About a month later, most everything from the adventure they had gone on had settled down. Everyone was able to remain at their own homes for the entirety of that month, which was surprising but not unwelcome.
Timpani was fetching the mail while Blumiere meditated. She saw a strange envelope, simply addressed to herself and Blumiere. The only other distinguishing mark was an odd circle with an off-center cross through it. It shined iridescently as she shifted it in the light.
She tossed the rest of the mail (mostly spam) on the table in the hall before entering a side room. The room had been a spare, probably designed for storage. Blumiere had converted it to a room where he could meditate or practice his magic without endangering anyone that was inside or outside the house.
Timpani knocked on the door, waiting for her husband's okay to enter.
"This is weird," she said, handing the letter to Blumiere as soon as he opened the door. "I don't recognize the symbol, but the handwriting looks vaguely familiar…"
Blumiere scanned the letters for a few minutes before making a noise of recognition. "It's Link's. From that note?"
"Oh yeah!" Timpani recalled. "But how was he able to get a letter here?"
Blumiere opened the letter neatly with a spell. "I have a feeling we'll find out."
Sitting on the futon together, they read the sheet of paper.
Top Hat and Timpani,
Apparently Master Hand is a stickler about nicknames. Who knew? Anyway, I know the Mario Bros. and the rest of the crew promised an explanation about the constant references to Subspace. Well, they weren't the only ones involved. In about a week, everyone who was involved will be able to share their part of the story. And I mean everyone, as unfortunate as it can be. You might want to tell the whole crew, seeing as how we'll sort of be showing up in the middle of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Cheers,
Link and many, many others.
Blumiere and Timpani looked at each other.
"I'll call them," Blumiere said, getting up and then offering a hand to Timpani. She took it and aided herself up, heading into the kitchen.
"I have a feeling we're going to need a lot of snacks," she muttered, recipes already swirling through her head.
The Mario Bros. looked surprised at the news, but agreed none the less to inform everyone else. Blumiere moved into the kitchen to help his wife make delicious goodies for everyone.
It's a good thing they made enough for an army, as when they walked into the designated room in Peach's Castle, that's exactly what they found. Thirty-nine different beings mingled around the room, some human, others not, some mechanical, and all of them extraordinary.
Timpani and Blumiere stood in shock for a moment before Mario ushered them in.
"I know, there's a lot. Every single one of us was needed, though. We'll introduce you to everyone, don't worry."
The couple laid the goods out on a table that already held food. A pink puffball stood nearby, surprisingly eating some food calmly. Another puffball stood nearby, a mask quickly shut over an unknown face.
"The pink one is Kirby. Don't let his age or mannerisms fool you, he's one tough cookie," Mario explained.
"Poyo!" Kirby smiled, obviously hearing the red plumber.
"That's Sir Meta Knight next to him; the knight is his mentor."
A nod came from the usually quiet knight, a steaming mug still in his hand.
"It's all right, Meta Knight. They won't care."
"Honestly, I'm a torso most the time. Legs usually just make people calmer," Blumiere admitted.
A look from the masked warrior, but then he seemed to come to some sort of agreement in his mind and lifted his mask enough to show his mouth so he could drink.
Mario nodded at the two puffballs before leaving with Blumiere and Timpani.
"Top Hat! How's it going?" Link's unmistakable voice came from behind them. "Hey Mario, I'll take them around. Bowser and Wario are fighting again."
Mario facepalmed. "Mama Mia, you'd think they'd learn…" He waved good-bye as he went to a sight of steadily increasing volume.
"Come on, I'll intro you guys to the crew." Link steered them in another direction, towards a rather strange looking group.
"Hey guys, these are Top Hat and Timpani! Say hi," Link grinned.
The only female of the group curtseyed. "Hello again, Blumiere and Timpani. Though I suppose it would just be 'hello' at this point in time."
"Paradox?" Timpani questioned.
"Paradox," she confirmed. "I am Princess Zelda, but please, just Zelda here."
The two nodded before looking at possibly the strangest member.
"Hey," he said, his voice exactly like Link's but in a higher pitch, "I'm Toon Link. It's best not to ask why or how I'm here, it makes my head hurt just thinking about it." Toon Link grabbed the side of his head, emphasizing his point.
Link nodded at the man against the wall. "That's Ganondorf… I'd suggest avoiding him. He's not exactly happy at the moment."
The couple nodded, exchanging pleasantries with the group for a few minutes before Luigi came to introduce them to another crew.
"This is King Dedede, King of Dreamland. He's from the same universe as Kirby and Meta Knight. This is Ness." Luigi gestured to a penguin in red robes and a small boy who wore a baseball cap in turn.
The couple greeted the two, receiving exchanges in reply.
"How is this all possible?" Timpani asked.
Ness shrugged. "Master Hand has a crazy brother. He allowed us to meet because he has a feeling you two may be important in the future. That, and the story 'needs to spread' or some such." The boy scratched the back of his head. "We don't really get what they mean most the time."
"Understatement!" the king exclaimed.
Luigi nodded at his two friends before dismissing the three. "Well, we did promise to explain. I'm just surprised Master Hand agreed… rather enthusiastically."
Luigi steered them off in another direction, but the two spied a familiar face waving them over. Well, maybe face isn't the right word, as it was Meta Knight.
"Come," he said, "there are many who wish to meet you. Go with Dedede and Ness, Luigi."
Luigi nodded, thanking the knight before walking off.
The Star Warrior wrapped his cape around himself before heading off, making sure the two were following him. They met with a group of five more; Marth, Ike, Snake, Lucario, and Yoshi. Kirby was hanging onto Yoshi's back gleefully, laughing as the lizard trotted in circles.
Meta Knight gestured at the young man with smooth blue hair. "This is Prince Marth. Your Highness, this is… Blumiere and Timpani, correct?"
The two nodded before bowing. "Hello, your Highness," they spoke in unison.
Marth didn't bat an eye, just inclining his head in return.
"Ike," Meta Knight introduced next. A small wave from the mercenary was the reply.
"Snake." Another nod.
"Lucario."
Lucario eyes glowed and Timpani heard a voice. Hello, it rumbled, I am Lucario. I hope you don't mind me using Telepathy to communicate…
"Not really," Timpani replied aloud.
Could you tell your husband that it is only me trying to communicate? He's locked up more than the Power Unit…
Timpani smacked Blumiere's arm suddenly, surprising him. Lucario apparently settled his mind, as he loosened up shortly after.
"And you already met Yoshi and Kirby."
"Yoshi-shi-i-yosh." Yoshi inclined his head. Kirby shouted "Poyo!" again before the two became involved in themselves once again.
Meta Knight's eyes were pink when they turned back to him. "There are many more to meet. Come." With a dramatic swirl of his cape, he walked off.
"Is that why a lot of guys are wearing capes? Dramatic effect?" Timpani whispered to Blumiere.
"Part of it," the magician admitted, tugging on his own.
The two followed the masked knight, being introduced to people like Donkey and Diddy Kong, the latter of who showed them Fox and Falco. They were then introduced to Samus (who was in her Power Suit) who introduced Pikachu. This lead to a chain reaction as Pikachu insisted on them meeting all the other Pokémon: Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, and Jigglypuff. The trainer of the previous three, Red, introduced Lucas, a boy with powers much like Ness's.
Mario swung by and told the knight to visit with his own friends. He then proceeded to lead them to Pit, who in turn was hanging out with Olimar, R.O.B., and Captain Falcon. No Pikmin were with Olimar, he said he was afraid of them getting trampled by the vast amount of people there.
Mario pointed out two kids who were running around, greeting Meta Knight and some of the younger fighters. "Those are the Ice Climbers; Popo is in blue and Nana is in pink."
The two oddballs were… a two dimensional man and a blue hedgehog.
"That's Mr. Game and Watch and Sonic. We're not always entirely sure of what the former is saying, seeing as how he never speaks. Peach is probably your best bet for a translation," Mario explained sheepishly.
"Hey, new faces!" The blue hedgehog was suddenly over by the trio. "You guys gonna be in the next tournament?"
Blumiere shook his head. "Evenif we got an invitation, I doubt we'd accept."
Timpani nodded. "I'm living a life-long adventure. I'd rather not throw a tourney into the mix."
Sonic shrugged. "Fair enough. Hey Mario, we might want to get this show on the road. Not all of us here are friendlies and Master Hand would kick our butts if we come back with some injuries."
Mario grimaced. "I'll get everyone." He made his way to the center of the room, took a deep breath, and yelled "Quiet!" at the top of his lungs, catching everyone's attention.
"Thank you. I now many, if not all of you haven't seen each other in awhile. But unless we want Master Hand after us with a vengeance, we might want to start the reason you're all here for. There's plenty of seating where I am, as you can see, so feel free to arrange yourselves as you please. Well, actually, there's one rule: if you don't get along, don't sit next to each other. Fighting isn't tolerated."
Mario picked his own seat, followed by the rest. Then they began telling the tale of the Subspace Emissary, everyone adding in what had happened to them. It got awfully quiet around the time Tabuu had turned everyone into trophies, but this is where Luigi, Ness, and Dedede all spoke up.
The man in green shivered. "Everyone was a trophy… frozen in time and space, just… standing around like vases in a room. They were all scattered throughout Subspace. Kirby was revived too, apparently, as we were only able to find half. How relieved we were to see the pink puff smiling as he led the missing persons!"
Meta Knight rubbed his student's head, getting a happy noise from the sleeping puffball.
Then they continued, Sonic explaining why he showed up so "late".
"My universe is the farthest away from this one. The Subspace had only showed up a day or two ago in my realm by that point. Tails, my best friend, was taking me there in his biplane. He said some technical talk that boils down to the destruction of the space between universes, while the universes themselves were held in a sort of stasis, much like how they were now. I destroyed Tabuu's primary wings, not knowing exactly what they did but knowing it wasn't gonna be any good. He still had wings, but they weren't as powerful as the first ones."
"We all fought together and defeated Tabuu," Peach finished, "Master Hand explained that the Chains of Light dictated him, forced him to attack us even though he didn't want to. They overcame his will."
"And thus, several others'," Luigi wrapped up.
"And that was the Subspace Emissary," Mario concluded.
Blumiere could only whistle. "Wow."
Timpani nodded.
"Well then, story time's over. Let's mingle!" Daisy tried to get the morbid air out of the room. As per usual, she succeeded, everyone going around to talk with old friends and maybe ones that weren't so close. They only get to meet at the tournaments, after all!
Blumiere and Timpani pulled back from the festivities for a time. Timpani had really hit it off with Samus, R.O.B., and the Star Fox crew, chatting about mechanics and some other gizmos she had come up with.
Blumiere found good friends in Lucas, Ness, and Zelda, discussing magic and its similarities to PSI/PK powers.
As they watched their new friends mingle (and laugh at Meta Knight facepalming as he gave up on getting Kirby to not inhale his food), they smiled.
"Our friends are certainly unique," Blumiere commented, arm slung around Timpani's waist.
"Like we would have them any other way," Timpani replied, stealing a quick kiss from her husband.
They certainly are… they certainly are…
A/N: I'm going to cry, you guys. That's it. That's the end. I started this… sometime in either late November or early December of 2014. Now look; it's February 4, 2015 and we're all done. The end. El fin. It's sad. I liked writing this, the magic, the prophecies, the sass. Hell, I even got to include other Nintendo franchises without being all over the place. Overall, I'm pretty please with how this turned out. I sincerely hope that maybe there are some wanderers onboard this ship still and that they enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you have questions about anything, my PMs are open, as is the review box below. Feel free to ask them!
This story is dedicated to Chuggaaconroy on YouTube, who's Super Paper Mario Let's Play got me into this ship. The last two chapters of this story are dedicated to Monty Oum, a man who inspired me a great deal… and will now never get to know how much. He passed away during the production of this story at the age of 33. Rest in peace, wherever you may be Monty.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own ideas.
Now for the final and most accurate count:
(Ending Length: 90.5 pages and 33,810 words in MS Word.)