The Last Stand

## **Plot**

The heroes talk with Lizel and Blumiere about how their catching up has been and to their delight, it has been great. They say they have talked to each other about all the things that have happened with each other and that they don't need to fear being seen next to each other ever again. Rosalina interrupts the conversation to tell them some horrible news: the Dark Star has been stolen.

Back at the Macroverse, Dimentio's little spider pet gives him the star and he begins to use it for his own personal gain. It doesn't take long for the star's effects to combine with his chaotic energy and already dark mind. Dimentio takes on a more sinister look and laughs menacingly with only his silhouette visible, citing that "Earth is going down".

Back at the Comet Observatory, Rosalina begins to panic heavily, immediately telling Lizel and Blumiere why they weren't at the very least checking their surroundings. Peach defends them saying that they had just gotten back together after a long time and that she should cut them some slack. Rosalina apologizes, saying that she is just very stressed as the world is now in grave danger. Luigi asks on who could've taken it and they all have a deep but sure suspicion that it has to be Dimentio. This just causes more panic to induce the team so as a result, they all decide to make a final plan to stop the potential invasion. Fawful begins feeling very sick and insists that he is going to lay down while they figure out what to do. Rosalina asks the others if they know anyone else who could help them out with defeating Dimentio and Mario insists he knows a few options but needs to "reassure" first.

He reveals he is talking about "The Scavengers" and heads back to the waterfall which is off. He and Luigi climb on the mountain to the surprise ambush of the group but once they realize who they are they immediately apologize and give them a warm welcome. Mario tells them that they are all in peril and that he has kept their secret ever since they last saw each other but this is a time where they are going to need all the help they can get, which includes coming out in the open. Barry is hesitant along with Axel and the others but Mario rightfully tells them that their home is going to be attacked regardless if they come out in the open or not, and they would really appreciate the extra muscle. After some more consideration, they decide to go all in but request that the bros help them with something, the bros oblige.

Bowser, Squirt, and Leroy tell the Peach and Rosalina that they have already acquainted the Kong army from the Jungle Kingdom in the Sky Territory section of the island. They also mention that perhaps the Light Prognostigus can be used against the Dark Star's magic but Blumiere insists that can't be the case, as the star's energy is simply too powerful, as the book was made by the Ancients, a tribe that has existed way before that energy was even thought to have existed. Lizel brings up the possibility of using the Dark Prognostigus's power against it, fighting fire with fire. Blumiere says that is a possibility but he could lose himself to the book's power further and won't be able to come back, saying it's a miracle he is even able to control it as he is speaking.

Fawful is still on the couch and begins hearing Dimentio's voice calling to him, telling him that he is sorry for what he tried to do to him. Fawful doesn't budge for this trick, insisting he is the one that does the tricks but Dimentio continues to manipulate him by saying that he is willing to give Fawful another chance under his wing. He further says that he knows Fawful can't resist such evil power and the wanting to do whatever he could do in the world. Fawful tries to fight back against these thoughts but is overruled by the star's effects and a result becomes mind-controlled by Dimentio. However, it isn't the Dark Star that is controlling him, as it's revealed that a floro sprout pops out his head, Dimentio tells him that when he stabbed him back in the Macroverse, he secretly planted a floro sprout inside his cranium and was waiting for it to bloom, which it finally did. Fawful begins walking away towards the Mushroom Kingdom rift but is luckily stopped by Rosalina, who tells him what he is doing. The sprout quickly goes away and Dimentio fades away, snapping Fawful back to reality. He says he doesn't remember what he was doing much to the confusion of everyone there.

Back with the bros, the scavengers tell them that they lost one of their members during a hunting mission gone wrong and he is currently being held captive by a Chain Chomp. Mario and Luigi both tell him they will handle the problem but as they head deeper into the cave where the chain chomp is said to be, they suddenly get a bad feeling. Suddenly, a band of Shy Guys rushes out toward them and catches them both off guard. Barry and Axel attempt to fend them off but they are greatly outnumbered by the amount of shy guys. To make matters worse, a group of Dry Bones captures those who manage to escape the shy guys. Mario and the others are pinned down by the overwhelming amount of enemies. Mario demands to know why they are doing this as he thought Bowser told them to join him against Dimentio. They are confused and accuse Mario of lying but he insists that he is telling the truth. They tell him that Bowser hasn't spoken to them ever since Bowserland was destroyed. This confuses the bros even more and Mario realizes that he must not have gotten to them all, as most of them has separated after all. They begin to feed the bros to the Chain Chomp to which the other scavenger member is revealed to still be alive. Before they can all turn to lunch, Luigi breaks free of their pinning and he fireballs them all with Mario and the other scavengers joining in. They win against the Chain Chomp and they manage to calm the minions down and tell them they need to trust them as they are now acquainted with Bowser. Mario offers to take them to the Castle ruins through a warpipe. As soon as they enter the warp pipe however, they end up in another location entirely. Mario looks around and comes face to face with a skeletal corpse and realizes that it's pointing at the edge of a cliff. He and Luigi head to the cliff and realize that while it appears they are at the bottom of Inception Falls, they are really at the top with the water inverted. They know this by the single rock the skeleton is pointing at, which appears upside down on the ground. They then discover that the skeleton is holding a tape of some sort and open it. The tape shows records and video entries of the one and only Judy Lambert, the woman who went missing trying to find the scavengers back in the 80's. Her last video entry shows her enter a warp pipe on the date of August 7th, 1988. Barry says that was the day that his dad ended up passing away, and also recalls a memory of him saying that he saw a toad enter a warp pipe but couldn't remember where it was. Turns out through her video entries that she traveled to Italy and ended up in the rift, documenting her experience there and telling the world about her experiences and how their world is parallel with another one. Local governments ended up hearing about her cases and wanted to silence her so she couldn't fear-monger. Judy became aware of the governments on her and she said she wasn't afraid to die as she found so much more about her world and in this case, another one. She ended up dying in Inception Falls and due to the pipe being blocked, she had no way of escaping. Mario becomes furious with his and laments on how unfair her life ended up turning but realizes there isn't much they can do anyway. Using the rock that Judy was pointing at, they overturn it and the gravity in the area reverts back to normal and they all fall on the actual ground, where they meetup with the other minions. The other minions meet the minions that tried to feed the heroes to the Chain Chomp who is now tamed and ready to do anything at their command. They tell them that the bros aren't lying and that they really do need to band together in order to fight Dimentio.

Back at the Mushroom Kingdom, Fawful sincerely tells the others he didn't know what happened to him. The others are afraid of the fact that he attempted to open the gate, causing a bit of distrust to occur but Fawful pleads with them that he really has changed and will never go back to the sinister bean minion he once was. Mario and Luigi return to the group and tell them they have recruited as much people as they can for Dimentio. Rosalina has another vision episode, showing Dimentio back in the Macroverse gaining more dark chaotic energy from the star. Rosalina gasps and not wanting to cause too much of a scene, decides to deal with this trouble, alone.