Swimming with the Stars

## **Plot**

Squirt wakes up from his house to hear loud knocking at his door. He opens it to find Toadette screaming in joy and gleefully shouts that her favorite boy band known as "The Wailin Cosmos" is coming to the Fungus Civic Center that night and asks Squirt if he wants to join before calming down and saying she is sorry for what happened to him in the last 2 weeks. Squirt thanks her and says that he thinks he deserves some fun after having to deal with community service. He asks his parents but to his horror, they reveal that they are both going to be gone for the weekend, leaving Squirt with nobody to watch him. He mentions Richard but he too reveals that he has a college field trip to New York and won't be there. Toadette tells them if he can just stay at the castle but he will have no room to sleep in. Squirt protests that he is old enough to watch himself but according to Mushroom law, one must be 17 years and older to be home alone, and considering they just got off the hook with the law, they tell him they can't risk anything to him or the house. Toadette sadly leaves, telling Squirt she just wanted to offer him something joyful after dealing with such madness.

At the castle, Peach tells Mario and Luigi that they should have a hangout day, just having some fun out in the kingdom after such traumatic events. Squirt overhears them and suggests they go to the concert to which the bros point out they aren't a fan of boy bands. Squirt becomes infuriated but denies to tell the truth to them about how he feels about Toadette. He tells them that he needs to go for a school project and that he will need to be there to get a 100%. They are still against the idea but warm up to Squirt, saying they can go. Squirt quickly calls up Toadette telling her the great news which she also becomes extremely happy. However, Squirt begins feeling guilty and asks Mason if he too wants to join. He does as well but he also asks his friends which leads to a fiesto of people that are now coming including Mark.

That night, preparations for the concert are underway as tickets online begin to sell out by the minute. Squirt realizes this due to the website crashing and tells his friends they need to hurry. They all go on a call and try to buy them but the website keeps kicking them out. Squirt then has an idea and asks Mason if his father can lend them free tickets since he works at the civic center. Mason agrees that could work but it might overwhelm the ticket website and create a crash for all users. They all persist that he still does it to which he does.

An online agent speaks with the civic center staff saying they were not expecting a lot of traffic on the website since it is beginning to crash, leading them to believe there must be a hacker.

On the night of the concert, Squirt heads downstairs to check on his computer and is shocked to learn that the concert has been cancelled. He quickly calls up Toadette who reveals that she already saw the news and feels like they are partially to blame for the cause. They gather up around the civic center and lament on their guilt, apologizing to Mason in the process. He tells them there is nothing they could do now except just move on from the unfortunate situation. Mark notices something from behind the civic center, calling attention to why the band's truck is still in the parking lot. They investigate further and enter a backlot studio sealed off to the public. Mark and Mason break off the barrier while Toadette blocks off the camera by adding a glitch effect which fools the security guards that the camera is glitching. They enter inside and find that the band is actually inside their studio room amidst the confusion of the team. Toadette becomes immediately interested and is about to flee towards them until Squirt points out that there is something wrong. A door opens and the team hides, and out comes a greedy producer named Edgar Kramp Garden, who reveals his harsh treatment to the band. He reveals he has a reputation that he strives to live up to, not having any controversies surrounding him but he merely hides his menacing true self with a happy facade, fooling the world. After he leaves, the team meets the band, who say that they are secretly being held captive by the producer, who kidnapped them from South Korea, as they are really a K-pop band that aren't from Mushroom Island. Squirt and Toadette devise a plan to break them free and in turn, help them escape back home to Korea. Mason and Mark go on lookout while the duo breaks them free. They are successful in their efforts and they quickly escape before anyone could notice. Unfortunately, just as they are about to leave the parking lot, Edgar appears from behind a trailer and sees the team. They run off in a hurry with Edgar hot on their tail. They use the studio trailer to drive away while Edgar chases after them in his car.

Mario and Luigi see what is unfolding on the news but assume it is just another bank robbery. They both prepare to go out and fight but barely miss who is really behind the chase with Squirt's face popping up just as soon as they leave. Squirt drives faster towards the outer limits of the town with the rest of the team throwing equipment out the back to slow down Edgar. He puts his car into auto-drive and lassos a spear linked with a chain. He manages to grab ahold of one of the members named Tay-Z. Mason grabs ahold of him and Mark joins in along with Toadette. Squirt continues to floor the trailer, approaching outside of the kingdom and ultimately makes a move to stop due to bridge under construction. Edgar unfortunately does not see this and crashes head on into the trailer, but luckily the team along with the band members are able to escape and the trailer falls down a huge ravine. Edgar comes out and confronts the kids about what they have done but they retaliate back by saying that kidnapping an entire band for the sake of keeping one's own false reputation is evil and that the truth will come out. Edgar releases his large whip and is about the attack the kids but Mario and Luigi come in for the rescue stopping him in his tracks. They also discover that the kids were behind the chase and berate them for bein in possible danger. They explain everything to the bros and the police are hot on their trail. The bros tell the police that they got the situation under control while the kids and the band also explain to them what happened. The police persist that they don't have enough evidence to prove that's the case until Toadette tells the band members to pull out their I.Ds and each one of them shows they are from South Korea. This is enough evidence for them to arrest Edgar and put him behind bars. The kids request that the band play just for that night for the kingdom before they depart back home. They agree and the whole team enjoys a night of partying at the civic center.