I jotted down every major landmark I could into my map journal as we flew through the air in Bowser's clown car. The continent we had found ourselves on was strangely diverse and varied for a medium sized landmass. Although plenty still recognized Bowser's airship given their tendency to run in terror.

"R-R-R-R-R-RUUUUUUUUNNNNNNN!" I gave a sigh as another toad citizen fled in terror below us…although he seemed to just pick a random direction and dashed into a tree. Bowser gave out a thunderous laughter. All the while, Gareth limply hung over the edge of the ship like a drying towel. We had been in the air for a few hours now and Gareth's dark skin seemed to turn a paler shade with every shake and turn the clown ship made.

"M-Maybe we should land for a little bit." I suggested, pulling Gareth back from the edge before he slipped over.

"Hmmmm…I suppose. Staying in the ship isn't getting us any closer to finding Peach or those stars…we'll land there!" He pointed out towards what looked to be a floating city above the clouds. As he descended, I felt Gareth grip my shoulder.

"Lily…are we landing on the ground?"

"…Y-Yeah."

"Thank god." That should make him feel better…I hope.

Soren

As we stepped into Mr. Grubba's office, he hastily swept the papers off his desk and into a drawer before closing it and turning to us.

"Mr. Grubba-" Jolene started. "-I've brought Mr. Black and Ms. Pink." Every time she says that I feel like a character in Reservoir Dogs.

"Mind your manners darlin'. We KNOCK 'round here, missy!" She gave a small bow.

"Apologies, Mr. Grubba."

"Don't worry yer pretty li'l head about it none. Now, Back and Pink." Grubba walked around and put his short arms on my shoulders, "That was some fine fighting pardner'. You know how to keep 'em in suspense!"

"Not by choice." I admitted, looking down at my hands. All that was left of my wooden swords were the splintered and cracked handles.

"Don't sweat it kid. Swords are out. Maybe we should get you a nice hammer or an axe."

"I'm good. I have friends who specialize in those and I'd rather not step on their toes."

"Well congrats, you made it to the Major Leagues son! I had a feelin' you were goin' places, and DANG I love it when I'm right!" Given how many matches in a row we went through, I'm willing to bet there are plenty of people interested in our climb to the top. Which means a lot more money for him, "You just keep on puttin' tuckuses in them seats! I'm countin' on you, son!" Grubba reached into his pocket and pulled out a small satchel that jangled as he moved it., "In fact, I gotta li'l somethin'-somethin' for you. Go on! Take it!" Counting out the coins in the bag, I found about fifty to be in there.

"Thank you, sir." I replied politely. Grubba stared at us for a moment, eyeing our clothing up and down with a pensive look.

"Somethin' else that's been on my mind…yer costume ain't cool. No big deal, but hey. Someday, if you become champ, I'll get you a new one. Somethin' hot pink, maybe with some frills or somethin'. You'll look a sight, son!" I'll LOOK ridiculous.

"Th-Thanks." I replied half-heartedly.

"Anyway, that's somethin' fer another day, pard. Take a powder, OK?" Grubba moved back to his desk and Jolene cleared her throat to get our attention.

"If you would please follow me. I will show you to the major league locker room."

Stepping into the major league locker room gave me a very clear difference between them and the minor league. Despite the variety of tough opponents, they all seemed less chummy than the guys in the minor league. As we stepped in, I could feel all the eyes on the three of us, sizing us up in their minds before going back to their individual tasks. Weather that was preparing for an upcoming match, or just using their free time to train on the equipment.

"This place is tense." Eggi said bluntly. "Like everyone wants a piece of us!"

"Well, we are the new meat." I said, trying to justify both the feeling of inequality compared to the higher rank fighters, and the fact that a fight with any of them would go badly without some way to take them on now that me and Peach were unarmed.

"This is the major-league locker room." Jolene explained. "You will use this room from this moment on. Needless to say, you will be going up against much tougher opponents on your climb to the top. Do try not to get completely destroyed out there."

"Glad to know your rooting for us." She adjusted her glasses slightly.

"Well, if you'll excuse me…I must be going now." She walked out of the major-league locker room, leaving us to the mercy of the other competitors as they stared at us…yet said nothing.

"This place is a little creepy." Peach whispered to me and I nodded.

"Would it kill them to be a little friendly?" Eggi asked. I looked over at the one nearest to the door. He was a koopa decked out in steel armor and spikes; all I could see were his eyes…which were a soulless red.

"I'm not sure some of them are capable." I replied. Suddenly, the door burst open, making all three of us stumble forward as someone came in.

"Studly guy, coming through!" I turned around to see the champion, Rawk Hawk standing there, "Listen up, losers! I've been hearing about some rising star tearing up the league…" He looked over at us and glared, "You two. Yeah, you fit the bill. A stupid couple and their slow kid!" Do rumors live to get things wrong?

"Don't you dare bad mouth my son Eggi!"

"That doesn't help our image." I said quietly and Peach playfully giggled. Rawk Hawk started chuckling.

"Man, I came all the way over her for these WIMPS?!" He gave out a condescending laugh, "What a waste of time!" As he boasted and bragged about how much better he was then us, I took a moment to examine the championship belt around his waist. That thing had the crystal star on it…wait…something's not right. I've only seen two of these things but this one seems comparably…duller. I stepped forward making him puff up his chest to scare me, before crouching down to his waist and touching the star on his belt.

"Back off fresh meat! You want the belt; you have to EARN it. And there ain't no way you're bringing down the Rawk!" This thing doesn't even give off any magical energy. It's a fake! I stood back up and backed off, making him sneer at me, "Too much for you kid? I know. Only a champion can handle touching the belt for longer than five seconds. Hope you enjoyed what you got."

"You…just became much less interesting and much more annoying." I retorted. I turned back to Peach and Eggi, "Star's a fake." Peach gave a small gasp.

"Hey! You think you can just smack-talk the Rawk Hawk? I DON'T THINK SO!"

"No, if I wanted to smack-talk you, I'd come up with something better than insulting your worthless dime store belt." I said off-handedly. If that's not the star then where in Glitzville could it be…and were we wasting our time in this arena?

"Stop making fun of me punk! You're alive ONLY 'cause we ain't in the ring right now!" No, it has to be somewhere in here. It can't just be a coincidence that the star and the belt have the same shape. Rawk Hawk grabbed me by the collar and pulled me to look him in the eye, "If I see you under those light, I'll tear you apart! Remember the RAWWWWWWK!" He shoved me to the floor before storming out of the locker room.

"That was sudden. Was it something I said?" I asked and Peach nodded. Huh…must have said something when I was deep in thought.

"Man, you really pushed that dude's buttons, huh?" I shrugged.

"I guess. I was a little lost in thought at the time."

"So…" Peach started. "If the star is a fake, where's the real star?"

"Somewhere in the arena. I'm positive." I stood back up and dusted myself off. "Can't be a coincidence the belt looks like a crystal star." Suddenly, my scroll went off in my pocket. Is it the others? I pulled it out and opened it up to find an email from an unknown sender.

"iF yOu WaNt ThE cRyStAl StAr, HeEd My InStRuCtIoNs. FrOm X."

"Who's X?" Peach asked.

"No clue." And how did they get my email address?

The next two fights were nowhere near as simple given our handicap. Without my sword or Peach's parasol, we weren't as effective in a fight. I could charge up my boots to give some fairly powerful kicks but they're charge rate wasn't incredible; I spent most of my time running around the stage and away from enemies, which the audience didn't like very much. Thankfully Eggi could pick-up the slack, swallowing and knocking back opponents and the crowd LOVED how cute he was.

"Yeah, who wants some chumps!?" His overeager personality seemed to resonate with wrestling heads too. It made our ratings stay constant, but I had a feeling we weren't going to make it any farther unless Peach and I could contribute to the fight in some way.

"This is not going well." I mused as we sat in the Major League locker room. Peach was looking as downtrodden as I was.

"Maybe we should let Eggi solo?" Peach offered. As much as I trusted the little guy, sending him in on his own was way too dangerous. Some of those guys had spikes all over their body, and I had noticed that whenever he swallowed someone spiky, he held his stomach after spitting them out.

"No, not alone. That's too dangerous." I replied.

"Well, I can't do anything…I'm useless." Peach gave a sigh and all I could do was mirror it. Not like I had much optimism to contribute since I was in the same boat.

As we sat there moping, my scroll suddenly buzzed in my pocket. It was another email from that X guy.

"gO tO tHe WaTeRiNg HoLe OuTsIdE ThE gLiTz PiT. FrOm X"

"That X guy again?" Eggi asked. "Why does he want us to go to some watering hole?"

"No clue." I replied. "My question is why his emails read like a ransom note made from cut up magazines. It's an email."

"…For effect?" Peach offered.

"Well, whatever the case, we should check it out. It might lead us to the star." As we stepped out of the Major-League locker room, a conversation between Jolene and one of the guards caught my ear.

"We still haven't been able to find out where that sound is coming from. Everytime we check the storage room, we don't find anything out of the ordinary."

"I see…well, forget about it for now. I'll have someone else check into it later. Go back to your post."

"Yes ma'am." A sound in the storage room…could be Ms. Mowz.

It wasn't too hard to realize that the 'watering hole' was referring to the juice bar near the ring. There were quite a few people inside, tossing back drinks and having a good time. Heading up to the bar we talked with the man behind the counter. He was wiping glasses down and gave as a glance before going back to his work.

"What can I getcha?"

"I'll take some Mago juice." Eggy said and the bartender slid a glass over to him.

"Is there somebody waiting for us here?" I asked and he gave us a longer look before stopping in surprise.

"Hang on…you're those fighters. Black and Pink right?" We nodded. He put the glass he was holding down and reached under the bar, before placing a large rectangle package on the table in front of us, "Somebody left this and a note by the door a bit ago. The letter said to give this to a black coated boy and a pretty blonde girl. Figured it was talking about you two." Upon opening the package, we were shocked to be met by two items. One was a brand-new pink parasol, the other was a set of wooden swords almost identical to the one I had, "You must have a pretty big fan to send you those."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, that parasol is one of the top-of-the-line models. The base is made of reinforced titanium and the actual covering is a mix of rubber and a super durable cloth from some far away land. I hear it can bounce back even the sharpest of spikes. As for those swords, they're from an old campaign from a few years ago when they were selling stuff made from the Boggly Wood Great Tree. They only made a handful of stuff since that wood isn't easy to cut off or shape. They're almost indestructible, and the stuff that cut the initial wood off ended up breaking after it was finished." This…couldn't have been cheap for whoever sent it to us. I looked over at Peach who was just holding her new parasol in awe; I guess we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. I hesitantly picked up my new bamboo…well, I guess their Boggly Blades; they're lighter than my old ones…that's some pretty magical wood. My scroll buzzing took me out of my focus.

"sMaSh tHe BlOcKaDe In ThE mInOr-LeAgUe LoCkEr RoOm. FrOm X" I looked at Peach who simply shrugged. Eggy did the same before swallowing his glass of juice whole before spitting the glass onto the counter, now devoid of juice. I wasn't sure where X was leading us, but since they coughed up the cash to get us replacement weapons, maybe we should go along with it for now.

As soon as we approached the minor-league locker room, the guard stood aside to let us through. Apparently, he had gotten the news we wanted to move back down to the minor-league locker room…but I don't think that's a thing. Regardless we were back down here again. We avoided the weird looks we got from some of our old friends and the seething glare from the Adonis Duo who had been shot back down after we took their place; Eggy blew a raspberry at them before we quickly shuffled away. I didn't want to stay here too long. I wasn't quite sure what we were looking for in here but I'm sure it would stick out if we could find it.

"Soren." Peach turned my attention to the far wall of the room. Unlike the rest of the room, which hadn't seen much upkeep, a particular section of wall seemed to have been recently painted. It had been a while but if you were looking for it, you'd notice it…which explains why we didn't notice it the first time. Stepping up to it, I gave it a light knock; it sounded like the wall was thin, as though there was empty space just beyond it. My scroll buzzed again.

"PuSh ThE rEd BuTtOn. FrOm X"

"Red button?" Peach looked around before she gave a small gasp and pulled out her parasol. Near the handle was a small red button; upon pushing it, the base locked the umbrella into its receded position and a small hole opened up at the top, with a narrowed view. Part of the base opened to reveal a small gauge that showed as full. Peach looked at in confusion before holding it out towards the wall and holding the red button down. I jumped as a powerful blast of air was shot out of the tip, knocking Peach back. The wall absorbed the compressed blast of air and cracks rapidly formed on the surface before the entire thin fell apart, opening the way into a small room. I moved to help Peach back to her feet who seemed to have taken some of the air blast recoil. Her hair looked like it was blasted by a furnace, the whole thing standing back and disheveled.

"That was awesome!" Eggy cheered.

"Guess you got an air cannon as well." I commented and she groggily nodded.

After straightening her hair back out, we made our way into the new room. It was disheveled and covered in an almost unbearable level of dust. A book case packed with books sat in the back, with a lone folder on top of it. Eggy was quick to leap up and throw it down to us before jumping back down and getting a small scolding from Peach for doing something so dangerous for his height. The paper was a bit over my head with some of its more scientific jargon, but I could parse out it was a research paper on the Crystal Star; it even included a few pictures of what looked to be the real crystal star we were looking for.

"This isn't normal." I commented.

"Yeah, something smells fishy around here." Eggy added.

"Um…guys." Peach tugged at my arm and I turned to see Jolene standing near where we blasted open the wall, giving us a mean scowl.

"What are you three doing here?" She asked.

"Um…nothing?" I said, sliding the paper behind me. She quickly strut over and glared at me before I finally handed over the document.

"This is the minor-league locker room. Major-league athletes are forbidden. Even if they weren't, it's hardly appropriate to bash down our walls." She glanced over the document before placing it on her clipboard, "I'll just be confiscating THIS, thank you very much." With a turn, she quickly left the room.

"Hmph, how rude." Peach commented with a huff.

"Seriously, we worked hard for that information. What's her deal?" Eggy added.

"…Regardless, we know the crystal star is here at least. But…why was Jolene in here?" …I'll have to come back on that one. For now, we know the star is here somewhere, and even more than that, we have new weapons; I think it's time for a test drive.

Gareth

Once that clown car came close enough for me to jump off, I leapt over the edge and onto the ground, making some of the people passing by jump; some of them clapped. I don't know what it was about air travel, but my stomach could not handle it.

"Gareth!" I looked over to see the clown copter had landed and Lily was running over to me. "Are your legs, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great!" I replied doing a few squats to show I was fine. That wasn't even the tallest jump I've had to make in my life; came close though.

"Good." She gave a relieved sigh as Bowser stomped off his copter and onto the ground. He gave a huff and looked around. With Bowser being here, the entire place was much more on edge; everybody was keeping distance from us as they shook.

"Hmph, now what?" I looked around us. This place felt like an amusement park, although much smaller. My eyes landed on the largest building, which seemed to be a giant battle dome…my dreams are within reach.

"A battle arena!" I yelled.

"Huh, does this entire place revolve around it?" Lily asked looking around us at the almost shockingly small land mass we had stopped on.

"Hey, what else do you do with a small island?"

"Y-Yeah…island."

Inside the battle dome were people making bets and heading to the arena to check out the fights; on the walls were various posters of the fighters they had and off in the distant I could hear the crowd cheering for whoever was in the ring right now.

"This place rules…lets make a bet." I asked.

"That seems risky." Lily commented.

"Only if the guy you bet on loses, and I don't pick losers." Bowser said confidently.

"I-I suppose that's some kind of system." Lily said sounding a bit lost on Bowser's logic.

"So who should we bet on?" I looked over the list of fighters...a lot of weird names here.

"…I like Black and Pink." I commented. Bowser put a small satchel of coins onto the table.

"Black and Pink." The toad behind the counter shivered before nodding vigorously and handing us a ticket to the next match.

After grabbing some dogs from the vendor, we took our seat in the stands. Even Kammy Koopa had grabbed some weird chicken hat as a souvenir. Everyone around us gave various cheers and jeers towards the magic-koopas that were already on stage. Next to me, Lily was reading through a small pamphlet she had found near the entrance.

"These guys are called the Magikoopa Masters. They're ranked number five in the major-league."

"Cool, this should be a good fight then." I sat in anticipation for the Black Bruiser and Pink Punisher to come into the arena, they had to be awesome with names like that! Maybe they were-

"W-What!?"

"WHAT!?" Bowser yelled making everyone around him run in fear.

"Ha!" I said out loud. "Man, I wondered what he was up to!" Suddenly, Bowser gave out a guttural roar and rushed towards the stage. This is gonna be interesting.

Soren

I was really glad to be back to wielding a weapon. Combat was significantly easier for me and much more interesting for the audience to watch. Although our tryst in the minor-league locker room had prompted the Adonis twins to attempt a surprise attack after one of our matches. Although at that point, my wooden blades were sturdy enough to knock them back, and Peach's air cannon could knock them into each other. Eggy was still the fan favorite but we weren't dead weight anymore. Not even the Magikoopa Masters could handle the three of us. With a blast from Peach and a stomp from Eggi, I moved in with a line cut, knocking all of them out.

"We got ourselves a winner! BLACK, PINK, AND EGG!" He just started doing that on his own after we added Eggi. As we gave our celebratory wave, a loud bestial roar rang through the entire room.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Out of the corner, a large creature jumped onto the stage, creating cracks in the floor…it was Bowser!?

"Whoa! Another fighter's stormin' in, screamin' his fool head off about somethin'! These three seem to have a lot of foes, folks!"

"THIS IS WHERE YOU WERE!" Bowser shouted, eyes on Peach who shuffled behind me. "WE'VE BEEN UP AND DOWN THIS WHOLE KINGDOM LOOKING FOR YOU TWO!" We? I looked behind him to see Gareth and Lily rushing up to meet us. They stopped shy of getting onto the arena floor; Lily giving me a concerned shrug while Gareth…seemed to be instigating us to fight?

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere that isn't the center of an arena." I brought up.

"Yeah, like a chump could take us on!" Eggi instigated and Peach was quick to grab and muzzle him with her hand as he thrashed.

"Ignore our friend. We just hatched him a little bit ago and he's a bit of a handful." Bowser went quiet for a moment.

"We…as in you and Peach…had an egg?" Why do I feel a significant misunderstanding is going on here? "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Guess Gareth gets his wish…stop cheering for this dude!