Soluna Town

12:00 Midnight

As the light died away, Mario blinked furiously and shook his head to clear it. Having no idea what to expect, he looked around uneasily – but everything seemed the same. He and Goomblaine were still standing in Rodolfo's house.

"What the heck just happened?" Goomblaine demanded groggily, clearly still disoriented.

"I don't know," Mario said shortly. "Nothing, I think. Everything looks the same."

"Except that stupid dog is gone."

"Huh?" Mario just then noticed that Rodolfo was missing. He and Goomblaine were alone in the room.

"Where did he go? He disappeared!"

"Sweet. That's the best thing that's happened all day," Goomblaine smirked.

"Hey Rodolfo! Where'd you go?" Mario called out, clearly growing alarmed. Given the way this day had gone so far, anything could have happened to him. He looked around the room, then finally went to the front door and pulled it open…

…and stopped dead.

"What's your problem?" said Goomblaine, seeing the bug-eyed look on Mario's face as he stared out the door. He walked up to the door and shoved Mario out of the way to get a look.

"Oh."

It was night in Soluna Town.

"What is going on here?!" Mario cried out. "How is it night out all of a sudden? I thought we just decided that it was never night here!"

"Do you always upset this easy? 'Cause it's really annoying," said Goomblaine as he shuffled out the door after Mario. The plumber had already run out into the street, looking around in disbelief. The streets were now largely deserted, with only a few others wandering around in the late night darkness. As usual, though, no one seemed to be acting like anything was wrong. For a place where night wasn't supposed to exist, no one was treating it like an oddity at all.

Mario shook his head hopelessly. He had long since given up trying to figure out the reasoning behind all of this. Sinking to a sitting position in the middle of the street, he gazed at the hourglass which he still held in his hands.

"This must have something to do with me turning over the hourglass," he decided.

"Well, duh," Goomblaine scoffed.

Mario ignored him. "Excuse me," he said pleadingly to a female Toad who was wandering by. Seeing the agitated look on his face, she stopped.

"This will sound strange," he said, "but what time is it?"

The Toad raised an eyebrow at him. "What kind of question is that?" she asked. "It's always midnight here in Soluna Town, didn't you know? Or are you new here?"

"Yes… yes, I am," Mario sighed before the Toad shook her head and walked away.

Mario looked helplessly at Goomblaine as the irritated young Goomba walked up to him. "First it was always noon… and now it's always midnight. I don't understand."

Both of them were suddenly alerted by a very familiar voice.

"ACK! What are you? What do you want from me?! Unleash me right now, you scoundrels!"

"Rodolfo?" Mario jumped to attention and looked in the direction of the voice. At that moment, the Doogan himself came scrambling from behind a corner with terror in his eyes. Mario didn't stop to ponder what he was doing out of the house.

"Rodolfo, over here, man!" Mario alerted him, waving his arms, but his voice caught in his throat when he saw what was making the Doogan so afraid.

Leaping out from behind the corner and pursuing him were three creatures Mario had never seen before in his life – and that was saying something. They looked like little imps with broad, pointed ears and wide, toothy grins. Their skin was dark blue, and they wore nothing but brown vests and black pants. Behind each one of them swished a forked, demonic-looking tail. They were scampering after Rodolfo on all fours, though they were clearly bipedal.

"Leave me alone this instant! Have mercy!" cried Rodolfo, sounding on the verge of sobbing. He didn't get to say anything else, for at that moment the tallest of the three creatures grabbed onto him and slammed him into a wall.

"You've got somethin' else comin', asking mercy from a Darkstrider," the creature cackled, leaving Rodolfo whimpering. "We don't know the meaning of the word."

"I'm telling you, I haven't done a thing to you!"

"You overheard a very confidential conversation of ours," piped up one of the other creatures in a surprisingly high-pitched voice. "You know way too much already."

"Yeah! Nobody's supposed to know about the Sun Souls!" boomed the last of the three in a low voice that did not suggest intelligence. "We hid 'em, and just so long as nobody finds 'em, those Guardians of Day ain't never comin' back!"

The leader of the three turned from Rodolfo to smack the one who had just spoken. "Nobb, you idiot! Do you want everyone to hear about the Sun Souls? See, this is why we're always found out in the first place!"

Mario and Goomblaine exchanged wide-eyed looks.

"Sorry, Jaff," Nobb muttered. "I thought there weren't any harm, since – "

"Oh, forget it!" Jaff snapped before turning back to Rodolfo. "Anyway, even if you think you can find the Sun Souls, they're scattered all throughout Chronoside! You could never even think to recover them all, even if we were to let you live after this moment!"

Rodolfo screamed as Jaff raised a sharply clawed hand and prepared to swing it at him.

"Not so fast!" came a shout as Mario charged forward, bashing Jaff with his hammer. The leader of the three Darkstriders cried out as he fell backward onto the ground.

"Mario! There you are!" Rodolfo cried in relief. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Mario stared at him. "What are you talking about? You're the one who left the house! Where did you get off to?"

"The house? My dear sir, I don't know what you mean! I haven't been in my house all day!"

Before Mario could work out this addition to his endless list of confusions, he suddenly heard a snarl coming from Jaff.

"Oh, great. I bet you heard all that Sun Soul talk too, didn't you?" Jaff growled as the other two Darkstriders flanked him. "Well, looks like we'll have to end your game as well."

"Not likely," Mario replied, gripping his hammer and turning to his partner. "Goomblaine, are you with me or aren't you?"

"Oh, fine," Goomblaine exclaimed.

"Pell! Nobb! Let's go!" shouted Jaff as the Darkstriders leapt into battle.

Mario decided he'd better learn what he was up against. "Goomblaine, can you Tattle on them?"

"Whatever," Goomblaine growled. Mario watched, and was stunned to see the Goomba pull out a cell phone.

"What's that?"

"What? It's got Internet," Goomblaine said defensively, punching in buttons. "Okay. Darkstriders, the minions of King Shroude. They love nighttime and dark places. These ones are just regular Darkstriders, but they can still attack by swiping and using dark energy."

Mario only heard the first sentence. "You're minions of the guy who killed those Guardians?!"

"That's right!" Jaff cackled. "King Shroude has promised us this entire land of eternal Night in exchange for our service! You goody-goodies can keep your Daytime version of Chronoside. Not our taste."

Mario didn't have time to register this. Realizing it was his turn, he ran up to Jaff and delivered a Jump to his head.

"You'll regret ever messing with us," Jaff growled. "Darkstriders, attack!"

Pell, the smallest of the three, attacked first, giving Mario a good swipe. Nobb ran up second and attacked in a similar fashion, leaving Mario to clutch at himself in pain; Nobb was much stronger. Jaff was last to go, but instead of just swiping at them, he opened his hands as a pitch black ball of energy formed between them. He launched it at Mario, knocking off even more of his health.

"These guys are tough," Mario groaned.

"Amateur. You've never been in a street fight," Goomblaine scoffed. He flipped into the air and Headbonked Nobb good and hard, sending the Darkstrider reeling. Mario silently realized Goomblaine was smart to attack the strongest one first, but regretted having to admit it. Following suit, he ran at Nobb and hit him over the head with his hammer.

The fight continued like that, with both Mario and Goomblaine taking hits. By concentrating their attacks on one Darkstrider at a time, they finally removed Nobb from the fight, and Pell followed shortly after. Jaff was the only one left standing, but he stood smugly nonetheless; Mario and Goomblaine were almost out of energy.

"I told you," he sneered. "You should never mess with Darkstriders, especially when it's three against two!"

"Mario! Over here!" came a voice, and Mario was stunned to see Rodolfo. What was he still doing here?

"Here, catch!" Rodolfo shouted, pulling something out of his robe and throwing it at him. Mario instinctively reached out and grabbed it; it was a Mushroom.

"Wow, thanks," he said with a smirk. He quickly ate it and felt energy flowing back into him. This fight wasn't over yet.

"You cheater!" Jaff whined, stomping the ground. "No outside help! That's cheap!"

"Oh shut up, would you?!" Goomblaine demanded, giving the Darkstrider a particularly painful Headbonk. A few more rounds of fighting later, and Jaff was out for good.

"Ohhhh… no!" Jaff groaned as he and the others slumped on the ground. "Well, consider that a warm-up for our next fight, you punks! You haven't heard the last of us! Darkstriders never accept defeat!"

He leapt to his feet. "Pell! Nobb! Let's go!"

All three of them ran away, vanishing into the shadows, although Pell took the time to stick his tongue out at Mario before he left.

"My, that certainly was exciting," marveled Rodolfo.

"Uh, yeah," said Mario. Already he was thinking back to everything the Darkstriders had said. "Listen, Rodolfo… what did those guys say about those Sun Soul things? They sounded important."

"Oh. Well, Mario, I'm afraid that entails some very terrible news. You see, I overheard them talking, and – " He swallowed hard. "It seems the six Guardians of Day have been murdered! Can you believe it?!"

Mario blinked. "Rodolfo, we already knew that. I told you that. Don't you remember?"

Goomblaine rolled his eyes. "Geez, I thought you were at least a little smarter than you look," he said to Mario. "Don't you remember what that Jaff guy said? There's two versions of Chronoside now, remember? A Day one and a Night one? We just met the Rodolfo from the Night one."

Mario pondered this. "Huh. That explains a lot, I guess. And we traveled to the Night one by flipping that hourglass over."

"Excuse me, but I'm afraid I have no idea what you two are talking about," Rodolfo cut in.

Mario sighed. "Okay, Rodolfo. This is going to sound crazy to you, but Goomblaine and I just came from a Soluna Town where it's always noon. And furthermore, I think that entire version of Chronoside is always day, because no one even understands what night is over there. Are you following?"

Rodolfo blinked very slowly. "I… I think so…" he said. "And you say you met me there?"

"Man, this is deep," Goomblaine remarked. "I guess when those Guardian guys got killed, everything got thrown so out of whack… that Chronoside got split in two. And all the people got split too."

"Yes, 'out of whack' is certainly one way of putting it," Rodolfo fretted. "I couldn't even begin to imagine the horrors that would occur when I learned the Guardians had been killed… but this is simply unthinkable! It seems that without the Guardians of Day, Day and Night can no longer coexist together. And so they've been separated, in the most literal way imaginable."

"But, wait a minute," Mario protested. "Goomblaine and I didn't get split. What's up with that?"

"You two were inside the Temple of the Sun when it happened, were you not? You must have been protected."

"Oh. That makes sense," Mario decided.

Rodolfo nodded firmly. "Now, how did you say you got here? Something about an hourglass?"

"Oh, yeah. Here, you can see it," said Mario, pulling it out and handing it over to the Doogan. Rodolfo examined it for a long time, looking fascinated.

"This hourglass has the ability to travel through Day and Night," he marveled. "Could it be… is it possible… have we found the legendary Aeon Hourglass?"

"The what?" Mario and Goomblaine asked together.

"Oh, surely you two have heard of it!" Rodolfo said in exasperation. "It's one of the relics of the Guardians! It's said that they were able to control Day and Night with this! With the Aeon Clock, they are able to move between the hours of the day, and with the Aeon Hourglass, they move between Day and Night."

"Okayyyyy… so what was it doing in your living room?"

"Well naturally, I haven't the faintest idea!" Rodolfo cried, throwing his arms in the air. "My only guess is that the Guardians sent it here to this world with the last of their power, in the hopes that someone like you, Mario, would find it. If we want to fix this horrible mess, I'm certain you'll have to travel between both halves of this world."

Mario sighed deeply as Rodolfo returned the Aeon Hourglass to him. He should have known better than expecting to go on a vacation and actually get to relax.

"Well, we obviously do want to fix this," he decided. "So what about those Sun Souls?"

"Oh, yes. Mario, I'm sure you must be familiar with the legend of the Guardians. If one were ever killed, then a new person would be selected to take their place."

"Yeah. You told me. I mean, the other you told me."

"Yes, well, I believe that's what these Sun Souls are all about. You see, the Guardians' physical forms have been slain, but their souls, and their power, still endure. But I'm afraid the new Guardians will never realize their true selves until they bond with this power; these Sun Souls."

"Well, that King Shroude guy already took care of that. He had his goonies hide the Sun Souls all over the world," Goomblaine said impatiently.

"Indeed. Mario, Goomblaine, we have a daunting task ahead of us. It seems the only way of saving this world is to recover those six Sun Souls, and find the people who are destined to become the next Guardians. Once they have come into their power, I believe balance will be returned to this world, and we will have a way of defeating Shroude."

"Well, how do we know who the new Guardians even are?" Mario exclaimed. "You said yourself, even they won't know who they are."

"Yes, it's quite a problem," Rodolfo sighed, sitting down on a nearby doorstep. "But, I have a theory, Mario. Not including Soluna Town, which is at the very center of the land, there are six different regions in Chronoside. I would not be at all surprised if one Guardian were to come from each of these regions, and likewise, it makes only sense that one Sun Soul is hidden in each of those regions. I think the best thing to do would be to travel to each one and investigate."

"Great," Mario groaned. Goomblaine didn't look too thrilled at the prospect either. "So where to first, then?"

"Well, hang on a moment," said Rodolfo. He began fishing around in his robes before he pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper.

"This is a map of Chronoside. You'll probably need it," he said, handing it to Mario. Mario obligingly took it and unrolled it. Sure enough, Soluna Town was in the dead center of the map, and surrounding it, he thought he could distinguish six separate regions, judging by the geographical changes. They were arranged around Soluna Town in a near perfect circle… almost like numbers on a clock.

"Well, look here," said Mario, pointing toward the region that was due south of Soluna Town. "There's a nice-looking town here… Fleetmont? And there's woods right by it, the Fleet Forest. It looks like a safe place to start."

"What, afraid of danger?" Goomblaine snorted.

"Fine, fine," Rodolfo agreed, waving his hand. "I've heard Fleetmont is a fine place. If you can't find anything there, you'll get a lead for sure. There's a Warp Pipe on the south side of town that will lead you there."

"Great. Well… I guess that means we'd better get going."

Rodolfo nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, but one more thing before you do."

He reached into his sleeve again and pulled out a small, silver Badge shaped like a hammer. Mario broke into a grin as it was placed in his hands.

"This is a Power Smash Badge," said Rodolfo. "You know all about Badges, yes, Mario?"

"Oh yes. Trust me," Mario assured him, quickly putting it on. "Thanks a lot. That'll be a big help."

"Good luck, both of you. Remember, it's essential that you find the Sun Soul and the person it belongs to. I fear for what will happen to Chronoside if we don't right this wrong soon enough."

"You mean besides what's happened already?"

"I'll wait here in Soluna Town in case you two need help. And I'm sure my… er… other self will do the same. So come back here anytime."

"Will do," said Mario with a nod. "Oh, but Rodolfo… please keep an eye out for Luigi and Peach and Toadsworth, would you?" He felt guilty for nearly having forgotten about them. "I've looked all over and can't find them. I'm really worried something's happened to them."

"I can't imagine who would want to harm them, but of course I'll look for them," Rodolfo promised. "I'll start even now. You two just worry about those Sun Souls."

"All right. Come on, Goomblaine… we'd better go."

Muttering something to himself, Goomblaine tailed after Mario as he headed across town. Mario was gazing intently at the map as he walked, looking at all the different places he and Goomblaine would probably have to visit. Outside of Soluna Town were mountains, beaches, and even a sprawling desert.

Six Sun Souls, six Guardians… they're all hidden out there somewhere. And we'll find them all.

"Excuse me?"

Mario jolted to a stop and looked up. He and Goomblaine had reached the south side of Soluna Town while he had been lost in thought, and in front of them was the Warp Pipe in the ground that he assumed led to Fleetmont. But someone else was in their way.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you through," said the Toad guard standing in front of it.

Mario was stunned. "Why not?"

"Haven't you heard? There have been dangerous sightings going on," the guard said seriously. "People have been claiming to see strange blue creatures running around and attacking people. It's incredibly unsafe."

Darkstriders, Mario thought.

"So what, we're stuck here?!" Goomblaine demanded.

"I'm afraid it's only safe," the guard said frankly. "Until these creatures go away, Soluna Town will have to be quartered off."

Mario blinked. "Um, but it's really important that we – "

"I'm sorry, but it's the rules," the guard repeated.

Mario groaned, shaking his head. Not knowing what else to do, he turned around and started walking back the way he had come. He hadn't even started this adventure and already he was at a roadblock.

Goomblaine stared incredulously after him for a moment before running to catch up with him.

"For real? Are you really this thick?" he hissed at Mario.

"What are you talking about? You heard the guy. We'll have to find another way out of here."

"Or not. That guy said they're only closing the town off because of those blue freaks."

"Yeah?"

"So if they were gone, we could leave."

"Right, but – "

"They're only around at night."

Mario stared at him for a long time before it seemed to dawn on him.

"Ah ha," he said with a sly grin. "You know what? You're a pretty smart guy."

"Whatever. Just get us out of here."

Mario frowned slightly. He hadn't expected Goomblaine to accept his compliment, but still…

Withdrawing the Aeon Hourglass, Mario took one more moment to admire the sparkling gold and silver that comprised it. Then he turned it over in his hands.

There was a flash, and they were gone.

––

Soluna Town

12:00 Noon

Mario looked around and smiled. They were standing in the exact same position, but now the sun was high in the sky and the streets were flooded with chatting people. He looked over at the Warp Pipe. Everything was clear.

"Well," said Mario, "here goes nothing."

The two of them jumped inside, leaving the town behind them.

––

A/N: OKAY! Exposition-heavy chapter is over! Sorry if it got boring at the end, but now the real story starts, so stick around. Next update, we get to meet Mario's second partner…