Chapter Five

The trio finally arrived in Star Town to see half of the houses completely wiped out—all that remained were the foundations. One of the neighbors, the patriarch of a Toad family, ran up to Phil and grabbed desperately at his shirt.

"Help us," he pleaded with the young protector-in-training. "Please! Save my wife and kids!"

Phil looked down at the man with sympathy. He saw the desperation and felt the man's panic… and he could completely relate. "We'll do all we can," he reassured the man.

"My kids have fallen terribly ill and my wife is slowly falling sick as well…" The man murmured, more to himself as he stumbled back to the remains of his house.

"We have to save these people," Daniel insisted.

"Look! The house is still standing!" Jim pointed to their large house, which had a gaping hole in the roof but was still structurally sound. The trio ran into the house and called out for the family.

Danielle suddenly emerged from the basement. "Boys! Thank the Stars you're all okay!" She ran to her sons and their friend and embraced each one of them separately. "We were so afraid that the transformation had…"

"Mama, hush," Daniel chided gently. "We're all fine. Where is everybody else?"

"In the basement," she explained. "Heather and I were preparing dinner when we felt the ground beginning to shake. We managed to get everyone into the basement just before the wave hit."

"Phil? Phil!" Aiden came from around the corner, rushing into his idol's arms. "I was scared, Phil!" The little boy sobbed.

Phil knelt down and hugged the child tightly, gently ruffling his hair. "I'm here," he reassured. "And I promise you, everything's going to be just fine."

A young man with dark brown hair came around the corner as well. "Aiden, no!" He scolded. "Mother hasn't called the all clear yet… oh! Jim! Daniel! Phil! You're all okay!" The young man pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "It appears as if things have turned for the worse, huh?"

Daniel nodded. "We were outside when the wave struck. We were trying to get to Dark Land to rescue Luca…"

"But we were too late," Jim finished with his head bowed towards the floor.

Phil said nothing; instead clutching Aiden tightly in his arms with his eyes squeezed shut.

"As it appears," Daniel began again, ever the leader, "Luca may have been lost… I'm not sure on that. Phil said he couldn't feel her life force through their Bond."

"She'll be back," Phil insisted in a quiet voice. He released his grip on the young boy and stood up once again, grasping the emerald pendant around his neck. He suddenly stood up much taller and his whole demeanor changed. "Something tells me she's in Limbo right now, and that if we manage to get Chaos back to her body, she'll be saved."

"Jared," Jim turned to the man in the glasses. "You see this behavior in Phil? When the wave struck, it washed him away from us and we spent a while trying to track him down. When we found him, he had that pendant… Daniel and I think that medallion has something to do with his newfound bravery…"

Jared walked over and examined the necklace at length for a full minute. "Well, of course it has something to do with it," he explained in a matter-of-fact voice. "That's a Courage Shell."

"A what?" The trio asked.

"A Courage Shell," Jared repeated. "Anyone who wears a Courage Shell pendant becomes quite bold in their endeavors… almost fearless, you might say. They become very brave and will remain in that state of courageousness until the pendant is broken or otherwise taken away." He looked at Phil. "Where did you get this? This is a very rare medallion…"

Phil looked at the glistening emerald stone in the palm of his hand. "I don't know," he answered. "I… had a vision. Of Luca. And she told me before I woke up that she had left me a gift…"

"Perhaps, then, she granted you the pendant's use from Limbo." Jared theorized.

"I can't let her down, Jared," Phil explained in a wavering but sturdy voice. "I… I love her. Without her, there is no reason for me to go on. I will bring her back from Limbo… I will…"

"And you aren't going to do it alone," Jim reassured his friend with a gentle pat on the back. "I'm gonna be right there with you the whole time."

"As will I," Jared added, "despite my weakness as a fighter, I can do all the research you will ever need."

Daniel shrugged. "And, I guess, you can count on me too. Even though I don't like Luca all that much, I know she means a lot to you. We'll rescue her. Count on it."

"How do you expect to even begin your quest when the three of you are officially outlaws of the Chaos Empire?" Another male voice came from around the corner. This voice was that of a teenage male, sounding monotone and emotionless.

"What do you mean we're outlaws?" Daniel questioned. "Chaos Empire? What?"

A teenager came from around the corner. He had somewhat long, straight jet black hair covering the majority of his rather pale face. When he moved some of the hair out of his face, he revealed a pair of beautiful—but rather devoid—dark jade eyes. "I've been listening on the radio," he explained. "And Bowser is already got a bounty on your heads."

"Jayson…" Danielle scolded gently, her eyes pointing at Aiden. It was her way of telling him to censor himself in front of the child.

Jayson shrugged. "He's also searching for you, Mom. And your parents. And your uncle. He's offering a massive reward for anyone who will bring the lot of you in—dead or alive." He paused for a moment. "Preferably dead."

"Jayson! Enough." Danielle raised her voice slightly, hugging her youngest son as he ran into her arms.

"Then we'll go into hiding," Daniel said in an easy voice. Almost too easy of a voice. "Jared. Use your power over colors to change our appearances. We'll come up with aliases for ourselves, and hopefully be able to wander about the… er, Chaos Empire… without fear that an angry mob is going to rip our heads off."

Jared thought about this for a moment and then nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. Follow me."

The three heroes followed Jared into his bedroom—a large room with each wall transformed into bookshelves. The floor was scattered with papers, notebooks, and the occasional invention. Jared was the resident genius of the household, and his bedroom was affectionately known as The Library. "Here it is," he said to himself. He picked up a medallion from off a nightstand table. The medallion was a clear sphere with every color of the rainbow swirling within it. He put it around his neck. "Who's first?"

Daniel stepped forward. "Let's get this over with. Give me black hair, brown eyes. I'll call myself Shane." Shane was his birth-given name—a name he normally despised with a passion, but now it was being put to good use.

Jared nodded. "Colors of black and brown," he summoned. He pointed at his cousin's hair, which turned from its dirty blonde hue into a dark black color. Next Jared pointed at his cousin's face. His emerald eyes slowly morphed into a gentle chocolate brown.

Daniel eyed himself in the mirror and winced. "I guess this'll take some getting used to."

Jim sighed. "Let's get this over with…" He stepped towards his cousin. "I want dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. My name will be Evan." Evan was his middle name.

"Powers of yellow, green, and brown," Jared beckoned. His cousin slowly transformed from a redheaded, brown-eyed teen to a blonde with dark hazel eyes. "Phil? You're up."

"Brown and silver," he said in a strangely distant voice.

"But silver eyes will make you quite noticeable," Jared warned.

"Do it anyway."

"If you insist," Jared shrugged. "What will you call your alias?"

"Fearless."

"That's right," the radio happily chirped. "You, too, can visit the magnificent Chaos Castle, located in the middle of beautiful Empire City! All you have to do is enter the Chaos Racing Tournament, located in Empire City's local racing facility! Bring your kart and your game, and you too may have a chance to meet the extraordinary King Bowser, master of the Chaos Empire!"

Jayson scoffed. "Pathetic. Not even three hours into his reign and he's already advertising events. What's next?"

"Wait a minute," Daniel said. "A racing tourney? That sounds… interesting. I think Phil and Jim should enter."

"Why me?" Phil asked.

"Because I've seen your skill as a driver," Daniel explained. "You're on top of it when you're driving. I'd enter the tourney myself, but I can barely drive. But you and Jim are pretty good at it. Besides, we need to get into Bowser's domain as soon as we possibly can so we can try to find out something about what his next step will be."

Phil nodded. "I'll do it."

"Me too," Jim agreed. "Let's get down to Toad Town—er, Empire City, and sign up for this thing."

The racetrack had been completely remodeled from what they remembered it to be before the world was transformed into the Chaos Empire. The track now looked rickety and had more jumps—it barely looked like a racetrack but more like a dilapidated highway. But the two had already signed up for the contest. They had registered their vehicles—Jim chose the Red Fire, a kart that used to belong to his adopted grandfather, Mario. Phil chose a custom kart which he christened Vengeance. They were surprised at the sheer amount of people who had signed up for the tournament—there were at least thirty racers out there.

They all lined up at the starting line. Phil took a quick look from his position in tenth place. Jim was back in twenty-second. He looked up towards the front of the pack—and someone caught his eye. There was a young female on a silver motorbike. Her hair was black and pulled back into a short ponytail. She sat on the bike like a pro, revving the engine impatiently. Is that a girl, he thought to himself. She may be the only female out here. I hope she knows what she's getting into.

The lights began to flash, signaling the racers to ready themselves. Engines began revving loudly around him, and he had to scratch at his arm, feeling the addictive twitch rising in him. He couldn't help but smile a little.

Red light. He gripped the steering wheel hard.

Yellow light. His foot came off the brake and the kart began rolling forward.

Green light—he stomped the accelerator and the kart exploded off the starting line with a turbo boost. He immediately rocketed up into first place, and he refused to look back. He felt the track shaking beneath him and for a moment he worried that it may not be able to hold the weight of all the racers. He was coming up on the first turn, which had an optional jump. He decided to skip the jump and instead skid through the turn. A shadow appeared over him, and he looked up.

The black-haired girl did a flip just above him and landed in front of him, speeding off through the turn. "She's good," he said aloud to himself. "But I've gotta be better."

He raced through an item block, receiving a green shell. He wished he'd had Luca racing with him, as she was a more accurate thrower than he. He lined up his shot as best he could and hurled the shell towards the mysterious woman but at the last second she tossed a banana peel down and effectively blocked his shot. "Damnit!" He cursed. Jim suddenly passed him and slid through the next turn. The girl shot through an item block and hurled a shell backwards, crashing it into Jim and spinning him out. This girl was playing for keeps, whoever she was.

Phil received a Mushroom and he immediately sent it into the engine. The kart lurched forwards and he took a jump. He pulled a trick and gripped the wheel tight as he landed, skidding hard through a tight turn with a turbo boost. He caught up to the girl and bumped her rear tire with the front end of his kart. She looked over her shoulders at him—and he was caught off-guard. Her eyes were a familiar shade of green, and bore a strange familiarity to him that made his heart jump up in his throat. She glared at him hard and viciously turned to the left, trying to get through the next turn.

"Sorry," he said to her, "but I gotta win this." He bumped her tire again and caused her bike to lurch slightly beneath her. She began swerving back and forth to avoid further rams from Vengeance. They came to a fork in the road—either pull a trick or continue on a straightaway. She immediately headed for the jump. He followed without hesitating.

It was Death's Leap.

The track beneath them began creaking loudly as they began accelerating up, up towards the speed panel and the leap. Phil began to panic slightly and grasped at the Courage Shell around his neck. Feeling his bravery revived, he prepared for the jump that had so long eluded him.

But she was already in the air. She flipped once, twice, thrice, and landed on the track below. She sped off with blinding speed as he finished his own trick and landed, and she crossed the finish line three full seconds before he did. He scowled with his second place finish and felt discouraged—they needed that victory to get into Bowser's hideout! And worse yet, he'd been beaten by a girl. He waited for Jim, who came in eighth place.

"Who was that girl?" Jim asked.

"I don't know," Phil said, staring at her. "But she seems… like I know her." He walked over to her. "Congratulations," he offered up.

"You're that guy who tried to run me off the road," she spoke in a strangely monotone—yet very familiar—voice.

"Yes. Sorry," he apologized. "I just really wanted to win that trip."

"So did I."

"Why?"

She turned to walk away from him. "None of your business, stranger."

"And the winner of the trip to Chaos Castle is… Bliss!" A booming voice declared over the track. "Congratulations, Bliss! You have won a trip to Chaos Castle!"

"Her name is Bliss, then," Jim said.

"We should follow her to Chaos Castle," Phil suddenly spoke.

"Why?"

"If we do that, then we'll be there at Bowser's hideout too. And that was the plan all along, no?"

"Very smart," Jim smiled. "Let's go get Daniel and Jared."