Time: 8:34am, Tuesday, October 16, 2001 - Klown Khopper

Lemmy, Iggy, Luigi and Daisy are in the Klown Khopper, with Iggy driving the others towards Jasper.

"Hey Luigi," Daisy spoke softly to the green-clad plumber, "Sorry for disturbing you last night."

"Disturbing? Last night?" Lemmy questioned in curiosity as he stares at the couple, "Umm... Do I wanna know?"

"It's nothing bad," Daisy reassured, "I just couldn't sleep so I went to his room."

"I couldn't sleep either," Luigi agreed, "So we just talked. That's all!"

Lemmy starts nodding in understanding, "Okay! That's better! How much time left Iggy?"

"About an hour or so," Iggy replied as he still continues to stare into the distance.

"Still Luigi... What will happen if my dream came true?"

"Daisy... I been telling you all last night: It won't happen!" Luigi raised his voice.

"What dream? What won't happen?" Lemmy questioned with a look of confusion implanted onto his face, "I'm lost."

"Just a dream Daisy has about some shadow realm. She dreamt that we got sucked into that shadow realm. But I'm sure the other groups are safe... So there's shouldn't be anything to worry about... I hope."

Lemmy nods without expressing visible fears, unlike Daisy and Luigi. All he does is gaze at the horizon; the Sun has barely risen all the way, greeting the region with its life-giving rays. What he and the others need to remember is what Peach said just a few days ago: that the beauty of nature can erase even the unquenchable level of stress, doubt and fear...

~7~7~7~7~7

"Zis sucks... I vould never zink zat in my nearly eighteen years of existence, I vould be stuck in zis creepy dark place..." Ludwig muttered.

"Well I'm part owl so... I like the dark. But I'm trapped," Violent added.

"I hate the dark!" Larry muttered in despair, "No plants can grow in the dark!"

After Larry's outburst, the group remains silent. A rattling of shackles and handcuffs are heard every now and then as the heroes move around their cramped-up limbs. Besides that, nothing is heard, and obviously not seen, in this dark, shadow realm. It's as if their senses are being shut off, one by one.

In the midst of the dark, blackened world, the seven heroes sat there, wallowing in their misery. Besides moving their limbs a bit, they can do nothing more than think: why me? Why us?

~7~7~7~7~7

"I can't believe we got trapped by CRUMP!" Toad shouted in anger as he sits alone in an individual jail cell in the rotting east prison. The four others are sitting in their own individual jail cells, all four of them expressing different levels of anger. There's Peach, who looks more flustered and tired than angry, but then there's Mario, who looks as if he's about to destroy the world in a fiery rage.

"Once we get out of this cage, we'll get Grodus to get rid of him! That TRAITOR!" Mario shouted, but even his shout couldn't get rid of his pent-up anger.

"Well... About da plan? I'm not really dat observant," Roy started, "But it looks like it failed. What now boss?"

"Shut up Roy. I'm still trying to process all this," Peach commanded, "So first... Grodus wanted us to be free, and for you guys to be in a nicer prison," she continued as she looks at Roy and Bowser.

"... Annnnnnnnd?" Bowser questioned.

"Grodus actually wanted us to be free, despite knowing about the shadow take over. However, Crump is against the ideas of Grodus."

"So what does dat mean?" Roy inquired.

"That's what I don't know. This whole thing isn't adding up. Why did Grodus let us free, while Crump captured us and threw us all into this dingy dungeon?"

"Maybe Crump wanted to slow down our progress? He knew who we were, so maybe he knows why we're here!" Toad exclaimed. The four other characters nodded in agreement.

"That must be it! But somehow that doesn't add up. He seems to be against Grodus... And Grodus is the leader of the X-Nauts," Peach pointed out.

"Crump is a pretty high-ranking X-Naut also," Mario added, "So either Grodus is on our side, Crump is on our side, which is very unlikely, or neither of them are. But there's no way both of them are."

"What do we do now?" Roy questioned, "Y'all ain't goin' with da plan cuz we're all trapped."

"Unless we find a way out then there's nothing we can do," Bowser murmured as he plops down on the floor.

Repeating Bowser, the four other characters also find themselves lying on the floor. As they begin to doze off a bit, the prison door bursts open. The five prisoners gaze on the figure standing in the doorway. There, in front of the fallen heroes, stands Crump!

"Hey guys..."

"CRUMP! How dare you betray us!" Mario seethed.

"Mario. Calm down! I'll tell you why," Crump reassured as he unlocks Toad's cage, "Just... Don't hurt me please..."

"Give me one great reason why I shouldn't. ONE," Mario threatened with his teeth clenched and his hands curling into a fist.

"I have a lot of reasons. Good ones, actually. I locked you up for a reason. However, I cannot tell you the specifics just yet. But, one thing I CAN tell you is that I have the key to your little cage here!" Crump implied as he wiggles a brass key around. Mario calms down a bit, feeling more agony than anger.

"Okay but can we eat? I'm starved," the red-clad plumber requested as Crump unlocks his cage next.

"Whatever. And don't think you're on vacation. You're going back to the west prison after you eat. Well the two Koopas anyway; if they're not in there then we're all in trouble," Crump warned, "And don't think you can run away. The coastlines are heavily armed, we have land troops and we have air troops. Plus, the warp pipe system is disabled by the Warp Pipe Disappearer in the basement! So you can't go anywhere!"

"Whatever," Toad replied as Crump unlocks Peach's cage, then Roy's and Bowser's.

"Anyway. Grodus is in a meeting with three other people. Go NEAR that conference room and he'll most likely KILL you guys!" Crump added another warning, "And put on your X-Naut suits! They're in the locker room on the way to the kitchen."

"Okay!" Toad stated his trademark word. The five characters leave the jail, leaving just Crump in the room.

"Man," Crump cackled to himself, "My plan is going great! My pawns are in play just the way I want them! Buh huh huh huh!"