Prologue: The reborn of a star.


When stars die, they return to stardust and scatter across the cosmos.

Eventually, that stardust reforms to create a new star… And so the cycle of life continues.

But the cycle never repeats itself in quite the same way…

So… you'll see.

- Rosalina. Guardian of the baby stars.


- That fateful day -

On the highest point at the top of a broken and tatter rubberish, a mix-breed entity of structures resembling that of a traditional fairytale castle and an enormous machine, painted in sickening pink-purple and joyless pale gray, the tiles and bricks of the fortress were chirped off and dents in across the whole body, revealing the underneath of the castle walls, insides were off-putting dark-blue mechanical structures, bent off metal joints and torn off wires exposed bare. It was hard to imagine that this ginormous ruin was previously known as Super Princess Peach's Castle of Fury. A twisting monstrosity of machine terror that was built for world domination by a mad scientist. But what's even more difficult to imagine is the mighty force that one requires to succeed in the quest to tear down this monstrosity and render it useless for kingdom come. Just what kind of power was used to obliterate such a dangerous thing?

At the center of this unorderly chaos, shrouding the giant pile of the ruined castle, dark and ominous hurricanes blow fiercely in the background, drowning out and silencing any noise in the world as if the murky wind itself is akin to a sentient blackhole that tries to consume the universe, it is as if the end is nigh, that the end of the very world upon us. For anyone, the situation may seem grim and hopeless, however, for one particular individual with a unique brand of tastes of positive attitude, it means a perfect stage for a final showdown.

It was a long, strained, brutal, and hard battle of a power struggle between two fictions, light and darkness, a battle of trading blows, dishing out pure raw forces of destruction to snuff out one another. It was intense, it was vicious, and downright fatal. The fate of the world was at stake, should the light lose, the darkness will swallow everything; should the dark lose, the light will return everything to order.

And the fate of the world was decided.

"GAAAAAAHHH HA HA HA!" Cutting through the defining chaos, a loud, gruff, but booming voice triumphantly laughed.

Standing tall and proud in its 8'7ft glory. It was a creature like no other, giant body frame, a huge, burly, green turtle-like shell with many white spikes on the back; with a fantasy-dragon-like head holding up; green scaly face, with a pink muzzle of a beast containing shark-like teeth; bushy eyebrows and lone lion-like mane fittingly bright with fiery red-orange that of a burning flame; fierce bright red eyes of a tiger; two ox-like curvy horns spouted both sides of the head; with an alligator-like body covered with yellow thick scales, strong muscular arms, hands, and feet with sharp white claws, a turtle-like plastron plate belly, and a short tail with two spikes sprouted at the end; it wears several black bands spiked collars on both wrists, arms, and neck.

Radiant with an aura of powerful, menacingly, and intimidating attitude, this creature was none other than Bowser Koopa, the "Great Demon King Koopa" or "Great Sorcerer King Koopa" whichever you prefer.

And right now he is facing perhaps one of his second greatest adversaries, a dark doppelganger counterpart that stole his look, his power, as well as his title as the evilest being in the world.

Correct, the enemy we are referring to is none other than Dark Bowser, a Bowser doppelganger but with the color swapping to an ominous deep blue and black scheme, blood-red evil glowing gazes with no pupil nor brows that lacks compassion nor kindness, upward edgy spike mohawk instead of a smooth fire-like mane. This was a being that was once known as Dark Star, a dark entity with an unknown origin, a being that sought on the path of swallowing the entire world into darkness.

It is a powerful being, so powerful that even the old god-like entities known as Star Spirits couldn't put an end to its vile atrocity. In ancient times, the Star Spirits could only put the Dark Star into a long deep slumber, hoping that its sleep stays forever undisturbed, so no soul will have to ever deal with this terrifying evil as it stays sealed, forgotten, forever lost and buried under from the world and history, hopefully stopping the clashes and vicious cycle of destruction from continuing.

But alas, fate has a different idea...


playing music: Shroobs! (Shroob Mother Ship) - Mario & Luigi: Parents in Time [Mashup] -


To understand the origin of the Dark Star, we must understand the story behind its origin.

The world we live in isn't as white or black as most would think, while Power Star and Ztar made a perfect example of light and darkness counterparts, in the end, both are the two sides of the same coin, both are the vessel that contains the wish of the world, both can not exist without others.

Both were stars that contain tremendous power beyond one's wildest imagination, both resonate and respond with the universe itself, that much is undeniable. That was... until the stars gained their very own consciousness.

During the dawn of birth, light and darkness have come to, and the good-will of the universe gave birth to the Seven Star Spirits, while the ill-will gave birth to the likes of the Dark Star. Each side harbors the absolute will of good and bad, and the consciousness that will carry their purpose.

To spread prosperity to the world. / To spread destruction to the world.

As both came to exist, so did their never-ending cycle of clashes that will continuously last till the end of time...


"Uurururu!" "Geageegeegee!"

The dark entity's sleep was rudely disturbed, by a high-pitch laughing and gawking, which awakened it back to the world it once sought to destroy, although sluggish and hazy, the entity quickly regained its composure and sense after what seemed to be a millennium-long slumber, the energy that was placed on it as an eternal bind, has been dispelled, releasing the ancient darkness to the dimensional plain once more.

Despite not going the way it anticipated, the awakening was a welcome development, even though a lowly greenish lifeform thought it could hold on to the power of pure darkness, grasp it in the palm, play with it, and fiddle it like a stick. How utterly foolish and lunatic. The being soon meets its demise by losing itself in the endless void. Forever lost with its madness and unending fury.

With the little hiccup dealt with, and the regain and completion of darkness. And thus, the set goal of spreading death and destruction was continued once the vile being obtained a new powerful form and became whole.

However, the dark being soon finds something... no, rather, someone who's so eager to stand in its way.

An ever-familiar present once again stood in front of it… no, four familiar presents. Their power... something that was familiar...

Then, the answer hits it.

The one behind it, her power drained as the fuel to contribute to its awakening, the power that was inside her, the purest essence of the stars, her power was what broke the slumbering bind that was forcibly placed on it.

It's quite… amusing so to describe, the eternal enemy of it was the reason why its awakened happened. Despite being the polar opposite, both at the core are the power of the stars, only the essence of a star can counter and undo another essence of a star.

The dogs of those self-declared sacred beings, they show up again and again whenever their kin try to consume the world.

Eons ago they battled, eons later they still battled, but in a different body each time. They never remember it, but Dark Star remembers them.

Always, as always, Courage, Bravery, Wisdom, Power, Perseverance, Devotion, and Loyalty. They may not appear together at the same time in each encounter, but every time certain two will always show up. Courage and Power, these two always were there to stop it.

However, they actually take it by surprise in this encounter, after trading blows, Dark Star confirms the beast that dares to stand in front of it is without a doubt, the current host of Power. With hosts of Courage and Bravery inside of its body somehow?

This pointless world is getting weirder and weirder with each resurrection.

Regardless...

No matter when and where, if they encounter, they fight.

So fight they did.


The Seven Star Children.

The Seven Star Spirits, while powerful, aren't as invincible as many would believe, they aren't absolute, there may be an instance where their power may be rendered useless against unknown terror from the beyond, and other than guarding the world, they have duties to keeping to order of the world, their hands full.

In order to counter the ever-threatening danger existence like the Dark Star possessed, and to make sure they are prepared, the Seven Star Spirits construct their final defense, while not perfect, it was the least they could do to make sure the universe would be in balance forever, that no side will topple others and tip the balance.

And thus, the Seven Star Children came to be, each harbors a gift from their respective Seven Star Spirits.

The First Star Spirits, Eldstar, give Courage as a gift, allowing the blessed child to have the will to overcome any challenge, that they'll always stand and arrive whenever someone needs to be defended, they will always choose to do the right thing.

The Second Star Spirits, Mamar, give Perseverance as a gift, allowing the blessed child to have the mind to persevere through any hardship, that they'll always stand against any kind of odds with their determination, no matter what obstacles.

The Third Star Spirits, Skolar, give Devotion as a gift, allowing the blessed child to treat those that he cares about deeply and set their mind firmly on their goal, they'll stand by what they believe and love.

The Fourth Star Spirits, Muskular, give Power as a gift, allowing the blessed child to fight for and protect those whom he cares about. they'll fight for those who couldn't. To be the power for the others.

The Fifth Star Spirits, Misstar, give Bravery as a gift, allowing the blessed child to have the will to face their deepest fear, if not for themselves, then for those they cared about, that their courage will be the guiding hope even in the darkest hour.

The Sixth Star Spirits, Klevar, give Wisdom as a gift, allowing the blessed child to be a great and fair judgment to those around them, that they'll use the wisdom to resolve disputes and be the guiding beacon.

The Seventh Star Spirits, Kalmar, give Loyalty as a gift, allowing the blessed child to stay by the side of those they care for and trust with, that they'll always cover and protect their friends no matter what oddity they may face.

These gifts aren't just a blessing of a simple ability, these blessings come with a tremendous power that could easily rival the Star Spirits themselves, and for every 100 years, these gifts will randomly choose 7 baby candidates best match with their attributes over the world, and they will become the destiny guardian of their generation, their life tied together by this invisible bond, together, each generation's hero will protect the world from all sort of danger, together or individually in their own unique way.

But, to prevent these powers from being used for any ill intention by any ill minds, the power that comes with them will slowly fade away as the chosen babies gown up, and these blessing gifts from the Star Spirits will not be passed down through blood, instead, as their holder passing away, these power will return to the Star Heaven, and descend down to the world like a shooting star over again, once again choosing their candidate randomly, generations through generations, cycles through cycles.


A terrible pain rushes through their form, as if their heart exploded and an infesting void was created, which, is precisely what has transpired in this very moment.

The Dark Star finds itself in agony, its core, the heart of the darkness, the root of its physical presence, the source of its physical manifestation, was destroyed once again. By the two lapdogs of the stars inside Power's body.

With the power source removed, the body known as Dark Bowser can not stay intact anymore, it feels like its body is breaking apart, tearing, melting, and dissolving altogether.

Holding its head in pain, head arching up toward the sky, Dark Bowser's soulless eyes shot wide open, and a horrible sound of screech composed of mixed agony and cry no creature ever heard of left its throat. Energy and strength escaped its body, black orb fragments containing pure raw dark energies with purple mist emitting fastly like a losing dam, the cold brooding deep blue of its body flashing in a static-like manner with faint pink and red light like a warning siren.

Everything was falling apart.

It took every ounce of power Dark Bowser could summon just to keep what was left of the body to stay intact, but even then, it was a futile effort, the result of this battle was by definition... decided. The fate of this moment was sealed.

"What's wrong with you? Your color is... weird!" Across the dark entity, the current Power mocked, as brash as always like their previous incarnations, despite they too had suffered a lot of physical trauma and pain from the trading of blows, their frame was not slugging, their posture was solid and confident, and their determination was not ever wavered once, even though they too had just sustained a long and taxing battle.

Standing with his arms crossed, Bowser smirked at the miserable state of Dark Bowser, completely unaware, absorbing in his own victory, and uncared of the thoughts that lie behind the century-old beings. "Well, whatever, I'll still win this fight, no prob!"

"And for the final, one KO PUNCH!" The king of the Koopa eagerly announced as he released exciting white steam from his nostril.

Walking up right in front of a powerless Dark Bowser, the holder of Power slowly draws his right fist back, the fist's routine set deadly on track. His left foot soon stayed airborne, with a bulky frame as such, the owner of the body displayed a level of perfectly balanced punch stance, an impressive feat that very few could achieve with a frame like this.

"HERE I GO!" Burning red stars-like energy bits gathered around the concentrating fist of the unstoppable beast, slowly making the fist flash with white light. The gathering energy covered the arm with a fiercely red hue.

With a mighty roar, Bowser shot out a fast and powerful punch right on Dark Bowser's face, creating a powerful shockwave, effectively knocking the dark doppelganger several feet back, and breaking the falling apart form further.

Raising up the opposite fist, Bowser repeats the move again, this time aiming at the chest of Dark Bowser. The force behind the punch powerful than the previous one.

Another punch, aiming at the face again. The power volume behind Bowser's punch seems to only increase steadily after another.

And another one, aiming at the lower belly. This causes Dark Bowser to lose more grasp of the power it had left.

Grinning fiercely, Bowser raised his fist once more, but this time he drew his arms as far back as he could, hot steam blew out from his snout, he once again took on the stance of arching his back up, standing on one foot.

Rainbowly stars-like energy gathered to his fist again, this time, each burning brightly like shooting stars, the flow of the very air, was even affected by the charging up energy, a powerful aura emitting from Bowser's body, making him sparkling, all the energy around the airs concentrated into his fist like a burning superstar.

With one final roar, Bowser shot himself forward, putting everything into this one final strike.

If one were to look at the top of Princess Peach's castle at that moment, one would witness a powerful shockwave that seems to break the soundwave burst out from the highest point of the castle, dispelling the violent hurricane that surrounds it.

Bowser's fist digs deeply into Dark Bowser's chest, effectively driving every single air out, with his fist arcing up at the process of the motion, time seems to have slowed down.

Dark Bowser's whole body was held airborne by Bowser's fist, and Bowser himself was moving forward like a blur. It was at this moment, signed Dark Bowser's end.

And with that set in stone, the time resumed.

Dark Bowser flew all the way up in the air, spinning thanks to the physical inertia force behind the punch. The energy carried them to the air, only then for the cold blood, logical gravity to drag the big and heavy frame back down to earth.

And so Dark Bowser lands back on the floor, its body can no longer hold anything together, the dark hurricane that was created by them ceases to exist, a deep blue, purple, and black aura slowly leaking from the body, and then retracting back, cracks appear on the dark doppelganger's entire frame, more and more; pure black light shooting out from the cracks, one after another.

Then...

And every single dark energy burst out from within Dark Bowser's body, followed by black spark-like star energy that immediately went extinguished like spark bits upon escaping, their cries of agony reached the sky and echoed, leaving only its battered, torn, broken, and hollow frame behind.

"ROOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!" The booming roar of the Koopa King echoes through the sky of Mushroom Kingdom as Bowser shoots his fist toward the heaven, proclaiming the end and victory of this battle.

The Dark Star and Dark Bowser were defeated.


The unforeseen twist

As a matter of fact, something went wrong. In a twisted prank of fate, one blessing gift of the Star Spirits chooses a particular candidate as the host, and that very host...

Is the future king of the Koopa, Bowser, whose destiny is to become evil. And the gift of Power had chosen him as the next worthy candidate.

It was such a distressful day for the Star Heaven, the unpredicted event threw off everyone like an off-path shooting star heading toward someone on a collision course. But the Seven Star Spirits remained calm, the future Koopa King was still an infant, so they would remain vigilant and keep a watchful eye on the Koopa for now, should anything happen, they would nudge things in a favorable way if the situation demanded their direct intervention.

Despite many's protests, Elderstar believes something good will come out of it. Even if hardship and difficulty were to follow at every corner.

After all, no soul was ever born evil, it was the environment that influences and actions that shaped a person. The future Koopa King was not to be blamed.

And fate itself is an unpredictable force. Not even powerful deities like the Seven Star Spirits have control over it.

But still, twisty as fate can be, Bowser's fate was decided the moment he's chosen by the blessing, that he'll never be able to truly walk down the path of evil, no matter how much he tries. He can be evil, but he'll never be "evil", no matter how much he doesn't want to admit it, the bond the blessing had, tied his life with the rest of his chosen companions, they'll always be there to defend their world from any evil, whether they intended to defend their world or not. The destiny behind their blessing is a force that is absolute.

Yet from time and time again, Bowser would prove himself again and again to the world that he's something to be scared of and feared, yet something to be admired and beloved.

In a sense and perhaps a look from another angle, this blessing can be viewed as a curse, but only time will tell...


"To come so far... so far... to lose..."

"Yeah, that's right... you... LOST."

The unthinkable happened... the darkness was completed, and all odds were stacked. Yet the slimmest outcome happened.

How it has fallen once more, to come so far, so far… only to lose.

But… it knows, the world can never get rid of it.

As long as the light exists, the dark will follow.

Today's victory of lights, was just another day's defeat for the dark.

It'll continue to exist within the world, physically or not, and patiently wait for the next chance to arrive.

For now, Dark Star will accept this defeat, and give its formidable enemies their victory and credits.

And it will now take the rest once more.

Until the next time…


Somewhere, in a land of unknown. Death, that's the word to describe this wasteland, the sky was painted red as blood, and the land was stained in a blood-red mix with deep purple and black, purple spiky crystal filled with negative energy sprouted everywhere. Creatures made from hatred, blood lust, and darkness loom among this dreadful land, where everything screams... death.

Seating in one corner, a brilliant castle carved from one gigantic crystal stood mighty and tall in this wasteland, shrouded in an ominous and menacing aura.

Her pale feature exposed to the very world, the ghastly deathly pallor that resembled death; the blood vine underneath the skin lay bare to the surface, adding an ominous and dreadful feeling to her appearance altogether, the dark-purple color seemingly indicates that even the blood flowing in her body is dead; as if those weren't enough; her soulless pitch black sclerae that harbor a hateful red light that watches judgementally at the meaningless world around her; her long, long bleak white hairs that she had long stopped caring or conservating ever since was donned in a witch-like and monsterish tie that standoffish compared to any hairs, a larger bun with six offshoots wrapped together that also suspends several obsidian-colored ornaments. The elegant short-sleeved black long robe she wears that curveted around her body obscured her feet and partially dragged across the ground, it was indeed a mature and beautiful dress, if not for the fact it further emphasized the pale white feature of her appearance.

If you wish to be something, might as well as put in the effort. And her appearance achieves exactly what she was aiming for.

DEATH

Salem seated on her throne in quite an amusing mood, this long time scheming plan of her's has finally been set in motion, all the years of taking things slowly and waiting have finally come to fruition, Cinder is now on her way to Vale for the first phase to bring the Beacon Academy alongside the Kingdom of Vale to ruins, the beetle she bestowed her should take care of the Maiden Power just fine if everything works according to plan; With the new recruits of Authur Watts from Atlas, the plans of bringing the system that Ozma designed for the planet to ruins was pushed forward with relative ease; the cowardly Lionhearts has been driven to the corner by her manipulation, with his life grasped tightly in her palm, the helpless old man can only clench onto the thin thread she mercifully bestows him as he struggled to stay alive. With the exchange of arranging some "identity" for her subordinates, giving a helping hand in murdering Ozma's little... guardians left and right; If anything, the foolish conflict between Mankind and Faunus only fuels and motivates her lovely creation more; this world is slowly coming to an end.

Yes, through time immemorial, everything was finally moving smoothly for her, how delightful. Everything this world stood for will soon be destroyed by her hand. Everything.

But fate has a different idea in store...


Around one corner of the universe, in the boundless and lifeless pitch-black deep space that extends infinitely, an object comes into existence once again, as many small glowing energy particles of deep blue, purple, and black gather together, in a slow, but also surely rate.

As the small bundles of energy bits gather, the entity of the unshaped object drifts in the vast emptiness, moving pass one giant sphere after another, its course remains clear away from them, and the time goes on.

Many seconds have passed...

Many Minutes have passed...

Many hours have passed...

Days gone by, and then became weeks, months... years...

Time becomes lost and meaningless.

Eventually...

A deep blue sphere finally took shape, with a black star print on the orb's body.

The object stays lifeless, empty as if it lacks a soul, still drifts aimlessly in the black void that was space.

Then, the object slowly drifts off its path as if something... or rather… some forces... attracts it... calling and pulling it.

With the course hijacked, the object slowly headed toward its new route.

And with that, another period of time has passed, with nothing but eerie silence.

The drifting goes on, and on, and on... until finally, something came into view.

A blue sphere, covered with lands black as charcoal, white as snow, yellow as dune, green as emeralds.

And a Moon broke as a shattered plate; a broken remnant of what was once undivided.

Before long, the violet orb starts descending into a planet like a shooting star.

A black, ominous shooting star that carries a horrible wish.

On the surface of the planet, a loud explosion echoes through the sky, breaking the eerie silence of the wasteland, the dwellers of darkness lift their heads up, staring at the burning bright black object that sores through the sky. Includes one person.

Standing up from her throne, the person made her way to the window frame, curiously looking at the object that invaded her land.

"How… curious." That was all she said as she watched the shooting star descending rapidly toward the horizon.


- Music ends. -


Before long, in the distance not far from the Evernight Castle, a loud crashing noise was heard, followed by a tumor that washed across the land.

As an immortal, Salem had her fair share of knowledge on a lot of things over this never-ending life, rare phenomena like meteors or shooting stars aren't rare to her. But this situation she finds herself in at present wasn't one of them, or rather… this object in front of her.

With the burning smoke filling the sky, locating the whereabouts of this mysterious object was a simple task with an easy search by her hive-mind creations, with Watts, Tyrian, and Hazel accompanying her, the four now stand at top of the crater, created by the shattering impact of this mysterious... meteor.

In the center of their attention, was a middle-man size orb, colored in deep blue, with a black star print on it.

The Grimms in the nearby area had already gathered toward the object, without Salem ever ordering them to, thus further piquing Salem's curiosity, something must be really special about this object, if the Grimms are drawn toward it like a moth to fire. Now that herself are presenting at the site, she does feel a familiar pulse of energy akin to Grimm that resident inside this object.

One Alpha Beowolf had approached the object, using its long claw to poke the blue sphere.

No reaction, not a sentient being, then it must be some sort of an artifact. Salem thought. How peculiar, she thought the Relics are all that the brothers left behind to this damned world, was this object something from much earlier days? Perhaps it was one of the Darkness' creations?

Her theory was immediately proved wrong the next moment.

The orb slowly floats in the air, and all Grimms, mortal and immortal had their eyes on the objects. The beast of hatred and darkness took a battle stance; Watts simply took a step back in case things started to go south; Tyrian eagerly drew his weapon out with a gleeful grin; while Hazel took a defensive stance and a raw dust crystal in his hand.

As all the reactions going on around her, Salem wasn't fazed in the slightest at all by the development of the event, she just silently observed the object, actually eager to find out what this thing was. The curious nature that had long stayed dormant that lies deep within her resurfaced.

'This shall be interesting.' She thought.

"Grrrrrrrraaah" A Beowolf growls at the object, and then lunges toward the object, attempting to strike it with its claw.

What happened next made every monster and mortal take a step back in surprise.

The Beowolf's arm was halted in mid-air by an invisible force that was protecting the object, as a purple, aura-like energy field flashed. Confused at the sudden halt of its body, the Beowulf tilted its head in puzzlement. That was no aura, the object before it had no soul.

Then in the blink of an eye, the Beowulf dissolved into black mists without the time to even register its death, and was then absorbed by the blue orb.

Shocked by the sudden end of their kin, all Grimm growl at the blue sphere, identifying the object as a hostile threat, the pack readied themselves to slaughter this thing into pebbles if needed.

However, as if to deny their plans, the orb starts rotating, faster and faster, until the air started getting sucked into the black star, soon the force escalates, creating a powerful vortex that consumes everything like a black hole.

The Grimms near the orb immediately become its first wave of victims, some try to run, some try digging their claws into the ground, but they all meet the same demise as the space around the center twisted, drawing anything in with an alarming rate.

Watts, Hazel, and Tyrian dug their hands into the ground, but were soon proven fruitless, they noticed they were airborne and were getting closer and closer to the center of the vortex, they were going to be the food of this object.

If not for three black strings that bound them midair, the three men would no doubt, meet their end that day.

Looking back toward their mistress, they saw she was just looking at the ordeal with a look of interest, her posture relaxed and unconcerned, the Grimm Queen never once moved from where she stood even as the chaos going on around her, as if this madness means nothing to her.

The catastrophe goes on for a long anxious 20 seconds, with the three mortals watching the orb devore Grimms like a black hole fearfully, and the immortal witch watching it through her blank expressionless face.

Slowly, the suction dies down, and the orbs stop spinning, it then goes back to floating in the air, idly.

Finally regaining their gravity, the mortal gets back on their feet, looking at the object warily, knowing fully well that whatever this thing is, it's not to be underestimated and treated lightly as they have previously assumed.

As if the very world is going against them, a tremendous amount of black aura-like presence bursts out from the orb, and shoots up toward the sky, like a spear piercing the red sky, creating shock waves in the process, the powerful wind blows pulsing, following with clouds of dust storms up in the air.

In the distance, the Grimms howled toward the sky ecstatically, It didn't matter what kind of breed they were, every Grimm reacted to the energy violently, agitated, and franticly, as if they were under some sort of power frenzy effect.

Watts, Tyrian, and Hazel shield their face and crouch down to regain their balance, the force is so great, that they can barely even stand their ground, let alone look directly at it.

Salem for the first time, finally had an action, holding up her arm to block the dust stormed up by the wind flow, still not moving an inch from where she stood, but her arms were twitching uncontrollably, her own body was reacting to the energy. An alien sensation rushed through her frame like an invasive parasite, and a sense of satisfaction hit her as if she had just downed some sort of deliciating nectar, a very addicting nectar. A power far stronger and different compared to the energy of Grimm, yet so very similar. But Salem could tell, there was a will in this power, a void that sought to snuff out all existence unlike Gimm's fixing hunt on mankind, there was an ambition, ambition for something much bigger, ambition so great that wanted to snuff the sun itself, the yearning for the death of the universe. The death of all and beyond.

Was this sensational reaction perhaps something to do with her Grimm-infused state? Interesting.

Salem doesn't know what this thing is, but if she had to put it into words, she was staring at an opportunity, a chance for something much bigger. Something much grander than herself, than the Grimm. Was it... Hope? A terrible hope perhaps?

As the energy burst dies down, 8 black spike tips extend out from the blue body, and start to orbit around like a sun's radiance, then, two blood-red glows that could rival a Grimm's stare appear on the center of the black star.

A soulless, maliceful gaze that pierced through the world hatefully.

Despite not knowing what this thing is, the mortal and immortals reach the same conclusion: Whatever this thing is, it's sentient, and it has awakened.

"Your Grace, what shall I handle this rude trespasser?" Tyrian eagerly asks, have his blood pumped up upon witnessing the destructive power this being possessed. Impressive yes. Still, not as majestic as her graceful goddess.

"Careful, we do not know what tricks this thing still has in its sleeve." Hazel warned, he gave a quick glance toward his own arms, and saw that their hairs all stood up alarmingly. They're in the presence of something powerful, instinctively, he stabbed two fire dust crystals on his shoulders. This thing spells trouble, and he's not keen on taking chances.

"This thing is emitting tremendous power, and it's off the chart, my tablet can not measure its power." Watts says grimly yet trilled, while not liking the odds here, the energy detects device he brought with him has revealed an "error" on the screen, so whatever this thing is, it's way, way more powerful than any Dust he had ever encountered or came across, and he can't be helped but wanting to grin excitedly, the power surge he just experienced was far more protein than anything Remnante could ever offer. He's witnessing history.

Composure herself calmly, Salem eyed the creature curiously, before looking at Tyrian and Hazel, granting them her permit. "Test it, but do not damage it too badly."

With permission from his goddess, Tyrian rushed forward with a wild and feral grin, circling around the dark sun, and took aim for a test shot.

To their small shock, like the previous attempt by the Beowolf, the bullet did nothing on the dark orb, as the purple force field blocked the bullet before it could make contact with the body like an Aura shield. The bullet stopped completely in place before gravity took over and brought it to the floor.

'So this thing is nothing like Grimm, it had a shield like the Aura, a simple Dust round doesn't pack enough punch to hurt it, noted.' Narrowing his eyes, Tyrian immediately goes for a different approach, fastening his footwork.

He rushed behind the thing, eyes glowing in a poisonous glow, this time he activated his Semblance, and delivered a slash and a dropkick.

To their surprise again, the same force field appears again, blocking the scorpion assassin's attack and absorbing the damage, and despite Tyrian's best effort and hope, his Semblance does not affect this shield.

All 4 squint their eyes simultaneously, Tyrian's Semblances can disrupt Auras and prevent them from working, so if it didn't work, which means this thing is not Aura, it's another form of power at work. And they all thought the same thing.

Magic.

"Tch" Despite the successful result in learning from his endeavor, Tyrian cursed with displeasure, this thing is trickier than they thought, they would need something stronger to pierce this shield then.

Fallback in line, this time, Hazel took the approach, already knowing what he must do, forming a fireball in his palms, he poured the Dust power into this one shot, and hurled the equal-sized fireball at the dark sun.

*Boom!* The thing did not move an inch despite seeing the burning danger coming right toward it, and took the hit head-on, resulting in a huge cloud of smoke.

"Did that work?" Watts asks no one, his hand already reached his revolver, preparing for the worst, nervous and uneasy took over his mind. As they all stare at the smokescreen intensely, looking for any movement, or, in particular, anything to happen.

A few seconds pass, and their anticipation is answered, as the smoke scatter, they're met with the same two red eyes that peek through the smoke, staring at them.

The being, despite taking a powerful strike like that, still showed no sign of damage, it was still perfectly fine and intact.

"This thing can take a beating, real beating." Hazel solemnly comments as he narrows his eyes. Should he try a more lethal scale of attack?

The beings continuously stare at them, with no further movement nor reaction, just stare at them.

"Well, this thing probably lacks a soul like the Grimms." Seeing they're in no particular danger or immediate threat, Watts theories, then cast another good look at the being's unemotional eyes. "And probably can't emotion."

Looking at their leader, Watts asks. "What shall we do about it, Your Grace?"

Salem crossed her arms as she pondered about what they should do. Could this thing understand them? Or have a functional brain to understand? This thing is powerful that is for certain, the earlier blackhole-like suction, the tremendous energy burst, and the seemly impenetrable shield were enough proof, she could find a use for this thing if given enough time as she had plenty. But the question is where or how to start?

Well, guess it couldn't hurt to try. Something had to be done, small step or not. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have something to be occupied while she worked on her plan to destroy Remnant. And, who knows, if this thing can be used in contributing to her quest, the better.

Salem was about to speak. only for the thing to finally show a reaction.

Dark energy covered both Tyrian and Hazel's bodies from some sort of telekinesis power, as they were lifted airborne and dragged toward the being, holding them in place tightly.

Facing the two men, the being glanced from one to another, as if studying them.

The two try everything to break from the grip, to no avail. A sense of dread slowly formed in their mind.

Seeing both comrades being held hostages made Watts draw out his gun, only for Salem to raise a hand and tell him to stay down. The Grimm Queen is actually interested to see what's about to unfold. She could somehow feel it, the feeling this object was emitting, it was curiosity. Rather than being hostile, it's studying, this thing was reacting to the surroundings as if trying to understand.

Then to the confusion of both men, the beings use some sort of telekinesis to take a small thread of their hairs. Absorb through what appears to be the invisible mouth, and proceed to "eat" it as its spherical... cheeks make the motion of chewing.

Once the deed is done, the being then drops both men to the floor like discarded trash, and it starts shivering in some sort of discomfort as if digestion.

"What was that about?" Tyrian raised a puzzled brow, clearly not expecting the being to eat his hair, as he and Hazel both carefully backed away from the weird orb.

"Probably trying to see if we're edible. And apparently, it doesn't like what it was tasting." Hazel tries really hard to not deadpanned. What is going on?

"Carnivorism then?" Tyrian guessed as he giggled, but resumed a battle stance in alertness, earning an eye-roll for the burly man, of course, only he could find joy in a situation like this.

The being then stops shivering, seems to finally get over the taste test. Perhaps it was just hungry?

But what happens next catches all of them off guard.

A scorpion tail that looked like an exact copy of Tyrian's but with deep blue instead of his brown. Sprouted out from the back of the orb, followed by a pair of blue muscle arms like Hazel's own growing out from the side of the orb.

The thing has somehow, copied their body parts.

"What the..." Hazel trails off, at a loss at this development.

Eye widening, Watts has an amazing look at the ability displayed by the mysterious being.

Tyrian however had scorn on his face as this thing copied his unique trait.

Salem however was impressed by the ability this being possessed, her interest grew more and more.

The being, moving its newly obtained limbs as if testing and experiencing the new sensations, closing its hands and stretching around, seemly trying to get familiarized with its new body parts.

But this talent show has just begun, and our judges were surprised again when the performer started speaking… with both Tyrian and Hazel's voices at the same time, just gruffer and distorted.

"WhHHO… ArRre… yOOOu?" Looking past the mortals, the mysterious being fixated its gaze on Salem. Addressing her to be the biggest target here.

Shocking but yet amusing, Salem took an approach, a smirk formed on her lips.

"My name is Salem, I am the goddess of this world." Answered Salem as she smiled sinisterly.


To Be

Continued:


[Updated/2023/10/17]
Well, folks, let's get this premises out of the way, I welcome you all to this wonderful and wacky adventure of Mario x RWBY crossover, but without the Mr. Videogame himself, no Mario. He will get mentioned or have some cameos every now and then, but he will not make an appearance and that's final.

This was a crossover that has been brewing in my mind since 2019, after reading through the now-cancelled Team Fortress 2 x RWBY fic called: Mercs in Remnant, I got the idea of having RWBY interact with Mario Baddies, and one idea leads to another, till it finally becomes the result you're reading.

This crossover had a few ground rules I feel the need to bring up to you all.

1. This story's primary focus on the Mario series bad guys. aka Bowser Kingdom befriending Team RWBY and helping them save the world despite they never trying to.

2. As you can see with the Dark Star, there will be more Mario Baddies showing up to play the role of "BAD GUY", since I put Bowser and his kingdom to play the "GOOD GUY". So look forward to

3. The Yoshi series, Donkey Kong series, Wario series, and Luigi's Mansion series count as part of the core Mario Universe. Spin-offs such as Party, Kart, Sports games, and RPGs, are considered canon.

However, Game collaborations that feature Mario and other franchise mascots DO NOT count as part of Mario Universe, such as the Mario Sports Mix, Fortune Streets from Square Enix, Mario & Sonic Olympics series, and Smash Bros series especially. but the elements will be referenced or mentioned if there's a chance I can utilize them. This includes the newest installment such as Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle/Spark of Hope, as long as I could figure out how to use them without going off the rail.

4. Any Mario Cartoon show, infamous games like Mario's Time Machine, Mario is Missing Elements, and even the infamous Mario live-action Movie will NOT be used in the story at all, Hotel Mario is the only compromise I find acceptable to make as it doesn't have real Earth geography and was bizarre enough to the usual Mario Universe logic standard; historical elements like Mario's Time Machine or Mario is Missing are clashing with game-universe logic, the reason is that Mario Odyssey's global geography sort of debunked the parallel earth theory; And the Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS, and Yoshi's New Island clashed and debunk the Mario & Luigi comes from earth theory and isekai'ed to the Mushroom Kingdom like the Cartoon and Life-action Movie does.

And I know, I know there are people who'll raise the solid counter-argument that Mario Kart Tour has made race tracks based on real-life places, and those tracks are now made in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as DLCs, yes, strong and solid points, yes. In which my only counter-argument is that I don't have one and I don't care and I'm straight up ignoring those elements in this story. If you hate me for disrespecting the TRUE Mario origins, you're completely free to leave and close this story page.

5. No Paper Mario universe is a separate universe from the RPG universe setting. Paper JAM DOES exist in this story's setting. But unique characters from both series exist in the Mario universe under the same universe timeline in this fic. Because I just want to utilize both beloved original characters from both spin-off franchises.

6. Any Mario game titles released at any point after this story will be considered Canon, I write this fic fully intended to utilize every new Mario Lores, so unless Nintendo decides to throw me a curve ball by revisiting their old lore, most Mario game canons are going to stay the same as long as it doesn't contradict with my pre-established fic lore.

Example: Yaridovich from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996), is now renamed Speardovich in the 2023 Remake, as such, I will have him have the Nintendo-intended name Speardovich but will insist people to refer him by Yaridovich. There, no side is getting disrespect, but I'm aware you can't please everyone on the internet in this current age, so if you still gonna have a problem with that, you're free to leave, and cope, I have better things to do than wasting time with ungrateful toxic lunatics.

Lastly, fair warning, it's gonna contain a lot of self-head-canon for the Mario franchise since many things are kept ambiguous, but no Mario cast x RWBY cast pairing, and no OCs if I can help it.