OK, readers! This is the 72nd chapter of this story!

Now, there 'really' isn't a whole lot to say here, especially since this story is coming close to an end, with the 8th and final Chapter being the only thing left to write out for everything to unravel itself.

Andrew will finally reveal everything about his past to his seven friends, and it'll show some nice development on Andrew's part. But that'll happen during Chapter 8.

For now, we can get by this chapter. In this chapter, Andrew and his friends find themselves resting in the room that Peach was held in this whole time, they eat some food from the fridge that the X-Nauts had, and Andrew gets washed up in the shower along with his friends.

Additionally, Andrew and his group end up meeting TEC for the first time, who will proceed to tell them where Peach is being held now, in the Palace of Shadow. Andrew will also request to send an urgent e-mail from TEC's communicator like how Peach had sent Andrew e-mails all this time, before they go use the teleporter on Sublevel 2.

And of course, the X-Naut Fortress will self-destruct the moment Andrew and his friends go through the teleporter, and a few other things will occur. How will this go for Andrew and his group? Read and find out, now!

BACK IN THE X-NAUT FORTRESS:

As it turns out, it didn't take long at all for Andrew and his seven friends to get through the factory room. With some careful navigation and some timing in getting across the gears and cranes, they were able to get out of there.

Currently, they were in the corridor where those three terminal panels are, and they were glad to have gotten through there. Now they could discuss what they could do further, now that they have the last Crystal Star in their possession.

"Well, guys? We got the last Crystal Star," Andrew told them calmly. "You know what this means for us, right?"

"You bet we do!" Goombella beamed excitedly. "We've finally got all seven Crystal Stars! Awesome!"

"Yes!" Koops agreed, with a smile plastered on his face. "Now we can open the Thousand-Year Door!"

"That's right," Andrew snapped his fingers. "We can bring things to a proper conclusion since we have all seven of them."

"Ah, but..." Flurrie had to bring up something urgent, and it was someone that they still didn't rescue. "We still don't know where Peach is..."

"That's true," Andrew was in deep thought as they were all frowning at this. "I don't have any idea where she was taken to. I mean, it was clear that she was being held hostage here, but now she isn't. So where could she have gone? Hmmm..."

"Well, I guess all we can do is head back to Rogueport," Yoshiam came up with the proper suggestion to make sure that Andrew didn't stress himself out with figuring it out.

"That's right, I guess," Vivian agreed as she smiled in Andrew's direction. "Professor Frankly might be able to help us find Princess Peach, right?"

"I guess so," Andrew then brought up another point. "But how are we gonna be able to get back to Rogueport on Earth from here, since we're on the moon?"

"Well, old boy, I believe the decision should be obvious," Bobbery proclaimed. "We can take that teleporter of theirs, and make full use of it to get us back to Earth, and it should get us back to Rogueport in a jiffy. I say it's a rather corking suggestion, hm?"

"But how will we know that the teleporter WILL take us back to Rogueport?" Andrew asked with uncertainty. "I mean, we've already established that the X-Nauts have used it to get from the moon to Earth. But who's to say that it'll take us to another place on Earth? Specifically to a remote location that's nowhere close to the town of Rogueport?"

"Well, dearie, it wouldn't hurt to try. And we're out of other ideas as to how to get out of here," Ms. Mowz proclaimed. "So perhaps it would be a fantastic idea if we do give it a shot, just to be on the safe side."

"I guess we 'really' don't have a choice," Andrew sighed and frowned. "It seems to be the only way off of the moon. And the X-Nauts have NO spacecraft or spaceships in their possession, especially since there appears to be no hanging area for vehicles. So this is the only option."

Andrew took a deep breath, held his head up high, and looked at his friends. "So, let's get this over with. Let's go to the teleporter room!"

"Right," all seven of them nodded as they followed Andrew back into the main corridor where the elevator was.

He then used the elevator to take them back to Sublevel 2. Andrew couldn't help but notice that all of the X-Nauts were gone. Did they all evacuate from the fortress around the same time that Magnus 2.0 exploded and sent Lord Crump flying into outer space? It was likely, and Sir Grodus probably had something to do with it. Once they got to Sublevel 2, they then walked through the corridor to find the room that the teleporter was in.

Unfortunately, as they were looking through the corridor, they discovered a problem. 'ALL' of the doors were locked and unable to be opened, INCLUDING the room with the teleporter. They couldn't go back up the other elevator to Sublevel 1 and Level 1 of the fortress either. So this presented them with another dilemma.

"Uh oh. Bad news, guys," Andrew frowned at this. "All of the doors in this fortress have been locked down. We can't use the teleporter to get out of this fortress."

"Omigosh! That's so 'totally' weak!" Goombella wailed. "We can't get out of here!"

"Ummmm... Oh no. This isn't good..." Koops frowned at this. "Now what, Andrew?"

"Well, I dunno about you guys," Andrew yawned. "But I'm getting a little tired. I'm thinking maybe we should go into the holding room on Sublevel 4 and take it easy before we figure this issue out. I mean, it's not like we can go ANYWHERE anyway..."

"Why, dearie, I do believe you're right," Flurrie felt a yawn come out of her mouth as did the others. "I daresay, this rather dashingly quest on the moon has left me rather a tad bit drowsy. I could use the extra shut-eye."

"Yeah. I can't argue with you there, Presto," Yoshiam felt his belly rumble. "Besides, I haven't eaten in hours. I could use some grub right about now. Where do these X-Chumps keep their food around here?"

"I dunno," Andrew crossed his arms as he felt his stomach rumbling too. "I would think that the X-Nauts have food stored in this base somewhere. I mean, everyone's gotta eat sometime, right?"

"Unless you happen to be a machine or a robot," Goombella snorted with a smirk on her face.

"Yeah," Vivian nodded. "They have to have a fridge around here somewhere. Plus, wouldn't they have been making sure Princess Peach was well-fed during her stay here? I mean, they wouldn't starve her if her condition was imperative to whatever it is Grodus has planned for her."

"That's a good point, Vivian," Andrew agreed with her. "But where is the fridge around here? And what kind of food do they have in their possession?"

"A thousand pardons, Andrew. But I believe that 'a' thought has just occurred to me," Bobbery gave him his theory. "If my assumption is correct, then wouldn't this X-Naut boss himself keep the chiller stored safely within his office? I must say, it would appear to be the most patent location for it to be stored in, eh wot?"

"Right, Bobbery. But there's still one problem with that," Andrew still needed to remind them. "The door leading to his office is locked. We can't get in there."

"Hmmm, that much is true," Ms. Mowz rubbed her chin. "Perhaps I can do something to Jimmy the door open for us, sweetie? Like maybe deactivate the lock into the security system that's kept in this base of theirs."

"I have a better idea," Andrew proclaimed. "Vivian? Do you think you can depart into the shadows by yourself and find the refrigerator for us? You can take the entire thing since it's probably mobile."

"Uh, are you sure about that, Andrew?" Vivian frowned. "I mean, won't I get caught?"

"I know how you feel. But if you hadn't noticed, all of the X-Nauts are gone in this base. So you should be fine," Andrew assured her in a warm tone. "And supposedly if anything DOES happen to you and I can't get to you, then I will come to your aid, even if I have to have Ms. Mowz deactivate the lock, and I'll make sure you're safe."

"Uh, OK. I believe in you, Andrew," Vivian nodded. "I'll do my best to find it."

"Great," Andrew smiled as she went into the shadows to get that fridge.

"What about the rest of us?" Koops scratched his head. "What should we do while she's doing that?"

"I'll tell you; we're going to go back to Sublevel 4 and go into that holding room and get ourselves comfortable," Andrew told him. "And then once she comes back with the fridge, we can eat whatever they have, and then we can get some sleep before moving on."

"Sounds like a good idea, Andrew. And it beats struggling on what to do," Goombella proclaimed. "Let's go for it!"

"Right," Andrew motioned his friends to follow him to the elevator that they just come out from. "Let's get going."

And with that, Andrew went into the elevator with six of his friends while Vivian went to find and retrieve that fridge for them. They were going to be in for a huge surprise after they ate a bit, got some rest, AND got washed up in the bathroom. And it's something that they'll find out about soon enough...

As it turns out, there 'really' was a portable fridge hidden safely in Grodus's office, and Vivian was successful in tracking it down.

She grabbed it and made her way to the holding room that Andrew and the others were in through the shadows. Once she was back with them, the eight of them then checked through the fridge to see what was in there.

The fridge was mostly filled up with nothing but Space Food, and some Zess Tea packets hanging on the front, with one or two Apples in there. Andrew was rather perplexed by what their options were, but they 'really' didn't have much of a choice, since that's all that they had, aside from what Andrew had on him in his backpack currently. So he decided to make full use of the Cookbook that he did have and put it to full use.

In addition to Space Food, Andrew was able to whip up some Shroom Fry with the Super Shroom that he found earlier. 'And' he was able to turn the jar of Maple Syrup that he had into Fresh Juice, using some of the advanced technology that the X-Nauts had in this base. He gave that to Yoshiam while fixing up some Zess Tea for the rest of them.

Koops wasn't the biggest fan of Zess Tea, as he preferred Koopa Tea. But since there were no Koopa Tea packets in there, he had to settle with the Zess Tea.

Nonetheless, all seven of them were able to make do with the Space Food, the Shroom Fry that Andrew cooked, and Yoshiam had the two Apples, some Shroom Fry and Space Food, and drank down his Fresh Juice.

"Well guys," Andrew got onto the bed and patted his belly. "Looks like we should be satisfied with what we ate. That wasn't too bad."

"Yeah. Wasn't like, y'know, my cup of tea or anything. But it was still decent enough Andrew," Goombella nodded before making a comment on the room they were planning to sleep in. "The weird thing is, it kind of smells nice in here, huh? Why do you think that is?"

"That's probably because this is where Princess Peach was forced to stay in the base while she was still here," Andrew guessed. "And from what I've heard, Princess Peach always ensured she was clean and smelled nice. I think she puts on perfume that smells like peaches and uses peach-scented shampoo too. Which reminds me, they also have a bathroom here. So we can use it too when we need it."

"Good idea, Andrew," Koops stretched his arms and got into the bed. "Ummm... Perhaps we could use a little nap... Then we can figure out more from here..."

"That's exactly what I had in mind," Andrew made sure all seven of them were able to fit into the bed, which miraculously, they did. "So is everyone comfortable?"

"Totally," Goombella smiled as she rested against Andrew's left leg. "This bed is like, so comfortable and all."

"Sure," Koops remarked as he was comfortable. "Would be good to get some sleep after what we went through."

"I am most 'definitely' quite all right with sleep with you, Andrew," Flurrie told him sweetly. "Why, I do believe that we could end up cuddling in our sleep again, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah. But I don't need any of that cuddling stuff, Presto," Yoshiam proclaimed as he got curled up. "But what would be cool right now is that we catch some of those Z's before we can get out of this jam that we're in, dude."

"I'm all set too, Andrew," Vivian told him softly as she huddled up close to him. "I'll be fine as long as we stay together while resting for a bit. And I'm happy to know that we'll be 'together'..."

"Aye. I shall be quite comfortable too, old boy," Bobbery yawned and got himself in a proper position. "I must say, it would be a charming treat to take a bit of a load off after dealing with that scoundrel Crump just now. Wouldn't you agree, Andrew?"

"Yeah," Andrew slowly nodded. "What about you, Ms. Mowz?"

"Hmm mmm, I'm content with sleeping with you too, Andrew," Ms. Mowz made sure she slept in her usual position. "I don't expect anyone to try anything to us while we're sleeping together. But just in case, I'll be sure to sleep with one eye open. OK, sweetie?"

"Got it," Andrew yawned and slowly closed his eyes. "Well, let's take a good nap for now. So let's enjoy our sleep together."

"Right," all seven of them yawned and eventually, they closed their eyes too.

All eight of them were sleeping together in that bed. They've done this before, and by this point, it was a habit for them to do this, since they had grown rather close. As its been said before, the group that travels together sleeps together. And they were doing just that for the next couple of hours or so...

Quite some time had passed, as Andrew and his seven friends had had a rather pleasant and good rest. Barely anything was there to disturb them. Although there were some rather beeping sounds and slight humming machine sounds, it didn't deter Andrew's rest in the slightest. And the same went for his seven friends.

After Andrew felt well rested, he recalled that in addition to a bathroom, there was a bathtub and sink in there, which the former could be used to take a shower, thanks to the curtain that was draped around it for privacy.

Seeing that he was in desperate need of one, Andrew felt it was best for him to take a shower, and he would allow his friends to do the same afterwards once they woke up. He went into the bathroom and made sure that he had a spare towel in his possession and that his clothes were off once he was in the bathtub.

It was nothing special. The shower was nice and warm, and it was quite refreshing, considering how much traveling he'd done to collect the Crystal Stars. And that it felt great to take a steamy hot shower again after so long.

One thing he had to wonder though was why there was something like this in the X-Naut's hideout. Do the X-Nauts even TAKE showers, so to speak? And if so, how could they possibly stand getting clean, only to get back in those tiny outfits of theirs? Especially given if the outfits are smelly on the inside.

He also had to wonder if the X-Nauts are even able to wash their uniforms at all, and how they can tolerate them. Did Grodus have some strict rules about not manhandling outfits and getting them clean? He must, considering how afraid his soldiers were of getting on his bad side.

Nonetheless, it was wicked convenient for them to even have a bathtub here that he could take a shower in. He also had to wonder if Princess Peach had used this shower tub at least once while being held hostage here. Given the circumstances, chances are, she probably did.

Andrew spent the next few minutes in the bathtub, working on getting his hair washed up along with his face when suddenly, the door leading into the bathroom opened up. This caught Andrew's attention as he perked up and saw two people who had entered the bathroom.

"Huh? What the...?" Andrew then poked and yelped when he saw that it was Goombella and Flurrie who entered. "Goombella?! Flurrie!?"

"Duh! Who do you think it was," Goombella then said wryly. "We thought that you were drowning in that bathtub when we 'totally' heard the water running."

"Well, I'm fine," Andrew huffed. "But in any case, what are you even doing in here, Goombella? Don't you know that I'm taking a shower here?"

"Of 'course' I do. It's kinda hard for me to miss that," Goombella rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I gotta make a quick bathroom trip since it's urgent."

Andrew gave her a look, which got Goombella to react. "What? A girl's gotta do her business after all the adventuring she's been doing, y'know?"

"Uh, oh, all right," Andrew sighed. "But please don't watch me showering and don't flush until I'm done."

"Aw c'mon, Andrew! Whatcha take me for, a pervert?" Goombella had to ask rhetorically. "But if it'll make ya happy, I'll 'totally' mind my own business and you tend to yours."

"OK. Good," Andrew then turned his attention to Flurrie. "And what are you doing here, Flurrie?"

"I am most sorry for barging in like this, dearie," Flurrie then explained herself. "But I was certainly hoping to powder my face and put on my fabulous makeup and eyeliner before we shall be able to shove off from this isolated location. I do believe this shan't be a problem for you, huh Andrew?"

"Well, sure. It's not a problem with me," Andrew said rather awkwardly. "But don't you think that you can save that for AFTER your done taking a shower?"

"Excuse me? I beg your pardon?" Flurrie raised an eyebrow at that.

"That's right. All of us will need to take a shower before we can figure out what to do to get out of here," Andrew remarked. "Something tells me that we're gonna need it before we head out and rescue the princess."

"Good idea, Andrew!" Goombella agreed as she was done finishing her business in the toilet. "We should 'totally' do that. We don't want to enjoy each other's B.O. before we head off to the Thousand-Year Door, y'know what I mean?"

"Exactly," Andrew saw Goombella heading for the door. "Just be sure to tell the others about this too, so we can all feel refreshed and clean before moving forward."

"Gotcha," Goombella gave him a wink before heading out the door.

"My, my, I daresay, that shall be a marvelous idea, darling," Flurrie decided to take her leave too for the time being. "Very well. I shall return at some point once you are all set with showering. Just be sure to hasten up so that the rest of us shall enjoy a nice steamy shower too. OK, darling?"

"Sure thing, Flurrie," Andrew flashed her a smile. "I'm almost done here anyway. So just give me a minute."

Flurrie opened the door and winked at him one last time before she took her leave, leaving Andrew alone so that he could wrap up his shower.

With that said and done, Andrew finished up his shower. Before he knew it, he had turned the water off and made sure that he dried himself off with the towel before putting his clothes back on. He then found several spare towels for his friends to use once they were done showering.

He made sure to flush the toilet for Goombella since she was all set with her business. He then left the bathroom and allowed the others to take their showers as well, one at a time, that is...

Quite some time had passed after Andrew had gotten out of the shower. Eventually, his seven friends were able to get washed up too. And in Flurrie's case, she was able to use her hairdryer that she had on her all this time, just to blow dry her hair back into its natural position.

Flurrie was also generous enough to allow Vivian to use it, who was rather grateful for the gesture, as the youngest former Shadow Siren used the hairdryer to get her curls back into place.

Goombella was able to use it too, and she used it once she was done showering before she could pull her blonde hair back into a ponytail, where she then put her helmet back on afterwards.

And of course, they were given their privacy, especially the four women that he was traveling with. Needless to say, all eight of them felt refreshed, and ready to travel again without sniffing each other's B.O.

"Well, it looks like we're all showered up and feeling refreshed," Andrew declared. "Is everyone feeling better now that all of us have taken a nice and comfortable shower?"

"Totally!" Goombella beamed and smiled. "The shower has done me some wonders, Andrew. Still, I was surprised to see that there was a shower room in an evil organization's hideout. I guess every evil guy's 'base' of Ultimate Doom needs one... Just because you're evil doesn't mean you enjoy B.O."

"Yeah! I feel better too, Andrew," Koops smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "I feel refreshed... And my shell seems cleaner too... Man, showering does some wonders after all the adventuring we've been doing... Ummm... If that makes sense..."

"Oh, my! I daresay, I certainly feel refreshed from that shower, Andrew!" Flurrie announced. "Why, I do believe that I look and feel far more glamorous than I ever did before! And it's all thanks to you, darling! You shan't regret this in the slightest, I can assure you of that!"

"Yeah! I gotta hand it to ya, that shower was pretty cool," Yoshiam proclaimed, giving him a thumbs up. "I'm feeling 'really' stoked from that shower. And boy, did I need it? After all the fighting I've been doing, I had no idea I needed one. But now I got it taken care of! And I have you to thank for that, Presto! You're awesome!"

"Uh, I enjoyed it too," Vivian told him rather meekly. "I never would've imagined that I'd take a shower such as that. But I was just happy to use some of my strawberry-scented shampoo on my hair. It 'really' did the curls some wonders. I mean, I was 'really' grateful that you were willing to have me do that. So thank you for that, Andrew."

"I must say, it is quite a pleasant surprise for a sea Bob-omb such as myself to be allowed to perform personal hygiene, old boy," Bobbery had to admit. "I say, the hot and steamy shower is quite perfect for clearing the sinuses, if I may add. And more importantly, I was quite elated with the experience. Many thanks to you for the suggestion, Andrew."

"Yes. I most certainly enjoyed it too Andrew, my sweet," Ms. Mowz adjusted her Zorro mask as she said that. "I don't remember the last time I was able to do that. I guess I've been so caught up in my globetrotting search for badges, that I haven't noticed what a good and steamy shower felt like until now. Hmm mmm mmm mmm, but more importantly, I feel refreshed and good as new, sweetie. Thank you."

"Great to know," Andrew seemed satisfied by this as he threw his backpack over his shoulder. "By the way, have you guys gotten the feeling that someone is watching us?"

"Yeah. Omigosh. You felt that way too, Andrew?" Goombella gave him a wide-eyed look and a frown. "Jeepers. I thought I was the only one. Yes. It does seem like we're 'totally' being watched. Talk about creepy."

"I wonder who it is," Andrew had to think as he was certain that it wasn't the X-Nauts or Sir Grodus who was watching them.

Before they could say anything, the door leading them to the computer room opened up automatically.

"Ummm... Andrew?" Koops winced. "Am I seeing things? Or did that door over there open automatically?"

"No, you're not seeing things, Koops," Andrew shook his head and looked at the opened door. "Whatever that means, I think we better investigate it. Let's go."

They didn't object as they followed Andrew out of the holding room that Peach was staying in, and they went back into the corridor of Sublevel 4. They were then led straight to the door that went into the computer room.

"Hmmm..." Andrew then went and touched the door that led to the computer and was shocked when he saw that it opened up. "Whoa!"

"My, my!" Flurrie yelped. "I feel like I might swoon!"

"Huh? What do you know?" Andrew murmured. "The door has been unlocked. We better check this room out."

"Aw yeah, Presto!" Yoshiam jumped up and down. "Let's see what kinda punk is messing with us and won't let us leave this place."

"Right," Andrew then went through the walkway, leading into the computer room.

His Goomba, Koopa, Wind Spirit, Yoshi, Shadow Siren, Bob-omb, and Little Mouser friends followed right behind him. Needless to say, they were about to see what this was all about for themselves...

IN THE COMPUTER ROOM:

By now, the eight heroes were in the computer room where TEC was located, and they were looking all around the room, wondering what room they had stepped into. Goombella, in particular, was rather curious about this, as she felt the need to ask the all-important question.

"Where ARE we?" Goombella asked, sounding completely lost.

"Hmmm..." Andrew mused as he noticed everything was turned off at the moment. "It looks like we're in the computer room."

"Ummm... You sure?" Koops murmured as Andrew nodded. "Wow... So this is the base's computer room, huh?"

"Oh, my, I do believe this is the computer room," Flurrie rubbed her chin. "But the question is, could this be where that adorable Mushroom Kingdom Princess has been sending e-mails to us this whole time?"

"Maybe," Andrew rubbed his chin as he noticed everything in the room turning on. "Well, we're about to find out."

It was then all of the lights and screen were lit to life. And the screen on the base's supercomputer turned on, as did the visor, which lit a cyan light. As soon as TEC had turned everything on, he used his visor to look at Andrew and his friends who had entered the computer room, like he had hoped they would.

"You...are Andrew...are...you not?" TEC had to ask him.

As soon as Andrew realized that it was the supercomputer in this room that was talking to him, he looked at the visor and reacted back.

"Yes. That's who I am. I am Andrew, and these guys happen to be my friends," Andrew introduced himself and his friends to TEC. "The Goomba girl is Goombella. This handsome Koopa here is Koops. The glamourous Wind Spirit of a woman is Madame Flurrie, or just Flurrie. This little Yoshi kid here is Yoshiam. This rather cute-looking Shadow Siren is Vivian. The old admiral Bob-omb with a cool mustache is Admiral Bobbery or just Bobbery. And this rather beautiful and mysterious Little Mouser woman is known as Ms. Mowz."

"It...is pleasant to meet you all..." TEC told them as the eight of them approached him.

"Yah! Nice to meet ya too," Goombella then had to ask. "Now, who're you?"

"I...am the main computer of this fortress..." TEC formally introduced himself to them. "I am TEC."

"Ah, so you're TEC," Andrew mused. "You're the computer that Princess Peach has been sending e-mails from and have been aiding her with getting all of that information, right?"

"Yes... That is...correct," TEC confirmed slowly.

"Wow," Koops had to blink. "That's pretty cool... Never thought we'd meet TEC like this in person..."

"Yeah," Andrew nodded. "Anyway, what do you want, TEC?"

"I must tell you something..." TEC wasted no time in saying. "That is why...I brought you to this place..."

"Well! 'Pray' tell, whatever shall it be?" Flurrie asked. "Would it by any chance have something to do with Princess Peach?"

"Yes... That's right..." TEC then started telling them. "You see... Princess P...Peach..."

TEC then paused before his screen started getting staticky, getting Andrew and his friends to jump at that.

"Whoa!" Yoshiam yelped. "Something bugging you? What's going on?"

"Yeah," Andrew had to agree. "Is there something wrong, TEC?"

"I...am so s...sorry," TEC gave them a brief explanation. "Most of my data was er...erased...and my main power unit was shut...down."

"I see," Andrew murmured as he was piecing things together.

"Now running on backup power with...only cached memory...trying to stay...operational," TEC had to inform them.

"Well," Andrew sighed. "That would explain why Princess Peach's latest e-mail was cut off. And I suspect that Grodus must have something to do with it."

"Yeah," Vivian frowned. "From what I know of Grodus, he would do anything to reach his goals, just like my sisters. And since TEC has been helping the princess, he likely permanently shut down his main power unit."

"That...reminds me..." TEC then got Andrew's attention again. "A... Andrew... You know that Peach is not here, do you not?"

"Yeah. We recently found out about that," Andrew nodded while frowning. "And we're still unsure about where she is being held at this very moment."

"Please save...Peach... Please...please..." TEC had to beg Andrew and his friends.

"Well, we would normally be willing to oblige to that," Bobbery exclaimed. "But we still haven't the foggiest idea as to where she could've been taken next. By any chance, do you happen to know where this Grodus cad ran off to with Her Highness, eh?"

"Princess Peach...is...with Grodus in the...Palace of Shadow..." TEC revealed to them. "I had to...tell you that..."

Palace of Shadow? Andrew thought before something clicked in his mind. Wait a minute, TEC isn't implying that the Palace of Shadow is behind the Thousand-Year Door, is he?

Shaking his head, Andrew then decided to comment on this. "That's why you summoned us here, just to tell us that."

Before TEC could say anything, he then experienced that staticky effect again on his screen, which was getting the eight heroes a little concerned for him.

"Oh my," Ms. Mowz had to comment. "Dearie, can you make it? Whatever might be happening to you?"

"I'm wondering myself," Andrew frowned. "Are you experiencing some technical difficulties, TEC?"

"But...backup...power...failing..." TEC uttered. "Andrew... Use...the teleporter room...to get back to...Rogueport. The teleporter room is...on...sublevel...2...of the fortress...I will release...the room lock."

"We already knew about the teleporter on sublevel 2," Andrew then had to ask. "But are you certain that it'll send us to Rogueport, and not anywhere else?"

"A... Affirmative... I can...confirm this..." TEC said. "The teleporter...will send you...back to Rogueport...safely."

"Peach is in the Palace of Shadow?" Goombella had to ask, as Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz all said something similar along that line.

"That's behind the Thousand-Year Door, isn't it?" Andrew asked while raising an eyebrow, as he started formulating an idea.

"Correct... Now...please hurry... There is barely enough...power left...to activate the teleporter..." TEC paused for a few moments or so before he could continue. "I will...cease all AI functions...to send power to...the teleporter...for you."

"But...what will happen to you?" All seven of Andrew's friends asked simultaneously.

Andrew, meanwhile, was curious about that himself. But he also came up with an idea. If Princess Peach was able to send him e-mails all this time to his Mailbox SP, what's stopping him from doing the same thing for someone else? The idea was starting to formulate in his head as TEC explained himself.

"When the power is all gone...I will... Cease to exist...as an artificial consciousness," TEC revealed. "But...if it will...save Peach...I would...gladly do this. Because until I met Peach...I knew nothing of...love..."

"Wait a minute! I just got an idea," Andrew snapped his fingers as he then asked. "TEC? Do you still have some power to send one last e-mail through your communicator?"

"I... I suppose so..." TEC then asked. "But... Why do you ask?"

"There's something urgent and important that I must send to SOMEONE before we can leave this base," Andrew explained. "It's imperative that I send it to him, effective immediately."

"I...All right..." TEC complied before suggesting. "But please...make it quick... I barely have...enough power to...operate the base..."

"Got it," Andrew approached the keyboard. "This won't take long."

And with that, Andrew then started typing away a message that he had to send to someone. His typing speed was on par with that of Princess Peach. Eventually, he was done typing it out and entering the name and e-mail address of the recipient, as he was ready to send it.

"OK, TEC. It's all set," Andrew informed him. "Could you send it?"

Then for the last time, TEC proceeded to send it as those three envelope icons were displayed on the screen, for the final time. That beeping sound was heard, which meant that it was sent successfully.

"The message...has been sent..." TEC proclaimed.

"Thank you," Andrew nodded as he stepped away.

"Andrew? What was that about?" Goombella had to ask. "And who didja send an e-mail to?"

"Well Goombella, I sent an e-mail to Mario, letting him know that this situation has gotten out of hand," Andrew told her.

"Wait, what? How did y'know Mario's e-mail address?" Goombella gave him a look.

"Who doesn't know his e-mail address?" Andrew asked in return.

"Fair point," Goombella got the message as she then asked. "What did you send him anyway?"

"Well, I told him that he might not know me and that I'm the man who got his letter from earlier, asking to do him this favor to escort the Princess back home," Andrew explained in full detail. "And I told him that Princess Peach's life was in danger, I had gotten all of the Crystal Stars, and that things had gotten out of control. And I told him to get to Rogueport as soon as possible, while the rest of us can handle this issue for ourselves."

"Oh," Goombella blinked. "Wait! Why couldn't you do that on your Mailbox SP?"

"I can't send e-mails from my Mailbox SP. I can only receive e-mails from others," Andrew proclaimed as he took his Mailbox SP out and showed it to her. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mario's Mailbox SP was unable to send e-mails too. But maybe soon, they might invent a new version that can allow users to send e-mails on it, in addition to receiving e-mails."

"Right. Gotcha," Goombella winked at him as Andrew put his Mailbox SP away.

"Anyway," Andrew turned his attention back to TEC and gave him a serious expression. "Are you sure you want to do this, TEC? You seem like you've been through quite a bit. It wouldn't be fair to leave you suffering like this."

"Please...do not worry...about me..." TEC insisted. "I am just a computer... Just...a...machine... Andrew... You must save Peach... I ask you... Please... And tell her..."

TEC then paused once again as he had a flashback of when he first saw Peach in her holding room, which was around the time that Grodus learned that Andrew had the Magical Map, and everything was set in stone. Upon having fond memories in his memory bank at that, TEC decided to finish his sentence.

"Thank you...for...me..." TEC told them.

Andrew and his seven friends were all frowning at this. But if this was for the best, then they have no choice but to oblige to it. It was clear that TEC would make the base self-destruct once they escaped, and there was no turning back. It had to be done.

"...We understand, TEC." Goombella nodded.

"...OK, TEC," Koops remarked with a frown.

"...We shall, TEC," Flurrie said quite sadly.

"...We got it, TEC," Yoshiam nodded slowly at that.

"...We understand, TEC," Vivian frowned deeply as she said that.

"...We will, TEC," Bobbery had to utter, with memories of him and Scarlette flooding his mind, showing that he knew what it felt like.

"...We understand, TEC," Ms. Mowz nodded as she frowned while sighing.

"Don't worry, TEC," Andrew gave him a bow and a thumbs up. "We'll be sure to save her right away."

"So... Hurry to the teleporter...room...now..." TEC uttered his last words to Andrew and his friends. "Andrew... Save...her..."

After that, TEC's screen completely turned off and all of his parts shut down as well. He had deactivated himself and unlocked the door leading to the teleporter room on Sublevel 2.

"TEC system failure reported." A robotic voice said from out of nowhere, as the entire fortress had turned red.

"Well guys, looks like that's that," Andrew couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows. "I never even met Sir Grodus, but he had 'really' gone and done it this time."

"Yeah, Presto!" Yoshiam yelled in agreement. "That tears it, man!"

"Now we gotta save Princess Peach," Andrew informed them. "Not just for Mario. But for TEC too!"

"As well as ourselves!" Bobery added.

"Exactly," Andrew then walked over to the door. "Now come on! We better hurry to the teleporter room!"

"Right!" All seven of them remarked in unison.

Soon after, the Goomba, Koopa, Wind Spirit, Yoshi, Shadow Siren, Bob-omb, and Little Mouser followed Andrew out of the computer room. They were planning on getting to the teleporter room and back to Rogueport, as TEC had revealed to them...

IN THE TELEPORTER ROOM:

It didn't take long for the eight heroes to make their way through the corridor and use the elevator to head back to Sublevel 2. From there, they headed to the direction where the teleporter room was located and were relieved to see that its been unlocked. Once they entered the room, the eight of them approached the teleporter.

"OK. So there's the teleporter," Goombella made a face at it. "Now how do we get it to work?"

"I think we have to press this red button to activate it," Andrew went ahead and pressed the red button.

Doing so had caused the red button to flash as the teleporter had been activated, with a beam of light being shown as proof that it was working.

"All right. This is it," Andrew walked to the teleporter. "Let's get going back to Rogueport."

"Gotcha, Andrew!" Goombella nodded. "We can 'totally' get help from Professor Frankly once we get back! And we can enter the Palace of Shadow once the Thousand-Year Door's been open!"

"Good idea, Andrew," Koops proclaimed. "Can't waste anymore time. The world's at stake. So we might as well get a move on!"

"My, I do believe you're right, Andrew," Flurrie said. "Let us not waste a single second! We shan't let TEC down! We MUST rescue that adorable princess even more now! Let's make haste!"

"Yeah! No kidding, Presto," Yoshiam was eager to get cracking. "Time to head to the Thousand-Year Door, find this Grodus scum, and knock his socks off! Let's roll!"

"Right, Andrew," Vivian nodded. "We better hurry before Sir Grodus does anything horrible to the princess! We might as well ask Professor Frankly too for some help, wouldn't you agree?"

"Aye. A very capital suggestion indeed, Andrew," Bobbery agreed with him. "We might as well make our way back to Rogueport and pop into the professor fellow, so we can finally save her Highness, and put a halt to this Grodus cad's delirious scheme, eh old boy?"

"Yes. I must agree with this too, Andrew," Ms. Mowz said slyly. "Let's get some help from the professor and open the Thousand-Year Door before we can continue things further. We might as well make haste, sweetie."

"Great," Andrew set foot into the teleporter. "Let's go."

Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshiam, Vivian, Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz all joined him inside the teleporter, as they were all crammed in there. Nonetheless, they felt the teleporter working as if they were spinning in circles.

In a matter of seconds, the eight heroes were then sent upward and vanished in the blink of an eye. They had successfully teleported themselves off of the moon and from the X-Naut Fortress...

MEANWHILE...

We are given a good shot of the moon from space, with the X-Naut Fortress being shown on the upper left side of the moon. With Andrew and his friends having successfully gotten off of the moon, TEC felt it was time to self-destruct the X-Naut base.

Before he could do that though, TEC decided to say his final words since he was going down with the base. Even though Princess Peach was unable to hear it, he needed to say it anyway.

"Peach... Good-bye..." TEC said his final words out loud.

At that moment, the X-Naut Fortress was engulfed in a bright white light. Moments later, the place had exploded, with some blasts and booms being heard and shown. This was a sign that the place was being put out of commission for good.

But what TEC didn't realize was that Andrew and his friends could've sworn that they had heard TEC say his final words before blowing up the X-Naut Fortress. Regardless, they would find out the further intention of Sir Grodus's plans once they enter the Palace of Shadow.

And once they do, they would not like what the outcome of Grodus's plan would be. But they would find out about that before long. No doubt about that...

END OF CHAPTER 72...

All right. That's the end of this chapter. I hope that it was satisfying for you all, even though it is relatively shorter than usual.

Anyway, I'd like to bring up the mention of Mario, of which Andrew sent an e-mail to him. This will signify the fact that Mario will be alerted of this, and before the story is over, Mario WILL make one other appearance in this story.

Unfortunately, what I have planned is that he shows up AFTER Princess Peach has been rescued by Andrew, and he escorts her back to Rogueport. Still, I hope you look forward to that too.

Yeah. I 'really' like how I'm writing about how Andrew and his seven friends have had this connection forming and they have grown closer together. The way they sleep together, and how Andrew doesn't yell at Goombella and Flurrie to get out when they walk in on him while he's showering. I thought that was silly and harmless, with how it's depicted.

Lastly, I decided to show how the X-Naut Fortress exploded once Andrew and his friends went through that teleporter, courtesy of TEC initiating it himself. This was to show that the fortress was no longer standing and that it couldn't be used for evil again, even though Sir Grodus was pushing forward with his plan.

Now, the next chapter will show the start of the end, and it'll mark the grounds for the start of the 8th and final Chapter. In that chapter, Andrew and his friends get out of the building in the Rogueport Sewers that the teleporter was in, and they encounter Professor Frankly in the Rogueport Sewers, who acts more suspicious than usual.

Additionally, Andrew meets with the innkeeper for the last time before he has to head out of Rogueport upon coming back with the Princess, and decides to wear the outfit that he began his adventure with.

And of course, Andrew and his pals successfully open the Thousand-Year Door and will make sure that they can start the final leg of their journey. And a few other things will occur. How will this go for them? Find out next time, readers.

For now, only if you like, you can leave a review and let me know what you thought about this chapter overall.

Aside from that, there's nothing else that I have to say. So until next time, I do hope you all can be prepared for Chapter 8. And on that note, thank you once again for reading, everyone!