And so, after pummeling Lord Crump, Mario obtained the second Crystal Star... With the X-Nauts gone, peace once again prevailed throughout the Great Tree. The Boggly Woods echoed with the Puni songs of joy. But...this may not be the last our heroes hear from the vile X-Nauts. They will surely continue to stand in Mario and Luigi's way and try to a stop to their efforts..

...

Meanwhile, Grodus couldn't believe that he was hearing.

Grouds commented, "What?! Say that again! You can't get in touch with Lord Crump!"

The X-Naut (Chester) reported, "You are correct, sir. We are investigating now... We should hear anytime."

That's when another X-Naut (Ralph) came in. He crossed his arms in front of his chest like an X.

Ralph stated, "Sir Grodus! Please allow for me to enter!"

Grodus asked, "Yes, what is it?"

Ralph walked in and answered, "I have a report, sir! The Crystal Star in the Boggly Woods has apparently been taken by Mario and Luigi!"

Grodus was surprised, "What?! You must be joking! What about Lord Crump and the Shadow Sirens?"

Ralph replied, "Uh, I'm sorry sir! Unfortunately, Mario and Luigi laid beatings on all of them!"

Grodus responded, "Hmm.. Disturbing... These Mario and Luigi characters... What kind of... Speak up, X-Naut! What is the status of the other Crystal Stars?"

Ralph told him, "I'm sorry, sir! We are still searching for the other Crystal Stars. Unsuccessfully, sir!"

Grodus said, "We knew of three of them... Hooktail Castle. Boggly Woods. The one we got in Rogueport. That means there are four Crystal Stars left out there... And we will have them! Keep looking, so that Mario and Luigi will not beat us to the punch!"

Ralph stated, "Yes, sir!"

He crossed his arms in front of his chest like a x and left out the door.

Grodus thought a loud, "As I suspected, there's no reason to doubt that Mario and Luigi have that map... They must. Listen up! You! I want you to keep a close watch on what Mario and Luigi do from now on!"

Chester agreed, "Absolutely, sir!"

He crossed his arms in front of his chest like a x and left out of the door.

Grodus commented, "Mario... Luigi... I loathe you both."

...

Peach was worried, she had certainly hope that Mario and Luigi were okay along with Violet.

She said out loud, "Oh, Mario... Did you ever read the mail I sent you? I wonder... I wonder so many things... I wonder how everyone is doing at the castle... Will I ever dance at the Mushroom Ball again? What will become of me?" She walked over to the door, which didn't open. She added, "Hmm... Doesn't seem to open."

Just when she was about to call it a night, the doors opened. She couldn't help but wonder if TEC was wanting her to come in again. She went down the hall and entered the room.

TEC greeted, "Hello, Princess Peach. I am glad you came."

Peach asked, "That mail I sent to Mario... Did it reach him alright?"

TEC confirmed, "Yes, I can confirm that Mario received the mail."

Peach breathed a sigh of relief, "Is that so? Well, good... So what do you want from me today? Is there more you want to know about love?"

TEC stated, "You expressed regret earlier that you would not be able to dance at a ball, correct?"

Peach perked up, "E - Excuse me?! Were you eavesdropping?"

TEC replied, "I am sorry Princess Peach. I have been ordered to keep surveillance on you. But..it is odd... When you said that, I had this impulse to dance with you as well. How my CPU would produce this impulse is inexplicable. I must find out what caused it."

Peach repeated, "Find out what caused it? There's no reason behind such a feeling, TEC. Wanting to do something together... It's a part of love." She thought but didn't add, 'I know it. But I can't tell TEC Mario and I are dating... For his sake and mine.' She told TEC, "But then again... You are...well...a computer."

TEC offered, "Princess Peach. Please dance with me."

Peach did a double take, "Wait... Wait a minute... What...am I supposed to do? You say that you want to dance? It's just so...bizarre... I mean, how in the world can I dance with you? You have no arms. Or feet. Or moves.

TEC questioned, "Would this be an acceptable dance substitute?"

That's when a hologram of Peach appeared in front of her.

Peach breathed, "Oh my goodness! Is that me? Did you create that?" Peach was quiet for a moment before she finally answered, "Oh, alright, I guess..." She whispered, "I must say, though, it's going to feel weird, dancing with myself..."

Peach started to dance with the hologram although it was pretty hard for her. The last and recent time she had went to the Mushroom Ball was before Luigi and Violet saved Mario from the mansion. Back when it was just the brothers. She had hoped that the next ball that would be special, since it would be Violet's first one since coming. Violet...she was very worried. Violet had come from a broken home too but it had taken it awhile for it to actually get there. Violet had two loving parents until her mom passed away. Her father couldn't take it and started to work all of the time.

"Princess Peach?"

Peach perked up, hearing TEC's voice.

The computer asked, "Are you alright?"

The princess was wiping away her tears unexpectedly, "Y - yes I'm okay. I am just worried about Violet..."

TEC questioned, "Violet? Oh the girl that was here earlier. I am sure she will be fine. Thank you for the dance, princess. That was very fun. Just a minute." TEC then went quiet for a minute before he added, "Fun...? Is this impulse I feel the concept known as fun?"

Peach asked, "TEC? Are you okay? I'm getting worried about you now..."

TEC answered, "Princess Peach, I will fulfill my promise to you. Please use my communicator. Use the keyboard to send whatever message you want."

Peach nodded as she typed her message to Mario again, "I'm finished TEC, can you please send it?"

TEC had done what she had requested and replied, "The message has been sent. Please go back to your room. I want to analyze the data from this dance immediately. The data I thought was fun..."

Peach went over to the door and joked, "You are a weird computer."

TEC didn't understand her joke, "No, you are mistaken. I am the world's best and only perfect computer." With that, Princess Peach went back to her room. TEC added, "Good night, Princess Peach."

...

Wishmaker1028: It is there we end chapter 27. I'm afraid that this chapter ends on more bad news. Tim's uncle had passed away on 2/23/2025 at 1:15 am. We didn't get a chance to see him when we were down there though. I would like to dedicate this chapter in his honor. Please read and review. And always think outside of the box.