I'll Never Let You Go

by Drones-of-Innocence

When Bowser mobilizes his latest plot to kidnap Princess Peach, Mario finds himself pursuing them toward the deepest reaches of space. The long journey gives him time to reflect on how he and Luigi came to be in the Mushroom Kingdom. Though he struggles to find a way forward, Mario only has to think of Princess Peach all alone in the center of the universe to keep going.

7. The Stars Are Bright, But Do They Know?

"Something in your eyes took a thousand years to get here..."

-Iris (Hold Me Close), U2

TW: Major character death, violence, world ending descriptions.

O~o~O

It had been a busy evening.

Not for everyone, of course. Mario watched the rippling reflection of all the fireworks in the lake with mild interest, amused that they were still going off this late in the night. From where he sat, the fireworks seemed to be about the size of fireflowers in the sky. Their flashes and colors were only mitigated by the yellow glow from the city beneath them, from which he could still hear the clamor of the celebration.

Once again, he had brought back the Princess from Bowser's evil clutches. The deed never got old for the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom. Each time he returned, victorious, the citizens insisted they throw a massive party to show him just how much they appreciated all he did for them.

The celebrations were a wonderful gesture, of course; Mario never meant to seem like he was ignoring the Toad's graciousness, nor did he want to be rude to the citizens. But he had just finished a very long, very difficult journey, and wanted nothing more than to relax and sit by himself for a little while. He just didn't have the heart to tell the Toads that.

After going through a few of the parties, Mario figured out how to leave unnoticed, for the most part. Luigi helped him out a little, making up excuses and extended truths to account for his brother's absence. Mario would always make sure to do something nice for Luigi afterwards to make up for it; Luigi was notorious for doing the little things, and Mario loved him all the more for it.

Once he could get away, Mario ran out of sight, taking wildly impractical routes to leave the town without being seen. He thought it a little funny that escaping the party, designed specifically for him, was almost harder than defeating Bowser. Almost.

He ran, like he always did, down the dirt paths of the Mushroom Kingdom. The night air breezed by, cool and pleasant. Other than the fading sounds of celebration in the distance, it was quiet. If he had to go through the same journey a thousand times in his life, Mario firmly believed it would all be worth it, if he could just have some quiet nights in his most favorite place in the entire kingdom.

Coming upon the lake always brought a smile to his face. He would come through the trees and around the hill, and the landscape would open up before him to a spectacular view of the town he had just left. The castle stood right in the center with the rest of the city flaring out beside it, as if it were all perched upon the water. A little desire path had taken form through the soft grass from the many times he had come to sit by himself. The reflections in the water never failed to fill him with wonder, and he would see the fireworks and the lanterns and the stars, all mirrored by the lake. When he was at the lake, he felt as if he could monitor the whole world, and guard it from all harm.

The lake had come to be a place of solace for him. He often felt, even on Earth, that he was an outsider looking in on the rest of the world. The lake had helped him to be content with that sense, and he'd come to rely on that feeling as a public figure in the Mushroom Kingdom. The Toads saw him as a hero. Someone to be admired. But he was just a man. So, he distanced himself, hoping that they would see he really wasn't anything special. As much as he appreciated their gratitude, he didn't deserve all the esteem he was lauded with.

Doing the right thing, he believed, just wasn't enough to be called a hero. Doing the right thing in extraordinary, polarizing circumstances, perhaps, but Mario had never had his morals called to question. He just answered a call for help. There were people out there who were paid to do that regularly.

As he sat there, breathing in the night air and watching the capitol from his comfortable distance, it occurred to him that he'd even managed to avoid speaking with the very reason he went on those wild, challenging journeys in the first place.

He heard her approach before she even said anything. With wide eyes, he turned around to face her, unsure if he should stand to greet her. "Ehm, Princess," he settled for a startled acknowledgement.

"Mario," Princess Peach returned with a warm smile. She stood, poised and elegant as a princess should be, though he saw through her, to the slight strain she carried. "I had a feeling that I might find you here. May I sit down?"

Quickly patting the space beside him, Mario nodded, but kept his eyes towards the ground. He could feel his cheeks burning, and waited as the Princess sat down with him. She brushed her hair over her shoulder, looking towards the castle with a weary expression before she noticed he was watching her. She corrected herself and straightened her back before he could say anything.

"It truly is a magnificent view," she mused airily, though Mario saw what she was trying to do. He felt as if he should let her know he understood, that she didn't have to talk around what she really wanted to say. Though, he wasn't clever like she was; she was a princess by blood, a politician by upbringing. Her entire life revolved around framing matters in the most delicate way possible. Just by looking at her, he could see that her forlorn gaze at her castle spoke more for her than her words.

Mario should have known that she felt just as much, if not more stress than he did under the public eye. Especially in regards to keeping track of the local hero who continued to run off, unaccounted for at his own celebration.

He took off his hat, and held it to his chest. That alone was enough for her to turn to him in surprise. The water before them was disturbed just a little by the Cheep Cheeps swimming below, and the reflection of the lights became distorted. "I come here because the parties are sometimes too much. I'm sorry for not letting you know." he met her eyes and gave her a shy confession, hoping it was what she needed to hear.

She blinked at him, clearly not having expected his direct approach. "I…" she struggled for words, and Mario offered a small smile to let her know he would wait. He felt bad; she was kidnapped so often now, unwillingly taken away from her responsibilities to govern an entire kingdom. On top of that, she had to maintain a proper and formal demeanor at all times before her citizens and fellow representatives, and Mario couldn't help but admire how she never dropped her guard. However, he didn't want to contribute to the long list of people she had to be cordial to. She seemed to know this and often came across as relaxed when they met up together before. Yet now, it was almost as if they were strangers. Perhaps it was the stress he had caused her by yet again disappearing into the night without a warning that caused her to default to this formal script.

After a moment, it became clear that Princess Peach didn't quite know what to say. It was unusual, given that her position and rank required her to speak on behalf of a whole kingdom. But she did not really get many opportunities to speak on behalf of herself. Mario was afraid this would pressure her into saying something she didn't mean, so he got her attention again by touching her shoulder.

"It's okay," he told her. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

The Princess shook her head. "I do want to say something, I just don't know how…" she trailed off, looking at him, and then the ground, and then the sky. "I don't know how to tell you, that I just…"

Mario nodded along, though he could only imagine her frustration. He watched her expression, the struggle in her mind very evident in her face. She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Her fist clenched, nearly tearing the grass out of the ground, before she released it again. He saw her eyes dart to the grass, checking if it was okay, and felt a surge of fondness in his chest. Of course she cared about something as inconsequential as a patch of grass.

Finally, she seemed to sort out something coherent to say, and she unthinkingly reached out to touch the hand that was holding his hat. Surprised, Mario looked up at her, but she didn't give him a chance to back away. "You've done so much for me." she began, and then shut her eyes tightly. "I'm sorry. Of course you have, that's an unnecessary preamble. What I mean to say is, you are so very kind, and I am truly sorry if my people try too hard to show you how grateful they are. I understand they can be a little enthusiastic." she looked across the lake as another bout of fireworks went off in the sky.

Blinking, Mario tried to ignore the warmth he felt rising to his cheeks. He tried to pay attention to what she was saying despite how the only thing he could sense was her hand resting on top of his. He could see the lights in her eyes.

"But I don't want to drive you away, that is to say, if the parties are too much, I can stop them, though the populace has gotten quite accustomed to them…Ah, it's taken me awhile to track you down, but I'm glad I did because I was wondering where you go. I do notice whenever you leave." she glanced down at the ground, with a guilty smile. As if she had said something she shouldn't have. "I was worried you might be feeling alienated, so I was hoping you weren't out here because of that, but also I wanted to talk to you! Because we've been through a lot, and I was worried. I'm sorry, what I'm trying to say is, thank you. For your kindness, and for your honesty. For — for everything." Several times, she looked up at him, as if expecting him to cut her off at any moment.

He gave a small smile and managed to find his voice by some miracle. "I think you apologize at least seven times." he teased her gently, trying to ease her worry. She gave a nervous laugh. "You don't have to apologize to me, or thank me. I just try to do the right thing."

Princess Peach sighed, releasing his hand, and they both looked over to the lake. The fireworks had finally stopped. But more lanterns had been lit, and the water reflected the town's soft orange light. Bright stars had appeared in the night sky, not to be outdone by the lanterns. Both Mario and the Princess gazed up at the night sky, their wonder unspoken. After all, words couldn't come anywhere close to defining the vast beauty of the worlds above. Galaxies and planets spotted the clear night. All the richest shades of blues and purples bled together. Mario couldn't help but look at the Princess, just to see just how the stars reflected in her eyes.

She noticed his stare, and turned to look back at him. They only met eyes for a brief moment before they both looked away, blushing. Mario clutched his hat a little tighter to his chest.

"You know," Princess Peach started again, smiling at some inward thought. "I think that was the first time you've ever made fun of me."

Mario froze, not looking away from the sky. When he thought about it, she was right. He had been living here for months, saved her more times than he could count on his hand, and yet he'd hardly so much as cracked a joke until now; when they were sitting at a silent lake in an attempt to escape publicity. And it was at her expense. "Oh. Sorry." he murmured, suddenly feeling a pang of guilt.

Strangely, Princess Peach was smiling. "Oh no! I don't think that's a bad thing, Mario. I would never assume you have ill intent by a joke." She laughed, and it wasn't the rehearsed, political laugh; it was a genuine expression of amusement. "Most people in your position would be careless with their words, but not you. It shows good character. You say what you have to, and that's that."

The Princess looked to him expectantly, and Mario shifted under her stare. "I get to the point," he conceded, scratching the back of his head.

"'Brevity is the soul of wit,'" Peach recited to him, and she grinned at his surprise. "You've been in my library; I have collected some of the literature from your world. Hamlet is one of my favorites."

He nodded as an acknowledgement, and reflected on her choice of words. They had, of course, come from different worlds. The Earth that the Mushroom Kingdom existed in was vastly different than the one Brooklyn did. Back in Brooklyn, toads were little amphibians that lived near water, not at all a species related to the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom. Back in Brooklyn, he would have assumed Yoshi to mean something the kids liked, and for Princesses to exist exclusively across oceans in antiquated hierarchies. Back in Brooklyn, no amount of kindness or respect could make up for the fact that he just wasn't of average height, and he and Luigi were just a couple of plumbers that no one wanted to look at. After a moment, pained by the residual feeling some memories had left him with, he decided Brooklyn had been no home to him and his brother.

"This is my world now." he mostly said it out loud for himself to hear, but he wanted Princess Peach to know it too. "You and the Toads have gone out of your way to show Luigi and I kindness. I think that sometimes I am not sure how to accept it."

Princess Peach's expression fell, and she reached out to touch his shoulder. Brooklyn had come up only once before, when one of the Toads asked how humans showed their appreciation to Mario and Luigi for all of their wonderful deeds. Mario hadn't been there, but Luigi tried to explain that Brooklyn was a little more complicated than the Mushroom Kingdom. The Toads didn't quite understand at the time, but judging by the look on her face, Princess Peach had. "I know this place is still very new to you," she began with a wince, knowing it was an understatement. "but I hope you know that you'll always have a home here."

Mario offered a grateful smile to her. "Thank you."

Taking a deep breath, the Princess paused to find her words. "In...As little time as you have been here, you have already proven yourself as a hero." Mario started to shake his head, to deny the claim like he always did, but Peach wouldn't let him. "You are! And if you won't accept that title, at least accept that I think of you as my dearest friend. The Kingdom's closest ally wouldn't put everything on the line for our sake like you have. So if you won't let me call you a hero, please, at least let me call you a friend." she implored.

That argument was the last thing Mario expected, and he met her with stunned silence. The way the Princess looked at him, with her wide eyes and pursed lips, it was clear that she was anxious for his answer. He had seen her speak with all manner of royalty, and even in the most dire of circumstances, Princess Peach never really showed what she was feeling. She could be perfectly composed during a debate, only to express later that she had been extremely uncertain of the outcome. She was a very capable politician just like any other, out of necessity, to serve the interests of the kingdom. So for her to bare herself to him, he supposed, was her way of saying that she wasn't trying to lobby him into service. She really, genuinely just wanted to be his friend.

He realized both of their situations were unique to the world but similar to one another; public figures who rarely had the opportunity to make genuine friends, and here they were, nervous over the prospect of it like children.

He clutched his hat a little tighter. "I am proud to be your friend, Princess." he breathed, and she lit up with a smile. The faint glow from the town lit up the side of her face and reflected in her hair, and Mario thought it gave her the appearance of a halo.

Princess Peach looked at the ground, her eyes darting all over and briefly to Mario's hands, before she came back up to meet his eyes. "That makes me so glad," she finally confessed, having found no other way to put it. Mario could see her relief; in how her shoulders lost their tension, and how her posture relaxed. He wondered how long it had been since she had felt comfortable enough to drop her guard around anyone, if ever. Judging by her tired smile, it had been too long, and Mario felt his chest grow warm with pride and happiness that he was able to give her some sense of comfort.

Her gaze never once made him feel like he was on the spot. But still, he had to look away when he felt his cheeks becoming hot. Princess Peach kept her eyes on him for a moment longer, letting out a content sigh, before she also turned to look at the town again. Together, they watched the celebration from afar, fondly watching the town gradually go to sleep.

The stars above, in turn, watched them unconsciously adjust themselves so they sat closer to one another.

O~o~O

Upon the uppermost platform of the Observatory, Rosalina stood before a dome Mario hadn't seen before.

They watched her from the lower deck. Mario narrowed his eyes, straining to see what she was about to do. Beside him, the Toad Brigade fell into soft murmurs. Luigi rested his hands on their shoulders, hushing them. Luma whispered from beside Mario.

Rosalina brought her hands up. The air went as still as a held breath. From her wand erupted a great spark of light, like orbiting binary stars, extraordinary and bright. The spinning flash rose up.

Everyone's eyes reflected the brilliance, a great flare that could surely be seen from across great stretches of the galaxy. Soft noises of awe came from the Toads and Lumas.

The rising light reached the tallest spire of the Observatory, where it phased from a pure blue to a dazzling red.

Platforms around them began to rotate. The Toad Brigade and Luigi stumbled back when the mechanism around the beacon shifted and moved outside of its constant trajectory. The bright green and orange platforms Mario had run across countless times took a new formation. Each section of the Observatory rearranged itself, optimizing for flight. Mario and Luigi braced together with the Brigade. Fighting for balance as the entire structure shifted. The star pillars before each of the domes lifted off out of their place to rise and point toward the top spire, just as a great, shimmering field swirled down around the entire starship. Enveloping them in a protective force.

The beacon. Mario had to shield his eyes at the new glow and power it had taken on. He could feel it charging in his bones. His ears thrummed from the shift in pressure. The Captain clung to his pant leg, and Mario put his hand over his shoulder.

The Observatory began to tilt, the great light at the top blazing brighter and brighter, ringing louder and louder.

They took off. The Brigade all cried out as they lurched, and Mario and Luigi reached out to hold everyone steady. "Get to the garage!" Mario had to raise his voice over the blaring noise. He urged them all toward the grass as he turned and made his way to the central map. He raised his eyes, gritting his teeth, to where he could see Rosalina floating back down.

O~o~O

An ordinary man in an ordinary city.

Except, Mario never really viewed himself in such a way, and Brooklyn was anything but ordinary.

The power had gone out in their sector of town, and Mario could hear Luigi rummaging around in the dark with the landlord to find the generator he kept on hand. Their soft, indistinct murmurs filled the space. The rest of their neighbors minded their business, trying to get their sleep, but the brothers really didn't want their groceries to go to waste that night. It would be another two weeks until they got paid again and rent was coming up.

He wasn't being particularly helpful. Luigi was the one who liked to mess around with electronics and machines anyway.

Instead, he stood out on the balcony, neck craned back to look up at the dark skies. Brooklyn was a big city. Skyscrapers clawed up at the diffused moonlight. Light pollution still bled into his view, obscuring the stars, but he could see more than usual up there. He thought he'd heard in the news that Venus was supposed to be in view.

None of the specters of light were distinguishable to him. He'd never studied Astronomy too extensively, and couldn't pick out a constellation if his life depended on it. It wasn't like the city life gave him much of a chance to try and enjoy it, in any case.

He wondered what it would be like to be up in the stars. He imagined if he could be that far away from Earth, he would never know any worries again.

It must be quiet and peaceful. It must be nice.

A streak of light blazed across the sky. If Mario had blinked, he would have missed it. He squinted at the sky, tilting his head, before he realized he must have seen a shooting star.

He started to turn, opening his mouth to call for Luigi, only to stop. His voice would have torn through the soft atmosphere of the night. Besides, Luigi was occupied. This was a moment he had to keep to himself. A car drove by down the street, and he waited until the brake lights faded from his peripheral.

Mario did not consider himself to be superstitious. Not like the rest of his family had been. He was raised religious, but he never had a need to wear special socks for a competition, or fret about stepping on cracks in the sidewalk. Avoiding walking under a ladder was more a matter of basic safety. Broken mirrors or opening umbrellas indoors were never significant. Pennies on the ground were simply there, heads or tails. Wishing on a star made him feel meek and a little silly, like a child. But nothing else seemed to work. No amount of work or sacrifice had made a difference before. So, he fixed his dull eyes on the stars, and he made a wish.

He wished that it was possible for their lives to change. He wished for some of that solitude and quiet he imagined out in space. He wished for their security. He fervently wished for their peace and happiness.

O~o~O

He wished he could go home.

They tore through space in a flurry of color and light, moving at increasing speeds that his tiny, fragile little human body was not built to withstand. His heart pounded, he could feel his veins pulsing rapidly all over with his heart's attempt to keep up. His vision began to close in. He almost stumbled through his lightheadedness. Rosalina's protection and Luma's power combined were not quiet enough to shield him from the g-forces. He was able to turn his head faintly to the side, only to see Luigi in a similar state.

"Easy, easy. You should sit down." Polari urged him, and the dark Luma guided him safely to the floor.

His body felt heavy. The color started to fade until he could hardly see any of it at all. Dizzy, Mario tightened his core and forced a tiny sip of breath in and out, again and again. He tensed the muscles in his legs. He forced his breathing in this abrupt pattern until some of the feeling returned, until some of his fire returned in his belly.

Just as Polari left to go assist Luigi, the forces began to ease up. The world opened up around him once more, and Mario looked up to see a vivid eruption of color and life around him. Distant suns, black holes consolidating, the direction of gravity shifting its pull. Blood-red and violet stars. Asteroids and debris. Explosions, airships. Bombs. None of the weapons could touch the Observatory.

Still, they struck the field that protected the ship, and Mario flinched when the floor shuddered beneath his boots. Lumas around him pealed with alarm.

The Toad Brigade. Where were they? Mario whipped around to search for them, only to find each of them trying to help the other stand back up. The Starshrooms were almost prepared for flight. He could see the way the Brigade trembled, but even the Captain sharpened his tone and continued with the systems check. The troop of green Lumas were recruited to assist.

Mario turned. Planetoids, a disjointed galaxy. Mechanical structures just like the reactors he'd destroyed before. And there! Mario's heart leapt up in his throat at the familiar sight of the castle, suspended there in space amidst all the chaos.

All of the crashing and burning around him, and all he could think was home .

The Observatory slowed, its magnitude affecting the airships that wove around the shield. As it came to a halt, Rosalina waved her wand, a bright light exuding from her.

"Mario!" a hand grabbed his shoulder, and Mario faced Luigi with a jolt. "We'll be right behind you, okay? We'll do everything we can to make sure you get through. She's in there, Capo. You have to go get her. You always do."

Alarmed, Mario realized Luigi's eyes shined under the starlight. "Coniglio," he whispered, gripping Luigi's forearms.

Luigi gripped him tighter. "You're gonna make it. I believe in you, you're the strongest person I know. You're gonna get us home. I know it." he let out a shaky sigh, and then abruptly pulled Mario in for a crushing hug. The atmosphere rumbled around them. "Into the mouth of the wolf. I love you."

Blinking several times, Mario's arms took a moment to settle around Luigi as he registered the phrase wishing him good luck. "I love you too." he mumbled into Luigi's shoulder.

And then he was gone. Luigi turned and marched to the Brigade, his voice coming over the Toads and finalizing their preparations. Mario couldn't help the proud, wobbly smile that stretched across his face.

A loud explosion shook the Observatory again, and Mario took a firm stance. He faced the central map, only to find Rosalina gazing back at him.

Her searing gaze fixed straight through him. She raised her chin, seeking his answer.

His body was rested and nourished. The trials of all the previous galaxies had made him strong and resilient. This would be the biggest battle yet, but she was in there. Princess Peach. He had to get to her, he had to return her home where they belonged. He had to bring an end to whatever scheme Bowser had concocted and relieve this burden from the universe. He could feel the strain and pull on reality, and pressure from this attempt to change nature so forcefully. It buzzed in his skull. He huffed. This madness would end here, with him.

He straightened up. His fire blazed to life in his chest, and Luma settled right under his hat.

"You're ready now. You won't be the same once you use this power."

"I understand."

"And don't forget, you only get one chance with this star. So don't waste it."

"I won't ."

Mario remembered the grim lesson the Red Luma had given him. His hand passed over the red star tucked into his front pocket.

He was ready. Everyone depended on him.

"There is a warp field inside the castle." Rosalina's voice came over the chaos. Serene and stable. "You must go; they are inside."

With a firm nod, Mario turned. He understood the warning in her eyes. There's no going back from here . Behind him, she raised her hands, and a glassy bridge formed between the Observatory and the castle, piece by piece.

"Go, Mario!" Rosalina bellowed.

The power surged through him. He took off in a sprint. "Go, Mario!" he could hear the Lumas echo Rosalina, their twinkling voices each with more potential than a black hole. He could hear the Toad Brigade's Starshrooms taking off.

And he took the leap into the shimmering dark.

The fate of the universe.

He landed immediately on a stone platform. The tread of his boots skid along the ground when he broke into a run. A few Lumas had scouted ahead, and directed him onward.

"This isn't just about saving us, it's about your Special One!" one spoke up as he passed.

The other chimed with agreement, just as he squinted at the bright blue lights dancing up and down the walls. "Watch these gravity beams!"

Sure enough, stepping into the light shifted gravity until his world tilted sideways. He nodded his thanks as he passed the Lumas, and kept driving forward. He didn't break pace for the Dry Bones that tried to block his path; one quick spin left them shattered in his wake.

He maneuvered with the gravity beams and climbed up a tower, collecting starbits along his way. At the very top platform, his view opened up to the rest of the churning space around him.

Dark matter swirled and blotted the sky. Black holes and distant stars illuminated the planetoids that lay ahead. Mario tilted his head back at the meandering path drawn by the same gravity beams, and grit his teeth. Bowser had created a little obstacle course for him, it seemed. As if he was some circus monkey. But he didn't come here to show off his tricks. He narrowed his eyes, searching the sky for what really mattered.

A looming orb took up most of the view, its magnitude making Luma shudder from beneath his hat even from so far away. He could feel the surface of his skin pricking with heat. A hollow sun, flowing and consuming matter all around it. A gradual expansion.

Mario's blood went cold. So this was Bowser's project.

There, a tiny speck before the orb, he could see platforms and some airships circling. His heart skipped a beat and he pulled in a tight breath, hot with his internal fire. The Princess must be there.

He tore off without hesitation.

Into the gravity beams. He emerged and ran as soon as his boots struck the platform. Over his shoulder, he could see the Starshrooms mobilizing. Monitoring his progress. Surely Rosalina watched from afar. He would not fail her, or the Lumas.

A new planet with a molten surface drew him in, with platforms that began to collapse as soon as he touched them. He wasted no time dodging the coronal loops that arced by, leaping across the great gaps and not so much as breaking a sweat despite being so close to such raw heat. Then, a frozen star core that he could only cross with blocks of ice that led him through the snow and the next beam. He noticed the sharp change in temperature, but even the deep cold of space had ceased to bother him. He landed finally on a sand planetoid constantly swallowing anything that fell into it. He ran along the spinning planform, careful to avoid the fire blocks.

Bowser must have gotten sloppy. These were too easy for him. Or maybe he was just angry.

The next beam brought him to scattered debris. Alarmed, he dropped out into space, only to land on a proximity-activated platform. Mario looked up. He recognized the rest of the structure and ran forward; he didn't have a lot of time to guess where it was going to lead him. He just had to go. More and more platforms landed in place before him. They led him up and up, forcing him to jump higher and higher to stay grounded. He had to manipulate gravity to maneuver around fire blocks, but even Luma's power couldn't help when he mistimed through his rush and got slightly singed. He paused to examine the burn in the middle of his arm. His shirt was already torn, but he wasn't hurt enough to stop. He made it to the beam.

His world flipped again. As soon as he was oriented, Mario opened his eyes wide. The beam brought him to a massive cylindrical structure with inverse gravity. The lava surface flowed in a consistent current, but the heat couldn't compare to him. He sprinted forward across the platforms, spinning and leaping out of the way of the Bullet Bills.

He looked back to a Bullet Bill that blew by him. He needed to jump ahead to get it to crash into the platform, but he had to time it just right. He braced himself.

"Up ahead!" Luma let out a sharp warning cry. Mario whipped around to face the front. A Banzai Bill shot straight towards him.

He dove. The Banzai Bill whizzed past. He had to roll to avoid the other Bullet Bills and their continuing fire. The platform kept moving. He caught his breath as he waited for it to circle back around.

A hop, skip, and a leap took him deeper and deeper in until he'd made it behind all the blasters. Out of harm's way. Mario put his hands on his hips as he watched the Bullet Bills continue to be fired without any target. If Bowser had any brains, he'd set their blasters in multiple directions. If he had really wanted to deter him.

He shook his head, and Luma chirped when he turned and found a Launch Star waiting for him. Some Lumas must have arranged it for him. He spun to launch.

The star path took him, up, up and around. The hollow sun abruptly came into view. His entire horizon consumed. They had gotten a lot closer. Or, it had just expanded so much since he'd arrived. Mario swallowed hard.

A staircase. Mario narrowed his eyes at the small structure. An armada of orbiting airships, flagged pillars, a familiar spiky-shelled silhouette leered at him from the top. The green and white checkered tile. The same as the structures Bowser constructed to confront him on before. So here was where it would go down. The hollow sun seemed as if it would swallow them all. The exposed star matter burned his eyes.

He flipped around to land, his eyes fixed at the top, only for a single airship to sail through. He recognized the more ornate vessel.

"Looking for Princess Peach?" a nasally voice called down to him. Mario's jaw clenched as Bowser Jr. waved, with little taunting hops back and forth. "Well, that's too bad. Because she's with me!"

Mario's heart stopped.

Everything went silent. Just like the dream. Big, pure blue eyes. Golden hair, a rosy gown. A frightened edge.

She was there. It was her. Her eyes went wide as he finally spotted her, and she tried to reach out for him. She was too far to see clearly, but she didn't seem to be hurt. Though, even he could see the fear in her face. "Mario!" she called out, desperate and hopeful. Her voice music compared to the renewing tumult all around them.

Mario's expression went hard. He clenched his trembling fists just as Bowser Jr. broke into laughter and directed his ship up again.

It didn't matter. She was there. Now he just had to end this. He would get her out.

He charged forward.

Bowser gave a quick gesture. Jr.'s airship began to rain meteors down on him, destroying the staircase. Not that there was anywhere left to go besides the growing, rippling sun behind them. Its red glow began to overtake the deep blue of space. Mario kept ahead of the meteors. The heat in his chest grew to a blistering, trembling roar inside of him. He lunged up the last few steps until his boots struck the tile on the final platform.

The King of the Koopas loomed over him, an evaluation in his scarlet eyes. "About time." he sneered. "I was wondering when you'd finally have the nerve to show. Guess it was a long trip, huh?"

His derisive laughter seemed to echo around them, and Mario's chest heaved.

Bowser must have noticed the change in his demeanor, and he gave a snort. "Hm. Well, since you're finally here, you'll have the privilege of witnessing the creation of my galaxy here in the center of the universe!"

He raised his great arms, and the armada surrounding them parted. "Watch and weep!" he declared.

The massive hollow sun swirled and pulsed behind him, roiling with heat and uncontrollable energy. Luma stirred from beneath Mario's hat, a faint warning in his shimmering tone. Mario didn't need his celestial senses to know something was very wrong about this creation of Bowser's. Any entity with that much power forced inside was dangerous. More dangerous than any of them understood. Mario shot a glance over his shoulder to see if he could spot the Observatory. He hoped Rosalina was nearby, that Luigi and the Brigade stayed a safe distance away.

"From this galaxy, I'll rule a great galactic empire with Peach here by my side. It will last forever! I will rule every pitiful corner of this universe." Bowser spat. Behind him, Mario saw Peach clasp her hands together and shake her head. He grit his teeth. "So, as you can see, Jumpman , I got some big plans. But right now, stomping you is at the top of my list!"

Bowser threw his head back with a roar. Mario found himself lifted off the ground. He resisted, leaning forward, but Bowser threw up his arms and the gravity flipped.

Peach's sharp cry followed them to a tiny planetoid made of concrete and pulsing with a thin beam of purple light. But the airships stayed behind.

Bowser sent shockwaves flying over the surface. Mario leapt over them all. He sustained a run around and around the tiny planet. Anticipating the next move. Bowser ambled after him. Calculating.

The pressure of the hollow sun continued to grow. Its red glow reflected off every surface it could reach.

"What's the hurry, blubber brain?" Bowser cackled. He slowed, just watching Mario run. "We have to make this a fight worth watching! A showdown for all the universe to witness!" he reveled in the growing heat, the agitation in all the matter around them.

Mario skidded to a stop with a glare. Luma came out of his hat and mirrored Mario's stance. His Firebrand built up from deep in his belly. He felt the flames in his throat.

Bowser leered. "Aren't you impressed? I set up quite the stage for us to battle. Everything is in order, and I bet you never expected that I could build a whole galaxy on my own. That's because you don't know what you're up against this time. So, you diminutive dunce, allow me to show you. For the universe, the legendary war between the great King of the Koopas, and the pathetic little Jumpman from the Mushroom Kingdom!"

Heart seizing in his chest, Mario realized it had been so long since he had thought about the Mushroom Kingdom. They were so far removed from the lands of their home. So horribly distant.

He had no choice but to swallow it down. Bowser raised his arms. Mario stepped back when he realized that Bowser's power allowed him to form a gravitational field around himself. Nearby space debris flew toward Bowser. Luma zoomed back under Mario's hat just as he got struck by a large chunk of debris from behind. He cried out and stumbled.

The debris surrounded Bowser until he was encased in a rocky shield. Mario managed to catch his smirk before he lunged.

Princess Peach's dismayed shout echoed across the space when Mario went flying.

A direct hit. Mario landed on the concrete surface, all the air leaving his lungs. His head blared. The vibrations of the planetoid told him that Bowser was still rolling, coming back around. His breath hitched.

"Get up!" Luma warned him with a desperate tolling that he had to move. Bowser was coming. Bowser was coming to roll him flat, grind him into the ground and revel in his defeat.

The hollow sun burned. Mario braced an arm against the ground and stood back up. His vision spun. A vicious fire in him swelled. Bowser on the horizon. There. Mario reacted on instinct and spun.

"Gah!" Bowser clutched at his snout. The debris abruptly dissipated.

Mario stumbled back at the same time Bowser did. But he adjusted his stance, boots steady on the surface. Stable. His vision cleared, just as Bowser glowered at him and raised his arms again.

Gravity shift. Mario's stomach flipped as his feet left the ground. He looked down as the little concrete planetoid got smaller and smaller, before he was forced to land on another one.

This planetoid was a little bigger, but with a more leathery surface. Mario had more traction. Bowser wasted no time sending fireballs flying around the planet, and Mario started to run.

He moved, hopping and spinning to avoid getting hit, though there were some spiked plants that he snagged the cuff of his overalls and his shirt sleeve on. Bowser grunted and rolled up into his spiky shell to give chase.

The speed of his pursuit sounded like a grinder. Mario broke into a sprint.

The air was somehow cold and hot at the same time. Mario's lungs reacted to the pressure and he had to resort to clever side-steps rather than attempt to match Bowser's speed.

"This is irresponsible and foolish, Bowser!" he shouted over the noise. "The universe is not your stage. You cannot play with the stability of space because all of us will lose!" He forced Bowser to slow down on a hard turn, and seized one of his spikes. Stopping him in his tracks. "Do you understand that? This is not about you and me. This is about everything and everyone!"

When Mario didn't budge, Bowser burst from his shell. He roared into the ever-growing light of his hollow sun, seething with a tremulous power that vibrated in Mario's ears. His eyes reflected the menacing red glow. He swiped, slamming Mario into the ground and gripping his throat.

Mario resisted. The planetoid's surface had a little give. He maneuvered his arms until he was able to reach up inside Bowser's grip and push back. Both his arms and Bowser's began to tremble.

His windpipe began to close up. "Don't you see?" he quavered, sacrificing a moment of the fight to speak. "We don't…be—belong out here. We belong back home. It is not our place t—to interfere with the…the universe."

Bowser gave a derisive snort and redoubled his grip. Mario's eyes widened.

He leaned in close, his fiery breath creating steam. "You just don't get it do you? You fungus-loving freak! I can do whatever I want!"

He reared his other fist back to punch, but Mario acted. His Firebrand. Bowser roared. He tore his massive paw from Mario's throat, burned with blue flames. But he wasn't fast enough. Mario leapt up and delivered a fiery punch straight to his jaw.

The space around them rumbled. The hollow sun becoming more and more unstable. Mario wasted no time advancing. Strike after strike. He forced Bowser back and back until he tipped over onto his shell. Limbs flailing.

Mario leapt up high. Igniting his fists. He aimed straight for Bowser's gut.

Luma's cry at the last second wasn't enough to warn him. Bowser used his gravitational field, drawing debris around him again. He kicked Mario out of the air.

"I can change the order of the universe to my liking! Just you watch." Bowser seethed, wiping the blood dripping down his snout. "Nothing can stop me. You're just here so I can have a worthy challenge before taking my new throne. Congratulations on helping me bring in a new era of Koopa supremacy!"

Mario raised his head. Vision doubled for a moment. He shook his head to set it right. He took in a controlled breath to test his Firebrand, only to find that it was hotter than before.

He narrowed his eyes. Bowser only grinned as he watched Mario brace his arm on the ground. His boot slid out from underneath him. His side ached from the kick. He prodded at it with his hand. Luma gave an anxious murmur when Mario winced.

"What? Nothing more to say? How about I give you a front row seat to my galaxy reactor?" Bowser sneered. "That'll really leave you speechless."

He raised his arms, altering gravity just as Mario had managed to get upright.

Mario heaved a breath and lurched forward into a sprint. Luma gave an encouraging cry. The instant before Bowser could raise them up, Mario spun right into him. A shimmering blue strike.

"Urgh!" Bowser lost control of their course. They lifted off the tiny planetoid, hurtling toward the hollow sun. Mario gripped his hat to his head. Spinning. The looming sun blocked out any horizon he could see before. The burning pressure surrounded them both. Mario could feel the sheer pull of its gravity yanking on his center of mass. Luma was nearly drawn from his head with its force.

His stomach rolled from the endless spinning. He thought he might go blind from the oppressive red light. Further back, he could hear the sound of engines and cannon fire. He huffed out, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

The armada. And the Starshrooms! Luigi and the Toad Brigade must be engaging Bowser's forces. A jolt of fear shot through his veins like ice. They could handle the fight, right? He imagined the Toads working with the Lumas like they had practiced. He imagined Bowser's minions overwhelming them despite their best efforts. Despair rose up in his throat. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't help them if he was going to be swallowed by Bowser's new galaxy. Either he ended this, or they would all be swallowed. They were on their own.

Just before they passed through one of the gaping holes into the hollow sun, Mario caught one airship flying high above the battle. Bowser Jr, it had to be. At least he was keeping the Princess away from the violence.

The light overtook his vision until he could see nothing but scintillating, heaving star matter. Hydrogen and helium. A pungent scent overtook his nose, a burning metallic humidity, or ozone. He coughed.

Luma made a quiet sound that made his heart drop. It sounded like resignation.

They came veering toward the artificial planetoid within the middle. Mario managed to maneuver himself to land on his feet. Boots striking the glass. Bowser had a clumsier landing, but he was quick to get up and send fireballs everywhere.

Mario's dash across the surface didn't do anything to hide the vibrating of the machinery beneath. A sophisticated device. The star matter pulsed and gleamed within, but Mario had been on a similar structure before. He remembered the Star Reactor and the Dark Matter Plant. All he had to do was expose Bowser to the star matter, and then what?

His blood rushed with heat. What would happen if he destroyed this planetoid? Would the matter within react with the expanding hollow sun?

"This doesn't look good." he muttered to Luma. His voice wavered.

Luma moved against his head. "We have no choice," he said simply.

Right. He turned, and saw the rage in Bowser's stance. Claws trembling. There was nothing he could say to stop this. He wished for a moment that he had the Princess's talent with words. Perhaps if he had her capabilities, he might be able to convince Bowser to stand down.

Then again, if all it took to end this was her words, she might have talked them all out of the disaster by now.

The priority was to end this and get them all home safe, somehow. Whatever the consequences of destroying the reactor were, they couldn't be worse than allowing Bowser to go through with his insane plans. Rosalina, Luigi, and the Toad Brigade were right behind him, relying on him to win this fight. Whatever happened, they could all work together to fix it.

Bowser rolled into his shell. Mario took off.

The tiny horizon rippled with heat. Mario's face stung from the embers. Bowser circled the planetoid, picking up speed. His spikes came dangerously close to Mario's back at nearly every turn. Too close.

With a grunt, Bowser finally got sick of the chase and leapt up. Mario perched on one of the blue domes.

Bowser's eyes widened only at the last second. It was too late. He hadn't learned from before. The star matter scorched him in a searing instant. His roars seemed to echo all around them, into the chasm of the all-consuming sun. Had it gotten brighter? Mario grit his teeth and advanced with a flaming blue spin.

"Urgh!" Bowser crumbled onto the glass, near another dome. Mario held his ground, fists up, chest heaving.

He had no way of knowing how Luigi and the Brigade were holding up. He wished, desperately, for their safety. He didn't get this far to fail them now. Was there anything he could do to help them?

His eyes briefly searched the skies for a star, any star. The hollow sun's oppressive glow burned in his irises.

He didn't see Bowser's eyes narrow, or his smirk.

"Mario! Look out!" Luma's voice cut clear through them. Mario whirled around.

A fiery meteor shot straight for him. He leapt out of the way, only for two more to fly right at him. He skidded across the glass and lost his balance, eyes wide, as Bowser rose before him. His claws lit with his dark power. His rolling chuckle grew to booming laughter.

"You're a fool, Mario!" he clenched a fist, and matter around them began to swell and change. Pieces of space seemed to unfold in a way that Mario definitely knew wasn't supposed to happen. Luma's nervous shout froze him as he watched pockets of space open up all around them. Deep reaches, galaxies across the universe that they hadn't even approached before. "You're no match for my new power!"

Meteors crashed through from these windows into space. Mario scrambled to avoid them as they crashed into the planetoid. One struck a blue dome, exposing the star matter, and Mario nearly ran across it himself. All around. No time to stop. Mario couldn't pick up enough speed without nearly running right into another one.

The twisting of space caused a vibration that Mario felt in his very cells. Luma cried out as if he were in pain. Surely Bowser could feel it, too. The atoms all around them shuddered, agitated. A shock went through his body like he'd been electrocuted. None of his nerves felt like they belonged anymore. Mario tripped in the middle of his run and only barely caught his balance. He gasped for breath, losing feeling in his extremities.

And the meteors pounded down. Even as Mario's movements became stilted. He had to force his feet to come off the glass. Bowser laughed as he slowed down.

In his bones. His joints. His knees gave out from the force of the gashes in the universe. He fought to get back to his feet, the fire in his belly quelled by the icy fear that dashed through his veins. A meteor struck him square in the back.

He vaguely registered Bowser's footsteps over the spatial vibrations. Head reeling. "Such a shame, Mario." Bowser tutted. "You came all this way only for me to beat you like this." A clawed paw seized him by the back of his neck and lifted him up. Mario jerked and squirmed to no avail. The surface of his skin was hot, but something deep inside him was becoming cold. The dark matter. Yes. Mario could feel it reversing the laws of the universe in certain places. Luma whimpered from under his hat.

He managed to kick out and struck Bowser's chin. Bowser grunted, but didn't drop him. Instead, Bowser tightened his grip, and Mario cried out when claws dug into his back.

"There's nothing you can do but watch. My sun will expand to be the center of my galaxy, the greatest galaxy in all the universe! From here, me and Peach will rule everything. You think anything mattered on your stupid little planet, in your stupid little kingdom? Here, we are the center of it all. You should be grateful that you're even part of something so significant. Nothing matters except out here." Bowser leered. He drew his arm back and hurled Mario into the ground.

As soon as Mario opened his eyes, Bowser pounced. Flying, massive fists pummeling his body, the dark matter swirling behind him. Each blow resonated through to his bones. Vibrating, stinging. He snarled before he turned and sent Mario flying with a strike from his tail.

Mario landed on a blue dome with a grunt. His head rolled, everything around him spun. Bowser's thundering steps told him that he was approaching again. He had to get up. He had to do something. Everything ached.

His hand twitched. His head seemed to rotate on a new trajectory.

One thing at a time. He brought his knee up. He dug his heels into the glass. He raised his head.

Bowser snickered. "Didn't think you'd be one to give up so easy. I remember when I was like you. I remember when all that mattered was that small world we lived in. How pathetic! Nothing important or meaningful comes out of that place." he gestured around. "Nobody matters there. Not you, not your brother, not those insipid Toads. Only me, and Peach, I guess. I'll make her understand and appreciate the gift I've given her. She'll live out her life and never have to look at that stupid planet ever again. I brought her castle out here anyway. She doesn't need the kingdom anymore."

Mario slammed a fist into the glass. "You're wrong!"

Only the churning of the hollow sun answered him. The surrounding dark matter strained against itself. Bowser narrowed his eyes.

His muscles strained, his bruises and cuts ached. But Mario fought the pain, bringing up his knees and finding his balance. Firebrand sparking. "That small world is everything. Because that is where home is." he seethed. "Everyone has somewhere to belong, and that silly little planet is where we belong. Home, not out here ripping the universe apart for, for attention . The Princess wants to go home . I want to go home. If you—if you really think that the center of the universe is more important than home, then you are lost."

The dark matter rumbled like thunder. Bowser's claws lit up with his power. "Do you realize how tiny that planet is compared to how big this entire galaxy will be? There's nothing that—"

"That is not the point. All the power it took to get here, you rob so many other people and planets of their energy. Space collapses where you leave a power vacuum. You are hurting the universe wherever you go." Mario got to his feet, and stared Bowser down. "And for what? Our planet isn't small. So many creatures and people live there, and all of them matter. All of us do, no matter where we are from."

Bowser snorted. "No way. No one else matters. I am going to make myself the most important being in all the universe! Just you wait!" he started toward Mario, raising his fists.

The dark matter all around them shuddered and pulsed. Space debris moved in a trembling orbit around them. The hollow sun continued to expand. Bowser loomed, fangs gleaming. There were no shadows left on the tiny planetoid.

"Mario!" Luma's voice cut across the shifting space, clear as a bell.

He knew what he had to do. Mario braced himself and reached into his front pocket.

The red star.

A burst of light erupted from his hand. Bowser reeled back and shielded his eyes. "What?!"

Luma's powers enhanced inside of him until his fists glowed with concentrated starlight. His overalls as black as space. He could feel the trembling magnitude inside of him, rising up. He had to keep it under control. His body couldn't channel a power like this for very long. This had to end.

He narrowed his eyes, which began to burn. "You take the Princess from her home." He moved forward in a flash, his voice eerily level as he rammed full force into Bowser. "The rest of us have to come and chase after her, all because you want to make yourself more important ."

Bowser howled as he went flying around the planetoid. The pull of gravity fluctuated. His powers weren't enough to draw him back in.

Mario clenched his fists, and spread his arms with a spin to take flight. His path left two faint trails of red light streaming through space. He rose up from the planetoid to meet Bowser's orbit. His fist, crackling with power straining under control, came down on Bowser's head. Sending him crashing straight into one of the blue domes below.

"Luigi is terrified of ghosts. Did you know that? You send him to a planet filled with them. The Toad Brigade are nearly trapped in another galaxy with bees. It was lucky that I found them. And Rosalina, you stole all the power from her starship. You strand her and her Lumas without a way to survive." Mario flew down, landing blow after shimmering blow. Bowser clutched his paw into a fist and managed a counter strike, but the attack didn't slow Mario down at all. Blood streamed from his forehead and he didn't care. "And do you know what I had to do to get here? Do you know what I went through? Maybe you think it's funny. But I am going to clean up your mess whether you like it or not. And we are going home. All of us."

Bowser finally caught one of Mario's fists. He grunted from the force, his arm trembling. "Shut up already! I don't remember you talking so much." he barked. "You're too late. There's no way you can stop it from here, even with these fancy powers that you—Gah!"

His dark magic couldn't counter the unhindered power of the stars. Mario threw him off, sending him into orbit, and then simply turned to catch him again. "There are consequences to your actions. You have to understand. This is why you can never win. Why Princess Peach will never fall to you." Mario shook his head, bringing his elbow straight into Bowser's gut. His entire body crumpled.

"Heh." Bowser wrinkled his snout, and met Mario's blow with a quick swipe. He managed to sink his claws into Mario's shoulder. "I bet you think you're real smart, huh? All Peach wants is fame and riches, just like me! What better way to get that than by being handed the whole universe? That's what I'm gonna do, and then she'll see how amazing it is. She'll forget all about that stupid Mushroom Kingdom. She'll finally come to her senses and realize she should be my Queen. Just you wait."

A sharp heat exploded in his chest like a burning sun. "No!" Mario gripped Bowser and flew straight up, away from the planetoid. It buckled beneath him from the force of their take-off. The Grand Star. He looked Bowser in the face, seeing the fear flash through his eyes. His skin began to burn from their speed. Bowser clawed at his hands, but to no avail. Mario's iron grip could not be broken.

His eyes glowed like distant galaxies. He thought of Luigi and the Toad Brigade, confronting the armada. He thought of the Lumas, who'd paved the way for him to get here. He thought of Rosalina. Her serenity and wisdom. And he thought of Princess Peach, waiting all these months for him to rescue her. He would always come for her.

The love he carried would not be contained. He abruptly stopped, suspending them both in space. His glare brighter than any sun. "What makes you think you have any right to change the universe?"

Bowser blinked, his eyes reflecting the massive, growing galaxy all around them. Something clicked; he must have started to notice the threat it posed to everything around them for lightyears. The danger he'd put everyone in. Only just beginning to put it together. Still, he had been slighted, and he never got over a grudge.

He smirked, a chilling comprehension in his face. "I see now," he sneered. "You're just jealous. Peach would never love someone as insignificant as you."

A brilliant gleam of pearly, raw star power exuded from Mario's fists. His glowing eyes widened with fury. He backed off, Luma's unhindered power bursting forth through his body, and tackled Bowser with all his might.

A brilliant red comet streaked through the galaxy reactor.

Bowser managed to raise his chin just enough to see where they were going. He could hardly open his eyes through the embers and debris. His claws scrabbled at Mario's fists. "No! Stop!" he screeched. "Wait!"

Mario couldn't be moved. His steely glare fixed on the churning nuclear heat of the hollow sun. The light should have burned out his irises. The heat should have melted them to nothing.

He closed his eyes.

Bright, bright flaming light.

O~o~O

Light traveled at such a speed that any onlookers on distant galaxies would only have to wait a few minutes to see the incredible sight of a red comet diving straight into an artificial gas giant. A rare celestial event to be sure. Astronomers would be scratching their heads for decades, attempting to justify it with all manner of scientific explanations, inventing many new disciplines in the process, until time lost the records. Records became stories, which became myths, which became forgotten, eventually.

Such is the fate of us all.

O~o~O

The entire reactor buckled. The fighting fell quiet. All eyes turned toward the hollow sun.

Many of the armada's ships had been taken. Luigi, alongside the Toad Brigade and the Lumas halted their fierce advance on Bowser's forces. Rosalina looked on, her gaze locked on the reactor.

Peach clutched her shaking hands to her chest, having fixed on what glimpses of the fight she could make out. "No." she whispered.

Bowser Jr. looked between her and the sun. "What's happening?" he asked in a small voice. "Where's Papa?"

A wave pulsed through them all. Everyone started, some shouts echoed through the space.

Screeching gashes. Blotches of dark matter opened up, tears in the fabric of space.

Gravity began to oscillate between each new rip. The Starshrooms short-circuited. Bowser's airships began to tilt and twist. The structures and planetoids, all so carefully constructed, began to crumble apart. The fragments and debris pushed and pulled in new directions. Luigi yelped and grabbed as many Toads and Lumas as he could to hold them close.

The black holes shifted their positions. The galaxy reactor sent out another pulse. All the platforms and machines reached resonant frequency, crumbling apart.

The Observatory remained untouched. "Can't you stop it?" Polari's voice wavered, watching Rosalina's raised wand.

Her arm shook. She pursed her lips.

She lowered her head. "No. I was able to hold it all together for the fighting. But it is beyond control now. There is nothing I can do to neutralize it." her voice was level. But Polari saw the uncertainty in her creased brow.

Luigi sprinted desperately for the red Starshroom. The airship shuddered apart beneath his boots. "Captain!" he wailed, reaching for the Toad locked inside. The Captain pounded his tiny fists against the glass, but to no avail, the next pulse sent them all flying apart.

"Whoah!" Bowser Jr. grabbed Peach when his ship began to tilt, but the force of the quake around them loosed his grip. "Wha—no!"

The ship went nose up. Peach reached out, but the force of gravity beneath them was too much. She tumbled out of the ship, her shrill shout echoing across the galaxy.

Inside the hollow sun, the reactor shuddered and strained. The sun continued to grow, but the nearby black holes were beginning to come into contact. The Grand Star erupted from the machine, blazing and sending a neutralizing, glorious light across for all to see. The thick silence of space swallowed their screams.

The Grand Star traced the sun, before it shot off to a barely perceptible rippling within the star.

"Mario!"

He stirred at the sound of his name. He couldn't open his eyes; the light was too bright. Too hot. He sputtered as he was extracted from the gaseous star matter, and recognized the gentle energy of the Grand Star. His wretched body now devoid of the starlight that protected him. Only Luma remained, helplessly calling his name as the Grand Star eased them out of the hollow sun.

He tried to move. Everything ached. Everything burned . Luma nudged his shoulder. "You have to wake up! Can you feel it?" he asked, fretting in Mario's ear. "We beat Bowser, but we are still in danger. Everything is falling apart. Do you see?"

He couldn't. He tried to open his eyes, straining against the bright light. He could feel Luma coaxing the star power back to life in his veins, enough to heal the more pressing wounds. "I—I can't…" he grit his teeth, finally able to recognize that they were flying through space. The Grand Star dragged him along. He raised his head and squinted.

Red and violet skies. Deep, unforgiving black holes. Bright, distant stars. Meteors, debris. Airships. Shouting. He could make out desperate voices. His eyes adjusted a little more.

Airships. Platforms breaking to pieces. He could sense on a molecular level that the particles that made up everything around them were unstable. Mario shook his head and tried to look around as much as he could. The Starshrooms upended, The Observatory tilted. The airships reduced to splintered wood and rubble.

"No!" a voice as clear as a bell called across space. Mario jolted back to life, his gaze sharpened.

Luma cried out. "There! Your Special One!"

He spotted her clear across the reactor. A small pink figure falling from the airship. Helpless to the frantic pull of gravity. The Grand Star already drew them in her direction. Luma dove under his hat, and Mario straightened up to fly properly. His eyes narrowed. Every wound forgotten. He reached out to touch the Grand Star, gripping one of its points, and they picked up speed.

Another pulse sent the debris around them in further disarray. The Grand Star was not affected, and maintained its steady trajectory. Mario kept his chin up, and held out his arm when they got close.

After all this time, after everything he'd done. He wouldn't let her go.

He managed to catch her hand just as they flew under the airship. Pulling her with him. "I got you!"

"Mario!" she gasped out.

Mario grasped her hand and spun her around, and the sheer delight in her face when she reached out for his other hand made his voice catch in his throat.

Her sweet smile. That desperate hope in her soft blue eyes. Her hands felt like they belonged in his. They were meant to do this, to spin around in space in joyful relief. Her grip on his hands was solid and real and wonderful. For a moment, he could forget the trembling dark matter and the expanding sun and severe imbalance of the space around them. A startled laugh escaped her. He showed her how to fly with the Grand Star, and they soared across the reactor, hand in hand. Her hand was much warmer than his.

The Observatory. They were still far from it. He could just spot Rosalina out there on the ledge.

"Is that where we're going?" Princess Peach asked him, and Mario nodded. He could see, through the debris, the last functioning Starshroom fall into the Observatory's garage, and what looked like the entire Toad Brigade and Luigi filed out. Mario felt at once like he could finally breathe a little. At least they were all safe.

They came upon the bridge that Rosalina had built for him to reach the castle. The Grand Star slowed their path, and then veered to the side.

"Whoah!" Mario and Luma resisted, urging the Grand Star back on its original path. It began to slow. The exponential growth of gravity from other entities. Black holes. Gas giants. The Grand Star couldn't pull free while it guided them along.

The hollow sun. Everything went quiet for a moment. Mario could feel every one of his nerves ignite with heat. Peach turned to look at what was happening. He only knew to shield their eyes. Luma shoved his hat over his face. He covered Peach's eyes with his hands. The churning and crumbling all came to a sudden standstill. He swore he could hear Bowser's lamenting roar across the galaxy.

Collapse. The hollow sun fell in on itself, consuming the planetoids, the black holes, the dark matter, and the reactor itself inside. The Grand Star strained, resisting the pull.

Princess Peach cried out. The nuclear heat should have ended their existence.

The meltdown was already going to be bad enough. Mario grit his teeth. He couldn't let the Grand Star be sucked in, or the beacon at the Observatory. That source of power was too precious and dangerous in a reactor like this. They had to get out of range. He had to warn Rosalina somehow.

The Grand Star stopped moving. It's power waned against the force behind them.

Mario finally opened his eyes.

The tiny, blinding white core of the star exploded into a swirling neon storm, opening up the universe beneath them. The burning elements stung his nose. Hydrogen, carbon. Air robbed from his lungs. Fuel exhausting itself. Gaping swaths of dark matter expanded. They were running out of time.

Luma went back under his hat. Mario spun once, twice, attempting to assist the Grand Star.

It was no good. They still inched back. The newly dying star began to draw them all into its orbit. The Grand Star began to fail. Luma's frantic peal told him they were out of options.

A cold knot formed in his stomach. Mario looked at the Observatory, then down over to the collapse, before his eyes fell to Princess Peach.

Despite all the chaos, she was radiant in the starlight. "What can we do?" She asked softly, reaching for him.

They just weren't close enough to the Observatory. The Grand Star couldn't resist the pressure forever without help. He had to act. What other choice did he have? He grasped her arms, bracing them together, before he closed his eyes and brought one of her hands to his cheek. "My Princess," he said, his voice weak. "Don't worry. It will be okay."

A blazing courage filled his chest, heart pounding, and he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead.

Her wide, glittering blue eyes blinked at him. She started to say his name, to ask what he meant. He did his very best to smile for her. His fists glimmered with Luma's power. A hopeless embrace. He made his choice.

He seized her shoulders and heaved her toward the Observatory with all his strength.

"Mario!" she cried out, anguished. She and the Grand Star flew toward safety, toward the Observatory. He and Luma went reeling back toward the dying star.

He watched her until he was certain that Rosalina's force field brought her in.

Spinning, the colors of destruction blurring in his sight. His hands tingled with the memory of her touch. He couldn't tell which way was up anymore, if there was an up. The gravitational pull yanked them toward the blistering core. The pressure buzzed in his ears.

The look of abject horror on her face was one he would never forget as long as he lived. Which, he came to the brutal realization, might not actually be very long.

What lay ahead was fallout.

Rolling, reverberating. The sinking core drew in space from all around, flashing bolts from the reactor streaking across the universe. Splitting entire planets in seconds. Mario looked upon the raging destruction with a strange sense of stillness in himself.

His purpose. Yes. After all this wondering and fretting, he'd finally found it. Of course, it all made so much sense. He was to give his life protecting the one he loved.

This was what his entire menial life had led up to. All those miserable years in Brooklyn. The underpaid jobs. Cheap apartments. The isolation. The bowels of a city hostile toward the disadvantaged. The blisters he got from wearing out old boots. Mindless relationships that went through the motions, round and round in circles. Losing friends who moved on to bigger and better things and never bothered to stay in contact. Getting old enough to forget his birthday. Not noticing the year that winter and the holidays were more of a source of dread than excitement. The day that he and Luigi buried their mother. Would she be proud?

All of that so he could better appreciate the beauty and life of the Mushroom Kingdom. All of that suffering, so he could fully understand the reaches of Princess Peach's kindness.

That must be it. It was the only thing that made sense, sailing into oblivion.

So why did it hurt so much?

The dying star opened up a gaping mass beneath everything. A yawning maw. The Observatory, the castle, everything began to tilt in response to the massive shift in gravity.

Asteroids and debris flew around him. Pieces of planets and imploding suns. Space ignited with color, with the collision of cold and heat, until he could no longer distinguish the ends of the galaxies disintegrating around them.

Swallowing hard, Mario risked one glance back. The shape of the Observatory was all he could make out. Its great spires and its burning beacon. He was too far now. He couldn't see any of them. His throat closed up as he realized he didn't get to tell Luigi goodbye.

Luma came out of his hat and pressed into his cheek. Mario felt his eyes sting.

A bright streak flew past. And then another. Mario cradled Luma in his trembling hands. "I think this is it for me," he said, trying to smile for the baby star. "We did good. Will you tell them I say goodbye? Will you tell Luigi that I love him?"

Crooning, Luma pressed closer to his cheek. Contact with the pure being sent tingles across Mario's skin. He gave a sad laugh, only to blink when Luma pulled away.

Space around them lit up with endless colorful streaks and familiar, chiming cries. Mario blinked.

From the Observatory. They came streaming down into the core. The Lumas, diving in. Mario gasped. The streaks of light flew down directly into the center of the star, pure light fighting the dark matter. He started to shake his head. "Wait," he said, holding his hands out for Luma.

Luma looked to the dying star, and then back to Mario. The sweetest little star being. "It is time," he whispered, before he began to spin with his shimmering power.

The universe shook. Luma tore off into the fallout in a blinding flash of pearly light.

Just another streak among the stars. He was gone. Mario reached out to nothing; abandoned, adrift.

Swirls of matter churned and consolidated beneath him. A great beam of blue shot up from the middle of the star. Clouds of space dust drew in, great rings of gas and reflected light surrounded them all. Bolts of neon lightning shot from the blinding core. The star itself blazed red, the Lumas reacting until pockets of pure white light began to take over. Growing, blinding, burning.

In an instant, all the matter swirled together. The skies went dark.

Nothingness. It was different from the reverse existence of dark matter. Mario was still aware of himself, his body. But there was absolutely no light, not even that of distant stars.

A spark. Mario breathed in. A collision of heat and cold, gas and light and energy and life .

Opposite forces collided, straining and squirming. Rumbling. Burning, screeching. Matter from lightyears around, forced into much smaller spaces than they belonged. Elements shifting. Positive and negative. Colors that human eyes were not designed to see. Speeds at which he should have disintegrated.

All culminating to a single point at which an atom was split. And then another, and another.

Silence.

And light.

The burst of a thousand suns. The cries of baby stars. The resonance of matter. A great, majestic, all-consuming light.

O~o~O

Who are you?

Mario knew who he was.

He was a child, laying in a patch of sunlight from a window in a cheap apartment, marveling at the tiny rainbow he'd discovered like a patch of magic right before his eyes. He was wolfing down his mother's food after days of not enough, and being scolded until he learned to slow down.

He was eight and helping Luigi with a project for one of his classes. He remembered the way the warm light of the dining room seemed so different after dark, long after he should have been in bed on a cold autumn day. He remembered the texture of bright construction paper on his fingers. The conspiracy in his brother's eyes that they shared when they believed they had tricked their way out of an early bedtime.

He was fourteen and had stepped outside the job he wasn't allowed to be working in to answer a call from the hospital. He knew what they were going to say before they said it. He stared out across the street glittering with glass, the sun high on the horizon, and heard the buzzing from a car squealing by packed with older boys and girls on their way to do something at 8:46 in the morning on a Friday. He was late for school.

He was twenty on the computer at the public library with aching posture, and had tried to run the numbers again and again but they couldn't add up in a way that would allow him to finish his education. The blue light burned in his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling. The library was about to close. Their lease was about to expire again, and he hadn't gotten even a spare hour to visit the graveyard in two years. Luigi read novels behind him.

He was twenty-one and had just managed to secure two apprentice plumbing positions with the city. He had just turned twenty-two when the nice lady at the district office asked if he would take her out for a coffee sometime, and in his panicked rush of considering that he had neither the time nor the energy nor the money to invest in any kind of relationship outside of his brother, he watched her face screw up with what he thought was disgust and she didn't seem so nice anymore. He had to erase the form at the doctor's office when he accidentally wrote the wrong age and corrected it to twenty-three when he had to get his knee checked out, after fighting the crazy gorilla as well as the murmurs of "Jumpman" that followed him everywhere.

He realized he had turned twenty-four alone one night after convincing Luigi to ask out the girl he kept eyeing across the hall. Luigi had already gotten him a gift and made a nice dinner, but it finally registered a few days later. He took another bite of his leftovers. They were cold in the middle, but he didn't bother getting up to heat them up again.

He turned twenty-five and could finally slow down enough to believe and enjoy it in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Like sunlight peeking through stormclouds. That was who he was.

They were a long way from home. Their new home. He could see it. The little mailbox. The front door, the layout they had painstakingly created. The altar for their mother sitting by the fireplace, the telescope Luigi had been working on before the Star Festival, left sitting on the table.

The telescope. Mario saw where it came from. He saw a little girl standing up on a hill with her older brother while their parents watched from their quaint house. Her brother, normally rambunctious, had gentle hands as he guided her to look up to the skies, to the wonders of all the stars and planets up above. Her mother had long blonde hair and a serene smile. Her father had a mustache which he stroked as he looked upon their children.

The little girl was so familiar. She was his friend and she was a star in the sky.

She was alone as she stared upon the hill where a stone marker stood. Her denial took her on a comet far away from home with nothing left but a telescope in the soft grass. His brother had found it in the undergrowth there.

The moments blurred. He saw his brother's crayon drawing of a family. He saw a little girl's drawing of a different, more familiar family. He saw his own wrinkled hand as he looked out across his kingdom. He saw his mother catching eyes with a stranger one rainy night. He saw himself laying eyes upon Princess Peach for the first time.

He remembered the way their apartment smelled in his childhood. He remembered the scrape of his boots on the city streets. He remembered a deep kiss with the one he loved. He remembered easing his aching, old body down in a chair beside her.

The moments surrounded him in an overwhelming flood of nostalgia and unfamiliarity at the same time. How could he remember things that never happened? Things he hadn't even been alive to see?

He wrenched himself away, forcing himself to go back.

It wasn't real, he willed himself to see, as he felt the crushing embrace of a lover that he had never known.

No, he'd given it all up.

In order to preserve her. Yes, that's right. He had determined it must be his life purpose to sacrifice himself for the one he loved.

Though, the notion of a life destined toward self sacrifice allowed space for wishful thinking of a life not intended to die so soon. Thousands of potential moments and states, all hinging on one desperate hypothetical.

Mario imagined a life where he could have realized his feelings sooner, as he drifted through the oppressive darkness of space. A version of himself who wasn't so afraid to speak his thoughts. If only he were a little braver, a little more in tune with himself. He glimpsed this version. The man standing there, proud and without shame, was slightly unfamiliar.

He imagined a world where he might not have stumbled across the Mushroom Kingdom at all. Where he didn't challenge Donkey Kong, where he never became the Jumpman. No headlines or journalists running him down. A world where he lived out the rest of his life with Luigi and whatever opportunities they could scrounge out of the dust, in a cruel, rainy city. He didn't like this world.

He imagined all the ways in which he could have avoided throwing himself into the collapse. If he had been a little quicker to resort to the red star. If he had been faster going through the reactor to get to Bowser. If he had returned the Grand Star from the Engine Room any sooner. If he had decided nothing mattered except getting Power Stars at the cost of his own health, could he have avoided this?

The betrayal on Princess Peach's face as he pushed her away would haunt him for all eternity. Every piece of him that scattered across the cosmos, every particle of what he once was would retain the heartbreak. The memory of her tears.

If he had been any more competent, in any fashion, perhaps he would have been able to tell her that he loved her.

And if, by some chance, she loved him back, they could have had a life together.

He imagined her embrace. The blush that would rise to her cheeks when he would find the nerve to flirt with her. The sweets they would bake, the knowing looks they would send to each other across important political meetings.

Oh, the dates he would plan. Riverside dinners, picnics by starlight. Love notes, flowers. Fireflies and formal dances.

The giddy thrill of choosing a ring. The speech he would have planned, stammering through it. The grand plans. Turning and opening his eyes to see her for the first time in a gown of white. An earth angel.

Crowds cheering, tears streaming.

Years. Waking up beside one another, a warm embrace. Comfortable, routine.

Planning ahead. A swelling belly. Tears, contractions, world-shaking pain. And there, resting upon her chest, opening new eyes to a bright and wonderful life.

He couldn't bear to imagine that far. It wasn't fair.

It would never happen. It was over. Even if he had spoken up, there was no guarantee that the life he wanted could ever come to be. That potential life he imagined was less likely to occur in this reality than his own existence, he thought dismally. Still, the most beautiful thoughts grew and grew in his head. Gardens, meadows of glorious, gentle love. Wildflowers, sprouting and blooming out of control. Only for grief to follow like snow, steady and soft, thick in his throat. Inevitable. Hopeful blooms meeting the big freeze, and dying right before his eyes.

He was a bug, twisting and flailing about in the universe over a broken heart.

Everything was heavy. Heavier than a black hole. His core withered to a bleak and cold state. No more fire, no more heat. All but extinguished by a hopeless crush.

Only grief.

A blue comet sailed across the universe, fueled by a neutron star collision. A heart catapulted across the stars by his own hopes and expectations.

A shimmering, cosmic being watched from this comet, dreaming and dreaming of a potential life that he had chosen to lay down. Looking down, down below. Back through time. He watched himself be blasted off the earth and everything he knew to the Gateway. He watched himself discover the Toad Brigade and Luigi out there among the galaxies. He watched himself break down over the weight of the stars. He watched himself on deserts, waters, on planets of ice and fire. His presence carried a tangible dread that he shared with his past self. He watched himself discover the love in his heart. Black holes and revelations. He watched himself fight for the fate of the universe within the hollow sun, and he could do nothing to stop the sacrifice.

He could only watch.

The lonely witness. Watching over and over again.

O~o~O

"The stars are bright but do they know? The universe is beautiful but cold..."

-Iris (Hold Me Close), U2

In addition, for this specific sequence of events:

Map of the Problematique, Muse - The final stretch to the final battle.

Starlight, Muse - The final battle. Last chorus, Mario dives with Bowser into the hollow sun.

The Iron Sea, Keane - The rapidly expanding meltdown of the Star Reactor. Mario makes his choice to save Princess Peach.

Memory Arc, Rival Consoles - The universe dissolves into darkness.

We'll Meet Again, The Jaded Hearts Club - Mario's life flashes before his eyes.

How to Disappear Completely, Radiohead - Mario drifts away into space as he grieves and realizes his own ultimate sacrifice.

Gilded Lily, Cults - A lonely blue comet shoots across the universe, a cosmic shadow looking through the past and powerless to change anything.

playlist/201Zk02DNGEvDX37FVg805?si=6a291d8d78fb483b

watch?v=Wt5RXI9MHWAlist=PLMcLFTZtfDfTXZBwtkxaVAIJv6ln1pjVq