By Mario Fan
Foreword
The following story is the direct sequel to my other epic fan fiction, Songs of the Silent Age. I guess you could read it without going back and checking up on the previous tale, but you’d be fairly confused when I reference hundreds of unfamiliar plot points, so let me save you the trouble by quickly outlining some of the things you need to know if you want to get started now. Those of you who already read Silent Age might want to use this as a refresher, anyway.
It all starts when a shape-sifting, black-cloaked Magikoopa by the name of Zarith starts making secret appearances around the Mushroom Kingdom while its annual Autumn Festival is preparing to start. It’s only when he meets up with a mysterious master that we realize something sinister is going on. Next, Mario notices strange footprints leading to the Mushroom Forest, but our heroes have no time to discuss things when a flood of epic proportions sweeps the Mushroom Kingdom during its yearly Festival and wipes out a catastrophic amount of the population. During this, Luigi is saved by the source of those footprints, a strange reptilian creature named Rezan…
Of course, all of that is over-simplified, as the entire event involves several other places on Plit. What you need to know after that is several groups of good characters and bad characters start out on a series of adventures that lead them to the unknown apex of their journeying—four ancient doors, or Breaking Altars, which convene on something called the Breaking Shrine. It is only through a continuous, apparently random succession of clues and cryptic writing on papers called the Breaking Scrolls that our heroes and villains figure out something disastrous is about to happen.
Bowser and Kamek, on the other hand, use the Mushroomers’ temporary downfall to reunite the Koopa Kingdom and reconcile his long-lasting feud with his children. Together, they build up their forces, and prepare for a double-edged offensive: the complete annihilation of the Mushroomers’ core military forces at Star Hill and the entry to the Breaking Shrine via a Breaking Scroll in Prince Iggy’s possession, taken after his unsuccessful attempt at treachery.
After an extensive set of adventures, all the pieces fall into place, and Mario, Kamek, Goombella, Bowser, Kolorado, a Yoshi named Ryok who was adventuring with Kolorado in Mt. Lavalava, and an Armored Ant named Shogun who was searching for a way to bring his people to glory, all find themselves in the Breaking Shrine pitted against Zarith’s evil master, named the Executioner. There they discover the Breaking Scrolls were a trap to confine them, who he labels the Chosen Heroes of Plit, from intervening to stop Doomstar (the enemy of the Star Spirits since the beginning of time), from taking over Plit.
Meanwhile, the Mushroomers at Star Hill, including such heroes as Luigi, Mallow, and Rezan, fight desperately against the forces of Bowser and Prince Morton, Jr, both come to destroy them. After a devastating infantry battle, Luigi, Mallow, and Rezan infiltrate Morton’s flagship and seek to take him out in a bid to turn the tide of the battle. When they finally reach him and begin the final struggle, however, an incomprehensibly large Blooper, revealed to be the cause of the earlier flood and the physical incarnation of Doomstar, attacks the flagship and kills Morton, Jr. in the process.
Back at the Breaking Shrine, the heroes discover that even though Doomstar has stifled the direct powers of the Star Spirits, the Executioner’s own warning about the Chosen Heroes having a link with the Star Spirits might allow the Star Spirits to lend them their powers. Mario’s gamble proves correct, and the Chosen ones receive the powers of the Star Spirits and engage the Executioner in a final deadly struggle for victory. Even as they push him back, though, he reveals that Doomstar will already have gained full access into the realm of Plit by the time they destroy him, but Mario realizes as his brother, Luigi might be able to receive the help of the Star Spirits, too, and sends them to him.
On the brink of defeat, Luigi embodies the powers of Eldstar. Rezan, who already had revealed himself earlier to be a powerless, fallen Star Guardian (like Geno), is given back his powers, as well. Along with Mallow, they clash titanically with the nearly-complete incarnation of Doomstar and seemingly destroy him in a world-shattering explosion. The Executioner is obliterated along with him, and the Star Spirits are released to destroy the Breaking Shrine and set everything right.
It’s important to know some of the aftermath, however. First, Jinx and his young Goomba friend Keb were also traveling before all this to confront Shogun, who had stolen Jinx’s Breaking Scroll, but they were ambushed at the last moment and left to die in the cold heights of Ice Land. Their fate was not resolved until now…
Meanwhile, Mario, the princess, Yoshi, and all the rest took a much-needed vacation. Ryanoshi, Russ T, Merlon, and Admiral Bobbery (all who had parts in the previous adventures) went to Rogueport, however, and Luigi and Rezan (who willingly gave up his Star Guardian status to live a normal life) traveled to see Sarasaland. Kolorado, his assistant Goomba Henry, and a Pianta named Taber who also had a part in the old adventures decide to go off on another expedition after the turbulent one at Mt. Lavalava. Bowser, meanwhile, senses his superior position despite Morton, Jr.’s demise, and seeks to find a hidden underwater city in the Tropacine Isles at Kammy’s suggestion, although Kamek suspects her motives. Finally, the Magikoopa Zarith waits in exile in Easton of Sarasaland, coming to grips with his unexplained existence. He abandoned the Executioner after an earlier confrontation with Kamek, where he learned he was revived from an older Magikoopa of the same name that Kamek recognized. Now he must understand the life that lies before him, but feelings of an ominous future cover his mind, one in which our heroes may not have seen the last of Doomstar…
I’d like to point out once more that all of this is a hurried and massively incomplete summary of the last story, but it will hopefully allow you to read the sequel with some measure of foreknowledge. I still encourage you to read the old one, but for now, enjoy!
Return to Songs of Light and Darkness.