Lord Vuljiin, the terrible monster, roared with power as the dark sky screamed with bolts of lightning crashing behind him. Luigi and Karma held their ground despite the fearsome beast before them.
“Pathetic fools! You have accomplished nothing! Once I finish killing you, I will simply find the scattered Cosmos Crystals and gain their ultimate power and conquer the world!” Vuljiin bellowed.
“I beg to differ, Vuljiin.”
The four atop the tremendous tower looked to the center, where the awe-inspiring Stario rose up with a triumphant light surrounding him. The sinister servant of Vuljiin hissed.
“No... I killed you! Without the Crystal Star you cannot exist!” he snapped.
Stario shot the hooded creature a devilish smile. “The wishes of the entire Mushroom Kingdom, nay the planet, will not be so easily cast away into a realm of darkness.” The mighty warrior floated to the ground, his cape flowing behind him heroically. He unsheathed the Star Saber, complete with a new glow of pure light gilded on the blade. “I am no longer who I was, I am the protector of Plit, every wish for peace and serenity empowers me to a summit even beyond yours, Vuljiin.”
The vile warlock snorted. “You have come back to life far too many times. This battle will put a stop to your constant uproar of glory!”
Vuljiin raised his hand and green swirls of light materialized a massive, demonic sword in his hand. Luigi recognized it instantly as the sword in the podium, its emblem identical to the dark force that nearly destroyed him. An ominous glow enveloped the villain.
“Feast on my infinite power, not even the great Stario can defeat me!” Vuljiin snarled, a fowl fire igniting around his blade as the venomous eye of red shined with hate.
Stario grabbed his sword with both hands. “I may not be able to smite you down, however, the hearts of every Plitian that form the great power within me, will.”
Vuljiin was furious. He roared and charged forward. Swords clashed, their respective powers tearing a rip in the universe as they struggled with all their might. As Stario stared into the murderous eyes of Vuljiin, he found himself no longer afraid of the terrible gaze sent back by them. Vuljiin must have picked up on this, as something different was hiding behind his eyes. Whispers of wishes glided into his ears, giving him more strength. Stario and Vuljiin created a massive dome of unfathomable energy around them that spurted out rays of stunning power. There powers equaled and a stalemate was before them. Luigi and Karma watched in astonishment. Suddenly, something moved that caught the hybrid’s attention. The hooded servant was positioning himself high on a protruding pillar of the tower’s outer rim. She grasped her dagger fiercely and bolted toward him. Luigi’s eyes fled from the fight as the cloaked halfbreed dashed away.
“Karma!” Luigi shouted.
Her thin green lips curled back showing her ravenous teeth as she plunged forward. The unsuspecting servant, whom had been positioning the A.I.D.S. device, took notice of the approaching creature he used to know as his love. He cried out as she leapt upon him. He fell back, leaning over the edge, and released the tool from his hands. He cursed as the AIDS plummited beneath the clouds and was no more. He turned back and growled at his former mate.
“Traitor!!!” the hooded servant shouted, slashing his claws up and searing three wounds in her scaled nose. Karma dropped her defense and he pushed her to the ground and grabbed her dagger with one hand, restraining her with the other. “You worthless backstabber! I ought to kill you now!”
He raised the dagger into the air, but was blown to the side by a rush of green fire. Karma turned her head to see Luigi with his palm open and breathing fast.
“Heh heh, no sweat,” Luigi panted.
“STARIO!” Defender summoned. “This is getting you nowhere.”
The hero closed his eyes and saw the Star Warrior before him.
“I am putting the power of Plit into my blade, how come it doesn’t shatter his sword?” Stario asked.
“Because, this new saber he has revealed is enchanted with an ancient power... it is possible the malice carried with it could withstand the Star Saber in its strongest form!” Defender explained. “This battle will take more than sheer power to win. You must be victorious on all levels of combat. Stario, outsmart him and his defenses will fall!”
Stario watched his mentor fade away and he opened his eyes. The caped plumber flew backward as the mighty sword of Vuljiin slammed to the ground where he once stood. Like a lightning bolt, a mighty sever in the stone floor split towards the heroic warrior.
“Now you know the true force of Vuljiin! This fight is already won, any last requests before I kill you?” the atrocious monster asked.
“Just one,” Stario said.
“And that is?” Vuljiin questioned, opening his hands in gesture.
“Tell me what you want to do to me before you do it,” Stario said.
Vuljiin stared dumbfounded at Stario for a minute, then began laughing almost hysterically. “It’s your funeral. Stario, you wretched creature, I plan to remove your extremities by hand, I will rip open your chest and pull out your heart to witness it stop in my claw. I want to burn your every cell until it is no more. Stario, I wish to cause you the greatest pain in existence!!!”
Stario smiled and winked. “You just said the magic word.”
“What?” Vuljiin barked, no longer amused.
“I told you that I get my power from the wishes of every Plitian. The power depends on the person. And since you just made a wish,” a massive light formed around Stario, “I have now recieved an awesome increase of overall power!”
Vuljiin shook his head. “No... no it can’t be!”
Stario rose into the sky, lightning bolts streaking behind him as they had earlier done with Vuljiin. The warlock continued shaking his head in disbelief.
“YOU CAN’T BE STRONGER THAN ME!!! NOW DIE!!!”
The shaded hand of Vuljiin shot out, producing an extremely powered lightning bolt. The mighty ray was thwarted away by a twirl of Stario’s sparkling cape. Vuljiin growled and fired a second bolt, again finding it dashed away by the cape. Stario looked down with his pure eyes, that now pierced Vuljiin’s twisted soul and made him cringe. The evil sorcerer placed both hands around the hilt of his sword and thrust it forward, releasing an intense beam of destruction forward to Stario. The beam consumed the warrior, Vuljiin’s red eyes darted around, looking for him.
“I’m right here,” Stario said.
The monstrous creature whipped around and saw Stario grinning at him. He swung forward with fury and sliced air as Stario jumped upward and landed with great force on his crown. Stario flipped off as Vuljiin fell to the ground. The warlock turned his way.
“I must despose you now!!!” Vuljiin raged.
The dark warrior rushed forward and started a spectacular sword boute with his nemesis.
Meanwhile, Karma had regained her composure and her weapon. She now faced off with the hooded figure who clenched both fists.
“It’s not to late to give up, my love,” the figure hissed.
“Why can’t you see it my way? Vuljiin is a madman that seeks nothing but to crush the souls of others!” Karma reasoned. “He is not so powerful, we can stand up to him!”
The figure laughed. “You still don’t know, do you?”
“What?” Karma asked curiously.
“Vuljiin is nothing. However he is essential to bringing the true darkness forward, just like the two of you are,” the hooded figure snarled.
Karma was speechless. “How...”
“Come with me, and together we will one day reign supreme over this pitiful planet!” the figure beckoned.
“Never! Come with me, and stop this senseless evil!” Karma argued.
“I’m afraid I cannot do that,” the figure said, releasing the grip on his fists.
“Well no matter what you choose to do, I have my own mind. There’s no way I’m allowing you to take me,” Karma snapped.
The cloaked crony rushed forward and seized her hands, digging his claws into her wrists. Karma cried in agony and dropped the dagger. Luigi ran forward, preparing a green flame in his hand, but the figure grabbed the fallen dagger and landed a direct hit on Luigi’s shoulder. Karma felt faint as large amounts of blood oozed out from her slit wrists, she descended right into the servant’s chest as he proceeded to wrap his arms around her.
“We die together, my love. But we will return.”
The hooded fiend stepped backward, bringing
Karma with him and pulled both of them off the side of the tower, falling
beneath the clouds of darkness...
Vuljiin roared as he continued to thrash Stario further back to the edge of the arena. The warlock sucked in air as he slashed forward and followed through with a burst of wicked fire. Stario dropped to the ground from the heat, but managed to shoot his Star Saber up quick enough to block Vuljiin’s descending blade. They had arrived at the stalemate once again.
“Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Deja vu, correct Stario? Only this time you have no room to jump away!” Vuljiin cackled.
Stario stared into his opponent’s eyes. “You are right, I can’t run this time. But I do not need to run, the wish you made has increased my strength beyond yours or any other’s. I will split your sword in a minute once my maximum power is unsheathed.”
Vuljiin gasped. “... NO!” He pressed forward, Stario urged to keep his place. “I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!”
Stario closed his eyes, searching for any power left to stop Vuljiin. He looked for Defender, but he was lost behind a veil of darkness. He went for his brother, but found him weak, leaning against a stone with a large gash on his shoulder. The two others had disappeared, and Princess Peach had already poured her little power into Stario. All the strength he had gained, and Vuljiin was still strong enough to contain his power? Then Stario sensed something in the distance, three pure hearts were approaching fast. He strained to discover their identities, but it was no use. Stario opened his eyes and drained all of his power pushing forward.
“You can’t win!!! I am invincible!!!” Vuljiin laughed.
A familiar green figure dropped through the ominous clouds overhead and hastily studied the area around him. Stario looked at him through watered eyes as he hopped over to his downed brother and appeared to give him some kind of item. Vuljiin didn’t seem to notice the new character’s existance.
“I can sense your power waning...” Vuljiin threatened.
Stario watched as the newcomer stepped forward and pulled a sparkling blue item out of a red pack on his back. He ate the items and with a green flash produced a sparkling oval behind him. Stario felt Vuljiin about to break the barrier and slice him in two, as a loud crack sounded and the force of the warlock was gone. Stario jumped to his feet to see the wicked creature tumble backward from the explosion of a Neon Egg.
“Stario! I’m glad I made it in time!” Yoshi greeted.
“Me too!” Stario said, smiling.
Vuljiin raged. The dark monster climbed to his feet and stared down his opponents, finding Yoshi looking right back at him. He growled like thunder and made to thrash the dinosaur but was stopped with a painful burning at his back. Vuljiin turned and dropped his jaw, finding a mighty dragon flapping in the clouds before him. The dragon’s scales were colors blended of green, yellow, and brown. His eyes were a bright yellow circle in a field of black. At the end of his long tail was a circular globe of green that sparked with life. The beast trumpeted with a shriek and belched out a wave of green flames, sending the dark one flying to the ground. Vuljiin opened his crimson eyes and saw a looming figure with white eyes, an orange beak, and a body coated with black feathers stare down at him. A striking vein appeared in his forehead as Vuljiin felt shockwaves climb up and down his spine. The dark lord roared and breathed his vicious fire while jumping upward. As the fire settled he found himself staring down at a glowing Stario.
“It is time to set the world right again,” Stario spoke. “With my blazing sword I will vanquish you to the darkness from whence you came! Arriva derchi, Vuljiin!”
Lord Vuljiin moved for his sword to block the fast-approaching Star Saber. As the blades collided, Vuljiin felt his grip release as the sword was knocked from his hand and dropped past the tower’s edge and below the dark clouds. He turned forward and watched as in one mighty thrust, Stario consumed the villain in a binding light of immense power. Vuljiin roared as he felt himself deteriorating, as the dark sky around him did as well, revealing the sunrise on a golden day...
A liquid delight of warming pleasure trickled down the back of Stario’s throat as he endulged into the delicious beverage before him. An elderly chuckle came from the near vicinity.
“Oh ho ho ho! I see you’re really enjoying that Teeheespresso, Stario!” E. Gadd chuckled.
Stario nodded and swallowed heartily. “Yes Professor, it’s wonderful! Are you sure you can’t stay in town a bit longer?”
The goofy old man snickered and picked up his briefcase and a slinky that he placed atop his head. “I’m sorry, but I mustn’t stay, I’m needed at Gadd Industries immediately! I hope to see you all in the future. Too-da-loo!”
Stario, Luigi, the princess, and Toad waved goodbye as the professor left the coffee shop. Luigi took another sip of his Hoolumbian and followed through with a refreshing, “Aaah!”
“So it seems all is back to normal then,” Peach said confidently.
“Yes indeed, I’m so glad to see you back in the Kingdom, Princess!” Toad mentioned.
“And our good friends have gone home, Yoshi, Splooshi, and Orchil are safe and sound at Yo’ster Isle. Mallow has returned to his duties as Prince back up in Nimbus Land, Johnny and his nephew are out at sea again, Raphael the Raven is now surveying over Lavalava Island in his massive tree, and Gora is resting again at his temple in the far-off desert beyond the shores of Dinosaur Land,” Luigi summed up.
“Tell me more how Gora and Raphael came into the story...” Toad asked. “I’m still a bit confused on that.”
“Well, one night Raphael had received an omen from the Stars, and knew the terrible confrontation that would occur. He and his tribe study the Stars and other forms of Cosmos you see, so they know these things,” Stario briefed. “He sent one of his most promising scouts to the desert to awaken the Guradian Dragon Gora, a sleeping spirit deep within an ancient temple. Once the dragon was restored, he met Raphael and soared to the tower to help us. Thankfully he did, without their help I might not have been able to finish off Vuljiin, I lied about gaining his power through the wish,” Stario snickered.
“That’s definitely a good thing that happened then,” Toad said. “Oh, and what happened to LVK industries?”
“Althouh we wanted to search through the building to find out anymore secrets we could, Raphael demanded that it was destroyed before any evil could escape from it. So Gora burned the place to ashes,” Luigi answered.
There was a short silence before the next topic was approached. “Do you guys wonder, what happened with Karma?” Peach questioned.
A grim tension appeared in the group discussion. “I... I’m not sure,” Luigi stated.
“We did witness her and the lackey of Vuljiin fall off of the tower... but we found no remains,” Stario said mournfully.
“So... there’s not a chance that... he’s still..?” Toad began.
“No. No possible way,” Stario said, hiding his own curiosity. “I watched him burn to dust in front of me.”
“Oh, well in THAT case...” Toad said sarcastically trying to lighten the mood.
The others giggled as a pair of red eyes stared at them through the window.
“Sis, don’t get so worked up! What’s the big deal, it’s a coffee shop!” The Master, said folding his arms.
Tayce T snorted. “Pah! I heard a rumor that they were considering hiring that Chef Spore to cook some food to go along with their drinky-drinks...” A large egg splatted in Tayce T’s face. “HEY!!!”
Ryanoshi, Crazy Koopa, and Blue Boo
snickered as they dashed away from the furious fungi...
Meanwhile, a large naval fleet sailed far out in the Southern Shitake Sea...
“All rise for the honorable King Bowser!” Admiral Jade called.
The King of Koopas entered the room with dramatic music playing as he took his throne. He looked before him at the three figures, all Magikoopas.
“Well, well, well,” Bowser grunted. “It appears we have quite a pineapple on our hands, doesn’t it?”
“Bowser, with all do respect, a pineapple?” Kamek questioned.
“SILENCE!!!” Bowser roared. “Can someone please explain what you’re all doing here before my court?”
Kammy stepped forward in between Kamek and a shackled Vermik.
“My Lord Bowser, I will be blunt with your answer so that even those with extremly low intelligence will understand. In order to save Kamek’s life, I was forced to bind Vermik’s life spirit to him. A very old, but useful trick. Basically they both remain alive as long as they are both still living. If one dies, the other does. Simple, yes?” Kammy explained.
“Yeah, yeah. I got that out of reading action comics, sheesh Kammy! I was asking you to clarify what we should exactly do with him?” Bowser asked.
“Well, as you know he was planning to revolt against us and tricked all of us into thinking he was General Jagger, I’d say we kill him. But as you now know, we cannot if we want Kamek to remain alive. So basically, it comes down to confining him to a permanent jail cell with just enough neccesities to keep him alive,” Kammy said.
“Alright, sounds good. What about this one?” Bowser questioned, pointing to the red fireball next to Vermik.
“That’s Torch R. Chambers. You brought him back with you... I don’t know why,” Kammy wondered.
“Well lock him up with the no-good Vermik! He fooled me into thinking I’d win!” Bowser grumbled.
“Hey, wait a second!” Torch panicked.
Kammy turned and nodded to a pair of Koopatrols. “You heard the King, take them away.”
As the two were being apprehended the door swung open and in waddled a small figure with a labcoat trailing behind him.
“Excuse me, your majesty. But may I suggest using my new device on these two culprits before you imprison them?” Clever Guy pondered.
“Well, it’s highly unlikely, but why not?Give it a go!” Bowser granted.
Clever Guy nodded and proceeded to slam helmets with sparkly lights and tubes on Vermik and Torch’s craniums.
“What is this?” Vermik asked, annoyed.
“These helmets will scan your thoughts and report if what you say is a lie by giving off a large red flash and a metallic whine,” Clever Guy summarized.
“That’s a load of hooey!” Torch snarled, as a red light and a loud whine emitted from the helmet. “What? Hey, I meant that!” A second red light and whine was given off.
Clever Guy chuckled. “Alright King Koopa, ask them any question you’d like.”
Bowser scratched his chin. “Okay, what’s the deal with airplane peanuts?”
“Bowser!” Kamek snapped.
“Huh? Oh, um... if I decide to let you off the hook and work for me, will you swear total allegiance to me, and die for my wishes?” Bowser asked.
Vermik bit his lip. “Yes, King Bowser. I have defected from my former mentor, and now only you will be my master.” Vermik kneeled and expected the machine to go off, but surprisingly, it did not.
Torch, astounded by this hopped up and down. “Oh, ditto!”
Both stood confidently as the lights did not go off. Jade scratched her head in perplexion.
“Wow, I guess I make quite an impression, don’t I?” Bowser said. “Well, for now you two will be released into my army, but be warned, you will have eyes on you wherever you go, so keep up the loyalty!”
“Bowser... I’m not sure this is such a good idea..” Kamek added.
“SILENCE! I HAVE SPOKEN!” Bowser leapt out of his throne and disappeared into the next room, singing the Batman theme.
Kamek shot Clever Guy a distrusting look before leaving with the others. The Shy Guy walked up to the two and removed their helmets, and leaned in close.
“You owe me yet again, shapeshifter,” Clever Guy whispered. “You as well fireball.”
With that, the scientist Shyster twirled around and proceeded to leave with a satisfied smirk on his face and his hands behind his back...
“Do you think we’ll ever see Lemmy and Ludwig again?” Wendy asked, as she and her brothers stared at the blue sea behind them from a balcony on the devastator. The sun was setting and the sky was getting dark.
“Don’t be silly, of course we will! I mean... there’s a third one, right?” Iggy said.
“A third what?” Wendy questioned.
“Um... nothing.” Iggy mumbled.
“It stinks that we didn’t manage to conquer the world again, but I’m sure our next plan will be even better!” Junior said enthusiastically.
“Shut up!” the other Koopa offspring shouted.
“Sheesh, what depressed teenagers, I hope I skip that phase of my life,” the youngest son muttered as he walked away.
“I heard something about King Dad’s next plan you guys!” Larry whispered.
“What?” the others begged.
“Well I can’t tell you now, it’d spoil the fun!” Larry snickered.
“You punk!” Roy shouted, pouncing on his younger brother.
“AGGAH! YOUR MASSIVE GIRTH IS KILLING ME!!!” Larry cried.
Morton grabbed his stomach and moaned,
his face green. “Ohhh... why is it always a boat?”
Not too far off in the same sea, four misfits were adrift on a large wooden chunk of a former pirate ship. Changling watched as Whomp bobbed up and down, rattling a pair of dice in his hand. The brick donned in a viking-helmet tossed the dice onto the ground and peered at them.
“Looks like your magic missle was magic misfire! Only 1 damage. URR URRRRRRRRRRRR!” Whomp informed.
“WHAT?! That’s absurd! I’ve leveled up, how can my spells be so low?” Changling demanded.
“Well Changling, it’s because you stepped in that Magic-draining Muck last time we played,” Embert replied.
“Oh shoot, that’s right,” the angry Magikoopa agreed. “Would you stop blubbering over there?!”
Genius Guy sniffed loudly, stroking his furious cat. “You’d be depressed if you lost a loved one too, meanie!”
“It was a SLINKY!” Changling snorted.
“QUIET!!! You’re making it worse!!!” Genius Guy moaned, his cat surrounded by an aura of anger.
“And would you shut that cat up?!” Changling said, splashing a wave of water toward the Shy Guy. The liquid touched the cat and the following events happened within two seconds. Lucy screeched, slashed Genius Guy out of the way, pounced on Changling and shoved him into the water, spit out a flaming hairball at Genius Guy, sending him into the water, and sprouted bat-like wings and flew off into the sky. Embert and Whomp looked up at the disappearing cat, and then turned their gazes to their drowning comrades.
“MAN OVERBOARD!!!”
“Mon dieu! Vat a terrible ending, I got blown up!” Chef Torte complained, climbing into a large basket. Mini Moi nodded and placed a towel around him to dry him off. “Zanks Mini Moi, you’re such a sveet little clone. Now vat do you say you fire zis baby up and ve return to Isle Soshi and plan out our next diabolical plot?”
Mini Moi snickered evilly and jumped high to pull down a cord that started a fire. The heat filled up the immense balloon and soon they were airborne. Chef Torte and Mini Moi stood up and looked at the sea below from their escape vehicle, a hot air balloon shaped like Chef Torte’s head. The two grinned maniacally in front of a starry background and placed their pinkies to their mouths.
“I’ll pay you back in double, Yoshi.
As for ze rest of Plit, YOU SHALL BE MINE. Now let’s close viz a perfectly
evil laugh, Mini Moi! Mwa ha ha ha ha, MWA ha ha ha ha ha ha! MWA HA HA
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”
As night fell, an annoyed traveler paddled along the ocean inside of a smelly cauldron.
“Where are we going, Insane Clown?” Dingpot asked.
“Shut up! Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll find that Koopa Fleet I heard about...” Lemmy complained, paddling away.
Suddenly a dark shadow fell over the two until an eerie blue light poured down from the heavens onto them. Lemmy looked up and shrieked at an enormous, globular spacecraft in the air. All of a sudden, he felt himself and Dingpot rising out of the water and being pulled towards the spaceship.
“OH NO!!! ALIENS?! I AM NOT GETTING PROBED!!!” Lemmy spazzed.
“That’s funny, I’ve seen this ship before,” Dingpot laughed.
“You have?” Lemmy asked.
“Oh sure, I recognize the symbol!” Dingpot explained.
Lemmy turned to face the ship, and found
a humongous trademark symbol upon it. The symbol was a large purple ‘E’
placed in the center of a peanut. The Koopaling started to cry as he entered
the ship and it left for orbit.
“I told you here we’d find my pot, but what is this other thing we got? A null uber turtle it appears to be, will we let him live? Find out in GBT3!”
~Fin!