Mario was dozing in his bed. It was a warm, fine day, just the kind you would want to spend at home relaxing. Even the famous hero of the Mushroom Kingdom needed a day off once in a while.
Today was not that day.
"EEEEYAAHHHH!!" he cried as the Mailbox SP at his bedside started blaring its signature tune. He was so startled he fell out of bed and crashed onto the floor.
"Have a nightmare, big bro?" asked Luigi from the other room.
"No," Mario muttered in irritation. After standing up and rubbing his aching back, he reached for his SP and flipped it open.
"Hey Luigi," he called, "I got an e-mail from Princess Peach. And it's for both of us."
"Really?" the green plumber scampered eagerly into the room and peered over Mario's shoulder, reading the e-mail along with him.
Dear Mario and Luigi,
Toadsworth and I have decided to go on a vacation for a few weeks. I've been hearing all about a far-off country called Chronoside, and it sounds fascinating! There are so many sightseeing opportunities, especially in the capital city! Mario and Luigi, I would be delighted if the two of you would accompany us. I'm sure it will be a memorable experience!
Sincerely,
Princess Peach
"Wow! Princess Peach wants us to go on vacation with her? That sounds like a blast!" Luigi said enthusiastically.
"'Chronoside'? I've never heard of that place," Mario mused to himself. "But then, we seem to be going to new places all the time."
"Huh… but we'll be gone for weeks. Do you think Bowser will cause any trouble while we're gone?" Luigi realized, looking fretful.
Mario scoffed. "Are you kidding? You, me and Peach will all be away. He'll probably be bored out of his mind."
Luigi brightened up. "Then, I say we do it, bro!" he cheered. "But hey, did the princess say when she's leaving?"
Mario glanced back at the e-mail. "Uh…"
P.S. I'll be leaving today at three. If you want to go, please meet me at the castle before then!
"At three? Uh, Luigi… what time is it now?"
Luigi looked up at the clock and blanched.
"Two forty-five?"
––
After very quickly packing at least two weeks of clothing, the brothers raced out the door and over to the castle as fast as they possibly could.
"Oh, Mario and Luigi! You came after all!" Peach cried joyfully. She and Toadsworth were already standing in front of the pink plane that had carried them to Isle Delfino and the Beanbean Kingdom.
"Um, Peach," Mario wheezed as he and Luigi stood panting and leaning against each other, "I think next time you should prepare a little longer before leaving on vacation."
Before long, the four of them had climbed into the plane which took off into the sky. Mario gazed out the window as the plane circled higher and higher above Peach's castle, the Mushroom Kingdom growing smaller and smaller beneath them before they finally ascended above the clouds.
The flight lasted several hours, and Peach spent most of the time gushing about all the places she wanted to visit in Chronoside. Mario had no idea how long it had taken Peach to decide to travel there, but somehow she had already planned out the entire trip.
"…and on Wednesday, we need to go this world-famous beach resort I've heard so much about! They say the hotels there are the grandest thing, they'd even put the castle to shame! Then if we have time left, we need to go mountain climbing – they say there are some wonderful quaint little villages up the mountains and everyone gets their picture taken there…"
"Sounds like we're in for quite a trip, eh bro?" Luigi muttered to Mario. "Well, it'll be a nice break from all the times you saved the world, huh?"
Mario sighed and covered his face in his hands. "Luigi, don't ever say that. You'll jinx it."
Luigi frowned sheepishly. "Ooh… sorry."
Mario eventually dozed off as he half-listened to Peach ramble on about all the places she had to visit – he thought he heard something about a circus. Before long, though, he found himself being shaken violently awake.
"Mario! Oh, Mario, we're here! Look out the window!" cried Peach.
Rubbing his eyes, Mario leaned over and gazed out the window at the landscape beneath them as the plane began to descend.
"We're in Chronoside! Finally!" Peach cheered, clapping her hands. "And look! There's the capital city, Soluna Town!"
Mario strained to see where Peach was pointing out. Sure enough, the plane was low enough that he could make out a moderate-sized town over the horizon.
"Doesn't look big enough to be the capital," Luigi remarked. Mario had to agree; it wasn't much bigger than Toad Town.
"Oh, but it's so full of historical importance," Peach gushed out, having a hard time containing her excitement. "It's where the clock tower is, and the temple, and – oh, I can't wait another minute! We have to go sightseeing right away! The minute we're settled in!"
Peach, of course, was true to her word. No sooner had the plane landed in Soluna Town, their destination, than the princess hurried everyone off as fast as she could, looking more and more agitated with every minute they lost. They checked into the modest-looking Hotel near the center of town, and less than an hour after they had arrived, they were off exploring.
Soluna Town
7:46 pm
"My word, princess! Slow down, would you?" Toadsworth gasped as he struggled to keep up with the three others. "We'll have plenty of time for sightseeing during this vacation! We don't need to see it all right now!"
"Oh, but I want to!" Peach laughed. "This place is just so fascinating! Don't you agree, Mario?"
"Uh…"
Mario had to admit, Soluna Town was quite a bit different from the other towns he'd been to before. The streets were cobblestone, and the buildings were largely brick and clay. Clotheslines were strung up high above their heads, connecting the buildings on either side of the narrow alleyway as people stuck their heads out the paneless windows and greeted each other.
It was much busier than it had looked from the plane. All around them, the streets were crowded with people of all species and dialects, wearing all manner of clothing from places Mario couldn't guess at. Dozens of conversations floated by his ears; he couldn't keep track of everything he was hearing.
The streets were lined with all kinds of shops and stands, many of them with colorful canopies above them. Some sold standard things – Mushrooms, Honey Syrups – while others sold dazzling jewelry and beads, or pottery, or even paintings.
What really drew Mario's attention, though, were the murals. On every blank wall they passed by, there was an enormous, bright mural painted over it – and invariably, it consisted of an intricate pattern involving a shining orange sun and a glittering silver crescent moon, usually with some stars surrounding them. On some of them, there also appeared to be the vague outlines of twelve dancing figures surrounding the sun and moon – six colored lightly, six dark.
"I've never seen so much culture in one town," Peach sighed dreamily. "We should have come here long ago!"
"Excuse me!" came a sharp voice from somewhere behind them. "You! You four! Wait right there!"
Mario and the others paused and turned around as the speaker walked up to them. Mario recognized him as a Doogan, although he was wearing the most ridiculous getup the plumber had ever seen. He had on a long, dark blue robe with sleeves that covered his hands, and some kind of turban with a large green feather sticking out of it. Mario was about to ask if he was some kind of magician, but decided against it.
"You're new in town, aren't you?" the Doogan asked in an accent Mario couldn't place. "I can tell. You look just like tourists. Taking in all the sights, eh?"
"Why, yes, we are!" Peach said excitedly. "Can you recommend anywhere for us to go? I want to see all the interesting things before it gets too dark out."
"Hmph. Why do you think I would stop you? My dear lady, I would be honored to give you all a personal tour myself!"
"Um… wait a minute," Mario cut in. Maybe it was just him, but he somehow didn't like the idea of putting all their trust in a strange man when they were so obviously new in town. "Who are you, exactly?"
"Ah, an excellent question," the stranger replied, his eyes flashing. "Names are most important, wouldn't you agree? But I am known as Rodolfo. Rodolfo the Doogan, in fact. My family has lived here in Soluna Town for generations. I know everything there is to know about this fair town – a historian, you might call me."
Peach's eyes were shining. Mario sighed – she was far too naïve for her own good.
"Princess Peach, do be careful!" Toadsworth exclaimed, voicing exactly what Mario had been thinking. "You mustn't go along with everyone you meet in a strange place like this. Especially when you're… you know… a tourist."
"Oh Toadsworth, you old fuddy-duddy," Peach sighed. "As long as all of us are together, what could possibly happen? Besides, don't you want to see all the sights?"
"Excellent, then! It's settled," Rodolfo declared theatrically. "Come, now, there's so much to be seen! Hurry up!"
"Uh, wait – " Mario began, but Peach was already scrambling after the eccentric Doogan, with Toadsworth frantically trying to keep pace.
"We'd better go with her, bro," said Luigi. "We sure don't want her getting lost in a place like this, do we?"
"No, we don't," Mario grumbled, reluctantly trudging along after them. The very last thing he needed in a strange town like this was Peach getting kidnapped again.
Fortunately, it seemed Rodolfo had no such intentions. Rather, he showed them around and pointed out all the historic buildings, the famous murals, and all the places to find a good Spicy Soup. Peach was absolutely thrilled, and even Luigi was starting to show interest.
"You know," the green plumber observed after a while, as they passed yet another sun-and-moon motif, "your guys' artwork seems to have a theme going."
Rodolfo flashed him a smile. "Very observant you are," he said. "Perhaps you would like to know the history behind this?"
Peach nodded very rapidly.
"You will definitely want to know this if you don't want to stick out like a sore thumb around here. It is the very cornerstone of our culture," he chuckled. "All across the land of Chronoside, we worship the passage of time. Night to Day, Day to Night. It represents the balance of this world, the forces that surround us on all sides. And of course, the Twelve Guardians."
"Who are they?" Peach asked immediately.
"The Twelve Guardians," Rodolfo went on. "One for every hour on the clock, it is said. Six of the Day, six of the Night. Time as we know it means nothing to them, for they dwell within the Temple of the Sun, apart from this realm. But they watch over us and protect us, making ever sure that Day and Night, Light and Dark, exist in perfect harmony."
Mario's thoughts were immediately drawn to the twelve dancing figures he had seen adorning some of the murals.
"That's fascinating," Peach sighed.
"Well, there's more," Rodolfo assured them, leading them on.
Before long, they had arrived at what appeared to be the town square. There was a huge area without any buildings or stalls over it – just open ground.
Rodolfo stopped and spread his arms. "This," he said, "is my favorite part of town." Mario skeptically glanced around – there was a thirty-foot radius surrounding them and the nearest buildings.
"Uh, where?" Luigi asked accordingly.
"Right here," said Rodolfo. "Look underneath you."
They did, and they all gasped.
Underneath their feet, spread out to cover the entire open ground, was the largest, most colorful mosaic Mario had ever seen. It was a circular pattern; one side of it was a silvery crescent moon, with silvery stars dancing off to the side of it. The side of the circle that wasn't moon was a vibrant gold and yellow sun, with waving sunbeams extending out of it. A mosaic like this must have taken years to make.
"Legend has it," Rodolfo explained as they continued to stare, "that this is the design that is found on the Aeon Clock."
Mario looked up. "The what?"
"The clock within the Temple of the Sun."
"Oh. Of course."
"And now," Rodolfo declared, "for our most important stop of all."
He led them across the mosaic to the other side, where the buildings reappeared. The one in the middle was by far the largest and most ornate building in town. It was two stories high and colored black, with a towering set of wooden double doors in the front and four decorative spires, one at each corner. Mario wasn't surprised to find Rodolfo leading them directly to it.
"What building is that?" asked Peach.
"That is the Soluna Temple, where we worship the Twelve Guardians," Rodolfo replied. "It is of upmost priority that we preserve it, for it has divine importance. It is said that if a time of great crisis should ever befall this world, and the Guardians must intervene, then the Soluna Temple will become a gateway to the Temple of the Sun, so that they may enter this world and set all things right again."
By the time he had finished speaking, they had approached the very front of the Temple and were staring up at it in awe.
"Can we go in?" asked Luigi.
"I'm afraid not," Rodolfo said firmly. "We are only allowed to enter on appointed days."
"Figures," Luigi muttered.
––
This town was an absolute nightmare. He hated it. He hated every inch of it. He must have been the only person alive who didn't believe in this Guardian nonsense, and yet he couldn't take a step without seeing some reminder of them.
Some people said the Guardians judged people. That was the last thing he needed. He was judged enough already. His mother had judged him to be an unfit son – that was why he'd left home all those years ago, of course. The police judged him every single day. A juvenile delinquent, that was what they called him. Something that was unfit to be seen in the fair town of Soluna. The other thugs who hanged around the streets at night judged him nonstop. They thought he was nothing because he was just a kid.
The only judgment he cared about was his own. And he judged himself to be just a guy who did what he had to do to get by.
He trudged across the mosaic, not paying attention to the other passerby unconsciously swerving away from him. Please. Like he'd bother to rob them out in the open like this.
His eyes were in desperate need of a break from all the gold and silver – and as the Soluna Temple passed by in the distance, they found one, in the unexpected form of two blobs of red and green.
He skidded to a stop and looked over. It was two weird-looking guys in overalls, gawking up at the Soluna Temple like the rest of the idiots in this town. These guys had "tourist" written all over them. What losers.
Well, they looked like rich losers, anyway. Rich dumb losers. Probably the kind that had their wallets hanging out and just begging to be taken.
Might as well give it a shot. This might actually be fun.
––
"So, these Twelve Guardians," Mario ventured after a while. Something told him he was going to be hearing and seeing a lot of them during this vacation. "What do they look like?"
"Well, no one knows, of course!" Rodolfo exclaimed as though it were obvious. "No one from this world has ever laid eyes on them!"
"So, how do you know they're real?" asked Luigi.
"Why, you don't need to see something to know it's real," Rodolfo chortled. "You can't see air, but that most surely is real, is it not? Just as love and time and friendship are all real?"
"But those are a little more abstract," Mario sighed, but decided to dismiss the argument.
"Do you think we'll ever see them?" Peach asked hopefully.
"Well, it's hard to say, miss. But each of the Guardians is said to reign over a different time of day, and some say that at that time, when their influence is strongest, they might – "
Mario didn't hear the rest of the sentence, as at that moment he had the wind completely knocked out of him. Something heavy landed on his back and pushed him to the ground, where he landed with a painful grunt. Whatever it was then leapt off of him, but he was in too much pain to see what it was, or do anything other than lay on the ground wincing.
"Hey, bro! That Goomba stole your hammer!" came Luigi's alarmed voice.
"What?!" With some effort, Mario lifted his head up and saw who the others were looking at; the person who had attacked him. It was indeed a Goomba, but one of the strangest-looking ones Mario had ever seen. He looked to be young, only sixteen or so. He was colored green like a Hyper Goomba, and around his head was tied a red bandana with white polka dots. Around his neck he wore a large, gold medallion on a chain. A single fang protruded from his disdainful sneer of a mouth, which was currently holding onto Mario's hammer.
"HEY! Give that back!" Mario shouted at him. The Goomba did nothing other than give him what he assumed was an obscene Goomba gesture before scampering off.
"Master Mario! You must apprehend that ruffian!" Toadsworth exclaimed.
"You don't have to tell me!" Mario snapped back, leaping to his feet and taking off after the Goomba. Thankfully the thief was no faster than a regular Goomba, and he couldn't outrun Mario for long. After a moment he doubled back and ran the way he had come, and Peach and the others immediately leapt in his way. After ducking and weaving around them, avoiding each of their grasps, he finally made an act of desperation.
Running up to the Soluna Temple, he bashed open the doors and scrambled inside.
"Come back here, you!" Mario shouted, racing in after him without a second thought.
"WAIT A MINUTE!! You can't go in there! It's forbidden!" came the distraught cry of Rodolfo as he flailed his arms in the air. But his protest came too late. Mario and the Goomba were already inside.
––
For a split second Mario couldn't see a thing. There was no light coming from within the deserted temple, and he nearly crashed into a wall. All he had to guide him were the echoing footsteps coming from the fleeing Goomba.
Reorienting himself, he realized there was a spiral staircase directly in front of him, and the Goomba was running up it.
"What are you doing with my hammer?!" Mario demanded as he took off up the stairs after him.
"Stealing it!" was his muffled response.
––
"Can't we go in there after him?" Peach demanded. Indeed she was trying to do just that, but having a hard time due to Rodolfo holding her back by her dress.
"OF COURSE NOT!!" he bellowed at her. "No one's allowed in there except on appointed days! It is our most sacred law, and we must abide by it! I already fear for what will happen to those two."
"Why? What's the worst that could happen?" asked Luigi.
"No one's ever broken our law before… could this be a sign?"
Everyone looked expectantly at Rodolfo, who was suddenly staring up at the sky. Everyone followed his gaze and saw what had just made him look so horrified.
Where the sky had once been clear, now a group of thunderheads was billowing up from seemingly out of nowhere, covering everything. They didn't look like natural clouds. They were colored a deep, sinister black, and seemed to be darker and more substantial than a cloud should be. Peach blinked furiously when she thought she saw a crackle of black lightning escape from one of them.
"Something is wrong," Rodolfo said gravely. "Something is very wrong."
––
"Why can't you just give it back?!" Mario yelled at the Goomba. Both of them had struck stances halfway up the stairs, glaring at each other.
"Why can't you just deal? Deal with the fact you're so fat and slow that I swiped this from you?" the Goomba shot back. Before Mario could respond, the Goomba swung Mario's hammer straight on the ground. Mario had to jump to the side to avoid taking a blow from his own hammer. The entire stairway shook as it struck.
"Oh yeah! This baby's good!" the Goomba gloated, holding the hammer up and admiring it. "I was thinkin' this thing would fetch for a nice coin, but maybe I won't hock it after all! Everybody will respect me with this bad boy!"
"Not gonna happen, buddy!" Mario growled, diving straight at the Goomba.
He was never completely sure exactly what happened after that. The Goomba evaded him and continued fleeing up the stairs, with Mario in hot pursuit, but before they reached the landing at the top he was suddenly struck by a blinding flash of light.
Mario cried out, shielding his eyes. He staggered backwards and almost felt himself falling back down the stairs, but quickly grabbed onto the handrail and steadied himself. He couldn't tell whether or not the Goomba was still there.
After he thought the light had died away, he cautiously lowered his arm from over his eyes… and stared.
The entire top floor was suddenly gone. In its place was nothing but a shining, writhing veil of purple and silver. Mario was so stunned he fell over on his seat, staring up at it. There was still something behind that veil, he felt – but it wasn't the temple.
The Goomba looked stunned for a moment as well – but then he remembered he was being chased. Clutching the hammer tightly to himself, he leapt up the remaining stairs and vanished through the veil without a trace.
"WHAT THE – " No hammer could possibly be worth this. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
He received no reply, and so, not knowing what else to do, Mario picked himself up, took a deep breath, and stepped through the veil himself.
He involuntarily let out a shudder as he felt himself passing through. Something cold ran over his skin and his breath caught in his throat. It felt almost as if he were plunging into a lake. It felt wrong – he shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be doing this – but it was too late to go back…
When he was on the other side, he opened his eyes.
The room he was in was much too big to be part of the Soluna Temple. It was so high he couldn't even see the ceiling. The floor and circular walls seemed to inexplicably shine and shimmer, as if they were made of starlight. Spread out in intervals along the walls were enormous windows that radiated nothing but light.
Mario didn't notice any of those things. He didn't even notice that the Goomba, who was standing right next to him, had completely forgotten about the hammer, dropping in from his mouth as he surveyed the scene in awe.
All Mario noticed were the twelve figures floating serenely in the middle of the room.
They looked vaguely humanoid, although their bodies trailed off where their legs would normally be. All of them were glowing so brightly it was hard to make out any facial features on them, but he was fairly sure their eyes were all closed and their heads bowed.
The twelve of them were in a circle, each one shining a different color of the rainbow. They were all equally beautiful, but Mario noticed the ones on one side of the circle were vibrant yellows, gaudy oranges and pale greens, while the ones on the other side were deep blues, mysterious purples and turquoises.
Then his eyes were drawn to the structure they were floating on top of.
It was an enormous clock, inlaid in the floor. And he had seen the pattern on it before.
"The… the Aeon Clock?" he wondered to himself, feeling his jaw drop. "But that means we're in the… and those guys… they're the…"
"No way," the Goomba growled to himself. Then again, louder and angrier: "No way! No way those Guardian guys exist! It's all just a load!"
Mario didn't even bother paying attention to the Goomba. He continued to stare at the twelve figures, wide-eyed in disbelief and reverence. They didn't seem to notice, or care, about the two intruders in their midst. It was as though he and the Goomba didn't even exist.
That crazy old Doogan was right about everything, he gawked. Here I thought it was all just some superstition… but wait a minute! How did I even get here? I was just in the Soluna Temple and then…
What had Rodolfo said about this? If a time of great crisis should ever befall this world… then the Soluna Temple will become a gateway from the Temple of the Sun…
"Crisis?" he wondered to himself. "That can't be good…"
And before he could think any further, the crisis came.
"Heh heh heh heh…" came a low voice from seemingly out of nowhere. Mario whipped around in surprise as a plume of suffocating black smoke suddenly came rising up from another corner of the room. He and the Goomba instinctively backed away as the area around the smoke began to distort, as though reality itself were being warped.
"HOO HOO HA HA HA!!" The laugh suddenly became much louder as a tall figure stepped out from the smoke, sweeping it away with his arms.
"Who is that?!" Mario gasped.
The figure had dark blue skin covered in intricate black patterns, though most of it was covered in a fancy green suit. Underneath a shining silver band he wore on his head, he had an enormous amount of bushy black hair that covered most of his face and completely obscured his eyes. A long, flowing cape, so pitch black it seemed to absorb the very light around it, rested over his shoulders.
"The time has come at last!" the imposing figure laughed to himself. "The Temple of the Sun is finally mine!"
That, at the very least, seemed to get the Guardians' attention. They each lifted their heads up and turned to look at the intruder.
"You don't belong here," said one of the light colored ones, in a voice that seemed to come from far away. "Leave now."
"Now, now, that's no way to address your new master," the figure chuckled.
Mario was starting to panic. He had no idea what was going on, but he did know that he had no part in it. He quickly glanced behind himself, wondering if the veil was still there, if he could leave the same way he had come…
"Hmm? What's this?"
Mario realized too late that the intruder had noticed him and the Goomba. Before either of them could move, the cloaked man opened his hand, and out shot a bolt of black electricity. Mario and the Goomba yelped in shock as it completely surrounded them, encasing them in a force field.
"What are you two doing in here? Is there some kind of line to kill the Guardians of Day, or something?" the intruder scoffed. "Well, too bad for you. I call shotgun."
"You're going to what?!" Mario cried in protest. Even the Guardians themselves suddenly looked uneasy, a ripple of disquiet passing through them.
"Maybe I ought to start at the beginning," the intruder laughed. He opened his hand again, and this time the ball of black energy that formed quickly morphed into an imposing-looking scepter.
"You may address me as the one and only King Shroude, Supreme Master of Night," he said smugly, twirling his scepter charismatically. "You see, I've been having a thought lately. Why is it, exactly, that we have both Day and Night in this world? We don't need them both, now do we? In fact, wouldn't we all be better off without all that pesky Daylight? The heat, the sunburns – who needs it?"
"You are not welcome here," said one Guardian. "No one is allowed to interfere with the balance of Day and Night."
"Don't interrupt while I'm monologuing!" snapped the one and only King Shroude. Without warning, he shot another bolt of energy at the Guardian who had spoken, hitting it directly in the chest. To Mario's shock, all twelve of them suddenly started shrieking in agony, clutching themselves tightly.
"As I was saying," the Master of Night continued, "it seems to me that Day is completely useless. So what say you all I do the world a favor, and just get rid of it? No one will miss it!"
"You're crazy!" Mario shouted, feeling ridiculous, because he was trapped in here and there wasn't a thing he could even do.
"Crazy? That's what they say about all visionaries," laughed Shroude. "Now, you might wonder, how does one even go about getting rid of Day? It sounds impossible, doesn't it?"
He suddenly swept through the room, casting a ripple of shadow behind him as he went. "Well, you'll be glad to know I thought of an answer to that too. Isn't it true that Day is ruled over by the six Guardians of Day? Aren't they the ones who created it? Well, then, isn't the answer just as easy as getting rid of them?"
"You're threatening us," one of the Guardians of Day said in a steady voice. "We will not tolerate that."
"Oh, just shut up and die already."
Before Mario could even blink, King Shroude suddenly threw himself at the Guardians, brandishing his scepter, but almost immediately slammed into a wall of light that materialized out of nowhere. Mario turned and saw all twelve Guardians concentrating their energy on the barrier.
"So, you do have some fight in you," Shroude remarked in amusement. "Good thing for me I was just getting started."
He held his scepter up high, and it suddenly turned back into an amorphous blob of shadow before reforming once again, this time into a deadly-looking sword.
"The Guardians of Day will have their games ended!" he declared, bracing his sword. "And I will rule this world of Night!"
With one thunderous cry, he brought his sword crashing down on the light barrier. The Guardians braced themselves with all their might, but it was no use. A crack appeared in it, then another, until finally the barrier burst apart in a blinding flash.
King Shroude swung his sword one final time, slicing deftly through all six Guardians of Day.
––
"AAAARGH!!" Peach cried out as a horrific pain suddenly laced through her body. Every inch of her cried out in agony. She vainly tried to steady herself but instead fell limply to her knees, hugging herself and sobbing.
It felt like she was being torn in half.
She heard a chorus of cries similar to her own. She was vaguely aware that Luigi, Toadsworth, Rodolfo, everyone in Soluna Town was suddenly screaming in pain and collapsing all around her.
"What's happening?" she wanted to ask, but was in too much pain to even speak. She gritted her teeth and fought to stay conscious, struggling to see what was going on –
At first she thought her tears of pain were blurring her vision, but no – what she was seeing was real. All around her, the buildings, the people, the very sky seemed to be warping. They were swelling, bulging, shrinking, twisting. Her friends were all curled up on the ground, unable to even see what was happening around them.
In utter horror, Peach looked down at her hands. There were too many of them. She was seeing in double vision. It was as though two pictures of the world, superimposed on top of each other, were suddenly sliding back and forth, struggling to stay together but coming apart, like a television going out of focus…
––
The Guardians of Day existed for less than a second after the sword sliced through them. For one awful instant they screamed, their forms bulging and seeping light, and then they exploded, scattering into tiny particles that flickered for a moment and then faded from sight, disappearing forever.
The Guardians of Night shrieked in pain, in sorrow, in the utter wrongness of it all, curling up and sinking to the ground, completely powerless. Mario and the Goomba were in a similar condition. They were both suddenly overcome by a physical and mental pain so terrible it had to be felt to be understood. They both fell to the ground as their vision grew cloudy and everything began to fade from their minds, hardly even aware that they were screaming.
The only one who was unaffected was King Shroude himself, who let loose with a triumphant laugh so chilling that it would haunt Mario for the rest of his life.
The last thing Mario was aware of was a deafening tearing sound. The sound of an enormous piece of paper being ripped in half.
Everything went white.
––––
A/N: I take no credit for the name Soluna Town. That goes to my friend Meg. Hopefully though, you understand why I used it.