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, Boshi
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
BLACKSTONE TOWER
"LET'S GO!" Mario shouted and bolted towards the center of the room as Darktail flew into the air. He long jumped over to the center, then backflipped into the air in an attempt to kick the dragon's head, but narrowly missed by a few inches.
"Mario, hold on! I'm gonna try something…TIMESLOW!" Daisy yelled, hoping this could work to their advantage. But no. No effect happened, just like with the Grim Reaper. "DAMNIT! Rosalina!? How can you help us out here!?"
"Try to keep the dragon at bay! I have an idea for a spell, but I'm gonna need to focus!" Rosalina commanded and walked to the corner of the stone throne room to begin.
"AAAAGH! THIS IS FOR KILLING MY FRIENDS, YOU FUCKER!" Parakarry roared and did his Shell Shot move, hitting Darktail's head. The dragon made a roar and breathed out a green-ish gas from his mouth as he flew lower to the 'floor.'
"WATCH OUT! It's poisonous! At best, it'll knock you out, but at worst…I think you already know!" Goombella shrieked as she and the others either booked it, or jumped and dove out of the way of the 'gas'.
"GRAH! RELEASE ALL THE GAS YOU WANT, BUT I CAN FLY TOO, BITCH!" Fly Guy roared and propelled his body with as much force as possible into Darktail's neck. The dragon roared again and swiped his claw at Fly Guy's arm, making him cry out and crash into Parakarry.
"OH NO! GUYS!" Bowser yelled and ran over to where he thought they were gonna land onto the ground. Thankfully, he caught the two but the force of them falling made Bowser fall to the ground too.
"OOH! Dad, are you okay!? Fly Guy!? Parakarry!?" Larry yelped, running over to them.
"I…ooh…I think so…thanks, Bowser…" Pakarry groaned, rubbing his shell as he noticed it was now cracked a little.
"Yeah…but Fly Guy? Holy shit!" Bowser shrieked, looking at the deep claw mark in his arm.
"Weeeeeell…shit. Feels like he clawed my whole damn arm off! We don't have any spare gauzes conveniently lying around, do we!?" Fly Guy cried, wincing from the sheer pain.
"Okay, Mario, how the hell are we supposed to fight this thing if it's gonna keep flying in the air like this!? We gotta figure out something QUICK! We can't wait around too long for Rosalina to do her spell, we gotta come up with a backup plan!" Luigi yelled as he and his brother ran to the other side of the room, intensely watching the dragon's every move.
"Yeah, we gotta at least distract it from getting to Rosalina. Parakarry's Shell Shot didn't seem to do much, but if we get more people up there to attack him somehow, we could do some damage!" Mario strategized, trying to think quickly.
"Hey, I have this sword from where we were at. His eyes are gonna be the most vulnerable part of his body, so we need to have someone climb up on him and stab him with it!" DK strategized, showing them the silver sword from the room where he fought the Grim Reaper.
Meanwhile, Peach had dove towards a corner of the room opposite of Rosalina, and ended up scraping her arms a little in the process. She stood herself up, but saw an object a few feet away from her laying against the wall. It looked like a sword, but the tip part was broken off. She examined it for a few seconds, then an idea came to her head. She got out the golden shard from her pocket, and realized that it would fit perfectly onto the tip of the sword.
"What the? Wait a second…that story mentioned 'the golden shard' before it suddenly ended…was it talking about using that for this?" Peach asked herself, then she grabbed the broken sword and put the golden shard onto the tip part, and it clicked together, then the whole sword began to glow a golden color. Peach gasped in excitement at this.
"Oh! This-this has to be the weapon that'll take down the dragon!" she exclaimed. Toadette ran over to her in astonishment.
"WOAH! Peach, how did you do that!?" Toadette shrieked, gazing at the wondrous-looking sword.
"I'll explain later, but I gotta find some way to stab the dragon with this!" Peach yelled, thinking about throwing it and hoping for the best.
"PEACH! Give me the sword, I have an idea! PLEASE!" Boshi pleaded, also running over to her. Peach reluctantly handed him the sword, then Boshi bolted towards Bowser.
"BOWSER! WATCH YOUR HEAD! I NEED TO JUMP ON YOUR SHELL!" Boshi yelled.
"You need to-what!? Uhh, okay!? Boys, stay close to me!" Bowser replied in confusion, as grabbed Larry and Junior and pulled them right next to him.
Boshi did a long jump, then hopped onto the top of Bowser's shell, then made a flutter jump getting as close to the dragon as he possibly could. Boshi made a roar and stabbed the dragon in its neck area with the sword. The dragon made a loud, agonizing roar as Boshi fell to the floor with the now bloody sword.
"AH! FUUUUCK! Oh…a-atleast I got the fucker!" Boshi grimaced from the pain in his back and legs now from the impact.
"ROSALINA!" Grodus yelled as he ran over to her in the corner with Crump. "Sorry to interrupt your focus, but is there any way I can help!? I'm a little experienced with using spells, so tell me what to do and I can try to do it!"
Rosalina opened her right eye, staring intensely at him, then she grabbed his hand tightly which surprised him a little.
"Repeat my chant and stay focused, no matter what you hear going on around you," she stated. He nodded and closed his eyes to focus. She chanted, "Afferte lucem ad bestiam. Stellae, exstingue draconem virtute tua, et dele turrim hanc a maligno in ea residente!" Grodus repeated after her, attempting to drown out the dragon's noises and sounds of everyone else yelling and panicking.
"SHIT, HE'S SWOOPING DOWN! GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!" Crump yelled, getting himself in front of Rosalina and Grodus in case the dragon were to attack them.
"AHHH! OH MY GOD, HIS BREATH! NOOOOOOO!" Starlow screamed, seeing the dragon swoop down in her direction. She ran as fast as she could, but the dragon unleashed another breath attack, the gas swirling and encompassing a portion of the room. Starlow breathed some of it in and she coughed like crazy, falling to the floor and began to heave.
"NOOOO! STARLOW!" Yoshi yelled and covered his mouth to go get her and drag her away from the 'gas.' She still kept coughing and coughing as Larry joined in on helping drag her away quicker.
"Star! STAR! Hey, you're okay! You're okay! Breathe if you can! BREATHE!" Larry pleaded in a panic, as Starlow continued her coughing fit.
"Agh-HACK! Larry…oh my god-HACK! It's…I can feel it in my-HACK! Lungs…am I d-dying!? AGH!" Starlow cried between coughing.
"No no no no you're not! STAY WITH ME! You're gonna be okay, you're not near the gas anymore! You just…you just need to breathe! It'll leave your body, ju-just breathe!" Larry shrilled, on the verge of tears.
"I…HACK! I'm trying…t-to breathe…ooogh…" Starlow muttered, grasping her throat as it was now hurting from all the coughing she was doing.
DK readied himself, holding the sword steady as the dragon swooped closer towards him.
"Wait, DK, how are we doing this!? You gonna throw one of us up there with the sword? That's the only thing I can think of if we wanna pierce its eye!" Luigi nervously asked.
"Are you guys even gonna be able to grip onto his body easily!? That's the part you need to think about as well!" Kooper pointed out.
"He's right, it'll be INSANELY difficult without good grip!" Dixie exclaimed as she ran up to them, then continued, "DK, I have the best grip here besides you, so I've got an idea. I'll grab the sword, and you throw me up when he gets close. Remember, like the time you threw us at Dimentio in Wet-Dry World?"
DK couldn't help but smirk and nearly laugh at that comical memory. "That's right. Those were simpler times. Okay, Dixie, you can do this. Here." He handed her the sword and she got into position as the dragon flew towards them.
"Alright, DK…throw me on 3. 1…2…3!" Dixie timed it as the dragon swooped closest to them and he threw as high up as he could.
Dixie flipped up into the air and used her hair whirl 'helicopter spin' move to carefully and precisely land onto the dragon's body. She gripped her hands on him, realizing she was directly on top of his head and then realized that this was her chance. She crawled to the dragon's left eye and used all her might to lift up the sword and stab him in the eye. She succeeded!
However, naturally, this resulted in Darktail letting out an immense roar that both shook the room and deafened everyone briefly. Dixie screamed, pulling out the sword from the eye as she fell to the ground. She used her helicopter spin hair move again, fortunately making a safe and soft landing on the ground with the sword.
"AAAAHH! Oh my goodness! I-I can't hear! My ears are ringing!" Vivian shrieked, hearing nothing but muffled sounds all around her, gripping tightly onto Koops who had fallen down from the loudness and shaking.
"FUCK! ROSALINA…sorry…gah, sorry! My ears! Feels like they're bleeding!" Grodus yelled, cringing from the earache, breaking his focus.
"Ooh…that was…I felt that through my whole body…" Rosalina said while stepping back against the wall, feeling weak for a moment there.
"LOOK OUT!" Mona screamed as loud as she could, noticing Darktail flying right towards Mario and Luigi, who were both distracted by the temporary deafness and earaches. Mona sprinted over to the brothers and pushed them out of the way as Darktail lunged for them with his mouth wide open, attempting to devour them whole.
Mario immediately knew what just happened and took this opportunity to quickly get himself back up, bolt it over to Dixie, swipe the sword from her, and then ran back to Darktail and did a backflip onto its wings, since the dragon was already so low to the ground. Luigi followed suit and quickly got onto its wings too.
Meanwhile, Daisy grabbed the sword from the ground and immediately had an idea come to her head. "Wait…OH! ROSALINA!" She ran over to the stricken space princess and grabbed her wrist.
"Daisy…wh-what is it!?" Rosalina shakily asked.
"I need to show you something real quick! COME WITH ME!" Daisy urged and pulled Rosalina out of the room.
"What!? Daisy, we need her right now! What's going on!?" Pauline yelled and ran after her along with Spike, Crump, and Grodus. Daisy led them over to the door her group came out of after fighting the Grim Reaper.
"LOOK! ON HERE! See the sword on the door, and the star pattern!? It's the same pattern that's in this room here with the five spots on the floor surrounding the torch and making a star pattern, and the sword has to be the same one as this on the door! What is it telling us!? The sword is in the middle of the drawing, but there's a torch in the middle of the room in the center of the star pattern," Daisy described, pointing out the similarities between the etched drawing on the door and the setup of the room before the stone throne room.
Rosalina looked at the etched drawing, then back at the room, then back at the drawing…then something clicked for her.
"Oh my god…of course! Give me the sword!" Rosalina shouted, then nabbed the sword and ran over to the short blue torch. She stabbed the sword into the top of the torch, then she yelled, "GET ON THE SPOTS ON THE FLOOR AND JOIN HANDS! NOW!"
Daisy, Pauline, Spike, Crump, and Grodus got on the marked circle spot on the floor surrounding the central blue torch with the sword now indented into it as Rosalina stood in front of the torch, closed her eyes, and let out a loud and intense exhale then she began to chant: "Tower of dark, bring unto me the thing that'll spark, the thing that'll turn the dragon upside-down, the thing that'll lead us to the final gem and the CROWN! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The other five cringed and jumped at her sudden shrill.
"Woah! What the hell is happening!? ROSALINA!?" Spike shrieked, hoping she wouldn't go 'dark' again.
A bright flash filled the room for a couple seconds, then on top of the sword handle had appeared a large, golden cricket. Everyone was taken aback by this sudden and random appearance. Rosalina felt dizzy again and had to step back to take a breather.
"What the hell!? A CRICKET!? All that for a…goddamn cricket!?" Crump yelled dumbfoundedly.
"Wait a second here…cricket…OH! I remember now! The cricket is the dragon's weakness! We were given a clue about it in those cells! Remember, Spike!?" Daisy recalled, realizing this was their key to victory.
"Holy shit, that's right! Plus, the cricket was a weakness to Hooktail, this guy's great-granddaughter or whatever, so makes sense that this would be his weakness too!" Spike cheered.
"Daisy, take the cricket! Grodus, you and I need to redo our spell! LET'S GO!" Rosalina commanded and went back into the stone throne room.
Back to Mario and Luigi, the brothers held on tight to Darktail as they carefully crawled their way to its head with Mario gripping the sword tight.
"It all comes down to this, brother! We're so close now…you wanna do the honors?" Mario offered Luigi the sword with a smirk.
"Why, yes, I would LOVE to be the dragon's slayer! Stay close to me in case I fall!" Luigi ordered, nabbing the sword, getting on top of its head.
"The eye is right here, below where my hand is. Drive it in!" Mario said with total hope that this would be the end.
"ERRRAAAAAAGH!" Luigi roared and pummeled the sword into the dragon's right eye. Another loud roar came from Darktail, deafening everyone briefly. The dragon then floated himself up in the air further, then he smashed down into the ground, causing a mini-earthquake…but also caused something else.
"AAAAAAHHH! WOOOOAH! H-HOLY CRAP, THE WHOLE PLACE IS FLIPPING UPSIDE DOWN!" Koops screamed in horror as he and the others slid down the 'ceiling floor' and onto the walls…then slid down the wall and onto what was now the true floor.
"OH! FUCKING HELL! OW! OH NO! BOWSER JUNIOR, STOOOOP!" Wario screamed as he tumbled down the floor and also saw the koopa kid slide on the spikes of his shell straight for him.
"AAHHHH! DAAAAAD! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" the koopa screamed, falling over on his shell and couldn't stop himself from sliding towards Wario, slamming into him all the way down.
"AGH! OH NO, MARIO! HEEELP!" Luigi screamed, the shake from Darktail making him slide down the side of his head. Mario caught his hand, stopping him from falling.
"Ugh! Luigi, give me your other hand! I can't pull you up with just one hand!" Mario yelled, struggling to keep his grip on him.
"AH…I…oh…NO! MARIO, I'M SLIPPING! I CAN'T DO IT! TAKE THE SWORD!" Luigi cried and threw him the sword. Mario felt his heart drop and he began to cry too.
"NO! LUIGI, I…NOOOOOOO!" Mario screeched as Luigi's hand slipped and his brother slipped to the below.
Mario's heart dropped and his mouth hung wide open. His body shook all over from the immense shock and terror of seeing his brother fade away. It was more horrifying than everything he saw in his room.
"Lu…Luigi…oh…no! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mario roared at the top of his lungs, seeing red, and proceeded to stab the sword into Darktail's head maniacally as many times as he could. This made the dragon roar again, but it wasn't as deafening this time around as the dragon stumbled around everywhere on the floor, trying to shake him off.
"HEY, DARKTAIL! FOUND YOUR WEAK SPOT!" Daisy yelled and threw the golden cricket at him with all her might. The cricket made a loud noise upon impact, and Darktail made more of a squeal noise this time as he now scurried and scrambled all over the floor as if he was losing strength in his arms and legs. Everyone moved out of the way so they wouldn't get trampled on.
The shakiness was too much for Mario, making him fall off as well. He yelled as he plummeted below, seeing his life flash before his eyes.
"MARIO!" DK shouted, catching him before he could impact the ground. Mario yelped, feeling his heart accelerate a million miles a minute, as he quickly realized he was saved by DK a mere a few feet from the ground. He exhaled in immense relief and got set down.
"Th…thank you…DK…that was…hell…" Mario caught his breath and rubbed his eyes from crying.
"Hey. You weren't the first person I caught today!" DK said and gestured behind him to Luigi, whom he had also caught from falling. Mario cried in pure joy and ran to his brother and hugged him, beyond relieved that he made it.
The sword had dropped near Koops and he picked it up. The golden cricket had also landed near him, and he picked that up with his other hand.
"Hey! HEY! DARKTAIL! Yeah, wanna know something funny!? Me, Mario, and our friends killed your children! Yeah, Hooktail, Gloomtail, and Bonetail…we ended their lives! And now it looks like you're gonna join them!" Koops cockily yelled and threw the golden cricket as high up as he could, hoping it would hit the dragon's face or that he would accidentally gulp it.
Darktail roared again as the golden cricket hit his neck and the dragon swiped its claws at Koops, knocking him a few feet away and dropping the sword.
"SHIT! KOOOOOPS!" Mario saw the scene and booked it to get him, seeing the large claw marks on Koops' body.
"Ugh…ohhhhh…no…" Koops groaned, seeing the large amount of blood already coming out of the claw wounds.
However, Darktail wasn't gone. He let out another loud roar and dove his head towards Koops. Mario saw this and pulled Koops away as quickly as he could.
But it was too late.
Darktail chomped into Koops' legs, provoking an ear-piercing and blood curdling scream from the koopa. Mario and the others witnessing the scene shrieked and looked horrified by the gory scene as Darktail bit off the lower half of Koops' legs and devoured them.
"NO! NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! KOOOOOOOOPS!" Mario screamed and cried, knowing that this was the end for his friend.
"ROSALINA! PLEASE DO SOMETHIIIIING!" Vivian cried, running over to her and Grodus who had been redoing their chanting.
Rosalina opened her eyes and exhaled greatly, then shouted, "POWERS AND STARS THAT BE, DESTROY THIS BEAST AND LET HIM WITHER UNTO ME!"
Her eyes glowed a bright gold color. Then, everyone else saw the regular sword and the golden sword float in the air close together, then they combined to form one giant, platinum-colored sword.
Rosalina and Grodus suddenly ran at a high speed to the platinum sword. Rosalina grabbed the sword, floated quickly to Darktail, then dug the sword into his side, with her and Grodus actually going into his body. Darktail let out another painful roar, now stumbling and looking as if he was about to fall over. Rosalina and Grodus came out on the other side of his body, the sword and them now covered in the dragon's blood and guts. Darktail now fell over, his breathing quickly fading away and his body slowly stopping twitching.
"Woah. That was…quite the rush…" Grodus commented, feeling the power from that spell all throughout his body but also feeling disgust by having a dragon's insides all over him.
"We…won? He's dead, right? RIGHT!?" Toadette nervously asked, observing the seemingly unmoving body.
"Yes. He's dead. We did it," Rosalina proclaimed, then she dropped the sword and her and Grodus collapsed to their knees, the spell wearing off and thus draining their energy.
However, there was no feeling of celebration, as there was another problem at hand…
"Koops!? Oh god, KOOPS!" Kooper yelled, rushing over to his body along with the others.
"Ah….aaaaaggghhhhh….god…guys…I…I can't ev…en…feel…anything…" Koops spoke while choking up and sobbing, his expression in pure pain and defeat.
"KOOOOPS! NO NO NO NOOOOOO! Oh my god…y-your legs…Rosalina! Can't you do something!?" Vivian pleaded.
Rosalina exhaustedly shook her head as DK helped her up and Crump helped Grodus up. She spoke, "It's too late…I'm so sorry…my magics are drained at the moment…th-there won't be enough time for me to recover and…save him…"
"OH GOD! Koops…no…I don't want you to go…you can't go! Not after everything!" Goombella cried into his shirt, feeling severely heartbroken in that moment.
"I-I don't wanna…go…too…but…it's m-my time…but…we got the…f…fucking dragon…didn't we?" Koops spoke as his voice got softer and slower.
"We did, man. We did. Your father would be SO fucking proud of you, you know that!? We're ALL proud of you!" Spike affirmed as he wiped his eyes.
"Yeah, h-he raised such a courageous man. You helped us with so much, Koops…I'm…I'm so sorry…" Mario wept as he gripped Koops' hand tightly.
"Sorry for…what? Mario…nothing to…be sorry…for…I…d-don't regret…anything…" Koops responded as his eyes began to close and a couple more tears fell out.
While this was happening, Bowser couldn't help but notice someone missing from the group surrounding Koops. "Wait, Junior, where are you!? JUNIOR!? Come to me! Larry, you see him at all!?" Bowser said in a panic, scanning everywhere in the room for his youngest.
"Oh! Dad, over there! By…Wario? Oh no, he looks…" Larry gasped, seeing the bloody sight in the far corner. The two ran over to them and they saw Junior crying over Wario. They gasped when they saw various small wounds up and down Wario's right leg.
"WARIO! My god, your leg! How'd that happen!?" Larry yelped as Mona ran over to the scene as well.
"I-It was my fault! When the room flipped, I-I crashed into him with my shell and now he's…I-I'm so sorry, Wario!" Junior cried devastatingly.
"Hey. Kid…no. Don't be sorry. Blame the damn dragon for this. Okay? Put all the blame and shit onto him. Don't go to that place now, please. You can't do that to yourself," Wario said in an attempt to comfort the koopa kid as he struggled to sit himself up.
"Oh my god, Wario! A-Are you able to stand up at all? Hold on to me!" Mona said and put his arm over her shoulders and tried to get him to stand up. Wario groaned in pain, but Bowser pulled him up before he could fall over and helped him stand.
"OHHHHH, FUCK…agh…damn…I-I can't even feel…my right leg…holy shit…Mona…I'm losing…so much blood…" Wario said, feeling incredibly nauseous and weak.
"W-We're gonna get you help at the hospital, okay!? You're gonna make it, Wario! You won't die! I PROMISE!" Junior yelped through his crying. Larry sidehugged him to try to calm him down as they walked back over to Koops.
"My father, though…he'll be…all alone n…now…please, guys…try to look…a…after him…p…lease…" Koops said, thinking about his dad as he began to see flashes of his life with happy memories of him playing with his dad along with adventuring with Mario and his friends. It made him feel a small spark of joy in that moment.
"Of course. We'll tell him how you fought till the end like a warrior! And that you refused to give up after everything that was thrown at you!" Parakarry affirmed with the others nodding in agreement.
"Yeah! This victory was ours, Koops. We'll never forget all you've done to help us," Larry added, regretting deeply in that moment that he attacked Koops back at the Clearwater hotel in Sonic's world.
"Koops...I love you, man. You've got such a big heart...I'm j-just...glad we got to be at least 'friendly' towards each other before the end..." Kooper said through his sobbing, with the situation hurting deeply since the two just got back onto friendly speaking terms and he deeply wanted himself and Koops to be close friends again.
"Th…ank you…ooh…you guys are…the…best f…riends…I could ever ask…for…ah…" Koops spoke slower and softer as his eyes closed all the way now and his breathing stopped.
"OH! KOOOOOPS! NOOOOOOOO! NO NO NO! AAAAAAAHHH!" Goombella shrilled and cried greatly, tugging at his shirt while Vivian and Spike held her and cried with her as well. Mario covered his mouth as he cried as well, leaning onto Peach's shoulder.
Even though the dragon was dead and the final gem was obtained, the grief and despair still struck the group deeply. For as many people as they've lost, it still wasn't easy going through the heavy emotions that came with the loss of connection to their loved ones.
Something else was happening now as the group cried and mourned. The room got brighter and brighter and there was another shaking motion felt, startling everyone. Eventually, it became so bright that everyone just saw white for a few seconds.
Then they were back outside, in the area right before they went into the tower. Everyone looked around confusedly, but what confused them even more was that the tower was gone now. All that was left in its place was just a large plot of dirt. Everyone also noticed that the bodies of Koops, Luvbi, Lakilester, Jojora, and Bombette were also laid out there with them.
Peach noticed she was also standing on something. She looked down and saw it was a piece of paper. She was confused, but quickly picked up the paper and saw that it had writing on it. She immediately knew what this paper was: the final piece to the story she found in the 'nightmare hospital.' She read it to herself:
…was the key to defeating the dragon. It was a long and harrowing battle, but the golden shard, with each strike upon its jet black body, was noticeably making an effect as the dragon was becoming weaker and weaker. But they needed something more, something to quicken the battle and ensure their victory.
That was when they heard the noise of a cricket. It was coming from the boy's pants pocket! The parents noticed that the noise of the cricket made the dragon flinch. "Son, is that a cricket in your pocket!? How'd you find that!?" frantically asked the father. The boy responded, "I found it when I went into the door with my face on it. It made me feel less alone, and it was so cool-looking too…look! It glows!"
The son showed his parents the cricket. It was bigger than your average cricket and it was of a golden color. It made its noise again, and the dragon made a shriek and flinched once again. The mother grabbed the cricket and ran to the dragon and let it crawl all over it. The dragon shrieked and flinched once more and it stumbled on the ground all over the place. This was their shot to do him in.
After more strikes with the golden shard, the parents' determination and courage were rewarded with the final roar of the dragon echoing throughout the haunted tower before he collapsed upon his dying breath. The battle was over. They won. Their family was reunited and safe again.
Suddenly, everything turned white and they were transported back to the outside. The haunted house is gone now. They could go back to their normal lives and live happily ever after, stronger than ever.
As relieved as the boy was, he spoke, "Mommy, daddy, I'm so sorry I went in there! I'll never do anything like that again!"
"It's okay, Elvin. It's okay. We got you back and faced our fears. This adventure just proved that we're unstoppable and a force to be reckoned with," responded the dad.
"Let's go back home now, and let's live our lives with as much love as possible!" the mom added, wanting to spread even more light after that dark and dreary experience.
And so they did. They went back home and lived their lives with more courage and light and love than ever before.
The end.
Peach gasped a little when she recognized a name as she sobbed. "Elvin? As in…Professor Elvin Gadd?"
"Ohhhh god…Lakilester…Luvbi, Bombette…and Jojora!" Parakarry cried further, seeing the dead bodies of his dear friends, and especially seeing Jojora hit him harder. "I-I'll never be able to tell her how much I regret ending things! DAMNIT!"
"Parakarry…I'm so sorry…" Kooper whispered and touched his shoulder, crying along with him, feeling the devastation also hit him further from seeing more of his friends dead.
"Luvbi…you were the closest friend I ever had...a-and the tower took you away…" Starlow said through her crying and laid next to her body, holding her.
"Mario…hey. The gem in your pocket, it's glowing!" Fly Guy said, tapping on his shoulder. Mario wiped his eyes and took the gem out, seeing that it was indeed glowing brightly.
"What's happening now? Rosalina? Do you know what's going on?" Pauline asked.
"The gems…we got them all now. It's time to unlock the Crystal Star Road," Rosalina whispered as she placed her hand over heart and closed her eyes.
Suddenly, the other 8 gems floated over to the gang, surprising them all. They floated and encircled everyone for a few seconds, until they started spinning around faster and faster, until another bright flash was seen a split second.
When they flash vanished, there was a large portal that lay in the path that led them back into the forest to where the ambulances were parked. Everyone was in awe of the portal, seeing that what lay beyond the portal was a giant statue of a Pianta. Mario immediately recognized this.
"That's Delfino Plaza. That statue…at the very beginning of our adventure, Merlon said this is where the Crystal Star Rod lies. This is where we need to go once we get all the gems," Mario recalled.
"Indeed so. I know we've just suffered a great loss to all of us…but this must be done right now," Rosalina stated as she quickly walked forward and grabbed Mario's hand, to his surprise, and dragged him into the portal. Everyone else hurried into the portal as well.
They were in Delfino Plaza, facing the giant, dancing Pianta statue. Waves were crashing on the shore. No one was in sight, as if the island was abandoned.
"Fly Guy…fly up to the statue's left eye and press on it. That will reveal the way," Rosalina commanded. Fly Guy nodded and did so. The statue rumbled and shuffled backwards, revealing a staircase going down into a chamber. The group eagerly ran down the stairs until they reached the bottom where they then entered a chamber filled with crystal blue water. In the chamber lay 9 spots in the shapes of stars all forming a giant circle, and in the center of that circle was a tall, star-shaped pedestal with a short staircase leading up to the top of the pedestal.
The 9 gems floated down into the chamber and sunk into the star-shaped spots. Another flash was seen, coming from the pedestal. Into physical view came the legendary Crystal Star Rod. The road itself was a glistening light blue color, with the star on top of the road being a sparkly crystal-blue.
Everyone gazed in awe at the stunning object. Mario walked up to the pedestal and grabbed the rod. He felt a burst of energy, power, and euphoria quickly flow throughout his body. It made him feel like a god right then and there.
While gripping the rod and taking in all the amazing feelings that came from the mystical item, he slowly faced the others and smiled. He pointed the rod at Wario and a blue ray shot from it to his right leg. Wario shrieked and jumped a little, along with a few others, but something happened that made him feel immense relief and joy.
The wounds on his leg were gone. The blood vanished. He was able to stand on his right leg easily now. He laughed and smiled brightly at this action, with everyone now knowing that this was their key to glorious victory. Mario then pointed the rod at Fly Guy, and the same thing happened: a blue ray shot out and hit his arm. The deep claw mark was now gone and the blood also vanished.
"WOAH, NELLY! It's like I was never even clawed now! Thanks man!" Fly Guy cheered and so did the others.
"This is the weapon. Holy crap. After everything we've been through...we got it now. Finally. FINALLY!" Daisy cheered in immense relief and felt the urge to cry again.
"Yeah, guys, this is it. We finally got it. Now, it's time to end this war," Mario stated.
MUSHROOM CORPORATIONS
Toadari was in the large laboratory, looking over documents of Tadano's DNA and blood that his workers sampled earlier.
"Interesting…god…so…he has a nontypical gene and that means…wow…this might explain him and maybe his twin's behavior," Toadari said to himself in awe.
"Hey! HEY! Tell me what you're reading about me! If you're gonna keep me stuck in here, then at least fucking tell me what's going on right now!" Tadano yelled from his 'room' through the glass.
Toadari set down the documents and snickered at Tadano. He slowly stepped over to the glass as Tadano looked more freaked out and antsy by the second.
"Ohhhh man. You sure you wanna know every little detail, Tadano? Because…my oh my! Once you hear what we've analyzed about you, you're gonna be sent SPIRALING! Then again…I suppose you're used to spiraling, aren't you?" he cryptically spoke and snickered once again. This provoked a mix of anger and confusion within the alien now.
"WHAT!? What in the fuck is that supposed to mean!? You son of a bitch, just fucking tell me since I'm clearly going to be stuck here until you guys decide to off me!" Tadano demanded.
"Well, if you dearly insist! What we found was-" Toadari was about to spill the truth, but was interrupted by Paraklyde storming into the lab.
"BOSS! Talk to you real quick!?" he shouted, startling Toadari.
"OH! Paraklyde!? What's going on!? Is it an emergency!?" Toadari yelped, walking over to him.
"Potentially. You know those gems that Arfur kept after Mario and his groupies completed all those worlds and stuff? Well, we kept them in his office and according to one of our workers who was in there, he said they literally just disappeared before his eyes! I checked the security cam footage to confirm his story and it checks out. The footage shows the gems disappearing within a flash!" Paraklyde informed.
Toadario looked incredibly taken aback at this strange info. "What in the world!? They just DISAPPEARED!? How? And why!?"
"Well, you know that they went to that tower to get the final gem, right? Well…I'm thinking they obtained it, and that somehow made all those other gems disappear in order for them to use them all to unlock the Crystal Star Rod. That's the only explanation I can think of. It lines up!" Paraklyde explained. Toadari looked a little frightened now.
"What the hell…okay, so if that is true, that means they have the Crystal Star Rod now as we speak. Wait, are they back at the hospital yet?" Toadari asked.
"No, not yet. But, boss…you know what this means, right? That there's a chance they could come HERE first before going to Tatanga?" Paraklyde pointed out with a nervous undertone. Toadari seemed confused now.
"Um, what do you mean? Why on earth would they come here before Tatanga? They know they're on a race against time, there's no way they would risk trying to fuck this place up before destroying Tatanga! That'd simply be so irresponsible and stupid!" Toadari scoffed at that idea, but Paraklyde seemed dead set on the potential scenario.
"Yeah, they definitely know they're in a race against time, but boss…think about it. They have the world's most powerful weapon now. They also KNOW we're on to them. According to our footages of them, they haven't said anything of the sort explicitly, but lately, they keep going to this room in the basement…where there's conveniently no way to snag camera footage of them of what they're discussing.
Boss…please tell me that the thought of them coming over here first and starting shit has at least crossed your mind. If we're not prepared for them coming here and infiltrating with that weapon, then we are FUCKED. I mean, I know we've got stuff put in place already, but we also had that in mind that they would go to beat Tatanga first, thinking we'd have more time to put all our other plans into place," Paraklyde explained the urgency of this potential scenario. Toadari's expression turned more serious with a little bit of horror and nervousness.
"I…damnit. You're right. Damnit! Okay…okay. Check on the machine in the basement please. I'll go rally up the workers and tell them what our strategy needs to be in case of their infiltration," Toadari commanded.
"Roger that! I'll also make sure security of this place is amped up. Not an inch of this building will be missed on the security cams!" Paraklyde added then ran off to go do his duties.
Toadari sighed, feeling his heartbeat race a little and his nerves working up. He turned around and nearly jumped in fright when he saw Tadano standing against the glass with a wide and creepy grin on his face.
"What the!? Why are you looking at me like that!?" Toadari shrieked.
"Doooo I sense trouble in paradise? Hmmmm…oh! Look at that. Sweat on your forehead that wasn't there a few minutes ago. Your stance doesn't display the arrogance and confidence you were also putting out. My oh my! Looks like you're gonna be in for a world of pain very soon! Heh heh heh heh…HAHAHAHA!" Tadano spoke sadistically and laughed as he clawed his nails against the glass.
"Oh…quiet you. I'm prepared for anything. This place was built to be impenetrable against world wars for crying out loud. Plus…I bet a million coins that when those people come here, not a chance in hell are they going to save you. They know the kind of freakshow you are. They don't care for people like you. They're not the selfless, equitable, and harmonious heroes they make themselves out to be," Toadari spat, trying to get under his skin, but it didn't work as Tadano laughed again.
"Ohhhhh come on, CEO man! Wanna know something? I care more about you getting your just desserts, than me escaping this tech hell. But they will let me out. I agree with you on one thing…they don't care about me. I'm a lookalike of someone who's going to destroy the world…and I'm veeeery unstable. But they WILL let me out, because I also haven't done anything wrong. I bet you my entire fucking life upon it!" Tadano stated.
"Hmm. I admire your starry-eyed hopefulness, alien boy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going now to attend to more important things," Toadari responded, done with his nonsense, but Tadano wasn't done yet.
"Starry-eyed hopefulness!? HA! No no. That's not what you call it. It's called confidence. You and I have that. HOWEVER! Wanna know the difference here? Unlike you…I don't have to fake my confidence," Tadano shouted manically then went back to creepily grinning at him.
ST. TOADOFSKY'S HOSPITAL
"Tatanga!" shouted one of the 'koopatrols' who wasn't in uniform in order to blend in with the rest of the hospital crowd as he and another koopa ran to the woods where Tatanga and some other koopatrols were hiding in order to properly spy on the place. "I did a quick search around and asked a few of the people…Mario and his crew aren't there! They're still getting the last gem!"
"YES! EXCELLENT! Okay, guys, if we're gonna commit a genocide here at this forsaken hospital, then it has to be now! I've already got a plan in mind, so just follow my lead and don't ask any questions!" Tatanga excitedly spoke as he got out a black hoodie from his bag he brought with him.
"And to make things even better for you, one of the doctors there kept shouting about a meeting going on in the cafeteria and that he wanted everyone there because it was urgent. It's all lining up perfectly for you, Tatanga! This is the moment to strike!" squealed the koopa, provoking further joy into Tatanga and his sadistic plan.
"Wait, Tatanga! There's something you need to know, though. Count Bleck is in there…and we also saw Mimi! Those two could put up a fight against us, especially Bleck!" warned the other koopa.
Tatanga just chuckled at him. "And? We'll be quick about this. Bleck isn't gonna know what'll hit this place, and when he DOES finally know…it'll be too late, because everything would've happened so damn fast. Alright guys, in we go! Mario and his annoying friends are in for quite the surprise when they get back from their little fetch quest!"
EoC.
Next chapter, someone returns to the hospital in a frantic mess, Tatanga also causes mass mayhem at the hospital, Mario reels over Koops' death and reflects on a few other things, Boshi faces potential banishment from the group, Goombella reveals to Vivian about Koops, and the group discover a horrifying scene upon returning to the hospital. Next chapter will be uploaded on or before Sunday, May 21. Thanks for reading!
ALSO! IT'S BEEN 10 YEARS SINCE I CREATED THIS STORY!. 10. Damn. Years. WOW! I cannot thank everyone enough for reading and reviewing this zany story throughout such a long timespan, and even if you haven't been reading/reviewing for too long, I still thank you as well! So…the story is gonna end at Chapter 142. Two bonus chapters will be released which will go into my 'behind-the-scenes' thought processes of making the story, along with removed content, trivia about certain parts of the story, and more! So, the story will OFFICIALLY end at Chapter 144 lol. Below is how the remainder of this story is gonna look like for more clarity:
Chapter 131: Mass mayhem at the hospital
Chapter 132-135: Infiltration of Mushroom Corporations Arc
Chapter 136-141: Infiltration of Tatanga's Island Arc
Chapter 142: Aftermath/Epilogue
Chapter 143-144: Bonus/Behind-the-scenes content
And yes, there'll still be characters dying so keep a lookout for that. Thanks again everyone for all your contributions towards this story, even if you're just a casual reader! It really means a lot!