance of the Caelestis."
"Yeah, planets are big," Baby Luigi said. "If a civilization only keeps to the other side of the world for whatever reason, we might never discover them."
"Alright, here's the plan," Baby Mario said. "We'll explore the surrounding areas for three days, checking in with General White every 24 hours. If we don't find anything, we'll head back to Plit, and maybe Caelestis Beta will come back in a SASF to explore further."
"Alright," Baby Luigi and Kooper said. A short while later, night began to fall over the world. Baby Mario was standing next to a small wooden shelter in an open plain not far from the mountain range, looking out at the horizon using his binoculars. Baby Luigi and Kooper came back, carrying a few blocks of wood. They placed the wood over the shelter, and Baby Mario nailed it down so it could be a roof.
"Not the best shelter ever," Baby Mario said, "but it'll get us through the night. Let's get to bed; we have a lot of exploring to do in the morning."
Several hours later around midnight, Baby Mario was jolted awake by a noise. He cautiously grabbed his hammer, which was laying nearby, and stood up. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like moans and clattering from outside the shelter. Then, there was banging on the walls of the shelter, which woke up Baby Luigi and Kooper. "What's going on?" they asked.
"I don't know," Baby Mario said. Suddenly, the barricades they placed in front of the door were knocked down as a zombie burst into the shelter! "Woah!" Baby Luigi shouted. Baby Mario quickly leapt at the zombie and smashed its head in using his hammer, killing it.
"Is that a-?" Kooper began.
"Zombie," Baby Mario finished. "This isn't good. You two stay here. I'm going to do some recon." Baby Mario stepped out of the shelter and took a few steps forward. Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by, just barely missing his head! Baby Mario ducked to the ground and looked around him, finding that he was surrounded by zombie, skeletons, and massive spiders!
Baby Mario quickly got back into the shelter and set up the barricades in front of the door again. "What's out there?" Kooper asked.
"Undead and giant spiders," Baby Mario said. "This definitely isn't good. Any ideas?"
"These monsters didn't appear during the day," Baby Luigi said. "Maybe they only come out at night. We might be able to wait out the night here."
"There's way too many to hold out against," Baby Mario said. "I counted at least twenty, maybe more." After a short few seconds, he said, "I'm calling the mission. Get your supplies; we're making a run for the Caelestis."
The team quickly gathered up their supplies into their backpacks and then crouched in front of the doorway, ready to sprint out at a moment's notice. "Kooper, how long can you use your Fire Shell ability for?" Baby Mario asked.
"Maybe fifty seconds if I pushed it," Kooper guessed.
"Fifty seconds," Baby Mario repeated. "I'd say we're about two hundred meters from the Caelestis, so…it might be doable. Use Fire Shell all the way back to the Caelestis. Baby Luigi and I will run just behind you. Hopefully the flames will frighten off any monsters. On the count of three, we run like heck. Three, two, one…go!"
Kooper ducked into his shell, engulfed it in flames, and then shot out of the shelter. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi then took off, running at maximum speed after Kooper. Monsters beset upon them from all sides, but the zombies and spiders were hesitant to get any closer than a few meters due to the flames. Skeletons fired arrows at the team, which bounced off Kooper's shell and were blocked by Baby Mario and Baby Luigi's hammers. They made it back to the cave that the Caelestis was in just before Kooper ran out of stamina and couldn't use Fire Shell anymore.
"Baby Luigi, dial home! Kooper and I will hold the entrance."
"Got it," Baby Luigi said. He stepped in front of the control sphere and began inputting Plit's identification numbers into the remote.
"It's a narrow entranceway," Kooper said. "If we stand to the side, we can take out the monsters as they come in."
"Right," Baby Mario said. He stepped back and took out his hammer. A few seconds later, a zombie emerged through the entranceway. Baby Mario quickly smashed it with his hammer. Another zombie came in, which Kooper punched to the floor. A skeleton filed in through the narrow path, and Baby Mario did a horizontal attack with his hammer that sent the skeleton's head flying away from its body.
Suddenly, there was an explosion, destroying the narrow entranceway and creating a much larger, less defendable entrance. Dozens of monsters began descending upon the cave. "Fall back!" Baby Mario shouted. He reached into his backpack and took out a small mini Bob-omb. He chucked the mini Bob-omb out into the horde of monsters and then leapt deeper into the cave just as it exploded, taking out a large amount of monsters.
Baby Mario and Kooper quickly got up. Baby Mario used his hammer to take out any zombies or spiders that got close, while Kooper used his super scope to kill the skeletons lobbing arrows at them. As Baby Mario took out another zombie by smashing it into the wall with his hammer, Kooper fired his last bullet at a skeleton. "Out of ammo!" Kooper shouted. Baby Mario tossed Kooper his super scope, and Kooper renewed his attack on the skeletons.
"Baby Luigi!" Baby Mario shouted as he smashed another giant spider. "What's taking so long?"
"It's not working!" Baby Luigi shouted back.
"What do you mean it's not working?!" Baby Mario shouted.
"I don't know!" Baby Luigi shouted back. "I'm entering the buttons, the remote's accepting them, but when I place my hands over the control sphere, everything just resets!"
"You gotta be kidding me!" Baby Mario said in frustration. Baby Mario smashed in one more zombie's head, then ran back to Baby Luigi. He picked up the remote, input Plit's identification numbers, set the remote back into the control sphere, and then placed his hands on the sphere. However, it failed to light up as it normally should. "Well, what now?!" Baby Mario asked.
"I don't know!" Baby Luigi said. "The problem has to be with the control sphere, but I don't know how to even begin diagnosing it!"
Kooper ran down to the rest of his teammates and said, "I'm out of ammo! They're getting closer!"
Baby Mario took out a Cape Feather and said, "Well, I don't know about you two, but I don't intend on having my brains get eaten by zombies! It's time to power-up!" Baby Mario used the Cape Feather, but nothing happened. He tried using it again, but still nothing happened. "Okay, this isn't good."
"Our Pokémon," Kooper said. "They might be able to help."
"Right," Baby Mario said. He unclipped his Poké Ball from his belt and held it out. "Go, Charmander!" He pushed the button on the Poké Ball, but nothing happened. He pressed it again, and still nothing happened. "Oh, come on!"
Suddenly, a hissing sound was heard from behind them. "WATCH OUT!" Baby Luigi shouted. He leapt forward, pushing Baby Mario and Kooper along with him and just barely escaping a massive explosion. The explosion caved in the area where the Caelestis was, burying it.
"What was that?" Kooper exclaimed.
"Some sort of explosion!" Baby Luigi said. He went up to the cave in and tossed aside a few rocks before shaking his head and saying, "It completely buried the Caelestis."
Baby Mario looked up to the entrance of the cave. The monsters were waiting. "Okay, we're in trouble," Baby Mario said. "Power-ups and Poké Balls won't work, and Kooper and I have no ammo."
"I still have twelve bullets," Baby Luigi said. He took out his super scope, ejected eight of the bullets, and gave four each to Baby Mario and Kooper, who quickly reloaded their super scopes. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi jumped up to the entrance of the cave and did horizontal sweeps with their hammers, knocking out all the zombies. Kooper rushed up to them, and they set up rocks to use as cover. They balanced their super scopes on the rocks and prepared to fire at the incoming enemies.
"They're coming…" Baby Mario whispered. Hordes of zombies and skeletons began descending upon the team. They fired all their bullets at the skeletons, taking out a total of nine of them. The spiders were the first to get into melee range, and Baby Mario and Baby Luigi smashed them with their hammers. Kooper got into his shell and engulfed it in flame, then rocketed out at the zombies, ricocheting between them and taking out a ton of them.
As the team fought to survive, it seemed that every monster they took down was replaced by two more. Baby Luigi almost collapsed from fatigue, when suddenly, the monsters began clearing away.
"Look!" Kooper shouted. He pointed at the horizon. The sun was coming up.
"Yes!" Baby Mario exclaimed. As the first rays of sunlight fell upon the planet, zombies and skeletons exploded into flames. The team came out of the cave entrance and looked about the world. The spiders were suddenly docile, wandering around as though they completely forgot about Caelestis Alpha. As quickly as the world descended into chaos, it became peaceful.
A short while later, Caelestis Alpha was back at the shelter they constructed. "Is there any way you can get the Caelestis to work?" Baby Mario asked.
Kooper said, "Maybe we can use our mini Bob-ombs to unearth it."
"No, they're not powerful enough," Baby Luigi said. "Besides, even if I knew what was wrong with the control sphere, I still probably couldn't fix it. Remember, we have virtually no understanding on how the Caelestis actually works. Like, you can operate a computer, but could you fix one if something broke inside, using only parts you have on hand?"
"Probably not," Baby Mario said. "Still, I have to wonder why neither the Caelestis, Poké Balls, nor our power-ups are working. It can't be a coincidence."
"I don't think so either," Baby Luigi said. "This has never happened on any other planet. Granted, we've only been to a total of five before, counting Plit, but it has to be something with this particular planet."
"Maybe the undead have something to do with it," Kooper said. "I could feel some sort of…aura emanating from them. It felt…evil. Maybe that's what's causing it."
"I'm not sure," Baby Luigi said. "Either way, it seems like we're stuck here for the next few days, at least."
"Alright, supplies check," Baby Mario have. "What do we have and what do we need?"
Baby Luigi checked through the supplies. "We have our hammers, our super scopes but no ammo for them, our Poké Balls but those won't work, a number of power-ups but again those won't work, four mini Bob-ombs, basic medical kits, and enough food and water to survive for two weeks."
"There seem to be a lot of animals nearby," Kooper said. "If we run low, we can…um…cook them."
"Yeah, let's keep that as a last resort," Baby Luigi said. "I saw a lot of lakes and ponds while I was scouting. We can probably figure out some way to desalinate the water."
"Don't worry, guys," Baby Mario said. "I don't think we'll have to go that long. We have a scheduled report in about twelve hours. When we don't report back, General White will dial the Caelestis here and contact us using the radio. We can tell him to use focused explosives so they can unbury the Caelestis, and then we can just jump back through the wormhole to Plit."
"There's only a 50% chance that might work," Baby Luigi said. "It's possible that the Caelestis was buried facing down. If so, then no amount of focused explosives could unearth it. We would have to unearth it ourselves from this end."
Kooper said, "Well, there's a 0% chance of us surviving another night."
"What other options do we have?" Baby Mario said. "I think we should take the risk. We'll set up fortifications and barricades near the entrance to the cave. Hopefully, we'll be able to hold out until the general dials back."
Hours later, Kooper was just outside the cave. He looked out to the horizon and saw it reddening as the sun began to set. He stepped into the cave and asked, "How's it going?"
Baby Mario said, "As you can see, we've made it so that the only entrance to the cave is a narrow doorway. Behind that, there's a small area that we can use to kill the monsters as they file in. Then behind that, there's another narrow doorway and a second small area that we can fall back to if necessary. Behind that's the cave-in, which hopefully will be destroyed when General White dials back."
Baby Luigi said, "We also managed to roll some boulders in front of the entrance, so they won't be able to destroy the passageway as easily this time."
Kooper looked back and said, "Good, because I think they're coming."
Baby Mario stepped outside and looked to where Kooper was looking. A large portion of a mountain overhung part of the area out there, creating a dark area where monsters were amassing. "Oh man," he said. "It's an army."
"And as soon as it's nighttime," Kooper said, "they'll all come charging towards us."
"Hang on," Baby Mario said. "What if we shined our flashlights at them? Would that have the same effect as sunlight?"
"I doubt it," Baby Luigi said. "If it's purely a matter of how intense the light is, then maybe, but more likely it also has something to do with the wavelength and frequency of the light."
As the first ray of moonlight hit the world, the monsters began charging. "Here they come!" Kooper said.
"Get into position!" Baby Mario said. They quickly got back into the cave. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi went to the sides of the entranceway and readied their hammers.
A short few seconds later, the first zombie entered. Baby Mario smashed it with his hammer. Then a skeleton came in, which was quickly smashed to bits by Baby Luigi. The monsters were coming in a straight line, making them a perfect target for Kooper. The Koopa ducked into his shell, began whirling around in place, and then shot out towards the enemies, knocking them over like bowling pins and then quickly returning to the cave.
However, as soon as Kooper took out those monsters, more came to replace them. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi continued dispatching any monsters that came through, until a green monster with four legs came through. It made a hissing sound and began to expand. "WATCH OUT!" Baby Mario shouted. They just barely leapt out of range as the monster exploded, destroying the first area.
Tons of monsters then began to descend upon them.. Baby Mario threw a mini Bob-omb out at them, creating a small explosion that vaporized several monsters. The team then retreated into the second area. They took up the same positions as they did in the first area. Just behind them was the rubble beneath which the Caelestis lay buried. If this fell, they were cornered. Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Kooper braced themselves to meet the enemy force.
Lightyears away on Plit, General White stepped into the control room. He asked a technician, "How long has it been since Baby Mario was supposed to report?"
The technician responded, "We're coming up on half an hour."
"I don't like this," General White said. "Dial back to that planet."
"Yes sir," the technician said. He input the numbers for the planet that Caelestis Alpha was on into the remote and placed his hands over the control sphere. The chevrons on the Caelestis lit up, and a wormhole formed between the two planets.
Just as it did, rock began to fall through the Caelestis, flooding the Caelestis room! "Disengage the Caelestis!" General White ordered. The technician quickly placed his hands over the control sphere again, severing the connection between the two Caelestis. They then left the control room and stepped into the Caelestis room. General White looked over the Caelestis as the technician picked up some of the rock that had fallen through. "What is that?"
"Just rock, sir," the technician said. "The Caelestis on the other end must be buried…"
"Well, it wasn't buried when Caelestis Alpha went through," General White said. "Something happened to them. I want a meeting with the other Caelestis team leaders in thirty minutes."
"Yes, sir," the technician said.
Back on the alien planet, Caelestis Alpha prepared to hold out for as long as they could against the monsters. A zombie came through the opening, which Baby Mario promptly smashed. A creeper, one of the green-skinned monsters with the ability to explode, tried to come through, but Baby Luigi swung his hammer at it and knocked it back.
Suddenly, Kooper heard a noise like the Caelestis activating. "Guys!" Kooper shouted. "I think General White's dialed back!"
"Thank goodness," Baby Mario said. He grabbed his radio and said into it, "Caelestis Agency, this is Baby Mario! Do you read?" Suddenly, they heard the sound of the Caelestis deactivating.
"It disengaged!" Kooper said.
"If the Caelestis was buried face-up," Baby Luigi said as he smashed another skeleton's head, "then the cave-in would've begun to fall through the wormhole into Plit!"
"Gah…" Baby Mario muttered. "Well, we're cornered in here! We'll have to take our chances outside! I'll throw a mini Bob-omb through; as soon as it explodes, we advance forward and get out of this cave!"
"Got it!" Baby Luigi and Kooper said.
"Three, two, one, mark!" Baby Mario threw a mini Bob-omb through the narrow entranceway. It exploded in the middle of a horde of monsters, killing them and dispersing others away. Kooper then got into his shell and rocketed away, taking out any monsters still in their path. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi got out of the second area and made a break for the cave entrance.
Just when they almost reached the cave entrance, Baby Luigi was knocked to the ground from a zombie behind him! Baby Mario turned around and tried to go back for him, but he found that he was surrounded on all sides. He took out his hammer and prepared for what might be the final battle of his life, when suddenly, arrows began flying into the monsters!
Baby Mario turned to the cave entrance and saw four Humans in iron armor firing arrows at the monsters. The monsters diverted their attention to the Humans. They took out diamond swords and charged into the horde, slashing as many monsters as they could. They cleared a path for Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to escape.
The team got up to the cave entrance and saw dozens of monsters coming at them from within the cave. "Watch out!" Baby Mario shouted. He threw another mini Bob-omb into the cave and ducked. The mini Bob-omb exploded, causing a cave-in that buried the remaining enemies. Baby Mario then looked to the horizon and saw the sun rising. He sighed in relief.
"Wow, thanks," Kooper said to the four Humans. "Without you, I don't know what would've happened."
"It's no trouble," one of the Humans said. He took off his iron helmet and said, "My name is Nate. I'm the leader of the military of the village of Montefort." Pointing to his companions, he said, "This is Nick, Tyler, and Ridge." They all seemed to be in about their early 30s.
"I'm Baby Mario, leader of Caelestis Alpha. This is Baby Luigi and that's Kooper. We come from a world called Plit."
"You come from another planet?" Nick asked.
"Yeah," Baby Luigi said. "We use a device called the Caelestis. It facilitates instant travel between planets."
"Interesting," Nate said. "We have things like that. We call them portals. They allow us to go to the Nether."
"The Nether?" Kooper repeated.
"It's a dimension parallel to our own," Tyler said.
"If you want," Nate said, "we can take you to our village. You'll be protected from any monsters there, and we can explain things about our world on the way there."
"Well," Baby Mario said, "it doesn't seem like rescue is coming soon. Let's go."
On Plit, General White was in the meeting room of the Caelestis Agency, along with Quake, the leader of Caelestis Beta, Colonel Redington, the leader of Caelestis Gamma, and Penny Crygor, the leader of Caelestis Delta. The leader of Caelestis Epsilon was not there because Caelestis Epsilon was currently working negotiations with Earth, and the leader of Caelestis Alpha wasn't there for obvious reasons.
"General," Quake said, "the Yoshi Squadron is prepared for a search and rescue mission."
"We don't know what's happened on that planet," General White said. "What we do know is that somehow, that Caelestis got buried. Is there any way we could unearth it ourselves?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "We think that you can only go through the Caelestis one way. If you tried to enter it from the back side, you would just show up on the other side of the Caelestis; you wouldn't actually go through the wormhole. Since rock was falling through the Caelestis, I think that the Caelestis is buried facing up. We should be able to use focused explosives to destroy the rocks and then use a SASF to fly up to the surface."
"How long would it take to do that?" General White asked.
"Maybe a day to get the explosives needed," she said.
"Alright," General White said. "Quake, Caelestis Beta has a go for a search and rescue mission. Once you go through, we'll dial the Caelestis back every six hours after and get in contact with you."
"If there are hostiles there," Colonel Redington said, "you can count on Caelestis Gamma coming through to rescue you."
"Thanks, but we'll be the ones doing the rescuing," Quake said.
"Let's get to it," General White said. "Dismissed."
Caelestis Alpha had learned from Nate and his team that the world they were on was called Minecraftia. On Minecraftia, it was nearly noon. "So tell us about the monsters," Baby Mario said.
"They've been a constant menace to us for as long as we can remember," Nate said. "I've never seen them in such huge volumes before, though."
"Yeah, you must've really done something to make them angry," Ridge said.
"Maybe they somehow sensed the Caelestis opening," Baby Luigi said. "By the way, the control sphere for the Caelestis won't work. Neither will our advanced technology or magical power-ups. Do you know why?"
"Probably the Ender Dragon," Nick said.
"What's the Ender Dragon?" Kooper asked.
Nate explained, "It's a monstrous dragon who rules over the dimension we call the End. We think that he is the one who commands the monsters. His aura exerts a lot of influence on both Minecraftia and the Nether. Maybe that's what's preventing your technology or magic from working."
"Well, our super scopes worked," Kooper asked. "They're technology. Why would this Ender Dragon's aura stop advanced technology like the Caelestis but not less advanced technology like a super scope?"
Baby Luigi said, "Maybe it acts like an EMP that disables electrical devices, but our super scopes aren't electrical, so they'd be fine. Still, that doesn't explain why our power-ups won't work either."
A few minutes later, they came up over a hill. Nate pointed to the horizon and said, "There. Montefort." The village of Montefort was situated in a grassland at the foot of a mountain. It was basically five rows of buildings going from south to north. The first row had, from west to east, a large farm, a small wooden hut, another small wooden hut a short distance away, and a small farm. The second row had four wooden huts all in a row, and a short distance away, a large and a small farm. The third row had a large farm, a small hut, a large house a short distance away, and then a small house. The fourth row had a small house, a large house, a church a short distance away, and then a forge and a small house. In between the fourth and fifth rows was a small well. The fifth, north-most row had a church, a farm a short distance away, a small hut a short distance from there, and a small house. Gravel roads connected each building.
"Follow me," Nate said. They passed the first three rows and entered the forge. Nate reached into a chest and pulled out three sets of iron armor. "Here," he said, handing them out to Caelestis Alpha. "You'll need them." He then took out three diamond swords and gave them to the Plitians. Kooper accepted, but Baby Mario informed Nate that he and Baby Luigi had hammers which they were much more experienced in using.
Then, Nate took them to the large house in the third row. "This is my house," he said. "Sit and I'll get you something to eat." Caelestis Alpha along with Nate's companions sat down at a table. Nate brought multiple bowls of soup to the table.
"What is it?" Kooper asked.
"Mushroom stew," Nate said. "It's not as bad as it sounds."
Baby Mario cautiously tried some of it, and decided that it wasn't that bad. "So," he said, "what exactly will we need this armor for?"
"We have a plan to strike against the Ender Dragon," Ridge said. "We'll need your help to succeed, though."
After swallowing some of the mushroom stew, Kooper asked, "What's your plan?"
"The Ender Dragon's minions have several strongholds throughout Minecraftia," Tyler said. "In those strongholds, there are portals to the End, the Ender Dragon's realm."
"However," Nick said, "most of them are inactive. We need things called Eyes of Ender to reignite them."
"How do we get these Eyes of Ender?" Baby Luigi asked.
Nate said, "They can be made by combining two items: Blaze Rods and Ender Pearls. Blaze Rods are held by powerful monsters known as Blazes, which only exist in the alternate dimension we told you about, the Nether. Ender Pearls are held by monsters known as Endermen, which are rare but come out at night just as other monsters do. Once we have a sufficient amount of Eyes of Ender, we must assault the stronghold and use them to reignite the portal. Then, we'll have to go through the portal to the End and defeat the Ender Dragon."
"That sounds like a dangerous plan," Baby Mario said. "Do we have proof that the Ender Dragon is why our technology and power-ups won't work?"
Nate said, "I can think of no other reason. And besides, even if he's not, we did save you from that horde of monsters. I think you owe us for that."
"I suppose we do," Baby Mario said. "When do we start?"
"As soon as you are ready," Nate said. "We have a portal to the Nether ready."
Baby Mario looked at Baby Luigi and Kooper and said, "I'm ready if you guys are." They nodded, and Baby Mario turned back to Nate. "Let's do it."
Nate got up and said, "Follow me, then." He went to a corner of the house and tore up some floorboards, revealing a secret passage. Caelestis Alpha followed him and his companions down the passage until they got to what looked like an inactive portal. The portal was constructed out of obsidian blocks; it was four meters wide and stood five meters high, though the bottom part was embedded into the floor. Nate took out flint and steel and struck a fire inside the portal, igniting it. A purple vortex appeared within the portal. "Step inside," Nate said, "and you'll be transported to the Nether."
Baby Mario took a deep breath and said, "Alright. Let's do it." He stepped inside the portal. Nothing happened at first, but then his vision began to become distorted. After a few seconds, he stumbled out of the portal and saw that he was in an entirely different place.
The first thing that Baby Mario noticed upon emerging in the Nether was that it was a horrible place. There was blood red stone as far as the eye could see. There was no light in this realm except for the light given off by abundant lava streams. He looked to the side and saw what seemed to be a pig zombie. It stood at a height of two meters and wielded a golden sword. Half of its body had no skin; the bone underneath was clearly showing and rotting. The zombie pigman walked up to Baby Mario. Baby Mario quickly grabbed his hammer, in case this monster decided to attack. The zombie pigman looked over him for a few moments, and then walked away, seemingly uninterested.
By now, the rest of the team had come through the portal. "Where to?" Kooper asked.
"Blazes make their homes in areas we call nether fortresses," Nick said. "We'll have to find one."
"Do you know where one is?" Baby Luigi asked.
"No," Nick said. "We'll just have to explore until we find one."
"Well, let's get going," Baby Mario said.
The team explored in only a single direction so that if they got lost, they would only have to turn around before eventually stumbling back on the portal. After they crossed nearly a kilometer, they came upon a fortress made of blood red brick surrounded on all but one side by a massive lake of lava.
"This is it," Nate said. "A nether fortress."
"What should we expect in there?" Baby Mario asked, drawing his hammer.
"Zombie pigmen," Ridge said, "but they're not hostile unless you attack them first."
"It looks like a good part of this fortress is open to the air," Nate said. "What I'm most concerned about is…GET DOWN!" The team quickly ducked as a large fireball shot right over their heads and caused a massive explosion just behind them!
"What the heck was that?" Baby Mario exclaimed.
"Ghast!" Nate shouted. He pointed over to above the lava lake. There was a large, entirely white ghost-like entity with multiple tentacles floating there. "They patrol the Nether!"
The ghast shrieked and breathed another fireball at the team. Baby Mario readied his hammer and then slammed it into the fireball, sending it flying back at the ghast. The ghast tried to dodge, but failed and was hit by its own explosive. It shrieked in pain and launched another fireball. The team leapt to the sides to avoid the explosion. Tyler then took out a bow and fired an arrow at the ghast. The arrow hit its target dead-on, killing the ghast.
"Phew…" Nate said. "Ghasts are among the most dangerous creatures in all of Minecraftia. I'm surprised we didn't run into one earlier."
"Let's just get those Blaze Rods and get out of here," Baby Mario said. The team quickly made their way into the nether fortress. Nate led them through multiple corridors and passageways until they got to a small room. This room had stairs leading up to a raised platform, and fencing surrounding the platform that was made out of the same blood red brick material that the walls were made out of. There was a cage in the middle of the platform, from which flames would occasionally rise up.
"There," Nate said. "We call that a monster spawner. Monster spawners collect ambient energy from the environment, and once they have enough, they use that energy to form new monsters. This monster spawner should form Blazes." Sure enough, a puff of smoke went up from the monster spawner, and two bright orange monsters with multiple rods floating around them appeared.
The Blazes hovered up into the air and lit themselves on fire before each launching three fireballs at the team. The team ducked to avoid them. Baby Mario then leapt at a Blaze with his hammer drawn. He swung at the Blaze, which quickly hovered out of range. Baby Mario jumped forward a meter and swung his hammer overhead at the Blaze, which managed to just barely duck away. The Blaze then ignited itself again and shot three fireballs at Baby Mario. Baby Mario raised his hammer, and the fireballs hit the hammerhead, slightly heating it. Baby Mario then jabbed his fist forward in a feint attack, which made the Blaze hover to the side to avoid it, then quickly brought his hammer down on the Blaze, killing it. Baby Mario then turned to face the other Blaze.
Nate then threw three snowballs at the other Blaze, killing it. Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Kooper stared at Nate in surprise. "Blazes are weak to snowballs," Nate said.
"It would've been nice to know that a few minutes earlier," Baby Mario said.
Nate shrugged as Nick walked up to the corpses of the Blazes and took four intact Blaze Rods from them. "This should be enough," Nick said.
"Good," Baby Mario said. "Let's get out of this place."
About ten minutes later, the team made it back to the portal, and stepped in it to be transported back to Minecraftia. When they made it back, night had fallen over the land. As they exited Nate's house, Nate said, "It's nighttime. That's good; we can hunt Endermen."
"What do these Endermen look like?" Kooper asked.
Ridge said, "Nearly three meter tall monsters with extremely thin legs and arms. Their body is entirely a purplish-black color."
"I think I see one," Baby Mario said. He was looking just outside of the village, and made eye contact with the Enderman. It suddenly began to shake and spasm. Baby Mario turned away for a moment, and suddenly, the Enderman teleported right in front of him! "Woah!" Baby Mario exclaimed. He grabbed his hammer and swung it at the Enderman faster than it could react, knocking it out.
"Yeah," Tyler said. "They don't like it if you make eye contact with them."
"Another thing that would've been nice to know a few minutes earlier," Baby Mario said.
"On the plus side, they're not hostile unless you attack them or look at them," Ridge said.
Kooper said, "So you should just be able to go up to one and start attacking it out of the blue before it can react."
Baby Luigi said, "I see another one." He slowly walked up to it, being careful not to look at it. He then took his hammer out and swung at it, but hit nothing but thin air.
"Behind you!" Kooper shouted. The Enderman teleported behind Baby Luigi and knocked him to the ground. Baby Luigi jumped up and swung his hammer horizontally, but the Enderman teleported away again. Baby Luigi then quickly turned around and swung his hammer, managing to hit and knock out the Enderman just as it appeared there.
"Phew," Baby Luigi said as he wiped his brow. The sun began to come up over the horizon. While Baby Luigi was fighting that Enderman, Nate and Tyler had managed to kill another one, and Nick gathered three Ender Pearls from them.
"This should be enough," Nick said.
"How do we combine them into Ender Eyes?" Baby Mario asked.
"Watch," Nate said. He took the Blaze Rods and Ender Pearls from Nick. Suddenly, the Blaze Rods lit themselves on fire, but Nate wasn't burned from them. He inserted a Blaze Rod through the diameter of an Ender Pearl. The Ender Pearl then seemed to absorb the Blaze Rod into itself, becoming a green-blueish color and engraving a symbol which looked like an eye into the middle of it. He did this with the rest of the reagents as well and handed one Eye of Ender to each member of Caelestis Alpha.
"Alright," Baby Luigi said. "So now, we've got to head to a stronghold, right?"
"Right," Nate said. "There's one about three kilometers from here. Are you ready to go?"
"Well," Baby Mario said, "the sun's just coming up, so there's no better time to begin a three kilometer trek. Ready."
The group set off north. They crossed over the mountain that the village of Montefort was situated at the foot of. At the top of the mountain, Baby Mario took out his binoculars and looked in the distance. He looked to where Ridge was pointing and saw a stone-brick fortress embedded in a mountain in the distance. They began going down the mountain and then crossed through a large forest. After getting out of the forest, they only had to go a few hundred more meters through grassland to get to the stronghold.
"Here we are," Ridge said. The vast majority of the stronghold was buried under the mountain; only the entrance was revealed to the surface. The entrance was nearly at the base of the mountain and led upwards into the fortress.
"Anything we should know before going in?" Baby Mario asked.
"The monsters in here are what you'd normally see at night," Tyler said. "However, it's very easy to get lost in a stronghold. If we don't find the End Portal quickly, we could end up wandering around in there forever."
"Alright, then," Baby Mario said. He went up into the stone brick fortress. As he entered, he noticed that several of the bricks were cracked or had moss growing over them. He stepped into the main entrance area and almost immediately was met by a creeper! It expanded its body and was about to explode before Baby Mario knocked it away with his hammer, causing it to explode a good distance away, harmless to the team.
Caelestis Alpha took out their flashlights (which had started to run low on battery), and the Minecraftians took out torches to illuminate the area, occasionally placing the torches on the walls. They proceeded to the end of the first hallway and went through an open iron door to the side. This seemed to be some sort of small prison block; there were cells next to them and decomposing bones sitting in those cells. They went through this hall until they reached a rectangular area with a wooden roof, a ladder to the side, and some sort of well in the middle. There were three exits out of the room to the north, south, and west. Baby Luigi and Kooper went up the ladder and emerged in a small room with a treasure chest. Kooper checked the treasure chest. "Gold and iron," he said. "Cool." He took the minerals and went back down the ladder. "Which direction?" he then asked.
While Baby Luigi and Kooper looted the chest, Baby Mario had checked out the northern and western exits. "North's a dead end and west just leads out to the southern exit."
"Southern it is, then," Nate said. They went through the southern exit from the room and quickly reached another treasure chest.
Baby Luigi checked the chest and saw an apple, another Ender Pearl, and some sort of strange, glowing book. He took out the book and asked, "What's this?"
Nick took the book from Baby Luigi and examined it. "It's a book of enchanting. Powerful spellcasters can store magical enchantments in these kinds of books to use later. This one seems to hold an enchantment that causes anyone hit by a sword to be caught on fire."
"Cool!" Baby Mario said. "Does it work on hammers?"
"Maybe," Nick said. "Let's try it." Baby Mario took out his hammer and Nick held the book up to it. Baby Mario's hammer started glowing, and some sort of energy transfer took place between the book and the hammer. The book then stopped glowing, and Baby Mario's hammer now glowed a dim red color.
"Here comes someone to test it on," Kooper said. A zombie lumbered up behind Baby Mario. Baby Mario quickly whipped around and smashed the zombie with his hammer. The zombie was knocked back and caught on fire! The zombie tried to get closer to Baby Mario, but died from the fire.
"Nice!" Baby Mario said.
"How come enchantments like these work," Baby Luigi asked, "but our power-ups won't?"
"Maybe because the monsters themselves sometimes use enchantments," Tyler suggested.
"Our power-ups will work soon enough," Baby Mario said. "Let's get a move on."
The next room seemed to house some sort of fountain. There were eastern, southern, and western exits out of this room. Baby Mario quickly checked the eastern exit and saw that it just looped back on itself. "South or west?"
"Let's try west," Nate said. They went through the wooden door at the western exit and found themselves in another hallway with cells. They quickly went past it and emerged in another room with three exits.
"I see what you mean about getting lost in here," Baby Mario said.
"Let's just keep heading west," Kooper said. They did that and came across a staircase leading upwards, and at the top of it, a staircase leading downwards. They then proceeded through an open iron door and saw a unique room to the side. It had lava in the corners and a small elevated platform with a monster spawner on it. Also on the elevated platform were strange white blocks suspended above lava with blueish-green decorations on their top. They were arranged as the perimeter of a 5x5 square, just without the corners.
"This is it," Nate said. "This is the portal room."
"That was surprisingly easy," Baby Mario said. "I was expecting a hostile fortress full of enemies."
"It's not over yet," Nick said. "Look, a monster spawner. I think that this one will spawn monsters called silverfish." Suddenly, a small, silver bug-like monster spawned and started running towards Baby Luigi! Baby Luigi quickly smashed it with his hammer, and Baby Mario threw his hammer at the monster spawner, destroying it.
"Alright," Baby Mario said. He gave his Eye of Ender to Baby Luigi and said, "I'll hold the entrance while you guys ignite that portal."
Nate, Baby Luigi, and Kooper stepped up to the elevated platform. It seemed that nine of the strange blocks making up the portal had Eyes of Ender inserted into them already. "How do we ignite it?" Kooper asked.
"Place the Eyes of Ender you have into the blocks that don't have one," Nate said. Baby Luigi and Kooper did that, and in the center of the blocks, a pitch black portal with smoke rising up from it appeared. "That's it. Just jump down into the portal."
"Woah, are you sure?" Kooper asked. "I mean, there was…lava down there."
"I'm sure," Nate said. "I'll even go first." He stepped before the portal and then jumped down into it, quickly followed by his three teammates.
"Alright then, here goes," Kooper said. He took a deep breath, and then jumped into the portal. Baby Luigi followed after, and then Baby Mario ran up to the portal and jumped in too.
On Plit, Caelestis Beta and Caelestis Delta were on the runway underneath the control room and directly in front of the Caelestis. Caelestis Delta was adjusting something on a SASF. A few moments later, Penny said, "We're done! This SASF is now equipped with shaped explosives."
Caelestis Delta left the Caelestis room while Caelestis Beta loaded up onto the SASF. In the control room directly above, General White said to a technician, "Dial to the planet Caelestis Alpha is on."
The technician input the numbers into the remote and prepared to place his hands over the control sphere. "Ready?" he asked.
In the SASF, Quake and Zipper took the front seats, while Flare and Colorful took the back seats. Quake placed his finger over the button to fire the shaped explosives. "Ready," he said.
The technician activated the control sphere, and the Caelestis engaged. Dirt began to fall through the wormhole into Plit. Quake pushed the button, and a shaped Bullet Bill was fired from the SASF. It reached the Caelestis, and then the front of the explosive popped off. Flames then shot out through it, blasting the dirt on the other side upwards. Quake then fired another explosive, which managed to eject all of the dirt and create a clear path through the rubble. Flare looked at the sensors and said, "It seems like the other Caelestis is in a cave. I don't think the cave exit's big enough for the SASF to get out of it."
"Maybe the top of the cave is thin enough that we can blast through it to the surface," Zipper said. Quake fired another explosive through the Caelestis, which shot through the roof of the cave. Sunlight began filtering into the cave. Quake then fired their last explosive, and it completely destroyed the roof of the cave, creating a clear path to the surface.
General White said into a radio, "Caelestis Alpha, this is the Caelestis Agency. Do you read?" After a few moments, he said, "Baby Mario, this is General White. Are you there?" After a few more moments of no response, he said, "Caelestis Beta, you are go for launch. Report back every six hours."
"Got it," Quake said. "Let's do this." The engines of the SASF flared up, and then the aircraft shot through the Caelestis to another world. They flew up through the rubble surrounding the Caelestis and shot up several hundred meters into the air before changing their heading and flying straight.
"Something's wrong," Colorful said. "A lot of our instruments aren't working for some reason."
"Like what?" Zipper asked.
"Well, our sensors say that we're completely surrounded by stuff," Colorful said. He looked out through the window of the SASF and said, "Unless that stuff is air, the sensors are definitely bugging out on us."
"We don't need sensors," Quake said. "I think I see a village in the distance."
"One of the Old Kings' villages?" Flare asked.
"I'm not sure," he said. "No better way to find out than by going there."
Quake landed the SASF near the village. The Yoshi Squadron got out and entered the village. One of the villagers came up to them and asked, "Who are you?"
"We're Caelestis Beta," Quake said. "I'm Quake, this is Zipper, that's Flare, and that's Colorful. We come from a world called Plit."
"Plit…" the villager repeated. "Caelestis…" She seemed deep in thought, until she suddenly said, "Oh! Do you know people called Caelestis Alpha?"
"Yes!" Colorful said. "In fact, we've come here looking for them."
"They went to the End with four soldiers," the villager said.
"The End?" Zipper repeated.
"It is the realm of the Ender Dragon," the villager said. "He who has terrorized us for so many years. Your friends went to fight him."
Flare said, "From what I understand, last time Caelestis Alpha fought a dragon, they didn't exactly do too well."
Quake nodded. "They might need our help." He said to the villager, "How do we get to this End place?"
"There's a portal in a nearby stronghold," the villager said. She pointed northward and said, "Over that mountain and beyond the forest."
"Thanks. Let's get going, fast," Quake said. The team rushed back to their SASF and flew towards the stronghold.
Baby Mario emerged in the air and quickly fell to the ground. "Agh!" He got back up and surveyed the environment. It seemed to be an island made out of a white rock material. The island was completely surrounded by…nothing. Just a black void. Tons of Endermen were walking around, and several large obsidian pillars shot up into the air. On top of the obsidian pillars were strange floating cubes. "Everyone okay?"
"Yeah," the rest of the team said.
Nate said, "Make sure that you don't look at any of the Endermen. One Ender Dragon to fight is enough."
"No argument," Baby Mario said. He took out his binoculars and peered into the distance. He saw some sort of tiny black blob coming towards them. "I think it's coming." He put away the binoculars and took out his hammer.
A few seconds later, the air nearby began to shear. A massive dragon landed in front of the team. It was almost entirely black, with several gray scales and two purple eyes. It had a wingspan of easily over ten meters and effortlessly towered over Caelestis Alpha.
"Hi!" Baby Mario exclaimed. "Listen, these guys over here," he pointed at Nate and his team, "they've been telling me that you've not been acting too well. Apparently, you've been sending tons of monsters to harass and terrorize them. We came here to have a little chat about that."
The Ender Dragon roared and lifted off the ground, creating massive winds. Caelestis Alpha managed to hold their ground against the wind, but just barely. Baby Mario tossed his hammer with as much force as he could muster. The hammer shot into the Ender Dragon and bounced off, but it did catch the dragon on fire for a miniscule amount of time. This distraction caused the Ender Dragon to stop flapping its wings so hard, and Baby Luigi managed to leap up to it and strike it with his hammer. Kooper then did a Fire Shell attack on the Ender Dragon, causing it to roar in pain and fly up into the air.
Nate, Nick, Tyler, and Ridge took out their bows and shot arrows at the dragon. The Ender Dragon did strafing maneuvers to avoid them, then started charging right at the team. Everyone ducked to the side, and the Ender Dragon slammed right into the floor. Massive explosions shot out from the impact, knocking the team away even further. Baby Mario got up and leapt at the Ender Dragon, striking it with his hammer multiple times. The Ender Dragon turned its head and shot a fireball at Baby Mario. Baby Mario rolled away to dodge it, and the Ender Dragon flew up into the air again.
Suddenly, some sort of energy beam shot out from the strange cubes atop the obsidian towers into the Ender Dragon. "What's that?" Baby Luigi asked.
"It's a healing beam," Nate said. "We must destroy those devices!" The four Minecraftians used their bows to shoot arrows at the devices. However, none of them could get a hit before the Ender Dragon came at them again. Caelestis Alpha, Nate, and Ridge got away in time, but the explosions caused by the Ender Dragon's impact knocked Nick and Tyler unconscious.
Baby Mario quickly grabbed Nick's bow and threw Tyler's to Kooper. Baby Mario prepared to fire an arrow at one of the devices. He didn't have a lot of experience with bows, but he was reasonably certain that he could score a hit. Two arrows hit the obsidian beneath the device and one arrow soared over it before the Ender Dragon started charging at Baby Mario. Baby Mario took out his hammer and hit the Ender Dragon just as it got close. However, the dragon still hit Baby Mario, causing a small explosion and knocking the hero away.
"Agh, it's no good!" Baby Luigi said. "Any damage we do to it is healed, and we can't hit those cubes!"
"Try using the Ender Pearl we got from that chest!" Ridge said.
"How?" Baby Luigi asked.
"Throw it!" Nate said. "You'll be teleported to wherever it lands!"
"Alright," Baby Luigi said. He looked up at the towering obsidian pillar and doubted that he could throw it that far and high. "Cover me!" Baby Luigi ran forward towards the obsidian pillar. The Ender Dragon tried to charge at him, but was driven off by arrows from Kooper and Nate.
Baby Luigi reached the base of the tower. He threw the Ender Pearl underhand into the air. A short few seconds later, he was suddenly teleported to the top of the obsidian pillar. He took out his hammer and smashed the cube, disrupting its energy flow to the Ender Dragon.
Baby Luigi then heard something like, "Watch out!", but he couldn't quite make out what it was. Suddenly, the Ender Dragon slammed into him! Baby Luigi fell off the pillar, shooting down dozens of meters, before smashing into the cold, hard ground, nearly unconscious.
"BABY LUIGI!" Baby Mario and Kooper shouted. They had tried to fire arrows at the Ender Dragon to drive it away from Baby Luigi, but he was too high up and they couldn't get a hit. The two rushed towards Baby Luigi while Nate and Ridge attempted to hold off the dragon. Baby Mario quickly took Baby Luigi's pulse. "He's alive," Baby Mario said.
"I think he's broken a bone!" Kooper said.
Baby Mario felt Baby Luigi's knees and arms and said, "Not just one bone. We have to end this fast and get him back to Plit." Baby Mario took out his medical kit and quickly gave some medicine to Baby Luigi for the pain. He looked to the side and saw a small alcove. "Let's get him over there," he said.
Baby Mario and Kooper placed Baby Luigi under the small alcove so that he would be relatively protected from the fight. They then rushed back out into the open and saw that Ridge was knocked out. Nate was desperately firing arrows at the Ender Dragon, who was charging at Nate. Kooper got into his shell and engulfed it with fire. Baby Mario then slammed his hammer into Kooper, sending Kooper flying at a massive velocity towards the Ender Dragon. The impact made the Ender Dragon roar in pain and fly off.
Baby Mario rushed up to Kooper and Nate, only to see the Ender Dragon getting healed by another cube device. "We got to figure out some way to destroy those cubes," Baby Mario said.
"Could you launch me high enough to get on top of the pillars?" Kooper asked.
"I doubt it, and even then, you'd only be opening yourself up to attack like Baby Luigi did," Baby Mario said. "This isn't good…"
Caelestis Beta landed their SASF near the mountain and got out of it. As they stood at the entrance to the stronghold, Zipper asked, "Sure this is it?"
"If it isn't, we'll find out," Quake said. The team got out their flashlights and rushed inside the stronghold.
"Hey, there are torches on the wall here," Flare said.
"Maybe Caelestis Alpha placed them," Colorful said. "We should follow them."
The rest of the team agreed, and they ran down the hallways of the stronghold, following the torches. Eventually, they came across the same portal room that Caelestis Alpha did. "Think this is the way to the End?" Colorful asked.
"One way to know for sure," Quake said. He took a deep breath and then jumped into the portal, shortly followed by the other members of his team. He emerged on a white rock island, surrounded by nothing but darkness. Not two seconds after he arrived, there was an explosion. Caelestis Beta looked to the source of the explosion and saw Baby Mario and Kooper flying away from it. "That's them!"
The Yoshi Squadron rushed to Baby Mario and helped him up. "Quake?" Baby Mario asked. "Zipper? Flare, Colorful…you came to help us!"
"That's right!" Quake said. "Now, let's take down a dragon!"
"Wait!" Baby Mario said. He pointed up to the top of the obsidian pillars and said, "He's being healed by those cube devices!"
"Zipper, Flare, Colorful, take those out," Quake said. The three Yoshis nodded. Quake reached into a bag and took out three super scope clips. "Here."
"Thanks," Baby Mario said. He reloaded his super scope with a clip and tossed the other two clips to Kooper. The Ender Dragon came charging at them, but Baby Mario raised his super scope and fired three bullets at it, causing it to roar in pain and fly off.
Zipper used his speed to zoom up an obsidian pillar before gravity could pull him down. He then punched the cube device, causing it to explode. Colorful took out a whiteboard and drew a Bullet Bill on it, causing that Bullet Bill to come to life and rocket at a cube device, while Flare shot fireballs at the devices and Baby Mario and Kooper shot them with their super scopes. Within a few minutes, all of the cube devices had been destroyed.
"Yeah!" Baby Mario said. "Now, time to end this!" The Ender Dragon came charging at them again. Baby Mario and Quake leapt at the Ender Dragon; Baby Mario smashed his hammer into it and Quake delivered a massive punch to it. The Ender Dragon roared in pain again and tried to fly upwards, but before it could gain much altitude, Kooper slammed into it in a Fire Shell attack and Flare had launched multiple fireballs at it. Zipper then zoomed up to it and delivered a flurry of hundreds of quick punches. The Ender Dragon tried to shoot a fireball at Baby Mario, but the hero knocked it back with his hammer. Nate then leapt up at the Ender Dragon and smashed his diamond sword into the dragon's skull. The Ender Dragon completely froze, and rays of light began coming out of it. It hovered into the air, and then blew up in a magnificent explosion.
"YES!" Baby Mario and Kooper shouted.
"We did it!" Nate said.
Baby Mario said to the Yoshi Squadron, "We wouldn't have done it without you guys."
"Thanks," Quake said.
"There's a portal back to Minecraftia over there," Nate said, "created by the demise of the Ender Dragon."
"Alright," Baby Mario said. "Kooper, help me take Baby Luigi. Caelestis Beta, carry Nick, Tyler, and Ridge through the portal."
"Got it," came the response.
Back at Montefort, Caelestis Alpha and Beta stood at the entrance to the village, with their SASF just behind them. Baby Luigi had several casts over his legs and arms, but he was able to stand. Nick, Tyler, and Ridge had come to during the flight back to the village and were now conscious.
"People of Montefort," Nate shouted, "we return victorious! No longer shall the Ender Dragon menace us!"
The villagers all broke out into cheering and clapping. Nate walked up to Baby Mario and clasped his hand. "We can't thank you enough," Nate said. "Without you, we certainly wouldn't have succeeded."
"Aw, it was nothing," Baby Mario said.
"With the Ender Dragon gone," Tyler said, "no new monsters should be created. We only have to deal with the ones that exist now."
"If you'd like," Kooper said, "we could send Caelestis Gamma here to help you clean up the remaining monsters."
Quake said, "We'll also be back to check up on you occasionally."
"And," Baby Mario said, "Caelestis Epsilon will probably be here soon to set up trade agreements between Plit and Minecraftia."
"Yeah, I could use a flame enchantment for my hammer," Baby Luigi said.
"We look forward to it," Nate said.
"Well," Quake said, "Baby Mario, you've got a lot of people worried back on Plit. Let's get back there."
"Wait," Baby Mario said. "I want to test something." He took out a Cape Feather and used it. A yellow magical cape appeared on his back.
Kooper said, "Without the influence of the Ender Dragon, our power-ups and Poké Balls should be working again."
"And," Baby Mario said, "the Caelestis. We can finally go home."
"Let's go," Kooper said. The team loaded up into the SASF. Baby Mario did a running start, and then flew up into the air using the Cape Feather. The SASF launched up into the sky and flew back towards the Caelestis alongside him.