The Thousand-Year Door

## **Plot**

Peach and Mario are sitting in Rosalina's library gathering more information on what could potentially be happening on the moon. Rosalina then projects a fear of hers that it may have been her own doing that may be the beginning of the downfall for the moon. When asked what, Rosalina tells them that when she traveled across space, she had an idea once about making a civilization for just the lumas and herself. However, once she realized that she could just build a home for all of them on the comet itself, she abandoned the idea of building another home. She soon realized that she completely forgot to collect all the used materials and objects on the moon, further leading to her speculation that another alien species may be harvesting it for something of their own, angering her. Mario assures her that they will check it out to see what is happening but will in turn need to use the Star Observatory. Rosalina says that she will join them in finding out what is happening on the moon. Luigi and Squirt offer to stay behind and watch over the kingdom much like before, jokingly stating without worrying about tv this time around. A cloaked figure is seen observing the moon becoming a reddish color.

On the moon, is an entire civilization of a species called the X-Nauts. They have a leader who calls himself, Sir Grodus who commands every move and decision made. The X-Nauts continue repairing a base on the moon, using what's left of Rosalina's materials. They come together for a meeting by Sir Grodus who tells them that the day they can finally free their leader, The Shadow Queen, approaches every so closer. Sir Grodus mentions that once they are able to harvest the energy of the crystal stars used to seal her away by an unknown person 1,000 years ago, they can finally free her from her prison. They call their cult; *The Shadow-Nauts.* He commands that they work extra hard for the Queen's arrival so she may possibly reward them for their hard workmanship. The X-Nauts continue pulling on a large chain connected to a massive machine that turns the minerals on the surface of the moon red, explaining why it is turning the entire planet red. One of the X-Nauts explains that red was the color synonymous with the Shadow Queen.

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Rosalina, Mario, and Peach blast off into space on the Observatory and head towards the moon, unaware that the cloaked figure seen earlier climbs aboard. Mario inquires Rosalina on if she remembers anything of her life on Earth before she left. She replies that she remembers having fond memories with her younger brother and her parents but couldn't save her mother, who died from a mysterious illness. She says that she never expected time to work differently on the comet that crashed down on Earth, so when luma asked her for her help, she assumed it would only be for a couple nights, a week at most. Unfortunately, when she found out the truth, it was too late. She regrets never going back on Earth even for a moment just to see how things were during her departure. Peach gives her sympathy towards Rosalina, letting her know she too knows how it feels to lose a loved one, even if they were a young age. Peach points out that regretting things that cannot be solved will only do more harm than good, that the past is the past, nothing will ever change that. She suggests she looks towards the future, a time period where she does have the choice to do something right or wrong. They arrive at the moon to see the Lunar Base much to Rosalina's dismay. They park the observatory on the dark side of the moon. Rosalina gives Mario and Peach the ability to breathe outer space through her magic. They hop closer towards the base to discover more.

The trio overhears the X-Nauts bickering on if the actual legend of the Queen is real and if the crystal stars even exist. Mario and Peach immediately gasp, leading Mario to have a flashback to their island of misfortune adventure. Mario pulls Rosalina aside and lets her know that he and Peach have encountered the stars and that they exist. Rosalina becomes shocked and mentions that she too only thought they were a myth. One of the X-Nauts points out he heard something, leading the group to quickly hide. The-X-Nauts come closer and closer, almost discovering their whereabouts. Mario is about to ask the girls what they should do but is shocked to see they're gone but he too is quickly taken from something off-screen. The X-Nauts don't see anything but spot the Observatory.

Mario manages to break free of whatever it is that grabbed him and the person is an X-Naut. Mario prepares to strike until it speaks and reveals that he is no enemy and that he wants to help them get rid of the Lunar Base. Peach and Rosalina side with Mario, pointing out that it is odd for a random X-Naut to just rebel, especially when there is nothing in return they would be getting even if they were to help. The X-Naut introduces himself as Yes-Naut and that he was just like one of his kind but once he saw the destruction his kind caused to other planets, he couldn't bear to stick to the same land they did. As a result, when they wanted to use the greatest power ever known to man; the crystal stars, to free a malevolent entity to unleash her wrath and power to the world, he knew he had to step in. He snuck behind his fellow criminals and snatched up the stars. He then traveled to Mushroom Island and hid them beneath a chasm which in turn trapped the Shadow Queen's coffin in the Shadow Realm. Overtime the chasm began to become filled with water from the ocean. Mario and Peach realize he is referring to the crystal stars they ended up finding on the Island of Misfortune and tell him that it is now being guarded by a giant blooper that attacks anyone who goes near them. Yes-Naut becomes overjoyed to hear they are are still hidden safely and now have a guardian. They decide to trust Yes-Naut after hearing his story. Rosalina spots the Observatory being raided by the X-Nauts and begins to charge towards them but is stopped by Yes-Naut who tells her that their technology and weaponry is far more advanced than that of Earth's. Rosalina could only scoff, insisting she has seen how Earth technology has advanced over the years and has upgraded her magic to be much more powerful. She arrives at the Observatory and threatens the foes to back off. What follows is a brawl between her and the enemies, fighting with mega blasters and magic. The fight ends with her having beat most of the X-Nauts but isn't aware that one is behind her and knocks her unconscious. Mario goes in to save her but Yes-Naut begs for him not to as he will more than likely suffer the same fate. Mario cannot bear to see the sight of her being dragged away however and breaks free of Yes-Nauts's grasp and begins firing away at the X-Nauts. This gives Rosalina enough time to awaken and Peach jumps in to lend her to safety. The lumps begin to attack the X-Nauts and Mario uses his full firepower to blast a group of them, sending all of them to retreat to Sir Grodus, who learns of their doings.

Mario, Peach, Rosalina, and Yes-Naut manage to escape mostly unharmed. Yes-Naut mentions that he cannot be seen as he is already seen as a traitor to his kind and will face death if he were spotted. While the trio understands, Peach suggests that there are times where if a person who really wants to prove they want to help, they have to show them through an attempt of bravery. They head back to the Observatory to quickly relocate to another area. Once they move, they try to come up with a new plan of attack to stop the Queen's resurrection. They lay out the groundwork for an ambush and to try and destroy the machine turning the moon red. Back at the X-Naut base center, Sir Grodus is lead to the area the Observatory once was before becoming more angry that it has moved, executing a few of his minions in the process. He demands they find the group and kill them on sight to further prevent any more distractions. Suddenly, the Observatory appears in its comet form swirling around the sky above the base. The X-Nauts alert Sir Grodus, letting him know that the comet is the Observatory. This is revealed to be a distraction for Mario and Peach to run behind the minions and fiddle with the controls of the machine at a control tower. However, one X-Naut notices the movement. Mario and Peach try to hide behind a counter and do their best to remain silent. Unfortunately, X-Nauts have the ability to see through objects and spot Mario and Peach crouching behind. He finds them and quickly alerts the others. Mario and Peach are taken to Sir Grodus who applauds them for their attempted sabotage but ultimate failure. He swings out his scepter and prepares to kill both Mario and Peach but not before Yes-Naut decides to come out and reveal himself. Sir Grodus becomes too stunned to speak much like the other fellow X-Nauts. This gives Mario and Peach enough time to leave and return back to the control tower. Yes-Naut lets the organization know that he plans to stop their wrong-doings as he knows what is right and what isn't, going as far to say that his kind is a disgrace to society and existence as a whole. Mario is about to pull the giant plug with Peach's help but are ambushed by other X-Nauts and are quickly captured once more. Sir Grodus has both Mario and Peach trapped and threatens to kill Peach if Sir Grodus doesn't tell them where the crystal stars are. He begins counting down despite Peach telling him not to tell them. Mario becomes grasped more by the minions but before Sir Grodus can go in for the kill, Yes-Naut reluctantly reveals the location of the stars, much to Peach's dismay. Despite being told the truth and thanking Yes-Naut, Grodus dives for a stab on Peach but Yes-Naut throws himself in front of her, stabbing him instead. They leave the trio in ruin and head off to their starships, on route to Earth. Rosalina sees the X-Nauts open a portal and head for Earth, horrified at the sight. Mario and Peach aid Yes-Naut who begins slowly succumbing to his wounds and begs that they stop them and save the world from plunging into darkness forever.

Some X-Nauts on the moon base finish the machine pull on the moon, successfully turning it blood red which back on Earth, the citizens mistakenly misinterpret it as a rare blood moon eclipse on news networks across the world. In the Mushroom Kingdom, Luigi and Squirt run outside to see their world becoming red from the moon's aura. The X-Nauts and Sir Grodus make their way towards the island and violently clash against the giant Blooper who gets shot in its eye by Sir Grodus's scepter. It falls back into the ocean and Grodus makes a monologue about the their history of having formed over a thousand years ago and have worshipped the Queen ever since. They find the crystal stars and use them to break open the thousand-year door, in turn freeing the Shadow Queen and the beginning of her shadowy reign.

To Be Continued flashes on screen, ending the episode.