Grodus banged the end of his cane against the floor in anger. The scientist X-Naut shivered slightly at the force of his boss's anger.
"What?! Say that again! You can't get in touch with Lord Crump?" The scientist X-Naut nodded.
"You are correct, sir. We are investigating now…we should hear anytime…" From the back of the room, the door opened and a red X-Naut grunt walked through, saluting once he had fully entered.
"Sir Grodus! Please allow me to enter!"
"Yes, what is it?" The grunt stepped forward and took his place next to the scientist.
"The Crystal Star in the Boggly Woods has apparently been taken by Soren!"
"WHAT?!" Grodus slammed his cane again and a spark of electricity ran through the floor, stopping just before hitting the two X-Nauts, "You must be joking! What about Lord Crump and the Shadow Sirens?" The grunt stepped forward a bit fearfully.
"Uh, I'm sorry, sir! Unfortunately, Soren laid a beating on all of them!"
"Hmmm…Disturbing. This Soren character…what kind of…" Grodus gave a low grunt before continuing, "Speak up, X-Naut! What is the status of the other Crystal Stars?"
"I apologize sir! We are still searching for the other Crystal Stars! Unsuccessfully, sir!"
"We knew of three of them…Hooktail Castle. Boggly Woods. The one we got in Rogueport. That means there are four Crystal Stars left out there…and we WILL have them! Keep looking, so that Soren won't beat us to the punch!"
"Yes sir!" With a quick salute, the red grunt exited the room.
"As I suspected, there's no reason to doubt that Soren has that map…he must. I thought I had taken care of any troubles after dispatching of that Mario celebrity. It seems I was wrong." Grodus turned to the scientist X-Naut, "Listen up! You! I want you to keep a close watch on what Soren does from now on!"
"Absolutely sir!" With a quick salute, the scientist X-Naut exited the room. Leaving Lord Grodus to brood in solitude.
"Soren…I loath you."
Alice
I sat back on my bed, lazily waiting for something to happen while I was incarcerated in this weird fortress. I could hear a few X-Nauts shuffling around above me, and a few minutes ago I could hear that chrome dome guy yelling about something to some subordinates. Good to hear Soren is still giving them trouble…
"I hope he read my email…I don't want him spending all his time worrying about me…well, at least not ALL of his time." It's been a few days now since I've been in here, and the only thing that's happened is that first meeting with TEC. Other than that, the only thing I've been able to do is sit here and wonder what's happening outside, "I hope he at least met up with Gareth and Lily. If they got captured then it's just going to make him worry even more…gah!" I got up from my sitting position, feeling my blood start to boil with anger, "These X-Naut jerks are a pain! All I can do is sit here and worry about the others! I'm sick of it!" As though in answer to my boredom and frustration, the door to my room opened. Must be TEC. Guess he finally wants to continue our chat from last time. "About time." Standing up, I headed out towards the computer room.
Stepping inside, I was immediately greeted by the robotic voice of the bases A.I.
"Hello, Alice. I am glad you came." I'm skeptical about that but I'll play along for now.
"Good to see you too. Did that mail I sent to Soren go through…because if it didn't-"
"Do not worry. The letter was successfully received by Soren." Well, at least that's one load off my mind. "You seemed rather agitated earlier. Might I inquire as to why?"
"Well…I'm worried about my friends. Soren especially since he's the one under your bosses' radar…hang on, were you eavesdropping on me?"
"I am sorry Alice. I have been ordered to keep surveillance on you. But…it is odd…when you were agitated, I had an impulse to alleviate that anger. How my CPU would produce this impulse is inexplicable. I must find what caused it."
"Well…you see-" God this is not easy to explain. "-it's because you care about me. And you don't want to see me upset."
"Intriguing…how do I alleviate your anger?" Don't throw me a curveball like that!
"I-I don't know. We'd need to do something to take my mind off of what's bothering me. Something fun like…games, books, dancing- just something that won't make me think about what my friends are going through."
"…Very well. Let us dance." What!?
"What!? How!? You're a motionless computer!"
"Would this be an acceptable dance substitute?" From the smaller projector above the computer, a perfect copy of me projected out and stood a few feet away. I waved my hand through it and it shimmered slightly.
"That's a little creepy TEC."
"Apologies, but I have no other frame of reference for a dancing partner." Well…I suppose I should give it a try.
"Fine. I'll dance with it." I slowly approached it and held out my arm for a ballroom waltz. The projection of me met my motions, preforming the complimentary moves to my stance. It was a slow movement around the room, step by step as we swung ourselves through the motions. As we did, I felt a small smile creep on my lips; both from the fun of the dance, and from the fact that TEC went to this length just to try to make me happy. Although…as we danced, I thought back to the last time I had done the waltz…back with Soren at the Beacon Ball. He was nowhere near as graceful, he even stepped on my toes a few times…and at least once he actually made us topple over and fall to the ground. All I could think about was that I missed him…how much I missed all my friends right now. In the end, it was only a brief relief from the worry I felt.
When the dance came to an end, the mirror image disappeared and I stood there alone. It was quiet until TEC finally spoke.
"…I am sorry I could not eliminate your sadness."
"It's okay…it was fun for a little bit at least."
"Yes, it was…fun? Is that the feeling I had?" I looked up at the computer, confused by its question.
"You okay TEC?"
"…Alice, I will fulfill my promise to you. Please use my communicator. Use the keyboard to send whatever message you want." I looked at the computer quizzically for a moment before proceeding to type out my message to Soren. At least the feeling of sending him a message gave me a little bit of hope.
"Alright. Send it."
"…The message has been sent. Please go back to your room. I want to analyze the date from this interaction immediately. Many conflicting emotions are tied to this data…I want to understand 'fun'."
"You're a strange computer." I offhandedly commented.
"No. You are mistaken. I am the world's best and only perfect computer." I chuckled at his answer before turning and making my way back to my room, "Good night, Alice." As I made my way back to my room, I felt a cold chill go up my spine, like something bad just happened because of something I did…was it the email…no, couldn't be.
Gareth
As we touched down onto the ground of a meadowy field, I jumped out of the clown vehicle and proceeded to empty the contents of my stomach into a nearby bush. Lily gave me a few rubs on the back as I let my body take its natural course when it came to flying.
"Hey Lily? Do you think air sickness can be overcome by traveling in a plane enough times?"
"Sorry Gareth, but I've never heard of that being the case." Bummer. As I finished unloading my lunch, I could hear Bowser stomp past us.
"I'm pretty sure it's just up ahead here…" Kammy Koopa puttered along on her broom behind him.
"Right as usual Lord Bowser. We just got word that Princess Peach was spotted in the town up ahead." I felt myself perk up a bit.
"That means Soren and Alice are with her." I said excitedly. We'd been separated for a few days now. Who knows what kind of trouble they've gotten into in that time. For all I know they could have taken down a dragon. It's not everyday you get an opportunity like that!
"Then let's get going!" Bowser commanded. "These fools don't know what's coming to them!"
"W-Why am I worried about the path we'll be taking?" Lily asked shivering slightly.
"That's the feeling of danger and excitement."
"I-It feels more like fight or flight…e-emphasis on flight."
I wasn't sure what path we were on, but it was AWESOME! The goombas seemed to be super territorial and rushed at us with recklessness that put me to shame. But at the end of the day, they were just Goombas, and all it too was a light tap to knock them over…didn't mean I didn't go for the full swing though.
"And he's out of there!" I cheered.
"W-Will he be okay!?" Lily asked in pure worry.
"Yeah, these little things bounce back pretty well." I assured her. One time I saw one of these things go flying straight up and fall back to the ground with out a scratch on em. I didn't know what they were made of but it was super resilient to any bashing attacks. Didn't mean it didn't exhaust em though. Bowser led the front of the group though, knocking through most enemies in our path. The only thing he came to a stop on was some weird little guy in a red and white body suit.
"What are you supposed to be?" He asked and the little guy shivered.
"B-B-Bowser!? We were told you wouldn't show up here!"
"Guess your intel was wrong shrimp, now out of my way!"
"T-The X-Nauts can't have you in the way of our plans!" He came at us, his fist spinning as he ran. Bowser quickly retaliated with a fire breath that scorched his pants and had him running away screaming.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Nobody can stop me! Why even try!
"X-Nauts?" Lily asked and I shrugged.
"Maybe they're just a small-time mafia ring."
"You think they have a mafia here!?"
"Maybe. Wouldn't that be something?"
"I'd rather it not be anything to be honest."
"Keep up minions!" Bowser shouted back at us as he stomped forward. "We've got a princess to kidnap!" Lily pulled me back slightly and whispered into my ear.
"We're not really going to kidnap Peach…are we?" I shrugged. From what I heard the treaty they set up was really weird.
"For all we know, helping him kidnap her is a good move." Lily just looked at me in bewilderment.
"This world is scary and weird." Ha!
"You don't know the half of it."
After a short trek through some more goombas and X-Naut guys, we came to a small village in the middle of the field. Lily looked at the nearby sign.
"It's called…Petalburg."
"Nice place…very green." I commented as Bowser stomped towards one of the locals, Kammy Koopa not far behind him. The koopa turned around to face Bowser.
"Oh, hey, welcome to Petalburg and…" The idea of who he was talking to seem to hit him as his eyes went wide and his face paled slightly. Man, that is some intense fear, "EEEEEEK!" And that is a scream to match it, "Hide, everybody! HIIIIDE!" The koopa scrambled and rushed off in the opposite direction, falling to the ground shortly after before picking themselves up and continuing to run. Bowser gave a short huff.
"What a wuss. Yes, hide, chickens! I have no need for any of you!" He stomped forward a few feet and gave out a roar. "WHERE IS PRINCESS PEACH!? TELL ME THIS INSTANT!" The force of his voice had every person, and most bugs, running away in terror.
"U-Um…is shouting really going to get them to cooperate?" Lily asked.
"Hmph! Only when they fear me will I get the truth out of them."
"O-Oh…okay…" Lily slowly slunk back until she was behind me. Looking out through the village, I caught a pink dress and focused in to see Peach smiling through a nearby window.
"Hey, is that her?" I pointed towards the window and Bowser gave out a boisterous laugh.
"Good work minion! Now let's grab her and go!" Bowser stomped towards the house where she was, stopping in front of the window she was currently looking out of.
"U-Um Gareth?" Lily tugged at my arm. "Is that-"
"I know, I wouldn't have expected straight pink. At least splashes of red and orange, match the peach name."
"Well, there's pantone peaches…but I was talking about-" Bowser cleared his throat and began to speak.
"I've found you my princess. I, Bowser, the mighty koopa king, offer my greeting!" Peach stood silently, continuing the smile, "Now, now! None of that silent treatment! You're coming to my castle with me!" Still no response.
"Man, she stands stone faced while staring down Bowser. I can respect that."
"B-But that's not-"
"Mweh heh heh! Clearly she's so overcome with joy that she's been left speechless!" Kammy Koopa interjected. "The mind of a maiden is, well, rather complicated. Mweh heh heh heh heh!" Bowser gave out a laugh.
"I see! I see! How refined! How elegant! Awesome! I suppose I could live with a silent princess! It might even have its perks, you know?" I watched as Lily took a deep breath.
"THAT'S NOT-"
"NOOOOO!" Lily jumped as she was over shouted by a nearby koopa, "My…My life's treasure! I'd rather die than give up my life-sized Peach Poster!" With jittery yet quick hands, the koopa rushed up to the window and rolled down the, apparent, poster of peach before dashing off. Leaving a shocked Bowser and leaving me perplexed.
"P-POSTER!?" Bowser yelled.
"So uh…was that what you were trying to say?" I asked Lily and she sighed before nodding.
"Oh, my goodness me…" Kammy said. "Didn't see that coming." Bowser let out a long sigh.
"Great. Just great. Now I look like the huge, mighty king of GUYS WHO TALK TO POSTERS!" I walked up and gave Bowser a pat on the least spiky part of his back.
"Cheer up guy…at least you're probably king of the guy who owns that poster." Bowser started angrily stomping on the ground.
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME FEEL ANY BETTER!"
Soren
After finally disposing of the bomb, we decided to make our way back to Rogueport to turn in the crystal star and get more information from Professor Frankly. We still had five stars to find and odds are that Crump and his crew wouldn't be far behind on them. But we made sure to say goodbye to our Puni friends.
"Uh…thank you, Soren, for everything you've done." Punio said. "We can go back to our peaceful way of life now."
"I was glad to help out. We all were."
"Make sure you take care of your people." Peach said.
"And do keep being adorable little ones won't you." Flurrie added.
"You know, son, now that we get right down to it, I'm kind of sad to see you go. I do love pontificating, so come on by whenever you want to sit and chat awhile." I turned to Goombella who vigorously shook her head.
"I'll…think about it."
"Yes, please come back and visit!" Petuni added. "We'll watch for you!" Punio nodded.
"We'll work together from now on to prevent anything like that from happening again. Thanks for showing us how to stick together Soren. Good luck with the Crystal Stars."
"This shan't be our last visit, I assure you." Flurrie said. "But until then, ta-ta!"
As we walked away, I gave them one last wave before turning to face the road back out of the woods and towards Rogueport.
"You think they'll be okay." Koops asked.
"I'm sure they'll be fine." I replied. "I heard Jabble was working on easing the tension between the Jabbies and Punies so they can share the tree. If everything goes smoothly then they'll have peace for a long time."
"That's a big if." Peach said bluntly.
"When it comes to politics you don't pull punches do you?" Before she could reply, my scroll started ringing. Pulling it out, I immediately noticed my inbox had some new mail. That had to be Alice again!
"Who is it?" Peach asked. I opened it up and began to read.
"Soren,
I'm sure you and the others are worried about me. But don't worry, I'm not in any danger. If anything, all I've been able to do is worry about you guys. You seem to be wreaking a lot of havoc based on the screams and yells of their boss. Just keep it up and eventually we should be able to meet back up and clock these X-Naut jerks. In the meantime, I'll try to uncover what I can about the Crystal Stars you're collecting. So, until then stay safe…and when we do meet up again…we should get you some dancing lessons.
-Alice-" Strange ending to an email.
"Aw, she misses you." Flurrie commented.
"Well, I miss her too." I replied. "But at least she sends me something to let me know she's okay. If it were just the first email, I had to go on I might lose my mind. This is reassuring."
"Dancing…Ah, I haven't been dancing in a while." Peach said wistfully before gripping my hands. "We should do some dancing!"
"Okay, but be warned. I am not good."
"Don't worry, I can teach you."
"Oh, perfect." I'm sure that'll make Alice happy, she wanted me to get dancing lessons after all.