"So this is your meeting room?" Mortcha looked around. "Interesting. I really like the 'negative' feel in this place."
"You have my son to thank for that, Mortcha. Of course, not that we'd want to thank him for anything else. Ah ha ha..."
"Oh, yeah, Blumiere." The witch scowled. "Poor Blumiere. He didn't have to turn out as such a rebel, you know. If only Novelle hadn't-"
"Hey, just a heads-up, Mortcha," interjected B-A Omega. "We don't really use that name in here. Sort of like a taboo. You know what I mean?"
"Oh, yes, I can completely understand that. I wouldn't want to mention that meddling goody-goody anyway."
"In any case, minions," began Dimentio, "we have a tentative situation on our hands. The heroes have managed to get all five of the orbs, but The Void is closing in quickly. Our task is simply to watch what the heroes do. If it looks like they might stand a chance, we go on the offensive. And I have a special something in mind that might work for that."
"Ohgoodygoodygoodygumdrop!" exclaimed H-X Alpha. "Whatisitwhatisitwhatisit?"
"Ah, H-X Alpha...you're always so anxious to learn what I have in store for those heroes. Yes, your anxiety billows, like the volume of a red infaltionary sphere attached to a multicolored squishy pedestal that can be activated by jumping but, preferably, should be activated by the ground pound of a baby-carrying dinosaur, for much faster passage across the secret area's skies which may lead to the only duplicate ending in the entire adventure. This is another plan I will keep to myself for the moment. But, just to tease your curiosity...it involves the Chaos Heart."
"The Chaos Heart, eh? Sounds excitin' to meh!"
"So let me get this straight," recalled Bowser. "We're covered for now. We just need to see if those heroes do anything, and we're fine?"
"That is correct, Bowser."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's plan our celebration! Those heroes got all of the orbs, but we're going to be the masters of the worlds! Yeah!"
"Easy, Bowser. We should not celebrate just yet. The heroes of prophecy have proved time and time again that they are a force to be reckoned with, even if their chances look grim. We must keep an eye on them. Understood?"
"Yeah, got it..."
"Excellent. Is there anything else, minions?"
"Nope, I'm ready," offered Omega and Alpha at the same time.
"You can count on me, Ganter," affirmed Mortcha.
"Good. How about you, Bowser?"
Bowser looked up. "Huh? Oh, I was just thinking..."
"Thinking about what? Do not hesitate to share your feelings, Bowser."
"Well...I was thinking about what you said about the heroes. I mean, I'm glad we're going to rule the universes and everything, but you reminded me that those heroes
are powerful. How do we know we're really going to pull this off?"
"That is a legitimate concern, Bowser, and a well-founded one. The truth is, the heroes are strong. Very strong. But all we must do is watch them. All we must do is make sure they don't go anywhere before they're destroyed by The Void. That isn't too much to think over, is it?"
"No, it isn't, but...there was something else on my mind. I just had the feeling that this is the last time we'll be together like this."
"The last time we'll be together? What do you mean by this?"
"I mean, all of us, being here in this meeting room. It's been pretty fun, aside from being beaten by those wimpy heroes...but I can't shake the thought that it's not going to be around much longer. I really think this is the last meeting we're going to have."
Dimentio thought about this. "Well, I suppose you might be right, Bowser. Once the heroes are gone, we won't have the need to come together in this manner. But that's the only reason we'd stop having these gatherings."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Bowser firmed his chin. "Well, I guess we should go." The former Koopa King flipped out.
"This'll be fun." Mortcha flipped out as well, followed by the two robots.
"Indeed." Dimentio stayed on his platform a few seconds. "Maia, I know you can't hear me, but if there is any way you think you could help the heroes in this situation, I challenge you to do your best.
Try to help them. And watch as the emotion you fought so hard to preserve is erased from the face of all worlds...consumed by the Chaos Heart of your acquaintace." Dimentio vanished.
"...No, Amtakan. That's not why I'm here. You can say that, but that doesn't make it true.
I'm here to stop you once and for all. You've been horribly misguided. And it was all my fault.
I'm here to right my wrong."
"You did what you had to. There is no erasing it now. What you did was not sinful."
"It doesn't matter, Amtakan. I have to do what I and the whole community have wanted for centuries."
"That won't happen, Maia."
"Yes. It will."
"
No. It won't."
"You can say that...but that doesn't make it true..."
"Whatever you do to me, Maia, I will have the same done to you. It is in my magic. You cannot harm me without also harming yourself."
"Then let us be sealed. Both of us.
Sealed in such a manner that no one, save for a legendary hero, could possibly set us free."
"You will not do this, Maia..."
"Yes. If it is the only way to preserve the fate of every world...then I will do it."
A red pipe with a candy cane-colored top emerged near the right edge of Flipside Tower, carrying our heroes. Once they were safely standing on the tower, it sank back into the ground. The group noticed that the pale blue door had become visible. "That blue door..." Tippi mused. "I guess that's if we want to go back to Wretcha's island. Not like I'd want to go back to that place..."
"So I guess we have all of the orbs," noted Luigi. "What do we do now? And those minions need some...medical attention." He glanced at O'Chunks, who was still too weak to talk.
"There must be something we can do about them," firmed Peach. "Maybe Saffron could cook something that would help them feel better? She helped me before."
"Good thought," agreed Mario. "Let's try it. We should consult with Merlon on the way there."
As soon as Mario finished his sentence, the ground began shaking violently. "What's-" Luigi began, but he soon discovered the cause of the earthquake. He looked at the sky, seeing nothing but an enormous Void.
"The Void!" Mimi exclaimed. "It's so huge!"
"We don't have much time!" agreed Mario. "We should go to Saffron's place and wait for Maia's instruction." He headed for the elevator, followed by the others. They rode the elevator down to the second floor of Flipside. Merlon was waiting with them, as usual. "Heroes!" he uttered, taking a step toward them. "...And minions! I'm sure there is an interesting tale to tell here, but spare me the details. You have been gone so long! Our time is short!"
The Void rumbled again. "What can we do?" worried Tippi. "Did Maia tell you anything, Mario?"
"No. She hasn't said anything, yet. Come on, Maia! What do we do?" Mario sighed. "Still no answer..."
"Well, in any case," continued Nastasia, "we need to get to Saffron for something that'll heal us. We became ill out there."
"I highly advise doing that right now. I don't know if she'll be able to get something ready, but I suppose our only option is to try. Leave, heroes! Before The Void swallows us all!" The Void gave another, more powerful rumble.
Our heroes wasted no time. They immediately dashed for the elevator to the left, descending to the first floor as the earthquakes grew ever more intense and frequent.
Maia! What are we supposed to do now? We have the orbs! What did you want us to get them for?! The messenger was as silent as ever. What had happened to her? After the initial "mysterious voice" period, Mario and Maia had drawn closer. They'd almost become friends. But now Maia was refusing to say anything. Why hadn't she told him what to do? Why hadn't she told him anything else, in fact?
The Void expanded to cover the entire sky. "I don't think we're going to make it!" Tippi cried. Our heroes were about to reach Saffron's building, but The Void was gaining. Would this be the second world our heroes experienced the end of?
The Void grew again. The rumbling was deafening now. Citizens panicked in the streets. "It's over! It's over!"
"No..." Mario groaned as the heroes approached the chef's door. The scenery warped as The Void continued to rumble. Fragments of rubble floated about.
"We're...not..." Mimi uttered.
Lightning crackled as The Void began to devour the town. Our heroes were frozen. Their vision blurred. Flipside inverted. A chaotic jumble of sound effects assaulted their ears as their vision became distorted even further. Crash...shatter...scream. They could see nothing. It was over.
"MAIA!!!"
Then, silence.
Why...
What...
Where...
How...
Why won't you tell me...
Maia...
Mario opened his eyes.
He saw nothing. Rising to pull his body off the ground, he still recieved no visual input. Pure, white, emotionless nothing.
"Where are we?" Mimi's voice echoed behind Mario. He turned to see the other heroes, struggling to stand up as well. "What happened?" the shape-shifter continued. She moved her head in all different directions, still observing nothing but white.
"I don't really know what happened," began Mario, waiting for the others to focus their attention. "But, based on what I saw after Sammer's Kingdom was destroyed...it looks like we're still in Flipside. It was destroyed by the Chaos Heart, and now there's nothing left."
"Whoa..." Nastasia gathered herself, surveying the area like the others had done. "So how did we end up here? Shouldn't we have been...destroyed? By the Chaos Heart? It looks like everyone else is gone..."
Mario paused. "I don't know why we're here. But there must be some reason..."
"There might still be
something left," offered Tippi. "The Pure Heart survived the destruction of Sammer's Kingdom, so maybe we can find the Pure Hearts that were still in the Heart Pillars. I don't think that will help us, but...I don't know what else we could do..."
"We might as well look for them," agreed Luigi. "Let's go."
Our heroes walked ahead, the featureless scenery providing no sense of movement whatsoever. Eventually, a small black outline caught our heroes' eye. Upon closer examination, it appeared to be part of the Flipside Tower elevator door. "That's...the elevator..." breathed Tippi, looking at it more closely.
"Oh, what's that?" the princess pointed. Peach walked a bit further, examining the dead outline of a broken pillar. "I think there's something here..." She reached behind the pillar and withdrew a solid, heart-shaped stone.
"A Pure Heart!" Tippi moved toward Peach. "Yes, it seems to be deactivated..." She felt for the stone. "No, just as I expected...there's no power coming out of this Pure Heart. It won't be of any use to us."
"We have to try something, though," offered Mimi. "Let's take this one and see if we can find more."
"You think
that's going to happen? Not on our watch."
"What?!" Mimi looked around. "Who was that?"
A thin line was drawn before our heroes, spinning into a crackling show of electricity and ending with a sound wave that revealed H-X Alpha and B-A Omega. "That was US, mind you," answered the smaller robot. "YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT, FOO?"
"Oh, it's
you guys. What do you want this time, huh?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, we're not exactly sure," replied Omega. "According to Dimentio, you guys should be dead. He didn't save you or anything like he did last time. You should've been destroyed along with Flipside."
"That's what we thought," responded Nastasia. "You don't have any idea, either? So then tell us what you're here for."
"Dimentio told us to keep an eye on you guys in case you pulled anything. It looks like you did, even if you don't know how it happened. So we're here to put a stop to that."
"Oh, BOY!" rejoiced Alpha. "This is the good part, RIGHT?"
"It certainly is, Alpha. Heroes, we've been working on this new transformation ever since you beat us the last time. Now, the odds truly are in
our favor. Activate transformation sequence!" The smaller robot hovered to rest on Omega's mechanical head. Four beams of steel extended from Omega's body, forming a sort of "X" pattern that linked the two robots into a single unit as four identical pieces of sparking metal appeared around the pair, orbiting the minions at evenly spaced intervals and forming a protective barrier around them. "Yeah, how do you like our new transformation, heroes? We're hooked up, ready to combine our power and give you heroes the technological beat-down of your lives."
"We can take you both," assured Mario. "We've done it three times before!"
"So sure about that, hero?" mocked Omega. "Maybe your ever-so-complicated emotional stress will get to you. It's too bad you didn't let Amtakan carry on with his plan, huh? In any case, heroes, taste your defeat!"
"Yeah, taste it, or we'll shove it down your throat FOR ya!"
MINIBOSS
H-X Alpha and B-A Omega
The combined robots hovered above our heroes, aiming their robotic appendages downward in a spreading pattern. Our heroes knew enough to get out of the way as they fired a torrent of laser shots downward, but the robots changed the position of their arms to match our heroes' movement, nailing them a few times. "How do you like our new, more compact homing lasers?" dared Omega. "They're nice and compact and portable. Just increases our chances a bit more, doesn't it?"
"We can't let them spew out this logic nonsense while we get hammered," complained Mimi. "Come on! See if you can avoid
this." She carefully aimed a triple Rubee attack between the rotating obstacles, hitting the robots while they were distracted.
"Ouch! That annoying freak again. See how you like this!" Omega pulled a shuriken from his left hand, rotating it while still attached, and sent it flying for Mimi. She swerved to the side, dodging more shurikens, while Nastasia collected the weapons and tossed them back at the minions, damaging them further.
"We cannot stand for this," intoned Alpha. "These interlopers must feel the full force of the law,
im-mediately!" The small robot suddenly shot a jet of flame in Nastasia's direction. It sideswiped her, doing a decent amount of damage.
"I'll get them!" Luigi stood below the combined robots and readied his Super Jump, only to be assaulted by another laser. While Mario rushed to his brother's aid, Omega produced a row of knives from his left arm, aiming them for the main hero.
"Aaahh!" Mario threw his feet in the air and flipped over the weapons, landing at Luigi's side. He pulled Luigi out of the way before they would be fried by yet another laser.
"You wanna piece o' this? Huh?" Alpha jeered as thin metal bars extended from the robots that produced larger shurikens at the ends. The robots hovered through the air, eventually stopping and rotating sideways, surrounding themselves with the rotating shurikens in addition to the sparking metal. They suddenly extended the beams the shurikens were attached to, greatly extending the range of their attack.
"Jump!" Mario cautioned as he watched the others narrowly avoid the whirling shurikens. After a few seconds, H-X Alpha and B-A Omega slowed their rotation, withdrawing the shurikens. They gave our heroes no rest, however, immediately firing more homing laser shots.
"We can't keep fighting them like this," exhaled Luigi. "We're already injured. We have to find some way to damage them good."
"Waagh!" Mimi, struck by a laser, flew toward Mario and Luigi. "My Rubees have been pretty effective, I think. I'll just try to hit them." The minion leaped into the air and fired a Rubee at Alpha, but one of the rotating mines intercepted it, sending it ricocheting harmlessly away.
"Yeah, you like our new rotational defense units, don't you?" taunted the larger robot. "Almost anything you can throw at us is completely ineffective. Coming from any direction, your attacks only have a 23.7265% chance of hitting us, so why even bother?" Omega threw another row of shurikens.
"Run! We've got to figure something out!" Mario dodged the incoming shurikens as the others formed into a group. "I think we should attack them from all sides. Mimi and the other minions should go on one side and attack them with Rubees and whatever else you can do. The rest of us will attack from the other side with jumps. Sound good?"
"It's risky," admitted Nastasia, "but it...cough...just might work. Let's-"
"IMMA CHARGIN' MAH LAZER!" A teal sphere formed around H-X Alpha as he gathered large amounts of energy.
"Dodge this first!" shouted Mario as Alpha blasted a hyper-concentrated, wide-sweeping laser. All of our heroes except O'Chunks managed to get away in time.
"O'Chunks!" hurried Nastasia.
"Come on!" urged Luigi. "We have to stick to the plan!"
"A plan, eh?" Omega asked as the robots drew closer to our heroes. "Whatever it is, it's not going to succeed on our watch." He pulled more knives out and sent them straight for O'Chunks.
"NO!" Nastasia moved to pull O'Chunks out of the way, but the burly minion was surprisingly agile for his health. He leaped over the projectiles and rushed for the robot minions.
"Now! Let's move!" Mario rushed Luigi and Peach to the other side of Alpha and Omega while the minions stayed put, attacking them with Rubees and tossed-back shurikens. The robot's position in the air had lowered, so Mario, Luigi, and Peach were able to get several decent shots in while the minions also pummeled them.
"Darn it! We're being hurt," exclaimed the larger robot. "Let's shake things up." The two minions repeated the metal-bar-shuriken attack they had used earlier, except this time with four of the weapons. Our heroes cleared the area as the shurikens flew in circles around Alpha and Omega.
"Now!" Just as the robots withdrew their shurikens, Mimi hammered them again with a Rubee assault.
"That's NO good!" H-X Alpha stated.
"Right, Alpha. We have to make sure these outliers aren't expressed." H-X Alpha and B-A Omega descended to the ground and extended sharp, needly points, from their appendages, spinning around and traveling on the ground faster than before. It was very difficult to avoid being hit by their frenzied motions.
"Ow!" Peach was thrown back by the minions' spinning attack. "Mario! Can you do anything?"
"I'll flip and see what I can do!" Mario flipped into three dimensions, providing a better vantage point to dodge and attack. He hit the combined robots with his hammer a few times before they stopped rotating. Mario flipped back into 2D to avoid Flip Meter damage in time to be assaulted by another laser.
"Feeling so high and mighty now?" Omega sent a row of flaming shurikens for Mario.
The hero ducked the maneuver and rolled back onto his feet. "Get them!"
Alpha and Omega didn't have time to turn around before they were carefully nailed through the rotating barriers by Rubees and every other attack our heroes knew. "Gah! This is a
major outlier!" Omega rushed for the others, hitting them with shurikens and flames.
"We're both almost down!" reported Luigi. "We have to do something to even the odds. These guys will destroy us if we don't do something fast."
"Hmm..." Mario frustratingly thought. How could they make sure to claim victory in the end? As he watched the robots aiming their attacks at the others, a thought suddenly recurred in his head.
Their vision! "Mimi! Go for Omega's eyes!"
"Yeah!" Mimi diverted the robots' attention, and while they began firing lasers for her, sent a well-placed Rubee at Omega's faceplate.
"Gah!" The robot's "eyes" had been broken again, leaving wires and mechanisms hanging from the damaged hole. "Why didn't we think of something to protect our visual input after they did this
last time?"
"Whatever," offered H-X Alpha. "Let's just, like, you know, get this freak, and then, whatever, I don't know, let's get a pizza, or something. Whatever." Alpha steered the pair in Mimi's direction.
"Wait!" countered B-A Omega. "Wasn't she over here?" He pointed to Mimi's left.
"No, she's-"
"She was right there!" Alpha and Omega struggled over control of their combined unit, not able to seperate themselves.
"Yeah, I'm right here!" Mimi teased from another new direction. "How do you like that?" After yet more Rubees, Mario went in for the final hit and nailed both robots with a slow-motion sweep kick.
"What...NO!!" Alpha and Omega crashed to the ground, damaged heavily. "
How is this possible?" continued Omega. "We had
even better weapons than last time! And emotion working on our side! And STILL the outlier came into play! HOW?!"
Luigi moved toward the two robots. "You know, maybe you'd have more incentive to improve if you didn't dismiss our chances just because they don't
look good 'cause of all your random number crunching."
"Oh, don't give them ideas, Luigi." Mario grinned.
Alpha sighed. "I ju5t...h0p3...D1M3NT10 c4n b34t th3m n0W."
"Yeah, don't worry," assured B-A Omega. "He will. And
she won't be able to do anything about
that."
"What are you talking about now?" demanded Tippi. "Tell us, what do you know about Maia?"
Omega righted himself. "We know that she's been helping you, and that's all we
need to know in order to know we have to fight her influence at any possible opportunity. Her tactics are strong...but pure logic and technology will overcome her! You haven't seen the last of us, heroes. Mark my words. We'll be back!" H-X Alpha and B-A Omega flipped out.
"Maia..." uttered Mario again.
"Well, we beat them," exhaled Tippi. "For the fourth time. They're really persistent on this whole 'probability' thing, aren't they?"
"Yes," agreed Nastasia. "Well...we need to rest up somehow. We were injured to begin with."
"What can we do, though...?" sobbed Mimi. "We're stuck in this Void-place, and there's nothing here. No inns or shops or anything. Just this...cough...broken Pure Heart..." She looked at the heart stone that still lie on the ground beside them. Our heroes could tell she was close to crying.
"Well, we can't just sit here," firmed Mario, although he too was distressed. "We have to...do something..."
"But what?" asked Peach. The tone in our heroes' voices gave away their inner feelings: They had lost all hope.
Nastasia looked at the ground. "No..." She hacked again, unable to speak for a few seconds. "This..." She wheezed, out of breath.
Silence. Mario was stuck. He just couldn't move. Where could our heroes possibly go? What could they do without Maia's guidance? Had she finally abandoned them?
A sound pulse extended from a point in mid-air. A fairy-like creature materialized, the lavender-clothed entity our heroes knew as Novelle. "I'm sorry if it just seems like I'm adding to the pain, heroes." She produced her wand and waved it through the air, drawing large, glowing yellow boxes that enclosed all of our heroes.
"W...what?" breathed Peach, lacking the voice to say much more. "What are you doing?"
"It will be fine. I promise." Novelle moved her staff again. Giant explosions appeared within the boxes, consuming our heroes in a torrent of flames. They were silent as the raging fire enveloped them. Finally, the explosions dissipated. Our heroes were gone. "It's fine. I know they'll-" Novelle disappeared without finishing her sentence.
Mario opened his eyes yet again. Instead of the featureless expanse of the Void-consumed Flipside, he awoke to a dim, murky environment. He stood up, sensing his boots settling among soggy grass and weeds. A canopy of ominous, polygonal bushes and trees shadowed him from above, dark blue and green plant forms that only added to the creepy vibe. Off in the dim purple sky, green shapes occasionally fell from above like shooting stars. Mario snapped his eyes open. He looked back, checking if the others were still with him. The other five, plus Tippi, were thankfully sitting behind him.
"Where are we
now?" Nastasia examined her surroundings.
"Um..." Mario contemplated how to place his words. "Well, it's..."
"WELL, HI!" Startled, our heroes turned toward the voice. A strange creature made entirely of white outlines approached them. "So tell me, first time down here in th...wait a minute. Haven't I seen you before?"
"Yes, I suppose you have. We were down here before."
"This is The Underwhere, right?" confirmed Luigi.
"Yep, that's the place. Well, I guess if this isn't your first time here, I don't need to explain anything, although, seriously, no one ever comes here twice. Anyway, yeah, if you want to go to The Overthere, see Queen Jaydes, yadda yadda yadda."
"Mario?" Mimi whimpered. "So this is that...Underwhere place?"
The hero turned toward the others, noting the minions' worried expressions. "Yes. This is where we go when our games are over. If our sins are light enough, we could enter The Overthere. Otherwise, we'd stay here, like these Shaydes."
"Our...games are over?" stammered Nastasia. "So...we're...we're..."
"No...I wouldn't say we're dead. We just got sent here, like Dimentio did before. I think that's what happened, anyway. Novelle did the same thing."
"Novelle..." Tippi repeated the name. "Who IS she? I know that couldn't have been Morris. And I don't think Wretcha would do something like that..."
"Wretcha would've outright killed us," Luigi pointed out.
"Well, wait. How do we know we're not...actually dead? I don't think it's likely, but Novelle
could have actually ended our games."
"Well, there's only one way to find that out. Let's see Queen Jaydes. I know the way there."
"Sounds fine," agreed Nastasia. After looking ahead through the sinister, foggy Underwhere, the minion trudged after the others.
After a few yards, Mario pointed out a large, glowing fountain that spilled a stream of creepy orange water into the air. "Oh! I forgot about this. This fountain can cure any injury if you step into it."
"It can cure injuries?" Mimi warily examined the sick-orange liquid. "Oh...can it cure diseases, too?"
"I reckon it can cure anything that's wrong with you," replied a nearby Shayde. "Why not give it a shot? You've got nothing to lose."
"Um, OK." Mimi, Nastasia, and O'Chunks carefully jumped into the fountain, allowing the liquid to bathe them.
"I can feel something," reported Nastasia. "Like, like, a..."
"Like a tinglin' feelin'?" asked O'Chunks.
"O'Chunks!" exclaimed Nastasia. "You can speak!"
"'Ey, sure I can! Who says a wee germ can get the best o' O'Chunks?"
"It worked!" Mimi exclaimed, facing the other heroes with her normal skin tone and pink cheek highlights. "You guys need some healing too, don't you?"
"Yeah, after that battle and everything..." Luigi dipped into the fountain, followed by Mario and Peach.
Our heroes had been completely revitalized. "Whew." Mario stepped out of the fountain. "Now to the queen."
The three original heroes led the minions into an area lousy with pits, spike traps, pipes, and hostile creatures. Dry Bones and Lava Bubbles inhabited this area, but since the heroes were well versed in avoiding obstacles by now, they managed to reach the end of this area with little trouble. A wide, sickly purple river greeted them on the other side. "That's the river Twygz," observed Mario. He paid the fare of five coins for Charold to ferry our heroes across on his wooden boat. Our heroes reached the other side, nearing Jaydes' palace.
The dull gray, gothic-esque palace was not an uplifting sight. After passing some D-Man workers and a Shayde or two, our heroes approached the Queen, dressed in dark purple with an unsettling complexion. "Ah, who have we here? The heroes who saved The Overthere?"
"Yes, it's us," answered Mario. "But, we think we might have been sent here again without our games actually ending."
"Is that so? Let me check..." Jaydes felt for the energy inside our heroes. "Yes, you're all definitely alive." Our heroes breathed an internal sigh of relief. "I'd offer to send you back to your world, but there must be a reason you were sent to The Underwhere again. Perhaps having to do with The Void that hangs above the skies of The Overthere..."
"A person called Dimentio was here a while ago, wasn't he?" asked Luigi. "He tried to destroy all worlds?"
"Yes! And he escaped! He compulsed me with some sort of mind-control power."
"Yep, that's what he told us. He's been wrecking havoc ever since then. We've been receiving instructions through Mario's mind through a person who calls herself Maia. We had to collect these five orbs to stop Dimentio. Once we had them all, this fairy called Novelle sent us here, and...yeah..."
"Intriguing. Hmm...I don't recognize you three." She motioned to the minions. "What are your names?"
"I'm Nastasia," the secretary answered, "and that's O'Chunks, and that's Mimi."
"I see. What about the Pixl? Your name was Tippi, wasn't it?"
"Yes, but it's really Timpani, if that's what you want."
"Timpani...?" Jaydes narrowed her eyes for a moment, then abruptly perked up. "Oh. There was a person who arrived here a while ago without his game ending, too. He said that he was probably being hunted after, so I've allowed him to stay inside the palace near the entrance to the Underwhere Road. I think I remember him mentioning the name 'Timpani' once or twice..."
Tippi was silent. "He...mentioned...Timpani?"
"Yes. He's resting just beyond this door, if you're at all interested."
Tippi hovered in place for a few seconds, then reverted to Timpani and rushed for the door. As she yanked it open, our heroes sped past the Queen to keep up, following Timpani through the door. They emerged inside the palace, observing a lone figure standing in the middle of the hallway. "T...Timpani?
Timpani!"
"BLUMIERE!" Timpani wasted no time in rushing to her husband's side and enclosing him in a loving embrace. "Oh, Blumiere! You're alive! I knew it! I just knew it!"
Blumiere smiled. "Yes, I'm certainly alive, Timpani. And in good shape."
Timpani's smile also widened as she stepped away from the former Count Bleck. "What happened? Did you arrive here after Dimentio...'killed' you?"
"I did. The fountain at the entrance healed my body, and after I consulted with Jaydes, I learned that my game wasn't over. I thought someone must have saved my life, so I figured Dimentio might be hunting me. Jaydes let me stay hidden inside this palace. I know I can cancel Peach and Bowser's union, and thus deactivate the Chaos Heart, but there must be more at play here than I realize. Do you know anything about the situation, heroes?"
"Yeah," answered Luigi, "we've been through quite a lot since then." Luigi began by describing Hyper Dimentio's transformation immediately after Blumiere's disappearance. Blumiere listened closely as our heroes joined in describing everything they'd experienced since then.
"I see. Then this 'Maia' must have saved me. You don't know anything about her?"
"No, we still don't know any of that," replied Timpani. She grinned again. "But I'm just happy you're alive."
"And I'm happy you're with me. We were together for such a short time...and then Dimentio took me away. I was under his control until the heroes finally confronted Dimentio. And then, the shorter still time I had with you..." Blumiere trailed off. "It was heaven. Just being with you after learning I'd worked for that madman. And then this. We were separated again."
"And now we're together, again." Timpani's smile grew. "We finally get to be together for the first time since back
then. Oh, but Dimentio's real name is Ganter, isn't it?"
Blumiere's eyes dropped. "I'm not going to treat that villain as my father. If Dimentio is his new name, then so be it. I will never, ever call him Ganter again."
"That's probably the best thing to do, Blumiere. I didn't like to think that he was your father, either."
"So, you heroes are here now..." Blumiere thought. "Is there anything we can do now? Bowser is with Dimentio now."
A sinister voice appeared in the room. "Ah ha ha ha ha. Yes, Bowser's on my side now. You thought you wouldn't have to deal with me anymore after you destroyed our dimension, didn't you?" Dimentio appeared in the room besides the group, the former Koopa King soon following.
"Dimentio!" shouted Blumiere.
"Ah ha ha. Now the child scolds his father. If anyone, I should be accusing you, my rebellious son. You are the reason the Tribe of Darkness wasn't able to carry out with its plan to conquer all worlds."
"
Dimentio," Blumiere firmed, "spare me all the stupid Tribe of Darkness talk. We know that isn't the whole story. You were working with someone called Amtakan the whole time, weren't you?"
"Indeed, I was. Amtakan was behind the scenes, working with the Tribe of Darkness. But you have no place to know what Amtakan's true intentions were. You would have learned everything had you followed the correct path and eventually become king, but it is too late for that now. It is too late, like a mother with three screaming babies in her arms who also had to carry a forty-pound suitcase that slowed her down to the point where she was unable to reach her airplane in time and as such, wasn't able to receive a crucial clue that could've stopped a city from being destroyed by a hyper-concentrated beam of energy."
"Go away, Dimentio," demanded Timpani. "You have no right to be here with us."
"Oh? So sure, Timpani? I have every right to be here with my rebellious son. Every right to show you heroes the true end of your games. After you beat Alpha and Omega again, I saw
her sending you away in an explosion of fire, and then I realized that you must have been hidden in the very last place I would look: The Underwhere. So I waited for the heroes to meet up with you, and now, I've brought Bowser here for the final extermination of you all. The Tribe of Darkness will finally carry out its plan, despite the efforts of a certain meddling magician."
"And how will you do that?" demanded Nastasia.
"Ah ha ha. You will see, heroes. Soon enough. If you can reach The Overthere, that is. Because first, I'd like you all to entertain me."
Mortcha flipped in next to Bowser. "Ready for some fun, heroes?"
"I'm sure they are, Mortcha. In any case, Bowser and I will be waiting in The Overthere while Mortcha will be attempting to stop you heroes at every turn. If you can make it to the top of the Overthere Stair, we'll have a special surprise waiting for you. Ready, heroes? On your marks, get set...go!" Dimentio and Bowser disappeared.
MINIBOSS
Mortcha
Mortcha initiated Morris's spider transformation. After Timpani changed back into Tippi, this gave our heroes a head start to begin climbing the Underwhere Road, but the possesed shape-shifter soon caught up with them. "Gee, this feels really weird. And kind of exciting. It'll be fun nailing you heroes into next week." Mortcha attached herself to the right wall of the dim vertical chamber and fired a volley of blue stones into the darkness.
"We ain't able to see in 'ere!" exclaimed O'Chunks.
"Oh!" Mimi transformed into Bowser and unleashed Bowser's hot breath on one of the candleholders, lighting the lamp and illuminating the passage. Our heroes could see where they were going as Mortcha assaulted them with everything she had.
"Take this!" Mortcha began her spinning stone attack. Her head careened toward the heroes, slamming into a few of them and ricocheting off nearby walls.
"Come on!" exclaimed Mario. "The first Dorguy is just above us." The heroes jumped to a ledge on the left wall and dashed through the hall, coming to the Dorguy at the end. "No time to chat," hurried Mario. "Just let us through!" Dorguy the First obeyed, opening to allow the heroes inside. After passing through another short chamber, they emerged in another tall vertical passage, only for Mortcha to appear again once Mimi had lit another torch. This chamber contained a long upward segment consisting of nothing but alternating left-and-right platforms, providing little room for error as our heroes dodged the spider's projectiles. Mortcha eventually created a row of stones that waved vertically along our heroes' path. Jumping would send them flying off the edge. They had no choice other than to stay as close to the center as they could and allow the stones to hit them.
"Are you having fun yet, heroes?" Our heroes soon reached Dorguy the Second. Mario again allowed the others to pass. They eventually reached an outside area far above the rest of The Underwhere. Spiky Tromps rolled down the dark staircases, creating large obstacles for our heroes.
"Get to that platform!" Mario pointed at a small platform that stuck from one of the staircases. Our heroes crowded onto it, waiting for a Spiky Tromp to pass as Mortcha approached them with her spinning, weapon-covered head. Our heroes jumped the attack, landing awkwardly down on the staircase. "Run!"
Mario and the others made a mad dash for the other side, but another Tromp landed in front of O'Chunks before he could make it onto the platform, trapping him between the rolling enemy and Mortcha. "I've got you now."
"Halt!" Blumiere rushed toward the pair and rose his staff, producing an energy blast that knocked Mortcha back. This allowed the minion to jump back onto the platform, avoiding the Spiky Tromp and coming back to reach the others. "I guess I still have it in me."
Blumiere hurried back to the others, joining their approach to Dorguy the Third. "We're almost to the Overthere Stair," announced Mario as he pushed the Dorguy aside. Our heroes emerged in a small room lit by light beams from above. After a few more platforms, they abruptly broke into a realm of sky and light. This was the Overthere Stair, marred only by the ever-present Void.
"Rats!" Mortcha complained. "This place isn't as cramped, so you guys will be harder to hit. Oh, well. I'll just keep one step ahead of you." As our heroes scrambled to the nearest cloud, Mortcha extended her leg to a nearby cloud above them and pulled herself up to it, blocking their upward progress.
"Not for long!" Luigi Super Jumped upward, ramming into Mortcha from below. This temporarily froze her, giving our heroes an opportunity to climb further. This process continued for a while, our heroes finding new ways to get around the giant spider, until the group was confronted with a pair of platforms to travel further up upon.
"What are you going to do now?" Mortcha attached herself to the nearest platform, surrounding her head with blue stones.
"Wait." Mario held his hand behind him, signaling for the others to stop. As Mortcha spun toward them, our heroes jumped, waiting for the platform to fall again. They rode it upward, catching the second platform as it began carrying them further upward.
"Darn it! How do you heroes do it?" Mortcha unleashed one of the giant crystal-like stones, sending it sailing upward for our heroes. It landed between Mario and Peach, blocking our heroes' route to the next cloud.
"Let me take care of this." Blumiere shattered the stone with his staff, sending bits and pieces falling down toward Mortcha.
"Aaagh! No!"
"We're almost there," rejoiced Peach. "We just have to make sure she doesn't pull anything now!"
"Let's bounce on Cyrus," offered Mario. The giant cloud was right before them. Our heroes leaped onto the cloud, careening into the air and landing just to the left of the Overthere entrance.
"Hold up, heroes." Mortcha appeared to our heroes' right, blocking the entrance to The Overthere. "You aren't entering The Overthere as long as I'm here to say something about it."
"Then let's fix that." Luigi jumped upon Mortcha's head while Mario swung his hammer from below, knocking one of the spider's legs out. While Mortcha aimed more blue stones for them, Mimi attacked her with Rubees.
"Ouch! All right, let's stop playing around. Morris had more powers than this, didn't he?" Mortcha extended a thin white line from her head, flipping another head in at the line's end. "Ah, that's nice. A duplicate head. Nice and scary and convenient."
"It's a good thing she doesn't know what other powers he had!" Peach assaulted the second head, using her parasol as a weapon from below, opening a chance for O'Chunks and Nastasia to attack her main unit, getting rid of two more legs. "We know how to fight giant spiders like the backs of our hands now."
"Grr! Take this!" The possesed spider extended six heads in a hexagonal shape, releasing blue stones with all of them. As the other heroes were hit, Mimi threw a Rubee at a torrent of stones, sending them back in the direction of the heads. Three of them were wiped out. The reformed minion then went for Mortcha's main head while the others destroyed her duplicate heads again. The witch was down to two legs.
"Hurry! Over here!" Blumiere called. "I'll give her my energy attack, and while she's distracted, whale on her from behind!" Blumiere rushed to the other side of Mortcha, sending out waves of energy with his staff. The other heroes approached Mortcha from behind, according to plan, and hit her with everything they had. Mortcha's last two legs were gone.
"No!" Mortcha collapsed to the ground, reverting to her standard form.
"Run for it!" Mario ran in the direction of The Overthere.
"There he is! There's Dimentio!" Luigi pointed. Dimentio and Bowser were standing atop a lone cloud in the middle of The Overthere.
"We have to see what he's up to." Peach floated to the platform on her parasol, meeting Dimentio face-to-face along with the others.
"Ah ha ha. So you heroes did manage to make it up here, even with Mortcha on your trail. I am impressed."
"It's not really that impressive," countered Luigi, "once you consider we've beaten Morris like, five times over."
"Oh, so what?" Mortcha landed on the cloud beside them. "Just because I'm in Morris's body doesn't make me any more vulnerable."
"I'm sorry, Mortcha," began Dimentio, "but I have to give the heroes credit on that one. You truly don't know how to use Morris's body. Did it even occur to you that you could extend a row of duplicate heads from your main head after your defeat, and ready yourself to extend a whole new pair of six legs?"
Mortcha stared. "What? I could? Why didn't you tell me that?"
"If you couldn't figure that out yourself, I guess you're not so competent after all."
"Well, just give me another chance! Just..." Mortcha trailed off, then scowled. "Oh. I see where
you're coming from, not showing me any love."
"You even use love as an excuse for me to pardon your incompetence. No strong minion would lower themself to the point of invoking that weakest of all emotions."
"Weakest?" Blumiere looked angrily at Dimentio. "I and you both know from personal experience that love is one of the strongest forces in existence."
Dimentio regarded his son. "Ah ha ha ha. Yes, love can cause much. It can solidify the relationship of a treasuring couple, or form the motivation behind a madman's plot to destroy the universe. But love itself is not powerful. It is merely taken out of context."
"If that's what you want to think, then fine. Go ahead. But you're just deluding yourself."
"Now is not the time for debate, my worthless son. We have some urgent business to take care of." The jester turned to Bowser. "Ready, Bowser?"
"Yeah, I'm ready! This is going to be awesome!"
"What are you doing?" wondered Nastasia.
"We're going to end your games once and for all. Now hold still, Bowser." Dimentio held his hands out, calling the Chaos Heart into the area. "With the power of the Chaos Heart...and of the magical device that made you so powerful...and my own...I will annihilate these heroes!" The Chaos Heart repeated the procedure Dimentio had used to form his Super and Hyper versions, producing two bright flashes. More beams of gray energy extended from the artifact, and the area began shaking with an earthquake similar to the already-existing ones produced by The Void. The white outline of Dimentio's characteristic purple-and-yellow jester skirt materialized in the air, colored once the structure had been fully drawn. Large claws similar to Bowser's were drawn in the air and colored a pure black while being connected to the body by chains, and Bowser's feet appeared in a similar design. Finally, a black-and-white version of Bowser's head appeared on the top, only the polygonal red hair on the Koopa King's head featuring any color. The giant Bowser-clown fell to the ground with a deafening thud.
"It's...Bowser!" breathed Mario, involuntarily leaning away from the monster.
"Yes, heroes. Now I'll take control of this vessel like I did with poor Luigi, and your fates will all be sealed. Sealed, like the secrets you heroes strive so hard to learn, the secrets that were kept by Amtakan and the Tribe of Darkness, known only to a select few, and-"
A square box was interruptingly drawn around the giant Bowser. Dimentio turned around. "What? What is this?" As he finished speaking, the box shattered. Bowser was still intact, but he seemed different from before.
"W...what? Dimentio? What's going on?" Bowser looked around. "Aren't we supposed to be in some sort of barren plain? And you're going to help me take over all worlds?" Bowser moved his head and arms, glancing at their new forms. "Whoa! What happened to me?"
Dimentio eyed Bowser curiously. "You're helping me destroy the heroes, Bowser. That's what I just told you."
"You didn't tell me anything. And how'd I get like this? Oh, you fused me with the Chaos Heart, didn't you?"
"Bowser! He's been released from my hypnosis! How did this happen?"
Our heroes watched the show, standing as silent observers.
"Hypnosis?" Bowser roared. "You hypnotized me?! Is THAT what happened? You go all out and say you're going to respect the Koopa King and what he wants to do, and than you hypnotize me? To get all what YOU want? Well, not for long, Mr. Comedy. Take THIS!" Bowser roared and expelled a torrent of fire straight at Dimentio. He held his fire for several seconds, not releasing until he was certain Dimentio had been fried for good.
The jester stood, flames enveloping his body, with an expressionless face. He said nothing.
"Yeah, how do you like that, Dimentio?"
Dimentio continued to stand. The fire had begun to eat away at his extravagant jester's hat, as well as his mask. As the jester still remained, motionless and speechless, the flames slowly transformed his face, warping it into a twisted deformation of its previous self. Finally, he spoke, a weak and gravelly tone. "Maia...you will lose. Love...will cease to exist. Amtakan...will succeed. No matter what you do...no matter what you call yourself...you will fail." Dimentio continued to deteriorate, melting into a hideous jumble of smoldering body parts. Finally, these sank into ashes that fell from the Overthere cloud and down through the vast sky.
Mortcha continued to stare. She was speechless. Our heroes held various expressions, also silent.
"And don't think I've forgotten you heroes," Bowser boomed, breaking the encompassing silence. "I'm going to make you pay for how you treated me. Feel the wrath of the new and improved Bowser!"
BOSS
Hyper Bowser
Bowser began by aiming a fiery jet for our heroes as well. As they stepped backward, the Koopa King rose his gigantic foot, bringing it down directly above our heroes. "Wah!" Luigi struggled under Bowser's iron foothold.
"Bwa ha ha ha! You heroes are no match for the new me!" The monster rose his far hand. Its palm glowed, sending out a laser that aimed for Luigi. The green plumber ducked under the blast, finally breaking himself free from Bowser's foot. He rushed to the Bowser-clown's body and attempted to Super Jump it from below, but Hyper Bowser's hand caught Luigi and shoved him toward the ground.
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Tippi. "I don't think we can hurt him! He's being shielded by the Chaos Heart, but we can't use the Pure Hearts to break his shield. They've been deactivated!"
"Wait a second." Luigi approached Hyper Bowser's body and carefully jumped onto it. His attack hit. "Just as I thought! I didn't see the glowing shield."
"AAGH!!" Bowser recoiled. "How can you hit me? I thought the Chaos Heart's supposed to make me invincible!" He lessened the force on his foot, allowing the other heroes to escape.
"I think the shield was broken when Bowser's hypnosis was released," explained Mario. "So whoever broke Dimentio's mind-grip on Bowser...they must have also countered the Chaos Heart's protective powers!"
"Maia?" asked Luigi, making a questioning gesture next to his brother.
"Maia..." Mario thought. Maia hadn't spoken to him since their return from the Dimension of Refuge. But perhaps she needed to save her energy in order to perform something as powerful as this? How did she know this would happen?
"Whoever 'Maia' is," dismissed Bowser. "Come on and get some!" He fired two identical lasers from his eyes that spread in different directions.
"C...Bluimere," urged Nastasia. "See if you can get in there and give him all you have! What powers do you still have?"
"I'm not entirely sure. I know I can't make the miniature Voids anymore. I think I can still do the energy charge. Let me try." Blumiere waited for an opening between Hyper Bowser's lasers, then rammed for the clown's body with everything he had.
"GRAHH!" Bowser took a few steps backwards. "I'll crush you all!" He rose into the air, performing a maneuver similar to Super and Hyper Dimentio's air attack. This cloud platform, though, was smaller than Castle Dimentio's meeting room, allowing less space for our heroes to avoid the eventual crash-landing.
An earthquake rumbled, but Hyper Bowser hadn't come down yet. Our heroes glanced briefly in the direction of The Void. "It's getting bigger here, too!" reported Mimi. "We have to beat him fast!"
"And then I can separate him and Peach, and stop this menace!" Blumiere moved to the side to avoid Hyper Bowser's massive body as he crashed onto the cloud with a thud. "Let's split up, heroes. I'll take command of the minions!"
"Yeah!" O'Chunks cheered. "Jus' like ol' times!"
"We'll destract him." Mario rushed away from Blumiere, Luigi and Peach in tow. He jumped onto Bowser's hand, bouncing off the massive claw and nailing his head with a ground pound.
"Is that all you can do, Mario? Come on, let's see some of the stuff you use when you break into my castle all the time! I dare you!" The Koopa King streamed fire toward Mario, who flipped in mid-air to dodge the attack and landed headfirst in the cloud below.
While Mario recovered, Blumiere readied the minions. "O'Chunks, let's see a...flatulent bomber. Mimi, give him a Rubee wave. And Nastasia...just give him all you've got!"
"Got it! HAIL BLUMIERE!" Mimi gave her former master a grin before turning toward Hyper Bowser's body and producing a swarm of Rubees that hit the villain like a cloud of tiny bees.
"Gah! Get these annoying things off me!" Bowser looked downward, seeing Mario next to Mimi. He attacked them both with a laser from his mouth. Mimi avoided the shot in time, but Mario was hit squarely.
"Mario!" Peach rushed to her lover's side. "Are you OK?"
"Go back over there, Peach! Luigi can't hold the fort alone!"
"Are you sure? I-"
"Do it! I'll be there in a second!"
As Peach returned to Luigi's side, O'Chunks came down on Hyper Bowser's head. He landed down on the platform. "That's a taste o' O'Chunks for yeh!"
"You little fart! I'll get you!" The villain leaped a short distance into the air and dropped directly onto the minion's head.
"Agh! I'm chunked!"
"Get off him, you big meanie!" Mimi rose to Hyper Bowser's body level and threw an assembly line of Rubees at his head.
"GRAH!" Bowser fell off O'Chunks. "I'll get you ALL!" He moved to the left side of the arena, toward Mario, Luigi, and Peach, extended his arms, geared up for a punch, and rotated to the right, spinning his clenched claws in circles. He smacked Blumiere away and hit several others.
"Whoaaaa!" Luigi lost his balance after being slammed by Hyper Bowser's hand and was pushed away from the platform, hanging onto the cloud with both hands.
"I'm coming, Luigi!" Mario rushed to his younger brother's aid and grabbed both of his hands. Bowser, finished with the spinning punch attack, saw this opportunity and aimed his hot breath for the Mario Brothers.
"Oh no, you don't!" Blumiere came up from below, knocking the pair into the air where they landed on their feet. Blumiere sent an energy blast at Bowser's head, hitting him sqarely. At the same time, O'Chunks and Nastasia came up from behind and attacked the other side of the clown's body.
"Grrr! This is taking longer than I thought." Bowser groaned. "I'll just smash you all!" The giant Hyper Bowser flipped to the side, landing upright upon Mimi and O'Chunks. Almost as soon, he flipped in the other direction, squashing Luigi and Peach.
"We're not going to last much longer!" exclaimed Mimi. Off in the distance, The Void rumbled again. "And that too!"
"We need some way to get him down and fast," reported Mario. He swung his hammer for Hyper Bowser's body. After making contact, Bowser jumped again, landing in the center of the arena.
"How about some spikes?" Bowser withdrew his limbs, including his head, and extended the segments of Dimentio's purple and yellow jester skirt outward, forming a row of spikes. The Bowser clown's body spun around the platform, aiming toward our heroes.
"Get on top of it!" Mario commanded to Luigi before being bowled over by Hyper Bowser's attack.
"Mario!" Luigi's brother was injured, but now wasn't the time to be sentimental. Luigi mustered his powerful Super Jump, targeting Bowser as he landed. He bounced on Hyper Bowser's body, landing on it again four times before finally missing and settling on the cloud.
"That's...that's how we do it!" Mario sat up, weakened. "We use Super Dimentio's original flaw against Bowser! That body has a massive surface area. If one of us goes up there and jumps on the body repeatedly, we'll have this fight won in no time!" The hero glanced at the expanding Void.
"Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work!" Bowser re-extended his limbs and head, pulling his arms to his head level and smashing them downward, creating two expanding shockwaves. Mario and Luigi expertly dodged these, but the others were pushed over, struggling on the ground.
"We can't let him get them! Let's go, bro!" Luigi nodded. The Mario Brothers rushed up to their adversary's body, again using his hand as a bouncing platform, and landed on the huge jester body. They landed with a mission to do as much damage as possible.
"I think he's almost down," announced Luigi as he punched Hyper Bowser's giant head from below. "We just need to keep this up!" He aimed a swift kick for the side of Bowser's body,
"I'm with you!" Mario repeatedly Ground Pounded the same section of Bowser's body, doing equal harm.
"Aarggh! I'm almost finished! I can't concentrate with you plumbers banging up on me!" Bowser extended his massive head on its chain away from the brothers, opening his mouth toward them.
"BAIL!" Mario shouted. He and Luigi leaped off the villain as Bowser's fire met his body, damaging himself.
"He took a lot out of himself," observed Luigi. "Now we all just need to go in and give him one final hit!"
The others had recovered in the time Mario and Luigi had spent damaging Hyper Bowser. Peach rushed to Mario and Luigi's side while Blumiere shouted from Bowser's other side. "We'll attack from both sides, and put an end to this villain! Minions, hear my words, too!"
"Yes, Blumiere!" O'Chunks, Mimi, and Nastasia attacked with Blumiere on the one side while Mario, Luigi, and Peach went for in on the other side. Unfortunately, Bowser sweeped Mario and Luigi away with his hand, and blocked the minions' side with a stream of fire after taking a few hits.
"Noooo!" exclaimed Nastasia. Hyper Bowser was about to roast them all.
"That won't happen as long as I'm here!" Our heroes turned toward Peach's voice. She descended toward Hyper Bowser's body, landing on it and repeating her stomp as Mario and Luigi had done. This final multi-attack knocked out Hyper Bowser for good. Peach landed on the ground as Bowser's body smoked and exploded.
"NOOO!!" Hyper Bowser's body exploded, releasing Bowser in his true form. He landed on his belly before our heroes.
"Those heroes...beat me AGAIN! I don't get it...I just don't get it..."
"Bowser..." examined Peach. "You're really back! It's the evil, but loveably pathetic Bowser I knew before."
"PATHETIC?!" Bowser spat. "You...oh, Princess Peach! I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Peach sighed. "Oh, Bowser..."
Blumiere approached the villain. "Hurry, Bowser. We must unwed you and Peach to stop this Void."
"Unwed? Me and Peach?" Bowser stood up, glaring at Blumiere. "Aren't you that Count Bleck guy?"
"I was. Now, I am Blumiere again. We have much explaining to do, Bowser, but now isn't the time."