The insides of the station were in extremely poor conditions. Stairs dilapidated, shutters half closed if not broken off, and a constant breeze coming in from multiple holes in any surface we could see, letting in a fair amount of setting sunlight.
"*COUGH* *COUGH*!" The dainty lung hacking of Peach was caused by the unbelievable amount of dust kicking up; not helped any by Flurrie who was fanning herself as we walked through the place. With a quick pull, I placed myself between the two girls, strangely prompting Flurrie to close her fan…really hope that's not a sign of what I think it is.
Stepping into the next room, we came face to face with a large chunk of the machinery running through the building. To our relief it was all still in working order with nothing seemingly fried, frayed, or sparking.
"That might be a problem." Bobbery pointed above us to a collection of weird cloud creatures circling a main rotary gear, blowing something back and forth like a game. With a closer look, I could see a key clattering back and forth just shy of falling thanks to the cloud's weird game.
"Double so since we probably need that." I added pointing to the key. Peach was quick to line up her air cannon parasol and blast through one of the clouds making the others scatter. The key clattered around for a bit before falling to the floor near our feat.
"I also do windows." Peach replied with a cheeky smile.
The key fit into a path heading further down, and the place did not get better the further down we went. Floors with more holes than paths and spiderwebs that almost blended in with the thick layer of dust…I think I even saw a dust bunny actually hop into a hole in the wall at one point. Eventually we came to what I could only assume was a long-lost storage room, filled with boxes of old stuff and stacks of books on the parts of the facility…hang on.
"Maybe we can find a book on the lift…or at least a map to this place somewhere." Everyone started cracking open boxes and books, looking for anything useful. Let's see…an old manual on proper building structures…a cookbook for the mushroom savvy (eww)…and a decently sized replacement coil for something I had no way of determining.
"Is this anything?" Eggi asked holding up a pop-up book about bear attacks and sharing…what?
"No, but worth a read together later." Peach said taking the book from the little guy and placing it into her pack.
"Ah!" Flurrie's shout had as all turn as she held up a brochure. "An old program from one of my old shows…ah, as radiant as ever darling." She swooned at a picture of herself which…surprisingly didn't look any different from how she looked now.
"Vanity aside-" Peach started, "-I found a blueprint!" She slapped it onto a nearby table, kicking up a good amount of dust which Flurrie was quick to swipe away with her wind. Seems we had tackled most of this place with the only spot left not explored being the elevator in the lobby that seemed to lead down to a solitary area.
"Look there." Bobbery pointed to the room I was looking at, specifically towards a line of wall switches near the back, "The bridge controls must be along that line."
"Then we need to find the key for that lift." I spoke. "And the only place we haven't found it is in here somewhere."
"Is this it?" Eggi asked as he rummaged around in a box behind us, popping out of it to reveal he was holding what looked like a thin boot heel and accompanying sole.
"What is that?" I asked taking the set from him.
"Oh! I haven't seen one of these in AGES!" Bobbery said with a hint of excitement in his voice. "This is one of those weird attachments they made for those tension boots your wearing."
"Tension? Goombella said they were Momentum Boots."
"Is there a difference?" Peach asked and neither Bobbery or I could bring ourselves to go into the whole explanation.
"Regardless, I remember seeing a floofy sailor a few years back bragging about being able to walk on walls with those things. He even did it on the hull of the ship."
"Really!? That's cool!"
"Yes…but it became much less impressive when the charge ran out and he fell into the ocean…didn't see him after that."
"…Little less cool but not a deal breaker. How does it work?" We took a few seconds to slip the new attachment on, hearing it securely click into place…and finding it didn't detach in anyway once put on.
"Make sure when you step to have your heel touch before your sole. Wouldn't want you blasting yourself off a wall while walking."
"This thing is sounding more morbid and dangerous by the second." I wiggled my foot as I placed my boot back on, not rearing the usual rattle that accompanied most attachments to stuff; craftsmanship was masterful to be this fitting. Checking the gauge, the boots still had about half a charge, that was worth a test drive. Taking a look around, I could see an out of reach shelf about…ten steps above where we were.
"Go for it!" Eggi cheered on. With a hesitant step, I placed a foot on the wall and felt my body almost shift to pull towards the wall. Adding my second foot to it almost felt like I was taking my foot off a back wall; this didn't feel too bad…little weird but not more than anything else I've experienced. Before I could take another step though, that pull went back towards the floor along with my whole body, ending in a crash to the floor on my back.
"Oh! Are you okay?" Peach asked worriedly as she helped me back to my feet.
"How long did I last?" I asked, rubbing my back.
"Three seconds." Only three seconds on half a charge!?
"So I only get six seconds of wall walking? No wonder this thing is so rare. It's useless in practicality."
"…You could get up there in six seconds." Eggi said eyeing the way up…worst part was he was right. I took a deep breath.
"Alright, stand back." When everyone was backed away, I took a few seconds to run in place, building up the momentum meter and once I heard the familiar full beep, at which point I jumped and connected my heel with the wall, feeling the familiar pull but not letting myself sink as I carefully speed-walked up the wall. Keeping count in my head, I came to five and reached out for the shelf, gripping the edge as the momentum ran out and I slid off the wall but not to the ground as I dangled off the shelf. Eggi gave out a cheer as Bobbery shook his head and Peach had a slightly panicked expression. Pulling myself up, I found an array of lost paperwork cluttering every inch…which would have been difficult to search through one handed and the whole shelf not disconnected and fallen to the floor along with me…on the bright side I found a key.
I would have relaxed in relief that the key was to the lift had the pain of the fall not make any spine movement a trial and a half. It was lucky Peach had magic hands which she rubbed my aching back with to at least make basic shifting tolerable.
"No more crazy stunts today." She said firmly and I nodded. Pain is a strong deterrent so those lessons tended to stick more.
"Can I try!?" Eggi asked poking out of Peach's bag. She turned to look at him, unfortunately making it so I couldn't see her face.
"No." She said it with the sweetest tone but Eggi seemed to shrink back into the bag almost immediately. When she turned back to me, she had her usual smile as she kept rubbing. All that followed was the chuckle of Bobbery.
"Women just know what to do eh?" A ding followed quickly, bringing the chatter to a halt. When the door opened, we all tried stepping back as a swarm of strange small black creatures tried to envelop us. Flurrie responded swiftly, whipping up a strong wind with her fan that blasted the creatures back and created an opening we immediately seized to get into the room. These strange creatures enveloped almost every inch of floor space that we weren't on and even some of the walls. Flurrie swung her fan wildly to push them back from us as Peach swung her parasol and I swung my swords.
"Bobbery, Eggi, find the switch!" I yelled. What followed was ten seconds of overexertion from the three of us to keep them away before hearing a clunk.
"Got it, let's make waves!" Bobbery's yell had all of us rush and pile into the elevator. I slammed the door shut and threw the switch to take us back up. All of us gave relieved sighs as we made our way back up. That relief was short lived as the lift gave a small jostle and we heard something snap. All of us stood still until the lift opened and we all rushed back into the lobby. As soon as we all got out, we turned and looked at the empty lift, watching it for a few seconds before hearing another snap and watching as the whole thing fell down the shoot, quickly followed by a crash that made the building rattle.
"…I guess something was bound to fall apart in here…shame it had to be the scariest part of all."
"Well, there goes any nostalgia for this place." Flurrie said with a quick turn and walk out of the building.
"You kids are going to give this ol' sea dog a heart attack." Bobbery mumbled as he followed. I moved to whisper to Peach.
"Should we tell him about the ghost room we booked him?"
"Not now…maybe tomorrow." Woman was devious when she wanted to be.
With the bridge down, everyone put into proper rooms, and a complimentary dinner prepared for us as thanks for keeping on schedule, we were back on our way towards the next crystal star. I face planted into my bunk at the end of the day, feeling the exhaustion of the last two hit me almost as hard as I hit the floor.
"You feeling okay?" Peach asked. "Want another backrub?"
"No, just finally relaxing." I answered letting every part of me slump into the comforter. "For a luxury trip we didn't do much relaxing, did we?" She giggled before sitting on the edge of my bunk.
"…You know, it's always interesting to hear about Mario's adventures." I craned my head up slightly to look at her as she talked, "I've only been on a few myself but…hearing him wax on about all the things he did, it was nice. I think he was trying to boast a little, but what he did always captivated me in a special way…made me want to do those things myself you know?"
"…Yeah. I can understand that." I rolled over onto my back to better look at her. With the spot open, she laid back next to me.
"This whole adventure has been the most exciting thing I've experienced…I just…wanted to thank you for not having me sit around and do nothing back at Rogueport. Even everything we did on this train was exciting and I can't wait to see how tomorrow caps it." I had to chuckle, both at her enthusiasm for more problems and her thanks.
"Like you would have just sat there even IF we told you to. You're kind of a danger junkie."
"Says the one with the dinged up back." We chuckled together for a moment before a silence fell over, "…You didn't even suggest leaving me behind though…and that means more than anything." As she spoke softly, I felt my eyelids grow heavy.
"Of course…not…why wouldn't…I want to adventure…with…-" That was the last thing I remembered before feeling the gentle sway of the train finally put me to sleep.
The night passed peacefully, unmarked by weird dreams or nightmares of possibilities to come…just, quiet sleep filled nothing. I woke up slowly, opening my eyes and letting out a content sigh as the train rattled along the tracks. For some reason I still felt content and happy as I lied in bed, covers over me, an arm wrapped around my waist, a head of blonde hair nuzzling into my neck-
"Peach!?" The calming feeling seem to shatter into pure embarrassment as I looked to find Princess Peach peacefully nuzzling into me as she dozed away. Not even my outburst had disturbed her rest…but I also couldn't move…oh well…maybe it'd be fine if I rested a little longer…
A harsher rattle knocked that thought out as the entire car jostled, sending both of us flying out of the bed and onto the floor.
"Owww…what happened?" Peach asked groggily as she rubbed her eyes.
"Not sure." I replied standing up and reaching for my boots and weapons. "Can't be good though." Peach reached for her bag, pulling out her clothes and parasol, but suddenly stopping as she glanced around with a worried expression.
"W-Where's Eggi!?" I looked around the room. He wasn't anywhere to be found; he never goes off on his own.
"I'll ask Vivian and Goombella. You get changed." Rushing out of the room, I dashed towards V and G's room, giving it a rapid knock…but getting no answer? Vivian's polite to a fault and Goombella is a model student goom; odds are both of them would have answered at the same time. Taking a precautionary second, I pulled open the door slowly and found the room empty. It's not even breakfast time, where could they have gone? Feeling a chill go up my spine, I rushed out and into the next car, finding Bobbery or Flurrie also missing. With an even worse feeling of worry creeping over my whole body, I rushed back to Peach and my room, finding her still there and redressed in her adventure gear.
"He's not here!" Peach said with a distraught look of a mother who had lost her child in a super market.
"The others aren't in their rooms either." Peach's face scrunched up before she looked to the ceiling.
"MOWZ! I know you're watching us! Come out!" A minute passed before her panicked look returned, "I don't think anyone is on the train." I felt my body tense at this assumption…if nobody is on the train…
"We should make our way to the front of the train. If the conductor's not here then we've got to stop the train." Grabbing Peach's hand, we rushed as fast as we could to the conductor's car.
Ratcheting open the door, the conductor almost jumped out of his toad head; but thankfully the fact that he was there made both Peach and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Give a poor Toad a heart attack why don't you." The conductor said still clutching his chest.
"Sorry but the whole train is dead quiet." I replied.
"We were worried you might be missing as well." Peach added. A look of mild worry fell over the conductor's face before he returned with a half-smile.
"Missing? E-Everyone must be sleeping…or something. W-We'll be at Poshley Heights in about an hour." Oh…that's the look of someone who's not prepared for a situation like this. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of something black suddenly hit the windshield…wait a minute, I recognize that thing! Before I could even yell a warning, an entire swarm of them consumed the windshield making me reel back as the others finally took notice of the infestation. Not even a few seconds passed before a push forward sent us falling forward, like something had collided with the back of the train.
"How did those things get here!?" Peach asked as she got back up.
"They must have stowed away." I answered.
"Th-Th-Th-Th-Then the passengers r-r-r-really are missing!?" The conductor asked completely in a panic. A spark from the console had all of us struggle to stay standing as the train seemed to have suddenly increased its speed; every knob and lever on the main consol flying back and forth to various settings as though out of control, "They're gonna ram us into the final stop! At this speed we'll be blown to smithereens in ten minutes!"
"Not if we stop them!" I quickly shouted, "That push must have come from the back of the train."
"Which means they're coming in from the cargo hold!" Peach finished. With a nod, we both rushed for the back, but I quickly turned to the conductor before leaving.
"Try to slow down the train anyway you can! Once we get them off the train, be ready to pull the emergency breaks!" The conductor gave me a salute and I bolted as fast as I could to the end of the train.
Bursting into the cargo hold, we found the strange black creatures pouring in through a back duct and consuming more of the room. Peach retaliated quickly, firing quick busts of her air cannon to punch holes through the hoard. On her next blast, I caught sight of a wispy purple form trying to break free.
"Peach, aim there!" Peach refocused on the point and hit it with a final big blast that sent most of the flying around and making the purple form fall to the ground before turning into a cloud and coming towards us, turning into Flurries immaculate person…currently bedridden and wearing purple nightie, "Huh, so it's not all just your form."
"While I would have hoped to keep my nightly form private for a while longer, I suppose given the company and situation, I should not complain…for now." Her usual composer seem to break apart as a truly enraged look of a slighted god became her default, "Peach dear, if you would please aim your air cannon with both hands at the center of the room." She did precisely that, and as she did, and the wall of black came closer, I noticed the wind pick up around all three of us, creating a strange wind barrier that ended at the tip of Peach's parasol. With a quick flick of her wrist, Flurrie sent a powerful channel of wind that rushed into Peach's air cannon chamber, "Fire." A click was followed by an almost sonic boom level sound and a blast of precise wind that sent the entire wall of growing bugs back out through the vent they came through. In their wake was almost all of the passengers on the train…save for our group of course. With a quick huff, Flurrie started brushing at her hair with her fingers.
"Um…that was impressive, Flurrie." I said not sure of what else to say. This seem to be enough as she let out a slight giggle.
"Thank you, sweetie. Now, before anyone else sees me in such a state and spreads dreadful rumors, I must go freshen up. I shall see both you darlings in an hour."
"Actually-" Before I could explain the time limit, she seemed to have zipped out of the cargo room in a matter of milliseconds.
"…I often forget she's a wind spirit." Peach mused.
"Something to bring up later. We should keep going." Looking up, I was glad to find a ceiling hatch. With a grab of a nearby service ladder, I made my way up and threw open the door to the outside, almost getting my eyes blasted by the cold wind.
"A detective is always prepared!" The voice of Pennington cut through the blindness…unfortunately not enough for me to catch the goggles he threw that hit me in the face.
With a pair of goggles strapped over both our faces, Peach and I made our way up to the top of the train, finding the bugs starting to converge into a giant pile at the front of the train. Rushing toward it, we found among the black bugs was a bunch of light red versions that seemed to be burrowed into an open panel, clinging to it and tearing it apart.
"We're not crashing!" Rushing forward, I drew my wooden blade and went for a strike, only to be smacked back by a collection of the smaller black ones converged into a giant form enough to be a solid attack. As I reeled, the rest of the bugs pulled into the light red group' almost being consumed into on from that began to shift and change. Out of the form, I could see familiar shapes shift in and out with the moving hoard that turned into a three-pronged monster before our eyes. A strange guttural noise came out as it bared down on us, prompting both of us to ready ourselves for an intense bout.
Getting close to the core was almost impossible with the whole thing swinging at us every time we came with even a few feet of its center. With the amount of eyes on it and the almost hivemind communication of movement they had, getting close wasn't going to be possible unless we could cut down at least one of those three limbs…or stop them!
"Peach, get close!" I hopped back as Peach moved in next to me. Taking a deep breath, I focused on my star energy, readying two abilities back-to-back, "Power lift!" With a thrust up, a power swelled in our bodies and once the effect seem to stick, I swung down and stopped as soon as I pointed at the creature, "Clock Out!" The creature jerked slightly before becoming dead still.
With the opening made, Peach and I rushed forward. Pulling out my second blade, I focused on my boomerang blade badge and threw it at the out of reach tendril before taking a few quick swings at the closer limb. Meanwhile Peach deployed her parasol, jumping up and bouncing on top of the closest one as many times in a row as she could. The form seem to shift as the effect wore off, prompting me to take one last swing that knocked loose one of its hostages before stepping back and hopping to grab the flying blade as it came back. I pulled back the person who had been knocked off and found Koops had been freed from its grasp.
"Ugh…those things went into my shell…it felt wrong." Helping him to his feet, Koops readied himself to fight, slightly wobbling as he realized he was on top of a train.
"Think you can distract it?" I asked. Koops looked unsure before nodding. Retreating into his shell, he launched himself around the creature, making it flail to try and hit Koops. As he did, I noticed Peach regroup, also holding one of our friends, this one being Bobbery.
"THAT'S IT! NO MORE TRAINS FOR THIS SAILOR!" Peach pat his shoulder as he huffed out his frustration.
"Then how about lighting him up?" I offered and the old sailor gave a toothy grin, pulling out a set of small, already lit bombs. He started throwing them wildly, catching parts in explosions that made chunks of it go falling off. One of those chunks came flying towards us, slamming into a spot behind us and dispersing, revealing Vivian who seemed to groggily get back up. I held her hand as she seemed to slowly come back to her senses.
"I…feel like I just got blindfolded and spun in circles…again…did my sisters find us?"
"Thankfully no…and you need multiple hugs later. For now can you start taking stealth fire swings at that thing?" With a readjust of her hat she gave me a confident nod and disappeared into the shadowy ground. With three people now hitting it from various angles, it was disoriented enough for Peach and I to line up our next attack. We took a breath and held our weapons, welling up a burst of energy before launching forward. I straightened my weapon, going for a clean swing as Peach swung her open parasol, making it twirl around the dozens of eyes and send almost the whole thing into a dizzy state. With the opportunity presented, I pushed of and made a clean slice through the whole creature, severing the three prongs and causing them to fall off the train entirely. What was left gave a rumble before spitting out two more people. Goombella who fell into me and Eggi who Peach scooped up before they could even fall.
"S…Smorgs…" Goombella groggily said.
"What?" She gripped my shirt tightly at my question.
"SMORGS! Little buggy creatures that act like a collective to destroy and create nests!" She had a wide-eyed expression that bored into my soul with information, "It consumes people into its mass and holds onto them until the nest it done! Then they use them as food! Literally squeezing them dry of any and all nutrients!"
"…We should have brought you down to that switch room."
"YOU WOULD HAVE AVOIDED THIS!"
"Well, tell us how to dislodge it before it tears out any control we have over speed or the emergency breaks." Taking a deep breath, Goombella looked at the creature.
"…The magenta smorgs are the main body. If we can get rid of them, the rest should disperse. They're grip is almost iron strong together but alone they are weaker than a flower to wind."
"Perfect analogy considering we're relying on wind to get them off this train. We just need to knock apart its remaining body." The smorg collective rumbled before sinking down and beginning to spread across the top of the train. As though reliving what being captured by it was like, Koops, Bobbery, and Vivian ran back from its spread as Goombella, Peach, and I, with Eggi safely in Peach's bag, stood far enough back from its spread.
"…Unless it does that. First person to step on that WILL be surrounded and consumed." I could hear the smorg carpet still tearing at the top of the train. We're running out of time…we need one big blast…we should be over…
"Peach, get ready to blast up towards me." She nodded. With a click of my boots, I rushed for the edge, running down the side as fast as I could and towards the cracked window to one of the rooms. Grabbing onto the opening with my hand, I was glad to see Flurrie inside…mid-makeup. She gave a startled look towards me and I motioned for a windblast targeted at me. She threw her hand and I readied a jump off from the crack. The wind blasted against my boots, providing a boost up and a boot recharge, and with a well-timed jump, I launched into the air above the train, prompting Peach to blast herself towards me with her air cannon. Catching her, I positioned us above the smorg carpet and she aimed her next shot at the center, creating a free area in the dead center I could slam down onto with a momentum blast. Holding onto Peach, I aimed and slammed down onto the open center with enough force to dislodge every remaining magenta smorg and send them flying into the high-speed wind. With the top of the train now devoid of smorgs, I gave a sigh of relief…quickly followed by a sudden jerk as the train came to an emergency stop. Peach, Goombella, and I went flying, heading past the front of the train…only to be grabbed by a hand coming out of the torn opening, prompting me to grab Peach's hand who then grabbed Goombella, making all of us fall down onto the train top. Out of that opening, Mowz popped her head out, giving us a sly smile.
"It's dangerous to be on top of a train like this."
"I was wondering where you were." She giggled at my comment.
"Got captured like everyone else…but I'm a master thief; getting out was easy. Keeping it from ruining the main controls was less easy." Looking into the whole, I noticed a lot of re-spliced wires connected by previously pulled and torn parts.
"Good work."
"Aww…I probably wouldn't trust this stuff to last long…but it's sweet." A small spark and start up flame had all of us jump.
After some professional rewiring, the train was back in a serviceable enough condition for us to take the last few minutes to roll into Poshley Heights. Stepping off the train almost had me drop to my knees in relief. Three days that should have been an easy train ride turned into some of the most stressful events to experience on a train aside from a real murder…in fact-
"Peach, did you bring a book for the ride?"
"Of course." She gave me the sweetest smile as she reached into her bag and produced a familiar copy of an Agatha Chri-…well, Agatha TOADSLY novel.
"Max irony points achieved." The conductor rushed to meet us before we stepped off the platform.
"Thank you so much for saving the train! How can we ever repay you?" I looked back at the thoroughly exhausted members of our group.
"…A quick but luxurious return trip to Rogueport in a few hours?"
"Done!" Perfect. I turned to the group.
"You guys take it easy. Check out the place and maybe get a souvenir or two while Peach and I grab the Crystal Star." Eggi hopped out of Peach's bag.
"I'm gonna see if I can't find something to eat!" As he walked off, Peach called out.
"Don't talk to strangers sweetie!"
"I'm coming with!" Goombella announced. "You're going to a sanctum for the Crystal Star, right? They might have some info on its history!" Vivian shuffled towards us shyly.
"Um…I'd prefer to stay with you…something feels…off here." Has this trip not kicked us enough!?
Apparently not. In front of the exhibit was a closed sign, with the only reason being, 'gone traveling'.
"Should we get Mowz?" Goombella asked…and I seriously considered it.
"Ah, Gareth and his female entourage!" Turning, I found Pennington approaching us, "I see you picked up a few more in the time we've been apart. Such animal magnetism is to be feared!"
"I'm too tired to know what you're talking about." I said rubbing my nose. "What's up?"
"That's what I would like to know. You are in front of the sanctum I manage."
"You're the Sanctum Manager?" Peach asked shocked.
"I thought you were a detective." I said and she cleared his throat.
"Well…truth be told that's more of a hobby." I KNEW IT! "But enough chatter! Let's converse inside." Pulling out a key, he unlocked the front door and threw them open to the sanctum inside. Stepping in, we were immediately met with a worrying sight as at the back of the sanctum stood the two remaining shadow sirens along with…Dooplis!? Beldam gave us an eerie grin as she held the star in her hands…and it seemed pointed at me and Vivian specifically. Both of us rushed forward, Vivian dropping into her shadow to up her speed as I kicked the energy in to blast towards them. As we both came within inches of them, the two sirens fell into the ground, leaving behind a whispered message.
"You're too late." I skid to a stop and turned to the remaining member Dooplis who seemed to panic at seeing me.
"Um…hi…bye!" With a stumbling speed, Dooplis rushed towards and already broken window, falling out of it and running off.
"Damn it!"
"We should chase after them!" Vivian offered.
"Hold it my dear boy and phantasmal madam!" Pennington yelled.
"Am I phantasmal?"
"What in blazes is going on?"
"We originally came here for the Crystal Star. But those three just took off with it!" Pennington gave out a laugh.
"Do not worry young pupil! The star on display is nothing but a red herring!" Somehow…that information did not make me less tense. Pennington waddled over to the back of the sanctum, moving behind a curtain before the sound of a flip switching filled the dead air. The podium slid back to the wall and the spot it was on opened up, raising a second podium with another Crystal Star on it, "There we are! Now what do you need it for?" I thought about what the right answer would be…the perfect response for the detective to hand over the star…got it.
"A mystery that could shake the very nature of mysteries to its core. And these stars are a vital clue in order to find its answer." His eyes went wide as I waxed on about the severity of a solvable mystery.
"…A true student through and through. Take the star, and discover the truth behind the mystery. You will go down in history Gareth…and you will make your wives very happy, I am sure of it." I looked back at the three girls, Peach looking away bashfully, Vivian worriedly scanning around for her sisters, and Goombella currently consumed with a nearby brochure…not even gonna bother trying to figure out that Pennington conclusion.
Stepping forward, I took the star in my hand, feeling the familiar rush of star power course through me. One more…one more star and I can save Alice…but at least now the Mystery of the Excess Express is finally over…which means I can relax…which might explain why I'm crashing to the ground.
"Ah, lost consciousness due to excitement. Truly he is my student." Last thing I felt before passing out due to exhaustion was the misguided proud tear of Pennington hitting my face.