Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, there existed the Mushroom Kingdom, a bustling and prosperous land inhabited by the mushroom-like Toads and ruled by the human Princess Peach. One night, as the kingdom was celebrating the centennial Star Festival, it was invaded by Bowser, the evil and ferocious Koopa King. He ripped Peach’s castle straight out of the ground and carried it and its owner off to the center of the universe, where he created a galaxy to rule the cosmos from. He also stole a series of seven powerful artifacts known as the Grand Stars, which he used to power the various parts of his galactic empire and increase his own strength. Bowser’s ferociousness knew no bounds, and it didn’t take long for much of the cosmos to be devastated by his might.

But then, just as all hope seemed lost, a hero rose up: Mario, a humble yet powerful young human who was a longtime friend of Peach’s and a longtime enemy of Bowser’s. He’d fought the Koopa King countless times before, and he knew that only he could stop him. With the help of the mysterious space guardian Rosalina and her children, the Lumas, Mario took back 6 of the 7 Grand Stars and used their power to travel to the center of the universe, where he and Bowser finally had their great clash. Both sides fought long and hard, but in the end, Mario emerged victorious, claiming the final Grand Star.

With all seven Grand Stars out of Bowser’s grasp, his empire began to collapse, taking the entire universe down with it via a supermassive black hole. To stop the destruction, the Lumas sacrificed themselves, diving straight into the black hole to trigger a massive supernova that resulted in the universe being destroyed and recreated. Bowser was defeated, peace was restored to the universe, and Mario’s birthday was made into a new holiday known as Super Mario Day, made to honor him and his heroic deed.

* * * * *

“Wow, Bro, your biography turned out great!” Luigi exclaimed as he closed the book titled The Tale of Mario , a biography of his eponymous older brother written by Princess Peach. 

“It sure did!” Mario agreed. “Best birthday present ever! Peach did a fantastic job. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the kingdom thinks of it!”

Suddenly, a knock came from the front door of the Mario Bros. house. “I’ll get it,” Mario said as he stood up from the couch.

He walked over to the door and opened it to find a purple Toad with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. It was Mailtoad, the Mushroom Kingdom’s mailman.

“Happy Super Mario Day, Mario!” Mailtoad greeted as he took out a pink envelope from his bag. “To Mario” was written on the front in red ink, and the envelope was sealed with a heart-shaped red wax seal. “Princess Peach sent me to deliver this letter. Sounds like she has a special surprise planned for your birthday."

“Thank you, Mailtoad,” Mario replied as he took the letter. “I’ll read it right away.”

“Great, ‘cause that’s what Peach told me to tell you! Have a happy birthday!”

Mario waved goodbye to Mailtoad as the latter walked off. Mario then closed the door, sat back down on the couch, and opened the envelope. The letter inside read:

Dear Mario,

Happy Super Mario Day! I hope you like your biography.

I hear the sky is going to be beautiful tonight. Would you and Luigi like to meet me, Yoshi, and Toad at the castle to stargaze while we all share some cake?

-Princess Peach

A big grin spread on Mario’s before he shot up from the couch. “Ooh, someone’s excited,” Luigi remarked.

“Peach has invited us to hang out at the castle with her and Toad and Yoshi!” Mario exclaimed. “Let’s not waste any time! Let’s-a go!”

Mario ran out the door just as Luigi stood up from the couch. As he began to follow his brother, Luigi shook his head and said to himself, “He sure loves his princess. And her cake.”

* * * * *

The Mushroom Kingdom was more than prepared for the year’s annual celebration of Super Mario Day. Banners displaying various Mario-praising phrases such as “HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIO” and “HAPPY SUPER MARIO DAY” hung from all the various street poles of the kingdom’s capital city Toad Town. The gray stone statue of Mario in the center of the town square had been decorated with lights to match his actual colors, and a fireworks display of various images of Mario lit up the sky. Several of the town’s eponymous residents had their faces buried in their own copies of The Tale of Mario.

Just as night fell and a beautiful host of stars joined the fireworks in lighting up the sky, Mario and Luigi began walking through the Toad Town streets on their way to Peach’s castle. As they did, Toads shouted various praises at Mario: “Happy Super Mario Day, Mario!” “Thanks for all you’ve done for us, Mario!” “Enjoy your special day, Mario!” “I’m lovin’ your biography, Mario!”

“Thank you, everyone!” Mario shouted as he and Luigi reached the castle gates. Captain Toad, the leader of the Toad Brigade, stood guard to the Bros.’ left, while a yellow Toad Brigade member slept to their right.

“Evening, Mario Bros.!” Captain Toad greeted as Mario and Luigi approached. “Happy Super Mario Day!”

“Thank you and evening to you too, Captain,” Mario replied. “Is Peach available?”

“Yep! She and Yoshi and Toad are waiting for you up on the castle balcony. Lemme just open the gates for you.”

Captain Toad used his foot to press a hidden red button on the ground behind him, and the gates slowly opened up the way into the castle courtyard.

“Off you go!” the captain said. “Say hi to Peach for me!”

“Will do!” the Bros. shouted as they raced towards the castle. 

Sure enough, Princess Peach stood on the castle’s balcony, in front of a three-tiered cake decorated with images of stars and mushrooms on the sides and a cake topper in Mario’s likeness. Next to her was her trusty sidekick Toad and Mario’s dinosaur friend Yoshi. 

The trio noticed the Bros. and waved to them. “Hi, Bros.!” Peach greeted. “So glad you made it! The cake’s all ready! I set up a nice stargazing spot in the yard, too!”

“Great!” Mario exclaimed. “We can’t wait!”

* * * * *

Suddenly, just as the Bros. reached the doors leading into the castle, a loud, terrifying roar echoed through the area. It was a sound everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom knew all too well: the roar of Bowser, King of the Koopas.

Sure enough, a fleet of Bowser’s airships came flying in from all directions, shooting meteors and Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs and all sorts of other explosives from their cannons. A black flag emblazoned with Bowser’s insignia - a red silhouette of his face - flew from a flagpole on each ship. Terrified Toads fled the streets, screaming and tripping over each other as they scrambled to avoid the projectiles. 

“IT’S BOWSER!” one Toad screamed.

“RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!” cried another.

The Super Mario Day banners burned to ashes, the fireworks display ceased, and a single giant meteor reduced the town square Mario statue to smithereens. Before long, all of Toad Town was on fire, houses collapsing and smoke filling the air. It looked exactly like Bowser’s attack during the Star Festival: complete and utter fiery chaos.

Then, a massive airship - over twice as big as any of Bowser’s other airships - flew in from the skies behind the castle and stopped directly above it. And standing aboard was, you guessed it, Bowser. He had the same menacing appearance as he always did - tall and bulky reptilian build, spiky turtle shell, draconic head - along with one small new detail: a familiar-looking indigo orb surrounding a black star, seemingly embedded in his chest.

“Gwahahahaha!” the Koopa King laughed. “Super Mario Day, huh? And I wasn’t invited? Typical!”

“You’re not welcome at any party of ours, Bowser!” Mario retaliated. “Or anytime at all, for that matter! Now take your little fleet and get lost!”

“Hahaha! You wish, plumberboy!”

Bowser leapt off his airship and onto the castle balcony - directly on top of Peach’s cake, reducing it to a smushed pile of pastry and frosting. Toad and Yoshi held up their fists, ready to fight, but Bowser knocked them both off the roof with two simultaneous uppercuts.

Peach screamed and tried to jump off the balcony into Mario’s arms, but Bowser snatched her straight out of the air and jumped back onto his ship.

“Hey!” Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Yoshi all shouted.

“Mario!” Peach cried, trying in vain to escape Bowser’s grasp. 

Suddenly, a giant UFO appeared above Bowser’s airship - the same UFO he’d used to steal Peach’s castle during the Star Festival. Sure enough, it used its three lasers to draw a circle around the castle, and four of Bowser’s smaller airships grabbed onto the castle with huge chains and pulled it out of the ground.

“Hahahahaha!” Bowser laughed. “The party’s over, Mushroom Kingdom! For I have gained a new power: the ability to travel to other dimensions! With it, nowhere in the multiverse will be safe from the might of the Koopas, and we shall finally get our millennia-in-the-making revenge on those traitorous Diamonds!”

“Diamonds?” Mario asked. “Who are-”

Before Mario could finish, Bowser raised his hands high above his head, and the star in his chest gained red eyes and glowed with black light. A large black magic orb formed in his hands, which he threw in front of him to create a massive portal that resembled a black hole.

“Follow me, troops!” Bowser commanded his other ships as his personal ship entered the portal. “Princess Peach is ours once more, and now the Diamonds shall be next!”

The airships stopped their attack and followed Bowser’s airship into the portal, Peach’s castle in tow. Just as Bowser disappeared into the portal, he looked at Mario, grinned wickedly, and said, “Happy birthday, Mario. Catch me if you can.”

“Wait!” Mario shouted as he sprinted towards the portal, ignoring Toads’ cries for help. “Woah, Bro! Wait!” Luigi shouted after him. “What are you-”

Toad kicked him in the leg and shouted, “What do you think? Going after Peach, obviously! We can’t just let Bowser take her! C’mon, Yoshi!”

“Yoshi!” Let’s go! Yoshi exclaimed.

Luigi sighed. “Oh, mamma mia…”

He and Toad climbed onto Yoshi’s back, who then sprinted after Mario. With the highest leaps they could muster, Mario and Yoshi dove into Bowser’s portal just as it shrank away and disappeared, leaving behind the burned remains of Toad Town.

* * * * *

When Team Mario entered the portal, they found themselves flying through what looked like some sort of strange purple tunnel, like a rift in the fabric of space-time. Bowser’s fleet flew directly in front of them.

“You’re - not - getting - away - that - easily, Bowser!” Mario yelled as he and Yoshi tried to push themselves closer to Peach’s castle. Just as they got within a stone’s throw of it, Bowser’s advisor and adoptive father, Kamek the Magikoopa, suddenly appeared in front of them.

“Kekekekeke!” Kamek laughed as he raised his magic wand, about to cast a spell. “Sorry, boys, but you’re not invited to our party! Have a safe flight!”

With a loud laughing scream, Kamek cast a magic blast at Team Mario, knocking them all far away from each other - and out of the portal tunnel. They all screamed in terror as they disappeared.

“Nooooooooo!” Peach cried as her only hope vanished before her eyes.

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon in Beach City. Waves gently crashed against the shore, seagulls called out from the distance, and the excited screams of roller coaster riders resonated from the Funland boardwalk. 

On the beach itself, the Crystal Gems - a team of heroic magical alien warriors named Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, as well as their human roommate Greg - were busy setting up a concert stage in preparation for the 18th birthday party of Steven, Greg’s half-human half-Gem son and the Gems’ original roommate. The Temple, a giant magical structure shaped like a two-faced multi-armed woman that served as the group’s home, overlooked their work.

Holding a large banner that read “HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN”, Amethyst shapeshifted her legs to make it so she was tall enough to reach the top of the stage. She tied the left side of the banner to the left side of the stage top, then called out, “Garnet! Can you get the right side for me?” 

“On it!” replied Garnet, the leader of the Crystal Gems. She grabbed the right side of the banner, jumped high enough to reach the right side of the stage top, then quickly tied it up before she fell back down to the ground.

On the stage itself, Greg was setting up the stage effects, lights, and speakers. He plugged all sorts of different-colored doo-hickeys and doo-dads into various outlets, and soon the stage was flooded with effects: fog, sparklers, flashing lights, a couple flames. To test the speakers, Greg plugged his electric guitar into them and gently strummed it. A loud note blasted from them.

“Seems like all the electronics are workin’!” Greg called out.

On the ground in front of the stage, Pearl held a clipboard with a list of tasks attached to it, checking each one off as they were completed. “Decorations… check,” she mumbled to herself. “Stage effects… check. Lights… check. Sound… check.” She was also busy setting up the dance floor and seating.

As the group continued their work, a mail truck parked next to the stage, and from it came the members of Beach City’s local band, Sadie Killer and the Suspects: Sadie, Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream, as well as Sadie’s other friend Shep. Although the band had broken up a couple of years prior, Greg - who had been their manager - had arranged for them to perform a reunion concert for Steven’s party. “Band… check,” Pearl checked off.

“Heya, Gems!” Sadie greeted. “Is Steven here yet?”

“Not yet,” Greg replied, “but he said he’d arrive by sundown.”

Greg and the Gems helped Sadie Killer and the Suspects unload their gear from the mail truck, which was driven by Sadie’s mother, Barb. She poked her head out the window and shouted, “Hey, you kids need anything before I go? Help setting up? Snacks? Water?”

“No, we’re fine, Mom,” Sadie replied as she and her band set up their gear.

“Alright then! See you at the party tonight, everyone!”

The mail truck drove off just as a light blue Dondai Supremo car parked next to the stage. From the driver’s door emerged the main man himself: Steven Universe. Despite his age, he looked the same as he’d had when he first left Beach City for a cross-country trip 2 years ago, besides the fact that he now had some light stubble on his face. He also still wore the same outfit everywhere he went: pink letterman jacket, black shirt with a yellow star on it, blue jeans, and pink flip-flops.

“Steven!” everyone exclaimed excitedly. 

“Long time no see, guys!” Steven said as Greg and the Gems raced to hug him. “Is everything all set up for the party yet?”

“Just about,” Pearl replied as she checked off the last item on her list. “Steven… check. Now all we have to do is wait for the food to arrive and we should be-”

Suddenly, the party prep was interrupted when a small black hole-like object appeared in the sky. It spat something out, then shrunk away and disappeared just as fast as it had appeared.

“Woah, what the heck was that?” Steven said as he ran over to where the unknown object had landed. He gasped when he realized that it wasn’t just something; it was someone, now lying face-down and unconscious in the sand.

Steven turned the person over to find that they were a young man, who looked to be a couple of years older than him and was about as tall and chubby as he was. He had a comically large and round nose, a dark brown mustache, and short light brown hair. He wore a red shirt, blue overalls, brown shoes, white gloves, and a red hat with the letter M on it.

As the summer sunlight shone down on the man’s face, he slowly opened his bright blue eyes. As soon as his eyes were fully open, he shot up onto his feet and yelled, “You’re not getting away that easily, Bowser! Stop running and-”

The man suddenly froze and looked around. “Wai-wait a second,” he said, his voice much calmer now. “Where… where am I? Where’s everyone else? This isn’t the Mushroom Kingdom… Come to think of it, I don’t know if this is even Earth…”

“Woah, woah, woah, calm down,” Steven said. “It’s ok. You’re ok. Everything’s ok. You’re still on Earth. What’s your name?”

“My name?” The man took a deep breath to recompose himself. “I’m… I’m Mario. Super Mario.”

Steven smiled and extended his hand for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, Mario. I’m Steven. Steven Universe.”

Mario smiled back and accepted the handshake. “Nice to meet you too, Steven. So… where are we, exactly? Are you sure this is Earth? It doesn’t look like anywhere on Earth I’ve ever seen.”

“This is Beach City,” Steven replied. “There’s lots of places on Earth, so I totally get it if you haven’t seen everything.”

“No, no, no… I’ve been all over the Earth, and I genuinely don’t think this is like any place on Earth I’ve ever been to… Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a place like this in the entire universe…” Mario tried to pinpoint where this so-called Beach City could possibly be relative to the Mushroom Kingdom, but he couldn’t. Even in his universe of mushroom people and evil turtles and entire galaxies of gravity-defying beaches and fire-and-ice mixes and food collages and literal random junk, Mario had never seen a place quite like Beach City, with its giant woman-shaped statue and strangely-colored humanoids with gemstones embedded in their bodies.

That’s when Mario remembered that Bowser had said something about now having the power to travel to other dimensions. Could this Beach City place be in another dimension, perhaps? Was this some alternate version of Earth? Were Bowser, Peach, Luigi, Toad, and Yoshi here, too? 

Steven was about as confused as Mario was. Some random stranger - who was apparently from another dimension - had suddenly popped out of a portal by his home, just in time for his birthday. He knew he had to help Mario with whatever was bothering him, even if it interfered with his party.

Steven thought to himself. “Well… regardless of where you’re from, it seems like you need help. Why don’t you come up to my house with me so we can talk about it, figure out what’s going on?”

Mario looked up at the Temple, where he saw a small house nestled in two of its lower arms. He sighed and said, “Ok. I can’t really do much else right now, anyways.”

Steven nodded. "Alright." He then shouted in the Gems' direction, "Hey guys, could you come up to the house with me real quick?"

Chapter Text

“So, just to recap…” Steven began. He, Mario, and the Gems had spent the last few minutes sitting around the kitchen table while Mario explained how he’d ended up in Beach City. “You and your friends were celebrating your birthday when some buff turtle guy named Bowser destroyed your hometown, kidnapped your princess girlfriend, and fled on a giant flying pirate ship into some portal, which you and your friends jumped into before you ended up here?”

Mario nodded. “That’s the gist of it, yeah.”

“Hm,” Garnet muttered as she pondered Mario’s story. “Mario, do you have any idea as to why Bowser would want to come to this universe in particular?”

Mario shook his head. “None. I know he wants to do some kind of multiversal conquest, but I don’t know if there’s any reason as to why he’s starting with this universe. Although I do remember him talking about some people called the Diamonds… maybe they have something to do with this place…”

That got the Gems’ attention. “The Diamonds?” Steven perked up. “We know the Diamonds! They’re the three former rulers of the Gem race. They were once super strong and evil galactic conquerors - not unlike Bowser - but I neutralized them and dismantled their empire so all Gems can live free from their tyranny. What exactly did Bowser say about them?”

“He… he called them ‘traitorous’... and that now that he has Peach, he was going to capture them next.”

“So Bowser knows the Diamonds?” Pearl chimed in. “How odd. I don’t recall any of the Diamonds having any sort of history with anyone named Bowser, or any other one of those… those…”

“Koopas.”

“Ah, right. Yes, as far as I know, the Diamonds have never known anyone by his name or any of those so-called Koopas. I know just about everything about the Diamonds, so the fact that Bowser and the Koopas apparently have history with them is shocking to me.”

Steven and Amethyst snickered at Pearl’s boasting. “Pearl was once the servant to my mom, Pink Diamond,” Steven explained to Mario.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Mario said. “Steven, your mom’s one of the Diamonds?”

“She sure is.” Steven pulled up his shirt to reveal his gemstone, embedded where his belly button would’ve been - Pink Diamond’s gemstone, its table facing outwards to make it look like that of a Rose Quartz. “She gave up her physical form so I could be born.”

Mario stared at the gem in awe, his face reflecting off of its shiny pink surface like a mirror. “Wow,” he said. “But wait… since you’re half Diamond, and Bowser wants to capture the Diamonds… does that mean he’ll go after you, Steven?”

Steven and the Gems exchanged glances of alarm. “Shoot, good question…” Steven realized.

He stared off into space for a few seconds, fear growing in his mind. He quickly shook it off and said, “W-well, Bowser probably doesn’t know about me - not yet, at least - so I don’t think he’ll go after me. Plus, it’s not like I am Pink Diamond; I just have her gemstone. We do still need to worry about him going after the other Diamonds, though. They are coming to my party, so we should definitely talk to them about it once they arrive.”

Steven stared out the window, where Greg and Sadie Killer and the Suspects were still out by the stage, finishing up the last few bits of party prep and greeting the first batch of arriving attendees. The sun was also starting to set, casting a pretty golden color over the ocean. “Actually, now that I think about it,” Steven said, “they should've already arrived by now. They said they’d be here ASAP… Spinel, too…”

“Spinel?” Mario said. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, another friend of mine,” Steven replied. “She lives with the Diamonds. Now that I’ve brought her up… she loves parties more than just about anything, so it’s especially weird that she’s not here yet, either. If anything, I’d think she would’ve gotten here even before the Diamonds. Although she does have a pretty bad fear of being alone, so maybe she’s just gonna come here with them once they’re ready…”

Suddenly, a scary realization crossed Steven’s mind. “Wait… you don’t think…”

Mario immediately understood. “Could Bowser have gotten to them already?” he asked for him.

Mario, Steven, and the Gems exchanged shocked glances. To try and ease everyone’s nerves, Pearl said, “W-well, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. It hasn't been that long since Bowser attacked you, has it, Mario?”

Mario thought about it before answering, “I don’t think so. It’s probably only been, like, an hour at most. Even with how strong he and his army is, I’m not sure if he’d be able to beat three super powerful alien rulers very easily. Heck, he can hardly beat me with several days of prep time.” He pridefully chuckled to himself.

“See?” Pearl said. “Even if Bowser is strong enough to beat the Diamonds, there's no way he’s already done so within the sole hour you and him have been in this dimension.”

“Plus, Steven, it’s your birthday!” Amethyst pointed out. “You can’t spend too much of that time worrying about what a small group of your friends are doin’. I’m sure those four will show up eventually. Get on that dance floor and enjoy your special day!”

“We understand that you’re worried about your friends, Steven,” Garnet said, “but Amethyst is right; you shouldn’t waste your entire birthday worrying about the Diamonds and Spinel. We gotta make this night the best night of your life!” 

Steven smiled, comforted by his best friends’ reassurances. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “It’s my 18th birthday! We can worry about those five later. Let’s go out there and have fun!”

He and the Gems cheered and stood up from the table. They were about to head outside, but then Steven noticed Mario sitting melancholily. “You ok, Mario?” he asked.

Mario looked up. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m alright,” he replied. “I’m just worried about my friends. I hope they’re ok… I hope Bowser hasn’t captured Luigi and Toad and Yoshi…”

Just then, Steven thought of a way to make Mario feel better. “Hey, it’s your birthday too, right?” he said. “Why don’t we make the party a joint celebration? We can celebrate both our birthdays together! Y’know, since your original party got ruined and all. Help you get your mind off of Bowser and your friends just for a little while. Then afterwards we can figure out what to do about them. How does that sound?”

That cheered Mario up. “Yeah, that sounds great, actually… Yeah, I love that idea! Let’s-a go!”

The quintet cheered as they raced outside towards the stage.

Chapter Text

By the time night fell, Steven and Mario’s joint birthday party was in full swing. Every Beach City resident was in attendance, as well as all of Steven’s other Gem friends from the nearby Gem town of Little Homeworld. Sadie Killer and the Suspects performed one of their fan-favorite songs “Working Dead”. The “HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN” banner had been hastily altered to include “AND MARIO” at the end in small but readable letters. 

But even now that the party had long begun, the Diamonds and Spinel were still no-shows.

While Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl danced on the dance floor alongside some of their human friends, Steven and his girlfriend Connie Maheswaran chatted by the food table as they shared some cheese and crackers. Mario milled around, saying hi to a few humans and Gems.

“Hey, Mario,” Steven said as Mario walked past. “You haven’t met my girlfriend Connie yet, have you?”

“I don’t believe so,” Mario replied as he snatched a chocolate-covered strawberry. “Nice to meet you, Connie.”

Connie smiled and replied, “Nice to meet you too, Mario.”

Steven gazed up at the sky. The stars formed beautiful milky streaks in the dark night, even against the lights of the party. “Still worried about the Diamonds?” Connie asked her boyfriend, noticing his concerned skyward stare.

“Yeah,” Steven confirmed. “I know I shouldn’t be worrying about them this much. Heck, if I’m being totally honest, I don’t even like being around them most of the time. But it’s just… how are they not here yet? They should’ve arrived way before the party even started.”

Mario put a hand on his new friend’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Steven,” he assured him. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m still really worried about my friends, too. We can only hope Bowser’s not doing anything too bad to them… or your friends…”

Steven looked up at the stage just as Sadie Killer and the Suspects finished their song. “Hey, why don’t I introduce you to everyone proper?” he asked Mario. “Then this party can really get started!”

He took Mario’s hand and led him on stage. He then took the microphone and announced, “Hey, everyone! Havin’ fun?”

The partygoers cheered. “Yeah! Woo!”

“Glad to hear it! Before we let our wonderful band move on to their next song, I’d like to introduce you all to our other birthday boy: Mario!”

Mario shyly waved and said “Hi,” into the mic.

The partygoers cheered louder. “Hey, Mario! Happy birthday!”

“Mario joins us from another dimension,” Steven explained to the crowd, “and he went through a pretty… unfortunate incident in order to make it here. So join me in giving him a big ol’ cheer!”

The crowd went wild. “Wooooo! Mar-i-o! Mar-i-o! Mar-i-o! Mar-i-o!” they cheered alongside the party’s host.

Mario smiled and blushed. Even after countless times of saving lands and celebrating Super Mario Day, he was flattered by Steven allowing him to have most of the attention despite the fact that the party was meant to celebrate both of them. What a nice boy Steven is, he thought. “Th-thank you, everyone,” he mumbled.

Chapter Text

Suddenly, the joy and cheer of the party stopped when a familiar, horrible roar shook the earth. Mario, Steven, and Sadie Killer and the Suspects barely had time to sprint and jump off the stage before a Bomber Bill burst through the back of it, striking the hillside of the Temple and creating a giant puddle of a strange black goop.

“Bowser!” Mario cried.

Sure enough, the Koopa King’s airship armada flew down from the sky - which had turned an ominous pinkish-red color - alongside the castle-stealing UFO. Mario noticed a strange new detail about the ships: rather than their flags simply having Bowser’s insignia on them, they now had it in front of a dark pink crystal shaped like an upside down heart.

The UFO and four airships hovered above the Temple - presumably to steal it like they'd done with Peach’s castle - while Bowser’s main airship hovered above the stage. As everyone in the now-terrified crowd looked up at the ship, the sinister silhouette of Bowser approached its edge - and this time, he wasn’t alone.

From what Mario saw, Bowser’s partner was a Gem of some sort. She looked like a character ripped straight out of an old-timey cartoon, with her two spiky pigtails, cartoonish gloves, elf-like shoes, and a comically lanky stature - especially when compared to Bowser’s bulkiness. Mario saw that she had three long black streaks underneath each of her eyes, as if she’d been crying while wearing mascara. Her gemstone looked exactly like the crystal emblazoned on the new airship flags: a dark pink upside down heart, located on her chest.

“Hey!” Bowser called down. “Are you Steven Universe?”

Mario and Steven exchanged scared glances. Steven was especially uncomfortable, since he’d been in a similar situation two years prior - and, if his eyes weren’t fooling him, with the exact same Gem Bowser was currently with.

Steven stared back up at Bowser as he replied, “Um… yes?”

“Perfect,” Bowser and his partner said at the same time, evil grins spreading across their red-eyed faces.

Bowser then pointed forwards and roared, triggering the airships to fire more of the black goop Bomber Bills. The UFO also drew a laser circle around the Temple, and the accompanying airships grabbed onto it with chains and pulled it out of the ground. It was a nearly identical scene to the Super Mario Day attack.

The partygoers immediately started running away from the stage, shielding themselves as Bomber Bills flew over their heads. “Everyone, get to the shelter, now!” Steven shouted.

Screaming in fear, the Beach City and Little Homeworld residents fled towards Beach City’s emergency shelter: an abandoned warehouse located just beyond the hill behind the city. Mario, Steven, and the main Gems stayed behind to face the party crashers.

Once the Bomber Bills’ goop formed a massive black pool next to the Temple, Bowser raised his hands above his head, and the star in his chest once again glowed black with red eyes. Dark energy poured out of it, forming a giant ball in Bowser’s hands. He threw it at the goop pool, causing a tiny spike to appear in its center.

Bowser and his partner then jumped off their airship, landing harmlessly on the roof of the concert stage despite the long fall. Their gemstones eerily shone against the dark night as they stood upright.

“Well, well, well,” Bowser said as he sized up the Crystal Gems. “So these are the rebel Gems the Diamonds surrendered to, huh? An overcooked Amethyst… a fusion between two different Gems, who calls herself Garnet… and a new Pearl of Pink Diamond’s? They took you over us?” He growled and trembled as he held back a fit of anger. “And Pink would rather die and become some puny human than have anything to do with us… Grrrrrr, how wonderful is that?!”

Steven gasped as his mind confirmed the identity of Bowser’s partner. “Oh no she didn’t…” he said.

Spinel laughed. “Oh but I did, Steven,” she replied.

Bowser then looked at Mario and Steven. “And I see that you ended up here, Mario, and that you’ve already befriended this Steven Universe boy. Tough luck for you both, though, since I got a new friend, too” - he gestured at Spinel - “as well as a shiny new toy.” He tapped a claw on the star in his chest. “And I’m sure you’re wondering where our beloved Princess Peach is, Mario…”

A purple bubble suddenly rose up from the floor next to Bowser, and sure enough, it contained the Mushroom Kingdom’s ruler. She reached out and cried, “Mario!”

Mario gasped and glared at Bowser. “Grr… give her back,” he demanded. “And where are the others? What have you done with them?!”

“The others? You mean Toad and Yoshi and Green ‘Stache?” Bowser rolled his eyes and scoffed as if to say Those three are beneath me. “How should I know? Kamek knocked ‘em all away; they could be on another planet for all I care.

“What really matters is that you and all the multiverse won’t stand a chance against us,” Bowser continued. “The Koopa-Gem Alliance is back in business, baby! Ten thousand years and a few hundred Koopa Kings in the making! Gwahahahahaha!”

Mario and Steven exchanged scared glances again. “Uh, do you have any idea what he’s talking about?” Steven asked.

Mario shook his head and replied, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Enough talk, boys!” Bowser roared as he jumped off the stage, creating a cloud of sand when he landed on the beach. 

Steven and the Gems magically summoned their Gem weapons - Garnet her gauntlets, Amethyst her whip, Pearl her spear, and Steven his shield. “Stand your ground, guys!” Steven shouted.

As Bowser clenched his fists, they magically lit up with a strange purple fire. He grinned evilly as he said, “It’s showtime.”

Chapter Text

Bowser dash-punched towards the Gems, who jumped aside to avoid him. Garnet counterattacked with a dash-punch of her own, but the Koopa King caught her fist in his hand and effortlessly threw her at a food display.

“Garnet!” Steven cried.

“Lemme at ‘em!” Amethyst shouted as she held up her whip and ran at Bowser. She used her weapon to grab onto his legs and attempted to pull him down, but he was too big for her to be able to even make him budge. Bowser ripped the whip off his legs as if it was made of paper and yanked it backwards, then kicked Amethyst as she was sent flying towards him. She landed on top of Garnet, who was still lying in pain. 

“Amethyst!” Steven cried.

“Don’t worry!” Pearl shouted as she leapt high into the air towards Bowser, her spear pointed at his head. “He won’t be able to catch my spear!”

Just as Pearl was about to hit Bowser, he ducked, displaying his spiky green shell. As Pearl and her spear bounced harmlessly off it, Bowser thrust his shell to the side to send her flying towards Garnet and Amethyst.

“Pearl!” Steven cried.

“Bwahahahaha!” Bowser laughed as he watched the Crystal Gems groan in pain, piled on top of each other. “That’s all you three got? You’ve apparently fought countless Gems and monsters for countless years, but you can’t take me down? Hahaha! How pathetic! Yet the Diamonds still like you better than they ever did us Koopas…”

Steven’s gaze drifted up towards Spinel, who was silently watching the battle from atop the stage. Steven remembered how easily she’d beaten him and the Gems when she’d first attacked Earth two years prior. If she and Bowser could easily beat them individually, surely they could annihilate them if they fought together. How come she’s not doing anything? Steven wondered, along with Why? Why is she turning on me again?

Suddenly, Bowser dash-punched at Steven, who held up his shield to block the attack. Bowser’s purple fire broke it instantly, and Steven was sent flying into Mario.

“Hahahahaha!” the Koopa King laughed as he watched Mario and Steven struggle to get up. “Organic-Gem hybrids don’t poof, huh? Glad I don’t have to worry about that.” 

He then turned back towards the Crystal Gems. They’d gotten back onto their feet, but they were still weak from his attacks.

Bowser’s evil grin grew wider as his fists’ fire became slightly bigger. “Night-night, Crystal Chumps,” he told them. “It was swell to meet you.”

With a single fiery dash-punch they were too weak to avoid, all three Gems were poofed instantly.

“No!” Steven and Mario cried.

Before the Gems’ gemstones could hit the ground, Bowser caught them in one hand. He then placed his other hand on top of them, forming a purple bubble to contain them in.

“What?! Bowser has Gem powers?!” Steven exclaimed.

“Aw, what’s the matter, boys?” Bowser taunted as he tapped the top of the bubble to teleport it away. “Miss your friends already? Well don’t worry… ‘cause you two are right behind ‘em!”

Bowser curled up into a spikeball, then ignited his entire body with purple fire before launching at Mario and Steven. Steven panicked, knowing that he couldn’t block with his shield, but Mario knew just what to do. From thin air, he took out the hammer he used as a weapon - an ability that even he couldn’t explain - then swung at Bowser just before he hit him and Steven. Bowser pushed back against the attack, but Mario pushed back harder.

After a brief struggle, Mario successfully overwhelmed Bowser, who extinguished and uncurled himself as he was sent flying into the side of his airship. He then defied the laws of physics by launching straight up and crash-landing on the ship’s deck, barely missing Peach’s bubble.

“Bowser!” Spinel cried as she jumped back onto the airship to check on her partner. “You ok?”

“Grrrr…” Bowser grumbled as he stood up. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve tanked far harder hits.”

He then stared back down at Mario and Steven. “Hmhmhm… not bad, boys. You always know how to put up a good fight, Mario. As for you, Steven… I expected more from you, but at least now I know that you’re not any better than Mario. It was great meeting you and those Crystal Gems of yours.”

Suddenly, all the airships that surrounded the beach began to slowly ascend.

“We have to go now, unfortunately,” Bowser said with a wicked smile. “The Koopa-Gem Alliance isn’t gonna rebuild itself, y’know. We’ll be seeing you two… later. Gwahahahahaha!”

Bowser and Spinel suddenly became encased in a giant purple bubble, which sank through the floor of their airship alongside Peach’s. 

“Wait! Stop!” Steven cried as he super-jumped into the sky in a desperate attempt to reach the big airship. But before he could get high enough, it and all the other airships took off into space at faster-than-light speed, the loud shockwave they created sending Steven plummeting back down towards the ground.

“…Guys…” Steven mumbled as he helplessly watched the airships disappear, taking his friends and home with them.

Chapter Text

Just before Steven hit the ground, Mario leapt into the air and caught him. “Steven!” Mario exclaimed as he put him down. “You alright?”

“…Yeah, I’m fine,” Steven replied. “I think.”

He and Mario surveyed the damage done by the attackers. There was a giant hole in the back of the stage where the first Bomber Bill had burst through, and many of the electronics and lights had been ruined. Food was scattered everywhere, with all the big handcrafted displays having been reduced to smushed piles. The “HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN AND MARIO” banner was now torn up and hanging onto the stage by only a few threads. Where the Temple had been, there was now nothing but a massive crater. Pools of black goop were dotted all around the beach, and the tiny spike in the big pool seemed to be slowly getting ever so slightly bigger with each second that passed.

Mario and Steven then stared up at the sky, which had changed from pinkish red to a sunrise mix of blue, green, and yellow. “That Gem Bowser was with…” Mario said. “Was that Spinel? Your missing friend?”

Steven sighed and turned his gaze towards the ground as he answered, “…Yes.”

The pair silently stared for a while - Mario at the sky, Steven at the ground - as they processed everything that had just happened. The only sound now was the gentle crashing of ocean waves against the shore.

Eventually, Steven stood up, his defeated expression slowly morphing into anger. “I can’t believe this…” he began. “After everything I’ve done for her… I forgave her when she wiped the Gems’ memories and almost killed me and the entire Earth. I helped her move on from my mother and what she did to her. And I helped her learn to love again, to make new friends. After all of that, after all the stuff I’ve done to help her be better… this… is how… she chooses… to repay me… by teaming up with some power-hungry monster from another dimension and helping him ruin my 18th birthday party…”

Steven began to tremble with rage and glow pink, and the pupils of his eyes became diamond-shaped. He also grew pink monstrous features - a pair of horns, a spiky tail similar to Bowser’s, a row of spikes down his back. His fingernails and toenails elongated into razor-sharp claws, and his teeth became larger and pointier. 

“After everything I’ve done for her, this is how she chooses to repay me…” Steven repeated, his voice getting louder and more monstrous with each subsequent repeat. “After everything I’ve done for her, this is how she chooses to repay me! AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE DONE FOR HER, THIS IS HOW SHE CHOOSES TO REPAY ME!!!”

Steven stomped the ground as he let out a deafening monstrous roar, triggering a pink explosion that left a crater under his feet and knocked Mario back. He also released a loud but harmless pink shockwave that resonated throughout all of Beach City and startled the evacuees at the emergency shelter.

Once the explosion cleared, Steven’s body briefly gave off pink smoke, and his monster features and diamond eyes disappeared. “Oh, I swear, when I get my hands on her, I’ll…” he growled as he shook his fists angrily. “I’ll… I’ll crush her like how she crushed me!”

As his glow and anger subsided, Steven took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He then noticed Mario lying in pain on the ground, gasped, and ran over to check on him. “Oh my gosh, Mario!” he exclaimed. “I’m so sorry! Are you ok?”

Mario stood up with a groan, dusted himself off, and adjusted his hat. “Yeah, I am,” he replied. “Are you?”

“Yeah…” Steven trailed off. “Sorry about that… sometimes, when I get really upset, I’ll glow pink and get a bit… destructive.” He displayed his gemstone as he said, “Got Mom to thank for that, and all my other powers. I’m a lot better at controlling my outbursts now than I was when I first started having them, but I still have a blow-up every now and then.”

“Quite literally, it seems,” Mario remarked.

Suddenly, three familiar voices shouted, “Steven!”

Mario and Steven turned around to see three of Steven’s fellow Crystal Gems - Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli - running towards them. They’d just finished helping their fellow partygoers get to safety.

“We’re here! Everyone from Beach City and Little Homeworld is ok!” Bismuth said.

“Are you ok?” Peridot asked.

“Where are Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl?” Lapis asked.

Tears welled up in Steven’s eyes. “They… they’re…”

The B-Team immediately got the memo. “Oh… they took them, didn’t they?” Bismuth said.

Steven nodded as he sat down in the crater he’d made, buried his face in his knees, and began to cry. Mario put a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him.

“Oh, you’re Mario, right?” Peridot asked when she noticed him.

“Yep,” Mario replied. “My arch-nemesis, Bowser, was the one who attacked us and took the others.”

“I see.”

Peridot, Bismuth, Lapis, and Mario all gave Steven a big group hug. “We’re so sorry, Steven,” Lapis said.

“We’ll get everyone back, I know we can,” Bismuth said.

“We’ll help you beat those clods,” Peridot said.

Steven smiled and stopped crying, grateful that he still had some friends to help him. “Thanks, guys,” he said.

Suddenly, Mario noticed something coming down from the sky. It looked like some kind of small cloud, made up of countless tiny balls of various colors.

Then, as he squinted to get a better look, Mario noticed that the balls were shaped more like stars and each had two tiny black eyes. “Wait a second…” he realized. “Are those… Lumas?”

Sure enough, when Mario and Steven went over to the cloud as it reached the ground, Mario saw that the balls were indeed Lumas - star-like creatures who had assisted him during his big universe-saving adventure.

Once the Lumas touched the ground, they dispersed to reveal that they had been carrying someone: a tall woman who resembled Princess Peach, only she had a sky blue dress instead of a pink one, a silver crown instead of a gold one, and platinum blonde hair instead of regular blonde. She also carried a thin silver wand with a hollow golden star on the tip.

Mario gasped as he immediately recognized her: “Rosalina!”

The space guardian smiled as she and Mario made eye contact. “Greetings, Mario,” she said. “It has been quite some time since our last meeting. Although it is a shame that we’re once again meeting under such… unfortunate circumstances.”

“You two know each other?” Steven inquired.

“Yep!” Mario replied. “She and her Luma kids” - he gestured at all the excited Lumas darting around - “helped me out when I saved my home universe from Bowser. But while it is great to see you again… what are you doing here, Rosalina?”

“It is not just our own universe that I watch over, Mario,” Rosalina answered. “Every single universe - which make up an elaborate web of existences known as the multiverse - is under my watch and protection, and much like Bowser, I can travel to and from each of them as I please. But since most universes already have their fair share of protectors - such as Steven here - I prefer to remain in our home universe most of the time.”

“Wow,” Mario replied. “So… did Bowser attack you, too? Is that why you’re here?”

Rosalina nodded. “Indeed he did. And I know exactly what he and that new Gem friend of his are planning.”

One of the Lumas spun around, transforming into a Launch Star. “The Comet Observatory is parked just above this world’s atmosphere,” Rosalina said. “You five, come up there with me, and I will explain everything.”

Chapter Text

A few minutes later, Rosalina, Mario, Steven, and the B-Team arrived at the Comet Observatory, which hovered in low-Earth orbit. The Grand Stars and Power Stars it used as fuel were gone, so it was immobile and very dimly lit.

The sextet - alongside some Lumas - gathered in the observatory’s library, where Rosalina browsed the shelves in search of a particular book. “I’m sure you all are wondering about what exactly this Koopa-Gem Alliance is,” she said, “but I can tell you the truth: this situation is nothing new.”

The others were surprised by that. “It’s not?” Steven asked.

Rosalina said, “Ah, here we are,” as she found the book she was looking for: a black one, one that was dusty and old-looking. On its cover was the insignia of Bowser - which also seemed to be the insignia of the Koopa race as a whole - in front of the insignia of the Diamond Authority: four diamond shapes colored white, yellow, blue, and pink, combined to form one big multicolored diamond.

Rosalina sat down on the library’s rocking chair, opened the book, and began to read aloud: “About ten thousand years ago, the Koopa Empire was in its heyday. Although it was quite young at that point in time, it was unimaginably powerful thanks to the might of King Koopa, the first Koopa King and the namesake of the Koopa race.”

She turned the page and read on: “King Koopa’s main source of power was the Dark Star - an artifact that harbored terrifying dark power. I believe you are familiar with it, Mario.”

He was. Not long ago, he and Luigi - alongside Bowser - had fought and destroyed the Dark Star after the villain Fawful had attempted to harness its power and conquer their world.

“The Dark Star could grant all the dark and selfish desires of any dark-hearted being who possessed it, and King Koopa used this power to conquer our universe. He indefinitely paused his aging and made himself invincible to nearly any attack. With the dark power in hand, it did not take long for the Koopa Empire’s reach to extend across our entire cosmos.”

She turned the page and continued: “But even with a whole universe under his control, King Koopa’s hunger for power could never be satisfied. He bathed the Dark Star in negative energy - from sources such as negative emotions, disaster, darkness, destruction, et cetera - in order to boost its power. Eventually, the dark power became so strong, it could tear holes in the fabric of space-time, thus allowing for travel between the various dimensions of the multiverse - and for the Koopa Empire to expand into them. And the first new universe they came to…”

“Was this one?” Steven assumed.

“Correct,” Rosalina confirmed as she turned the page.

“Not long after arriving in this universe, King Koopa encountered the Diamonds - the rulers of the Gem Empire. He saw that they also possessed great power, power that nearly rivaled his own. He initially plotted to overthrow them and take their power for himself, but he then realized that a war between two empires of equal power would likely be a stalemate. So instead, he made a deal with the Diamonds - a deal to combine the Koopa and Gem Empires into one massive empire, which they dubbed the Koopa-Gem Alliance.”

She turned the page and continued: “The Koopa and Gem Empires were both very strong on their own, but as the Koopa-Gem Alliance, there was nothing they couldn’t do. King Koopa even used the Dark Star to make himself half-Gem, with the artifact itself becoming his gemstone.”

Steven gasped. “An organic-Gem hybrid? Like me?”

“Yes, exactly like you, Steven. The Alliance thrived for many years, conquering entire galaxies within timeframes as short as months. They were unstoppable for quite some time - and were even ready to start expanding into more universes at one point. That is, until…”

Rosalina turned to the penultimate page of the book. “One day, unbeknownst to King Koopa, the Diamonds found out about his original plot to steal their power, and they began to fear that he was going to betray them at some point. Eventually, the Diamonds’ fear became so strong, they decided that they would be the ones to do the betraying before King Koopa could. And so, without warning, they dissolved the Koopa-Gem Alliance and banished the Koopa Empire back to their home dimension. Every single Gem that existed during the Alliance was then rejuvenated to make it so that the only Gems who had any memories of it were the Diamonds, and any other records of the Alliance’s existence were erased from all Gem databases.”

Rosalina reached the final page of her book. “King Koopa was furious beyond belief. He attempted to return to this universe and declare his previously planned war, but he found that he and the Diamonds’ powers had become so intertwined, most of the Dark Star’s original power was gone without them - including its interdimensional travel, immortality granting, and organic-Gem hybridizing abilities. As a result, the original Koopa Empire collapsed not long after the Alliance’s dissolvence, and King Koopa soon died - but not before declaring that someday, a future Koopa King would find a way to restore the Dark Star’s original powers and enact revenge on the Diamonds on his behalf. Then, once King Koopa was laid to rest, the Dark Star would spend the next few millennia asleep below the Mushroom Kingdom. And as Mario knows, it would be rediscovered and resealed once or twice.”

It was then that Mario realized what the black star gemstone embedded in Bowser’s chest was: the Dark Star, with its ancient powers restored. He and Steven also simultaneously realized that Bowser was now half-Koopa, half-Gem.

Finally, Rosalina closed the book. “And now, ten thousand years later, King Koopa’s last wish is finally being granted by the newest King of the Koopas: Bowser. He has restored the Dark Star and defeated the Diamonds, and he has also reformed the Koopa-Gem Alliance with a brand-new co-leader.”

“Spinel,” Steven said. “The Gem who’s closest to the Diamonds.”

“Exactly,” Rosalina replied.

Steven stared at the ground in contemplation for a few seconds, then sighed. "Well, it’s good that we now know the full story behind everything. Thank you for explaining it to us, Rosalina. But now I can't stop wondering... why has Spinel turned on me again? We were on good terms before I went on my trip - or at least, I thought we were... I don't see any reason as to why she'd side with Bowser..."

Rosalina shook her head. "That is unfortunately the one question I cannot provide a definitive answer for, Steven. I do not know why your now-former friend has chosen to side with Bowser; you and your friends will just have to figure out the answer yourselves."

"Bowser is manipulating her," Mario stated with a tone of finality. "I'm sure of it."

"Really?" Steven questioned. “I want to agree with you, Mario, but… I have a hard time believing that Spinel would be tricked that easily.” He thought back to the first time she attacked Earth. He’d been able to convince her to turn off her deadly biopoison injector, but she’d then assumed that he was just using her and was going to abandon her afterwards, not unlike what his mother had done to her.

”Oh, believe me, Steven,” Mario insisted. “Bowser and I have been enemies since - quite literally - we were babies, so I've had plenty of time to learn all of his favorite tricks and schemes. He’ll use anyone to get what he wants, and he’ll take advantage of anything to get someone on his side.”

“Are you really that sure?” Steven doubted. “If Bowser really is just using Spinel to further his own goals, it probably won’t take long for her to catch on. Unless he’s using that Dark Star thingy to control her or something… although it didn’t seem that way to me…”

”Well, regardless of what the reason behind Spinel’s betrayal is,” Rosalina said, “what matters most is stopping her and Bowser before they cause too much chaos.”

”Yeah,” Mario said. “That should definitely be our #1 goal right now. But I still have one question… how does Bowser have the Dark Star now? Me and him and my brother Luigi destroyed it a few years ago.”

“Good question, Mario,” Rosalina said. “When you three fought the Dark Star, you didn’t completely destroy it; rather, you scattered its essence across our universe. From the looks of it, Bowser was able to collect that essence, reform the Dark Star, and bathe it in enough negative energy to restore its original powers.”

“I see.” Looking back on that old adventure - during which he and Luigi had ventured through Bowser’s body as the three of them worked to defeat Fawful and the Dark Star - Mario remembered how Bowser had tried to take the dark power for himself, but the Dark Star ended up absorbing his DNA and fighting him in the form of Dark Bowser. How did he manage to successfully harness it this time? Mario wondered.

“But even now that the Dark Star has most of its ancient powers back,” Rosalina continued, “it is still not at its full potential just yet. Do you five remember how the Alliance bombed your party with a strange black liquid?”

Mario, Steven, and the B-Team exchanged glances, then simultaneously nodded.

“That liquid is called blackpoison, and it is a concentrated liquid form of the Dark Star’s energy. Not only can it be extremely deadly to almost any living being, it can also corrupt them and make them insane and powerful.”

The explanation reminded Mario of his adventure on Lake Lapcat, during which Bowser had become a giant furious monster after his son Bowser Jr. had covered him in a strange black goop as a prank. Could that goop have been blackpoison? It did look identical to the stuff that the Alliance had bombed the party with. That must be why Bowser and Bowser Jr. were at Lake Lapcat, Mario thought. There must've been some Dark Star essence there, and that must be where all that blackpoison came from.

“Along with releasing the blackpoison, do you also remember Bowser seemingly making a tiny spike in the blackpoison pool?” Rosalina asked.

The others nodded.

“That is another thing Mario is likely familiar with: the Fury Sun. When Mario and Luigi and Bowser defeated the Dark Star, one of the places its essence went to was Lake Lapcat. It formed a giant spiky blackpoison mass known as the Fury Sun and covered the lake in blackpoison, which it slept in for many years until Bowser became Fury Bowser and used the Fury Sun to go in and out of his rampages. 

“The Dark Star has two parts: its main body and its core. The body contains the Dark Star’s readily available power - such as interdimensional travel - while the core contains its ultimate power and “consciousness”, so to speak. While Bowser is using the body as his gemstone, he has placed the core inside the Fury Sun, allowing it to build up power via the blackpoison he’s collected. Once the Dark Star core reaches full power, it will refuse with its body, and the Dark Star will be truly complete and unstoppable. That time will be indicated by the full rise of the Fury Sun. It will bring great chaos and destruction as soon as it does, hence why Bowser has chosen to place it on Earth.” 

Mario nodded in understanding. “So I guess that means we need to defeat the Alliance before that can happen,” he said.

“Yeah,” Steven agreed. “The question now is… how do we do that?”

“Two things: Grand Stars and Power Stars,” Rosalina answered. “Just one Grand Star can neutralize any form of the Dark Star's energy - such as blackpoison - and when all seven are brought together, they can neutralize the Dark Star itself. Power Stars can’t do much against the Dark Star, but they will help provide the Observatory with extra power. After Bowser’s Super Mario Day attack on the Mushroom Kingdom, I pursued him to this dimension, hoping to lend Mario a hand. Bowser then attacked me and attempted to steal the star power, but his attack ended up scattering them across this dimension."

“And without them, the Observatory can’t fly, right?” Mario said. “And we’ll probably need to use the Observatory to reach the Alliance’s base, wherever it is."

"Yes," Rosalina confirmed. "Now that the Alliance has defeated the Diamonds, they have most likely made the Gem Homeworld into their new base.”

“Oh, so we just need to go to Homeworld?” Steven said. “That’s easy! We can just use the- oh… wait… I was gonna say that we could just use the Temple’s interstellar warp pad to go to Homeworld, but now I realize that since Bowser and Spinel took the Temple, we can’t do that… and there aren’t any other functional interstellar warp pads on Earth… shoot. Well, I suppose we’re just gonna have to get the Grand Stars back. We’ll need them to deal with the Dark Star, anyways, like you said. Do you know where they might have landed, Rosalina?”

“I do,” Rosalina replied as she stood up from her chair. “Come back outside with me, everyone.”

The group followed her out to the Observatory’s central plaza and over to its big galactic map. It displayed Earth with a big Power Star symbol on it.

”Since I was close to Earth when Bowser attacked me,” Rosalina explained, “a few of the Grand Stars and Power Stars landed here. The rest flew off into interstellar space, but luckily, my Lumas can send you into space if needed."

A few Lumas excitedly spun around and nodded. "Yeah, what Mama said!" one exclaimed. 

"We aren't that strong without star power, though," said another. "Right now we can only send ya to places on Earth, but once we get some Stars, we'll be able to fling ya allllll over this universe!"

Rosalina nodded. "Yes. There are 7 Grand Stars and 35 Power Stars in total. The Observatory only needs 6 Grand Stars and all 35 Power Stars in order to be able to fly as a starship, but we'll need all 7 Grand Stars if we are to defeat the Dark Star. Then we can go to Homeworld, defeat the Koopa-Gem Alliance and - hopefully - destroy the Dark Star once and for all.”

Steven nodded. "Alrighty. Sounds like we got a plan. We get the star power back, go to Homeworld, and show Bowser and Spinel all that we're made of. Does that sound good, guys?"

Mario and the B-Team cheered. "Yeah, let's do it!"

"Great! Now let's head back down to Earth and get everyone else filled in."

Chapter Text

Once Mario, Steven, Rosalina, and the B-Team returned to Earth, they had all the Beach City and Little Homeworld residents move from the emergency shelter to Little Homeworld. The humans and Gems all murmured to each other, confused and nervous as to what was going on.

"Hello again, everyone!" Steven announced. "I'm very glad to see that you were all able to safely escape the Koopa-Gem Alliance's attack. Due to the threat of the Fury Sun - as well as the possibility of a second attack - me and my friends have decided that it would be best for you all to remain here at Little Homeworld for the time being."

He then turned to face the B-Team. "Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot, you three will be in charge of everyone here. Keep an eye on the Fury Sun, watch out for any signs of the Alliance on the ground."

The B-Team all threw thumbs-up in his direction. "Roger that, Steven!" Peridot said.

Steven then turned to Rosalina. "Rosalina, you'll stay up on the Observatory to watch out for any air or space attacks. We'll also be using it as our hub."

Rosalina nodded. "Of course. I'll keep my eyes peeled."

Finally, Steven turned to Mario. "And of course, Mario and I will be heading off to find the Grand Stars and Power Stars. We're the ones the Alliance wants dead, so it'll be our job to take them down. We'll get the star power and our friends back and save the day!"

Steven extended his hand for another handshake. "Whaddaya say... Super Mario?"

Mario smiled and accepted the handshake. "Ready when you are... Steven Universe."

Steven smiled wider. "Alright then, our mission is a go!"

The boys turned towards the crowd, then simultaneously punched the air and cheered, "For the multiverse!"

The crowd copied them. "For the multiverse!"

* * * * *

After making sure the humans had everything they needed to sustain themselves for the next few days, Mario, Steven, and Rosalina returned to the Comet Observatory, where its map currently displayed a live view of the Fury Sun. It was still nothing but a tiny spike, which had doubled in size since it had been planted. “From what my Lumas have been able to gather,” Rosalina said, “we have about 5 days until the Fury Sun fully rises and the Dark Star is complete.”

“Only 5 days?!” Steven exclaimed. “35 Power Stars and 7 Grand Stars in 5 days?! How on Earth are we gonna do that?”

”Well, Steven, you and Mario have both been on many, many adventures, correct?” Rosalina replied. “I don’t see any reason as to why you wouldn’t be able to succeed on this one.”

”Plus, a lot of my adventures have been powerful collectible fetch quests,” Mario chimed in. "There's absolutely no saying I can't do another one."

Steven thought about it. "Yeah, good point, you two... We've all had our fair share of adventures, so what's one more? We'll just have to be a bit quicker than usual."

Rosalina nodded. "Indeed. We don't have a second to lose."

The map then zoomed out to show the entire planet. "While I am unfortunately unable to determine the exact locations of each Power Star and Grand Star," Rosalina explained, "I can determine their approximate locations. I am also only able to find a certain number of Stars at the current moment, but once we collect some, I will be able to locate more."

A yellow number 3 appeared on a peninsula just to the east of Earth's Prime Meridian. "The first 3 Power Stars I've detected are here," Rosalina said.

"Hey, I know that place..." Steven said as he squinted at the map. "That's the Strawberry Battlefield! I've been there!"

"Really?" Mario replied. "That's perfect! Hopefully it'll make finding the Stars a lot easier."

"Yes,” Rosalina agreed. “Steven’s significant familiarity with this Earth will surely be an excellent tool to help us find the Stars.”

Suddenly, after a brief pause, Rosalina’s eyes widened. “Oh, wait, I just remembered something! I have a special gift for you, Mario.”

From behind her, a Luma peeked out. It was unlike any of the other Lumas in the Observatory, as it was the only one with an apricot coloring.

Mario recognized him: “Baby Luma?”

Baby Luma shyly emerged from behind his mother and approached Mario. “Hi, Mario,” he greeted.

“Baby Luma here has grown much since your last adventure with him, Mario,” Rosalina said. “He has gained a new ability, which he would like to share with you.”

Baby Luma rose up a few feet into the air. "Ok, this is my first real test of it, but here goes nothing..." he said. "TRANS-FOOOOORM!"

As he screamed that last word, Baby Luma glowed and spun around. In a flash of light, he transformed into an apricot gemstone cut into the shape of a star, like one that would belong to a Gem.

"Woah..." Mario said as the gemstone floated down into his hands. "Is this... some new kind of Power Star?"

”You could say that,” Baby Luma said, his voice sounding slightly muffled thanks to his new form. “I found a way to turn my personal star power into this solid gem form, which can mine your memories to grant you all sorts of new powers! And Mario… I’d like to give that power to you. As a sort of thank-you gift for all the times you’ve helped me and Mama and all the other Lumas.”

Mario was shocked. “Woah… really? So, will I be like… half-Gem? Like Steven and Bowser?”

”In a way, yeah!” Baby Luma replied. “I can totally give ya Gem powers if you want! And all of the powers you’ve used in all your previous adventures - like the spin move I once gave ya or all those power-up thingies you’ve used over the years - I can let ya use them whenever ya want! Well, not all of them, actually, at least not right now… but the more Stars we find, the more powers I can give ya! So… whaddaya say?”

Mario studied the gem for a few moments. If he looked hard enough, he could very faintly see Baby Luma's curious beady eyes staring back at him.

Eventually, he sighed and answered, "Alright. Let's do it. I accept your gift, Baby Luma."

"Yay!" Baby Luma chirped excitedly. "Now, just hold still. This is probably gonna hurt..."

"Wait, what?"

The gemstone floated out of Mario's hands as it began to glow. With a loud Luma scream, it slammed full force into his chest, nearly knocking him off the Observatory.

"Mario!" Steven exclaimed. 

Mario cried out in pain as the gemstone embedded itself in the center of his chest, around where his heart was. Glowing apricot lines appeared on his body, as if his nerves and veins were being illuminated.

After a few seconds, the gemstone's glow faded, and the glowing lines disappeared. And finally... Mario's transformation was complete.

The plumber stood up, stretched, and took deep breaths as the pain subsided. "Told ya it was gonna hurt," said Baby Luma.

"Phew..." Mario sighed. "Did... did it work?"

"Yeah, I think so!" Baby Luma replied. "Give it a try! Just think of what power you wanna use and you'll be able to use it!"

"Ok..." Mario took a deep breath and thought of the Fire Flower, his signature power-up. As he did, his hand suddenly lit on fire.

"Woah, Mario!" Steven said. "Your hand's on-"

Mario interrupted him as he thrust his flaming hand outwards. The fire compressed into a ball and shot out of his hand, bouncing a few times before disappearing.

"Cool," Mario said.

"I think that's the only one of your old power-ups I can give you right now, unfortunately," Baby Luma explained, "but you should also be able to use your spin move!"

Mario clenched his fists and spun around. Sure enough, a starry blue trail appeared around him as he did so.

"Awesome!" Mario exclaimed. He then turned to Steven and asked, "So... shall we be off?"

Steven nodded. "You bet. Like Rosalina said, we don't have a moment to lose."

"Very well, then," Rosalina said.

One of the Lumas spun around to become a Launch Star. "This Launch Star will take you down to the Strawberry Battlefield. As soon as you find all the Power Stars there, Baby Luma will be able to send you back up here."

"Sure can!" Baby Luma confirmed. "Just say the word and we'll be back here in a jiffy."

Steven nodded. "Alright then, let's go!"

He and Mario headed over to the Launch Star. Just before they entered it, they made eye contact and smiled. "Ready?" Steven asked.

Mario nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be." 

The pair then finally entered the Launch Star, Mario activating it with a quick spin. The boys cheered as the Launch Star sent them flying back down to Earth like a pair of comets in the night sky.

Chapter Text

It had been a few hours since the Koopa Empire’s attack on the homeworld of the Gem race. The palace of the Diamonds had been reduced to a massive smoking pile of rubble, and the Diamonds’ giant mech - a legless likeness of White Diamond with a yellow right arm and blue left arm - lay ruined on the ground after the Diamonds had unsuccessfully tried to fight off the Koopa airships with it. Plumes of smoke and fire rose from the crash sites of Gem ships that had also lost battles with airships. Giant pools of blackpoison were also scattered around, slowly forming large inky spikes. Thanks to a giant wave of Dark Star energy produced by Bowser, all Gems who’d been on Homeworld during the Koopa invasion had been poofed, and Koopa soldiers ran around collecting their gemstones. Once they reformed, they would be mind-controlled to be completely subservient to both Bowser and Spinel, and the Koopa-Gem Alliance would be officially reformed.

A large crowd of Koopa soldiers gathered by the Diamond palace ruins just as the Alliance’s airship fleet exited FTL speed and anchored in the skies of Homeworld. A giant purple bubble rose out of the Alliance mothership and floated down to the ground, where it disappeared to reveal Bowser, Spinel, and Princess Peach inside.

“Hahahahaha!” Bowser laughed. “Can you believe how much of a pushover those Crystal Gems were? They can hardly beat either of us!”

“Right?” Spinel agreed. “But of course Pink still thought they’d make better friends than me…”

“Welcome back, Your Highness…es,” greeted the Koopa General Blueshell - a Koopa Paratroopa with a spiky blue shell, blue neck and shoulder armor, and a spiky blue helmet with the Alliance’s insignia on it. “Sorry, still getting used to having two leaders. Anyways, we’ve finished rounding up the last few Gems. They should all be reformed within the next few hours.”

“Excellent,” Bowser replied. “Where are the Diamonds?”

“Right here, sir,” said a green-shelled Paratroopa as he carried a giant purple bubble that contained the gemstones of the Diamonds, whom Bowser had personally poofed during his invasion. The Paratroopa dropped it in front of the Alliance leaders.

Bowser hugged the bubble and pressed his face against it, grinning as he stared at the Diamonds like a child at the aquarium. “Ah, at long last, the Koopas have finally gotten revenge against the Diamonds,” he said. “King Koopa would be so very proud.” He felt his power grow as the Dark Star connected to the Diamonds’ energy. It wasn’t complete thanks to the absence of Pink Diamond, but it was still enough to fill him with a sadistic satisfaction.

Spinel stared at Bowser dumbfoundedly as she asked Blueshell, "Uh, does he always act this weird?"

Blueshell chuckled and replied, "Wait 'til you see how he is with Peach."

After relishing in the satisfaction for a few seconds, Bowser let go of the Diamonds’ bubble. “Now that we’ve captured everyone we wanted to capture - the Diamonds, the Crystal Gems, and Peach - we can finally get to work on building our new empire,” he said. “But where to start? Hmm…”

The Koopa King’s gaze drifted to the ruins of the Homeworld palace. “That’s it! We’ll need a castle,” he realized. “No empire of mine is complete without a castle. How do we build it, though…”

His gaze then drifted down to the Dark Star. A wicked grin spread across his face as he said, “Actually, I know exactly what we can do…”

Bowser tapped a claw on the Dark Star a few times. “Oh, wakey-wakey, Dark Star,” he told it in a singsong voice. The malicious artifact’s red eyes lit up as it was awoken by its new master’s beckoning. 

Bowser giggled evilly as he raised his chest towards the palace ruins. “Time to show us what you can do, Dark Star,” he announced. “Build us a castle. Build us the mightiest, grandest, most magnificent castle the multiverse will ever see!”

As soon as Bowser finished his sentence, the Dark Star glowed with black light and let out its signature eerie growl. Waves of pure darkness began to radiate from Bowser, resonating through the air before being absorbed by the ruins.

Bowser, Spinel, and the Koopa army watched on in awe as the Dark Star’s magic transformed the ruins into a massive towering castle. It was roughly the same size as the Diamond palace the ruins had once been, but it otherwise looked very, very different.

The castle had the same main color scheme as the Dark Star - black, dark blue, purple, and red - and had a similar structure to several of Bowser’s older castles, with a tower at each of its four corners and a giant black and gold likeness of Bowser’s shell on the center of the roof. The entire castle was decorated with neon lights in all the colors of the rainbow, and a red and pink neon sculpture of the Alliance insignia hung over the giant red double doors that acted as the main entrance. It reminded Bowser of the theme park he’d built in the Sprixie Kingdom a few years back.

“Woah,” Spinel said. “Now THAT’S a castle.”

Bowser was at a complete loss for words. “It’s… it’s…” he stammered as he felt his eyes get misty. “It’s beautiful. Let’s go check out the inside!”

As the Alliance leaders approached the castle entrance, the double doors opened automatically. They and the Koopa army walked inside and were even more awestruck by it than the outside.

Similar to the Diamonds’ palace, the Alliance castle’s main room was a colossal throne room. A long carpeted runway connected the entrance to a massive platform at the opposite end of the room, and a few smaller runaway connected to the main one led to other areas of the castle. The platform and runway were both surrounded by a giant moat made of two different glowing liquids, fed by pipes on each side. The left side of the moat was boiling hot lava, while the right side was a strange neon pink liquid - biopoison, the toxic substance Spinel had tried to destroy Earth with two years ago. Giant pillars stuck out of the moat to act as additional decor.

At the opposite end of the room, just above the main platform, was a pair of thrones that each had their own set of stairs leading up to them. The left throne was black and decorated with Bowser’s insignia, while the right throne was dark purplish-pink and decorated with Spinel’s insignia.

"Amazing," Bowser said, completely awestruck by his new castle's grandeur. "This is truly the best castle I've ever had. This will be the perfect center for our new empire!”

"Wow... our own castle?" Spinel said, equally awestruck. "Man, why couldn't I have spent 6,000 years in here?"

Then, three Paratroopas flew in, carrying the bubbles of Peach, the Crystal Gems, and the Diamonds. “What would you like us to do with these, Your Highnesses?” one of the Paratroopas asked.

”Just leave them in here for now so we can keep an eye on them,” Bowser replied. “I’ll decide what to do with them later.”

The Paratroopas followed their king’s orders, leaving the bubbles to float just above the new thrones. “Perfect,” Bowser said.

Suddenly, a panicked Hammer Bro rushed in, sweat dripping down his face. “Your Majesties! Your Majesties!” he shouted. “The-the poofed Gems are starting to reform!”

Sure enough, a large variety of Gems began flooding into the castle. Not much about them had changed from before Bowser's dark spell - except for the emblems on their chest, which had changed from a Diamond emblem to a geometric version of the Alliance emblem. 

The Gems neatly congregated in front of their new masters, then saluted. It wasn't the traditional Diamond salute, which was both hands crossed over each other in a diamond shape, but instead a brand-new one: all fingers - except for the middle ones - touched at the tips to form an upside-down heart shape, with the middle fingers raised to look like horns. "We are at your service, Lord Bowser and Lady Spinel," the Gems all said in unison.

An excited, wicked grin spread across Bowser’s face. “Oh ho, hoho, hohohohoho…” he giggled. “I must be dreaming… a whole new army, a whole new castle, a whole new best friend, an entire multiverse ripe for conquering, and revenge against the biggest traitors to my kind? Hahahahaha! Incredible! This is everything I’ve always wanted! The only thing that could ruin this is if-“

Bowser was interrupted when his Magikoopa advisor Kamek suddenly flew in on his broom, looking more panicked than the Hammer Bro from earlier. “Y-Your Highnesses! Terrible news!” Kamek cried. “We’ve received word from our intelligence that Mario and that Steven Universe child are on their way to stop us! They’re collecting the Grand Stars and Power Stars that were scattered during our attack on the Comet Observatory!”

”WHAT?!” Bowser’s angry roar shook the throne room, his eyes suddenly glowing red - just like the Dark Star’s. Everyone else covered their ears and tightly closed their eyes as they barely kept their balance. “Grah, I should've known those two would dare to mess with my plans! Where are they now?!”

”They’ve just landed in the Strawberry Battlefield,” Kamek replied as he waved his wand, magically creating a holographic map of Earth. A red dot appeared on the peninsula east of the Prime Meridian as Kamek said, “Which is right about here. A couple of the scattered Power Stars are also there, and it appears that some other Power Stars and Grand Stars have landed on Earth as well.”

Bowser clenched his fists and teeth as his eyes went back to their normal appearance. “Grrrrrr… those boys have no idea what they’ve got coming,” he growled. “I’ll crush their heads like tiny little eggs!”

He then pointed as his army and roared, “Alright, all of you, listen up! Get down to that Strawberry Battlefield and find those Power Stars before Mario and Steven can! Comb every inch of it and the rest of that puny planet until you find every last Star that's there! And if you see the boys, kill them!"

"As you wish, Lord Bowser!" the Koopa and Gem armies replied in unison as they saluted. They then hurried out of the throne room to board the airships and return to Earth.

Once the armies were gone, Bowser turned to Spinel. "While they're all off doing that... whaddaya say we take a look around our new pad, Spinel?" he asked her. 

Spinel nodded excitedly. "Yeah, let's do it! I can't wait to see the whole place!"

"Alright." Before the duo left, Bowser stared dumbly at the castle exit, an evil grin slowly spreading on his face. "Hmhmhmhmhm... get ready, Super Mario and Steven Universe," he said in an ominous low voice, "for the biggest and final show of your lives."

Chapter Text

Mario and Steven landed in the Strawberry Battlefield a few minutes later, in a small open patch of grass surrounded by a giant strawberry bush. The boys looked around for any visible signs of the three Power Stars Rosalina had detected, but all they could see were wild strawberries of all shapes and sizes for miles, as well as a variety of ancient weapons that had once been wielded by Gems during the Gem War 5,000 years ago.

“Huh, I’m not seeing anything…” Steven mumbled. “You sure those Stars are here?”

”Just ‘cause we can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t here,” Mario replied. “Power Stars can be hidden pretty easily. We just gotta search every nook and cranny we can.”

As the duo walked along some grassy pathways that cut through the sweet-smelling strawberries, Mario made small talk: “So, Steven, if you don’t mind me asking… what’s the deal with you and Spinel? Something pretty big happened between you two, right?”

”…Yeah,” Steven replied after a brief hesitation. He didn’t like thinking about that horrible event from two years ago, but he knew that Mario deserved to know about it. “So, back when my mom was still Pink Diamond and not Rose Quartz, Spinel was her playmate. They’d play together in this big space garden whenever the other Diamonds were busy.”

“Huh,” Mario replied. “But… you said that your mom did something to her, right? Something pretty bad?”

Steven’s face darkened. “Yeah. After the other Diamonds gave Mom Earth, her colony, she told Spinel to stand still and wait for her in the garden, then left. And that’s exactly what Spinel did… for 6,000 years.”

Mario’s eyes widened. “…Woah. Was she all by herself that whole time?”

Steven nodded. “Yep.”

”And Pink never went back for her? Not even before she became Rose?”

”Uh-huh.”

Mario was horrified. “…Holy cow. Yeah, that would probably drive me insane, too.”

Steven chuckled. “Same here.”

”So then… how’d she find out about you? You said she tried to kill you and the whole Earth, right?”

“Well, after I finished dismantling the Gem Empire, I sent out a message to the whole universe explaining what I’d done. And since the garden had a communicator…”

”Spinel ended up seeing it?”

“Yep. Then she came to Earth to destroy it - and me - with this giant poison injector. She also used this weird scythe weapon called a rejuvenator to wipe the memories of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and take away my powers. Then I took it from her and wiped her memories. But luckily, as you’ve probably guessed already, I was able to stop her and get us all back to normal. Then the Diamonds showed up to try and move in with me, but I convinced them to instead have Spinel move in with them on Homeworld. And not long after that I went on my trip and... yeah. Now all this stuff is happening."

"Wow," Mario said. "Sounds like you two have quite the history."

Steven laughed. "Hahaha! Yeah, we certainly do. Anyways, now that I've told you a lot about my world and my life, I have to ask... what's your world like, Mario? You've hardly told me anything about it."

"What's my world like?" Mario stared skyward as he pondered the question. "Now that I think about it, it's actually a bit difficult to describe... my world has so many different places and things and people that I can't pick just one to talk about."

"Well, why don't you just tell me about the place you live?" Steven suggested. "The Mushroom Kingdom it’s called, right?"

"Yeah. As you can easily guess, it's a kingdom filled with mushrooms and all sorts of mushroom-like creatures. The main inhabitants are Toads, which are basically these little humanoids with mushroom caps on their heads."

"Oh, Toads? You said you had a friend named Toad, right?" Steven asked.

"Yeah. He's basically the representative of the whole species, the one that everyone knows and the one who goes on adventures with me and my other friends. He's also the sidekick of the kingdom's ruler, Princess Peach."

"Princess Peach? She's another one of your friends, right?"

"Yeah. But she's more than just my friend." Mario dreamily stared skyward and smiled at the mere thought of the princess. "She's the best. The light of my life. The apple of my eye." He placed his hands on his heart and sighed. "I love her so much. Although since Bowser loves her too, he's always capturing her."

Steven giggled. “Tee-hee! Glad to see you have yourself a significant other, Mario. I can say all the same things about my girlfriend Connie. Minus the love-triangle-and-constantly-being-captured part, of course. What about your other two friends - Luigi and Yoshi, their names were? What are they like?”

“Well, Yoshi’s my dinosaur friend. He lets me and everyone else ride around on him when we’re out adventuring. He can do a cool flutter jump and turn things he eats into eggs. And then Luigi…”

Mario sighed as his expression turned sad. “Luigi’s my little brother. He’s… just about everything to me, and I’m just about everything to him. We do everything together - adventuring, traveling, partying. We even live together.”

Steven’s expression turned worried, yet comforting. “You miss him, huh?” he asked.

Mario nodded as tears welled up in his eyes. “Yeah, I do. Really bad. And my other friends, too. And my world. It’s only been a few hours since we got separated, but…”

The plumber started crying as he hugged himself and said, “I’d give anything to be with them right now.”

“Aw, Mario…” Steven said as he pulled him in for a hug. “Don’t worry, we’ll find them. We’ll get you all back together and help you guys return to your home universe.”

Mario smiled and hugged Steven back as his tears went away. “Thank you, Steven. You’re such a kind boy. I can see why everyone here in your universe loves you so much.”

”Right back at ya, Mario,” Steven replied with a smile.

Suddenly, once the boys let go of each other, Mario gasped and pointed ahead. "Oh no... look!"

"What? What is it?" Steven asked.

He turned around and saw what Mario was afraid of: Goombas, Koopas, and various other members of Bowser's army, patrolling the area from both land and sky. They looked around with serious, determined looks and tightly clutched their weapons, ready to attack as soon as they spotted an enemy.

"Bowser's minions," Mario said. "The Alliance must've already found out that we're looking for the Stars. Hide!"

Before Steven could react, Mario grabbed his hand and dove into a nearby strawberry bush. Sticky red strawberry juice stained the boys' clothes, but they didn't care. They peeked their eyes out of the bush, looking around to plan their next move.

Steven gasped as he spotted another bad sign: Gems, who patrolled the area alongside their new comrades. "Oh no..." Steven whispered. "What are Gems doing here? Have they been mind-controlled or something?"

"Most likely," Mario replied. "I imagine that Bowser's used the Dark Star to make the Gem race subservient to him and Spinel. Looks like we're gonna need to use the Grand Stars to get them all back to normal, too."

As the boys scanned the area a bit more, Mario spotted it: the faint but unmistakable golden glow of a Power Star, hidden within a massive strawberry bush about half a mile ahead. "Look, Steven, that's a Power Star in there," he said. 

"Nice!" Steven said. "But how are we gonna get it without being spotted?"

"Y'know what I say we do?" Mario answered as a mischievous grin appeared on his face. "We ambush ‘em.”

Steven stared at Mario like he’d just sprouted a second head. “Ambush them? Why? Why don't we just sneak around them or something?”

”Well, back when I was saving my universe from Bowser, there’d usually be some kind of challenge I needed to complete before being able to get a Power Star. Often times, it would be beating some kind of enemies.”

Steven’s eyes widened. “Oh, I get what you’re sayin’,” he said. “We take down all those enemies, and then we’ll be able to get the Power Star?”

Mario nodded. “More easily, at least.”

Steven gave a thumbs up. “Alright, let’s do it.”

The boys summoned their weapons before slowly emerging from their hiding spot. "Ok, on 3... 2..." Mario mumbled as he and Steven waited for all the enemies to be looking away from them. 

Then, just as the last Koopa Paratroopa turned around, Mario shouted, "...1! Chaaaarge!"

The boys raised their weapons and charged towards the enemies. Before any of them could react, Mario sent a Goomba flying with a hammer swing.

The enemies immediately turned around and gasped when they realized who was attacking them. "Hey, it's Mario and Steven!" a Hammer Bro said. "Remember what the bosses said - kill on sight!"

"For the bosses!" cried a spear-wielding Koopa Troopa as he charged at Steven, who charged back while holding up his shield. The latter's Diamond-powered strike was knock the former into his shell and get launched backwards, plowing down several enemies before crashing into a rock.

Meanwhile, a limb enhancer-equipped Peridot used one arm as a helicopter to hover above Mario, using her other arm to blast electric balls at him. Mario hit the balls back with his hammer, the Peridot barely being able to dodge. One stray ball struck a flying Lapis Lazuli out of the air just as she was bending her water wings into fists to attack.

As Mario and Steven beat one enemy after another, they noticed that for each one defeated, a small Dark Star portal would appear and swallow them, then disappear. "Huh, I wonder where those portals are taking them..." Steven mumbled.

After a good few minutes of fighting, all of the enemies had at last disappeared. "Yeah, we did it!" Mario cheered.

"Woo! We beat 'em all!" Steven cheered as he high-fived Mario. "Now we can get the-"

Suddenly, the ground beneath the boys' feet began to shake, and the bush containing the Power Star loudly rustled. From out of the ground in front of the bush burst a giant botanical monster, another one of Bowser's minions: a Piranha Plant. 

However, this particular Piranha Plant wasn't like most of its kind. Instead of being firmly rooted into the ground or a pipe, it stood up on two stubby legs. It had a green pudgy body, two giant leaves for arms, and red shorts with white polka dots. Its head was nearly twice the size of its body, colored the same way as its shorts. Its lips were green, and it had a mane-like ring of yellow and orange flower petals around its head.

Mario recognized the enemy, which was one he'd fought countless times before: "Petey Piranha."

"Raaaaaaaaaaahhr!" roared Petey Piranha, the mighty and ferocious leader of the Piranha Plants. He flapped his arms to create wind gusts, and his goop-filled stomach churned violently.

"Looks like we're not getting that Star without a fight!" Steven shouted. "Ready, Mario?"

"You bet!" Mario replied. "Let's do this!"

Chapter Text

Petey Piranha slammed his leaf arms against the ground, triggering several of his rooted brethren to burst out of the dirt and gnash their teeth at Mario and Steven. The boys could barely fight back against the sudden onslaught of the carnivorous plants, even with their weapons and acrobatic skills.

"Take this, you overgrown weeds!" Mario shouted as he threw fireballs at the Piranha Plants, instantly lighting them ablaze and making them fall to the ground. Steven threw his shield like a frisbee, which decapitated several Piranha Plants before flying back into its wielder's hands. Like with the previous swarm of enemies, Dark Star portals appeared to collect each fallen Piranha Plant.

"Rrroaaaaahr!" Petey Piranha roared as strange purple fog began leaking from his mouth. He then sharply inhaled, his stomach churning even more violently as he suddenly vomited a waterfall-like stream of blackpoison. It struck several bushes of strawberries, immediately dissolving and destroying them.

"Blackpoison?! Bowser must've powered him up!" Mario realized.

"No way we're letting him win!" Steven shouted as he threw his shield towards the botanical foe. Mario used it as a bounce pad to gain some extra height, then threw a big fireball directly into Petey Piranha's mouth. The latter roared in pain before a quick burst of smoke shot out of his mouth.

"That did some good damage!" Steven shouted. "Keep doing that, Mario!"

"One step ahead of ya, Steven!" Mario replied.

From the blackpoison Petey Piranha spat, goop-covered Piranha Plants emerged, their angry hissing sounding lower and more distorted than usual. They tried again to eat the boys, but all they could get were mouthfuls of strawberries.

“How about this!” Mario shouted as he did a spin attack to deflect a few Piranha Plants going after him. The blackpoison stung his hands a little bit, but he luckily didn’t touch it long enough for it to severely damage him. As soon as they were hit, the Piranha Plants split in half and melted back into the blackpoison they’d come from.

As Steven took out some more enemies, Petey Piranha spat poison directly at him. He blocked it with his shield, but the deadly liquid slowly but surely began to dissolve it.

”Steven!” Mario shouted as he ran towards him, his hammer held high. He used his weapon to strike Petey Piranha directly in the stomach, knocking him into the bush containing the Power Star.

”Whew! Thanks, Mario!” Steven said, rescued just in time for his shield to fully dissolve.

”It’s not over yet!” Mario shouted as Petey Piranha climbed out of the bush, covered in sweet strawberry goop. Bits of blackpoison had caused some of his yellow petals to turn black.

”Rrrrroooaaaaaar!” the monster roared as he flapped his arms and took to the air. 

“Hey! Get back here, flower face!” Mario shouted. He attempted to throw another fireball into Petey Piranha’s mouth, but he’d already gone too high for Mario to be able to hit him. Even a boosted jump with Steven’s shield wouldn’t be enough to reach him.

“Gah, he’s too high!” Mario yelled in frustration as he and Steven ran to dodge blackpoison their airborne foe spat at them. “Try throwing your shield at him, Steven!”

Steven followed Mario’s advice, and his shield was luckily able to reach Petey Piranha. Unfortunately for the boys, the monster simply ate the shield and went right back to attacking.

As the boys continued running, Steven suddenly got an idea. “Hey, Mario, let’s try something different!” he called. "Try lighting my shield on fire with one of your fireballs!”

Mario stared at him in disbelief. “What?! You might get hurt!”

“Just do it!”

”Ok…” Mario threw a fireball at Steven's shield, lighting it ablaze as soon as it made contact.

”Now try hitting it towards Petey with your hammer!” Steven instructed as he threw his flaming shield at Mario.

"Ok!" Mario shouted, now understanding Steven's idea.

Mario hit the shield with the strongest hammer swing he could muster, sending it flying towards Petey Piranha like a meteor - and straight into his mouth. "Hah, hole in one!" Steven taunted.

Petey Piranha roared in pain, smoke pouring out of his mouth as he fell to the ground, landing in the giant blackpoison pool he'd created. After a final burst of smoke exploded from his mouth, he dissolved into the toxic black substance, which was all then swallowed by a Dark Star portal.

And finally... the battle was over. Mario and Steven had won their fist big fight.

The boys exchanged ear-to-ear smiles before jumping high into the air and high-fiving each other. "Yeah, we did it!" Steven cheered.

"Our first boss down!" Mario exclaimed. "And our first Power Star acquired!"

Sure enough, the bush containing the Power Star disappeared, releasing the golden cosmic treasure. It floated over to Mario, who used his new gemstone to store it.

"Alright," Mario said. "One Power Star down, about... 34 more to go. Off to find the next two here!"

Chapter Text

As Mario and Steven trekked further and further across the Strawberry Battlefield, they could see larger sizes of strawberries and many more Gem weapons. Birds peacefully chirped and tweeted, and several ghostly white butterflies sucked on the strawberry juice that still stained the boys' clothes. And luckily for them, there wasn’t a single Alliance soldier in sight - for the time being, at least.

Mario curiously dragged his hand across the head of a giant hammer as he and Steven walked past it. "Huh, I wonder who all these weapons used to belong to..." Mario wondered. "Do you know, Steven?"

"Well, back when Mom and the Gems were still fighting to protect the Earth," Steven replied, "wayyyyy before I was born, a giant battle took place here. All these weapons here were once used by Gems.”

”Oh, neat,” Mario replied as he plucked a strawberry from a bush and ate it in one bite. “I take it you know a lot about Gem history? Mmm, these are some great strawberries...”

Steven nodded. “I sure do. I suppose that’s one perk of your mom being a Gem leader, haha.”

The boys continued walking for a while until they spotted a series of small islands floating in the air. A chain of tiny islands led up to a big island a few hundred feet above them, where they could see the glow of a Power Star.

”Ooh, looks like that’s Power Star #2 there!” Mario exclaimed. “Shall we head up?”

Steven nodded. “We shall!”

Steven tried to super-jump all the way to the island, but to his surprise, he couldn’t even make it high enough to touch the island’s bottom. “Aw, rats, I was sure I could make it from here…” he complained as he safely floated back down to the ground.

”Looks like we’re just gonna have to take the long way,” Mario said. “You know how to do platforming, right, Steven?”

”Yeah, you could say that,” Steven replied, “but I’m not that good at it. I’m used to just super-jumping all the way to the top of things, haha.”

“Well then, you’re in luck!” Mario exclaimed as he adjusted his hat and smiled. "I’ve been platforming since I first learned how to walk; I can teach ya everything you need to know to become an expert platformer!”

Mario jumped onto the first tiny platform, which was only a few feet above the boys. “Let’s start with some basics,” he called down to Steven. “Hop up and join me here!”

”Ok!” Steven replied. He slightly knelt down and jumped, safely landing on the tiny bit of platform next to his friend.

”Nice!” Mario said. “Now try following me as I go up these other platforms.”

Mario then quickly hopped from platform to platform, Steven following close behind. The former effortlessly went higher and higher, while the latter stumbled a couple of times before he and Mario reached a platform that was slightly bigger than the others.

”Not bad!” Mario noted. “But you definitely gotta work on your balance.”

He then spotted two columns of platforms a few feet apart from each other, resembling a pair of walls. "This is a good spot to show you wall jumping," he said to Steven. "Just watch me and I'll explain as I go."

Mario then leapt towards the lowest platform, landing on its side. "Just jump towards a wall, and once you hit it, jump off it to fling yourself higher!"

Sure enough, the plumber kicked off the wall, landing on the side of the next highest platform on the opposite column. "Then just keep doing that as fast as you can!" he called to Steven as he went higher and higher.

"O-ok!" Steven replied. He then jumped towards the low platform, hitting its side. "And then, I just gotta... jump!"

He kicked off the wall, landing on the side of the next platform. "Woah, yeah, this is easy!" he said. "And fun!"

Steven and Mario laughed and cheered to each other as they wall-jumped together. Eventually, Mario safely landed on the Power Star platform, Steven not too far behind. He landed on the platform's side, but when he tried to pull himself up, he suddenly lost his grip and began to fall. "Aah! No!" he cried.

"Woah! I gotcha, Steven!" Mario said as he grabbed Steven's hand just in time and pulled him up onto the platform.

"Whew! Thanks, Mario," Steven sighed in relief.

"Your platforming skills aren't half-bad, Steven," Mario noted, "but you definitely need some more practice. No pressure, though; it took me years to master all the tricks, and even now I'm still learning."

He then grabbed the Power Star and sucked it into his gemstone. "And that's Star #2 acquired!"

"Great! Only one more left to find here!" Steven exclaimed. 

The boys scanned the area to see if the final Power Star was nearby. At first they didn't see anything, but then Steven spotted a faint golden glow in the distance. "Hey, what's that over there?" he thought out loud.

"What's what?" Mario asked.

The boys approached the edge of the platform and spotted it: the Strawberry Battlefield's final Power Star, located on another big platform that floated over a giant abyss with trees at the bottom.

“There it is! The last Star!” Steven exclaimed.

”Yes! Let’s go!” Mario cheered.

The plumber was about to jump over to the Star, but Steven suddenly grabbed his hand. “Woahwoahwoah, what are you doing, Mario?” he said. “There’s no way we can jump to there from here.”

”Maybe not jump…” Mario replied, “…but I bet we could long jump.”

”Long jump? Is that another platforming trick of yours?”

“Yeah! Just get a good head start, then jump as hard as you can! We can try it together if you want.”

Steven looked at the platform, then back at Mario. The platform didn’t seem too far from where they were, but he wasn’t sure if they could make it there with any kind of jump.

Eventually, Steven sighed and said, “Ok, let’s do it. No harm in trying, I guess.”

Mario nodded. “Alright. Take my hand and let’s go.”

The boys took each other’s hands, then backed away from the edge of the platform. They then took deep breaths before Mario counted down: “3… 2… 1…”

The boys then sprinted towards the edge, and right before they hit it, they simultaneously shouted, “Here we go!”

With all their might, Mario and Steven long-jumped off the platform, letting their arms dangle behind them and legs in front of them. They took off into the air, flying straight towards the other platform.

”Woo-hoo!” Steven cheered excitedly. “I’m flying!”

”That’s the spirit!” Mario exclaimed. “We’re gonna make it to the Star for sure!”

Sure enough, the boys reached the Power Star platform - too well, in fact, as they nearly overshot it. Luckily, Steven grabbed onto a vine that dangled from the platform and hoisted himself and Mario up.

With him and Steven huffing and puffing, Mario sucked the Power Star into his gem. “Phew… and that’s… huff… the last Star acquired.”

”Y-yeah, we did it!” Steven said as he and Mario high-fived, too tired to celebrate any more. “Now let’s… huff, phew… get these Stars to Rosalina.”

Mario tapped on his gemstone and said, “H-hey, B-Baby Luma? Can you… huh, phew… get us back to the Observatory?”

”You got it, Mario!” Baby Luma replied. The gem then briefly glowed before a Launch Star appeared. "And I just let Mama know we're on our way!"

"Thanks." The boys then entered and activated the Launch Star, disappearing into the sky with a quick flash.

Chapter Text

Mario and Steven reached the Comet Observatory a few minutes later, where Rosalina was waiting for them in the plaza.

"Ah, welcome back, boys," Rosalina said. "Were you able to retrieve the Power Stars in the Strawberry Battlefield?"

"Yes we were!" Mario proudly replied. His gemstone glowed as he summoned the three Power Stars it contained.

Rosalina smiled. "Excellent. I will add these to the Observatory stockpile now."

She then used her wand to magically throw the Power Stars into the star-like beacon at the center of the Observatory. It was very dim, small, and burgundy-colored thanks to it having no Grand Stars, but the added Power Stars made it ever so slightly brighter. Some tired-looking Lumas lying around the Observatory also gained some energy and became more cheery, energized by the beacon.

"Nice!" Steven said. "3 Power Stars down, 32 more and 7 Grand Stars to go! By the way, Rosalina... we did find out some not-so-nice news while we were down in the Battlefield."

"Oh?" Rosalina inquired.

"Well, it turns out... the Alliance has already found out about the Stars. We ran into some of their goons while we were in the Battlefield."

A shocked expression appeared on Rosalina's face, which quickly changed to a defeated one as she shook her head and sighed. "Oh stars... I should've known this would happen. Although the Grand Stars can neutralize the Dark Star, they and the Power Stars can also power it up if used the right way."

"Really? Why didn't you tell us that earlier?" Steven asked.

Rosalina sighed again before replying, "I got... a bit too optimistic. I was hoping the Alliance wouldn't bother going after the Stars with how scattered they are now, but they definitely seem to be collecting all the power they can get."

"Well, looks like we're just gonna have to beat 'em to the punch," Mario said. 

"Yes, absolutely," Rosalina agreed. "And luckily, now that we have some Star power, I can locate some more Power Stars."

On the Observatory's Earth map, a yellow number 2 appeared on a spot just south of the Strawberry Battlefield. "The next 2 Power Stars are here," Rosalina said.

"Ooh, that's the Sky Spire!" Steven exclaimed. "That's another place I've been to!"

"Cool!" Mario replied. "Let's head out right away!"

"Of course," Rosalina said, waving her wand to create another Launch Star. 

Without hesitation, Mario and Steven ran over to the Launch Star and activated it. “Let’s-a goooooooo!” they cheered as they rocketed back down to Earth.

Chapter Text

Although it hadn’t even been a day since the reformation of the Koopa-Gem Alliance, the renovation of Homeworld had already been completed. The former palace of the Diamonds was now the castle of the Alliance, and the giant diamond-shaped platform in front of it was now an even larger circle. One half of the platform was chock-full of all of Bowser's minions, while the other half was chock-full of Gems, who were all now fully brainwashed to serve their new leaders.

Standing atop their castle, staring down at their new army, was the leader duo themselves: Bowser and Spinel.

Bowser threw his hands up into the air and called down, “My army!” His army cheered with equal enthusiasm.

“Koopas!”

The Koopa General saluted with a fist to his chest.

“Goombas!”

The Goombas jumped up and down in excitement.

“Whatever those things are!”

The Spinies - quadruped Koopas with spiky red shells - briefly danced excitedly, then stared down at the ground in disappointment by their master’s forgetfulness.

“After ten thousand years…” Bowser continued as he summoned the bubble that contained the Diamonds, “...we have at last gotten revenge against the Diamonds for their betrayal of King Koopa!”

His army cheered again.

“And with this victory, we have gained new allies: the Diamonds’ former subjects, the Gems! Alongside them, we shall conquer all the dimensions of the multiverse!”

The Gem army cheered alongside Bowser's.

“However,” Bowser spoke against the cheering, “I have realized that even I cannot rule an empire of this size on my own. Which is why I’ve decided to co-rule with the Diamonds' closest ally! Minions, meet our new best friend..."

He grabbed Spinel's hand and raised it as he said, "...Spinel!"

Both armies cheered once more, throwing their own hands into the air.

Once the cheering died down, a Koopa grunt raised his hand. "Uh, what about Princess Peach, Your Highness?" he asked.

"Yeah, haven't you always said you wanted her to rule with you?" asked another.

Bowser let go of Spinel and huffed. "Yes, yes, I have..." he mumbled. "But you all know how she is; she never wants to do anything with me. Always just wants to be with Mario. Grrrrrr... I can't wait to crush him and that Steven boy...

"But let's forget allll about Peach and Mario right now... and get ready to build the best empire in the multiverse! It's gonna rock!"

The cheering from the Koopa-Gem Army was so loud, it could be heard for miles and miles across the planet.

* * * * *

Once their address concluded, the Alliance leaders left to run some errands in their castle.

In her private room, Spinel was busy personalizing it with the help of the Pebbles, tiny Gems that had once served Pink Diamond. Per their new master's request, they made the room into a combo of Pink's old palace and garden.

"How are you liking your new room so far, Your Highness?" asked a Pebble who was busy working on a column.

"Looks great, guys!" Spinel replied. "I love it already! Bowsie really thought of everything to put in this place!"

Suddenly, a knock came from behind the room's sliding door, which then opened to reveal a Koopa Troopa. "Uh, excuse me, Lady Spinel?" he said. "Lord Bowser has requested your presence in the throne room."

Spinel headed down to the throne room to find Bowser chatting with a young Koopa. The latter looked nearly identical to the former - same spiky shell, same draconic head, same bulky build - only in a much smaller baby form. He wore a white bandanna with a fanged mouth drawn on it, and he rode in a helicopter-like pod vehicle with a clown's face on it. Floating above the pair was Kamek.

"But Da-ad!" the young Koopa whined. "I want my own Gem best friend, too! How come you get one and I don't?"

Bowser sighed. "I promise I'll find you one soon, Junior," he replied, "but right now, I just want you to get to know Spinel a bit. You're gonna be seeing her a lot, so it's important to me that you'll be able to get along with her."

The two Koopas then noticed Spinel enter, the young one shyly hiding in his vehicle. "Ah, and here she comes now," Bowser said. "Spinel, I'd like you to meet my son, Bowser Jr."

Bowser Jr., the Prince of the Koopas, peeked out from his Junior Koopa Clown Car, nervous about meeting his father's new friend.

"Hey there, little guy," Spinel calmy said to try and coax out Junior. "It's ok, I don't bite. Not you or your dad, at least."

Reassured, Junior fully emerged from his Clown Car. "H-hi," he timidly greeted.

"And I've got some other kids I want you to meet, too - the Koopalings," Bowser said to Spinel. "They're not my biological kids like Junior is, but they do help lead my army and are super loyal to me. They should be here any-"

Suddenly, Bowser was interrupted when his own Koopa Clown Car came flying into the throne room at full speed. Riding it were the seven Koopalings - Larry, Iggy, Wendy, Morton, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig - who all hooted and hollered as they fought each other for control of the vehicle. They barely flew over the heads of the others before crashing into the wall behind the Alliance leaders’ thrones, scattering the septet all over the floor.

Bowser sighed in annoyance before finishing his sentence: “…Second.” Spinel, Junior, and Kamek held back laughter.

"Heya, boss!" greeted Larry, the youngest and most delinquent Koopaling, as he and his siblings got onto their feet. "You called for us?"

"Yes, I did," Bowser replied. "Koopalings, I'd like you all to meet my new friend Spinel. She's gonna be my co-leader for the new Koopa-Gem Alliance."

"Hi, everyone," Spinel waved.

"Hi, Spinel!" the Koopalings loudly greeted in unison.

"DID BOSS NEED ANYTHING ELSE?" asked Morton, the biggest, strongest, and most dim-witted Koopaling.

"Yes, there is one more thing," Bowser confirmed. "Remember those Grand Stars that were scattered when we attacked the Comet Observatory? I'm entrusting you seven to go and find them for me."

"Really? Us?" asked Lemmy, the smallest and most childish Koopaling.

"Yes. Even after all these years - and... failures - you Koopalings have proven time and time again to be my most reliable and loyal minions. So I think you all stand the best chance at getting the Stars and beating Mario and Steven."

"Yeah, beat Mario and Steven!" cheered Iggy, the most hyperactive Koopaling.

"You got it, Mr. Bowser!" said Wendy, the sassiest and only female Koopaling. 

"We won't let those boys know what hit 'em!" said Roy, the "bully" of the Koopalings.

"We promise we will not let you down, My Lord!" said Ludwig, the oldest and smartest Koopaling.

"That's what I like to hear!" said the pleased Bowser. "Now go! Get those Grand Stars!"

"Yeah! Grand Stars! Grand Stars! Grand Stars! Beat Mario and Steven!" the Koopalings cheered as they climbed back into their boss's Clown Car and flew out of the throne room just as hastily as they had entered.

Bowser Jr. watched the septet go with a sad, jealous look. He then turned back to his father and asked, "What-what about me, Papa? What can I do? Are you gonna get me a Gem friend now?"

Bowser thought about it. "What can you do? Hmm..." In all the commotion with the Koopalings, he'd almost completely forgotten about his son's request. 

Suddenly, the Koopa King got an idea. "Hey, I know!" he said. "Junior, while I'm off finding a Gem friend for you, why don't you and Spinel spend some time together, just the two of you? You both love playing games, so I'm sure you'd enjoy doing a lot of that together."

"Yeah, that's a good idea!" Spinel agreed. "Whaddaya say, Junior?"

Junior thought about it. He'd noticed that his father was being a bit dismissive towards him, even though he usually tried his best to be there for him whenever he could. But at the same time, Junior understood that running a multiversal empire likely didn't leave Bowser with much free time.

After dwelling on it for a few moments, Junior answered, "Y-yeah, I'd be down for that. Bu-but you'll let me know as soon as you find me my own friend, right, Papa?"

"Of course I will," Bowser said. "Now, run along now, you two, so I can get going. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"O-ok, then! Let's go Spinel!" Junior exclaimed.

"Yeah, playtime!" Spinel cheered as she and Junior ran out of the throne room together. "See ya later, Bowsie!"

"Uh-huh," Bowser replied. He wasn't sure how to feel about Spinel's cutesy nickname for him.

Once the former two were gone, Kamek finally broke his silence to Bowser: "If I may be so inclined, Your Highness... I advise you to not get too attached to this new friend of yours. There's no guarantee she'll stay on our side forever."

"You do have a point, Kamek..." Bowser admitted. "Spinel can be pretty annoying... and maybe a bit too cuckoo for my liking. But I gotta say, she's pretty strong for some lanky little plaything. Nearly my equal! Plus, she's got abandonment issues, so if anything, I think she's probably more afraid that we'll betray her instead of the other way around. And she did tell me this not long after we teamed up..."

Bowser reenacted the interaction by getting up real close to Kamek and giving him a pretend threatening stare as he said in a low, ominous voice, "'If you even think of abandoning me like Pink did... I'll annihilate you and all your other friends.’"

Kamek gulped. "So then... you're-you're not gonna try to betray her eventually, are you?" he asked.

“No, I'm not. But for right now, I’m just gonna test her a little bit so I can be absolutely sure she’ll be a good co-leader. And I think if I can trust her with Junior… I can trust her with anything.”

Kamek nodded in understanding. “Whatever you say, Your Highness. I am glad to see you finally coming out of your shell for once and making yourself an actual friend. I think that even if things do go south, this'll be a good way to help you not be so lonely and closed-off all the time."

Bowser subtly grinned. "Thanks, Kamek."

* * * * *

"Woah, so you can like, stretch your body out really long?" said an amazed Bowser Jr. as Spinel demonstrated her elasticity powers to him. The pair had gone back to Spinel's room to play together. "That's awesome! I wish I could do that!"

"Yeah, it's certainly a very handy power to have," Spinel replied as she returned her body to its default size, "and not just for playing."

"Yeah... I don't really have any powers that I didn't get from my dad..." Junior solemnly remarked. "All I got is my Clown Car... and my paintbrush." He reached into his vehicle and pulled out the paintbrush he used a weapon, whose tip was covered with color-changing paint that had a variety of magic powers.

Noticing Junior's abrupt change in mood, Spinel asked, "Is everything ok, Junior? Why are you so sad all of a sudden?"

"Oh, it's nothing..." Junior replied. "I just miss my dad a little bit."

Spinel nodded. "I get that. I know what it's like to have someone you care about suddenly drift away from you."

"Yeah, I remember Dad saying something about that to me... you were abandoned, right? By your old best friend?"

"Yep. She left me alone for a veeeery long time. But luckily, I eventually met your dad, and now here we are."

"Yeah, I feel that. I’ve been abandoned before, too.”

Spinel’s eyes widened. “Really? You have?”

Junior nodded. “You... you know how you've never seen my mom before, and how Dad and I never bring her up?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, you and your dad have never said anything about you having a mother..."

"Yeah, well that's 'cause... she abandoned us."

Spinel was shocked. She had no idea that both Bowser and his son had experienced abandonment before, just like she had. "Woah... she did?"

Junior sighed. "Yeah. Right after I was born, she ran away and left my dad to raise me on his own. He has no idea where she could've possibly gone, and he hasn't seen or heard from her since. One time he told me that Princess Peach was my mom... but deep down I always knew that that wasn't true."

"Oh my gosh, that's... that's awful, Junior. I had no idea."

"It's fine, it's fine." But the sudden change of Junior's tone to sounding like he was on the verge of tears indicated that that was a lie. "The... the Koopalings have been through something similar, being abandoned by their parents when they were all babies. Luckily, my dad found them and took them under his wing - although as he's told you, they're not his actual kids like I am."

"Wow..." Spinel gawked. "Seems like you, me, your dad, and the Koopalings... we really aren't that different from each other. We've all been through similar stuff. Is... is your dad good to you, at least?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely!" Junior abruptly perked up. "He always supports me through thick and thin, and he lets me beat up Mario with him! And he lets me boss around the Koopalings!"

"That's good to hear. I'm glad that your dad is such a good support system for all of us."

"Yeah..." Junior said as his mood switched back to sadness. "But that just makes me even more sad that he isn't spending as much time with me. I... I just hope he's not gonna be like my mom or your old best friend and... and..." Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Oh, Junior, don't say that," Spinel said as she extended her arms to pluck Junior out of his Clown Car. "I'm sure your dad would never do that to you - or the Koopalings, or anyone, for that matter. Not on my watch, at least."

She pulled Junior closer to her and made eye contact with him. "Listen, Junior, if he does try anything like that on you, if he does try to ditch you somewhere... you let me know, ok? I’ll knock some sense into him faster than you can blink.”

Junior sniffled, wiped away his tears, and nodded. “O… ok. Th-thanks, Spinel.”

Spinel smiled. “Of course. Now, let’s forget about your father for a bit,” she said as she put Junior back into his Clown Car. “If you don't mind, Junior, could you tell me a little bit about that Mario dude? I couldn’t really get a good idea of him when your dad and I attacked his and Steven’s party, and I know your dad... doesn't particularly enjoy talking about him.”

"Well, the best way I can describe Mario is... a big meanie," Junior replied. "He's always messing with me and Dad's plans and tryin' to take Princess Peach for himself. I love beatin' him up."

Spinel giggled. "Hehe! He sure doesn't seem too different from Steven. He's a big meanie, too, always just using me to do what he wants for him. And of course him and Mario are trying to mess up everything your dad and I have planned right now.

"Now, if you don't mind me asking one more thing... could you tell me a bit about that Princess Peach? I haven't really been able to get a good idea of her, either. I know your dad really loves her, though."

"Yep, he sure does," Junior confirmed. "He has tried to marry her, but of course she always says no." The Koopa Prince pouted. "Stupid princess. Always runnin' back to stupid Mario. I bet she wouldn't even be that good of a mama, anyway."

Spinel found that she enjoyed Junior's company just as much as Bowser's - and even more so now that she knew they all had similar trauma. One look into Junior's bold, beady eyes told her that she absolutely needed to protect him from ever being abandoned again - whether it be by the hands of his father or anyone else. She didn't want him going down the same dark path of sadness and insanity she'd had.

Spinel smiled as she plucked Junior out of his Clown Car again, this time stretching out her arms even more to playfully lift him up to the ceiling. "You really aren't half-bad... Bowsie J," she said. "You and your father are the best friends I've ever had."

Junior giggled and tried in vain to wriggle out of Spinel's arms. "Hehehehe! Hey, put me down!"

Suddenly, a knock came from the door of the room, which then opened to reveal Kamek. "Excuse me for interrupting your playtime, Lord Junior," the Magikoopa said, "but your father has found you a Gem friend. They’re both waiting for you in the throne room with a special gift.”

Junior’s face lit up. “Really?!” he exclaimed before wriggling out of Spinel’s arms and faceplanting on the ground. “Yay! I can’t wait to meet them!”

He hopped into his Clown Car and sped out of the room, Kamek following behind. "Sorry, Spinel, gotta go!" the former called back as he left. "See ya later!"

"Yeah..." Spinel solemnly replied, disappointed to see her new friend leave. "S-see ya later, Bowsie J..."

Chapter Text

A few minutes later, Mario and Steven landed on a floating platform not unlike the ones in the Strawberry Battlefield. In front of them, they could see more platforms and some mountainous floating islands leading up to a giant floating rock with a hallway structure wrapping around it, which led up to a dome-like area in a shallow bed of water. On a little platform in the center of the water, they could see the glow of a Power Star.

The boys took deep breaths of the fresh high-altitude air and looked around at the pretty pink clouds surrounding the Sky Spire. On the horizon, they could see that the Sun was just beginning to set.

"Nice place!" Mario remarked. "Reminds me of a lot of the sky places we have in my universe."

"I haven't been here in years," Steven said, "but I think I still know my way around. We just gotta follow all these paths up to the main Spire."

The boys began walking along a pathway that went past some cool-looking rock formations covered in moss. A gentle sky breeze and the calm tweeting of local birds provided a relaxing auditory ambience to match the beautiful background.

"Y'know..." Mario thought out loud, “...I do find it a bit odd that Bowser has made such a close alliance, especially with a plan as big as this one."

"Really?" Steven replied. "Does Bowser not make alliances very often?"

Mario shook his head. "Not really. When he does make them, it's usually so he can use the other person for his own gain, and he usually ends up betraying them once they're no longer of use to him. He even teamed up with himself once" - Mario chuckled, remembering his and Luigi's adventure with his paper counterpart - "and they still both planned to betray each other eventually. So again, I do find it strange that Bowser has found someone other than Peach to rule his empire with him."

"Yeah, I get what you're sayin'," Steven said. "I've been having a lot of the same thoughts about Spinel, actually. I find it strange that she's put so much trust into someone other than the Diamonds this quickly, considering how bad her trust issues were when she and I first met. If she thought I was only using her for my own gain even when I wasn't, at least not intentionally... I don't know how she hasn't already figured out that that's likely what Bowser is doing."

"Well, actually, now that I think about it..." Mario said, "...I think there is a possibility that Bowser isn't actually planning to betray her, and that he does genuinely want to be her friend."

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah. Bowser's always struck me as the lonely type, y'know? Although he does have a whole load of minions, he doesn't really have any actual friends. He doesn't really have any family either, besides his son Bowser Jr. and advisor/adoptive father Kamek. I think that's also a big reason why he's always kidnapping Peach - 'cause he's desperate for some kind of connection. Plus, I think he's jealous of the relationship I have with my brother Luigi, since we have a strong friendship and familial bond that Bowser doesn't have with anyone. I suspect that he's teamed up with Spinel so he can finally form that kind of friendship-type bond he's been craving for so long."

"Huh, good point," Steven remarked. "And considering the fact that Spinel has wanted the same thing ever since my mom abandoned her..."

"She and Bowser are a perfect match in that regard."

"Yeah, exactly. But the thing is... Spinel's relationship with the Diamonds always seemed just as perfect to me, so now I'm just left wondering why she turned on them - and me - so suddenly."

"Well, as I've told you, Bowser is a master manipulator. Even if he does want to have a genuine connection with Spinel, he's most definitely manipulated her in some way, to make her believe that we and the Diamonds are the bad guys. Plus, from what you've told me about Spinel's past, I think there's a good chance that she's still had some sort of resentment towards you - and maybe the Diamonds, too - even before Bowser came along. With the level of trauma she has... I highly doubt it's possible to ever fully recover from it."

"Yeah, that's another great point ya got there, Mario..." Steven admitted, thinking back to when Spinel had been living with the Diamonds. To him, she'd seemed perfectly happy with them - and just super happy in general - but deep down he'd known that she had not fully recovered from her abandonment and likely never would, and that she was probably just using humor to hide the fact that she was still hurting. It reminded him of his adolescent years, when he'd also use humor and kindness to hide his own pain from everyone. And of course he remembered how well that had ended for him. 

Steven also thought about how impatient he'd been with getting Spinel off his tail, both before and after he'd stopped her from destroying the Earth. He'd gotten her to turn off her injector, then immediately pushed her aside to focus on recovering his powers and Garnet's memories. He'd also given Spinel to the Diamonds fairly hastily and had gone on his cross-country trip without giving any of them any sort of proper goodbye, despite giving one to everyone else in his life. He knew why he didn't enjoy being around the Diamonds - with them being former genocidal dictators and all - but he wasn't sure why he acted the same way with Spinel. He'd befriended countless other Gems who'd wanted to destroy him and everything he cared about, so why had he pushed away this one in particular? And one who had severe trauma related to being pushed away, no less? Was he just tired of constantly having to neutralize so many dangerous Gems? Was there a certain quality of Spinel's that he didn't like but couldn't pinpoint?

Steven sighed before admitting, "Man, was I a fool to believe that the Diamonds were all Spinel needed to move on from what Mom did to her. One time, back when she first tried to kill me, she told me that I was so protective of my real friends and so careless with my fake ones. Looking back on that... I don't think she was wrong. Grr, if only I wasn’t so obsessed with fixing everyone’s problems as fast as possible…”

Tears welled up in his eyes as he said, “I… I don’t think you and I would be in this current mess in the first place.”

”Aww, Steven, don’t say that,” Mario reassured him as he put a hand on his shoulder. “Even if you did make Spinel think you didn't like her, it's not your fault she betrayed you; it's entirely her own fault, and probably Bowser's, too. She chose to try to kill you and the Earth, both this time and the last. She chose to side with Bowser, even if he did pull some of her strings. She's been through pain that nobody deserves to go through, but that's not an excuse for her to be so violent."

He then gave Steven a hug. "What I mean is... don't be so hard on yourself, Steven. Don’t blame yourself one bit for anything that’s happening right now. Remember, Bowser and Spinel are our foes; they're why we're in this mess, not you. So be mad at them, not yourself. And I'll make sure you never ever forget that."

Steven hugged Mario back and sobbed into his shoulder for a few seconds, then let go and wiped away his tears. "Th-thanks, Mario," he said. 

Suddenly, the boys' emotional moment was interrupted by a loud baaaaaaa! sound, like the call of an animal. Then, from a nearby bush emerged one of the Sky Spire's local fauna - a mountain goat. Steven recognized it from his previous visit to the Sky Spire: "Steven Jr.!"

"Baaaaaaaa!" bleated Steven Jr., the goat Steven had humorously declared to be his son when he'd first visited the Sky Spire with Pearl and Amethyst five years prior. In his mouth, Steven Jr. held a golden metallic object, chewing on it despite it being too hard and big for him to eat.

"Hey, is that a Power Star?" Mario said as he noticed the object's star shape and glow. "How'd he get that?"

Mario reached out to try to take the Power Star from Steven Jr., but the goat startled him with a loud bleat before retreating further up the Sky Spire.

"Hey, get back here, Steven Jr.!" Steven shouted as he and Mario began chasing after him. "Bad goat!"

The boys were fast, but Steven Jr. was faster. He effortlessly skipped across a river, a rickety rope bridge, and up several flights of stairs and even a vertical climbing wall - all of which Steven had encountered on his previous trip to the Sky Spire. Even with their Gem-enhanced speeds, he and Mario could barely keep up.

Eventually, Steven Jr. stopped at a set of floating platforms that led to the bottom of the big rock where the other Power Star was. The boys tumbled to the ground in front of him, huffing and puffing.

"Huh... huh... huh..." Steven huffed as he got up to his feet. "That's... that's enough, Steven Jr.! Be... be a good goat... and give us the magic star!"

He then lunged at his "son", successfully grabbing hold of the Power Star. He tried to pull it out of Steven Jr.'s mouth, but the stubborn goat refused to let go of it.

Suddenly, with another loud bleat, Steven Jr. took off across the platforms - taking Steven with him.

"Steven!" Mario shouted as he grabbed his friend's leg and was yanked across the platforms alongside him. The boys were both impressed with Steven Jr.'s ability to carry them and the Star so effortlessly. Maybe the Power Star's powering him up a little bit? Mario wondered.

Once Steven Jr. reached the entrance to the hallway surrounding the big rock, Mario and Steven used their legs to force him to stop, then continued their tug of war with him.

After a few seconds, the boys finally overpowered Steven Jr., pulling the Power Star out of his mouth and tumbling backwards. 

"Yes! We got it!" Mario cheered. He quickly stored the Star in his gemstone just as Steven Jr. bleated and tried to grab it again.

"Great! Steven exclaimed. "And would ya look at that, the other one is just up ahead!"

As the boys began walking up the hallway leading to the top of the rock - Steven Jr. following close behind - they suddenly heard a loud rumble and what sounded like a portal opening up, as well as the hum of...

"Helicopter blades?" Steven said.

As Mario listened closely to the sound, his eyes widened in realization. "Oh no..." he said. "That's not a helicopter. It's..."

The boys and Steven Jr. sprinted the rest of the way to the top of the rock. They gasped when they walked out of the hallway and spotted it hovering above the Power Star: an Alliance airship. It didn't appear to be the Alliance mothership, as it had the same size and appearance as a garden-variety airship. But along with flying the Alliance flag, it also flew a different one: one with the orange silhouette of the face of Bowser's son Bowser Jr., which now had a red Ruby gemstone in place of its left eye and a cyan Aquamarine gemstone directly below that.

Along with the ship, Mario and Steven spotted a cage sitting just in front of the tiny temple below the Power Star. Mario gasped as he immediately recognized who was trapped in it.

"Luigi!"

Luigi's face lit up with both joy and fear as he noticed his older brother. "Mario! Help me!" he cried.

Suddenly, two simultaneous rounds of familiar, childish evil laughter echoed through the area as two small figures flew out of the airship and landed in front of Luigi's cage, hovering just above the ground. Mario immediately recognized one of them.

"Bowser Jr."

"Hahahahaha!" the Koopa Prince laughed, riding in his Junior Koopa Clown Car just like he always did. "If it isn't Stupid Mario! You and your new friend finally decided to show your ugly faces, huh?"

Steven gasped as he recognized who Bowser Jr. was with: "Bluebird Azurite."

"Hehehehehe!" giggled Bluebird Azurite, the fusion between an Aquamarine and the Ruby Eyeball Steven had fought two years prior, and in turn had separately fought her components two years before that. Her skin was deep blue with splotches of red and green, and she had two arms, four legs, and burgundy bowl-cut hair. She wore a red and teal suit with a white collar and blue tie, and her gemstones were embedded in her left eye and cheek. She flew with a large set of butterfly wings made of water, which she'd gotten from her Aquamarine component. She was just barely taller than Bowser Jr., and she spoke in an annoying cockney accent: "Long time no see, Steven Universe. Miss me much?"

Steven glared at her and mumbled, "Not at all," under his breath. 

"Hahaha! See, Mario? You and Dad aren't the only ones with new Gem friends!" Junior laughed. "Meet my new friend Bluebird Azurite! And I know you already know her, Steven."

"Indeed he does!" Bluebird confirmed. "When I first heard about this whole Koopa-Gem Alliance business, I knew it would be the second chance to enact my revenge! Then Lord Bowser introduced me to this son of his, and now the two of us are gonna beat both of you dirty rotten human boys into the ground!"

"That's right!" Junior cheered. "And look what else Dad gave me!"

He pulled his up his fanged mouth bandana to reveal a black star gemstone embedded in his chest, not unlike his father. 

"Ugh... now you're half-Gem, too?!" Steven exclaimed in frustration.

"Hahaha! That's right, Stupid Universe!" Junior replied. "With his new powers, Dad's been givin' all his best minions - which of course includes yours truly - Gem buddies and Dark Star and Gem powers! You boys and everyone else in the multiverse ain't gonna stand a chance against any of us!"

Junior and Bluebird retreated back to their airship just as a giant Dark Star portal suddenly appeared.

"But as much as Bluebird and I would love to beat you two up ourselves," Junior said, "we ain't got the time for either of you bozos! Which is why I'm havin' an old pal of mine crush you - or should I say, eat you - for us!"

He then loudly whistled before calling out, "Oh, Gobblegut, dinner's ready! We got a nice, fresh, FIVE-course meal waitin' for ya! Don't forget to protect your bellyache bulges!"

Finally, Junior and Bluebird's airship flew into the Dark Star portal, the duo's evil laughter echoing out as they vanished into the darkness.

Then, after a few seconds, a loud draconic roar rang out as a giant snake-like wingless dragon flew out of the portal, circling the giant rock as the portal disappeared. The creature had green and blue swirly scales, a tan skin underside, orange eyes, a giant bulbous chin, giant rounded teeth, and orange crystals protruding from various spots on its body, as well as six large pinkish-red bulges along its entire length.

"Gobblegut!" Mario cried.

"Rooooooaaaaar!" roared Gobblegut, the dragon Mario had fought during the second universe-saving adventure he'd gone on after his bigger, more well-known first one. The monster blew steam out of his nostrils as he roared, making a sound that resembled a train whistle.

Mario, Steven, Luigi, and Steven Jr. cried out in fear as Gobblegut swooped towards them, mouth wide open. Mario and Steven jumped out of the way, but Luigi and Steven Jr. were helpless to do anything before Gobblegut swallowed them and the Power Star in one big gulp.

"LUIGI!" Mario screamed.

"Steven Jr.! The Power Star!" Steven cried.

Gobblegut roared again, more steam shooting from his nostrils as he stared at the boys with half-lidded googly eyes, ready to try again to eat them.

"Grrrr..." Mario growled as he and Steven equipped their weapons. "Gimme back my brother, you overgrown scaly worm!"

"We're gonna rip that Power Star straight outta your belly!" Steven shouted as he and Mario lunged at Gobblegut.

Chapter Text

Mario and Steven jumped out of the way just in time for Gobblegut to once again swoop at them and attempt to eat them. But instead of either of the boys, he swallowed a mouthful of the water surrounding the tiny temple.

"Steven! See those big red bulges on his body?" Mario called out. "Aim for them! They're his weak spots! Once we take 'em all out, he'll be a goner!"

"Roger that, Mario!" Steven replied before throwing his shield towards Gobblegut, striking the bulge closest to his head. Sure enough, it burst into red goo that resembled blood, and Gobblegut roared in pain.

"Nice! Five more!" Mario cheered.

Steam blew out of Gobblegut's nostrils as he roared and dove straight down towards the boys, mouth open and eyes moving wildly. As the boys scrambled out of the way, the dragon dove through the water and began tunneling through the floating rock by eating away at it.

As Gobblegut tunneled, his bellyache bulges briefly got stuck in the ground. Mario was able to hit two of them - one with his hammer and another with a spin attack - before Gobblegut tunneled all the way through the rock, emerging from its lower right side.

"Yes! Only three more!" Steven cheered.

As Gobblegut circled the rock again, his scales suddenly became red and black, his underside became orange, and his crystals and teeth began to glow like the embers of a fire. Then, his entire body lit on fire as he angrily roared and shot stronger, hotter, and louder steam puffs out of his nose. He'd transformed into the fiery version of himself Mario had fought not long after fighting his regular self.

"Woah! Gobblegut can transform?!" Steven exclaimed.

"I don't remember him being able to do that!" Mario shouted. "Did Bowser power him up, too?!"

As Gobblegut once again bit the water in another failed attempt to eat the boys, he left behind a small of pool of lava, which turned some of the water into steam with a loud hissing and gurgling noise.

"Aah! That's not good!" Steven exclaimed as he was slightly burned by the steam. "How do we hit him now that he's on fire like that?"

"Wait for him to stop burning!" Mario replied. "Then his bulges will be vulnerable again!"

Sure enough, after the boys dodged another swoop from Gobblegut, the fire on his body disappeared, leaving him open to attack. After Steven popped another bulge with his shield, some of the goo it sprayed hit his jacket, burning a hole through it like lava - and on the same spot as some of the biopoison Earth had nearly succumbed to two years prior. Steven cried out in pain as the goo left a black burn mark on his arm, then quickly kissed it to instantly heal it with his healing saliva.

"Steven!" Mario shouted as he heard his friend's pained cry. "You ok?"

"Yeah! Don't worry about me; I can easily heal myself!" Steven replied. He readied his shield for another throw, but before he could attack, Gobblegut's body lit ablaze again.

The fiery dragon once again circled the rock, shooting fireballs out of his mouth that rained down towards the boys. Steven magically deployed a protective pink bubble around himself and Mario to protect them from the hot liquid as well as the giant steam cloud it created as it hit the water.

"Woah! Good thinking, Steven!" Mario complimented. "Thank goodness you have so many protection powers!"

But the boys' celebration was unfortunately short-lived, as they couldn't roll the bubble out of the way in time for Gobblegut to successfully grab them in his mouth. Luckily for them, the bubble was too big for the dragon to swallow, so he simply bit and chewed at it to try to pop it.

The boys screamed in fear as Gobblegut flew around and shook the bubble wildly, tossing them around inside. They also began to sweat as heat from the dragon's mouth made the inside of the bubble hotter.

"I-I don't think this bubble is gonna hold for much longer, Steven!" Mario cried as Gobblegut began to compress the bubble.

"Ju-just hold on!" Steven replied. "I have an idea!"

With as much focus as possible, Steven slowly but surely increased the size of the bubble, gradually making it harder for Gobblegut to hold or bite it. Eventually, he finally spat out the bubble, which disappeared as it landed on the ground. "Phew! Good job, Steven!" Mario cheered. "And look, he stopped burning again!"

"Now's our chance to finish him off!" Steven shouted as he hit another bulge with his shield, leaving only one left.

Gobblegut roared and blew steam even louder as he lit ablaze again and went completely wild, mindlessly biting the water and beginning to tunnel from the top of the floating rock all the way to the bottom. His last bellyache bulge was the one closest to his tail, so the boys would to wait a bit for it to get stuck in the ground, as well as for his body to stop burning.

Then, just as the bulge hit the ground and got stuck, Gobblegut's body stopped burning. "Look, there's our chance!" Mario shouted. "Let's finish him off together, Steven!"

"Ok!" Steven agreed as he summoned another shield.

Finally, with loud battle cries, the boys struck Gobblegut’s last bulge - Mario with his hammer and Steven with his shield. The dragon let out a continuous pained roar as he flew back up above the boys, slowing down as he got closer to them.

Then, after freezing midair above the boys, Gobblegut released a sound that resembled a distorted squeak, and a large Dark Star portal appeared to swallow him as he dropped out of the air.

Chapter Text

A few seconds after Gobblegut vanished - as well as all of the lava he'd left behind - the Power Star shot out of the portal with a golden flash, pulling Steven Jr. and the now-uncaged Luigi behind it. Miraculously, both of them were completely unharmed despite having been inside the belly of a flaming dragon. The Star dropped them as it slowly floated down to the ground, the Dark Star portal disappearing behind it.

”Luigi!” Mario joyfully cried as he sprinted towards his brother.

”Mario! Bro!” Luigi cried with equal joy as he and his brother tackled each other. 

The Mario Bros. sobbed as they hugged, overjoyed to be together again. Steven watched the heartwarming scene with a big smile as Steven Jr. scampered over to him.

”Oh, Mario, I knew you’d come for me!” Luigi cried. “I-I was so scared, but-but I felt a lot better as soon as I remembered you’d be on your way!”

”That’s right, Lu!” Mario tearfully replied. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since we got separated! I’m so glad to see you’re ok!”

“Ditto!” Luigi exclaimed as he and his brother stopped crying and hugging.

He then noticed Steven standing behind Mario. “Hey, who’s that?” Luigi asked.

“Oh, I’m Steven Universe,” Steven answered. “Mario and I have been traveling together to find all the Power Stars and Grand Stars.”

”Ah, I see,” Luigi replied. “I’m glad that you found yourself a new friend, Bro!”

”Yeah, I am too!” Mario said. He then took off Luigi’s hat and ruffled his hair as he continued, “…But of course you’re still my all-time best one.”

Luigi giggled as Mario put his hat back on. “Hehe, yeah I am!”

”So Lu…” Mario began to ask, “…do you know where Toad and Yoshi went, by any chance?”

Luigi shook his head. “Sorry, Bro, but I got just as good of an idea as you do; I only saw you guys disappear after Kamek blasted us away. But since you and I both landed on this planet, I’m sure they did, too.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” Mario agreed. “And what about you? How’d you get here and end up in that cage?”

”Well, after Kamek blasted us,” Luigi began to explain, “the portal dumped me down there.” He pointed to the big floating island at the bottom of the Sky Spire, where Mario and Steven had landed earlier. “Then as I was tryin’ to find a way outta here, I saw two Power Stars fall from the sky and land nearby. I tried to grab one…”

He pointed to Steven Jr. as he said, “…But then that goat yanked it outta my hands and ran off with it.”

Steven chuckled before looking down at Steven Jr. and asking him, “You really have a hankerin’ for magic stuff, don’t cha, Steven Jr.?”

The goat loudly bleated in response.

”So instead of getting that Star,” Luigi continued, “I made my way up here to try to get this one.” He pointed to the Star floating above him. “But just as I was about to grab it, Bowser Jr. came outta nowhere and knocked me out! And when I woke up I was in that cage and... yeah. I've just been waiting for you since then, Bro."

"Bowser Jr. got you?" Mario said. "Hm... that explains why he was here when Steven and I got here."

"Yeah," Steven agreed, "but wait... if the Power Star was just here like a sitting duck, why didn't Bowser Jr. just grab it and bolt? Isn't that why the Alliance is invading Earth in the first place - to find all the Stars that are here?"

Mario chuckled. "Well, Steven... as cunning and bright as Junior is, he's a lot like his father: very bold and arrogant. The first two times I had to recover the Grand Stars, I always had to fight either him or Bowser in order to get one. I thought that Junior could've easily just taken each Grand Star he found and bring it to his dad, but instead he'd always just wait for me to get to whichever one of his bases he was at at the time and then fight me for the Star. So, yeah... he and Bowser are both big show-offs, and of course they continue to be like that despite it never ending well for them."

"Huh," Steven replied. "That checks out, I suppose. And I think Spinel is kinda the same way, actually. Back when the Gems and I fought her when she initially arrived on Earth for her first invasion, I noticed that she kinda toyed with us for a bit before she actually started trying to hurt us. I suppose that being a show-off is in her nature, with her being designed to be a playmate and all.”

“And I guess it's another way she and Bowser are such a good match,” Mario noted as he approached the Power Star and sucked it into his gemstone.

Noticing his brother’s new power, Luigi said, “Woah, Bro! What is that thing? How’d you get it?”

“Oh, hey, Luigi!” Baby Luma chirped from within the gemstone. “It’s me, Baby Luma! To help him and Steven on their adventure, I turned myself into this gemstone form and embedded myself into Mario to give him new powers! Ok, I realize how weird that might sound out of context... but it's still pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah, that's totally cool!" Luigi replied. "I'm happy to see that you've already made yourself at home in this strange new dimension, Bro! I guess now me and the others will have to do the same 'til we can go back to our home dimension."

"Yeah, good idea!" Baby Luma said as he made a Launch Star appear. "Let's get you boys to Mama right away!"

Chapter Text

Once Mario, Luigi, and Steven reached the Comet Observatory - unfortunately having to leave Steven Jr. behind so as not to take him from his home - and gave Rosalina their newly-collected Power Stars, Steven summoned the B-Team for a rendezvous. Everyone then explained the current situation to Luigi - about Bowser defeating the Diamonds and teaming up with Spinel, about the Koopa-Gem Alliance, about Mario and Steven's search for the once-again-lost Power Stars and Grand Stars, and about the return of the Dark Star.

"So, if I'm understanding everything correctly..." Luigi said. "...Bowser has overthrown the leaders of an intergalactic alien race, combined their forces with his own, and has reformed the Dark Star, which Mario and I thought we destroyed years ago? And now he and the alien leaders' closest friend are gonna use the Dark Star to take over this universe, my and Mario and Rosalina's home universe, and everywhere else in the multiverse?"

Steven nodded. "Yep, your understanding is indeed correct, Luigi."

Luigi stared at the Observatory floor with wide eyes as he processed everything. All he could think to say was: "...Mamma mia."

"Yes, it certainly is a lot to take in, Luigi," Rosalina said, "but I assure you that your brother and Steven have been doing an excellent job in recovering the Stars so far. And speaking of which... I have now been able to locate our first Grand Star."

Mario and Steven's faces lit up. "Really?!"

On the Observatory's Earth map, a Grand Star symbol appeared on a spot just east of the Strawberry Battlefield. "It is right about here," Rosalina said.

"Ooh, that's the Ancient Sky Arena!" Steven immediately recognized. "It's not very big, so getting that Grand Star will be a breeze!"

"Yeah!" Mario agreed. "...If the Alliance's goons don't get to it first, that is."

"And I've got some good news too, Mario!" Baby Luma suddenly chirped. "I think now I have enough Star power to give you more power-up... power!"

"Really? Awesome!" Mario perked up, also realizing that he hadn't really used the Fire Flower at all yet. "Do you know which one?"

"Yeah! I think it was... that Ice Flower thing you once used!"

"Which one? I've used two of them: one that let me skate across water and lava, and one that let me shoot ice balls."

"Uh, lemme see... it's... actually... both of them!"

"Really? Cool - literally!" Mario then took a deep breath and thought of the Ice Flower. Sure enough, his entire body turned to ice before he thrusted his hand outward. A magic blue ball shot out of it that bounced forward a few times - accidentally hitting Peridot and freezing her in a block of ice.

"Oh no! Peridot!" Steven and Mario exclaimed as the latter turned himself back to normal.

Luckily, Peridot wasn't frozen for long, as the ice block shattered and disappeared after a few seconds, freeing her. "Hey!" shouted the annoyed green Gem. "Watch where you're shooting those things, you red mustachioed clod!" Bismuth and Lapis Lazuli barely held back laughter.

"Sorry, Peri!" Mario apologized as Bismuth and Lapis could no longer contain themselves and burst out laughing, annoying Peridot even more.

Luigi chuckled as he watched Peridot angrily yell at her friends, which only made them laugh harder. "Your new friends are pretty cool, Bro!" he noted. 

"Yeah! It's been great getting to know them!" Mario replied. "...But of course I haven't been able to stop worrying about you, and about Toad and Yoshi. I hope we'll be able to find them soon..."

"Don't worry, Mario Bros., I'm sure we will," Steven reassured. "I hope things are ok back in Beach City, too..."

"Yeah, things haven't been too bad so far," Bismuth confirmed as she and her fellow Gems finally regained their composure. "All the humans are doing just fine, and the Alliance hasn't been bothering us at all."

"Good," Steven replied. "What about the Fury Sun? How's that doing?"

Peridot summoned her tablet from her gemstone and opened up a live feed of the Fury Sun before showing to Mario and Steven. A few of the Fury Sun's other top spikes were just barely starting to poke out of the blackpoison, as well as the very top of its top half. "This is how it looks so far. We've been keeping a very close eye on it, just like you said to," Peridot said.

The boys released nervous sighs. "Well... at least it's not that bad yet," Mario said. "And we still got like... what, just over 4 days left? We can totally get all the Stars by then."

"Yeah, hopefully," Steven said. "And I don't think we should waste any more time. Let's go get that Grand Star!"

Rosalina waved her wand to summon a Launch Star to the Ancient Sky Arena. "Off you go, boys," she said. "Good luck down there."

Mario and Steven raced over to the Launch Star, but before they entered it, Mario looked back at his brother. "Hey, Lu..." he began to ask. "...Wanna come with? Just like old times?"

Luigi silently pondered it for a moment. He'd been on countless adventures with Mario before - even being the one to fight alongside him during his first fight against the Dark Star - and he always knew when he needed to push his cowardly tendencies aside and put on a brave face. But even by his standards, this was by far his brother's most daunting fight yet. Luigi wasn't sure if he could win against such huge odds this time, even with Mario and his powerful new friend by his side.

Eventually, Luigi sighed and said, "Y'know what, Bro? I think... I'm gonna sit this one out. It's... it's just too much for me. I'm sorry, Bro."

"It's ok, Lu," Mario reassured him as he walked over to him and patted his shoulder. "As much as I'd like you to join us, I'm not gonna force you. This is most definitely both my and Steven's biggest challenge we've ever faced. Trust me, we're both just as nervous about it as you are. If you don't want to come, that's more than ok. I totally understand. And I appreciate your honesty about it."

Luigi smiled. "Thanks, Bro. You're the best. I do kinda wanna come, but like I said, I... just don't think I can do it this time. And besides…”

He walked over to the B-Team. "...I think these three could use an extra pair of hands down on Earth."

"Indeed we could!" Lapis said. "Good to have you on the team, Luigi."

Mario shot Luigi a smile. "Alright then, I guess we'll be seeing you guys later. You ready, Steven?"

Steven nodded. "You bet. Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

The boys then finally entered and activated the Launch Star, cheering as they soared back down to Earth.

Chapter Text

Mario and Steven reached the Ancient Sky Arena a few minutes later, landing on the warp pad by the entrance. Two sets of stairs - one to the boys' left and another to their right - led up to the entrance, which had the Diamond Authority logo above it. Ironically, the pink part was cracked and almost entirely crumbled.

“This is where a lot of Gem battles took place back during the Gem War,” Steven explained to Mario, "and also where Pearl first helped me learn how to fight. Like I said earlier, it's fairly small compared to most other Gem places on Earth, so it probably won't take us long to find the Grand Star. Hopefully we'll be able to just get in, grab it, and get out."

Sure enough, as the boys climbed up the stairs, they could see the glow of a Grand Star coming from the arena entrance. It was the same as a Power Star glow, only much brighter and more noticeable. Along with that, the boys could hear several rounds of familiar mischievous chuckling.

“Is that laughter I hear?" Steven said. "Who could that be?"

As Mario listened closely to the laughter, his eyes widened in realization of who it belonged to. "Oh no..." he said. "It's... it's... it's them."

"'Them'? Who's them?" Steven asked.

"Grr, I should've known Bowser would send out those brats to try to stop us. First Junior and Bluebird, and now them..."

"Who? Who are you talking about?"

Mario grabbed Steven's hand and sprinted the rest of the way up the stairs, racing through the entrance and down another set of stairs leading into the center of the arena. The Grand Star floated above the back of the arena, which had a drop-off into thousands of feet of open air where another section of the structure had seemingly once been. 

But the boys were more focused on what was hovering above the Grand Star: a Clown Car similar to Bowser Jr.’s, only much bigger and with a more detailed clown face. And riding aboard all piled on top of each other were…

"Koopalings," Mario grumbled.

The Koopalings - a group of seven siblings who weren't Bowser's biological children but were still some of his most high-ranked and loyal minions - all laughed as they spotted Mario and Steven. On each of their chests were small black star gemstones like Junior's - indicating that Bowser had made them half-Gem, too.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Super Mario!" said Ludwig, the oldest Koopaling and the group's self-proclaimed leader. "And we see you've brought your new friend with you!"

"Pleasure to meet you, Steven Universe!" said Roy, the "bully" of the Koopalings. "But it's a shame we won't get to know you very well before we smash you!"

"KOOPALINGS SMASH PUNY HUMAN BOYS!" shouted Morton, the biggest and most dim-witted Koopaling. "KOOPALINGS TAKE GRAN STARS FOR MASTERS! MAKE MASTERS HAPPY! MASTERS RULE MULTIVERSE!"

"We'd love to stay and chat with you boys," said Wendy, the sassiest and only female Koopaling, "but we've all got our own Grand Stars to find!"

"So in the meantime, I'll be the one to take you boys down right here! Gahahahahaha!" cackled Iggy, the most hyperactive Koopaling, as he leapt out of the Clown Car, landing just below the Grand Star. He was the lankiest and tallest of the Koopalings, and he had a light green shell and spout-shaped light green hair. He also wore large black glasses that clearly displayed his swirly light blue eyes.

A Dark Star portal then appeared, which the other six Koopalings retreated into. Just as they disappeared, the voice of Ludwig echoed: "Good luck, boys! You're gonna need it!" along with his and his siblings' evil laughter.

With a crazy, wicked grin on his face, Iggy took out his magic wand - which every Koopaling had to assist them in battle - whose tip was colored yellow. “Hahahahahaha!” he laughed. “I may not have my siblings with me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be fighting alone, boys!”

He then waved his wand, and a Chain Chomp - a ball-and-chain-like creature with wild eyes and a large mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth - appeared from a magic burst of Dark Star fog, as well as a Gem who tightly clutched the end of its tail-like chain with one hand. The Gem was very tall and bulky, with a yellow and brown color scheme. She appeared to be a fusion, as she had two yellow sun-shaped gemstones where her ears would be.

"T-Topaz?!" Steven gasped as he recognized the Gem: a fusion of two Topazes he'd fought - as well as the Aquamarine who was now part of Bluebird Azurite - after they'd tried to kidnap his friends four years prior. He'd been able to get Topaz on his side back then, but she was clearly brainwashed by the Alliance now, as a minimalist geometric version of its logo had replaced the Yellow Diamond logo on her chest. She stared at the boys with a stoic, emotionless expression, just like how she'd been back then.

”Hahaha! That’s right, boys!” Iggy cackled. “Lord Bowser’s given all of us Koopalings Gem partners and Gem and Dark Star powers - but I'm sure Lord Junior told you that already! You pesky little half-humans won't stand a chance against any of us, let alone me and Topaz! Ain't that right, Topaz?"

Topaz wordlessly nodded in response. Her Chain Chomp loudly barked and gnashed its teeth, and she didn't budge even as it attempted to violently lunge at the boys.

Mario and Steven summoned their weapons. "I've beaten you and all your siblings plenty of times before, Iggy!" the former shouted. "Don't think I can't - or won't - do it again!"

"That Grand Star belongs to Rosalina!" the latter shouted. "We won't let you touch it with a 10 foot pole!"

Chapter Text

Topaz single-handedly swung her Chain Chomp around like a wrecking ball, and Iggy used his wand to summon some Koopa Troopas while maniacally cackling and running all around the arena. He and his Gem partner had strikingly opposite personalities, Mario and Steven noted.

Mario jumped on a Troopa to make them retreat into their shell, which he then gave a good whack with his hammer. The shell bounced all around the arena, plowing down several other Troopas before hitting Topaz in the leg. Despite the shell's momentum, the Gem was completely unharmed; in fact, she didn't even seem to notice that she'd been hit. 

Topaz finally let go of the Chain Chomp after a few failed attempts to hit the boys with it, and the metallic monster went flying towards Steven as it barked and gnashed its teeth like a rabid dog. Steven quickly expanded his shield and held it in front of himself just in time for the Chain Chomp to make an impact strong enough to crack the ground beneath his feet a little bit. Steven was pushed back as the Chain Chomp attempted to bite through his shield, but he was successfully able to push the creature away from himself, pinning it between his shield and a nearby pillar.

Meanwhile, Mario attempted to jump on Iggy's head - an attack he commonly used whenever he fought the Koopalings - but the Koopaling was too fast. "Gahaha! Can't hit me that easily, ya stupid plumber!" he cackled. 

Iggy then waved his wand again, the magic weapon glowing yellow as it shot yellow magic balls at Mario. Mario easily destroyed them with hammer swings - and was even able to get a hit on Iggy.

"Yeah! Good job, Mario!" Steven cheered.

Iggy flailed his arms and stomped on the ground angrily. "Grrrr, I hate you boys!" he shouted. "So annoying! Topaz, help me out here!"

Topaz summoned her Gem weapon - a pugil stick whose heads were giant yellow crystals - as Iggy ducked into his spiky shell. Topaz then struck him with her weapon to send him flying, homing in on Mario and Steven like a red Koopa shell as he ignited himself with purple fire - the same fire Bowser had used when he'd fought the Crystal Gems, instantly poofing them and destroying Steven's shield with it. It seemed like this strange Dark Star fire was some kind of fail-safe for fighting Gems.

The boys initially panicked as Iggy sped towards them, but then they remembered how Mario's hammer had been unaffected by the magic fire. Mario then took it out and whacked Iggy away with it, sending him flying back towards Topaz. Topaz attempted to use her pugil stick to hit Iggy back, but as soon as he made contact, his fire instantly destroyed his Gem partner's weapon, and he just barely missed her before crashing into a giant statue of an elite Gem who resembled Yellow Diamond. Iggy came out of his shell and attempted to walk before falling over, his eyes swirling around with dizziness.

Taking advantage of the attack opportunity, Mario threw an ice ball at Iggy to freeze him, then threw a fire ball to deal double the damage it would deal to an unfrozen enemy. "Smart move, Mario!" Steven noted.

Iggy finally got back onto his feet before wildly flailing all of his limbs and screaming like a toddler: "Grrrrr, this isn't over yet, boys! Me and Topaz aren't going down that easily!"

Suddenly, the Chain Chomp Steven had trapped earlier freed itself, then immediately lunged at the boys while barking and gnashing. The boys scrambled out of the way just in time, and Topaz then grabbed the Chain Chomp's chain again just before it bounced out of reach.

"Gahahahahaha!" Iggy cackled as he jumped on top of the Chain Chomp while Topaz held it in place. "How about this, boys!"

The Koopaling used his wand to create a magic barrier around himself, Topaz, and the boys. He then ignited himself with Dark Star fire again and used his wand to do the same to the Chain Chomp. Only its chain remained unlit, so Topaz could still hold it without having to worry about getting poofed.

"Give this ol' boy a good swing, Topaz!" Iggy shouted. "We gotta crush these gross little half-humans allll the way through the arena!"

Topaz gripped the Chain Chomp's chain with both hands as she swung it around as hard as she could. Then, once there was plenty of momentum, she threw the Chain Chomp straight up, sending it and its rider flying so high that the boys could barely even see them.

While Iggy and the Chain Chomp began to fall back down, Topaz fought the boys with her pugil stick. "T-Topaz? It's me, Steven!" Steven said in a desperate attempt to see if he could free her from the brainwashing. "D-do you remember me? Are-are you still in there somewhere?"

"Steven! What on Earth are you doing?!" Mario shouted as he blocked Topaz's weapon with his own. "Now's the time for fighting, not talking!"

"B-but I-I've gotten through to Topaz before! M-maybe I can do it again! Maybe I can save her!"

"This is different! She's not just not loyal to the Diamonds anymore - her very mind has been altered! All she knows is that she has to beat us!"

Suddenly, just as Mario finished his sentence, Topaz froze. She stared at Steven with wide eyes, almost looking sad or conflicted.

"Y-yes!" Steven said. "That's it! Are you there, Topaz? Do you remember me? Do you remember the time you tried to help me and my friend Lars? And how we talked about how you don't always have to do what someone else says? How you're free to be yourself and love who you want to love?"

Topaz stared at Steven for a few more moments, almost looking like she was about to cry. Eventually, she sighed and finally spoke the first words she'd said in the entire battle.

"I'm sorry, Steven. But Bowser and Spinel are my masters now. And they treat me better than you or the Diamonds ever did."

Before Steven could ask what Topaz meant by that, Iggy and the Chain Chomp finally hit the ground with a loud fiery slam, knocking back Topaz and the boys before breaking the magic barrier.

While Mario and Steven were disoriented, Iggy once again ignited himself and his Chain Chomp, then ducked into his shell and began spinning around, causing the Chain Chomp to spin as well. "Gahahahahaha!" the Koopaling cackled. "Say goodbye, boys!"

Finally, the flaming duo charged straight towards Mario and Steven, who screamed in fear. But at the last second, the former was able to get back on his feet and strike the Chain Chomp with his hammer. The two opponents pushed against each other for a while, but eventually, Mario got the last bit of strength he needed to hit the enemy in the opposite direction, sending them uncontrollably flying towards Topaz.

Topaz had no time to dodge before Iggy and the Chain Chomp hit her - instantly poofing her thanks to the Dark Star fire. A Dark Star portal collected her gemstones before they hit the ground, while Iggy and Chain Chomp slammed into a giant pillar. The pillar immediately fell on top of them, greatly disorienting them.

"Now's our chance!" Mario shouted. "Let's finish him off, Steven!"

"Ok!" Steven replied.

Steven summoned his shield and held it over his head like an umbrella, and Mario used it as a platform to launch himself high into the air. Finally, he took out his hammer and slammed Iggy directly in the chest with it, causing the Koopaling to release a loud pained scream.

"Yes! I think that did it!" Steven cheered.

Iggy was able to get up, but his eyes were once again swirly as he dizzily stumbled around. "Ugh... and of course... you beat me, Mario... again..." he said. "I gotta say... you... you and Steven… put up a good fight. Bu-but don't expect my siblings to lose this easily... and especially not Lord Bowser and Lady Spinel!"

And with that, a Dark Star portal appeared to swallow Iggy and the Chain Chomp, and the duo disappeared.

* * * * *

Mario and Steven exchanged excited glances before they leapt high into the air and high-fived. “Yay, we beat Iggy!” Steven cheered.

”And our first Grand Star acquired!” Mario cheered.

As the boys reached out to touch the Grand Star, it glowed even brighter and made them magically float in the air. Then, it suddenly shot away from the arena in a golden flash, carrying the boys behind it as it disappeared into the dusky sky.

Chapter Text

The Grand Star carried the boys up to the Comet Observatory, dropping them in the central plaza before flying into the beacon. The beacon doubled in size and changed from burgundy to orange, and the Terrace area of the Observatory lit up. Several tired-looking Lumas also gained energy and began happily dancing around.

”Ah, I see you were able to recover the first Grand Star, boys! Excellent work!” Rosalina congratulated. "I do notice that it took you longer than we expected, though. I assume you had to deal with more of the Alliance's minions?"

Mario nodded. "Yep, we sure did. And not just any minions - Bowser's best, the Koopalings. Luckily we only had to fight one of them, as well as a brainwashed Gem friend of Steven's."

"Koopalings?" Rosalina thought for a moment. "Hmm, I do believe I've heard of them before... but strangely I've never actually encountered them in-person, even with all the times I've encountered Bowser."

"Well, although the Koopalings are very loyal to Bowser, sometimes they're just off doing their own thing wherever," Mario explained. "Hence why I don't always have to fight them when I have to deal with Bowser."

"Hm, I see. I suppose we're just gonna have to make sure they can't get the Grand Stars before we can."

"Yeah," Steven agreed before tiredly yawning. "That's a good idea... yawwwwn..."

Rosalina immediately took notice of Steven's condition. "Oh, you seem very tired, Steven. You too, Mario. I can tell that you boys have been overexerting yourselves quite a bit. Would you like to get some rest before you head back out? The Bedroom doesn't have power yet, but I can still get it set up for you boys if you'd like."

"R-rest? But-but our mission!" Steven pointed out. "We only have about 4 days left!"

"Yes, Steven, I am still perfectly aware of the mission. But I also think that you and Mario shouldn't be going full speed ahead all the time. You two need to rest every once in a while."

"Yeah, Steven," Mario agreed. "We may be Gems, but we're humans, too. And humans need to rest. Besides..." The plumber let out his own tired yawn. "...I think I could use a good sleep right now."

Steven thought about it for a moment, then yawned and sighed. "Fair enough. Yes, Rosalina, please set up the Bedroom for us."

* * * * *

The Bedroom's bed was only big enough to fit one person, but luckily it had a pull out bed underneath. Steven volunteered to take the pull out bed, so Mario slept on the main bed.

Because the Bedroom still didn't have power, it was almost entirely dark besides the glow-in-the-dark stars decorating the purple wallpaper. The boys didn't mind the dark, but it still gave off a minor eerie vibe - especially knowing what kind of threat they were facing.

While Mario dozed off relatively quickly, Steven found it hard to fall asleep. The words Topaz had said to him during the battle with her and Iggy were echoing in his mind: I'm sorry, Steven. But Bowser and Spinel are my masters now. And they treat me better than you or the Diamonds ever did.

Steven sighed before turning over to face Mario and whispering to him: "Psst, hey, Mario, you awake?"

Mario groaned and gently tossed in his bed before quietly replying, "Hm?"

"I... I can't stop thinking... about what Topaz said to me back at the Ancient Sky Arena."

"...What did she say?"

"She said, 'I'm sorry, Steven. But Bowser and Spinel are my masters now. And they treat me better than you or the Diamonds ever did.' I... I'm still trying to figure out what she meant by that."

Mario sighed. "...Now's not the time, Steven. I'm sorry, I just wanna get some sleep. We can talk about it in the morning."

He then began quietly snoring. "Ah, spaghetti... ah, ravioli... ah, mamma mia..."

Steven snickered. "You sure love pasta, don't cha, Mario? And yeah, I guess it can wait 'til morning... yawwwn... good night."

He then turned back around and finally let himself doze off as Mario continued his sleep-talking: "Ah, fettucine... ah, lasagna... pici... hehe, Peachy, hmhm... ah, Princess Peach... ah, mamma mia..."

* * * * *

Almost immediately after falling asleep, Steven found himself dreaming.

In the dream, he was on Homeworld, standing in the entrance to the Diamonds' palace. He noticed that he had an unusually large view of the palace courtyard, as if he'd grown taller. He also felt unusually powerful - even more so than he did whenever he had a pink outburst.

Then, when Steven looked down at himself and saw the body of White Diamond, he realized that he was having a dream he'd had several times before: one where he'd see through the eyes of a Diamond and experience their memories. He'd had the same kind of dream with Blue and Pink Diamond, and it seemed that this time he was experiencing a memory of White Diamond's.

Parked just outside the palace was the mech the Diamonds used for interstellar travel - a giant likeness of White Diamond with a yellow right arm that belonged to Yellow Diamond and a blue left arm that belonged to Blue Diamond. It also once had a pair of pink legs that had belonged to Pink Diamond, but since neither Steven nor the other Diamonds needed them in Era 3, they had been stored elsewhere. 

Impatiently waiting in front of the mech was Spinel. "C'mon, guys, hurry up!" she said. "Don't be like Pink! Don't leave me hangin' for too long!"

"We're almost ready, Spinel!" Blue Diamond called out from inside the Diamond palace. "Yellow and I will be right out!"

"Seriously, you two, please don't be much longer," White said. "We cannot be late to Steven's birthday party. You do remember what he told us - 18 years of age is a very important milestone in the human lifespan. I'd hate to miss out on such a big occasion in his life."

Suddenly, the terrifying roar of Bowser echoed as a giant metal explosive cannonball flew above the head of the Diamond mech and struck the Diamond palace with a loud boom. The Diamonds barely had enough time to retreat to the courtyard before the palace's roof collapsed. Spinel quickly ran over to them and jumped onto her favorite perch on Yellow Diamond's shoulder.

The quartet stared up at the sky in horror as Bowser's airship fleet emerged from Dark Star portals like a swarm of angry wasps from their nest. It was then that Steven realized what event he was witnessing: Bowser's invasion of Homeworld and defeat of the Diamonds. He hoped that he'd finally be able to find out why Spinel had betrayed him and the Diamonds for Bowser via this dream.

As the airships surrounded the Diamond palace from the sky, the biggest one of them all - the one that belonged to Bowser - stopped to hover above the Diamonds, just in front of their mech. And sure enough, standing aboard the ship was...

"Diamonds!" Bowser roared, smoke flaring from his nostrils. Steven could see the Dark Star embedded in his chest, its eyes glowing red. "At long last! After ten thousand years... the Koopas have finally returned for their revenge! Gwahahahahaha!"

All three Diamonds simultaneously gasped. "It... it can't be..." Blue said.

"He's... he's really back? After all this time?" Yellow said.

"K-K-King Koopa?!" White exclaimed.

Bowser laughed. "Hahaha! Close but no cigar, chumps! I'm not King Koopa, but I am the newest Koopa King, Bowser! And I am here to finish what King Koopa started all those millennia ago!!!"

He then pointed forwards as he roared, "Fire!"

Terrified Gems fled the various buildings of Homeworld as various explosives - as well as some of Bowser's minions - rained down from the airships. A few Roaming Eyes and hand ships took off to engage in combat with the airships, while some Gems on the ground began fighting off the minions. Most Gems fled towards the interstellar warp pad outside the Diamond palace to attempt to escape to Earth, but a single cannon shot from an airship destroyed it - leaving the Diamond mech as the only way for any Gems to be able to leave Homeworld.

Meanwhile, the Diamonds and Spinel were frozen in fear, watching helplessly as the carnage unfolded. "What-what do we do?!" said the panicked Blue Diamond.

"We-we must warn Steven!" White exclaimed. "We have to get to Earth and warn him about Bowser! Quickly, to the mech!"

The Diamonds then sprinted towards the mech, but just before they reached it, Bowser jumped off his airship and landed in front of them, blocking their path.

"Hahaha!" the Koopa King laughed. "Going somewhere, chumps? Not while I'm here!"

He then noticed the absence of Pink Diamond. "Hey, where's the rest of ya? Aren't there supposed to be four Diamonds - White, Yellow, Blue, and Pink? Tell me where Pink Diamond is so I can crush her, too!"

"P-Pink's not here!" White replied. "She-she doesn't exist anymore!"

"Y-yes!" Blue said. "Well, at least not as an actual Diamond. She gave up her physical form to create a human-Gem hybrid named Ste-"

Yellow interrupted Blue with a slap to her face. "Shhh, don't give everything away, you clod!" the former scolded.

Bowser scoffed. "She doesn't exist anymore, huh? And she's part of some hybrid now? Hmph. How great. She'd rather cease to exist and become part of some gross little human thing than associate with the Koopas." He then pointed at Spinel as he said, "And then you replaced her with that weird-looking fake."

Spinel pouted and said, "I am not a fake. Or a replacement."

Bowser then shrugged. "Eh, whatever. I suppose I can go find this so-called human-Gem hybrid once I deal with you four. In the meantime..."

He used the Dark Star to create giant purple chains made of Dark Star energy as he roared, "...It's time to make my ancestor proud!"

Before the Diamonds could react, Bowser threw his chains at them, pinning them to the ruins of their palace. They could move their arms somewhat freely, but otherwise they were completely trapped. They tried to pull the chains off, but they delivered a strong zap to them with even the slightest touch of a hand.

"Hahahahaha!" Bowser laughed. "Struggle all you want, chumps, but you'll never get outta those chains!”

Suddenly, the Diamond mech’s arms began to slowly move as Yellow and Blue moved their actual arms to control their respective parts. Blue successfully grabbed Bowser’s airship with her hand, and Yellow began winding up a punch with hers.

”Hey! How are you doing that?!” Bowser roared. “Leave my airship alone!”

With just three giant cannonballs fired from the Koopa King’s ship, the Diamond mech released it and fell to the ground. All three Diamonds screamed as they watched their only way to fight back against Bowser be almost instantly rendered useless. A few Gem ships also began to fall from the sky and crash-land as other airships from Bowser's fleet took them down.

"Hahaha!" Bowser laughed. "How do ya like that, you rockheaded chumps! The Koopas are back and stronger than ever! And soon your precious Gemkind and the entire multiverse will be under the rule of King Bowser! Gwahahahahaha!"

"Not on my watch!" Spinel suddenly shouted before leaping off of Yellow's shoulder to fight Bowser, whose chains hadn't trapped her.

Bowser chuckled as Spinel approached him. "Hmhmhm... so you're the fake Pink Diamond, huh? You look even stupider up close! Ha! I could use you as a jump rope or something!"

"Spinel! What in the cosmos are you doing?!" White exclaimed. "Get out of here! Run! He'll destroy you!"

"Hahaha! Damn right I will!" Bowser laughed. "And then I'll destroy you three, and this planet, and that human-Gem hybrid, and everyone and everything else all of you have ever stoo-"

Suddenly, the Koopa King's villain monologue was interrupted when Spinel grabbed him with stretched-out arms, then effortlessly raised him up and slammed him against the ground as hard as she could, cracking a large area of the surrounding stone. Even the Diamonds were impressed by their best friend's show of strength.

Bowser dizzily got back onto his feet after a few seconds, holding his aching head. A look of amazed shock spread on his face as he looked around at the damaged ground. "Woah..." he said. "That... that was pretty good! That hit hard! You're a lot stronger than I ever woulda guessed!"

Suddenly, Bowser's face lit up, then formed a twisted evil smile. Oh no... Steven thought. So this really is how it all started.

"Say, little Gem..." the Koopa King began. "Spinel, was it? I gotta say, you're pretty tough for some lanky little Diamond pet. And I just had a thought... I'm not sure if even I can rule a multiverse-sized empire on my own. So whaddaya say we... form an alliance?"

Spinel stared at him like he'd just sprouted a second head. "Me? Form an alliance with you?" she said. "After you attack my best friends and ruin my home?"

"Yes, yes, I know it's not... the best introduction... but think about it! Think about your friends! Are they good to you? Do they treat you like an equal?"

Spinel pondered Bowser's question for a moment. "...Y-yeah, the Diamonds are really nice to me..." she eventually answered, "...but now that I think about it... I don't think they really treat me like I'm one of them."

The Diamonds were shocked by that. "What?! That's not true!" White exclaimed. "We care about you very much, Spinel! Don't you remember - we sang an entire song about how much we adore you!"

"Quiet!" Bowser roared. "...So they like you, but you don't think they see you as an equal... hm. Do you perhaps wonder... if they're just using you to replace Pink Diamond?"

"...Y-yeah, I do kinda think about that sometimes..." Spinel replied. "...They don't really let me go anywhere without them very often, even if it's just to somewhere here on Homeworld. I remember how Pink always complained about them doing the same thing to her... and I hate Pink. I hate being compared to her and feeling like I'm the same as her."

Bowser's evil smile grew wider. Man, Mario was right, Steven thought. Bowser really is a manipulative scumbag.

"Well then, Spinel, if that really is the case..." Bowser continued, "...I think that if we teamed up, we could make allll those doubts and insecurities vanish. We can destroy these three Diamond chumps and that human-Pink Diamond hybrid, and that way all the people who've mistreated you will be gone forever. We can take control of your kind and combine them with my own to make a new Koopa-Gem Alliance from the ashes of the one the Diamonds destroyed ten thousand years ago. We can conquer all the existences of the multiverse and be unstoppable. And the best part? Neither you, nor me, nor anyone from either of our kinds will ever feel mistreated or inadequate ever again."

He then offered his hand. "So... whaddaya say? Do we have a deal?"

Spinel stared at Bowser with a nervous, contemplative expression. Steven could tell that she was very conflicted as to whether or not she should believe Bowser and accept his proposal - but of course he already knew what her answer would be. That still didn't stop him from thinking, Don't do it, Spinel. 

"Spinel, please..." White begged as she and her fellow Diamonds became teary-eyed. "...Don't listen to him. We... we do care about you, very very much, and we're sorry if it doesn't feel that way. We just... still really miss Pink. We know you're not her, but... but you were hers, and you remind us so much of her. And... we crave anything and anyone that makes us feel like she's still here. Please, Spinel, we're begging you. Just... don't do this. Please."

Spinel nervously stared at the Diamonds, then back at Bowser for a few more seconds, and then sighed. And finally...

"Deal," she said as she shook Bowser's hand. 

Bowser's evil smile became ear-to-ear. "Perfect."

The Diamonds' expressions turned to pure shock and horror. "Spinel, no..." White said.

Bowser then turned back to the Diamonds as his hands ignited with Dark Star fire. "Hmhmhmhmhm... sorry, Diamonds," he said as the Dark Star's eyes glowed slightly brighter. "But your best friend... is mine now."

Finally, Bowser sharply inhaled, then fired at the Diamonds with a combo of normal fire from his mouth and Dark Star fire from his hands. The last thing Steven heard before the dream faded to black were the pained screams of the Diamonds, and the last thing he saw was Spinel staring at them with hardly any emotion as they poofed into purple clouds.

* * * * *

"I know! I know everything!" Steven screamed as he bolted upright in his bed.

Startled awake, Mario sat up and said, "You know? Know what?"

"I know it now!" Steven screamed as he jumped out of bed. "I know it all! I know the truth!"

"Woah, woah, Steven, Steven, calm down, calm down," Mario said as he got out of bed and put a hand on Steven's shoulder. "It's ok. I'm here. What happened? Were you dreaming? What did you see?"

Steven hyperventilated for a few seconds, then sighed. "I saw... the truth. I know it now... I know how the Koopa-Gem Alliance is back."

Chapter Text

Deep within the Alliance castle, Spinel wandered alone through one of the many giant, strange hallways her and Bowser had come across. The walls and floor were made of shiny purplish-gray stone, and giant pillars of red and blue obsidian glass were dotted all around the otherwise empty hall.

Although she still didn’t particularly enjoy being alone, Spinel often found herself drifting away to dark, lonely places such as this one, even before she’d met Bowser. She’d spent so long in that kind of environment that it almost brought her a sense of warm familiarity. The hallway was just like Pink Diamond’s garden: dark and deathly quiet, with not a single soul in sight besides Spinel. She was scared of loneliness, yet she simultaneously longed for the minor sense of comfort and familiarity it brought her in her very long - and now quickly- and drastically-changing - life.

After walking aimlessly and staring up at the countless giant pillars for a good few minutes, Spinel stopped in front of a red one and stared into its mirror-like surface. Staring back at her was the reflection of her permanently tear-stained face, with an expression of poorly-hidden sadness and anxiety.

“Come on, Spinel, get yourself together,” she said to her reflection, which of course copied her every move. “You know that Bowsie cares about you. You know that he does actually want to be your best friend. You know that he’s nothing like Pink or Steven or any of the Diamonds. He’s not just using you for his own gain like Steven did, or to replace someone else like the Diamonds did. And he’s certainly not gonna abandon you like Pink did…”

The Gem sighed and hugged herself. “...Right?”

Suddenly, Spinel’s reflection began to change, becoming the reflection of the only person she hated more than Pink Diamond and Steven: her past self, the person she’d been before Pink abandoned her. She hated her present self too, but not as much.

Spinel’s anxiety quickly morphed into anger. “Grrrr… and of course now’s when I get reminded of how much of an idiot I used to be,” she grumbled. “Swell. Exactly what I needed.”

The reflection then began to display Spinel’s memories with Pink, of the two of them playing together in the latter’s garden. The former grew angrier and angrier as she watched her past self’s naive ear-to-ear smile. The reflection was silent, but Spinel could faintly hear her past self’s childish, happy laughter.

“Ok, we can stop with this now,” Spinel said. “I get it - I was a total dummy back then and I probably still am now. I got the message two years ago.”

Unfortunately for her, the vision only got worse. After showing her past self receiving Steven’s message to the universe, it changed back to her present self - but still in the past, when she’d first attacked Earth and met Steven. It showed her injector coming down from the skies of Beach City and implanting itself in the ground, her rejuvenating the Crystal Gems, and Steven rejuvenating her in retaliation. Although her desire for revenge against Pink Diamond and Steven had been reignited, Spinel still deeply regretted that period of her life. She almost wished that Steven had actually re-rejuvenated her like she was afraid he would - or that she’d never even left Pink’s garden in the first place.

The reflection then changed to when Steven had restored Spinel’s memories. It showed the two of them singing together in the garden, them going back to Earth, her deactivating her injector, and her reactivating it almost immediately after that out of fear. It then showed her rematch with the Crystal Gems, her releasing her injector’s entire biopoison stockpile all at once, and her fighting Steven atop the planet-killing machine as he attempted to console her with a song. She could faintly hear the lyrics echo in her mind: You can make it different, you can make it right…

“Great, now you’re gonna remind me of that stupid song?!” Spinel shouted, the cry echoing through the hallway. “And of how horribly Steven and I treated each other?!”

Despite her anger, the song's lyrics continued echoing: You can make it better, we don't have to fi-ight! You can make an effo-ort, startin' with toniiiiiiight, cause youuuuuu...

Spinel tightly gripped her pigtails as she grew angrier and angrier. "Shut up... please shut up..." she told the echoing.

You can make a change.

Suddenly, as the song finally stopped, the reflection changed one more time - but this time to someone, something, Spinel had never seen before. It was a strange round black figure, with swirly red broken eyes, a giant broken-toothed smile, and pencil-thin monstrous broken limbs.

Spinel's eyes widened in shock and horror. "Uh... what... is that?"

Suddenly, the figure in the reflection insanely cackled, the sound echoing through the hallway. It then began to speak as if it was an actual person and not just a reflection: I HAVE CHORTLES! So you are the new friend of Bowser? Hehehe! Fawful laughs at how angry and stupid you both are! You are like angrier editions of the red and green fink-rat mustaches I hate!

"Faw...ful?" Spinel remembered Bowser talking about someone named Fawful when he'd explained the Dark Star to her, but she couldn't remember much about him. "As in... the guy who owned the Dark Star before Bowsie did?"

Hehehe! The Dark Star indeed was once belonging to I, Fawful, before it was belonging to Bowser! Bowser and the mustaches I hate may have done the destroying of Fawful and the Dark Star many years ago, but now that Bowser has done the restoring of the Dark Star, he has also done the restoring of the spirit of Fawful! Fawful may no longer be having a physical body and will not be able to be having one ever again, but his spirit shall haunt Bowser and all of those he calls his friends! Hehehehehe! 

Spinel's shock turned back into rage. "Oh, come on! How many inner demons do I have to worry about?!" she shouted. "Why... why can't they all just... LEAVE ME ALONE!"

She impulsively struck the pillar with a wound-up punch, causing the entire thing to crack along with some of the surrounding floor. The image of Fawful disappeared, and Spinel finally saw her 100% normal reflection again, albeit multiplied by all the cracks in the pillar.

Suddenly, the reflection of Bowser Jr. appeared in the mirror as his voice echoed: "Spinel?"

Spinel turned to find the Koopa Prince in his Clown Car, staring at her with a worried expression. "Oh... h-hey, Bowsie J.," she said. "Why… why aren’t you with Bluebird? Did... did your dad send ya lookin’ for me?"

"He did, but... I'm worried about you, too," Junior replied as he hovered up to Spinel. "Is everything alright? Why are you here all by yourself? I thought you didn’t like being alone.”

”I don’t, but... sometimes... I just find myself wandering off alone, y'know? It's almost... comforting in a way, since I was in this kinda place for so long. And with everything that's been going on with your dad and Mario and Steven... really any sort of familiarity helps me feel less stressed, even something like loneliness."

"Oh, ok. I get that." Junior then looked up at the broken pillar. "What... what happened to this pillar? Did... did you get really mad? Like how Papa gets sometimes?"

"Yeah, I did," Spinel confirmed. She thought about telling Junior about everything she'd seen in the reflections, but she could tell by his worried beady-eyed stare that he probably wouldn't understand. "Just... still got some inner demons I'm workin' through, I guess. Just like your dad."

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the hallway, along with the gruff voice of Bowser: "Junior?"

The Koopa King then emerged from the dark hallway entrance. "Ah, Junior, there you are," he said. "Did you find-"

His eyes widened as he noticed who his son was with. "...Spinel..."

Spinel nervously smiled and said, "H-hey, Bowsie. Sorry if I worried ya; I just... was kinda thinkin' about the past and found myself wandering off here."

"It's ok, I understand," Bowser replied. He then turned to Junior and asked him, “Junior, would you mind leaving me and Spinel alone for now? There’s something important I’d like to talk to her about."

"O-ok, Papa," Junior replied before disappearing into the darkness of the hallway, leaving the Alliance leaders by themselves.

Bowser then turned back to Spinel. “Listen, Spinel, I… I just wanted to say… thank you. For being so kind to Junior. He’s been saying nothing but positive things about you to me and all of our minions. Junior is my whole world, and seeing him be so happy means everything to me. So… thank you, for making both his life and mine so much brighter. I admit that I've been worried about whether or not this whole Koopa-Gem Alliance reformation thing is gonna work out, but now that I've seen Junior getting along with you so well... I'm not worried at all anymore. I know for sure now that teaming up with you was the right choice."

Spinel nodded and became a lot less nervous. "Anything for a friend, Bowsie. I was made to make people happy, after all."

Bowser smiled. "Yes, I certainly see that now. So now I want to ask... is everything alright with you? You said you were thinking about the past?"

"...Yeah." Spinel thought about telling Bowser about her vision of Fawful, but she didn't want to upset or worry him any more than she already had. "I guess... I'm still having trouble letting go of it all."

Bowser nodded. "Yeah, I get that. We've all got our own inner demons we're still workin' through. Do... do you wanna talk about it?"

"Yeah, but... not here. In fact... there's actually a place I really wanna show you, to help you understand everything better. It's probably the best place to talk about it."

"Ok, I can take us there. Is it somewhere here on Homeworld?"

"No, it's somewhere in space, but it's not too far from here. I'll explain it once we leave."

Bowser nodded. "Alright. I'll go tell Kamek to get the airship ready."

Chapter Text

After Steven explained his dream to Mario, the boys met up with Rosalina in the Observatory's Kitchen area to have breakfast. The Kitchen didn't have power yet, so the only food currently available on the Observatory was Star Bits - tiny star-shaped space rocks that the Lumas loved to eat. Despite being rocks, Star Bits could be easily re-shaped and eaten by non-Lumas.

"Are you boys sure you don't want to go down to Earth to get food?" Rosalina asked as she shaped some Star Bits into pancakes and waffles and set them down on the Kitchen's dining table, where Mario and Steven were sitting. "I don't want to force you two to survive on Star Bits."

"No, it's ok, Rosalina," Steven replied as he took a purple bite of Star Bit waffle. "We can handle Star Bits for a little bit. Besides, I like to make sure my palate has plenty of variety. Mmm, these are pretty good! Tastes like honey!"

"Mmm..." Mario sighed as he enjoyed some blue pancake. "Delicious. Thank you for breakfast, Rosalina." He then lowered a big piece down to his gemstone for Baby Luma, who gobbled it down with a very happy chirp.

Rosalina smiled. "You're very welcome, boys. My many millennia of living in the stars has made me shed the need to eat, drink, and sleep, but I do love engaging in old pastimes from my days as a planet dweller every now and then.

"Anyways, boys, now I must ask... did you two sleep alright? I believe I heard screaming coming from the Bedroom just before you came out here."

"...Yeah, that was me," Steven admitted. "I just... had a weird dream. Well, it was more of a vision, actually."

"A vision?" Rosalina said as she sat down in an empty chair. "Hm. Tell me more about it, Steven."

As Steven explained his dream to Rosalina, the space guardian's eyes progressively widened. "...So, yeah," Steven said as he finished. "We know the truth now about how the Koopa-Gem Alliance was reformed."

"How intriguing," Rosalina replied. "So you have the ability to experience the memories of the Diamonds through your dreams, Steven?"

Steven nodded. "Yeah. But I kinda forgot about it until now, haha."

"And in this particular dream, you experienced White Diamond's memory of Bowser's invasion of the Gem Homeworld?"

"Yep."

"And through this dream, you saw how Bowser convinced Spinel to join his side?"

"Uh-huh."

Rosalina tapped on her wand. "Amazing. I am greatly impressed by your ability to connect with others, Steven - both literally and figuratively. In all my millennia of traveling across dimensions, I've never seen anything like it - or anyone like you."

Steven chuckled. "Hahaha, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that... Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl always used to say that to me, back when Homeworld was still a threat to us." He flashed back to all the times the Gems had talked about how much of an anomaly he was, compared to both other Gems and other humans. He especially remembered something Garnet had once told him: You have empathetic powers that other Gems don't have. You're unusual, Steven, like them, and like me. It's not something to fear. It's something to celebrate.

"Well, it seems they certainly had every reason to do so," Rosalina replied. "And it also makes me wonder... now that you are half-human and half-Gem as well, Mario, will you perhaps develop similar empathetic powers to Steven's someday?"

"Hmm, good question, Rosalina..." Mario answered. "I've always had a sort of mental connection with my brother Luigi even long before I became half-Gem, so maybe that could count as me already having them... but I've never been able to do anything as big as experiencing his memories. Although I have been able to go inside his dreams."

"Well then, Mario, perhaps with your new Gem half, you will be able to form a similar mental connection with Steven and gain empathetic powers as strong as his. And I bet your connection with Luigi will grow stronger as well."

"Yeah, I think we could!" Steven chimed in. "Mario and I have already formed a great bond with each other over the last couple days, so I think he could totally get those kinda powers!"

Mario smiled. "Yeah, maybe I will."

He then ate the last bite of Star Bit pancake and stood up, stretched, and yawned. "Yawwwn... well, now that we've had our breakfast... I think we should be off to find the next round of Power Stars, Steven."

"Yeah, good idea, Mario," Steven agreed as he finished his own breakfast and stood up.

Rosalina stood up too as she said, "Yes, I suppose I can't keep you boys for too long. I will show you the next few Power Stars I have detected."

The trio went up to the Observatory's Earth map, where a yellow number 2 had appeared on a spot just southwest of Beach City. “They are right about here.”

Steven’s eyes widened as his expression turned nervous. “Oh no… that’s the Prime Kindergarten,” he said.

Mario snickered. “Kindergarten?”

”It’s a place where Gems were made, back when my mom was still colonizing Earth,” Steven explained. "And Gem production is really harmful to Earth. I think there’s a good chance that the Power Stars could reactivate the Kindergarten somehow, especially if the Alliance discovers the place and gets their hands on them.”

"Oh, I see. Then we definitely need to get down there and get the Stars as soon as possible.”

Rosalina nodded and summoned a Launch Star. "Off you go, boys. Be careful down there."

Chapter Text

Mario and Steven landed on the Prime Kindergarten's warp pad, which sat on a small raised platform surrounded by gem-like ornaments. They could faintly see the glow of a Power Star far to their left, significantly dimmed by the Kindergarten's fog.

"Woah," Mario remarked as he looked around. "This is quite the dreary place."

The Kindergarten was indeed a very dreary and dark place. It was located in a giant canyon, which had become dark purple and permanently overcast after all the life had been sucked out of it by emerging Gems. Person-shaped holes that Gems had come out of thousands of years ago dotted the walls, as well as Gem injectors all around the walls and ground.

"Yeah... the Gems and I don't like coming here very often," Steven replied. "But Amethyst was made here, so sometimes she'll visit the hole she came out of."

Sure enough, as the boys jumped off the warp pad platform and landed safely on the ground below, they spotted an exit hole that was exactly Amethyst's size, located just at ground level. "And this is it right here."

"Huh," Mario said. "It's a lot smaller than the other ones."

"Yeah... Amethyst was 'overcooked', so to speak, hence why she's a lot shorter than Garnet and Pearl and even me and you," Steven explained. "She emerged long after the end of the Gem War, so she lived here for a while until the others found her and took her in."

The boys then began strolling towards the Power Star light, dried twigs and rocks disintegrating as they stepped on them. Mario curiously touched a metallic leg of a destroyed injector as he asked, "What are these things?"

"Those are injectors," Steven explained. "They're machines that make Gems. They inject Diamond essence into the ground, which then absorbs all the minerals and life force from the ground before popping out of one of these holes as a brand-new Gem. Hence why I said Gem production was so bad for the Earth."

"Oh, injectors? Didn't you say Spinel tried to destroy the planet with one?"

"Yeah, but hers wasn't like any of these ones. It was a poison injector, not one that could make Gems. And it was way, way bigger - like, almost bigger than the Temple. I don’t think it would’ve even been able to fit here in the Kindergarten.”

After walking in silence for a few more seconds, Mario asked one more question: "So, if all these injectors are reactivated... what would happen to the Earth?"

Steven's face darkened. "...Bad things. Very bad things. Let's just say... there's a good chance the whole planet would end up looking like this."

After more silent walking, the boys finally spotted it: a Power Star, floating just above the top of a large pile of destroyed injectors. Along with that, they also spotted something far less pleasant: Alliance minions, as well as an Alliance airship anchored in the sky not too far up ahead. Most of the minions were Amethysts - the main Gem type that had been produced in the Prime Kindergarten - but the boys also noticed a few Koopa Troopas and Goombas as well.

The color drained from Steven's face as he recognized the Amethysts: "The Famethysts."

"You know them?" Mario asked.

"Yeah. They're some other Amethysts that were produced here along with our Amethyst. The Crystal Gems and I met them out in space once. Amethyst calls them the 'Famethysts' since she and they were all made in the same place."

The boys then summoned their weapons and slowly approached the gathering. Despite the fact that their masters' two biggest enemies were close by, the Famethysts were absorbed in idle chit-chat with each other, and a few were even cracking jokes and engaging in play-fighting. Heh, I guess the brainwashing didn't change them that much, Steven thought. He and Mario could also see that the Koopas and Goombas looked slightly annoyed by their Gem comrades' antics.

In the palm of his free hand, Mario created an iceball as he whispered to Steven: "Ok, on the count of three..."

The plumber raised his hand and prepared to throw the iceball. "One... two..."

Finally, he released the projectile as he shouted, "Three!"

As the enemies realized that the boys were there, Mario's iceball bounced across the ground and hit an Amethyst, freezing her in an ice block. Instead of fighting back, her fellow Famethysts simply pointed at her and burst out laughing.

"Grrrr, what on Homeworld are you idiots doing?!" shouted an annoyed Koopa. "We're supposed to kill those two, not laugh at their attacks! Now let's do our stinkin' jobs and make sure they can't get with 10 feet of that Power Star!"

"Uh, right, yes!" exclaimed an Amethyst. "Let's pound these boys into the dirt!"

Finally, the enemies charged at the boys. Mario jumped on and crushed a couple Goombas, then jumped on a Koopa to make him retreat into his red shell. After Mario whacked the shell with his hammer, it homed in on some of the Famethysts and knocked them all down like bowling pins. They all laughed as they disappeared into Dark Star portals, seemingly not caring that they'd been hurt.

Meanwhile, Steven rammed a couple Famethysts with his shield, effortlessly knocking them all down despite them being much bigger than him. "Sorry, guys!" he told them as if they were still on his side.

To Steven's surprise, an Amethyst actually did respond as if she wasn't an enemy: "It's ok, little man! You and your friend are pretty tough for some tiny weird half-human thiiiiiiiiiings!" She screamed that last word as a portal collected her.

Mario then threw a couple fireballs just as he swiftly dodged an Amethyst's punch. The fire took out the rest of the Goombas, and one even hit the still-frozen Amethyst - dealing enough damage to poof her before a portal took her. Steven also used his shield's muti-target homing ability to take out the rest of the Koopas and Famethysts.

Before long, all of the enemies were gone. "Phew! That was great! Good job, us!" Steven cheered he high-fived Mario.

Mario then jumped up to the top of the injector debris pile and stored the Power Star in his gemstone. "Only one more to go!" he said. "And I think it's probably a good idea to head over to that airship."

Luckily for the boys, the airship's parking spot was only a short jog ahead. When they reached it, they saw its anchor positioned just above a perfectly square-shaped hole that faintly emitted Power Star light.

Steven became very nervous again as he recognized where the hole lead. "Oh no... that's the Kindergarten control room down there. It's where the injectors can be reactivated. Of course the other Power Star just had to land in there... and the Alliance has already found it..."

"Well then, let's not waste time," Mario said. "Let's get down there and grab it. Fast."

As the boys entered the hole and began sliding down the dirt slope leading deeper inside, they could see large green pipes protruding from the ceiling and presumably connecting to the rest of the Kindergarten. Along with that, the boys could hear a pair of faint voices coming from the very bottom.

Once the boys reached the bottom of the slope and landed on a green platform, they gasped and quickly hid underneath the platform when they spotted two figures standing in front of a Power Star, which floated just above the pedestal that turned the room on. The boys then peeked out from their hiding place to get a good look at the foes.

Standing to the left of the pedestal was a Koopa Paratroopa, but one that looked remarkably different from any other ones either of the boys had ever seen. His shell was spiky and colored blue, and he wore a blue horned helmet and blue neck and shoulder armor. To the right of him was a green Gem over twice his height, with large spiky hair, a furry ruff on her neck, rectangular shoulder pads, square-shaped cuffs, and armor-like high-heel boots. The boys became horrified as they recognized both foes.

"Koopa General Blueshell," Mario said.

"Emerald," Steven said.

The boys then quickly ducked back into hiding. “So of course we know these guys too, huh?” Steven whispered.

”Yeah,” Mario whispered back. “Blueshell’s the general of Bowser’s minions. And from the looks of it, he’s an Alliance general now, too.”

“Yep, same with Emerald. She is - or at least was - a Gem fleet commander whom I helped my friends Lars and the Off-Colors take down a few years ago.”

The boys then peeked back out again, getting just close enough to hear Blueshell and Emerald's conversation.

"Is the Power Star really all Their Majesties want?" said Emerald. "I see no reason why we shouldn't try to reactivate this Kindergarten with it. Think about all the Gems we could make! And this planet would be dead in no time!"

"I can't say I disagree with you, Emerald," Blueshell replied, "but Lord Bowser and Lady Spinel specifically ordered us to get the Star and get out before Mario and Steven can get here. No more, no less. They do want this planet dead, but they've explicitly told us they're going to destroy it themselves with the Dark Star and Fury Sun. Besides, there's no guarantee that any Gems we produce here will be on our side, since this place is so old."

Emerald huffed. "Fine. Whatever they say."

Steven quietly snickered. "Her and Blueshell certainly seem to be getting along," he jokingly whispered to Mario.

"Let's take 'em out now, while they're distracted," Mario said.

The boys then fully emerged from hiding and summoned their weapons as they snuck up on the Koopa-Gem Generals. But suddenly, just as Mario raised his hammer to strike...

SNAP!

The boys froze like deer in headlights as Blueshell and Emerald turned around, alerted by the sound of a fragile rock Mario had stepped on. 

"Gaah, and of course now's when they decide to show up!" Blueshell shouted as he summoned a weapon from the black star gemstone on his chest: a small spear seemingly made of Dark Star energy.

"Took you miserable half-humans long enough!" Emerald shouted as she summoned her own Gem weapon from her rectangular green gemstone on her right eye: a spear very similar to Blueshell's, but much longer and colored green. "But we've got you and the Power Star now! Hahahahaha!"

"No, Emerald!" Mario shouted as he and Steven raised their weapons, ready to fight. "We've got you two now!"

Chapter Text

Blueshell took to the air and dove at the boys like a hawk, the tip of his spear pointed right at their heads. Steven quickly expanded his shield and held it over his and Mario's heads, and the Paratroopa and his weapon bounced harmlessly off it and tumbled to the ground.

Emerald then charged at the boys on foot, holding her spear as if she was jousting. Mario knocked her weapon away with his own just before she reached him, then hit her with a swift horizontal swing while she was stunned. The green Gem bounced off the control room pedestal, just barely missing the Power Star before slamming into the giant green crystal - which the Crystal Gems had cracked four years prior - in the center of the back wall, cracking it a bit more.

Meanwhile, with Blueshell still stunned on the ground, Steven rammed him with his shield. Thanks to his shell, the Koopa General bounced from one wall to another before hitting Emerald, cracking the wall crystal even more.

"Grrrrr..." Blueshell growled as he kicked off of Emerald and used his gemstone to ignite his spear with Dark Star fire. "You boys are dead men! Troopas, fall in!"

Suddenly, countless Koopa shells of various colors rolled down from the surface and into the room. Once they landed, a Troopa emerged from each one, screaming war cries as they charged at the boys. 

Even for the boys, they found the sheer number of Koopas to be overwhelming. With every one they took out with a spin, hammer swing, shield ram, fireball, or iceball, several more took their place. Along with that, Blueshell occasionally dove at them, and Steven was barely able to keep the Koopa's powered-up spear from instantly destroying his shield. Emerald also occasionally threw her own spear at the boys, magically calling it back to her after each throw.

In a last-ditch effort, Steven deployed a spikeball-like bubble around himself and Mario, which made it harder for Koopas to attack without getting hurt. Despite that, they all completely swarmed the bubble and relentlessly struck it to try and pop it.

"You can't hide in there forever, boys!" shouted a yellow-shelled Koopa. 

"Come out and fight, you half-human cowards!" shouted a Koopa who wasn't General Blueshell but was still blue-shelled.

The boys repelled the Koopas as best as they could, running around inside their bubble to make it roll around the room and take out several Koopas. But although the boys were strong, some Koopas were able to push back against them.

"Uh, Steven, I don't think this bubble is gonna hold for much longer!" Mario said. "Especially not with..."

Blueshell once again dove straight at the boys, ready to instantly pop their bubble with his Dark Star-enhanced spear. With all the Koopas surrounding them, there was no way they'd be able to avoid the attack.

Steven began to panic. "Uh... um..." His gemstone began to glow as he felt a wave of stress wash over him, indicating that he was about to...

Suddenly, just as Blueshell popped his bubble, Steven's entire body glowed pink as he released a loud sonic scream. The attack blasted back everyone in the room - including Mario and the Koopa-Gem Generals - and instantly took out all of the Koopa Troopas.

As the Troopas vanished into Dark Star portals, Blueshell, Emerald, and Mario got back onto their feet, dazed and dizzy. Seeing his friend's condition, Steven gasped and ran over to Mario as he said, "Oh no, not again! I'm so sorry, Mario!"

"It's ok, Steven," Mario replied. "The fight is over with a lot quicker now."

"Grrrrrrrr..." Blueshell growled as he and Emerald became reoriented. "You fought well, boys. You're more formidable than we thought. And so we forfeit the Power Star."

"Bu-but that means nothing!" Emerald declared. "You two only won 'cause we held back! Don't expect it to happen next time! You and your precious little planet will fall by the hands of Their Majesties soon enough!"

"We'll get you next time!" Blueshell shouted as he scooped up Emerald. "Just you wait! Hahahahaha!"

And with that, Blueshell and Emerald flew out of the hole, and the boys heard their airship take off at FTL speed.

Mario and Steven then high-fived. "Phew! Another Koopa-Gem pairing taken out!" Steven said.

Mario quickly sucked the Power Star into his gemstone. "And that's all the Kindergarten Stars acquired!" he said. "To Rosalina we go!"

Chapter Text

Mario and Steven arrived at the Comet Observatory a few minutes later, promptly giving Rosalina the pair of Power Stars they'd collected. "You've been doing a fantastic job with getting the Stars so far, boys," the space guardian said. "Words cannot express how thankful I am for your help."

"Thank you for your help, Rosalina," Steven replied. "I don't know how we'd go about this whole multiverse-saving thing without you."

"Yeah, Mama's the best!" chirped a yellow Luma. 

"We love you, Mama!" chirped a blue Luma.

Soon, the Observatory plaza was flooded with Lumas of various colors, all chanting: "Ma-ma's the best! Ma-ma's the best! Ma-ma's the best! Yay! We love Mama!"

Rosalina giggled. "Alright, settle down, everyone," she said to her children. "I need to show the boys where the next Power Star is."

Suddenly, the Lumas all dispersed when a pink portal appeared next to the Observatory's Terrace. From it emerged Lion the magical pink lion, with Connie and Greg riding on his back.

"Steven! There you are!" said Connie.

"Hey, Schtu-ball!" said Greg.

"Roaarrrr!" roared Lion as he skidded to a stop in the Observatory plaza.

"Lion? Connie? Dad?" Steven said. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well... we've been missing you," Connie replied as she and Greg dismounted Lion. "A lot."

"Whew, glad we can breathe up here!" Greg said as he took a whiff of Observatory air. "And yeah, we just wanted to stop by and check up on our favorite Steven and his new friend Mario!"

Lion lumbered up to Steven and affectionately nuzzled his face, all while loudly purring. "Hehe, hey, buddy!" Steven said as Lion nearly made him fall over. "Did you miss me, too?"

"Rrrarrrrrrr," Lion softly growled in response.

Mario giggled and ruffled Lion's super-soft mane. "Sure seems like it!" he said. 

Lion then looped a paw around both boys and smushed them against his mane - his own special way of hugging. "Hehehe, you're quite the lovebug, Lion!" Mario giggled.

"He sure is!" Steven agreed. 

A few curious Lumas flew up to Lion, touching his back, mane, and tail. When one touched his nose, Lion growled and snapped at them. 

"Hey, don't eat the Lumas, Lion!" Steven scolded. "They're our friends, not food!"

Lion huffed, let the boys go, lumbered back over to Connie, and plopped down on the ground by her feet and fell asleep. "Hehe, Lion, you're so needy!" Connie giggled as she pet his mane.

"Yeah he is! And besides, Lion, we already brought food for everyone!" Greg said as he reached into Lion's mane - which served as a portal to a magic pocket dimension - and pulled out a thin square box with the logo of Beach City's local pizza place, Fish Stew Pizza, on it. "I know you're a vegetarian nowadays, Schtu-ball, but..."

He opened the box to reveal a large pepperoni pizza, still steaming and piping hot. "...I got you your old favorite. Large pepperoni, made fresh by Kofi Pizza himself.”

Greg reached into Lion’s mane again and pulled out another Fish Stew Pizza box, which contained a large mushroom pizza. “But I did get a mushroom one, too, if you’d prefer that. Plus I heard you’re a big mushroom fan, Mario.”

Mario’s face lit up. “Mushroom pizza-pie?!” he exclaimed, his Italian accent briefly becoming very thick. “You’re the best, Mr. Universe!”

As Mario devoured a mushroom slice, Steven reached for the pepperoni and said, “Y’know what… it’s been a hot minute since I last had a good pizza. Especially a pepperoni. Can’t hurt to have a little bit of meat every once in a while, right?” 

Greg smiled as he watched his son enjoy his pizza slice. “Oh, I almost forgot - I brought more of your favorites, too!"

He reached into Lion's mane once more and pulled out two large paper bags. One was adorned with the logo of Beach Citywalk Fries and the other with the logo of the Big Donut - two more of Steven's favorite Beach City restaurants. "Fry bits and donuts, fresh from the fryers! Good thing all the restauranteurs have some emergency equipment set up at Little Homeworld."

Steven's face lit up. "Wow... thanks, Dad!"

The humans, Lion, and Rosalina went down to the still-unpowered Observatory Kitchen and sat down at the table to enjoy all the food together. "Mmm, this food you call 'pizza' is delicious," Rosalina said as she tried a mushroom slice. "How I do miss regular human food. Planet dwellers never fail to amaze me with the kind of food concoctions they can come up with."

"Yeah, pizza is a very popular food down on Earth," Steven said as he ate a glazed donut and a handful of fry bits. "Especially in the area Connie and Dad and I live in."

"And on my version of Earth, too!" Mario chimed in. "Luigi and I love makin' 'em together, and sometimes Peach even makes 'em for us!"

Rosalina smiled. "Well then, perhaps I'll have to try one of your pizzas once we’re able to return to our home universe, Mario. Or even once the Kitchen has power again.”

As the group continued enjoying the food, Greg finally asked the question he and Connie had been itching to ask: "So, Schtu-ball... how's the adventure goin'? Hangin' in there?"

"Yeah, Mario and I have been fine so far," Steven replied as he gave a pepperoni slice to Lion, who made it disappear with a single chomp. "We've been making great progress in collecting all the Stars that landed on Earth. But... I guess I'm still just tryin' to get back into the adventuring groove, y'know? Since it's been so long since I last had to go on an adventure this big - or really any adventure at all, haha."

"Same with me," Mario agreed. "But yeah, like you said, we've already made great progress."

"That's good to hear," said Connie as she ate a pepperoni slice. "Me and Greg and Lion and everyone down at Little Homeworld have been fine, too. Still no Alliance attacks so far."

"Good. That's all I needed to hear to feel better," Steven said.

The group continued eating a bit more before Steven sighed. "But still... it's been exhausting. And frustrating, seeing how much the Alliance is ruining everything. Rrr, and I still want to... to... to beat Spinel into the ground for betraying me."

To everyone's shock, his body suddenly lit up pink, and he sprouted monstrous features. "Grrrr, this whole thing is just... just so infuriating! Why... why can't I just... enjoy my life as a human?! I don't want to live like a Gem anymore! Why must I always have someone to fight?! Why does my life have to be... BE... SO DIFFICULT?!?!"

Steven released a monstrous roar and mini pink explosion as he effortlessly threw the dining table into the air, scattering food all over the Kitchen that Lion immediately went to town with cleaning up. Nobody was harmed, but they were still very taken aback - literally and figuratively - by the explosion.

Steven took deep breaths as his glow and monster features disappeared. He then gasped when he looked around and realized what he'd done. "Oh no... no, no, no, no, no! Not again!" he exclaimed. "Is everyone alright?"

A look of panic spread on his face. "No... it's-it's happening again... I'm... I'm turning into a monster... no, no, no, no, no..."

Once everyone else got back onto their feet, Connie and Greg immediately approached and hugged Steven. "Hey... shh shh shh shh shh... it's ok, Steven, we're here," Connie calmy said.

"Yeah, Schtu-ball," Greg said. "You know we'll always be here for you. We completely understand why you're so upset. And we promise that you're not anywhere close to being a monster."

Impulsively, Mario and Rosalina joined the group hug. "Yeah, Steven, we support you no matter what," the former said. "Believe me, I'm just as upset about this whole thing as you are."

"We can only imagine what's going on in your head right now, Steven," the latter said, "but whatever it is, we're going to help you through it."

Steven cried sad-but-also-happy tears. "Th-thanks, guys. I... I don't know what I'd do without you."

Once Lion finished eating the scattered food, he also joined the hug, wrapping two giant paws around everyone and softly roaring and purring. Everyone giggled before Steven said, "And thank you too, Lion."

Everyone then let go of Steven after another minute of hugging. "So..." he said. "I guess Mario and I should get going to the next Power Star now."

"Yes," Rosalina said. "I will show you boys where it is."

The group went over to the Observatory Earth map, where a yellow number 1 had appeared on a spot directly south of Beach City. “It is right about here.”

Steven, Connie, and Greg’s expressions turned scared. “Oh no… that’s Empire City,” Steven said. “A lot of humans live there.”

”Ooh... yeah, that’s not good,” Mario said. “We definitely gotta get down there and get the Star ASAP. Who knows what the Alliance might do to a human city…”

"Yes, you boys absolutely must make sure that no humans from anywhere on Earth are harmed at the Alliance's hands," Rosalina agreed as she created a Launch Star. 

Steven took a deep breath. "Phew, ok. Alright. Let's get going, Mario."

But then, just as the boys were about to enter the Launch Star, Connie said, "Steven, wait. Before you go..."

She then took her boyfriend's hand. "...Good luck down there. And with the rest of your adventure, too. Don't forget, I'll always be here for you no matter what."

"Yeah, Schtu-ball, me too," Greg said as he took his son's other hand. "If you ever need a human to lean on, Connie and I will always be here."

"Me too," Mario said. "All four of us humans, we need to support each other through this entire situation, no matter how crazy it may get."

"...Yeah," Steven said as a smile spread on his face and stuck out his hand palm-side down. "We're all human beings, and we're going to get through this together."

The other three humans put their hands onto Steven's. "Ready? 1... 2... 3..."

All four humans then raised their hands as they cheered, "Human beings!"

Chapter Text

Tucked away in deep outer space, not too far from Homeworld, there was a garden that had once belonged to Pink Diamond. It had gone unkempt for over 6,000 years, so all of its plant life was dead, withering, and/or extremely overgrown. Its lighting had burnt out, leaving distant starlight as the only light source. Much of its stony decor had completely or almost completely crumbled, and there was zero background noise apart from the faint, futuristic hum of space. A gorgeous display of all the wonders of the cosmos hung in the black sky.

Standing in the back of the garden were Bowser and Spinel, who both stared at the ruins of the garden’s communication device that the latter had destroyed two years prior. Their airship was parked just above the garden's warp pad, the sound of its propellers mostly drowned out by the vacuum of space.

“So…” Bowser began. “This is where Pink Diamond abandoned you, huh?”

Spinel nodded solemnly. “Yep.”

“How long were you here for?”

“About 6,000 years.”

“No one ever came back for you? Not Pink, not White or Yellow or Blue, no other Gems, nobody?”

“Nope. I was alone the whoooole time." She pointed to a patch of now-dead grass and vines that had grown around a pair of footprints that looked like hers. "And I never moved from that spot right there."

“And the only reason you left was because Steven sent out some universe-wide broadcast, otherwise you would’ve stayed here forever?”

“M-hm.”

“…Woah.” Even the cold-hearted Bowser - who was only getting worse thanks to the evil and corruptive powers of the Dark Star - was deeply disturbed by what Pink Diamond had done to Spinel. He couldn’t fathom how a ruler could possibly do something so cruel and traumatizing to any one of their own subjects, let alone one of their most loyal ones. It wasn’t uncommon for Bowser to take his anger out on his minions, but even in all his blind fits of rage, he’d never thought of doing something as horrible as leaving one of them in complete isolation for millennia. It disgusted Bowser, learning about everything the Diamonds did to Gems during their time as the race’s rulers. To them, they were nothing more than objects, each manufactured for one single purpose, working nonstop for days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millennia on end. And if any of them got even remotely annoying or out of line - or were even born abnormal in any way - they were bubbled, rejuvenated, abandoned, trapped in objects, forced into hiding, or outright shattered. Bowser already knew about Spinel's abandonment issues before their garden visit, but she hadn't told him just how long she'd waited until now.

Unlike the Diamonds, Bowser did his best to treat each and every one of his minions with the respect they deserved. No matter how many times they failed, he knew he could always rely on them, whether it be for his Mushroom Kingdom invasions, galactic conquering, or battles against Mario and co. All of his minions greatly admired him - and not out of fear, but out of genuine appreciation for their leader. They were more than just objects to him; they were people, people who each had a name, a soul, a heart, a life. So learning about all the atrocities the Diamonds had committed against their subjects only made Bowser’s hatred of them grow tenfold. In his eyes, they weren’t just traitors to the Koopas; they were traitors to their own kind, too. That was another reason why Bowser had reformed the Koopa-Gem Alliance: so he could give the Gem race the respect they deserved. He wondered how, after everything the Diamonds had done, Steven could’ve possibly let them live normal lives - or even live at all - after he'd defeated them.

Bowser looked at Spinel, who was now staring down at the ground with a sad, defeated expression as she flashed back to her abandonment. Even the typically selfish and unempathetic Koopa King could see an unimaginable amount of pain and sorrow behind his friend’s eyes. It made him think of some of his own past experiences - experiences with abandonment.

Bowser sighed. “I get it, Spinel,” he told her as he put a hand on her shoulder. “I know how painful abandonment can be.”

”Yeah, I remember Junior saying something about that…” Spinel replied as she turned her head to look at Bowser. “His mom abandoned you guys, right?”

”Yeah. But Junior’s not the only one who’s been abandoned by a parent; I have, too. And not just one… but both of them. Gone, just like that, the second I opened my eyes for the first time. I don’t even know their names or what they look like; all I remember about them is them looking down at me, then vanishing soon after. Nobody even knows if they’re dead or not; they’re just… gone. Kamek, my Magikoopa advisor, is the one who raised me. He’s the only parental figure I’ve ever had - and really my only family besides Junior and the Koopalings. So then, once Junior came along and his mother left, I promised myself that I’d be the best parent either of us could ever ask for. I know that you Gems don’t have any concept of parents or families, but… you do know what abandonment feels like. You know just how badly it can hurt.”

Spinel nodded. “I do. It can destroy you - quite literally, in my case. It’s not just physical damage that makes us Gems poof - mental and emotional damage can, too. I was so heartbroken when I found out the truth about Pink, I poofed and reformed into…”

She awkwardly gestured at herself. “...This.”

Bowser stared sorrowfully at the ground as he gently clutched his chest, right where his heart was - and where the Dark Star was embedded. “It’s horrible, knowing when you’re not good enough for someone,” he said. “You want to make them happy, you want them to love and appreciate you… but they don’t, no matter how hard you try. They only pretend to like you, pretend to enjoy your company, and right when they find a good time… they leave you, throw you out like trash, whether it be in a space garden all by yourself or in a giant castle with a cranky old Magikoopa. And then you spend the rest of your life wondering… what you did wrong. Why you weren’t good enough for them. Why they left you. What you could’ve done to make them like you, to make them stay with you.”

“And then, since you don’t know how else to deal with all that anger and sadness…” Spinel said, “...you take it out on everyone around you. You know that it’s wrong, it’s horrible, it’s evil, and that it probably won’t actually fix anything… but you convince yourself that it’ll help ease the pain. Nobody ever showed you a better way to do it, so you believe that violence is the answer. Everyone around you did it like that, so you do it, too. You believe that if you see other people also in pain, it’ll make your own pain hurt less.”

Bowser stared up at the sky, towards a nearby barren planet that seemed to have a giant heart-shaped hole in it. For the first time in his life - or at least a very long time - he felt empathy for someone. He couldn’t blame Spinel for going so insane and trying to kill Steven, the Crystal Gems, and this universe’s Earth. 6,000 years of complete loneliness and silence, not moving a muscle as she waited for the person she thought was her best friend to return for her, only to discover that she’d left her for a new home and new friends, then given up her life to create a new one. An experience like that would permanently destroy anyone’s sanity, Bowser thought. He was already driven insane enough by his countless losses against Mario and rejections from Princess Peach; he couldn’t even begin to imagine what millennia of isolation would do to him, or anyone. He’d been abandoned before, but he’d at least had Kamek to keep him company and raise him until he was old enough to be crowned the Koopa King; Spinel had had no one, for all the millennia she’d spent waiting in the garden, and she’d only left because of Steven’s universal message. Even Bowser’s wicked heart hurt at the mere thought of all that loyalty and joy being so horrifically betrayed.

“This is probably gonna sound really whiny and pretentious,” Bowser said, “but ever since I was abandoned, I’ve felt… empty. Sure, I’m the ruler of one of the mightiest empires in all the multiverse - and now two of them combined into the truly mightiest one…” A satisfied grin briefly appeared on his face as he giggled evilly. “...But I still can’t help but feel empty inside. All my minions - the Koopas, the Goombas, all the miscellaneous creatures, Kamek, Junior, the Koopalings… They all love me dearly. They’ve all willingly dedicated their lives to serving me. No matter how many times we lose to Mario, no matter how many times I take my anger out on them, they respect me more than they do anything else, and I do my best to reciprocate that respect. But despite that, I just feel… depressed. Lonely. They all love me, and I love them, but… they just don’t feel like friends to me. I can’t explain it, really; they’re not my friends, they’re just… my minions - or my family, in the case of Junior and Kamek and the Koopalings.

“And that’s why I’ve been wondering… wondering what the real reason might be as to why I’ve reformed the Koopa-Gem Alliance with you. I do want to conquer the multiverse just because I can, yes. I do want to avenge my ancestor, to get revenge on the Diamonds on behalf of him and all the Koopas. And I want all the power one being can possibly have.” The Koopa King giggled evilly again as the mere thought of multiversal conquest excited him. “But I also think… that this is how I’ll be able to stop feeling so empty inside. I think that my abandonment has given me some good permanent mental scarring, like yours did to you. I have just about everything, yet I still feel empty. Maybe unleashing all my anger and pain out on the Crystal Gems, on Mario, on Steven, on the Diamonds, on all the multiverse, isn’t totally pointless and ineffective. If I get as much attention as possible - good or bad - maybe it will help fill the void. Maybe it really will help me stop feeling so depressed. Maybe it really will help me get over being abandoned.”

“Yeah,” Spinel understood. “That’s… pretty much exactly what my thought process has been, too. Maybe if I do this alliance with you, if I become your co-leader of the multiverse… I can get over my own abandonment. I, too, can stop feeling so empty. White and Yellow and Blue were all really nice to me while I lived with them… but I couldn’t help but feel like they were just using me as a replacement for Pink. I know that they wanted Steven to do that, but since he didn’t want to, he and the Diamonds had me do it instead. They never cared about me while I was with Pink or while I was waiting here, but as soon as she was gone and I was back… they suddenly adored me. I do still want to be a friend, like what I was made to be… but just like Steven, what I don’t want to be is a Diamond. Like how you told me, why should I care about people who’ve never cared about me, even if they do now? And after what Pink did to me… I want absolutely nothing to do with her. I don’t want to be seen as her replacement. I’m my own Gem, y’know!” She suddenly became wild-eyed as she cried, “Is this how Steven felt?!”

“Woah, woah, calm down, Spinel,” Bowser said. It felt weird for him to be the one who had to calm someone down rather than the one who had to be calmed down. “You’re right. Forget what I said when we first met. You’re not Pink Diamond, or her replacement; you are in fact your own Gem. And you don’t have to associate with her - or any of the Diamonds, or Steven - ever again, now that we’ve reformed the Koopa-Gem Alliance.”

A low, eerie growl rose from Bowser's throat as he felt his hatred of the Diamonds grow another tenfold. He’d never met them until his invasion of Homeworld, yet he despised them more than he did anyone else - dare he say as much, and maybe even more so, as Mario. From what he’d heard and seen, they caused nothing but pain and suffering to everyone - Gem or not - that they came across. “Grrrrrr… those treacherous Diamonds are a plague on your kind,” the Koopa King said to his friend. “They’re a plague on my kind, too. They’re a plague on this universe, on my universe - on all the multiverse, even. I haven’t felt this much hatred towards someone since Mario ruined my old galactic empire back in my universe. As soon as the Dark Star reaches full power, I’ll make the Diamonds feel all the pain they inflicted on my ancestor, on all the Koopas, on you, on all the Gems. I’ll rip Pink Diamond straight out of Steven’s body and annihilate them both! I’ll annihilate ALL the Diamonds and EVERYTHING they ever stood for!!!!!”

Bowser impulsively spat a stream of fire, incinerating the dead plants that surrounded the communicator ruins. His angry roar echoed through the garden, briefly drowning out the quiet cosmic hum. Spinel was completely unfazed by her best friend's anger, having seen all of her previous ones have far worse tantrums - and having had far worse tantrums herself.

Once the smoke of the burning plants dissipated and the garden faded back into deafening silence, the Alliance leaders let out heavy defeated sighs. The two of them were remarkably similar, they both thought. They both had a deep hatred for at least one of the Diamonds. They had both been abandoned by someone who was supposed to show them unwavering love and trust, leaving them with a constant empty feeling - which they both fruitlessly tried to fill with violence - no matter how much their lives improved or worsened. They both took their anger out on people who had done nothing wrong to them personally, but were still part of the reason why they were angry. They both considered a human universe savior to be their worst enemy.

And at the end of the day, there was one thing the two of them wanted more than anything: a true friend. And now they had both found one: each other.

“If it's alright with you, Spinel…” Bowser began to ask, “...can you explain exactly what your past was like? About your life with Pink and your time waiting here?"

Spinel’s gemstone glowed as it began projecting a pink holographic video. It was some kind of memory recording, showing her in the garden playing alongside a regal-looking Gem. It was clearly from a long time ago, as the garden looked much neater, brighter, and less overgrown than it did in the current reality. 

Bowser’s eyes widened as he realized who the regal Gem was: “Pink Diamond.” It was his first time seeing her outside of artwork.

Although Bowser could tell that the Gem Pink was playing with was Spinel, he saw that she looked remarkably different than she did in the present. Her pigtails were shaped like hearts instead of jagged spikes, her overall color scheme was bright instead of dark, she had no tear streaks under her eyes, and her gemstone was rightside up. 

“Woah…” Bowser said. “Is that what you used to look like? Before you poofed from the heartbreak?”

Spinel nodded. “Pink and I had so much fun together,” she explained as the video cycled through her and Pink playing various games. There was absolutely none of the sadness or mental instability she had in the present - just pure, unwavering happiness. “She was so lonely and sad whenever she was on Homeworld, but here… we’d disappear for days at a time, just playing all sorts of games. I loved it more than anything, but…”

As the video went on, Bowser noticed Pink Diamond’s smile change. It was always there, but it slowly became less and less genuine-looking, as if she was getting tired of the games but didn’t want to tell Spinel so as not to hurt her feelings. “...Looking back, I don’t think she ever felt the same,” Spinel continued.

The video switched to her and Pink standing by the garden communicator - which hadn’t been destroyed yet - on a video call with Yellow and Blue Diamond. In the back of his mind, Bowser wondered where White Diamond was - although from what he’d heard, she didn’t really interact much with anyone before Steven came along.

“There was one thing Pink wanted more than anything: a colony,” Spinel explained. “One day, while she and I were here, Yellow and Blue finally gave her one.”

“Earth, right?” Bowser asked.

“Yep.” In the video, Spinel excitedly jumped up and down as Pink profusely thanked Yellow and Blue. “I was so happy for the both of us; she finally got what she’d wanted for so long, and we’d finally have a new place to play together.”

“But… you didn’t end up going with her, did you?”

Spinel sighed melancholily as the video switched to Pink walking towards the garden warp pad, the former following her with bouncy, playful steps. Just as Pink was about to start walking up the stairs, Spinel grabbed her hand and excitedly stared up at her. Pink stared back with a cold, annoyed expression, as if she were about to do something awful to her.

“I was gonna go with Pink to check out Earth with her,” Spinel explained, “but then she told me to play a game. I’d stay here in the garden, standing very still, and I could move once she came back. Of course, I was more than happy to oblige.”

Pink then reached the warp pad and warped away, leaving Spinel behind in the garden. Spinel stared at the warp with a cheerful smile, not moving a muscle.

“But she never came back?” Bowser assumed.

“Nope.” The video then fast-forwarded - through the course of thousands of years. The garden became increasingly ruined and overgrown, but Pink did not come back for Spinel - nor did anyone at all, for that matter. Despite that, she remained completely still. She didn’t try to leave the garden on her own or even move around at all; she just continued happily staring at the warp pad, her form becoming messier and messier as the garden’s overgrowth slowly grew around her body.

“Woah…” Bowser said, his eyes widening even more. “So you really were alone and still that whole time… And eventually you saw…”

The fast-forwarding stopped when the garden looked the exact same way it did in the present: dark, dead, crumbled, heavily overgrown. Spinel’s cheerful stare was now a sad and hopeless one, and the majority of her body was now wrapped in dead leaves and vines. 

Spinel looked behind her at the garden communicator as it suddenly began playing a glitchy video message. It was Steven, explaining Pink’s passing and the Gem Empire’s dismantling.

Spinel looked horrified and dumbfounded as she broke free from the overgrowth and desperately sprinted towards the communicator. But before she could reach it, the message ended. Tears streamed down her face as she fell to her knees.

Then, just as Spinel hysterically screamed at the sky, the projection abruptly disappeared, and her gemstone stopped glowing.

“And then… that’s when you poofed?” Bowser guessed.

Spinel nodded. “Yep. Then I got my new form, grabbed an injector and rejuvenator from one of Pink’s old armories, made my way to Earth, and… yeah. You know the rest.”

Tears welled up in the Gem’s eyes, and her voice got shaky. “That was all a pretty long time ago now, and I’ve been making progress with moving on, but… it still hurts. Really really bad.” She clutched her gemstone with trembling hands as she stared down at the ground and began to cry. “I just… I just want it to stop.”

“Oh, Spinel…” Bowser said worriedly. “C’mere.”

He moved a bit closer to her and gently hugged her. She was initially startled by it, but she then wrapped her arms around him a few times and let her legs stretch out into a pile on the ground.

“I’m so sorry, Spinel,” Bowser told her in his calmest possible voice as she sobbed over his shoulder. “You didn’t deserve that. You have every right to be upset. But everything’s okay now; I’m here. I’m not gonna leave you. I’ll be your new best friend. I won’t let the Diamonds, Steven, or anyone hurt you ever again.”

The Koopa King allowed his Gem friend to let it all out for a couple of minutes. The poignant, mournful sound filled the emptiness of the garden, pairing well with its ruined state.

“Hee… hehe… hehehehehe…” Spinel laughed in between sobs. “I-i-isn’t it awful, Bowsie? You spend 6,000 years, alone, waiting… for your best friend to come back for you… and she tells you that it’s some fun new game… and then, after all that time, you find out… that she was never gonna come back. That her game was never gonna end. That she left you… for some nowhere planet, with a bunch of nobodies…”

Bowser felt a twinge of fear as she effortlessly lifted him a good few feet into the air, with a wild, angry, insane look in her eyes. “And then, she took her own life… to make some stupid organic hybrid freak!”

She was about to slam Bowser against the ground in blind rage, but she stopped herself halfway through and put him down. She then hugged him a bit tighter and continued sobbing.

All Bowser could think to respond with was: “…Yes, I’m sure it is. I can’t even begin to imagine how much you were - and still are - hurting. I don’t blame you one bit for what you did to Steven and the Earth and those Crystal Gems. I don’t think I would’ve done any better. Heck, just look at what I’m doing now ‘cause of what happened to my ancestor, haha.”

The two of them continued hugging for a couple more minutes. Eventually, Spinel returned her limbs to their default lengths, and she and Bowser let go of each other.

“Anyways…” Bowser said as he looked around the garden. “I was thinking… Maybe we could renovate this place a bit? My Wigglers and Goombas and Piranha Plants love gardens; this would be paradise for them if we restored it to how it used to be - with our own personal touches, of course. Would you like that?”

Spinel thought about it as she wiped away her last few tears. Eventually, she replied, “No. Let’s… let’s just leave it.”

“Really? You sure?”

“Y-yeah. Even after everything, I… I have too many happy memories of this place to change it at all. I just wanna let it rest.”

“Ok. I understand. Wanna just head back to Homeworld, then?”

Spinel nodded.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Bowser offered his hand for Spinel to hold, which she hesitantly took. The two of them then began walking towards the garden warp pad.

As they started walking up the stairs, Spinel looked up at Bowser and said, “Hey, Bowsie?”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Th-thank you. For being here for me. You’re… you’re a really good friend. Even better than Pink.”

Bowser smiled, his icy heart warmed by the compliment. “Of course. You’re a really good friend, too. And I'm sure I'm way better than Steven would ever be."

Spinel laughed. "Hahaha, indeed you are. I actually did originally want him to be my new best friend, though. He promised me that I'd love again as long as I could find the right person, and I thought that he would be that person..."

She sighed. "But no. He only helped me so I'd turn off my injector. And then once it was gone for good, he just... threw me to the Diamonds and ran off without giving any of us as much as a simple goodbye. Can’t really say I blame him for all that too much, but still…”

Bowser chuckled. "That boy's no better than his mother, that's for sure," he and Spinel both unintentionally said at the same time.

The Alliance leaders exchanged surprised glances, then laughed. "Hahahahaha! He really is the worst, isn't he?" Bowser said.

"You said it!" Spinel agreed. "Can't wait to finally get the chance to beat him up again."

"Ditto!" Bowser said as he affectionally looped an arm around Spinel's shoulder. "And Mario and the Diamonds too, of course."

Spinel affectionally looped her own arm around Bowser's shoulder just as a large purple bubble encased the duo, then floated up and into their airship. Finally, the ship took off at FTL speed towards Homeworld, and Pink Diamond's garden resumed its eternity of floating in the endless loneliness of space.

Chapter Text

The boys didn't land directly in Empire City; they instead landed on a small hill just beyond its boundaries, with a perfectly clear view of the bright and vibrant metropolis.

"Oooooh..." Mario remarked as he looked around at Empire City. "Cool place. Reminds me of a big city we have in my world, New Donk City."

"Gahhh..." Steven groaned as he squinted against Empire City's near-blinding lights. "I can't see any sign of the Power Star through all these lights. We humans really found a way to pollute stuff with light?"

"Guess we're just gonna have to go in and comb the whole city," Mario said.

The boys then began walking down the hill, towards a nearby highway leading into the city. "I take it you've been here before, Steven?" Mario asked.

Steven nodded. "Sure have. A couple times, actually. Me and Pearl and my dad vacationed here for a night after my dad became rich, and Sadie Killer and the Suspects had their first big show at a venue here, and Lapis Lazuli and I flew by here when we were touring Earth together. And I did drive through here during my cross-country trip, but I haven't actually stopped and visited in like, four years."

As the boys walked down the highway and entered Empire City proper, they noticed something unusual: strange dark spots on several of the buildings' lights, as if parts of them had been covered by something. Sure enough, when they squinted to get a better look, they saw that the lights had been sporadically painted with a strange black liquid, almost like some kind of graffiti.

"Uh oh," Steven said. "Looks like there's a vandal on the loose."

"Hopefully they won't bother us," Mario said, "but we should still keep our eyes peeled for both them and the Power Star."

As the boys walked along the city sidewalk, they noticed another unusual thing: the streets and roads weren't nearly as crowded as they usually were, and several stores were already closed for the day despite the fact that nighttime had only just begun where they currently were. (It was mysteriously always nighttime whenever Steven visited Empire City.) It was almost like some kind of citywide lockdown was starting.

"Man, looks like that vandal's been causing some serious trouble," Steven noted as he saw more buildings covered in black graffiti. "I think we should help the city clean it all up."

"Yes, let's do that as soon as we get the Power Star," Mario agreed. He once again thought about how kind Steven was to everyone around him, offering to help clean up an entire city that he didn't even live in.

As the boys approached a large city square area, they spotted something not only unusual, but also horrifying: some of the giant video advertisements on the sides of the larger buildings had been replaced with displays of the Koopa-Gem Alliance insignia, as well as that of Bowser Jr. and Bluebird Azurite's partnership - the Junior Alliance, the boys had subconsciously decided to call it. 

The color drained from the boys' faces as their eyes widened. "Oh no..." Steven said. "They... they got here already?"

"This is not good," Mario said as he took another look at all the black graffiti and came to a realization. "And... I think that if they're here, then the graffiti must be..."

Suddenly, a very bright flashlight shone on the boys as the gruff voice of a police officer shouted, “Freeze! Put your hands up!”

Sure enough, the boys quickly found themselves surrounded by Empire City Police Department officers, shining flashlights on them but luckily not about to use any of their weapons.

”You two are under arrest!” shouted another officer.

“We finally caught you, you filthy vandals!” shouted another.

"V-vandals?!" Steven exclaimed. "But-but we didn't-"

Before Steven could do anything else, Mario suddenly grabbed his hand and sprinted away, barely dodging police officers attempting to grab them.

The officers immediately pursued the boys down the sidewalk - some on foot and some in police cars. Soon, red and blue lights and police sirens and shouting had flooded the streets of Empire City, with what little civilians there were out and about retreating into their homes or nearby buildings.

"Get back here, vandals!" an officer shouted.

"You can only run so far!" shouted another.

Just as the officers' view of them was briefly obscured by a passing car, the boys ducked into an alleyway and continued running until they reached the end of it. Officers and squad cars zoomed past the alley, luckily with none of them noticing that the boys had hidden there.

The boys took deep breaths as they processed what had just happened. "What... what was that?" Steven said. "Why were the cops chasing us? Why were they calling us the vandals?"

Mario's expression turned suspicious. "I... I don't know for sure..." he said, "...but I think someone's impersonating us. Trying to make it look like we caused all this. Trying... to frame us."

"Really? Who could it be?"

The boys' gazes fell on a pair of wanted posters poorly taped to the giant brick wall at the end of the alley. On one poster was a crude black-and-white caricature of Mario, and the other had one of Steven.

Mario saw red as he ripped the posters off the wall, crumpled them up, and threw them against the ground. "Grrrrrr... I should've known that brat would pull something like this again," he growled.

"Who?" Steven asked.

"...Bowser Jr. I first met him when Peach and I went on vacation to Isle Delfino, a popular tropical vacation spot in our world. He vandalized the entire island with his magic paint brush, all while disguising himself as me to make it look like I did it. And... I think he's doing it again."

"Huh. But... if Bowser Jr.'s disguising himself as you, then who's..."

Suddenly, the boys heard two pairs of footsteps approach them from behind. "Disguising themselves as you?" said a distorted - and almost feminine - version of Steven's voice.

Sure enough, the boys turned around to find shadowy versions of themselves staring back at them. They looked identical to them - with all the exact same clothes and bodily features - only their entire bodies were seemingly made of a translucent blue liquid, and their eyes glowed red in a similar fashion to the Dark Star's. Shadow Mario held Bowser Jr.'s magic paintbrush - whose tip was covered in blackpoison - while Shadow Steven held a long cutlass made of ice - the weapon of Bluebird Azurite.

As the shadow clones touched their hands to their faces, they shimmered and transformed into translucent liquid blue forms of Bowser Jr. and Bluebird Azurite, each wearing a bandana over their mouths. The former wore a blue bandana with Mario's nose and mustache drawn on it in white, while the latter wore a blue bandana with Steven's nose and big toothy smile drawn on it in white.

Finally, as the Junior Alliance pulled down their bandanas, they transformed into their 100% normal selves. "Why, me, of course! Hahahahaha!" laughed Bluebird Azurite.

"Hehehe! So you boys finally decided to show your ugly faces to us again!" laughed Bowser Jr. "Took ya long enough! Long enough for Bluebird and I to come across this here human city and vandalize it while we searched for Power Stars!"

"Junior told me all about what he did to that Isle Delfino place back in his and Mario's world," said Bluebird. "He said he wanted to do that all again to this city, and he made me my own shadow disguise so the two of us could frame both of you boys for it! Hahaha!"

The Junior Alliance put on their bandanas again, transforming back into Shadow Mario and Shadow Steven. "And now it's time to finish our painting and keep you bozos from getting that Power Star!" said the former in a distorted version of the real Mario's voice. "Hahahahaha!"

The shadow clones then took off running, the boys immediately pursuing them. "Hey! Get back here, you brats!" Mario shouted after them.

As the boys chased their shadowy doppelgangers, they saw some large bits of blackpoison graffiti that spelled out some not-so-nice phrases, such as DOWN WITH EARTH and KILL THOSE BOYS and DOWN WITH THE DIAMONDS. Every single video advertisement in the city had also been replaced with Alliance and Junior Alliance insignia displays, as well as some displays of crossed-out Diamond Authority insignias, Mario's signature red M, and Steven's signature yellow star. Yeah, as if the Alliance hasn't already made it crystal-clear how they feel about us, Steven thought. Hehe, crystal-clear. Good one, Steven.

The shadow clones stopped when they reached the city square area where the boys had encountered the police earlier. "We've got you now, fakers!" Steven shouted. "You have nowhere to run!"

Steven was quickly proven wrong, as Shadow Mario and Shadow Steven suddenly jumped all the way up to the roof of the square's tallest building. The former dragged his paintbrush along the side of the building as he ascended, covering the whole thing with a large streak of blackpoison. The boys also noticed a nearby manhole cover slowly leaking the deadly inky substance, trembling as if it was about to be blasted off.

The ground shook as the Junior Alliance's airship suddenly came down from the sky, stopping to hover above where their shadow imposter forms were standing. The duo then jumped onto the ship, turning around to ominously stare down at the boys.

"Have fun cleaning up our mess, boys!" Shadow Mario called down. "And Dad and Spinel say hello, by the way!"

Finally, the shadow clones tauntingly stuck out their comically long red tongues at the boys, and their airship vanished into a giant Dark Star portal.

* * * * *

Just as the portal disappeared, the leaking manhole cover suddenly burst off, spraying a blackpoison geyser into the air. The boys barely had enough time to run away from the rapidly-expanding black pool starting to cover the entire city square.

Then, just before the poison reached the boys, all of it suddenly receded back to where it came from, then took the shape of a giant inky monster that resembled a centipede. It had thirteen crystal-topped segments - twelve with one pair of legs each and the final one with a pair of claws resembling a monstrous mouth - as well as a giant pair of beetle-like mandibles with a circular eye-like object in the back, a large mane behind its head, and a single broken horn on top of its head.

"C-Centipeetle?!" Steven exclaimed, recognizing the monster as the first corrupted Gem he'd ever fought - a long five years ago. 

The blackpoison Centipeetle let out a loud half-hiss half-roar sound, poison oozing from its mouth. The boys summoned their weapons and jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a massive blackpoison stream the monster sprayed from its mouth. 

"I don't think this is the same one you fought, Steven!" Mario called out. "I think it's just a blackpoison replica!"

"Y-yeah... yeah, you're right!" Steven replied. "Let's take this thing down!"

But although he knew this blackpoison Centipeetle was merely a replica of the Centipeetle he knew, Steven still felt hesitant to fight the first non-Crystal Gem he'd ever came to know as a friend.