Thus the attempted kidnapping of Goombella was foiled by Vivian and her new friend, Cathie. The Koopa clan wouldn't be bothering them again any time soon. However, when Vivian grabbed the Crystal Key, the curse ended up dragging Cathie back to the Palace of Shadow, too! What will become of her?
And what about the other group after the Crystal Keys, the dastardly X-Nauts? There's an inevitable confrontation on the horizon...
Space. The final frontier. Well, except for alternate dimensions, since multiverse travel was developed after space travel. So really, space was more like the penultimate frontier. The point is, it was very large and formidable. But outer space also had an unquestionable beauty to it. From up here, the planet below looked like a swirling disk of clouds and water and grass and mountains, turning paler and whiter as the landmasses trailed upwards towards the Northern Kremisphere. Other notable features included the unfathomably massive glob of butterscotch pudding that comprised the terrain of the Pudding Continent and the scrumptiously boundless slice of cherry strudel that did likewise for the Strudel Continent.
But we're not focusing on the planet right now. No, we're focusing our attention on the moon that orbited it. The moon was barren, yellow, and dead silent – As you probably know, sound can't travel in space, except of course for the sound of Crump and Grodus screaming as they gave the moon a new crater.
"Uhhh..." Lord Crump dragged himself out of the crater and dusted himself off. "We did it! We're alive!"
"It's a good thing I had enough money left over from my Grodus Chronicles check to pay those Bob-ombs to blast us here," said Sir Grodus's disembodied head. Then he said, "OW! THAT SMARTS!" because the Bob-ombs had also fired his little red wagon after them, and it'd taken a second to land.
"Now then, sir, let's see what state our moon base is in." Crump loaded Grodus's head onto the wagon, and without further ado, he pulled his master over the bumpy terrain, towards a domed structure looming over the horizon.
"Try to walk a bit faster, would you?" Grodus gave a weary glance over the side of his ride. "I think that lunar rover over there is giving me bedroom eyes."
The next few minutes passed in silence, save for the squeak of the wagon's wheels.
"It's lucky our moonbase remained intact after all those explosions that traitorous AI caused." Behind his goggles, Crump's brow creased. "Strange that the Crystal Stars' magic would cause the base to reform. Super convenient for people who like to backtrack, though." As he spoke, Crump dug something out of his pockets. "And once we're back home, we'll be able to use the X-Naut's advanced technology to put this to good use..." He held it up for Grodus to see.
In Crump's gloved hand was a glimmering, golden key shaped from crystal.
"Ha! At this rate we'll have all the Crystal Keys in no time!" said Grodus. "Who'd have thought I'd find one in the belly of that Chain Chomp from earlier?"
"It must be fate, my lord. Proof of your greatness."
"I like that answer!"
The two of them shared a deep, hearty evil laugh:
"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh!"
"GAAACK ACK ACK ACK ACK!"
Vivian groaned as she peeled her face off the carpet. Once it was freed, she took a good look at her surroundings and realized they'd landed back in the palace room with the portrait of the nightclub. In fact, Vivian's look was a little too good. With a jolt, she realized that her hair hadn't fallen over her eyes, which of course had to be immediately corrected.
Vivian was just letting out a sigh of relief when she spotted a certain pink prehistoric reptile standing beside her, glancing around in alarm. "Vivian? Where are we? What happened?"
" Cathie! " Vivian ran – floated, whatever – over to her. "Oh no! You must've gotten sucked into the return portal by accident!"
Cathie didn't look particularly enlightened. "Return portal?"
"It's a long story," spoke up Goombella, who was busy putting her helmet and jacket back on. "Basically, Vivian and I were exploring the Palace of Shadow beneath Rogueport when we got trapped in here by this big, stupid, ugly-"
"-door, which got sealed shut by an intelligent and handsome ghost," cut in a voice.
The trio yelped and shot their heads skyward. Floating by the rafters was a walking used tissue with a voice Vivian was learning to dread.
"Yeah, about your pal there." The Black Ghost nodded to a glowering Cathie. "I forgot to mention this when I was layin' out the ground rules of our little arrangement – a hundred percent my fault – but anyone who helps you collect the Crystal Keys gets subject to the same curse as you clowns."
"Oh, that is so not fair!" Goombella yelled up at him.
"I know. I'll be crying myself to sleep tonight." The Black Ghost didn't bother hiding his laughter as he vanished from sight.
The moment he was gone, Vivian turned to give Cathie a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Cathie! This is all my fault! I never should have dragged you into this!"
"It's alright, darling, it's alright." Cathie gave Vivian's pink hair a reassuring stroke. "I've been on my share of adventures. It's nothing I can't handle."
"If you're sure..."
But Vivian didn't have long to dwell on this before the room was filled with a brilliant white glow. It faded after a moment, revealing that the portrait of The Mushy Mushroom was gone. In its place was yet another picture of a beautiful, pink-haired human girl. Only this time, the princess was clearly older, probably in her late teens. She was still beautiful, but in a gaunt kind of way. Her eyes had grown dull and sunken, and her hair had gone from curly to scraggly. Vivian assumed her adult front teeth had grown in by now, but this couldn't be confirmed, as the princess's mouth was locked in a tight frown.
"Geez, she's seen better days," said Goombella.
Vivian didn't hear her. She was too busy staring at the poor woman in the portrait. Without thinking, Vivian touched a gloved hand to the canvas – which, as before, caused their surroundings to spin and distort in a whirlwind of magic. The withered palace walls became shiny and clean, but this time, there wasn't an overabundance of sunlight. Vivian looked out the window to confirm it was overcast.
"Okay." A dazed Cathie stuck her incorporeal hand through a desk. "Now I really don't know what's going on."
"We'll explain later," said Goombella.
This time, the flashback magic had brought them to what was undoubtedly the princess's bed chambers. She had one of those super fancy beds with the curtain around it, but right now the princess was seated at an ornate desk nearby. She was hunched over a heavy-looking tome, squinting in the light of a candle that trembled in her hand. Vivian inhaled at the sight of her. That portrait hadn't captured just how gaunt and feeble the princess was.
The door opened, and another girl stuck her head in the room. "Excuse me, um, Your Highness, but the other girls and me wanted to know if you could come hang out with us and stuff? There's a huge party going on at the beach right now-"
"I have to study," the princess said, her eyes fixed on the page. "Don't interrupt unless it's important."
"I understand..." The door shut back, and the princess continued her studies in silence, as if nothing had happened.
"I knew those parents were going to ruin her!" Goombella would've shaken her fist if she'd had one, but then the door reopened, and Vivian hurriedly shushed her.
Into the room stepped a Toad servant carrying a tray of food. "My lady?" Her voice was soft as velvet and twice as pretty. "I brought you your supper. It's Shroom Roast with Jammin' Jelly. Your favorite." Strands of brunette hair poked out from underneath a white mushroom cap with orange spots. The Toad was exceptionally cute – not to mention quite tall for her species – but something about her seemed boyish. Vivian couldn't put her finger on it, but somehow the Toad didn't seem totally at home in her gothic maid uniform.
"I'm not hungry, Bolete." The princess didn't spare the meal a glance.
Bolete stood her ground. "With all due respect, ma'am, the king ordered you to eat."
"Oh, well, if the king ordered it..." Vivian hadn't realized it was possible to eat food sarcastically, but by golly, the princess managed it.
"The king is worried about you, Your Highness."
"Really? That's unlike him," the princess said dryly enough to wither the bite of mushroom on its way to her mouth. "Is he feeling alright?" She gave the maid a look. "Don't tell me he asked you to say that just so I'd feel sorry for him?"
Bolete went pink. "W-Well, he didn't ask me to say it in so many words, but, err, I can tell he's concerned for your well-being." She paused, then added, "We all are."
The princess raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression the rest of the staff had forgotten I existed. Are you sure it's not just you who's concerned for my well-being?"
Bolete's pinkness had become full-blown crimson. "I-I admit I have been fretting over you an awful lot lately, m-ma'am. I suppose I simply hate the thought of you withering away to nothing and tarnishing your unmatched beauty." When it dawned on her exactly what had come out of her mouth, Bolete put a hand over it.
Now the princess was giving her an even stranger look. "Hmm. Well, you're certainly less dull than the other servants. I wish you could stay and… fret over me a bit longer, but I do need to finish memorizing this incantation. For the good of the kingdom and all that."
"O-Of course, my lady." Bolete made her way to the exit.
But on her way out, Bolete spotted something. Her unusual height for a Toad allowed her to see things all the way on the top shelf. "Huh? What is this? It's beautiful! I never noticed before." The object of her admiration was covered in dust and hidden beneath some half-opened books, but it was nevertheless entrancing.
The princess abruptly lost her place on the page. "Oh. That. It's supposed to be a music box, but it won't play anymore." She stared at her desk. "My mom was the only one who knew how to fix it."
Bolete opened her mouth… and then the room spun around, and the trio was back in the older, mustier version of the room. Vivian almost cried out in shock – She'd forgotten the outside world existed for a minute.
"Whoa! So this place is supposed to be a bedroom?" Goombella waddled over to where the fancy bed had been a second ago. There was nothing there now but a moth-eaten mattress.
"Well, that was fascinating and all," said Cathie, "but if someone could catch me up on what the heck is going on here?"
"Oh, right, sorry, Cathie." Goombella turned back to her. "First off, that girl seems to be the forgotten princess of the ancient sea town before it got dragged into the earth."
"Right." Vivian nodded. "And we need to collect more Crystal Keys so we can learn what happened to her."
Goombella laughed. "And, y'know, to break the curse and escape the palace and stuff."
"Right, right." Vivian's gaze wandered back to the portrait. "That too."
Vivian and Goombella explained everything to Cathie. At the end of their tale, the dino's only reaction was, "Well, we better get this curse thing fixed fast before I lose my job."
"Mine, too." Goombella hung her head. "I only asked off work for a week, but it's hard to tell how much time's passing while we're stuck in this stupid place."
The girls wasted no time exploring. They ran into a few more death traps – walls that close in on you, boulders that chase you down corridors, that sort of thing – but eventually, they found the next portrait.
"Here it is!" Goombella waddled towards it across the blood-red carpet. "Looks like the next key's on the moon." The portrait did indeed depict the moon against the night sky. It was painted in that cool kind of swirly abstract style, too. "The next key's gotta be at the old X-Naut base. I bet those creeps had found it while hunting for Crystal Stars. But the place is abandoned now, so we shouldn't have too much trouble searching for it."
The trio dived into the magic portrait, its surface shimmering and wiggling like gelatin at their touch. With the increased peer pressure of Cathie's presence, Goombella now lacked the courage to yell, "Here we go!" She instead kept in shameful silence.
Vivian knew they'd arrived safely because the low gravity always made her shadow-tendril feel all strange and wiggly. The moon looked the same as always – yellow, crater-filled rocks – so her attention naturally fell to the view of their home planet. There it was. From this angle, Vivian could even make out their home continent upon which the Mushroom Kingdom rested. The continent was coincidentally in the perfect shape of a 1-Up Mushroom. Cartographers had been thrown for a real loop with that one. For a moment, Vivian was transfixed by the planet's beauty. She'd never thought she'd get to take in this sight again. Ever since meeting Mario, she'd seen and done so many amazing things…
But then Goombella said, "Okay, I gotta stop looking at the planet now. It's giving me sugar cravings." And so the group moved on.
There weren't exactly many landmarks on the moon, so it wasn't hard for our trio to head towards the big dome off on the horizon. Their path was impeded by the stray Moon Cleft or two, but it was nothing they couldn't handle.
At one point, they passed a lunar brick block with an odd indentation. "Hey guys, look at this!" Vivian let out a laugh as she examined it. "It's shaped like Mario's fist."
"Think it's from you guys' adventure," Cathie wondered aloud, "or one of those other times he's been to the moon?"
Ah, that was right. Look at Vivian, out here getting all excited about being on the moon. Meanwhile, a seasoned adventurer like Mario must've found the moon so blasé by now. Vivian turned away from it… and that's when she spotted something white off in the distance. "Look! It's a rabbit!"
"Huh?" But by the time Goombella and Cathie turned around, the white shape had already darted away.
"I think you might be seeing things, darling." Cathie gave Vivian's hat a good-natured pat. Vivian had seen a rabbit, but she didn't want to press the point.
No more incidents occurred until the trio had arrived at the entrance to the X-Naut Fortress. The mechanical doors slid open at their approach, leading them through the tubular tunnel and inside the giant dome.
"You two sure this place is abandoned?" said Cathie.
"We sent those X-Nauts running for the hills." Goombella gave a haughty flick of her ponytail. "Who else could possibly-?"
"Hello, visitors! Welcome to our moon facility!"
"WAH!" Our heroes gave a start. Someone had emerged ahead of them from the tunnel. Judging from appearance, this person was clearly a robot. But luckily, she was about as non-threatening a robot as robots could be. She was barely taller than Goombella, and she was humanoid but in an abstract enough way to be cute rather than "uncanny valley." A big pair of anime eyes had been painted on her sleek white face, and she wore a skirt that seemed to be made of solar panels.
"Oh, hello, there." Vivian was the first to approach. "We don't remember seeing you last time we were here."
"Well, there's no one else to answer the door nowadays." The robot bowed her head. Her voice was cute as the rest of her. "My name is Luna. The X-Nauts built me to keep this place tidy and to massage Sir Grodus's shoulders. But this fortress doesn't get much dirty now that the base is abandoned. I've been quite lonely…"
"We wish we could stay and chat-" Vivian gave the fembot a sympathetic pat on the back.
"Yeah, I could use a massage," said Goombella.
"-but we have to find something called a Crystal Key. Long story. Have you seen it? It looks like this." Vivian used her recently acquired Emerald Key as an example.
"Ah, yes, we have one of those in Sir Grodus's old throne room." Luna winced. "But it's being used by the base's artificial intelligence. And he's a bit antisocial. Not the best company."
"AI?" Goombella gave a start. "That's gotta be TEC! He's our pal – he'll let us have that key."
"Um, I'm not so-" But before Luna could get another word in, Goombella had pushed past her down the hallway.
Not a second passed before some panels flipped open in the hallway ceiling, and out dropped enough laser turrets to blanket the place. "Intruder!" beeped a familiar voice. "Threat to my Crystal Key detected!"
The gang didn't even have time to go "WAH!" again before some white gloved hands emerged from the walls, connected to some metal tubes. The hands snatched up Vivian, Goombella, and Cathie, and then shot down the hall. They didn't slow until reaching what Vivian immediately recognized as Grodus's old command chamber. Ugh, this place brought back bad memories. It had always been so much worse to have Grodus backing up Beldam's threats.
Our heroes were deposited at the foot of the steps. The computers that Grodus had once used to organize his forces had been hastily knocked over, and in their place was what looked like an operating table. It was turned away, though, so Vivian couldn't see what it contained.
"You have stated your intent to acquire my Crystal Key." Above the operating table was some sort of robotic limb hanging from the ceiling. It could flex open and shut along a joint like a finger or leg. And where the fingertip or foot would be, there was a bulbous part that looked like a head. It was, in fact, the round "face" with a glowing camera in the center that had once served as TEC's "head" back when he'd been stuck above a computer screen. The AI seemed to have scooped himself out of there and into this new body. Vivian could understand why he'd do such a thing – This afforded him much more freedom of movement. "You may not have it. It is being used as an integral power source."
"Power source?" Vivian frowned. "You mean you're using it to stay alive?"
"In a sense." The light on the camera that formed TEC's "eye" was blinking red. Had it always been red or had it been sky blue before? Vivian couldn't remember. "The Crystal Key keeps alive not my mind but… my body."
The operating table spun around on its own, allowing Vivian and her friends to see what rested on it: a robot. A tall, lantern-jawed robot with sharp metal abs. In its chest was a transparent case in which rested a key shaped from ruby. The Crystal Key pulsated with light, causing the body to twitch its limbs.
"This is the Hunkbot 9000," said TEC. "I have scientifically proven this to be the most bow-chicka-wow-wow-inducing shape for my new body to take."
"It does have nice cheekbones," said Goombella.
"Ever since the X-Naut's defeat, I have spent every moment of my time constructing this body from the base's scrap parts."
"Wow, TEC, that's super impressive!" said Vivian. She always believed you could catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
"Yeah," Cathie chimed in. "Look at that chrome finish. Hubba hubba!"
TEC raised his circular head, proud. "As it happens, you arrived just as I was adding the final touches. With the power of the Crystal Key, I will fly in my new body to the planet below. This body contains an arsenal that no force of villainy can withstand." His head patrolled around every inch of the body as he spoke. "You see, I have identified a critical flaw in the relationship dynamic between the individuals known as Mario Mario and Princess Peach Toadstool. Mario saves Peach, but he does not keep her safe. Again and again, she finds herself kidnapped. This must take a great mental toll on her – and explains why she and Mario are not officially, to use the technical term, 'an item.'"
"Oh, I get it!" Vivian lit up. "You want to win Peach's heart by keeping her safe from Bowser. Then she'll see that you'd make a better boyfriend than Mario. And then Mario will be single and ripe for the taking!" She rubbed her hands together.
"Correct," said TEC, "except that it is Princess Peach who will be ripe for the taking. I have no interest in Mario. By my calculations, he is a seven out of ten at best."
"Agree to disagree," said Vivian. "But this is a great idea, TEC! We'll do everything we can to help."
But then a certain Goomba cleared her throat. "Aren't you forgetting something?" said Goombella. "Look, TEC, it's not that we want to take your Crystal Key. But, see, this jerk called the Black Ghost put a curse on us, and it's forcing us to collect the stupid keys for him."
"That is a conundrum." TEC was silent for a moment. "Processing…"
It was Cathie's turn to speak up. "You know how, because I helped you get a key, I was sent back with you to the Palace of Shadow? What if TEC shared his key with us? That would cause him to teleport back to the palace with us, right? With his extra firepower, the four of us could take that Black Ghost! We'll make him cry for his mommy until he undoes the curse."
After another moment, TEC said, "Verdict: This is a viable solution. Assessment: Vivian and Goombella helped defeat the X-Nauts who had enslaved me and are therefore my friends. I will assist you against this villain."
TEC joined your party!
"And you know," Vivian added in a singsong voice, "I bet if you helped us defeat the Black Ghost, Princess Peach would be super impressed." At this, a jet of steam shot from TEC's circuitry.
"Man, that was easy." Goombella laughed. "I sure am glad TEC's not a bad guy."
"SURPRISE!" With a deafening kaboom, the far wall burst open. Our four heroes cried out, stumbling back. Gradually, the smoke cleared to reveal yet another robot. No, a mecha. Black, boxy with a big yellow X on the front. It was that Magnus von Grapefruit or whatever that Vivian's old party had fought before at this fortress. Though it looked distinctly more cobbled together this time. A number 3 had been hastily taped over the number 2 printed on the mecha's chest, though it was peeling off.
"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh!" Its pilot, Vivian recognized as that Crump loser. Grodus's top underling. And held in Crump's armpit like a basketball was the head of Grodus himself. "My deepest thanks for serving the X-Nauts one final time, you traitorous AI! You've saved me the trouble of constructing a new body for Lord Grodus."
TEC darted for his body, but it was too late. Crump tossed Grodus's head out of a hole in the mecha's dome. It landed perfectly on the Hunkbot 9000 – three points – and knocked the original head to the floor. "No!" cried TEC. "Not the cheekbones!"
"So much for 'mellowed out.'" Goombella rolled her eyes as she, Vivian, and Cathie crouched into fighting stances. But after a beat, the heroes looked around blankly. "Uh, where's the curtains? Why aren't we going to the stage?"
"Because I'm not aiming my attack at you," spoke Grodus as he rose from the operating table. "I'm aiming for that traitorous AI. " Missiles erupted from his new body. The heroes could only watch on in horror as a direct hit landed on the AI. TEC's appendage was severed and crashed to the floor below.
"TEC!" Vivian was the first at his side. She cradled his circular head in her arms.
"Miss Vivian…" TEC's light was now flickering between red and black. But black was gaining in frequency. "Need… that body…" Every other word was becoming static. "Created… to be… perfect computer… Even… equipped with sensors that can see invisible people…" More static than ever. "But… ever since… first met Peach… felt wrong…" Bzzt, crackle crackle . "Could never love me in… this body…" His voice was growing quieter now – and so distorted, Vivian could barely make out what he was saying. "This body… a prison… Need… new body… please… Vivian…" And then silence. Lights were out on his camera. His mechanical limb fell limp.
Vivian held him a moment longer before letting go. Her hat was pulled down tight over her eyes. But oddly, for once, Vivian didn't want to cry. No. In fact, her insides felt… hot. Like, burning hot. Like, really really really hot. "What have you done, you worm?" Her voice was not her own.
"Oh? Getting sassy with me, little shadow?" Grodus put his stolen hands on his stolen hips and laughed. He was laughing.
"Little shadow?" Vivian looked down at her hands. White dots were peppering her arms. Stars. "No. You will find I am very much not ." And then her arms were a lot longer. Her gloves burst, too small for her fingers.
Grodus stumbled his stolen body backwards. From his face, you'd think he'd seen a ghost. Or a demon. "I-It can't be. It can't be you? "
"Give. Back. That. BODY." Each word was punctuated by a new explosion. Flames circled the entire chamber. That ridiculous mecha tried to take a swing at her, but one flick of Vivian's wrist sent its Heart Points straight to zero. Crump dived out of the machine mere moments before it burst into a million pieces.
"Okay, I'm leaving the body, I'm leaving the body! Don't hurt me, mistress!" Grodus ejected his head, letting the Hunkbot go limp. He bounced straight into the arms of Crump, who'd been running towards him. "Crump, what's happening? How is she here?"
"We can trade theories later, my lord!" Crump was going as fast as his little legs could carry him. "I need to check if that teleporter still works. Waaaaaaaaaaaah-!"
The villains left her presence. Vivian's gaze went to the robotic body, now headless. At that sight, finally, the fire in her cooled. She felt herself shrinking. "W-What?" Vivian found her hat on the ground and returned it to her head.
"Viv?" Her attention went to her friends. Goombella and Cathie looked rattled to say the least. Vivian moved towards them, but they both stepped back.
"Guys? What's wrong?" Vivian was distracted momentarily because her tendril had brushed something on the ground. She looked down to find a golden key. It seemed to be the only part of that mecha that had survived. The rest was all wreckage. Flaming wreckage. In fact, that's what most of this room was quickly becoming. "No. No, no, no!" Vivian waved her hands, sending her tattered gloves flapping, but it was no good. The fire kept spreading.
"Wait, Vivian, it's okay!" At the sight of her friend's distress, Goombella finally gained the courage to walk towards her. "We can use that Crystal Key to warp back to the palace. Heck, there's still a key inside TEC's body, too. We got our choice of keys. We're spoiled for Crystal Keys." She tried to laugh but ended up coughing up smoke.
Vivian was about to take her friend's advice and hoist the key over her head to initiate the end-of-chapter sequence, but before she could, she heard another voice calling out, "Help me!" All eyes fell on the entrance to the room, where a certain fembot had poked her head in to see what was the commotion. Luna was now surrounded on all sides by fire.
"W-We'll get you!" Vivian tried to move to the door, but her own path was blocked by fire, too. "There's too much. What do you do?" She looked to Goombella and Cathie, but all the girls could do was hang their heads.
But then a voice from the ground said, "Emergency power… online." It was TEC! His head ejected itself from his broken-down mechanical limb. It hopped right over and attached itself to the Hunkbot 9000. In an instant, the machine sprang to life. With its fireproof chrome coating, it was easily able to snatch up Luna in its arms and rocket her to safety.
"My hero!" Luna's painted-on anime eyes had become painted-on hearts. "So, uh… After all this is over, do you wanna go get something to eat?"
Immediately, TEC dropped her, letting her butt smash into the cold, hard floor below. "NEGATIVE!" his artificial voice screeched. "My interest lies in Princess Peach and Princess Peach alone. To win her heart is my prime directive from which I shall NOT deviate!"
"That's alright, I… I understand." Luna held it together just long enough to turn away before running off sobbing.
Vivian had watched that whole exchange, captivated. Something about it really made her heart hurt, but, well, she didn't have time to unpack those feelings. She and her friends were still moments away from burning to death and all.
Once TEC returned to their side, Goombella said, "Alright, let's blow this popsicle stand." She held the Gold Key above her head with her Goomba-telepathy. "Guess I'll do the thing this time."
You got a Crystal Key!
END OF CHAPTER
The purple portal appeared, just as before. Vivian could see the Palace of Shadows through it. But just as she was about to hop in, she spotted another creature in need. It was that rabbit from before! Vivian had known she'd spotted a rabbit. And now it was huddled in a corner of the chamber, quivering as the flames drew nearer and nearer.
"Don't worry, little guy! I've got you!" Vivian dived, tackling the bunny and managing to pull it into her Shadow Veil mere seconds before the whole area became a fiery inferno.
But her friends had already gone into the portal. Goombella's face was visible from the portal's opposite side for a moment, crying out, "Viviaaan-!" But then the portal vanished.
Vivian released the rabbit from the Veil, making sure to teleport them safely outside the moon base. There was no oxygen out here, so it was impossible for the fire to reach them now. "Well, at least you're safe, little guy." Now that things had calmed down, she could get a better look at the bun. He was mostly a normal, white-furred rabbit, except that his ears were spiky. Almost star-shaped.
"But how am I going to get back to my friends?" Vivian wondered aloud. "They took both Crystal Keys with them, and now the portal's gone." It'd probably be asking too much to find a third Crystal Key on the moon. On the other hand, Vivian didn't think her curse would allow her to be here unless she was in the vicinity of another Crystal Key, so maybe there was a third one after all? Vivian was still a bit unclear on the specifics of this curse.
But just as Vivian was lost in thought, she was shook back to the present by a childlike voice saying, "Don't worry, lady! I can get you out of here." Vivian jolted back. Had that rabbit just talked? She could barely process this before the rabbit bellowed out: "TRANSFORM!"
In a poof of smoke, the rabbit was gone, and in its place was a five-pointed star bigger than Vivian's entire body. And there was a space in the center large enough for her to fit through. In fact, not only could Vivian fit through it, but the star emitted some sort of gravity that forced her to float right inside of it.
"Wait," she said, waving her arms around, "what's happening?" If she was confused before, she was definitely confused once she started flying through space at a million miles an hour. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH-!"
Watching stars and planets whiz by her head was disorienting, sure. But what was far more disorienting for Vivian was that, well, now that she was floating in the vacuum of space, her tendril had stretched to its full length. It was no longer touching the ground. Vivian was feeling empty space beneath her tendril. She'd never felt that before. Not in her entire life.
For the briefest of moments, Vivian began to feel that flying through space, as suddenly as it had happened, might be fun. But then these strange swirling lights appeared around her. Vivian's stomach felt hot again. She looked down at herself and saw her shadows swirling to match the light. In all the chaos of what was happening, she felt sure that she was going to transform into that terrifying shape again. But instead, what happened was that the light around her began to crackle, and the shadows inside her began to hiss back at it.
And then she felt pain. Sharp, blinding pain throughout her entire body. The only mercy was that it didn't last long before she was unconscious.