Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

While On The Way Back Home From K2L…

"I wonder how they're holding up…" Zoey wondered, watching Samus lean on a wall and chatted with Chell and Rosalina.

"Well, I'd say they're keeping it together, what with their home getting destroyed and all." Anthony said.

"Mhm. That said, I believe I have a lot of cleaning to do once we get home. I imagine there's a lot of glass that needs to be swept up before my charges walk through and get glass on their feet."

"Who knows what else the phazon had done… but it's destroyed a lot. It's gonna take a while to rebuild."

Zoey smiled. "True, but it didn't take long to rebuild Toad Town after that blorb crisis."

"That's also true." Anthony nodded before chuckling. "I'd say that it's exciting that we're on our way home."

"It's gonna be a hell of a mess, but you know what? It's better than coming back to no home at all." Jen said.

"Indeed." Anthony chuckled. "It may have destroyed a lot of things, but hey, they can be replaced."

Zoey smiled. "Yes. Though I do worry about Mistress Mona. She hasn't said a word after Mother Brain had been killed."

"Yeah… I think Camrin's cheering her up." Anthony nodded.

With the duo…

"Sigh…" Mona sighed, looking off into the hyperspace horizon.

"Ah, cheer up… we'll redecorate the cave with all the shinies imaginable." Camrin said.

"Mona… I gotta ask you something." Chloe said. "You do know there's more to life than just shiny gold objects, right?"

Mona gave a soft smile. "Oh, I'm well aware of that. There's more to it than bright shiny objects. But here's the thing… I don't just hoard everything just because they're pretty to look at. Each and every one of them holds a memory that I hold dear to."

"Oh?" Chloe wondered, looking intrigued.

"Every time I take something shiny, there's always a story behind it. Like, a Shine Sprite from Isle Delfino for example. Or any of the treasures from that cave in Dreamland. Or the Shake Dimension coins! It's how I remember all those good times, and make my cave look a lot more full of life. It's not an obsession… it's how I remember all the fun I've had with all of you."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Mona…"

"I can have all the treasures I want… but they can all be replaced. What can't be replaced are lives. If I had to choose between treasure or you guys in a life or death situation, I'd choose you guys in a heartbeat. So yes, am I annoyed the Phazon potentially destroyed all the treasure? Yes… but it's not the end of the world."

She turned to her team. "As cheesy as this may sound, the most valuable shiny treasure and priceless artifacts? They're you guys… and I wouldn't trade you guys off for anything."

Chloe closed her eyes, letting out a few chuckles. "How about that… you really are something, aren't you?"

Mona flashed the peace sign with a dorky smile. "What can I say? You can't rid of this bonehead that easily." She winked as Camrin smiled and wrapped his arm around her, pecking her on the cheek as she returned the favor.

"That's my girl."

Unbeknownst to them, the rest of her team overheard their conversation. "I knew there was something else to her shiny collection."

Jen smirked, letting out a chuckle. "Never in my mind would I think about each of those artifacts having a story to tell."

"It's no wonder she treats those treasures with care." Zoey smiled.

Anthony walked over to Mona. "If you want to restart that treasure hoard, there's always that Strikers tournament."

"Huh? Oh yeah! I forgot about that." Mona smiled.

Anthony grinned. "Yeah, it's a pretty gold if I say so myself. Perhaps it'll look great in that cave of yours. Hell, we'll make sure to win that thing."

"It's a strong competition, but we'll win the gold for sure!" Mona smiled, when suddenly the Blue Typhoon jumped out of Hyper space, the sudden jerk was enough to nearly make Mona fall over. "Mmmph!"

"Next stop: Remnant!" Tails would say as the ships started to land on the planet. They would then see the Star Cure flying back and circling around Lysithea and Edelgard, turning their hair color back to its natural state.

"Wh-what the…?!" Lysithea exclaimed.

"Our hair… it's… it's back to normal…" Edelgard whispered.

"Are we… are we cured from that horrific disease…" Lysithea quietly said.

"I say that you are!" Ruby said with a smile, then the two happily hugged Ruby in gratitude.

"Alright, let's head back to Vacuo to check out the dam-"

"HONK!"

"-Ages…?" Anthony wondered as they saw the Goose snagging the Star Cure and running off with it while Toadley chased after it. They heard Chiaki laughing a few moments later.

"Where'd that goose come from?" Chloe wondered.

"Uh… there was a goose in the ship the entire time?" Mona tilted her head.

"Apparently so." Zoey shrugged as they got on the Hydra and flew off straight to Vacuo.

Once they had landed at Vacuo, they hopped off near the cave and walked in, seeing that nothing remained in the cave. "Oh… I guess the Phazon truly melted everything." Mona sighed. "That's a shame."

"Hmm?" Camrin spotted something as he walked into the cave, seeing something shining poking out. He knelt down and pulled it out, revealing the Shine Sprite. "Oh!" He turned around. "Not everything's gone!"

Mona gasped, running over and taking the Shine Sprite. "Oh my gosh, this thing survived!"

Anthony smiled. "I guess we have one shiny under our belt."

"One down, a bunch more to go." Zoey giggled.

Mona gently put the Shine Sprite on a homemade shelf that she had built with the help of Camrin and Anthony. "So!" She turned around to her team. "Who's up for making more memories?"

I've been thinking about this for a while. Flash came up with the idea for Mona that "There will be hell to pay for all the Shinies that were lost and would never forgive the Space Pirates for what they did." and that... didn't sit well with me. I was like "Surely, there's more to Mona than that." So, I talked with him and came up with "How about instead, Mona reveals there's more to it than just an obsession?" and he was like "Dude, that's way better for my OC than what I thought of. That's awesome!"

Ibuki: Nan-chan to the rescue~!

Yup!