When it came to looking quaint and adorable, Toad Town could give Petalburg a run for its money. Both consisted of grassy, flower-filled fields and tiny, unassuming houses. The difference was, while Petalburg held only a handful of citizens, Toad Town was overflowing. It had to have as many if not more residents than Rogueport, and yet Vivian felt far more at ease here. This was probably because Toad Town's streets were free of litter, its walls were free of graffiti, and it had a color palette that didn't consist of brown and more brown. In fact, the town hurt to look at. After living in Twilight Town for so long, Vivian had forgotten towns could be bright.

Of course, gorgeous as this place was, the drawback was that Vivian was totally lost. She hated to admit it, but Vivian was going to have to ask for directions from a stranger. Everybody looked friendly enough, but what if they thought Vivian was weird? They'd probably never seen a living shadow before, and Vivian was so much taller than all the Toad women here…

Vivian forced herself to breathe, then approached a random group of people. There were a half dozen of them, all loitering in front of a building labeled Club 64 . As its name suggested, Toad Town was inhabited almost exclusively by Toads (the humanoid toadstool kind, not the amphibian kind), though there were a handful of more obscure species like the canine-esque Doogans.

The group Vivian had approached was composed only of Toads. Most of them were sporting plain blue vests and white, mushroom-shaped caps with red spots, though there were a couple more unique-looking ones. For instance, the Toad in the center of the group had a hand-knitted sweater, long hair, and a mushroom cap with a cool, multicolored design.

"You know," he was saying to his friends, "I was thinking of shaving my head and then trading my clothes for a plain blue vest and a white cap with red spots. What do you guys think?"

"Great idea, Travis T." There was a nod of approval from the other Toads.

"You'll look amazing."

" Super fashionable."

"Um, excuse me?" It was at this point that Vivian managed to catch the fungi's attention. Her voice was a note deeper than she'd have liked, a problem Vivian had learned to circumvent by never speaking above a whisper. "I was looking for a laboratory."

As it turned out, the lab of Professor Frankly's colleague was technically not located in Toad Town. In fact, it wasn't even located in the Mushroom Kingdom. There was, however, a Warp Pipe in Toad Town that led straight to it. When you live in a society with widespread, short-range teleportation technology, it's a trivial distinction.

The moment she emerged from the pipe and took in her new surroundings, Vivian eased up. Evershade Valley was, predictably, a jagged valley trapped in perpetual shadow. Nothing against Toad Town, but this valley was more Vivian's speed. It was like Twilight Town but with less people. There were a couple ghosts floating around, but they seemed friendly enough.

From where the pipe let out, it was only a couple yards to her destination. Vivian rapped on the laboratory door. She didn't know who she'd expected to answer, but a talking suitcase wouldn't have been her first guess.

"Why, hello there." The suitcase's face was on the side of its body, so it had to turn itself lengthwise to face her. "Miss Vivian, I presume?"

"Um, y- yes, that's right." Vivian tugged the rim of her hat farther over her own face. It'd be pretty hypocritical of her to stare at strange people.

"Excellent. Frankly explanified everything to us over email." The suitcase ushered her inside, walking with the help of some cute red shoes stuck to the bottom of its body. "Right this way, please. The professor is expecting you."

The suitcase led Vivian into a vast room filled with more bizarre mechanical doohickeys and doodads than she could comprehend. Gee whiz, this lab was bigger than Frankly's entire house.

"Our guest has arrived, Professor E. Gadd."

Said professor was seated at a nearby computer with an enormous monitor, but he turned to smile at their arrival. You could tell he was a friend of Professor Frankly's because they both had the exact same swirly glasses. E. Gadd was a human being, though nowhere near as hunky as Mario. Vivian did not have a thing for shriveled old midgets with a single tuft of hair sticking vertically off their heads.

"Thank you, Stuffwell," said E. Gadd, absently straightening his standard-issue white labcoat. "That will be all for now."

"Happy to be of service, professor." And with that, Stuffwell marched back up the stairs, but not before yelling, "BACK TO WATCHING TV!" in a booming voice.

"So, missy, I hear you want to learn more about who you are and where you came from." E. Gadd idly sipped a cup of Starbeans coffee, all the while staring at Vivian with those giant, swirly lenses. Vivian felt like a slide of bacteria being examined under a microscope. "Frankly and I have been trading notes over my new patented communication device, the 2SpookyDS." He retrieved said device from his coat pocket. It consisted of two screens stacked vertically, though they didn't appear to fold shut or anything.

"Trading notes?" The butterflies in Vivian's tummy did not appreciate this.

"Why, yes. And that young lad Mario's told me quite a lot about you, as well."

The butterflies went into a frenzy. " Mario? He talks about me? " Vivian hoped to the stars that E. Gadd's glasses were tinted so he couldn't see the color of her face right now.

"Of course he does. He told me all about you. You're quite a fascinating specimen, if you don't mind me saying." E. Gadd smiled to himself. "I already have several theories about your species. You see, my passion is the study of paranormal creatures – though ghosts are my specialty."

"So I take it I'm not a ghost?"

E. Gadd chuckled at this. "Heavens no, Miss Vivian! Ghosts are the lingering essence of people who've died." He gave her a look. "You've never died, have you?"

"Not that I know of?" Vivian figured she'd remember a thing like that. "I just get along well with ghosts, is all."

"Well, your species does have much in common with them," E. Gadd continued. "You are a spectral being, but if my theory is correct, your body isn't composed of undead energy. No, it's composed of something else entirely."

And then the unthinkable happened. The thing Vivian had prayed she wouldn't have to face today. E Gadd reached into a drawer and pulled out a syringe. "Mind if I take a sample?"

Vivian swallowed. Her gaze seemed permanently fixed upon the needle's edge. "N-Not at all."

"Alrighty, then." E. Gadd hopped out of his chair and waddled his way across the lab. "Any medical info I ought to be aware of first?"

"I..." Vivian's face flushed. "I've been, um, taking estroplasm for about a year now."

"The spiritual essence of femininity extracted from female ghosts?" E. Gadd seemed unperturbed by this. "Yes, yes, that would be compatible with your biology, wouldn't it…?"

After that, the subject was dropped. Vivian would let him put the pieces together himself.

"Now hold still, please."

Vivian held her breath and counted the ceiling tiles. After a dizzying few seconds, the syringe emerged, now housing a chunk of disembodied darkness. There was no need for a bandage, as Vivian's shadows filled back the hole in her arm.

E. Gadd plugged the syringe into one of his strange devices, clacked his bony fingers over a keyboard, and a minute later let out a triumphant, "Ah ha!"

"What is it?" Vivian floated over to the monitor.

"My theory was correct." E. Gadd proudly gestured to some readings up on the screen. "Your body is made of dark matter."

Vivian failed to share in the excitement. "Dark matter? What is that?"

"Well, it's kind of a- Here, take a look at this." E. Gadd foraged through his drawers to retrieve a beaker. Said beaker contained a shiny, soft, bumpy object that glowed a brilliant yellow. It looked like a giant piece of candy. "I held onto this from the last Star Festival. It's a Star Bit, and it's composed of pure light matter." He turned back to Vivian. "Your body, on the other hand, is composed of pure dark matter."

Vivian's face remained blank. "I… see."

"These are diametrically opposed forces. Light matter is a nurturing energy channeled by beings such as the Star Spirits, whereas dark matter is more… volatile." E. Gadd's hesitation was palpable.

" Volatile? " Vivian gave a start.

"Yes, I'm afraid dark matter has been utilized for destruction in the past." E. Gadd counted off on his fingers. "Bowser's Koopa Troop harvested it from the center of the universe during the Star Festival incident. And I theorize that the Chaos Heart, that terrible artifact used by Count Bleck, was fueled by dark matter as well."

Vivian swallowed in spite of herself. The "Count Bleck" ordeal had gone down in infamy within the Mushroom Kingdom, mostly because it meant that Bowser was now legally Princess Peach's ex-husband. It had been quite a scandal.

"But… But how can an entire person be made of this dark matter?" Vivian gaped at her own torso, as if the dark matter might jump out at her any moment now.

"Yes, I was getting to that." E. Gadd cleared his throat. "In all my years of paranormal research, I've only ever come across one race composed of pure dark matter. And so, Miss Vivian, I can conclude that you are not a ghost, but in fact a demon!" E. Gadd put on a big, dumb smile. He looked quite pleased with his deduction.

Vivian, on the other hand, felt faint. "There must be some mistake," she sputtered, drawing back. "I can't be a demon. Demons are evil and- and dangerous! The Shadow Queen was a demon, and she dragged a whole town into the earth. I'm not like that! I'd never destroy anything!" Vivian waved an arm… which caused some lab equipment to spontaneously combust.

"Whoa Nelly! Careful there, missy!"

" Oh, gee whiz, I'm so sorry-! "

Before the fire could spread, E. Gadd grabbed a strange device off the shelf – a water tank with a yellow bicycle horn at the top, from the looks of it – and extinguished the flames.

"Gosh, I'm sorry, professor." Now Vivian really hoped E. Gadd's glasses were tinted. It took everything she had not to dive into her Shadow Veil, both to hide from her shame and to avoid the overpowering stench of burnt chemicals. "I didn't mean to cast a Fiery Jinx. I usually have better control of my magic than that."

"Not to worry, missy." E. Gadd chuckled as he returned the water-sprayer to the shelf.

"I'm such a ditz." Vivian buried her face in her hands. "All you did was try to help me, and how did I repay you?" She peeked out at the lab from behind her fingers. Where there had once been beautiful, clean lab equipment, there were now blackened clumps. "I won't bother you anymore, professor. I'm sorry."

"Miss Vivian, wait, it's alright-!" But the demon was gone before he could stop her.

Vivian was exhausted, her back ached, and she felt like an idiot for coming all the way out here. Why did she have to do this to herself? She could've lived the rest of her life in Twilight Town, blissfully unaware of her true nature. That's why Beldam had never told Vivian what the Three Shadow Sisters really were before. She hadn't wanted to upset Vivian.

And now, on top of all that, Vivian had come here, of all places? What was wrong with her? This was only going to make her even more upset, and yet… after everything that had happened, now more than ever, Vivian wanted nothing more than to be with the person who lived in this house. It was a quaint little house, like all the residences in Toad Town. Vivian had never actually been here before, but it hadn't been difficult to locate the address. A celebrity lived here, after all.

Vivian took a deep, deep breath, then knocked on the door. She hoped to the stars that he answered soon. It was pouring icy rain out here.

But Vivian hadn't even finished knocking when the door swung open. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat… until Vivian realized that the man at the door wasn't the one she'd been longing for – It was his weird green cousin. "H-Hello there." The man seemed taken aback.

He was obviously trying to copy Mario's fashion sense, except that this guy was taller and thinner, he wore green instead of red, and, worst of all, his mustache was groomed differently. That ruined it for Vivian. She couldn't find this guy even the slightest bit handsome.

"Oh, I know you!" The man blinked in surprise. "You're one of Mario's friends from Rogueport."

Vivian did seem to remember Mario's group bumping into this guy a couple times, now that he mentioned it. Every time, he'd rambled about how he was fixing some broken pocket watch. What was this guy's name again? Vivian's gaze traveled to the green letter emblazoned on his cap. It was Loogie, wasn't it? Yeah, that sounded right.

"Hello. Is Mario home?" Vivian tried her best to sound like her emotional state wasn't completely riding on the answer to that question.

"I'm-a sorry, you just missed him." Loogie gave an apologetic smile. "It was the craziest thing. You're never gonna believe this! He and Peach were havin' a picnic when they opened their picnic basket and – blammo! Robot hands spring out of the basket, grab Peach, then rockets come-a out of the basket, and it flies Peach off towards Bowser's Castle! Mario ran off after her. I'd have gone with him, but I was in the middle of filing our taxes. No one talks about this, but keeping on top of your taxes is an important part of adventuring. First, you take your monthly income, then divide it by…"

All that reached Vivian's ears was, " Picnic with Princess Peach… Picnic with Peach… With Peach… " Princess Peach? As in, the dazzling blonde beauty whose hands were small and dainty, whose voice was high and soft? The woman who was the epitome of femininity to all who gazed upon her? The women who would forever and always be remembered as Mario's indisputable true love? That Princess Peach?

"Princess Peach? She's a sweet lady." Vivian gave the tightest smile of her life. "She and Mario make a nice couple." This must've been what it felt like to be a shaken bottle of Chuckola Cola whose lid was screwed on too tight.

"Err, why don't you come inside?" Apparently, it had taken Loogie a minute to notice how hard it was raining.

A moment later, Vivian was seated on Mario's couch, wringing out her hat into a bucket that'd been placed down to catch a drip in the ceiling. Not to sound stalker-ish, but even being in the house of her beloved plumber was enough to lift Vivian's spirits. This place reminded Vivian why she loved Mario so much. It was small and unassuming, just like him. A simple one-story house, decorated with a slight red-and-green motif. "I'd have thought the home of a superstar like Mario would be swarming with paparazzi," Vivian said aloud, "but it's peaceful here. He's so humble."

Loogie cleared his throat. "You know, I'm-a pretty humble, myself."

"Hmm?" Vivian did her best to pretend she was listening.

"I've got a mansion that's way nicer than this crib, but I still choose to live here." Loogie folded his arms. "I guess I'm just a simple, down-to-earth kinda guy. In fact, I've always thought of myself as a..."

Loogie's voice became a pleasant hum in the back of Vivian's head as she took in the Mario brothers' living room. When she got to the desk, she did a double-take and sprang off the couch. "Oh, it's us!"

"-been kart racing since I was a baby- Err, what?"

Loogie followed Vivian's gaze to one of the framed pictures resting on the desk. It was the whole group – Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Bobbery, Ms. Mowz, the baby Yoshi whose name escaped Vivian, and, of course, Vivian herself. Look at how big she'd been smiling when they took this. It was the happiest Vivian had been in years. But it had now been ages since the whole group had been in one place together.

Vivian's gaze shifted to the second framed photo on the desk. This one depicted a whole other party. The only person Vivian recognized was Lady Bow, since Vivian's group had run into her at Poshley Heights once. The rest were strangers.

The house had started to warm her from the rain, but now Vivian felt cold again. Of course. Vivian may have been Mario's friend, but he had countless numbers of those. To Mario, their adventure together had been Tuesday. Vivian wasn't special to him. Not the way he was to her. But Vivian had known that for a long time. She forced herself to turn away from the photos. Why did she have to torment herself like this? Why couldn't she let go of Mario and be happy without him?

"So, uh, what brings you all the way from Rogueport?"

Vivian gave a start – She'd forgotten Loogie was in the room. "Well, I wanted to go on vacation, but my sisters didn't want to come with me, so I ended up here by myself." That technically wasn't a lie. "And then it started pouring rain, so..." Vivian laughed at her own expense. "...not the best vacation ever."

Loogie nodded solemnly. "I know that feeling. One time, Princess Peach invited Mario to an all-expenses-paid tropical vacation to Isle Delfino, but she didn't invite old Weegee." He shared in Vivian's laughter. "That's okay, though. I like lounging around the house… by myself… for weeks on end."

For the first time, Loogie caught Vivian's attention. She gave a faint smile, floated over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She glanced away. "Once, my sisters left me at home for a week while they had an important meet-up with these X-Naut people. Though I guess it wasn't so bad having the house to myself since it made it, like, way easier to do voice training."

"Voice training?" Loogie scratched his moustache. "What's that?"

"O-Oh, well, it's, uh- Y'know what, I really need to be heading out before I miss my boat. It was very nice meeting you, Loogie. Thanks for everything! "

"Oh, uh, buh-bye-"

Vivian was out the door and back in the freezing rain before she'd even realized what was happening. It took a moment for it to hit her. She'd run away again. Everything had been going great, but then she made one misstep and freaked out about it. Now Loogie must've thought she was a total weirdo.

Luigi stared at the closed door in awe. He couldn't believe it. Was this real life? Had that really happened? Had Luigi had a conversation… with a girl? A CUTE girl! Who'd talked to him out of her own free will! Nobody besides his bro had talked to Luigi in months! This was amazing! Luigi was totally putting this in his secret diary!

For the second time, Vivian had snuck onto a passenger ship without paying. It was always cold inside her Shadow Veil, but the rain outside made it feel like Fahr Outpost. By the time the ship finally pulled into Rogueport's harbor, it was pitch black out. Vivian had been cooped up in her veil for hours – though that wasn't too unusual for her.

Vivian liked the nighttime, though. It kept the people of Rogueport from examining her too closely as she made her way to the Warp Pipe by Frankly's house. Or maybe liking the dark was simply part of being a demon? The thought made Vivian's chest tighten.

After navigating the labyrinthine ruins, Vivian finally reached the pipe to Twilight Town, then made a beeline for the Creepy Steeple. At least the steeple's two hundred Boos were in high spirits – pun not intended. Midnight was, after all, the spookiest time of day (even if it looked the same as every other time of day in Twilight Town's perpetual evening sky).

Vivian had thought Beldam and Marilyn might still be in the kitchen, but it turned out Marilyn had given up on feeding Beldam. Instead, Vivian found her sisters in the steeple's main foyer, loafing around beneath a stained glass window depicting one of Doopliss's ancestors.

"Where've you been?" Vivian was greeted with a scowl from beneath the rim of Beldam's hat.

"Guh?" added a more concerned-sounding Marilyn.

Vivian had to wet her lips. Her throat had gone dry. "After you made that remark about us being 'created,' Sis, I, um..." She hugged herself. "I've been very curious about our species, where we came from, and if we have any other family, and…" Alright, deep breath. Here it came. "...the Shadow Queen is our mother, isn't she? We're all demons like her, aren't we?"

For a second, Vivian was worried Beldam was about to hurl a bolt of ice at her face, but instead Beldam merely snorted at her for the umpteenth time. "You just now figured it out? We look exactly like the Shadow Queen, you ditz!"

Vivian shrank. "Well, um..." It probably wasn't the best time to mention that she'd needed a renowned paranormal expert to help her come to that conclusion.

"Guh!" Marilyn tried her best to sound reassuring, but it was a poor counterbalance to Beldam's attitude.

"So then who's our father?"

"We don't have one, genius." Beldam drifted closer to Vivian, practically snarling. "Our queen made us through black magic. Without the Crystal Stars, she couldn't escape the door herself, but she could send her creations through it. At first, I was an only child. With the queen sealed behind the Thousand-Year Door, it was my responsibility to free her. But..." Now she and Vivian were practically touching noses. "...after decades of failure, the Shadow Queen gathered the last of her strength. She created Marilyn and, a couple more decades later, you ."

Beldam suddenly turned away. "But by then, the queen's powers were waning. You and Marilyn are weak. I was born intelligent, whereas you two spent your early years as gibbering infants. You're 'demons' only in the loosest sense of the word – You were more like constant reminders of my inadequacy. Now, on top of opening the Thousand-Year Door, I had to babysit my own replacements. And the irony of it all is that the Shadow Queen's final creation was responsible for her destruction!"

She spun around once again, jabbing an accusing finger at Vivian's face. "You betrayed our queen, our mother, our own flesh and blood, without even understanding what you were doing, all because some fat plumber made goo-goo eyes at you! Freeing our queen was our entire purpose in life, and you took it away from us. Now we have nothing! We're spirits trapped wandering this earth for eternity, no different from common Boos!"

"But… But..." Vivian thought she'd been all cried out for the day, but as per usual, she failed to live up to her own expectations.

"Guhhh-" Marilyn tried to speak, but she couldn't make herself heard over Beldam's screaming.

"We could've sat at the Shadow Queen's side as she ruled this miserable planet, but now instead we're stuck in this dump with Freak-sheet. So no, Vivian, I don't want to go on a stupid vacation with you. All I want is to forget everything as I wither away into nothingness. "

"But wait, this can't be right." Vivian's mind felt like a haze right now. She floated backwards, trembling. "How could I be the Shadow Queen's daughter? She didn't even recognize me."

Beldam let loose her loudest scream yet. "That's because you're dressed like a woman , you squirrel-brain!"

The words reverberated around the steeple. Even Marilyn had gone silent.

"I.. I..." Vivian had lost all hope of forming coherent speech.

" Gggguh! " Marilyn moved in front of Vivian, protective. Beneath her bangs, Marilyn's brow creased as she stared down their eldest sister.

"Oh, will you knock it off, Marilyn?" Beldam turned away, folding her arms. "I'm sick of you always coming to his defense."

"Her," said Vivian in a rote sort of way.

"That's what I meant to say." Beldam snorted again as she floated away. "You need to get some thicker skin already."

She'd been freezing cold when she came in, but now Vivian's face felt boiling hot. She overheard some titters from the rafters and shot her head upwards in time to catch a couple Boos darting through the walls. How much had the Boos overheard? Dang it, why did Beldam have to yell this stuff at the top of her lungs?

"Guh?" Marilyn floated cautiously towards Vivian, but before she could get within hugging distance, Vivian darted out the steeple.

Running away from her problems for the third time today.

Vivian ran blindly. She ran past the Crazee Dayzees of Twilight Trail. Past the befuddled Twilighters in town. Down the Warp Pipe and into the ruins beneath Rogueport. Through the labyrinth of decaying brick and mortar. Vivian didn't even know which way she was going – She was running on pure instinct.

It was only once she reached a big, circular room that Vivian's spacial awareness finally kicked in. Even at her most distraught, she couldn't have missed the unmistakable landmark resting before her. Vivian's heart sank. It was a door. No, the door. The one Vivian had promised herself she would never go anywhere near ever again – not since she, Mario, and the others had finally defeated Bonetail. Vivian and her sisters had been down here so often over the years, plotting how to open it, that Vivian must have returned via muscle memory. That… or else some strange force had pulled her here.

A chill ran through Vivian's body. It was irrational, she knew – The Shadow Queen had been dead for a long time. Yet still, the Thousand-Year Door royally creeped Vivian out. Well, it could've been worse. At least she hadn't blindly jumped into the Pit of 100 Trials.

But then Vivian jolted. The Thousand-Year Door was open a crack. Who could've been down here? Were Frankly and Goombella on an archeological expedition, or, heaven forbid, had curious tourists wandered in to meet the Palace of Shadow's numerous death traps?

Slowly, cautiously, Vivian brought a trembling hand to the door frame. But before she could reach out and touch it, a cold, booming voice cried out, " FOOL! "

" Eeeeeek! " Vivian sprang backwards, shrieking her head off. Something had suddenly emerged from the door. Namely, a small, dark figure draped in a cloak of shadows. Vivian could hardly get a good look at it because she was too busy screaming.

" YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO! " The being's features were hidden by its cloak, but its voice had a feminine rasp. " ONE SUCH AS YOURSELF, WHO CARRIES THE ESSENCE OF THE SHADOW QUEEN WITHIN YOUR BEING, MUST TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTION TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS ACCURSED PLACE! THERE ARE FORCES HERE OF WHICH YOU KNOW NOT! DARK FORCES WHICH CONSPIRE TO RETURN THEIR DEMONIC MISTRESS TO HER THRONE! RUN FAR AWAY, CHILD! LEAVE THIS PLACE AND NEVER RETURN, UNLESS YOU WANT THE SHADOW QUEEN TO ONCE AGAIN BRING DEATH AND DESPAIR UPON- Hey, wait, are you writing this down? It's kind of important to the overarching plot."

"What?" Vivian blinked, dazed.

"Here, lemme help you out." The spectral figure handed Vivian a plain graphite pencil and scratch paper from within her cloak. "There you go."

"Um, thank you." Vivian obediently jotted down some notes.

"Welcome. DEATH AND DESPAIR UPON YOU ALL! DEATH AND DEEEEEEEEEEESPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIR! "

And with that, the spectral figure vanished as suddenly as she'd appeared, slamming the Thousand-Year Door shut and leaving Vivian alone in the chamber.