Consumed by the Past

## **Plot**

Fawful groans from the still fresh wounds from Dimentio's potentially fatal attack. Lizel tells him to remain calm but he snaps at her, saying if she were in his place she would be groaning louder. Lizel takes out a small vial of blue liquid, she tells him that it is the last of a healing serum her mother gave her. She uses it to seal his wound and in turn, causes a temporary relief of pain, although she tells him he will continue to feel stinging and a bit of pain until it completely heals. Fawful asks her why she never used the last of it to which she responds she never found a reason for it until now. She goes on to tell him when the Lord of the Darkness Tribe banished her to the Macroverse, she would find it hard to conserve the serum in one piece. She knew she couldn't use it all at once so she was forced to only be temporarily relieved of pain for a few moments, until Dimentio found her. Fawful listens intently, then questions if she still thinks about Blumiere to which she answers, "everyday". She asks Fawful on how his life was, but before he could answer, a large explosion occurs just around the castle towards the kingdom. The duo look at each other, unable to decide on if they should help or let the bros deal with the danger.

Luigi and Mario come out of the castle and spot two burglars who go by the names of Popple and Rookie. Bowser eyes down Rookie, making fun of his rather similar appearance before accusing him of copying him to look like a doppelganger. This angers Rookie which in turn leads to a fight between him and Bowser. Luigi and Mario take care of Popple by gaining back the stolen possessions and fight him off. Mario decides to stick to hand and hand combat but ultimately tries to fireball for his final attack while Popple is vulnerable. Unfortunately, nothing comes out of his glove, further angering him but leaving Popple enough time to get away although empty handed. Luigi asks why he let him go to which Mario can't answer, instead he runs back to the castle.

Luigi goes to visit him in his room and sits beside his bed. He asks if it's his powers again to which he nods slowly. Peach also comes in and asks if Mario even thought about what she told him back at the prison, prompting him to spring up and say that he did, but also saying it does not change the fact that he is powerless. He mentions that he no longer feels useless as a person but is just stressing on if there is even a way to regain his fire power back. He then hatches an idea.

He goes towards Rosalina's Observatory and floats up to the library but the lumas tell him she isn't there, saying she is in her bedroom. Mario walks around towards the bedroom to find her on a chair rocking back and forth with her back turned away from him. Mario inches closer and calls out her name but she does not respond nor react. Mario becomes more concerned and goes in to touch her which nothing happens. He then turns her around but becomes horrified to see she has black soulless eye holes with no pupils. She lets out an ear-piercing screech before dissolving into a gooey blue liquid that turns purple. Mario is then transported to a black void with only the liquid visible from the physical world. He goes in to inspect it, noticing it's the seal serum used to close the portals between the Earth and the Macroverse. A voice appears behind him that says, "time is running out" which Mario turns to see a spooky version of Luigi that looks just like the horrifying version of Rosalina. Mario then awakens to find himself on his bed, revealing the whole thing to be nothing more than a dream. Mario gets out of bed and asks Peach what happened since they last talked to which she says that he told her he is going to take a nap even though he has no recollection of ever saying that. He says he needs to go see Rosalina but Bowser tells him that he hasn't seen her at the Observatory, saying she has been gone for quite a while. Mario sighs and says he will wait until she eventually returns but Bowser shows visible concern, knowing both Fawful and Lizel are right behind the castle.

Bowser walks out to tell them that they need to leave immediately as Mario is already close to finding out their whereabouts. They persist that they have nowhere to go at the moment, causing Bowser to lash out at the two, saying they aren't their problem anymore, before apologizing. Lizel begs that Bowser helps them both redeem themselves to the others to which he becomes even more furious, stating he would gain nothing from it. Lizel begins to tear up saying how much she regrets doing everything she has done and swears she has changed for good. Fawful joins in, saying that he now knows that he is his own person and doesn't need to play by someone else's rules in order to live. Bowser tells them if they want to redeem themselves, they need to prove they are even worthy or redemption before stomping off.

Popple and Rookie are in the middle of yet another heist and begin to break everything inside a jewelry store. They cause the alarm to go off, and begin fighting off security officers. The bros are alerted of their work and Mario reluctantly leaves, even though he is visibly distraught that Rosalina hasn't returned. The bros leave to fight with Peach and Bowser joining this time. Lizel and Fawful once again see them go off. They confront the burglars and begin to battle with them. Luigi fireballs Popple which causes Rookie to get angry and pounce on Luigi, temporarily leaving him unable to fight back. Mario goes to fight Popple but becomes noticeably weak with his punches. He gets punched by Popple which causes Bowser to bump him into a wall of bricks. Peach aids Mario, telling him he needs to stop thinking about his powers and needs to start fighting back. He tells her he can't, saying that he is so used to his powers, he doesn't know what it's like to fight normally. Popple takes out a flamethrower and prepares to fire at Mario. Lizel and Fawful see from afar, Lizel clenches her fist with Fawful standing by her side. Before Popple could deliver the final blow, the two get in the way, with Fawful reflecting the fire with his goggles using a mirror effect. Lizel uses her staff to knock Rookie off of Luigi, who is surprised to see the duo. They successfully beat the robbers, ending in them cowering off.

They turn to face towards the team. They all enter a defensive stance, with Mario demanding them to stay back. Lizel assures the team that they mean no harm and that they aren't the same people they used to be. Luigi yells out that he doesn't believe a single thing coming out of her mouth but Lizel persists, saying that she isn't looking for forgiveness, but rather just closure towards their evil reign, adding they have put those lives behind them and are now looking for a way to help the team stop Dimentio, after fully finding out what he is trying to do and that he doesn't care about either one of them. Mario ends the conversation by saying if they want to help them, then they should leave their home before turning away along with the rest of the team. Fawful begs that they listen for just a moment, saying once Dimentio tried to kill him, he immediately knew he made the biggest mistake of his life, saying he would like to change it. The team look at each other with Luigi going up to Lizel and saying he will probably never forgive her for what she did, but he will give her a chance in proving she could change, he then walks back to the castle. The duo tell them that if it is okay they stay behind the castle for the time being. Peach insists once she sees a bit more trustworthiness, they might be lucky enough to stay inside the castle. They thank them before going behind the castle, asking each other if they both can trust each other, with each saying they think they can.