Starshine Circus

1:30 am

"Okay, you heard the guy! This is the Dynamo Dino!" Goomblaine shouted as he held up his phone. "Yeah, yeah, I know it's really that Dulia chick, but that's not gonna stop it from attacking us! It can either ram into us or stomp on us with those giant feet, so watch it!"

Mario shook his head as he backed away from their attacker. "This isn't right… we can't fight her. She's innocent…"

Goomblaine swiveled his head around to glare at the plumber. "Yeah, well I got news for ya! Beating her is the only way she's gonna snap outta that mind control trick! So deal with it!"

Before Mario could respond, the Dynamo Dino let out another deafening roar and charged at the group. All of them scrambled out of the way just in time to avoid being impaled by its horns.

"All right… we don't have a choice," Mario agreed reluctantly. As the Dino backed up and slowly turned to face them again, Mario ran directly at it and leapt into the air, throwing himself into a Power Bounce on its head. Goomblaine followed up with a Multibonk, not seeming the least bit guilty about having to attack their friend.

"Guys, watch out!" Hanner shouted as the Dino let out a furious snort, shaking its head violently and throwing Mario and Goomblaine off. They landed on the ground in a sprawled heap, and the Dino took the opportunity to stomp down on Mario with all its might.

Thanks to Mario's new Zap Tap badge, the Dino suddenly yelped in pain, jerking its foot back as it was blasted with a jolt of electricity. It didn't make Mario hurt any less, though.

"Oh no! Mario!" cried Stubba. The Dino backed away to leave Mario curled up on the floor, gasping in agony. The Clubba immediately ran up to him and dutifully shoved a Super Shroom into the plumber's hands.

"Thanks, Stubba," Mario groaned as he quickly chomped it down. The Dynamo Dino was clearly not amused at this, as it trumpeted out another bellow before charging right at Stubba.

The little Clubba frowned fearlessly at it. "You'd better not hurt Mario anymore!" he shouted as he ran up to it, causing it to stop in surprise, and unleashed his Club attack on its foot. But much to his dismay, his attack had no effect at all; the Dino's defense was too high.

"Oh no – get out of there, Stubba!" Mario shouted, but he was too late, as the Dino growled furiously at Stubba and brought its foot down on him, intending to crush him. Stubba thought quickly and used Spike Guard, hoisting his club up above his head and causing the Dino to stomp directly onto the spikes. It howled in pain as it staggered backwards, limping on its uninjured foot.

"Can I get a word in edgewise?" Hanner jeered before using her Hammer Throw, hitting the Dynamo Dino right between the eyes. Mario decided to whip out his new hammer as well, and wound up as tightly as he could before swinging and striking it in the leg.

But for all its injuries, the Dynamo Dino didn't appear to be slowing down at all. In fact, it was just getting annoyed. It growled dangerously at them, not ready to give up the fight.

Mario felt his spirits drop. "This doesn't look good," he muttered. "I think we might be outmatched…"

It snorted again, blowing hot air from its nostrils, and came charging at them once again. It was frighteningly fast for something its size, but everyone managed to evade it. Then Snatchel came running up and tried to tackle it, but it just smacked him with its massive head and sent him tumbling across the floor.

"Oh no!" Mario gasped, running up to his injured partner. "You all right, Snatchel?"

The sheriff grimaced as he sat up. "Sorry I ain't bein' much help, Mario," he sighed. "But I don't reckon there's a cowboy on earth could rope a critter like that. It's just too big."

"You got that right…" Mario agreed hopelessly… and then his eyes widened. He looked thrilled.

"Snatchel, that's it! You're a genius!"

"Huh? Since when?"

Not even stopping to explain, Mario grabbed him by the hand and shouted "Miracle Grow!"

The instant he did, the entire space inside the circus tent seemed to warp and twist. Mario gasped, quickly growing dizzy and trying to steady himself – and then he realized he was very quickly increasing in size, along with all four of his partners.

When everything went back to normal, the entire party was now the same size as the Dynamo Dino. Mario's head nearly brushed the ceiling of the tent, and the rows of seats around them now looked doll-sized. Their opponent gawked in terror as it stared at them.

"What the heck is this?" Goomblaine demanded, looking down at his giant self.

"WOAH! THIS IS SO COOL!" Stubba cheered ecstatically, completely forgetting he was in the middle of a fight.

"You got that right! Now let's take this fight to that freakazoid!" Hanner said with a grin. "Oh, I mean – sorry, Dulia!"

Quickly shaking off its initial shock, the Dynamo Dino growled angrily before rushing them again. But Mario was more than prepared this time. Before it could reach them, he smashed down on its head with his hammer of justice and sent it sprawling to the floor.

"Oops… guess I don't know my own strength," he said guiltily.

Momentarily Stubba stopped running around in circles and remembered what he was here for. He turned to glare at the Dino and bashed its head repeatedly with his club before it could advance on Mario. This time, the attack did plenty of damage, but he wasn't prepared for the Dino to headbutt him in retaliation. He flew back several feet and collapsed to the ground, gasping as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Okay, that's enough! We're ending this!" Hanner snapped, throwing out her hammer and striking the Dino to much greater effect than before. The Dino bellowed in pain, which Goomblaine ignored as he threw in a devastating Multibonk, and then Snatchel rammed into it with such force that he actually flipped it over onto its stomach.

"Careful, you guys!" Mario warned his partners, feeling more and more guilty the more they attacked their opponent.

Now the Dino had righted itself again, but it was panting in exhaustion. It swayed uneasily on its feet as it struggled to stay in the fight, but it had no strength left. Yet still its eyes glowed madly, burning with the mindless determination to take Mario and the others down.

Mario's stomach twisted up in a horrible knot as he saw it. He had a series of painful flashbacks as he remembered his last battle against a Duplighost, and how he'd had to take his friends down in the process. It was happening all over again – except that this Duplighost was his friend.

"We have to finish it, Mario," Hanner reminded him when he didn't make a move. "She won't go back to normal if we don't."

"I know," Mario almost whispered. Any sick pleasure he might have gotten out of the fight quickly vanished as he gazed at the helpless Dino. It growled at him with pure blind fury in its eyes, desperate to defeat him. Even now it had no memory of the kind and peaceful girl it really was.

Why had he been afraid of her before?

"I'm sorry," he said quietly as he slowly stepped up… and brought his hammer down on its skull.

It gasped as the red lights left its eyes, and it fell over on its side with an earth-shaking crash.

It was that very moment that the Miracle Grow decided to wear off. Mario yelped in surprise as he felt himself shrinking back down to his real size, the circus tent growing larger and larger around him. Finally the shrinking stopped, and he looked around and saw that he and his partners were back to normal.

"Urgh… what a wacky trip that was," Snatchel groaned, looking like he was still reeling from vertigo.

"Uh oh… we really trashed the place, didn't we?" Mario said in embarrassment, looking around the arena and realizing how much their colossal battle had torn up the floor. "Diavelli's not gonna be happy about this."

He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed the unconscious Dynamo Dino suddenly vanish in a puff of purple smoke, to be replaced by Dulia lying on the ground.

"Oh no – " Hanner gasped. "Is she all right?"

She quickly got her answer as Dulia let out a low groan and sat up, looking weakened and dizzy. Mario exhaled in relief as he saw her eyes weren't glowing anymore.

"Ohh… what happened?" she asked weakly, holding her head. "Mario? Where are we? What did – "

And then she seemed to remember. "Oh no…" she whispered. "I… I attacked you, didn't I?" She looked horrified. "Oh no! Mario, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it, I swear! Oh, please don't be mad at me! Mr. Diavelli, he did something – I would never – "

"Oh, just shut up, would you?" Goomblaine spat at her, causing her to jump. "Geez! Anybody can see it wasn't your fault!"

Mario glared at him, but Dulia looked surprised.

"R-really? You mean it?"

"Of course we mean it, Dulia," Mario assured her. "We could never blame you for all that. We're just so glad you're okay."

"Yeah! Don't worry, Dulia!" said Stubba, walking over and patting her on the back. "We're not angry."

Dulia managed a weak smile. "Oh… thank you guys…" she said. "But… where's Mr. Diavelli? Did he get away?"

"Oh, he skedaddled outta here like the dang coward he is," Snatchel growled at the memory of the corrupt ringmaster. "Oh, and… that's kinda the bad news. We kinda think he's been mind-controllin' your friends too."

"What? He's got Benny and Gen?" Dulia cried, jumping to her feet. "And everybody else too? I gotta go save them! I won't let them get hurt because of me!"

"Woah. Calm down, Dulia," said Mario, surprised by her sudden burst of energy. "Don't worry, we're going to go save them right now. And then we're bringing that Diavelli creep down once and for all."

Dulia stared at him in gratitude. "Really? You're going to save them? You'll help me?"

"Well, of course we are! What are friends for?" Hanner laughed. "Besides, I've been wanting to beat up that jerk practically since I first met him!"

The little Duplighost looked back and forth between them, almost overcome with incredulous joy. Hardly anyone had ever been this nice to her, besides her two best friends. Even after all the troubled she'd caused, they weren't angry – and they seemed to think they could finally defeat Diavelli for good. Somehow, she had no doubt that they were right.

"Oh… thank you, everyone!" she burst out, scampering dutifully over to Mario's side. "I'll make it up to all of you, I promise! I'll be a good friend."

"I know you will," Mario said with a wink. "Now let's go!"

Dulia Joined Mario's Party!

Dulia is a shy but talented Duplighost whose powers of imitation are unmatched. She can turn Mario into an exact copy of anyone standing nearby. While Mario's in disguise, enemies won't attack him, and some may even talk to him. Mario can use his disguises to gain access to places he wouldn't normally be allowed. In battle, Dulia can dive-bomb an enemy with her Head Missile, or use Transform to turn into a copy of the enemy and use all its attacks as her own.

––

As soon as Mario's party left the tent, they were disappointed to find that Diavelli was nowhere to be seen – and neither, for that matter, were any of the performers. The circus grounds were deserted and eerily quiet.

"Great… where'd everybody go?" Mario wondered.

"He kidnapped everybody…" Hanner realized with a shudder. "He got away while we were distracted with that big fight."

Mario sighed. "Well, he can't have gone too far. He's probably still in the city." He snapped his fingers. "He must be hiding out in the warehouse! That's where all his stuff is!"

"Well, what're we waitin' for? I've got a right mind to stick that feller in the stocks!" Snatchel said eagerly.

And so the group set off across the city once again, this time preparing themselves for a final confrontation.

Nova City

1:34 am

Unlike Soluna Town, Nova City was much louder and more colorful at night. Neon lights were flashing everywhere, music was drifting out of several buildings, and the streets were bustling with people.

Mario shook his head sadly. These people had no idea of the evil that was lurking in their city right now.

"Oh no – " Dulia gasped. "Look!"

Mario looked up the street where she was staring, and he noticed a group of very familiar Shy Guys marching back and forth. In the darkness, it was clear to see their eyes were all glowing.

"It's Scamp!" Dulia cried. "Diavelli did something to him too!"

"Great… they're on patrol for us," Goomblaine said impatiently. "How are supposed to get past all those guys?"

Mario smirked. "Guys, are you forgetting we have a Duplighost?" he reminded them. "Dulia, do you think maybe you can disguise all of us so we can sneak past them?"

"Oh… well… I can sure try," she agreed. "I don't usually transform other people, though."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you can do it."

"Yeah, either that or we all get caught," Goomblaine sniffed. "And if that happens, we know who to blame."

Dulia glanced around for a brief moment and then seemed to find what she was looking for: a very nondescript Goomba dozing on the sidewalk with a newspaper over his face.

"Okay, guys, here goes nothing," she said, walking up to him. After getting a good look at him, she took a deep breath. "You ready, Mario?"

"Sure thing."

Dulia frowned in deep concentration and put her hand on Mario's shoulder. All of a sudden, Mario felt a horrible chill run over his body. He seized up, going completely numb as he was enveloped in a cloud of smoke.

His heart was hammering like crazy. Something was happening to his body, and he couldn't even feel it…

Then the smoke went away, and Mario slowly and timidly looked down at himself… and was shocked to find he had turned into a Goomba.

"So? Did I do good?" Dulia asked nervously.

After staring at himself in shock for a moment (very aware of his other partners gaping at him as well), Mario looked up at her and grinned.

"You did perfect! This is a terrific disguise!"

Dulia sighed in relief. "I'm glad you like it. Now I have to disguise everybody else too."

"Is it gonna hurt?" Stubba asked timidly.

"Of course not. Well, I don't think so anyway, but I do it all the time."

Within moments, Dulia had transformed the entire party into generic Goombas – even Goomblaine, whose appearance they figured was bound to be recognizable. Hoping and praying for the best, the six of them slowly walked up the street, approaching the area where the Trapeze Guys were on patrol. They were hoping to go by unseen, but it was no use.

"Hey! Who are you?" Scamp demanded the instant they walked by.

Mario skidded to a stop, nearly toppling over in the process. It was incredibly awkward to not have any arms to steady himself with; he wondered how the Goombas all did it.

"Uh… we're… just some regular old Goombas," Mario assured him, trying to disguise his voice. "Nothing suspicious about us, that's for sure. What's the matter?"

Scamp just glared at him for a moment, and Mario began to fear he would see straight through the disguise. Thankfully, being mind controlled seemed to make him pretty single-minded and unsuspicious about things.

"We're on the lookout for some fat plumber in overalls, and his group a' friends," the Trapeze Guy finally spoke in a largely toneless voice. "We got orders to stop them if they come over here. You see anybody like that, you tell us."

"Oh… sure thing. Will do."

Scamp turned around without another word of acknowledgement and continued to pace back and forth. Mario released the breath he'd been holding and waddled off as fast as he could, with the others following after him. Once they were a safe distance away, Dulia dispelled the disguises and turned everyone back to normal.

"Phew… I missed you, arms!" Hanner exulted, hugging herself.

Dulia, on the other hand, was looking very somber. "I don't get it," she lamented. "How could Mr. Diavelli do all this? I didn't even know he could hypnotize people…"

"I don't think he did either," Mario sighed, walking up to her. "But I think I know how. Dulia… you know how we were talking about the Guardians before?"

Dulia looked at him and nodded.

"Well, here's the thing… the Guardians won't have any power unless we find these things called Sun Souls. We found out that one of them was somewhere in the circus… in fact, that's the only reason we came here in the first place." He swallowed. "And now I think Diavelli has it."

Dulia stared at him. "You think that Sun Soul thing is letting him do all this?"

"I'd bet my life on it. I've practically made a career out of hunting down ancient mysterious relics like this… they can give people some pretty crazy powers."

The young Duplighost let out a shudder. "That's awful," she said. "We have to get it back from him before he hurts everybody even worse!"

"Yeah, that's the game plan."

Suddenly, Dulia started blinking as she seemed to realize something else. "Mario… do think that when we beat Mr. Diavelli… everyone will be able to go free?"

"Well, of course," Mario said with a smile. "The only reason he has any power is because of that Sun Soul. Without it, he's just a jerk with a mustache."

Dulia looked thrilled. "Oh, really?" she cried. "So we never have to be in that horrible show again? And Benny and Gen and I… we can all go live somewhere together, just like normal people? That's always been my dream!"

The smile immediately fell from Mario's face. "Oh, well… I…"

Dulia was looking expectantly at him, but he couldn't reply. Was she going to be heartbroken when she found out she couldn't stay here? What if she never got to see Benny and Imogen again – the only ones who had made her tortuous life worthwhile?

"Hey, if you guys are done yappin' yet, can we get going?" came Goomblaine's voice. Mario turned and saw that the other partners were taking off ahead of them.

"Come on, we'd better go," he said softly, taking Dulia by the hand and pulling her along.

––

Nova City

1:59 am

After traipsing through the rest of the city, getting more and more nervous the closer they got, Mario's team finally arrived at the old warehouse. Hiding in the shadows a safe distance away, they could see Ninjinsky standing guard in front of the door, making sure no one got past.

"He's definitely in there," Hanner said quietly. "I'm getting a wicked vibe from that place."

"I know what you mean," Mario agreed. From inside the warehouse he could feel some incredible power emanating, and it made his hair stand on end. It was the Sun Soul, but the feeling of it was warped and tainted. Diavelli was using that thing for his own devices, and if they didn't stop him soon…

Dulia was obviously feeling it as well, and she was suffering the most of all. She trembled and stepped back, feeling some inexplicable sorrow and dread that was almost physical.

"Mario… I…"

"Dulia?" Mario asked in concern, then felt a chill as he remembered that was her Sun Soul that Diavelli was abusing.

"I don't know if I can do this," she whimpered. "I can't fight Diavelli. I'm not strong enough."

"Dulia, don't say that. Of course you are." Mario put an arm on her shoulder to try and calm her down. "Diavelli's nothing, remember?"

"But he's still my boss. Our boss. He rules all of us." She shivered. "He made all of you guys sign life contracts, didn't he?"

"Yeah…"

"He did something to them," she said bluntly. "That must've been the Sun Soul too, but… those contracts have got some kind of power. He owns us. He can do whatever he wants with us… there's no way we can fight him."

From the terrified look on her face, Mario could tell Dulia was probably right. His heart sank. What if Diavelli really did own them? What if it was literally impossible to attack him? Should they even go inside that warehouse, or were they just walking right to their doom?

"Wait a minute," Hanner suddenly spoke up. She had a very thoughtful look on her face. "I think I might have an idea. I just hope Diavelli hasn't thought of this."

Mario looked at her. "What idea?"

"He made us all sign life contracts, right? Those exact words?"

"Yeah…"

Hanner explained her plan with an excited smile on her face. When she was done, Dulia looked absolutely astonished while Mario had on an enormous grin.

"Hanner, you really are a bit of a mad genius," he said.

"But, Mario, how are we gonna get past that guy?" asked Stubba, pointing over at Ninjinsky. "We can't sneak past him."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I think I have a plan for that too. But we're going to have to do something awful and unforgivable. Something I never hoped this adventure would come to."

"What?" Dulia asked in concern.

"Backtracking."

––

Several minutes later, the team returned to the warehouse, this time wearing the disguises of the Trapeze Guys. They'd had to walk all the way back to find them on patrol, and luckily Scamp hadn't noticed a thing.

"Halt! Who goes there!" Ninjinsky bellowed as they walked up to the door.

"Who's it look like, numbskull? It's us!" said Mario, doing the best Scamp voice he could manage. "Mr. Diavelli wants us in there."

Ninjinsky looked at them suspiciously for a moment, then finally shrugged and stood off to the side. Mario quickly opened the door and led his team inside.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Snatchel muttered.

"Ninjinsky was never the brightest guy," Dulia admitted. "But now what, Mario?"

"Now we just find Diavelli," Mario replied. "But don't change us back yet, Dulia. We can't have anyone catching us in here."

Dulia nodded, and they slowly set off through the warehouse. All the other performers were in there too, seemingly standing on guard or patrolling back and forth, but none of them payed the supposed Trapeze Guys any mind.

Stubba was starting to get scared, and he crowded very close to Mario as they walked. "What if they catch us?" he whimpered.

"They're not going to catch us, Stubba. Just so long as we don't give ourselves away, they won't – "

"HEY! What do you think you're doing?"

All six of them spun around in shock and balked at what they saw. They were staring at a very familiar friend… at least he would have been familiar, were it not for his glowing red eyes and the way he glared unforgivingly at them…

"Benny!" Dulia cried in a voice that most definitely belonged to Dulia.

Mario winced as Benny's eyes narrowed. She'd just given them away.

"YOU!" the blue Boo snarled, slamming into her and knocking her to the floor. Screaming in shock, Dulia's concentration was shattered, and all at once Mario's party was engulfed in purple smoke as they transformed back into their real selves.

"Benny, please!" Dulia begged as he glared into her eyes. "It's me, Dulia… I'm your friend! Why are you doing this?"

"You aren't allowed in here," Benny said coldly, without a trace of feeling or compassion. "Diavelli will deal with you for coming here."

"Benny, stop it…" Dulia sobbed. She could have easily fought him back if she wanted, Mario knew, but she seemed helpless. She couldn't possibly bring herself to hurt him. She could only look brokenheartedly at him and beg for him to come to his senses…

Mario remembered how Benny had felt about Dulia. Now it was painfully obvious that she felt the same way.

"BENNY!" she screamed again, but her plea fell upon deaf ears as Benny dragged her away.

"HEY! Let her go!" Mario shouted as he and the others immediately gave chase.

"Where are you taking her?" Hanner shouted, but he didn't bother to answer. She quickly found out anyway, though, as they were brought to a wide open space in the very center of the warehouse. There was an enormous stack of crates piled up, and a very familiar figure was standing on top, facing away from them.

Mario's team immediately pulled up next to Dulia. Benny had let her go and wasn't even bothering to look at her anymore. As Dulia saw Mario she instantly ran to his side, and Mario immediately grabbed her by the hand.

"So you didn't die," said the dark figure. "And now you have the gall to come here trying to stop me. It's no use. I'm far too powerful for you to contend with. The Starshine Circus will become the greatest show on earth, and I will be the supreme ringmaster of it all."

Diavelli turned around with a broad sweeping motion. He pulled his top hat off of his head and reached into it, pulling out a beautiful, light green colored Sun Soul and holding it up for all to see.

"The famous Juggling Mario Brothers… and Dulia, you spineless little traitor," he sneered. "Welcome to your painful and well-deserved demise. And I am your ringmaster, your humble guide throughout this experience. I promise you are in for a show you will never forget."

––––

A/N: Man, seems like it's been forever since Mario got a new party member doesn't it? :P Well, next time we'll finally wrap up Chapter 4… and I don't know when that will be, 'cause school's started again. Sorry.