Mushroom Wars

by Kaiimi

When the world is at threat of being taken over by an old villain, it is up to a group of people to work together and travel through familiar places to collect various items to help them win the war for justice. However, with brutal injuries and much drama happening at almost every moment, will anyone make it through this mission alive?

127. Holy Ground

TanookiRoxx: Hey you! You know, if you're still writing fics, you're totally allowed to take the concept of Black In My Bones and make it your own. Still waiting on an update for Witch Hunt, haha! XD

Blackstone Tower: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, DK, Dixie, Toadette, Goombella, Koops, Kooper, Parakarry, Spike/Paper-Yoshi, Vivian, Bowser, Larry, Bowser Jr., Wario, Pauline, Mona, Starlow, Grodus, Lord Crump

Hospital group: Bleck/Blumiere, Tippi/Timpani, Toadsworth, Fly Guy, Toado, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Kody, E. Gadd, Clawdia, Katia, Kenneth, Toodles, Petey Piranha, Rosalina, Monty Mole

Mushroom Corps.: Toadari (Arfur's boss), Tadano

Island group: Tatanga, Beldam, Roy, Doopliss, Dimentio, Mimi, Diddy, Fire Bro/Konnor

Moon: TEC

TATANGA'S ISLAND

"They said a half-hour. I feel like it's been longer than that!" Diddy said impatiently while pacing about in his cell.

"The anticipation is seriously killing me. I just wanna do this already. I'm tired of being behind these damn bars…" Mimi added to the feeling of impatience, sitting down on the ground, staring out beyond the bars, hoping to see Doopliss and Beldam rush into the room at any moment.

"Hey, Mimi, I really gotta ask you something. Are you really gonna try to get Roy once we're released? You're really gonna take that risk?" Diddy asked. Mimi cringed a little, not wanting to converse about that topic since she knew it wasn't gonna be an easy decision to make.

"I don't know, Diddy. The thing is…I'm also thinking about Roy's family. I know Roy and his family's relationship is incredibly strained right now, but I think it'd still be best for them to see him alive after everything that's happened. Bowser wouldn't want his own son to die. But I also know that I'd pretty much be sealing my fate if I were to go save him. Ugh…Beldam and Doopliss are right…it's just too damn risky. But I hate that it's like that!" Mimi responded in frustration at the unfairness of it all.

"Believe me, I hate it's like that too. But, this is about survival, Mimi. If you wanna live, you need to put yourself first in this situation. I think Roy would want that too. I also wanna see you live! We're imprisoned together, so we need to escape together," Diddy advised.

Mimi nodded a little as her eyes watered up. "Y-Yeah. You're right. I can't be his hero. That's what I've been trying to be ever since we first met. I saw myself in Roy, and I wanted to do for him what no one else did for me when I was lost. I have to look out for myself. His family will be devastated when we tell them that we escaped but he couldn't…but, this is what all this crap has come down to now. Pure survival."

Diddy was about to respond to that, but Beldam and Doopliss rushing into the room immediately caught his eye.

"Oh! Hey! Ready for this?" the chimp eagerly asked.

"We are. How about you guys? You gonna try to save Roy?" Beldam asked as she unlocked their cells.

"No. You guys were right. It's a death sentence if I do that. Let's just get this over with and be free from this damn place already," Mimi responded, feeling a slight relief when she stepped out of her cell.

"Smart choice, slick. Hate to say it, but Roy's pretty much a goner at this point. The only hope he has for survival now is for the heroes to swoop in and save the day, but that's only IF Tatanga hasn't dealt with him by that time," Doopliss commented.

"Alright, let's stop talking about this depressing topic of how Roy is screwed and get to the plan. What are we doing right now?" Diddy asked urgently.

"Doopliss is gonna tell Tatanga that Konnor let you two out. While he's doing that, us three are gonna sneak over to the storage room closet in that giant room where the weapon is located. I'll start my spell while we wait for Doopliss. Then, once I'm done with my spell and Doopliss arrives, we all use the teleporter in the storage room to escape and we go our separate ways. Sound good?" Beldam laid it all out to the pair. Mimi and Diddy glanced at each other, then nodded in agreement.

"As good as it'll get! Alright, let's roll!" Diddy demanded.

"Okay. Just wanna say, though, that you guys need to be fast getting to that storage room. The workers are about to take their breaks which is the prime time to get down there without anyone noticing. I'll see you down there! Good luck!" Doopliss stated, then ran back into the hallway to fetch Tatanga.

"He's right. So, stay behind me, stay close, and be quick. This is our one shot to do this, so no blowing it otherwise…death sentence for all of us!" Beldam heeded. Mimi and Diddy nodded again and then the three went out into the hallway and ran the opposite direction of Doopliss.

---

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

"Ah! Oh…" Tatanga yelped, jumping up from the knocks on his door as he was nodding off on his bed. He rubbed his eyes and ran over to the door. He opened it to see a concerned-looking Doopliss.

"Tatanga! Hey, I need to…woah. Slick, have you been sleeping!?" Doopliss said in slight shock, immediately noticing the alien's eyes looking pretty red and heavy bags under them.

"How can I fucking sleep!? The weapon is about to be finished! Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for is about to fucking COME! I'm mentally going through everything I need to do once that thing's done. Everything has to be planned accordingly otherwise it'll be all for NOTHING! Months and months of hard work down the drain! It can't go wrong! It just can't! YOU KNOW!?" Tatanga frantically yelled as he quickly paced around the room, throwing his arms everywhere in total stress. Doopliss was a little freaked out by Tatanga's hysterics.

"Well…alright. Yeah. I see," Doopliss commented, trying not to smirk, realizing that Tatanga's crankiness could probably help in the plan. "Anyways, I REALLY need to talk to you about something urgent. It's about Konnor. Did you tell him to let out Diddy and Mimi from their cells!?"

That sentence made Tatanga freeze in his pacing and he darted his head at Doopliss, totally thrown for a loop by that surprising sentence.

"Uhh, WHAT? Excuse me!? Repeat that for me because…HUH!?" Tatanga yelled.

"Konnor. I was walking down the hallway and I saw him letting Diddy and Mimi out of their cells! I asked him what the hell he was doing and he yelled at me saying to mind my own business. So, I ran here to figure out what exactly he's doing with them!" Doopliss explained. Tatanga looked beyond confused at this.

"WHAT THE FUCK!? WHY IS HE…GRRRRRRRRR! SHOW ME!" Tatanga shouted and stormed out of his room and down the hallway. Doopliss quickly followed him, unable to help but smirk at the alien's anger.

The two reached the cell room and Tatanga dropped his jaw at the sight of the two empty cells.

"WHAT!? AND YOU SAID KONNOR DID THIS!? THAT LITTLE…FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! THAT IS THE LAST FUCKING TIME I EVER TRUST AN OUTSIDER! SHOULD'VE LEARNED MY LESSON WITH ROY!" Tatanga screamed, turning red and stormed back into the hallway.

"Wait, Tatanga! What do you need me to do!? How can I help!?" Doopliss asked.

"Tell the other koopatrols to be on the hunt for Konnor! Let everyone know he's that koopa that came in a few days ago, so they'll know exactly who to find. I'm gonna go…devise a plan real quick…" Tatanga ordered, then stomped back towards his bedroom.

"Roger that. I'll let Beldam know too!" Doopliss shouted, smirking again at how the plan was working so far. Doopliss ran down the opposite way.

---

"Quickly! I don't think we were seen…" Beldam hurriedly spoke as she held the storage door open for Diddy and Mimi, both of whose adrenalines were a little high at the excitement and desperation to finally be out of the forsaken island.

"Alright, Beldam, we're here now. Go and do your thing!" Diddy said with full eagerness to leave.

"Alright. I'm gonna start chanting my spell. I need total silence so I can completely focus…here we go…" Beldam replied, cleared her throat, took a deep breath in then out, and then began chanting as she held her hands out, "Magics of the gods, hear my plea. Repair this machinery to set us free. With power and control that I may borrow, let me utilize it to bring us tomorrow! DII, AUDITE ME! ADFER MIHI MAGICAM QUAM QUEARAM! TU UNICA SPES NOSTRA ES!"

A bright, blue light formed from Beldam's hands and it got bigger and bigger in a matter of seconds. The ball of light then shot at the wrecked teleporter and a bright flash filled the room, blinding the three briefly. The flash then went away and they slowly opened their eyes to see that the teleporter was fully fixed and looked functional.

"Woah! Hey! You did it, you fixed it! Thank you!" Mimi cheered. Beldam laughed a little then fell to the floor.

"Beldam! Are you okay!?" Diddy yelped and he and Mimi went to her aid.

"Yeah…I'm fine…I just don't usually do spells like that…so…it takes a lot out of me…some magic tricks aren't as easy as people think…" Beldam exhaustedly spoke as she was helped back up.

The door slammed open, surprising the three in fright. They turned their heads and gave a sigh of relief when they saw it was just Doopliss.

"Well well! Looks ready to go! We better do this now because Tatanga is out for blood!" Doopliss announced.

"Mimi, you go first. Doopliss, help me with Beldam here. The spell she used took out a lot of her energy," Diddy instructed. Mimi nodded and walked to the teleporter as Doopliss took over helping her stand up.

"Damn, slick. Sorry you had to drain yourself for us. You gonna be okay?" Doopliss asked caringly.

"Oh yeah. I'll feel better in a few hours. And it was worth the draining to get the hell out of here. I never wanna see this atrocious place ever again, along with Tatanga's atrocious face!" Beldam spat, making Diddy and Doopliss snicker at her insult.

Mimi pressed the red button on the teleporter and faced the others, "Okay. See you on the other side, guys!" A small flash was seen from the teleporter and then Mimi was gone in an instant.

However, the second this happened, the sound of loud footsteps were heard storming into the storage room.

The three whipped their heads back and gasped when they saw it was Tatanga who was gripping Konnor by the arm. Tatanga pushed Konnor to the ground and then the alien pointed his scepter at all of them.

"I FUCKING KNEW IT! Doopliss and Beldam…oooohhhhh, you blew your last fucking CHANCE! You really thought you could underestimate me? ME!? Hahaha! You guys must have a death wish, because now…you're never gonna leave!" Tatanga yelled and shot a red ray from the scepter. Everyone else ducked and the ray shot at the teleporter, obliterating it instantly. Tatanga shot another ray from the scepter, disintegrating the remaining pieces.

"Tatanga…how the hell did you- OH!" Beldam spoke, but was cut off by Tatanga zapping her and immobilizing her.

"BELDAM! TATANGA…we just…" Doopliss shrieked, his heart sinking as he knew this was the final price.

"Shut it. I found Konnor myself and asked him what the fuck he was doing letting Mimi and Diddy out, only for him to deny everything of course, and that's when I realized something was up. I felt it in my gut. So…I came here and whaddya know, I've got my lackeys trying to escape because they've turned into cowards," Tatanga explained.

"YOU SHOULD KILL THEM! They're ruining everything, Tatanga! Betrayers should be punished! That's why Roy and Dimentio are locked up!" Konnor shouted in desperation.

"Well…it's a shame he didn't kill YOU on the spot. You deserve it the most," Diddy snidely commented, accepting his fate now.

"See!? You're just gonna let that chimp wimp talk to me like that!? I've been nothing but dedicated to your order ever since I got here, Tatanga! GIVE THEM THE EXECUTION!" Konnor screeched, making Diddy roll his eyes.

"Oh, I will. You guys are gonna die in the most grueling way imaginable. You did this to yourselves! Betraying me and trying to make me lose my mind…I'm unbeatable. And you know what? That's fine by me. Deep down, I've always wanted to rule the world just by myself. Looks like that wish is coming true. Thanks for making it happen!" Tatanga said with a pompous snicker.

"Well…I'm just glad Mimi escaped. So our plan wasn't a TOTAL failure," Diddy added with a tiny smile.

"I don't care that she escaped. You bugged me more than she did, so it's no big loss. SAY GOODNIGHT!" Tatanga shouted and shot a white ray at Doopliss and Diddy, also zapping and immobilizing them.

"HAHAHA! Yes! Make their deaths as gory and excruciating as possible! That's what they get for trying to outsmart you, MY KING!" Konnor cheered him on. Tatanga turned to Konnor and stared him down.

"I wouldn't be celebrating if I were you…because you'll be joining them too," Tatanga revealed. Konnor immediately looked and felt horrified.

"W-Wait, what!? What do you mean!? I didn't do anything! I WAS MADE TO BE A FUCKING SCAPEGOAT BY THEM! WHYYYYYYY!?" Konnor screamed in protest.

"Because you're a raging lunatic and I realized that I reeeeaaallllly shouldn't trust outsiders anymore. Sweet dreams!" Tatanga stated, then zapped Konnor as well. The alien couldn't help but laugh at Konnor's surprise reaction.

Meanwhile, at Northern Knight's Castle, Mimi waited in anticipation for the others to arrive. After a few minutes had passed, she realized something went awry.

"Oh no…don't tell me…" she whispered, fearing for the worst. She ran up to the machine and pressed the button.

Nothing happened.

She pressed it a few more times and nothing was working. That's when it fully hit her. Something happened to the others, most likely, they were caught and lost their one shot of making it out.

Mimi choked up and cried a little at their fates, mainly Diddy's. He was so close to returning with her to their loved ones…but it didn't work.

Mimi wiped her eyes with her arms and knew she couldn't stick around and keep crying over this. She still had to get back to the hospital. And so she went, excited to finally be back safe with the others, but dreading to tell them that Diddy didn't make it.

---

"GET IN THERE!" Tatanga yelled, shoving Doopliss into the dark, dank room that Roy and Dimentio were also in. A couple of koopatrols followed and chained up Doopliss to the wall.

"Woah! What the!? What's he doing here!?" Roy shrieked in confusion.

"Little fucker over there tried to escape with Beldam, Diddy, and Mimi. Lucky for you, Roy boy, your little girlfriend managed to escape. But, alas! It'll be all for nothing because she'll either die or be my slave for the rest of her living days, anyways, so…she should enjoy her short 'freedom' while it lasts," Tatanga explained snarkily.

Roy and Dimentio looked surprised at this revelation. Roy couldn't also help but smile just a little at that news of Mimi escaping.

"Wow. So their plan didn't TOTALLY fail then. Must make you feel so irritated that you let one of them slip through, huh?" Roy taunted, his smile turning into a smirk.

Tatanga gave him a fake, mocking smile in return and spoke, "Nah, because I know she's doomed still. Mediocre job at trying to get under my skin, by the way. I would say for you to practice upping your game…but your sorry ass is gonna die soon too, sooooo…no point!"

"Tatanga…agh…w-where's Beldam!? Where is she at!?" Doopliss yelled.

"I have something special planned for her. You won't see her again, though! So consider that back there your final goodbye to your shadow pal, pale sheet!" Tatanga revealed joyously. Doopliss looked at the alien in terror.

"WHAT? TATANGA, DON'T YOU FUCKING PUT YOUR HANDS ON HER! SHE'S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH! LET HER BE!" Doopliss screamed in objection.

"SHE DID IT TO HERSELF! In fact, ALL OF YOU DID IT TO YOURSELVES! So blame yourselves for the shitty situation you're in now. You guys practically cemented your own death by screwing with me. You knew what the penalty was if you couldn't pull off your dumb tricks. So now you'll die in complete shame. And just think…you guys could've had it all if you had just stuck to your allegiance with me. So much for loyalty!" Tatanga ranted condescendingly and then shut the door, leaving the three in pitch black darkness.

"This is…it's really it, isn't it. This is our end. This is how we die. I…I can't believe that THIS is how I'd end up dying…" Doopliss said while choking up.

"What, Doopliss, you thought you'd end up dying of old age? Or death by superhero attack? Please. People like us, our fates are always up in the air because we put ourselves out there to cause wreckage unto the world in the first place, like a…oh, I don't know, I'm too damn exhausted to come up with a simile…" Dimentio commented.

"Shut up, Dimentio. You're just making it worse. I'm surprised he didn't kill you already considering you were the biggest threat AND the biggest annoyance!" Doopliss spat.

"Ooh, did I strike a nerve there? Doopliss…you're just like me. Our loyalties have never lied with someone who wants to be a ruler. You and I were born to be independent rulers, not followers. That's why things went the way they did here. As for you, Roy…you're one of the few in this world that just doesn't fit in anywhere. Your family's mostly to blame for that, though. They let you down big time!" Dimentio explained further, irritating Doopliss and Roy greatly.

"Since when did you become a psychoanalyst? Just quit talking out of your ass for once. Bad enough that my final moments on this planet are with you…" Roy spat as well, wishing deep down that his family and the others would come and save the day at any moment.

"Roy…looks like you're the only one here that has a chance of survival. It's a slim one, but I wouldn't lose all hope just yet," Doopliss said in a defeated tone.

"Huh!? Why do you say that for!?" Roy responded confusedly.

"If your family and friends get here before Tatanga destroys the world, they'll definitely kill me and Dimentio…but perhaps not you. They might spare you from getting killed. But it all depends on how much humanity they've still got left in them. We obviously don't know their mental status as of right now, but it can't be all that intact because I'm betting they've had to experience people die right in front of them and doing things they never would've imagined doing before. But you and I, Dimentio, we're done for. It's just now a waiting game for Tatanga to do us in," Doopliss explained, choking up again.

Dimentio didn't respond. Roy took in those words and sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't know. I caused the hospital shooting to happen. I betrayed so many people. I honestly don't deserve to live. By the slim chance that I DO live…I don't know even how I would live the rest of my life, honestly…"

---

Two koopatrols dragged Diddy and Konnor back into Diddy's cell. The koopatrols chained Diddy up to the left side of the cell and Konnor on the right side.

"Since you two detest each other so damn much, you get to spend the rest of your waking moments with each other in this lovely cell! But we're chaining you up, because, ya see, I can just imagine you two killing each other eventually, and that'd be no fun for me because I'M the one who's supposed to kill you both!" Tatanga said cheerily at their torture. Diddy looked livid whereas Konnor was hysterically crying.

"B-BUT, TATANGA! PLEEEEEEAAAAAASE! I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU'RE DOING THIS! I'VE BEEN LOYAL TO YOU FROM THE START! WHY AM I LOCKED IN HERE WITH THIS FURBAG!?" Konnor screeched.

"Because you're an outsider. I didn't think about it at first, but when this whole shit happened with these fools trying to escape, I figured I'd rather just play it safe at this point and kill the outsider as well. Because the last time an outsider joined, I was betrayed big time. I'm not letting that happen again. Deal with it," Tatanga stated. Konnor looked unbelievably shocked and horrified from how selfish and callous the alien was.

"I…I…I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE YOOOOOOUUUUU! I CAME ALL THE WAY HERE FOR NOTHING! IT WAS TO SUPPORT YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU WANTED! FUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!" Konnor angrily screamed at the top of his lungs. Diddy couldn't help but smirk a little at his misery.

"Be a crybaby all you want, it's not gonna change my mind. Anyways! I gotta go finalize some stuff, see you morons later! Because the next time you do see me…hehehehe, it'll be the end for you both!" Tatanga cackled and merrily walked off with his koopatrols.

"Yeah…you should've just kept up your little split personality act and not come here, and you wouldn't be in this position. Then again, at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing you'll die too. So…yeah. Not the worst ending for me," Diddy spat while still keeping that small smirk. Konnor looked at him, seeing red still.

"SHUT. UUUUUPPPPPP! THIS WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO FUCKING HAPPEN LIKE THIIIIIIIIS! UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH! THAT FUCKER! I HOPE HE FUCKING GETS HIS THROAT FUCKING SLIT AND FUCKING GETS STABBED EVERYWHERE IN HIS FUCKING BODY AND LOSES ALL OF HIS FUCKING BLOOD WHILE EVERYONE LAUGHTS AT HIS FUCKING DEMISE! AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Konnor screamed in pure rage as tears rolled down his eyes.

"Wow. Are you done? Seriously…this is so fucking pathetic. Crying over someone who wants to take over the world and is shocked that the villain fucked you over. Just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower…" Diddy commented while rolling his eyes.

"SCREW YOU! IT'S FUCKING BAD ENOUGH THAT I HAVE TO BE IN THIS CELL WITH YOUR UGLY FACE! GAAAAAAHHHHHH! HOW IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!? JUST HOOOOOOW!?" Konnor cried devastatingly with a mix of confusion, still processing being screwed over just like that.

"You're telling me. I'm in a cell with the same guy who got my girlfriend to fall for him, who's batshit insane, and has killed other people. I also wanna ask the gods why the fuck am I spending my last minutes on the planet with some apathetic nutjob…but I suppose we can't always get what we want, can we!? I mean, you…GOD, look at you! Did all that awful shit in the past and expect to get away scot free…you're not invincible. I'll never understand how someone like you can live with everything you've done. The fact that you don't feel an ounce of guilt just shows me that you're truly a monster," Diddy stated, wanting to rage just like Konnor, but just didn't have the strength to do it as the chimp began to accept his final fate. Konnor just shot him a glare as he continued to weep into his hands.

---

ST. TOADOFSKY'S HOSPITAL

Rosalina and Monty appeared in front of St. Toadofsky's hospital. Monty looked at the looming building in awe.

"Woah! It's soooo tall! No wonder why this is the perfect hideout for you guys…" Monty said then looked behind him to see all the abandoned and partially wrecked stores and buildings on the street. "...wow. This looks more desolate than my town does at night. Tatanga really did a number on this poor city! Drove everyone out…well, almost."

"Or killed whomever wasn't driven out. That isn't even the worst of it, though. It gets more wrecked the more towards the center of the city you go. But that isn't our focus right now. We gotta go inside, find my friends, and see where exactly my other friends are. It's not gonna be easy, because I'm sure everyone will be spooked by seeing me again after the calamity I caused. But I need to do this. I can't just sit around and imagine what kinds of trouble they're in after having that 'vision.' I wouldn't forgive myself for it," Rosalina explained and came off clearly nervous.

"Hey. You got this, okay? I believe in you! The 'you' that caused that calamity, that wasn't the real 'you,' remember? Don't let that get into your head. I know, I know, I know, way easier said than done. But your friends need you and this is dire. So let's do this!" Monty eagerly spoke with encouragement. Rosalina smiled at him and nodded, ready to take this task on.

The two walked to the front doors and entered the lobby. They walked in a few steps and immediately, frightened and angered expressions were shot towards Rosalina. Murmurs were heard amongst the people as they watched her walk further into the lobby.

Rosalina's nerves were at an all time high. She didn't want a ruckus to begin because of her presence.

"What on earth are you doing back here!? You should be banned from the hospital because of what you did!" yelled a toad lady, who angrily approached her and Monty. A few shouts of agreement were heard from the other spectators.

"I come here in peace! I know I'm one of the last people that you all want to see, but I need to speak to my friends. Please! Mario and his group that he took with him to retrieve the final gem, they're in grave danger, but I need to know where they went to so I can help them! I'm so sorry for what I've done, everyone, but that wasn't me. I was taken over by dark magics. Nothing like that'll EVER happen again!" Rosalina tried to assure the crowd, but she still saw looks of prudency and people shaking their heads.

"Sorry doesn't erase the fear you brought onto us! And who's to say those dark magics won't take over you again, huh? You use magic yourself! You're easily prone to the dark magics taking control of you!" yelled a noki man, who also had shouts of agreement with his statement.

"Everyone! EVERYONE! I understand the fear! But, right now, Rosalina is the only one who can help Mario and the others, so, uhh, put your hesitation aside and tell us where they went to!" Monty nervously demanded, prompting louder murmurs and disdained expressions at him.

"Rosalina!" E. Gadd called out from the cafeteria and rushed over to her. Everyone else quieted down as he approached her. "Welcome back. You wanna know where they are. Why? What's happening?"

"Hello, E. Gadd. Um, I performed a spell to see how they were faring with getting the final gem. But…something was blocking me from seeing what was going on! All I saw were…um, enemies from our past who we've fought. Trying to really screw with my head. It was quite scary…that's when I knew I had to come back here to figure out where they are, because I KNOW they need my help. Please, E. Gadd. I'm really concerned for their safety! There is something insidious wherever they are!" Rosalina explained in urgency. E. Gadd adjusted his glasses and nodded a little, seeming to understand her plight.

"I see. Yeah…the place they went to…oooooh…by far the most dangerous and wicked place they've set foot into. It's called Blackstone Tower. It's a few miles outside Mushroom City, located somewhat rurally," E. Gadd answered.

"Oh! Blackstone Tower…I don't think that name rings a bell. What exactly are they walking into there, E. Gadd?" Rosalina asked.

"Hold on. Let's gather our group and I'll give you the rundown of what that tower is all about AND everything that's happened since you've been gone…" E. Gadd said cryptically, leading the way out of the lobby.

"Oh no…E. Gadd, what happened while I was gone!? Who died!?" Rosalina shrieked, fearing the worst.

"Heya! By the way, my name is Monty! Rosalina and I befriended each other when she transported herself to my town. I wanna help however I can, if you'd have me! And E. Gadd is such a cool name too. I like your glasses! What do you do for a living!?" Monty enthusiastically (and clearly nervously) asked.

---

Bleck sat up against the door to Kenneth's 'cell.' There was something on his mind about Kenneth that he just couldn't stop thinking about.

"Hello? Is someone there!?" Kenneth called out, hearing the shuffling from beyond the door.

"Yes. It's me, Count Bleck. How are you holding up in there?" Bleck asked. An irritable grunt was heard from inside.

"How the hell do you think I'm holding up? I'm locked in some dirty basement room due to Bowser's psycho children. Not the most ideal situation, clearly!" Kenneth yelled in frustration.

"Right. You do know why though, right? Please tell me you do…" Bleck asked, hoping to see some self-awareness from him.

"Obviously I do! But I don't deserve this treatment! I was planning on leaving here anyways, so this crap is just pointless. They're just doing this to spite me, since they have nothing better to do with their lives," Kenneth sputtered. Bleck sighed a little. Not the total self-awareness he was hoping for.

"Kenneth…you use the most degradable vocabulary when you talk to Bowser and his kids. Hell, I've heard you talk the same way to your own daughter! Why on earth do you do that? What compels you to act so heinous to people who have done nothing towards you!?" Bleck questioned.

"Oh god, why the fuck do you guys keep asking me this!? Does it really matter WHY I do it!? Bowser and his kids have done nothing but cause a bunch of havoc on the kingdom…yet I'M the one that gets vilified for not putting up with their shit? Gee, I didn't realize we were doing a therapy session in here!" Kenneth ranted.

"Stop right there. Bowser and his kids have helped out GREATLY in this whole debacle. They've proven themselves to be worthy allies, especially Bowser. You can have your own opinion about them, sure, but to speak so horribly to them, especially after they've lost some of their family…how could you be so insensitive like that? And why do you talk to your daughter that way too?" Bleck came to their defense, seeing how unfair he was acting about the whole situation.

"Just stop fucking talking to me. I don't have to tell you anything. That's another thing that's wrong with this hospital, everyone keeps wanting to intrude on other people's business. May as well be high school at this point!" Kenneth spat, ending the conversation on his part. Bleck sighed a little again, but his curiosity about Kenneth's behavior grew so much to the point where he wanted to try a spell he hadn't tried in a long time.

"Unto me please reveal…what you keep from what's real…mihi quaeso revela…quid verum te cela…" Bleck chanted, focusing hard on his energy in making the magic happen.

Some seconds passed by, and Bleck assumed it didn't work…until Kenneth began talking.

"I talk to them that way because I'm scared. I don't want Bowser and his family to ruin the relationship I have with Clawdia. This is the longest relationship I've ever had, and it's the most successful. I refuse to let anyone try to affect us negatively, so I put up my defenses to try to scare them off, especially with Bowser's family. I'm scared that Bowser still has feelings for her and may want to try to get back with her. I'm also scared that his kids want to reunite the whole family. So, I talk to them that way to keep a big distance. They are no longer Clawdia's family. Clawdia is mine and always will be. She ran away from them for a reason.

As for Katia…I've never wanted kids. But Clawdia wanted kids with me. I knew it'd be a dealbreaker if I told her no, so I obliged and we had Katia, and then we found out by surprise one day that we were gonna have another, that is, until she miscarried. She gets in the way of Clawdia and I sometimes. Adds some unnecessary stress to our relationship.

I just don't want to be alone. I've been alone since I graduated high school and my parents used me going off to college as an excuse to no longer raise me. I'm kinda glad I was out of there, though, because my dad would always say the most horrible stuff to me and make me feel like I was never doing good enough with my life. He also mocked me for never having success in maintaining a long relationship with another woman. So, I've tried to prove him wrong and find a woman to help me find my way through this hard and insane life, but it was just constant mess after mess with my relationships…until Clawdia came. She needed saving, and I was the one to save her. That right there proved to me that it was fate that brought us together," he spoke monotonously. Bleck was shaken from hearing that depressing info.

"What in the world…why in the hell would you be scared of Bowser and his kids taking Clawdia away from you!? I feel like they've been perfectly clear that they don't want her back in the picture! Except for Bowser Junior…but he has the right to want to connect with his birthmom. As for Katia, god, that is sick! You not wanting kids, but only doing it so you won't be alone, that's so selfish! No child deserves to have a parent that never wanted them in the first place. What a shame…I'm so sorry your parents deserted you when you were younger, but not wanting to be alone is no excuse for what you're doing.

But now I understand this relationship. Clawdia needed saving. She needed an excuse to run away from her family and start a new life, a life that she no longer desired. So she ran into you…and you 'saved' her from that life. That…that's certainly…a questionable way to begin a relationship…" Bleck commented in disgust, almost wishing he had never done that spell, not just because of the abhorrent info that was spilled, but because he forced Kenneth to do it in the first place. He felt a little disgusted with himself as well.

The spell wore off as Kenneth shook his head and gasped, "What…huh!? Hey, h-how…what the fuck was that!? Why did I just say all that!? It's like something took over me and…hey! HEY! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!? YOU DID SOMETHING THAT MADE ME SAY ALL THAT!"

Bleck got up to go leave, feeling bad that he did the spell and wasn't even sure of what to say to Kenneth, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Tippi and the others head down into the basement.

"Oh! H-Hey, what's going on? We having a meeting?" Bleck shakily asked.

"Yes, Blumiere. Rosalina is back…" Tippi responded and gestured to the stairs. Bleck looked up and saw Rosalina at the top heading down slowly, her locking eyes with him.

"Hello, Bleck. I know this is a big surprise seeing me…" Rosalina said nervously.

"It is. But, um, yeah, just follow us into our meeting room here…" Bleck stammered a little, not sure of what to say to her in that moment.

"HEEEEEY! WHO ELSE IS THERE!? LET ME THE FUCK OUT ALREADY! THAT BASTARD MUST'VE DONE SOME MAGIC SHIT ON ME!" Kenneth roared, startling the others.

"Woah, what's up with him this time?" E. Gadd asked.

"I'll, err, tell you about it in the room…" Bleck said in a sad manner.

---

Bleck, Tippi, Toadsworth, Toodles, Fly Guy, Petey, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Kody, E. Gadd, Rosalina, and Monty Mole entered the hidden meeting room. E. Gadd gave Rosalina the abridged rundown of everything that happened since she left.

"...so, everyone here has been more on edge than usual and the others are at this Blackstone Tower to get the final gem, but I also feel in my gut that it'll be the hardest trial they'll face yet. What with them facing their past demons and traumas, and with that old dragon likely still in there…" E. Gadd explained the story of what occurred at the hospital from the time Rosalina left till now.

Rosalina was deeply stunned at all that insane info she just received, as was Monty, although Monty was more confused than stunned. The room was awkwardly silent, as everyone else was waiting for her to say something.

"Goodness. All of that happened when I was gone…I…god…I don't even know what to say to that…" Rosalina said, still processing it all.

"I do! I'm surprised you guys are keeping it together as well as you all are right now! I feel like most other people would've gone off the deep end and escaped to some other place!" Monty exclaimed.

"Some people actually did! But the main reason why so many people are still here and are trying their best to keep it together is because this place has resources to keep everyone protected and fed. I'd argue it's still the best place to reside in Mushroom City despite all the calamity that's occurred here!" Toadsworth affirmed.

"And, uhh, you are Rosalina's new friend, I take it?" Morton asked, pointing out that Monty hasn't been properly introduced yet.

"Oh! Yes, sorry, this is Monty, everyone. He helped me heal while I was at Fort Koopington. We grew a bond very quickly and he's been nothing but considerate and giving towards me. He also really wanted to come help out with everything, and so he'll be joining us…if that's okay with you guys," Rosalina formally introduced with Monty waving a friendly hand towards the others.

"Of course it is! A friend of Rosalina is a friend of ours. Glad to hear you've been of help to her and we're glad you're with us!" Tippi cheered with the others nodding. Monty blushed a little.

"Aww, it's a pleasure to be here! Thanks for having me! And yes, I know what I'm getting myself into by helping out, but bonding with Rosalina really made me realize that this is something I want to contribute to the world rather than just sitting back and letting everything pass by! Ya know!?" Monty cheerily added.

"Aww! I like that spirit! We're glad to have you with us! Welcome to the club, mole man!" Petey cheered.

"Mole man? Really Petey?" Ludwig questioned, providing snickers amongst the group.

"Ha! That's okay. Call me whatever appropriate nickname you want to, I'm not super sensitive about stuff like that!" Monty commented, also snickering.

"So, Rosalina, I take it the plan is to go over to Blackstone Tower and help them get the gem, and potentially defeat the dragon too?" Bleck questioned.

"Exactly. E. Gadd is right that this is the toughest trial they've faced as of yet. At least some of them aren't gonna be able to handle what that tower will present to them as their past traumas. On top of that, with that dragon lurking in there and who knows what else…they ARE gonna need my help. I refuse to just stand by and not do anything to help them. That's why I came back. I know there are people who aren't happy with me being back, but these are the people who I'd do anything to help save. They took me in and befriended me when I was brand new to this planet. I even fell in love with Waluigi…something that I never imagined would happen…" Rosalina explained, getting a little teary-eyed and choked up at the mention of Waluigi.

"We get it. In fact, this is perfect timing because of what's going on with Mushroom Corporations right now. We need you more than ever now, Rosalina. Because the second we get that Crystal Star Rod, we'll need all hands on deck to take down Mushroom Corporations. They are just as dangerous as Tatanga, perhaps moreso because they have more resources. We HAVE to deal with them first before we deal with Tatanga," E. Gadd informed with urgency.

"Of course! Yeah, when you said all that stuff about Mushroom Corporations…wow. I didn't realize they were so sinister after all they've helped us with, but that just means they're good at putting up a facade. I'm sure it'll be easy to destroy them with the Crystal Star Rod, but we can't be overconfident about it. Do we have a plan in mind for how we'll take them down as of yet?" Rosalina asked.

"I'm working on it! But right now, let's shift the focus to getting you over to Blackstone. So, you say you can't warp yourself there because the dark power is preventing you from doing so. Are you able to warp near it at least? Say, like a mile or two from the tower?" E. Gadd asked.

"No, I need to have physically been in that area before to warp myself to it. A meditation spell could work too to bypass all that, but you said it's located in the countryside…unfortunately, that's too vague of a description for me to do that spell as well. I need specifics when it comes to warping myself to somewhere I've never been before so I can visualize it and muster my mind to warp there," Rosalina explained.

"E. Gadd, do you have the map that has the directions to the tower? Would that work instead?" Toodles suggested. E. Gadd dug in his pockets and handed the map to Rosalina. She shook her head disappointingly.

"No. I need a physical description of the landscapes in that area to properly visualize it. This map is just words and has vague drawings of what's over there, unfortunately," Rosalina explained and handed the map back to him.

"Well then! We'll just have to drive you to the spot! The gang took an ambulance to drive over there. We'll have to snag some keys and drive you there too. ROAD TRIP TIIIME!" Fly Guy cheered.

"That's our next best option then! I'll ask the staff to borrow another ambulance, which I'm sure they will. Can you drive yourself there with the map, or do you want someone with you?" E. Gadd propositioned.

"I want someone with me to guide me, just to be on the safe side. Monty?" Rosalina gestured to the mole man with a tiny smile. Monty giddily nodded.

"Oh yeah! For sure! I'm a fantastic driver! Let's hit the road and save our heroes! Wow, that sounds weird saying save our heroes…" he cheered.

"It's settled then! I know you don't need us to tell you this, but please be careful. I know you are powerful beyond means, but still…please be careful with whatever is in that tower," Toadsworth advised.

"Okay, I gotta ask though…Rosalina, will you have to resort to using dark magic if it ends up becoming too much to handle?" Morton asked which prompted some surprised looks and a brief awkward silence.

"Morton! Come on, that's not necessary!" Lemmy grunted in annoyance at his bluntness.

"What? It's something that needs to be known. Like you said…this is the toughest place they've been to. We should know that, if it ends up being TOO tough for you, Rosalina, will you have to resort to the black magics? Because if that's the only way to get the gem…would the Crystal Star Rod be enough to stop you?" Morton questioned with a serious expression.

"Okay, yes, that IS unnecessary and it's also jumping too far ahead now. Rosalina, we trust you to make the right call when or if the situation calls for it. Okay?" Tippi commented also in annoyance.

"We're all thinking it though, aren't we?" Ludwig came for his brother's defense. "Rosalina, we're not saying we DON'T trust you, but we're still getting over what happened when the black magics took over you. We can't help but be cautious."

"Although I wasn't here when it happened, I DID hear of the stories. I'm so sorry your boyfriend was murdered right in front of you. But I can see how everyone is prudent of your abilities after all that," Toodles added.

Rosalina was a little hurt by the concerned comments, but she understood where they were coming from. She made a lot of destruction when she was taken over by the black magics and nearly killed so many of them, and the pain was still fresh.

"I…um…I'll do everything I can to avoid using the black magics. It is definitely possible to destroy a being without using black magics, but certainly harder. But I know better to not go down that route. It's a risk I refuse to take. I don't even know how my other friends will react to me when I get there…but I have to help them.

As for the Crystal Star Rod…yes, that WOULD be enough to stop me. Hypothetically speaking, if I do somehow go down that route again…don't hesitate in using the Crystal Star Rod to stop me. Because that'll be your only key in being saved from me," Rosalina explained, flashing back to the mayhem she caused while being taken over by the black magics. It made her tense up a little but she did her best to hold back the heavy emotions that came with it.

"But, uhh, yeah, that'll be the emergency last step plan! Which won't happen! So let's not think about that happening!" Monty merrily yelled, trying to settle the clear tension.

"Alright, well, if no one has anything further to say about this, let's get one of the cars so Rosalina and Monty can drive to the tower!" E. Gadd stated, but Morton raised his hand.

"Hold on. So, what was up with Kenneth shouting when we were coming in? Bleck?" Morton asked, all eyes now turning to Bleck. He felt a little irritated that he was put on the spot like that, but he knew it was something everyone else was wondering too.

"I…he was telling me about his story with Clawdia. I asked him why he acted the way he does and he pretty much told me that he's very protective of Clawdia and is scared of losing her, so he 'lashes out' at others whom he perceives as a threat to their relationship. He also told me that he never wanted a kid but Clawdia did with him, so he went along with the plan to get pregnant so he wouldn't lose her, all because he doesn't wanna be alone, also because his dad verbally abused him and his parents kicked him out after he graduated high school and cut off contact with him. Yeah, sad," Bleck explained. Expressions and sounds of disgust were seen, along with some eye rolls.

"Uhh…yeah, wow. Not really surprised by that, but geez, that dude is such a miserable lowlife. Boohoo, you don't wanna be alone. Suck it up, bitch! It's called being an individual!" Petey ranted.

"Not surprised either. Although I do feel bad for Katia. Her father never wanted her in the first place, and her mother is an emotional wreck. That'll create future problems for her when she gets older…" Morton commented while shaking his head.

"And are we supposed to feel sorry that he got kicked out? If I talked like that to my parents, I definitely would've been kicked out too! I mean, sucks he got verbally abused by his dad, but he's just repeating the cycle of abuse!" Kody added.

"My god, how desperate do you have to be to remain with someone after all those years? He must be loaded. Or the lovemaking must be THAT good!" Toodles scoffed. A few snickers were heard after that.

"Ooooookay, I think that's enough now, Rosalina's gotta get going before any more time is wasted!" Toadsworth hurriedly said, rushing everyone out of there. The group started to leave, murmuring amongst themselves while Tippi stayed behind with Bleck to speak with him privately.

"So…Kenneth just told you all of that on his own? Completely willingly?" Tippi questioned the legitimacy of someone like Kenneth just revealing his backstory like that so easily.

Bleck sighed frustratedly, knowing he couldn't lie to her. "No, I used a reveal spell to get him to spill on how he acts the way he does. I was so curious as to why he's so vicious to everyone and his own daughter, it just didn't make any sense to me why he would behave in such a way at such a vulnerable and dark time."

"WHAT THE!? Bleck…you FORCED him to say that!? You can't just do that on any person! I know that guy is a complete bastard and all, but that's not right that you did that non-consensually!" Tippi shrieked.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just…look, I wanted to get an insight from someone who behaves the way he does. It was just weird hearing him say all these atrocious things for no damn reason. Just goes to show you we all have a past and an origin for why we do the things we do…"

---

As everyone exited the basement, Morton, Ludwig, Lemmy, and Kody walked towards the lobby and talked amongst each other about the other situation at hand.

"Alright, now that that's done…next is to take care of the Clawdia thing, right?" Lemmy asked.

"The Clawdia thing!? Oh, you mean the thing where you guys gave her an hour to choose to stay or go with Kenneth?" Kody recalled.

"Yeah, that. And…looking at the clock, her hour is actually almost up, so let's go find her and Katia and see what she decides," Morton responded with a small smirk, feeling a little bit of relief that Kenneth will finally be gone.

"The last time we saw them, they were heading out to the courtyard, so let's check out there first!" Ludwig commanded and the group went forth. As they went down the steps into the courtyard grounds, they saw two figures in the distance at the graveyard.

"Oh! Is that them over there? Kinda looks like them," Lemmy pointed to the graveyard. Two figures sat in front of a few graves.

"Looks like it! Alright, let's do this…" Morton said, bracing for the inevitable emotional meltdown from his mother.

The four ran over to the graveyard and indeed it was Katia and Clawdia sitting there in front of Wendy's and Iggy's grave. The koopalings noticed this and felt odd about why they were sitting there in the first place.

"Hey! Uhh, what are you guys doing right here? By the way, uhh, your hour is up. Time to choose!" Lemmy nervously spoke, feeling choked up a little by the sight of his siblings' graves.

"Oh! It's…it's already been an hour, hasn't it…" Clawdia replied sadly.

"Mom wanted to see Wendy and Iggy one last time before she made her choice," Katia said, looking to her mom, ready for her to make the call.

"Oh? Sounds like you're gonna leave with Kenneth then?" Morton presumed. Clawdia nodded a little and began to weep a little.

"Yeah. We're gonna leave with him. And like Katia said…I wanted to see these two one last time before we go…I, um, I know I've said it before about how I made the biggest mistake by leaving you all…but I still love and care for you guys. I really do. It truly breaks my heart that Wendy and Iggy are gone forever, and that Roy decided to join Tatanga's side. Your father is so strong to handle all of that…he truly was meant to be a king. Really! Anyone else would've gone so far insane that they couldn't handle the next thing life threw at them.

But…we've done enough damage here. This isn't our place to reside, because all it's been doing is giving you guys more grief and stress. You guys are the last people to need that right now. I really am sorry for all the pain that Kenneth and I brought onto you…I wanted it to work…but I suppose that was just foolish of me to even think that," Clawdia explained as she stood up and wiped her eyes, looking at her kids sincerely.

"You're right. We don't need to deal with that, especially now. And yeah, our father IS incredibly strong. Just sucks that he had to go through so much bullshit to get to that point…" Ludwig affirmed.

"You have a right to miss Wendy and Iggy…and Roy. You're still our biological mom, whether we like it or not. But, we've reached our breaking point with all this family drama nonsense. You made your choice now. We'll walk you out," Morton stated, suppressing his emotions at that moment since he wanted to cry from seeing the graves again.

"Wait. C-Can we please gather some stuff for the road? Like, uhh, food and drinks? It'll be a long way to the lakehouse, and I don't want us to go there empty-handed…" Clawdia said while still wiping her eyes and grabbing hold of Katia's hand, who also looked pretty sad.

"Of course. Grab whatever you need. We'll wait for you guys in the basement," Morton responded, feeling for her pain just a little.

Clawdia nodded and off she and her daughter went back to the hospital. The four koopas saw them off and slowly followed them back in.

"God. How tragic. She doesn't even see how horrible Kenneth is. I can't imagine living the rest of my life with someone like that…" Ludwig commented.

"I think she does see it. She just doesn't want to leave because she still sees Kenneth as her savior. Only so much we can do. She has to be the one to pull the plug in the end," Morton replied, hoping very deep down that she can eventually stand up for herself and live her own life.

---

BLACKSTONE TOWER

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me…" Mario groaned, moreso in annoyance than fear at seeing his Underworld counterpart as the shock quickly faded.

"WHAT!? We're back in the damn Underworld!? Great. As if going through that tower of trauma and terror wasn't bad enough…" Larry seethed.

"Uhhhh can someone please explain to me what is going on here!? Why is there another Mario!? And THIS is the Underworld we're in right now!?" Toadette frantically asked, feeling like the odd one out of understanding this whole situation, along with Grodus.

"Yeah, what the hell is this about? Underworld!? You mean to me that that damn tower connects to…A GODDAMN UNDERWORLD!?" Grodus blurted, trying to process this additional craziness.

"Hmmhmm. Of course it does. Why wouldn't a tower of tragedy, trauma, and treachery lead to an Underworld? Especially with all the crap you've all had to experience on your woeful quest…hoo! Nothing should surprise you anymore!" Underworld-Mario spoke while snickering at everyone's confusion or fright.

"Toadette, do you remember us telling you about when we went to the Shiver Region and ran into our mirror counterparts, we were forced by them to go to the Underworld to save their Bombette? Well…this is that," Goombella recalled to refresh her memory. Toadette looked even more freaked out.

"What!? Mirror counterparts!? What the hell kind of quest have you guys been on!?" Grodus shouted, becoming more freaked out by these bizarre explanations as well.

"It's a loooooooong story…and a veeeeeeeery complicated one at that," Yoshi commented.

"Grodus! So nice of you to join the gang on their mission to fetch the gem. I take it you've switched to being one of the good guys in your world? Hmmhmm! Because if that's the case…good thing your body is back, because in here, you're still just a measly head bouncing around!" Underworld-Mario spoke mockingly. Grodus gasped a little.

"What!? I-I don't have my body in this world!? I'M SO CONFUSED!" he cried.

"He's only here because he just so happened to be looking for Crump in that tower while us and the rest of our friends went in to find the last gem. He's NOT a part of us," Goombella clarified, shooting Grodus and the other Mario a death glare.

"ENOUGH OF THIS! Where is Crump with the gem!? We're on a timecrunch so tell us where he went and we'll track him down!" Pauline demanded.

"Calm yourself, tragic tramp. I know exactly where he went. He was in here earlier, running from that dragon that lurks in the tower. Guess he saw it again because he came back just a few minutes ago. He ran this way…" Underworld-Mario gestured and led the way. Pauline became heated and very red in the face.

"OOH, you know what, you are really asking to get your face stomped in! ASSHOLE!" Pauline yelled, holding herself back from attacking him.

"Yeah, you're not doing yourself any favors by insulting us for no reason!" Starlow spat.

"Please. I've had worse done to me. Why do you think I am the way I am here in this hellhole?" Underworld-Mario retorted with another snicker.

"I mean…I'm not sure how you expect us to answer such a loaded question!" Goombella responded.

"Okay, where the hell are you taking us? How far away could he have possibly run off to?" Mario questioned as his counterpart led the way into a forest now.

"The first time he was running out here, he bolted into this forest. And this is where I saw him go again the second time 'round. So…you gonna trust me and follow my lead? Or you gonna search elsewhere for yourselves?" Underworld-Mario answered with an annoyed expression, looking directly into his counterpart's eyes. Mario looked away a little, not wanting to feel the sense of discomfort befall him by looking into his 'evil' counterpart's own dead eyes.

"Fine. Just…go quick, please," Mario muttered. His counterpart scoffed a little at him, taking notice that he was looking everywhere but at him. He continued onward with the rest following him.

The group went deeper into the snowy forest, hyperaware of their surroundings and also of Underworld-Mario. They remembered the last time they were in the Underworld, they encountered some bizarre creatures that nearly killed them, so their guards were up.

A couple more minutes went by and they came upon a rocky-looking hill with a cave in it.

"He went in there. The cave is pretty linear, so it'll be easy to find him…that is, if he chose to hide in that cave," Underworld-Mario spoke, gesturing to the cave. Everyone else looked at each other, nervous and more irritated.

"Great. A fucking cave. Is this the only way in and out?" Larry asked.

"No. There's another exit. Fun fact though…that other exit leads to where you guys were last time you were here!" Underworld-Mario answered then formed a wicked grin. Everyone's faces fell into horror, especially Yoshi's.

"WHAT!? N-No! How is that possible!? That can't be! You're just trying to mess with us! Where we're at right now…we're not anywhere close to the Shiver Region! STOP THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW!" Yoshi screamed and began to shake as memories of going into the Underworld's version of the Crystal Palace began flooding back to him.

"Oh my god! This was a fucking trick, wasn't it!? Why am I even surprised!? YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Pauline screamed and threw a punch at Underworld-Mario's face.

"AGH! WHAT THE FUCK!? JUST LISTEN TO ME FOR ONE DAMN SECOND!" he yelled, holding his nose which was now starting to bleed.

"Why should we listen to you if none of this is making any sense so far!? There's no way Crump ran THIS far from the tower!" Starlow yelled.

"I swear to fucking God, if this is all a ruse, we'll ALL kill you right here. How the hell are we so close to the Shiver Region!?" Mario angrily yelled into his counterpart's face, grabbing him by the shirt.

"Yeah, I find it a little TOO convenient that that's where we need to go after what happened last time!" Larry added.

"Last time? Uhh…what happened last time? Do I even wanna know!?" Grodus yelped.

"Hrrrrr…just…LISTEN. The geography of this world doesn't exactly match the geography from your world, okay!? If you don't believe me, then go through the cave and see for yourselves! Or you can just waste more of your own time beating me to a pulp! You should be thankful I'm even leading you to where Crump is anyways! I could've easily let you all figure it out on your own!" Underworld-Mario yelled, slapping Mario's hand away from his shirt.

"Yeah, I'm, like, totally sure you wanted to help us out of the kindness of your heart. Not with any ulterior motives. Give me a break. Do you honestly believe we're that gullible!?" Goombella spat, now beyond impatient with this nonsense.

"NO I FUCKING DON'T!" Underworld-Mario screamed, his eyes lighting up in anger. "That's why I'm showing you where he went to! I already know you all could very easily kill me in the sickest way possible, so that's why I'm doing this! But if you don't believe me, then don't go in the damn cave and search for him yourself!"

The group went quiet, realizing he did make a fair point about getting in trouble if he screwed them over.

"I mean…this is our only lead, guys. We don't really have much of a choice in this matter to look for Crump," Toadette pointed out.

Mario sighed annoyedly, not wanting to admit outloud that it did make sense. "...Okay. But you're staying close to me. Let's keep going!" He then grabbed his counterpart hard by the arm and led the way into the cave.

The cave was indeed fairly linear and also dimly-lit. They could see what was clearly the exit about a quarter mile ahead.

"Ohhhh man…if we REALLY have to go back to that palace…do you remember? Boshi is still there. He's not dead. 'Kalmar' or whatever his name is here in this world wanted to have him as a 'playtoy' with his pet snakes, like he did with Kooplinia…I…I may have to…face him again…" Yoshi spoke with extreme worry as he felt himself choking up and getting panicky. Toadette and Pauline held his hands to try to comfort him.

"Yoshi, hey, we're here for you. Okay? We got you. All we gotta do is find Crump, get the gem, and get the hell out of here. That's it. We won't let Boshi get in the way of what we're doing. Yeah, it's shitty he's stuck down here forever, but there's nothing we can do about it," Pauline reassured.

"What do we do if we run into him, though!? What do we even say!? What if he attacks us!? This whole thing is seriously getting more intense by the second!" Starlow shrieked, becoming almost as panicky and worried as Yoshi now.

"Don't let him get to you, Starlow! Geez. We may not even have to go to the palace itself to find Crump. And if we do, we'll kill whatever comes our way, like we always do. And that includes Boshi if he decides to attack us. But let's only focus on that IF it arises. Okay!?" Larry instructed, wanting to ease poor Yoshi's nerves too, but he could tell the dino was still freaking out about it…and rightfully so.

"I meant what I said back there. I'm not at all involved with Tatanga any more. This isn't some ploy that I've conjured up in order to slow you guys down. I'm done playing the role of some power-hungry guy who wants to see the world go to hell. That's not me anymore. I've changed. Honestly!" Grodus urged towards Goombella, who just rolled her eyes as he was speaking.

"Still doesn't change the fact that you contributed to his cause. Still doesn't mean that we trust you. Once we're all out of that damn tower, you're on your own to go back to wherever you need to go," she bluntly replied.

"I know. It'd be foolish of me to hope that you'd believe me. But hey…with everything we're doing here…I WILL help you guys however I can. Because I wanna see him taken down. He deserves it," Grodus replied understandingly. Goombella side-eyed him, not wanting to make a response.

"And look at that, ladies and gents! The one you've been seeking! Good thing you followed my lead, right?" Underworld-Mario mockingly spoke, pointing ahead to the exit of the cave. Mario peered to where he was pointing at and found Crump sitting some feet away from the cave exit, sitting near a barren tree, mumbling to himself. Everyone else eventually saw him too and then recognized the landscape. It was Shiver Mountain…but of course, no snow was here, so the whole mountain was barren dry too.

"Hmm. Well…thanks…I guess," Mario reluctantly replied and let go of his counterpart to go ahead to Crump.

"Wait, Mario! Don't go too fast!" Pauline called out, thinking Crump might freak again.

"LORD CRUMP!" Mario shouted, startling him. "You have something that we need! The black gem! Give it to me and come back with us into the tower! It's not safe here!"

"HUH!? Ma…Mario…WHERE THE FUCK AM I!? IS MY MIND COMPLETELY GONE!? I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM! NOTHING MAKES SENSE HERE!" Crump screamed erratically.

"Your mind might be gone, yes! But you're in the Underworld right now, which is…well, I don't know if it's more unsafe than that tower, but either way, you need to come with us! We need that gem to save our world! It's the final one we need to get the Crystal Star Rod!" Larry responded.

"Underworld? WHAT!? That's-that's where I am!? God…I've completely gone insane! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME!? I DON'T UNDERSTAND! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP MEEEEEEE!" Crump screamed to the heavens and cried uncontrollably. Mario ran up to him and covered his mouth.

"Crump, for crying out loud, SHUSH! This is REAL, okay? I know that tower fucked with your mind, it did with all of ours, but this is all still real and happening. Please…give me that gem. We'll get you out of here, but you gotta cooperate with us!" Mario instructed, eyeing the black gem laying next to the troubled and shaking man.

"Mario's right, Crump. Hand the gem over. I came to this place to find you! I got your message back at the X-Naut Fortress. Remember that video you recorded? You said you were coming here to find a golden snake relic to sell it off and get rich, so I went from the fortress all the way here to find you because I wanted to re-connect. And here we are. But the main priority is handing the gem over and escaping this godawful place!" Grodus added with a little bit of comfort, which worked as Crump seemed to calm himself a little from seeing and listening to his former boss.

"Grodus…the…video message…on the fortress…y-yeah, that's right. I-I made that for you! Yeah…and you came all the way here…wow…yeah…" Crump responded in a haze, finally piecing everything together.

"Yeah. Wow. Yeah! Okay, reunion time later guys, let's get going now! Because we also need to find my brother and dad and the rest of our friends back in that tower," Larry impatiently spoke, pulling Crump off the ground so he could stand up and get going with them. Mario swiped the black gem and put it in his pocket.

"Woah! Geez, you're way stronger than you look! Damn, kid…" Crump shrieked, feeling the force from Larry pulling him up from the ground.

"Yeah, I still have DK's strength copied in me, so I'm as strong as he is now!" Larry matter-of-factly said with a chuckle.

"What!? You have DK's strength…COPIED? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Grodus questioned, more confused than ever at this point.

"Shit! SHIT! RUN FOR IIIIIIT!" Underworld-Mario suddenly roared, pointing to the sky. Everyone looked up and saw a group of large Swoopula-looking bats flying down to the gang. Everyone screamed and bolted for the cave.

But it was too late.

The bats came in so fast and sneakily that no one could outrun them. Each bat grabbed each person by its talons and flew back up into the air towards the palace. Everyone screamed and tried to shake their way out of the bats' grasps, but they were too strong for them to handle.

Except for Larry.

"LET. FUCKING. GO OF MEEEEE!" Larry roared and dug his nails into the bat's talons and also sank his teeth into the talons, making the bat screech incredibly loud, deafening everyone momentarily. The bat let go of Larry, sending him falling to the earth and he landed in a bush.

"LARRYYYYYYYYY! NO! FUUUUUUCK! LET US GOOOOOOOOOO!" Mario shouted, also trying to shake his way out but also trying to hold on tight to the gem.

No one else could escape. The bats took them to the palace and they flew through a hole in the roof and they landed in a room that most of them immediately recognized.

The bats dropped them onto the floor and they flew back outside. Everyone groaned in pain from the fall and they groaned some more and cried when they fully realized exactly where they were.

"NOOO! We're back in…oh god…" Yoshi wailed, feeling a panic attack coming, as memories of this room flooded in his head again, filling him with great anxiety.

"Well, this took quite the crappy turn. Looks like you're all screwed!" Underworld-Mario yelled with a hint of disappointment.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! WE NEED TO GET OUT NOW, GUYS! WE ALREADY KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE THIS DAMN PLACE!" Goombella yelled on the verge of crying.

"What!? Wait, guys, where are we exactly!? What's in here!?" Toadette yelped, observing the entire room, noting its cracked walls and the mirror floor, along with three White Clubbas who were standing still, staring blankly at the group.

"Damnit…DAMNIT! This is the underworld version of the Crystal Palace. This is where we had to sacrifice Boshi in order to escape back into the Mirror World. We need to go NOW!" Mario commanded and led the group to the double doors. He flung them open and was about to run out, but he saw a familiar figure in the doorway that made him nearly fall over in fright.

"WOAH! WHAT…B…Boshi…" Mario loudly stammered with the others standing there frozen in shock at the sight of seeing the blue dino again after the madness that had occurred there.

"What the fuck!? WHAT THE FUCK!? Why are you all back here!? I assume it isn't to get me the hell out of here!?" Boshi yelled in a mix of anger and confusion. Yoshi lowered his head and stepped away from his line of sight.

"No. That wasn't our plan. We came here looking for the last gem. We found it, but…we were captured by those damn bats.." Pauline replied, unsure of what else to say to him.

"The last gem was here!? IN THE UNDERWORLD? How'd you guys even get back down here anyways!?" Boshi questioned, noticing Yoshi was hiding from his view, then he noticed Grodus and Crump. "And, uhh, also, who the hell are you two!?"

"Look, we don't have time to explain right now! We need to GO!" Mario demanded and was about to bolt again, but another thing happened that stopped them.

"Stop right there," said an all too familiar voice that echoed throughout the room, sending chills down everyone's spines. They all slowly turned around to find that it was the Underworld-Kalmar entering the room with his two large pet snakes.

"O-Oh my god! What the fuck is that thing!?" Crump shrieked.

"Good god…this is the kind of stuff you guys fought on your adventure…" Grodus whispered in both horror and awe.

"What the!? I-Isn't that a Star Spirit, Mario!? But he's evil in this world!?" Toadette questioned, shaking at her knees now.

"Yes. Exactly. He runs this palace in this world. We ran into him last time we were here. He was the one that forced us to make the sacrifice…" Mario spoke defeatedly, wanting to cry since this was yet another obstacle they all had to endure now and that time was running out.

"Hoohoohoo…yesssss…you guys made a veeeeeeeery big mistake coming back into the Underworld! Now I can have more toys to play with!" Underworld-Kalmar snickered in delight.

---

Peach, Luigi, Mona, Koops, Vivian, Kooper, and Bowser Jr. entered the giant, church-looking room. There were long seats on both sides of the room with a walkway in the middle and an altar at the end of the room with a stone statue of a large black diamond in front of a larger stained glass window. The room was dimly-lit and everything looked incredibly dilapidated and rotted as if it was a few centuries old.

"Woah! What the hell!? Uhh, so…did this tower used to be a place of worship or something?" Mona asked, looking everywhere.

"Must've been, I guess. But to worship what? The dragon? Or something else entirely? Because it sure as hell isn't some typical holy ground!" Kooper added, as he and Vivian brought Koops over to the dusty and dirty wooden seat to sit down so he could rest his legs.

"Ooh…okay…so, uhh, I see the gem in the back there. Obviously it's just a statue of the gem, but I'm wondering if it's in here somewhere or if there's a clue that could point to where it could be located," Koops said as he settled himself on the seat and rubbed his leg.

"Good idea! Let's look around for anything that catches our eye!" Peach commanded and the group split up to search the giant room.

"Hey you. How are you holding up there?" Vivian kindly asked to Koops, kneeling down to him. Koops looked at her and smiled a little.

"Hey…been better, of course. Still wrapping my head about what I saw back there, in that room," Koops replied, shivering at the horridness he witnessed.

"Right. Sorry, yeah, that was a dumb question. Definitely awful that we had to go through our worst moments from our past…I'm really trying my hardest to not let it get to me, but this place is just so sinister and wants to break us down…no wonder why we saw so many dead bodies back there," Vivian spoke as she nervously tugged at her hair a little, suppressing the thoughts from that room.

"Not a dumb question. I appreciate the checking in on me. But yeah, I agree, I saw my past…stuff from my past that I tried soooo hard to forget, but then that just brought everything back to me. I fucking hate it. Makes my head wanna explode. Then I saw my dad…for a moment, I was actually so happy to see him. Because it was just SO real, you know? I haven't seen him in months, and…gosh…he…um…I was back at the hospital and he was there…b-but then he jumped out of a window for some reason…and I followed him down. That's how I hurt my legs. He was the last person I ever wanted gone from my life a-and this place knew that. It knew I'd follow him down. I, um, j-just wish he was here right now, you know? He always knew how to make me feel better. He was someone I could always lean on whenever I had tough times," Koops said while sobbing and shaking a little. Vivian touched his shoulder and sobbed a little with him.

"I'm so sorry you saw all that, Koops. Your father is such a great man! When we get done with all this, you and your father will be reunited and you will be closer than ever. I know it! Because I get the feeling that after everything, you might wanna move back to Petalburg at least temporarily, maybe?" Vivian guessed.

"Heh. You got that right. The main reason why I moved to the city was because I wanted to be closer to my friends and because Koopie and I wanted something new in our lives. So sad to see how so much of that changed so quickly…" Koops affirmed and looked down, sobbing a little more at the mention of Koopie.

"Yeah. In that room, I saw my sisters. They were antagonizing me over one mistake I made a few years ago. God, I haven't felt SO angry like that in so long. I just can't consider them to be my sisters anymore. I can't. I'm nothing like them. I may be a shadow siren, but that doesn't mean I have a heart of ice like they do. I was so gullible to believe they actually changed for the better," Vivian said while shaking her head in disappointment.

"Hey, you're not gullible. You ARE right about one thing, though: you don't have a heart of ice like them. It's a heart of gold," Koops complimented with a smile. Vivian couldn't help but smile back at him and also blush a little.

Bowser Jr. crouched down to see if there was anything out of the ordinary beneath the seats, but nothing was seen. He got back up to see Mona staring at what looked like a tall painting on the wall that he hadn't noticed when he first walked in to the room. He walked closer to her to get a better look at the painting. It looked dusty and dilapidated much like the room, but he could still see a depiction of what looked like a large group of people in what looked like a throne room throwing their hands up in the air at a black dragon hovering above them with its mouth wide open, appearing as if they were worshiping and hailing it.

"Woah. Creepy painting! That must be what the dragon looks like," Junior pointed out.

"Sooo…I'm guessing this room was made to worship the dragon, to view it as a deity, because yeah, this does look like a church! But who the hell worshiped the dragon? The people back in that graveyard? Did they just decide to devote their imprisonment to hailing the dragon since they had nothing else to do?" Mona questioned.

"Probably. How depressing, though…stuck in some creepy tower that forces you to face your past…and you gotta devote the rest of your living days to the watcher of the tower…" Junior replied in a sad tone as he reflected upon his experience.

"Yeah. But you know what? I'm tempted to take this painting down to see if something's hidden inside it. Help me out here!" Mona commanded and the two carefully took the painting down from the wall and set it on the ground, then flipped it around. Nothing behind it. Mona shook the painting to see if something indeed was hidden inside, but no sound was heard. She sighed and threw the painting against the wall.

"Well. Was a long shot anyways!" Mona scoffed, making Junior chuckle a little, then his expression turned sad again.

"Hey…um…I gotta ask you something. You probably don't know the answer to this, but, um, what we went through back there, in those rooms…um, I know we had to face our past and stuff. But, uhh, was all that ACTUALLY our past? Like, was our past mixed in with some lies to drive us mad?" Junior asked nervously. Mona noted his worried expression.

"Oh! Uhh, yeah, most likely. I think. Sorry, yeah, you're right I don't know the answer to that…but MY guess is that, yes, what we saw from our past, not all of that actually happened in our past. I think it was just something from the influence of the tower trying to drive us mad and have a higher chance of killing us. That's what my opinion is," Mona answered, flashing back to seeing a scorched Wendy and having to kill 'Wario' in her room.

"Right. Yeah…I just, um, I-I saw something back there that, um, there's just no way I could've remembered happening. I saw myself when I was three months old. My mom and dad were there. They were talking about how I looked so much like my dad. But then…uhh…th-then they started talking about how annoying and useless I would grow up to be and that they wouldn't want me as a part of the family. There's-there's no way that actually happened, right? That conversation never happened in real life!? It was just the tower messing with my head!?" Junior frantically asked while sobbing a little. Mona felt deeply for him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Oh no, sweetie, there's no way that actually happened! Don't take what you saw seriously. Yes, it IS just the tower messing with you. There is no chance your mom and dad actually said something like that about you. I can tell that they love you so much and that they'd do anything to protect you," Mona assured kindly. Junior nodded and sniffled.

"Thank you. I, uhh, I know they would never say that, I just…I needed to hear it from someone else that-that never actually happened. Because I'm letting it get to me! I-I know I shouldn't but it's so hard and scary and confusing and…I-I just want my dad and brother!" Junior full out cried and Mona hugged him, crying a little herself.

"I know. It's ok to be scared and confused right now…but we got you. Okay? We got you," Mona whispered caringly, while also reflecting back on her experience. She still felt horrible and beyond guilty for setting ablaze Bowser's basement. She wasn't at all surprised that she'd have to face that again. This bonding moment with Junior made her feel even worse for the crime she committed since they could've easily perished had things gone worse that night.

Peach quickly walked to the other end of the room where the stone statue of the black gem lay. She glanced at it, then walked behind it to the window. It was a star-shaped window that looked out over the countryside of where the tower lay, along with overseeing the vast hills and Mushroom City in the far distance.

Luigi walked up to the window next to her and spoke, "Look at that. It's actually kind of beautiful seeing it from here. That's what we have to save. I know we will, obviously, but this is really something that can't be tainted by Tatanga. He'll turn this world into something so miserable and ugly. Just like this tower!"

Peach nodded a little then turned around to face him and leaned her back against the wall. She replied, "Yeah. So beautiful…umm…I saw things from my past that I tried so hard to forget. But I noticed that this tower is, like, making me second guess myself as being deserving of the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. That's what I noticed when I went into my room. But, um, do you think I deserve to be the kingdom's princess, Luigi? After everything that's happened here? Not just with Tatanga, but…all the stuff before that. Like when Bowser was doing his schemes. I could've prevented it from happening…but I didn't. It just…makes me wonder if Mario got tired of saving me constantly. Gosh. If anything, HE deserves to be the sole ruler of the kingdom!"

Luigi looked at her sympathetically and said, "Oh, of course you're deserving of being the princess! Not even a question. Peach, look, you have something that so many other countries and kingdoms don't have: and that's pure kindness, you know, being a pacifist. That's who you were born to be! The Mushroom Kingdom has a high quality of life in part to you and your royal family's contributions! As for Mario…that's also who he was born to be. Saving the day. And I know he's SO passionate about caring for other people and being selfless. That's why you two are the perfect match! You both have hearts of gold and so many of us see that. It's also why I get why Mario wanted to go solo sometimes when he needed to be a hero; he'd never forgive himself if I came with him and something bad would happen to me. I didn't like that I had to stay behind sometimes, but like I said, I get it."

Peach smiled a little at him as she cried a little. She brushed away her tears with her hands and chuckled nervously, "Thanks, Luigi. That helps a little. I, um, gosh, ugh, I'm so sorry! I'm worrying about myself when the focus should be on finding our loved ones. I know Mario and Daisy are still alive, I can feel it, but it's a race against time right now…"

"Don't be sorry. We had to go through something that really messed with us, unlike anything before. I, uhh, saw some stuff back there I also forgot about or hoped I never would experience again. But, I don't wanna talk about that right now. I'll save my venting session for another day," Luigi stated as he felt himself very tense from revisiting his past and looked away from Peach, clenching his fists.

"Hey, guys? Look here. On the bottom of the statue…there's like a dial here, I think? That's what it looks like…I'm touching it right now, I can't push it in, but it looks like I can turn it. what do you think? Should I try to turn it?" Kooper loudly asked, grabbing everyone's attention. Everyone else walked over to him to see what he was talking about. They saw the dial, it was star-shaped and it jutted out from the statue.

"Huh. That's weird! I'm curious to see what happens when you turn it…but I'm also scared as hell. I hope it won't mean an automatic death sentence for us!" Mona yelped.

"Yeah, but we're stuck right now trying to figure this place out. I say…go for it. Turn it," Luigi commanded.

"Oh god…everyone, brace yourselves then!" Koops shrieked.

Kooper nodded and slowly turned the star dial as everyone's heart began to race in fear for what insanity could happen. He turned the dial 180 degrees with the tip of the 'star' facing down now and a loud clicking sound was heard.

Then, a loud thudding sound was heard from beyond the room, almost like an earthquake. Everyone was on edge and went into a panic from the sudden sound. The painting fell face down, creating a louder thud, which made the others jump. The 'earthquake' noise lasted for about a minute. Then silence.

"What…what happened!? What was that noise!? Where'd it come from!?" Junior questioned frantically.

"Let's, um, go back into that room to see what happened. I have a feeling that noise came from in there," Vivian nervously spoke.

"But what was that other noise!? It sounded like something fell in here!" Kooper yelled.

"It was the painting I was looking at with Mona. Over there…" Junior pointed to the fallen object.

"Painting? There's a painting in here? Let me see this…" Luigi said then ran to it with the others right behind him.

Luigi flipped the painting over to see the front and gasped when he saw the depiction of it. The others also gasped or shrieked at what they saw.

The painting was upside down. Now, it actually looked like there were the prisoners falling into the mouth of the dragon.

"Woah. Th-that's the dragon of the tower, isn't it? God…and whoever painted him shows him about to devour all those people…" Koops said in discomfort, flashing back to when the dragon named Hooktail who lived near his hometown of Petalburg had devoured his dad. Although his dad survived Hooktail's devouring, he knew this dragon was going to be a hundred times more sinister and stronger.

"Oh my god…so, this picture is upside down. When I first saw it rightside-up, it looked like the people were hailing the dragon. But…holy shit, upside down, it looks like they're falling into his mouth…" Mona revealed in horror at this eerie change of perspective.

Kooper ran for the door, not wanting to waste any more time despite also thinking that it was a creepy coincidence that the painting looked like that upside down. He threw open the door and ran back into the 'graveyard' room…only to find it completely changed. He let out a loud gasp as the others followed him in.

The gravestones and skeletons were now the ceiling, along with the statue of the dragon that was now pointing downwards to what was now the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL!? That star thing must've somehow made the room turn upside down!" Junior shrieked.

"Woah…but why!? What purpose would flipping the room upside down do!? Is the rest of the tower flipped upside down too!?" Vivian added.

Mona slowly stepped forward, noting that the 'ceiling floor' was of black stone. She looked up, seeing the dragon statue now pointing downward and realized that directly below the statue was a spot on the 'ceiling floor' that looked different from the rest of it. Mona knelt down to the spot and saw a small black handle, then saw that the 'spot' was a small door that led down.

"Guys! Over here, there's a way out!" Mona called out, getting the others to quickly head over. Mona pulled on the handle and opened the door all the way. The gang looked down and saw what oddly looked like a cafeteria room. Standard cafeteria tables and benches were everywhere, but they all looked like it had been scorched and were clearly dilapidated.

"What the hell!? There's no way that's an actual cafeteria…right!?" Kooper asked in disbelief.

"With how this place has been going so far, it wouldn't surprise me if so! Now come on, this is clearly where we need to go since the dragon statue is definitely pointing to this room!" Mona commanded and was the first to jump down. He landed on the table and took a quick look around.

"Wait! Mona, you see anything!?" Peach called out, not wanting her to rush into going in there.

"Err, not too much. Kinda dark in here. But…uhh…wow, this room looks so much like…no. No no no. Can't be!" Mona nervously responded while observing the entire setting.

"Can't be what? What!? I'm coming down there!" Kooper yelled and dropped down onto the table next. Everyone else came down one by one, with Koops being the last as everyone else caught him in his fall to ensure he wouldn't hurt his leg any further.

Luigi dropped down from the table and examined the dank room. He widened his eyes a little, realizing what Mona was talking about. "Holy crap. Yeah, it looks so much like the hospital cafeteria! But how!?"

"I'd argue it's an exact replica of it! But why are we seeing this? Obviously, there's no logic to having a cafeteria in some old building, so…what on earth is going on here?" Vivian questioned.

"Yeah, and why was the dragon statue pointing to here? I'm guessing something important is in here?" Junior added with a shrug.

"Wait…over there. What's that? Writing on the wall?" Kooper pointed to a set of double doors that had black text over them. They ran to the double doors and Kooper read the text, "TOWER SHOWS YOU TWISTED PASTS OF YOUR LIFE…MAY YOU ENDURE WHAT YOUR POTENTIAL TWISTED FUTURES BRING FORTH"

"Uhh, what? I don't understand what this is saying! Is this like a riddle we're supposed to solve?" Peach frustratedly yelled.

"Hmm…I think I know. This tower showed us a twisted version of our past we had to face. Now…now it's gonna show us a twisted version of our futures!? I think that's what it's saying!" Mona deduced. Everyone became on edge again.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! NO! I'm not going through something like that again! I CAN'T!" Junior cried.

"I don't want to either, but we've got no other choice if we wanna keep going forward to find the others and the gem! It has to be done," Koops said in a begrudging acceptance.

"Alright then. Here we go again…be brave everyone. We got this," Luigi stated and grabbed ahold of the double doors and then shoved it open, revealing a hallway that also looked eerily like the first floor hallway of the St. Toadofsky's Hospital. But, of course, just like the cafeteria, everything looked scorched and dilapidated, and the hallway leading down to where the courtyard would be was blocked off by a purple-ish bubbling mass. Everyone walked to the mass in curiosity, disgust, and fear.

"What the hell is that supposed to be? I take it we gotta find a way to get through that," Kooper said.

"Eww, is it alive? It's pulsating…" Mona commented.

"Hold on! There's a paper on the floor here…" Peach shouted, noticing that this was the only object on the floor. She swiped it and saw there was text and a drawing on the paper that resembled something a kid would make. She read it outloud: "Once upon a time there was a forest kingdom with happy citizens, miniscule crime rates, and a thriving economy. The overall quality of life there was perfect. Everything in the kingdom was perfect…except for one thing. There was an ugly, dark building just outside the kingdom's capital city that no one dared to go to. It harbored all sorts of horrible things, the kind of stuff that's from nightmares.

One day, a curious little boy entered the building and never came out. His parents were naturally distraught and tried to gather up their friends and relatives to go into the building to find their boy…but no one wanted to help because they were so terrified of what was lurking in the building. But the parents weren't. They were going in with or without help from the others. They needed to be fearless for their little boy. So, they went to the creepy building and…

Oh! The words stop there. This paper looks like it was actually ripped from another paper!"

The others were just confused by what Peach said, though.

"Uhh…WHAT? I'm sorry, this is just getting more confusing and weird and creepy and…AGH! This place is a damn MAZE!" Junior yelled in stress.

"Well, I definitely agree with that, but we found this 'story' for a reason. The 'building' in the story clearly refers to Blackstone Tower. So…uhh…is it saying we have to find a little boy now?" Koops proposed.

Mona examined the paper, specifically the drawings of the 'capital city' and the dark building. "Yeah. It's based off of the Mushroom Kingdom. The drawings, the descriptions…uhh…yeah, whoever wrote this is describing the Mushroom Kingdom as some utopia. Weird."

"Err, okay? So what are we supposed to do now then?" Kooper asked.

AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHH!"

The high-pitched scream that sounded like it came from a child was heard coming from the west hallway, startling everyone and making them turn in that direction.

"WOAH! Uhhhhhh…sh-should we go down that way!?" Vivian shrieked.

"Y…Yes. This is part of the puzzle. Or whatever you wanna call this. The building is playing with us, so we gotta play with it back. Come on! It's our only chance of getting through!" Luigi ordered with a nervous tone, knowing there's gonna be even more crazy shit they'd have to handle, but as he said, it's the only way they'll get through.

---

"HOW FUCKING LONG IS THIS HALLWAAAAAY!?" Wario screamed in terror as he, Bowser, Daisy, Dixie, Parakarry, Spike, and DK bolted down the hallway of, what seemed like, never-ending cells as the dragon roared and chased after them.

"WAIT, I SEE A DOOR UP AHEAD! DON'T SLOW DOWN!" Daisy yelled, using all her energy to get to it first so she could open it and let everyone get inside safely.

She successfully got to it first. But the door was locked. Daisy felt her heart drop, knowing that they were done for now.

"NO! NOOOOO! GUYS, WE GOTTA BREAK THE DOOR OPEN!" Daisy screamed and started kicking the door with all her might.

"THAT'LL TAKE TOO MUCH TIME! IN HERE, IN THE CELL! NOW!" Bowser roared, pulling open a cell door right next to the locked door, gesturing everyone to come in quickly. The gang ran in, figuring it was the next best option to potentially be safe from the dragon. Bowser closed the cell door and stood by it in case the dragon busted in. He wanted to be the one to try to take the dragon down in case worse comes to worst so the others would have a chance to live.

But the dragon stopped in his tracks as soon as he reached the end of the hallway. Everyone stayed silent, feeling their hearts racing as all they heard was the heavy breathing from the dragon, wondering what the hell he's doing exactly.

The dragon slowly turned its head to the cell, its leering and piercing eyes startling the others and provoking more fear into them. They were prepared for the beast to try to tear into the cell at any moment.

But he didn't. The dragon opened his mouth and made a noise that sounded like a ghastly laugh, then he backed himself away from the cell. Bowser peered out as far as he could and saw the dragon continuing to go back towards the other end of the hallway where they all first came in.

"What the? What the hell is he doing!? What do we do!?" Dixie frantically whispered.

"Is he leaving? Bowser, can you see him still?" Parakarry asked.

"I…yeah. He's going back up into the ceiling…fuck! I can't see anything up there. Who knows how high up the ceiling is. But I think we're okay for right now, unless he's planning a trick," Bowser responded, calming himself a little.

"I don't doubt it's a trick he's planning. We should stay in here for a little while. Good thing for us is that that door is right next to us. We just need to bash it open and we'll be safe. Or at least safer than in here!" Daisy proposed.

"Agh! There are bones in here. Disgusting! So, this damn tower is also a prison and I'm guessing people in here starved and were tortured to death," Wario yelped, pointing to the corner of the cell where there was a pile of bones. The others winced at the site.

"Geez. What other crap does this place have!? How are we supposed to find the others when this place seems so damn massive and we have a dragon hunting our asses now!?" Spike frustratedly yelled.

"He's right. We can't stay in here for too long. We gotta save our friends and time isn't exactly on our side right now. Bowser, you and I will run back out into the hallway and try to bash the door down. We gotta be quick about it. I know it's extremely risky, but we have no other choice at this point," DK stated with Bowser nodding, accepting his potential fate immediately.

"Wait, what's this? You guys see this?" Dixie spoke as she walked to the corner opposite of the bone pile and pointed to the ground where there were some words etched in on the ground. Dixie read it outloud: "CRICKET IS DRAGON'S WEAKNESS. FIVE PEOPLE MUST SUMMON IT IN THE STONE THRONE ROOM BEYOND THE SKULLMAN'S ROOM…HOW?"

"Eh!? What!? A cricket…uhh…as in the animal? That's the dragon's weakness!? A simple cricket!?" Bowser yelled in disbelief.

"Wait a second here. Cricket…hey! Did Mario tell any of you guys about that story of when he, Goombella, and Koops defeated that Hooktail dragon a long time ago? When he was getting the Crystal Stars? Crickets were Hooktail's weakness. So, it makes sense that crickets would be Darktail's weakness as well!" Spike recalled.

"Oh, that's right! I remember that story. So, okay. That's the key to defeating Darktail then. But, uhh, it says 'five people must summon it in the stone throne room beyond the skullman's room.' Soooo…where is this stone throne room, what the hell is this skullman's room, and how the hell are we supposed to summon a damn cricket!?" Parakarry questioned.

"Well, how much do you wanna bet that this 'stone throne room' is where the gem is? Seems like the perfect description for a mystical item to be located in," Wario commented.

"And this skullman's room…sounds like a room with a bunch of skeletons in it. Yikes! Shouldn't be that difficult to traverse a room full of skeletons though. I mean, that's assuming that's what the skullman's room actually IS in the first place," Dixie added.

"I was thinking the same thing. So…alright! Here's the plan, guys. We need to get through that door, so I think we should do what DK proposed: Have him and Bowser bash down the door since they're the strongest here. Yes, I know it's risky as hell, but this is literally the only shot we got at getting out of here. Let's hope we'll find at least some of our friends on the other side…if not that, then maybe we'll get lucky and find this stone throne room," Daisy said then everyone nodded in agreement.

"Hold up here, though. I just remembered that I still have the negate ability from Gekikara. Worst comes to worst, I can use it on the dragon and that'll stop him temporarily…well, hopefully! I mean, I'm assuming the ability will work on an ancient dragon!" Parakarry pointed out, realizing the small chance that it might not work on the beast.

"That's right. Okay, that sounds like a plan! You guys ready?" Daisy asked, looking to DK and Bowser now.

"Honestly, not in the slightest. But I'm gonna give it all I got no matter what," Bowser replied, preparing himself for this deadly deed.

"Same here. Alright…Bowser, on the count of 3, I'm gonna open the cell and we'll run out and bash the door down as quick as we can," DK instructed as he grabbed the cell door. Bowser nodded, getting into a running stance as everyone else's nerves were wracked, not knowing if this was even going to work.

"Okay. 1..

2…

3!" DK yelled and threw open the cell door and the two bolted out of there and the adrenaline kicked in for everyone instantaneously.

The two got to the door within a few seconds and began to punch and kick the door with all their might. Everyone else watched them with tensions incredibly high.

"Come on…come on!" Daisy whispered, while peering out into the hallway for signs of the dragon. Nothing that she could see yet.

"ERRRAAAGH! FUCKING BREAK DOWN ALREADY!" Bowser roared as he clawed, punched, and kicked the door, breaking it down piece by piece and making it come a little looser, but it wasn't happening as quick as he would like.

"Almost there, Bowser, I think…don't stop!" DK yelled as he wildly bashed the door without stopping.

"The second the dragon shows up, I'm going in. Get ready…" Parakarry said to himself.

"Aaaaagghhh….get…the…hell…OPEN!" Bowser yelled and did the final blow to the door, now bashing it open entirely, revealing the way out.

"AH!" DK yelped and spun around, expecting to see the dragon flying at them.

But nothing was seen nor heard in the hall of cells. It was a little TOO eerily quiet.

"What the? Is he…not gonna chase after us?" DK whispered in confusion.

"Well, let's not wait around and find out if he actually is! COME ON!" Daisy yelled and led the way out, everyone gaining some relief that the dragon didn't attack, although it did make them wonder what it's up to now.

The group ran down a long, narrow hallway that had another door at the very end. Daisy reached the door, gripped the knob, and threw it open, ready for anything that could be in there.

What was beyond the door was a tall, wide, and dimly-lit room. On the ground was what looked like dead grass. In the dead center of the room was a big gravestone with writing etched on it.

"Oooookaaaayy….not what I expected…" Daisy said in confusion, walking prudently towards the gravestone.

"Everyone, be on the lookout for anything that you can see or hear. We gotta be hyper-aware of our surroundings every second of the way," DK advised, looking everywhere he could.

"Okay, there is definitely something in this room with us. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks that," Spike said nervously.

"Probably the fucking dragon. Though, I don't know how it could've gotten into this room…but anything is possible with this damn tower," Bowser commented, looking up to see any signs of the beast.

"What does the gravestone say? I see writing on there!" Spike pointed out as Daisy was the first one to approach it.

"Let's see…it says…HERE LIE THE ONES WHO FOUGHT THE REAPER AND FAILED. MAY THEIR SOULS BE SENT TO A PLACE TAMER THAN THE UNDERWORLD," Daisy read out, but then was even more confused.

"Uhh, what!? The reaper!? What the hell!? Is that referring to the dragon!?" Wario yelped, becoming even more scared from that statement.

"Reaper…no…no no no. Skullman. Reaper. As in…the fucking GRIM REAPER!?" Dixie shrieked in realization, startling the others.

"No way! Come on now, I know this tower has a lot of weird shit to it, but there's no way the fucking GRIM REAPER of all things is here too!" Bowser objected.

"Bowser…seriously. We just went through a literal visit to our past traumas and are being hunted by a dragon that's hundreds of years old and is somehow not a pile of bones like Bonetail was when Mario and the others faced him during the Crystal Stars fiasco. And the fact that this place is also connected to the Underworld. I think having the Grim Reaper here, or something that APPEARS or MANIFESTS itself as looking to be a Grim Reaper type of being, isn't totally out of the realm of possibility here!" Parakarry retorted.

Bowser looked at him annoyedly, but also realized he was right. "...I suppose. So. Okay. Say the fucking Reaper of all things Grim is here. How does one kill a Grim Reaper!?"

"I-I don't know b-but I think that's him over there!" Daisy screeched and pointed to the end of the room. Everyone turned and saw a figure wearing a black cloak riding a dark horse emerge from the darkness, wielding a shiny black sword, and ride towards the gravestone. Everyone froze in terror, completely stunned from seeing an enemy that they would never have expected to face before.

EoC.

Happy new year! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well, if you celebrate the holiday. Next chapter, Tatanga serves a special kind of punishment to Beldam, Rosalina and Monty head to Blackstone Tower with a surprise guest tagging along, an anonymous tip makes the hospital staff interrogate E. Gadd on the whereabouts of Dr. Nokano, Mario's group attempts to escape the palace with Yoshi struggling to focus on the task at hand, Peach's group searches the 'hospital' for the child and discovers they're in a 'nightmare' version of the real world, and Daisy's group tries to fight off the 'Grim Reaper.' Next chapter will be uploaded on or before Sunday, February 12. Thanks for reading!