Another star offered to the door, and another location materialized onto my map. We were quick to return to Frankly with our findings, showing him the new spot on the map given its puzzling location. From the perspective on the page, it seemed like the star was in a fortress in the sky above Rogueport.

"Another star and another location." Frankly mused as he shuffled through old books.

"Seems like the stars act as keys." I offered. "Makes sense given how the pattern is right now."

"So if we collect all of the crystal stars…" Peach drifted off.

"The door will open!" Goombella shouted excitedly. "There must be all kinds of wonders and old stuff behind it! Maybe even things nobody has even seen before!"

"Or at least not in a thousand years." Koops chirped up.

"What an amazing thought! A stunning stage for a grand adventure!" Flurrie announced posing dramatically…she keeps doing that.

"That implies we can FIND them all." I cut in, placing my finger on the new map location. "We still need to figure out where this is." Peach craned her neck as she stared at the new spot.

"…Kind of looks like an amusement park or something."

"That makes this even stranger." Given this world, I wouldn't put them past an amusement park in the sky but getting to it is another matter.

"You know-" Frankly started. "This might be the floating town of Glitzville."

"Glitzville?"

"Oh, I've heard of that place!" Flurrie said. "It's an arena town in the sky. Warriors compete in fierce combat for a taste of glory, fame, and victory!"

"Oh, so it's a battle arena." Makes things simple at least.

"It's a tourist hotspot." Koops added. "A lot of families and…c-couples go there for entertainment. I tried going one year with Koopie Koo."

"How'd that go?" I asked. Koops seemed to shrink into his shell slightly.

"Th-The tickets were too expensive…even after selling my Plumber-Man comic collection." Plumber-man?

"He's right though." Frankly said. "Getting up there is no easy task. There's a blimp to the city in town, but the ticket costs for all of you would be astronomical."

"Well how much is one ticket."

"Around ****** coins." …My brain seemed determined to save me from actually hearing what the price was…but that didn't help my body as I quickly clutched my heart in pain and fell to one knee, my only safety from collapsing being the edge of the table my other hand clutched tightly.

"Soren!" Peach yelled in worry helping me back to my feet.

"That…That's more than we've got…or could make in a life-time." I replied, still not sure what the number was but willing to take a bet at its astronomical price tag.

"Even if you could afford it, the only way to get your hands on one is through certain channels. They're not sold at a legitimate retailer."

"I imagine they would be cheaper if they were." Goombella commented.

"Can't Flurrie just float us up there?" I asked. She spun around on her air current for a moment.

"I suppose I could try…but you might be rocketed there at Mach 5 if I'm not careful."

"…Dealing with shady sellers is probably the safer bet." Peach whispered to me and I nodded.

Frankly directed us to the west end of Rogueport, apparently someone named Don Pianta ran the local crime syndicate over there and made regular visits to Glitzville in order to bet on the fights. But five people wandering around West Rogueport would have drawn too much attention, so peach and I made our way over together to scope it out as a pair instead.

"I hear the west side looks beautiful." Peach said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Considering a mob boss lives there, I wouldn't be surprised. They enjoy the finer things."

"FREEZE!" I froze mid-step at the command and looked around in a panic for what I had just set off to make someone scream that. When I looked down, I noticed an aged toad woman looking up at me with a scowl, "Not one more step you!"

"Is something wrong?" Peach asked.

"I dropped my contact lens somewhere around here and I don't want boots here to step on them!" Okay…I've got about a minute before my leg gives out and I crash…where is this contact lens? I leaned to the right and left slightly, trying to catch a shine of the sun off of where this lens was.

"Hmmm…" Peach did the same, leaning to the right and left before giving a small gasp.

"Ma'am, is that it?" Peach pointed out a few feet away from me where a miniscule contact lens lied on the ground. The toad woman quickly shuffled over to it and swiped it up, giving me the relief to-

"Uwa-!" Fall to the ground face first.

"Ah, that's much better! Finally, the world is crisp and clear again! I can see! Oh! I'm so happy!"

"We're glad we could help!" Peach said cheerily as I got up and dusted myself off.

"Oh, how about I cook you two a meal for being so helpful?" It wasn't like we had much of a choice.

"There's no need for that. We've got-"

"Nonsense! You young people should be more appreciative of an old woman's thanks!" She shuffled over to the nearby house and opened the door, "Now come inside so I can treat you to a meal!" I turned to Peach who just shrugged and made her way into the house.

"It can never be simple can it?"

Okay, I had to admit that the old woman knew how to cook a mean mushroom stew and steak. As she cooked, we learned her name was Zess T. and that she worked as a small-time chef for the various shops in Roggueport.

"Never thought you could make a steak out of a mushroom. Let alone a good one."

"I might have to add this cake to my recipes." Peach said gushing over the slice she was thoroughly enjoying.

"You young'uns should appreciate good food…let me write some of these recipes down for you." Zess T. hastily started scribbling down recipes as we finished off our meals.

A knock at the door had all of us turn to see Mincy skipping into the house.

"Zess? Mind if I come in for a friendly visit?" Zess T. cackled.

"Friendly my behind. Looking to grab a meal to go?" She gave a small laugh as she strode in.

"You know me well…oh, Soren, Peach!"

"Hey Mincy." I replied swallowing a particularly hardy chunk.

"What brings you into this little slice of cooking heaven?"

"We were passing by on our way to West Rogueport." Peach answered.

"We're going to see someone called Don Pianta." I elaborated. Mincy started giggling.

"You don't know much about west Rogueport do you?"

"Nope. Haven't had to go there until now." I answered.

"Well, Don Pianta isn't someone you just go looking for." Most crime bosses aren't, "If you want to find him, you need the right channel."

"And I assume you know these right channels?" She gave me a sly smirk…where have I seen that before?

"There's a little shop that sells various supplies and knick-knacks. You'll want to purchase a dried shroom and a dizzy dial. Then tell them your favorite color is yellow. I'd also recommend some of their lipstick brands, they have some very good colors."

"…What?"

"Alright dear." Zess T. cut in, handing Mincy a small doggie bag. "I threw in a few muffins for your little brother. On the house."

"You are a gem." Mincy replied, handing her a small handful of coins before standing up and skipping out the door. She turned around before she left, "Good luck seeing the Don. Don't end up sleeping with the Cheep Cheeps." Before I could reply, Zess T. shoved a stack of recipe index cards into my hands.

"And those are for you. Now watch where you step. You wouldn't want to end up stepping on something important." This old woman was kind of hard to read sometimes.

I handed over the money for the items Mincy told me about, realizing why these were the key items; they were pretty useless when you thought about it for five seconds. The ghostly cashier in a cat waitress dress looked around before addressing us.

"Alright…what color is your jacket?" Is…is this a trick?

"…Yellow?" She went wide eyed before shaking her head.

"No, wrong question! What's your favorite color?" I gave out a small chuckle and I could see her ethereal cheeks light up slightly in embarrassment.

"Yellow." She suddenly disappeared and reappeared at the back of the shop, where a door was. She pulled out a small key and unlocked the knob.

"Go on through. You must be important to get to meet with Don Pianta." As we passed by, she grabbed me by the arm. "Um…don't tell the Don about the mix up please." I made a zipping motion over my lips and she gave a small smile.

Past the door was a set of stairs up to a second-floor office. The interior of which was covered in expensive wall paper and carpeting, with curtains to match. There was even a vase that, I assume, cost more than the building itself did. At the desk sat a rather large man in an expensive suit. He had dark orange skin, a nose the length of a banana, mirrored sunglasses, and a trilby hat. But none of that was as eye catching as the palm tree sticking out of his head.

"Oh, they're Pianta's." Peach said as if in sudden realization. "The name makes more sense now."

"Uh…yeah. The similar looking goons with yellow skin on either side of him stepped forward to obscure our view of the Don.

"Dis is da office of da Pianta syndicate!"

"If you got no business here, SCRAM-A-LAM!"

"Easy der boys." The Don said, making the two goons step back and to the side. The Don leaned back and looked us over for a minute before speaking, "What do you want? I ain't to jolly today. If yous got beef, spit it out quick or dis is gonna hurt." I took a deep breath before speaking. Didn't matter if he looked extremely weird, he was a mob boss. Every movie has taught me they are one finger snap away from disposing of people they find annoying or in their way.

"W-We were hoping…to get…blimp tickets?" I asked, visibly shrinking back like a turtle as I spoke.

"Ex-CUSE me? You want a…you want me to give you a ticket for da blimp? See, now, to me, dat's funny…you a stand-up comedian? No? You oughta be. You got some nerve askin' me for dat. I'm Don Pianta! I make cryin' babies weep!"

"But-" Peach started, "If they're already crying, then did you really do anything?" This girl has never been very low on the food chain. The mafia never even touched royalty of her level.

"You want me to run deez mooks on the rail boss? Look at em'!" Oh god, I should have written my will.

"You must like pain girlie! You lookin' for trouble or what?" Peach moved to hide behind me. Out of instinct I moved to block him from coming closer, despite the welling terror I still felt from the Don. The Don held up his hand, which I just noticed was covered in enough rings to make it a brass knuckle.

"Not so fast boys. I like deez kid's gumption. They just came to talk, no? Dat ain't a crime. So we talk. You boys can wait 'til we're done before you rough 'em up, you got it?" He leaned back in his chair, "So, I gotta assume you got a reason for wantin' a ticket for da blimp. Out wid it!" The whole story would take an hour to explain, and he doesn't look like he's in the most generous mood time-wise.

"Long story short; I'm trying to rescue my friend Alice from some guys called X-Nauts." I explained.

"Saving some broad who got herself kidnapped?"

"But to do it, we need to find crystal stars." Peach added.

"Aint' dos in dat legend 'bout da ancient treasure?" One of the henchmen spoke up. The other was quick to smack him.

"Vinny, you're such a dope! Deez knuckleheads believe in fairy tales!"

"It is real!" Peach shot back.

"Regardless of if it's real or not-" I quickly cut in. "My friend is in trouble. I'm going to save her." The Don slammed his hand on the table, bringing any discussion to an end and replacing my sudden confidence back with terror.

"Everybody, just…shut it. I don't care if da treasure is real or not. Get me?" Everyone nodded, "But I tell ya, I can't help but like a guy wants to rescue some skirt he fell for." Fell for? "I've made my decision! You two do me a little…favor…an' you get your blimp ticket. Sounds fair, right?" Depends on the favor.

"We're not…smuggling something...or digging a six-foot hole for someone right?" I asked.

"Nah. You two don't look like you got da stomach for that." Well…he wasn't wrong. "It's easy. It's nothin'. It's less dan nothin'." He reached into a drawer and pulled out a photo. He slid it across the table to us and I looked to see two Piantas, one blue in a white suit and one yellow in a white dress and sun hat, "See, da thing is…my own daughter…eloped wit' one of my young…associates. Dey vanished…but it wasn't too long dat dey did. Dey oughta still be nearby. You gotta find my daughter Francesca, an' dis…Frankie-" As he said that, I noticed he fripped the arm of his chair tightly, "-an' bring dem both here. Even if you can't bring 'em here, alls you gotta do is tell me where dey are. Then I shall settle dis matter quickly, an' wid what is known as extreme prejudice." Peach scooched in and whispered into my ear.

"This isn't going to end well for them is it?"

"Not for Frankie at least." I replied.

"Oh, an' just se we're clear here-" Don Pianta said, leaning in as he spoke, "-if you don't find my daughter, your luck may turn terrible…we clear?"

"Crystal sir." I hastily replied.

We wandered around Rogueport, looking for any kind of clue to find the elopers. Even showing the picture we got from the Don to everyone we could.

"You know, I've imagined eloping a few times myself." Peach said turning wistful. "Escaping with someone I adore with all my heart to see the world. No responsibilities; just me and my beloved."

"What changed?" I asked.

"I grew up. Realized it wasn't just about me, but about my people. I still wouldn't mind falling for someone though…sharing my life and responsibilities with someone I love." As she spoke her cheeks flared up. "It just makes me so giddy thinking about it."

"Anybody in mind."

"One or two…but that's a lady's secret. What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Are you smitten with anyone?"

"Oh, well…I never really thought about it very much but…" I could feel my cheeks heat up as I thought about it. Peach giggled at my flushed expression before gasping.

"I've got it!"

"What!?"

"I know where they are!"

You know, given that this is a port town and we were looking for two run-aways; the port probably should have been our first area to check. At the docks edge were the very two people we were looking all over Rogueport for, looking around worriedly; probably for the Don's men…us in this case.

"Um, excuse me." Peach started, approaching the skittish looking couple.

"Huh!? Who are you two?" Francesca asked.

"Your dad sent us." I explained. This made her even more worried.

"Daddy asked you to find us!?"

"And take you back." Peach added. Francesca looked frazzled at this information before turning to her fellow eloper.

"Frankie, what should we do? If daddy finds us now…oh, I don't know…and the boat's coming any minute."

"Dollface, maybe we oughta head back and try to talk to da boss one more time." Frankie offered.

"No, Frankie! Don't say that! Don't you know what he'll do to you if we do that?"

"Francesca…Babydoll…if we can just talk calm-like wit' da boss, he'll understand." He might just convince her. This makes our job easier.

"Oh, Frankie…My Frankie…Don't you love me?" …What?

"Of course I love you, sugar cookie. More dan anybody in da whole world!"

"Then let's go, Frankie! Let's run! To the ends of the earth if we have to!"

"But, butter biscuit…dey already found us out. We can't keep runnin' forever."

"We can, Frankie! The more you try to put out the flames of love, the hotter they burn!" I looked over at Peach, about to ask her about this whole situation; only to find her eyes glued to the exchanged, completely enamored with what was happening, "Until I marry you, no one will extinguish these flames of passion! NO ONE!" As she screamed that last part, I watched as everyone on the dock turn their eyes to look at us before groaning in annoyance and returning to their work. She turned to us, her hands clutched together in a begging motion, "You two understand love right? I beg of you: pretend you never saw us! Can you do that?" What did she mean by that?

"Of course we understand." Peach quickly replied, wiping away an errant tear. "We won't tell anyone."

"Oh thank you! Thank you! You're a swell couple! I know you two will be as happy as Frankie and I."

"I think you're misreading our-"

"I'll never forget you two for the rest of my life!" Before I could try to clear anything up, Peach pulled me away from them and back towards the center of town.

"…You're explaining to the Don why we didn't find his daughter."

"Sorry…I'm a sucker for a love story." Obviously.

After our 'truthful' explanation about how we couldn't find his daughter or Frankie; the Don gave a level-headed response in the form of slamming his fist down on the desk with enough force to leave a crack in the wood.

"You know…I don't like being lied to. Do I look like a sucker to you?"

"We were kind of hoping." …Crap, I said that out loud.

"I warned you wise guy! Fine! We're gonna need a mop to pick up what's left of you!" He snapped his fingers, making his two goons move in to attack us. We readied to fight back-

"DADDY, WAIT!" We all turned to the door to see Francesca and Frankie enter the room. Oh thank god.

"Francesca!" The Don yelled in surprise.

"Boss! Forgive me, Boss! I-I'm sorry! Truly, I am!" Frankie blurted out.

"Frankie! So! Back you come, head hung low an' wit' your tail between your legs!" Francesca moved up.

"No, daddy! Don't hurt him! I'm the one who said we should elope. It was ME! But Frankie said no! He said we should come back and talk to you, daddy!"

"But- I thought- we were there! You said no!" I blurted out in total confusion.

"It's the mysteries of the heart." Peach said trying to elaborate…poorly. Frankie stepped forward again.

"Boss! Listen, I don't care what you do to me! I deserve it all for bein' disloyal! But you gotta forgive her. Forgive your daughter, Boss! Dat's all I ask."

"No, daddy! No! No! No! I'm the bad one. It's my fault! If you're going to punish anyone, punish me!"

"No, Boss! It's all on me. It's my responsibility! All da blame, right here." At this point we had stepped off to the side as the couple inched slowly towards the desk with every outburst.

"Daddy!"

"Boss!" The Don gave out a guttural yell, making the room go silent.

"Enough! QUIET! BOTH OF YOU! Francesca! My headstrong daughter…you used up your last favor long ago! An' you Frankie! You were like a son to me! Dis is how you repay your debt to Don Pianta? I feel such disappointment in you two, it's like a Poison Shroom in my gut." The Don sat back down and spun around in his chair to face the wall.

"Daddy…"

"Boss…"

"I don't ever wanna see your mugs again! You hear me? Get out of my sight! Both of you! I don't care where, just go! Do what you want, even if it means getting' married!" The couple gave a small surprised gasp.

"Daddy…"

"Boss…"

"Thank you so much daddy…thank you for your blessing."

"Boss…I promise I'll make your daughter a happy woman. She'll want for nothing." Even from where I was, I could tell the Don was shaking slightly as he spoke.

"Enough already…just go…GO!" The goons stepped forward.

"Francesca…seein' you dis happy makes me…happy too. Congrats, both of youse!"

"Frankie! Dis is great! It ain't quite what I promised, but hey! Things turned out ok, am I right?" Francesca approached her father from behind and wrapped her arm around him.

"Goodbye daddy. Farewell…and thank you." She gave him a small peck on the cheek before stepping back and taking Frankie's hand in hers. When she did, they left the room; ready to start their lives together.

Although that just left me and Peach standing there awkwardly until the Don addressed us.

"You still here?" He turned around. Back to being his stoic self, "Hmph! Well, you found my daughter an' got her to come back here…an' just lookit how things turned out! What a complete an' utter soap opera."

"I found it quite beautiful." Peach said dabbing her cheeks with a handkerchief.

"But her, a deal's a deal." He reached into his desk and pulled out a set of tickets. "Here." He tossed it them at me and I was quick to catch them.

"Thank you." I said with a short bow. He gave a small smirk.

"Who knew? Dat guy's got her smilin' ear to ear! She's…happy. Dat's good. Thanks for the help string bean." I returned his smile before his scowl set back in, "But I don't wanna see you or your girlfriends mug no more. Don't evert come back here!" Oh, trust me. I plan on avoiding you like the plague from now on.

"Happy to oblige." I replied before grabbing Peach by the hand and rushing out of the mobster's office and back down to West Rogueport, "Finally. That was mentally exhaustive."

"He called me your girlfriend." Peach said with a slight blush.

"I just wanted to get out of there." I said simply. Looking down at the tickets he gave me, I couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment in coming away from the mob with what we needed.

"Is that enough for everyone?" Huh? I looked down to notice I was only holding two tickets.

"No…as a matter of fact it is not." So I walked away with less than what I wanted…only with the mafia.

"Should we ask for more?"

"I don't think we should re-open that rabid dog cage."