And now were back again! This is the last chapter of Lemmy's section for this act, so let's get the show on the road!

Siph: Wait, there's more for him to do? We already got him to stop being all mopey. What else can we do here?

I just said. We're getting the show on the road.

Siph: That doesn't answer my question!

Disclaimer: If I owned Mario, there would have been something special done for Daisy's 30th Anniversary back in April.

Chapter 43: Mail and a Plan

The peaceful moment was broken by a loud vibrating sound accompanied by a short tune, coming from within Koops' shell.

The Koopa blushed at being the source of the disruption. "Sorry!" He reached in and pulled out his Mailbox SP. He gasped, "It's from Mario!"

Koopie Koo looked over his shoulder. "Finally!"

The Koopalings looked at the couple curiously. "Is there something we should know?" Iggy asked.

Koopley answered. "My boy Koops emailed Mario about finding you three while you were still in the hospital. We figured he ought to know, since your family is so relevant in his routine."

Lemmy actually laughed, "That's one way to say it." The other Koopalings beamed at their older brother's rediscovered joy in everything. "So what did Mario say?"

Koops cocked his head slightly. "It's actually from Luigi, using Mario's Mailbox SP." He read aloud:

Luigi here. Mario gave me his Mailbox SP this morning, so that's why I have it.

To answer your question, yes, Bullet Bills attacked here, too. The news says they went to a lot of regions. One of those regions was my face. Peach told me one Bill's eyes turned all black and targeted me. Knocked me out cold! The doctors said it also broke my nose, but Mario used that Crystal Star map to heal me while I was out. I just woke up a few minutes ago in a hospital bed (this is why my response took so long – sorry!) and I feel good as new!

I'm in the waiting room now with Toad and Toadette. We were actually already in Toad Town Clinic before those weird Bullet Bills came in. You know why? You're gonna love this! Three Koopalings are here. Bowser Jr., Larry, and Roy. Roy is awake, too! Mario is with them right now, and the princess is busy making calls to the castle, letting them know what to do about all the chaos.

Which Koopalings are where you are? Are any of them awake?

-Luigi

Koops looked up from his screen to see three princes standing right in front of him, looking relieved and gleeful.

"This is great!" Morton cheered. "Quick, write him back! Tell him that we're here and awake. Morton — that's me — Iggy, and Lemmy. Tell him to go get Princess Peach and have the two of them go to Mario and Roy, too, so that he can tell them the good news that we're alive! And also maybe —"

"And also maybe you should breathe!" Goombella interrupted him again before asking Iggy and Lemmy, "Omigosh, how do you live with this?"

Koops was already typing a response email while they were talking. He did take a few of the tips Morton had babbled.

Hey, Luigi, thanks for getting back to me. It sounds like you're dealing with a lot over there, too! It's a good thing, though, because we were able to learn a lot of really important stuff before I got your reply.

Over here we have Lemmy, Iggy, and Morton. They're all awake, and they have a lot of… family issues to work out. All the Koopalings do. Lemmy especially. We saw a little healing happen, but can one conversation really change years of brokenness?

If you can walk, I think you should go get Princess Peach, and bring her to where Mario and Roy are to bring everyone up to speed with our situation. I'm not sure what we're going to do after that, but maybe —

"Meet us," Iggy interrupted. There he was, reading over Koops' shoulder.

Koops started. "Huh?"

"Have them all meet us. Both sets of brothers and the princess," the lime green Koopaling clarified. "Maybe not here, maybe not at our castle — or whatever's left of it — but we need to regroup and reconcile and come up with a plan face-to-face. Roy needs to know how Lemmy is doing especially."

Koops nodded. "Okay." He resumed typing. "Where should we meet with each other?"

Iggy rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure. We could —"

"I know!" Morton interrupted their conversation and his own monologue. "I take Bowser to Mom's old hangout spot with me every year on his birthday. It's in the mountains west of the Darklands. Once Bowser wakes up, he'll know exactly where to go!"

Koops continued typing while Iggy responded. "But don't you always go there through that tunnel we were in? I'm not sure he'll know how to get there from Toad Town. Not unless he had a map."

"A map?" Koops repeated, gasping. "I don't think that's a problem. Mario has a map, and I think he can use it to find us."

"Hey, that's right," Goombella noted, "Luigi said Mario used the map to heal him."

Lemmy approached. "Luigi called it a Crystal Star map. It sounds like it's to find Crystal Stars, but what are Crystal Stars? And how will they help Mario find us?"

Morton jumped at the chance to explain the mythology. "They're these magical treasures that unlock the Thousand-Year Door below Rogueport. Supposedly they and the Magical Map that can find them only exist in legend, but if Mario has the map then they must be real too! Where do you think they are?"

The party all exchanged looks and smiled. They each extended a hand, sans Goombella and Bobbery for obvious reasons, and their respective Crystal Star appeared above them. Goombella held up the Crystal Star they got from the X-Naut base, which the X-Nauts had gotten from Rogueport. Koops held up the Diamond Star from Hooktail's Castle. Flurrie held the Emerald Star from the Great Boggly Tree. The Great Gonzales Jr. held the Gold Star from the Glitz Pit. Vivian held the Ruby Star from Creepy Steeple. Bobbery held the Sapphire Star from the Pirate King Cortez. And Ms. Mowz held the Garnet Star from Poshley Sanctum. Being all gathered and summoned in one place, the legendary treasures shimmered brightly. The Koopalings got goosebumps from the intense power that emanated from them.

"We got the Crystal Stars with Mario," Goombella began.

"We each kept one when he went back home with the Magical Map," Gonzales Jr. continued.

"So if we all go to your secret mountain haven," Flurrie added.

"And Mario has the map," Vivian said.

Lemmy's eyes shimmered as he grinned. "Then Mario can use the map to find you! And find us!"

Koops was rapidly typing as the conversation went on. He showed the email to Lemmy to review before sending. Lemmy whispered something in his ear, which Koops added to the end.

With a final approval, Koops sent the email. It entailed who was in their large group, where they were going, and a bid to follow them using the Magical Map. After the signoff of "Koops and party," was a postscript that read:

P.S. Lemmy wanted me to add that he finally realized and accepted that it wasn't his fault. Roy will know what it means, so tell him.

As Koops put his Mailbox SP back in his shell, Iggy took the lead and the large party headed upriver. "Let's go," he said. The other two Koopalings joined him in the front.

Koopley stayed behind at the bridge. "I'll take care of the house, you two!" he called after Koops and Koopie Koo. "Take care of yourselves out there!" The two Koopas in question waved back.

Ms. Mowz cut in front of the Dragon-Koopas. "I think I should lead. I did find you by tracking the scent of royalty." Her eye gleamed. "I can probably track the pipe that brought you out here to Petal Meadows."

Lemmy pointed at the Little Mouser as the group followed her. "She's a thief!" he chirped his explanation to Iggy and Morton. It wasn't the kind of sentence one would normally say so cheerfully, but it was appropriate for the true Lemmy.

Siph: Ohhhhh you're getting the show on the road.

Now you get it!

Siph: I don't think there's a road along the river, though.

There's not, but it's not supposed to be literal.

Let me know what you all think!

Also, before starting the next chapter, I went back and rewrote some of the old ones. I'd been cringing at my old writing style. It hadn't aged well, let me tell ya.

Siph: That was before the era of the Siph.

Don't worry — I didn't change anything that happened; I just changed how it was worded. And added some more context clues to better point to the Umbra so it's not so Giant Space Flea From Nowhere.