She was falling, a very, very long fall from the tall, tall tower that belonged to Booster. She wondered how many stories it would be before she plummeted to her death, another crack in the sidewalk. Her name was Makina and she was a short by human standards girl with Elven ears and blonde locks. She wished that somehow she would be caught by a handsome prince and he would take her away from her pain and misery, but she knew what was to come. Death, the painful way out.
***
The party was surprised as it was teleported to the bottom of Booster's Tower by some unforeseen magic, and then, suddenly, Makina was falling right on top of them. She just barely missed TMS, who acting fast had dodged, but she landed on Jon easily, her full force nearly squishing him. She had also barely missed Mewd, which she might have found amusing had it been known to her that both people missed were rather desirable princes.
"AAH! GET IT OFF!" Jon screamed.
"Calm down, Jon." TMS extended his hand to Makina and helped her up. "Hello, Miss... And your name would be?"
"Makina." She smiled gently.
"Yes... well... we'd better be going... we have a villian to stop. You up to a fight, Smash?" TMS looked back.
"I suppose..." Smash responded.
"I'll go too," Gillian piped up.
"You'll do no such thing."
Gillian sighed, but she would not disobey Smash and join.
*Smash Sumashi has joined TMS's party!*
"Alright... we're going back," TMS smiled.
"Can I go too?" Makina asked.
"If death and destruction is your cup of tea, sure."
"Yay! I love death and destruction!" she cheered.
"Er..." TMS made a face that seemed to say 'Is she for real?'.
*Makina has joined TMS's party!*
"Makina... what kind of fighting skills do you have?" TMS asked nervously.
"Oh, I'm a sorceress! See?" Makina, in an attempt to cast a minor light spell, ended up creating a huge sphere of dark matter. "Oops! I'm not very practiced yet!"
"Yeah... we can see that. Lucky for you I'm an experienced and practiced Magical Warrior Prince." TMS waved his hand and the dark matter sphere disappeared.
"A... prince?"
"Mm-hm... Chimu 'TMS' Kasara-Chiri, crown prince of Staria, at your service. Ready to go?"
Everyone nodded. Jon cringed, knowing that Makina was coming with them.
"If you want... I could try transportation... I usually get that one right," Makina offered.
"Ok. We're going to Yoshi's Island."
"Alright." Makina waved a hand and suddenly they were there.
TMS knelt and peered into the clear blue water. A strand of blonde fell into his face and he pushed it back, then an image came to him in the water. The voices he heard sounded distant and watery.
'Racku, sweetie... why are you suddenly so protective?' Peach asked as she watched Racku pacing.
'He's coming... The destruction of it all... He brought a lot of them... An ice cat... three humans... two Koopas... a human-Koopa... a shapeshifter... a Dragon... an Elven girl... soon there will be another but it's unclear who...'
‘Who is he?'
'A boy... a young teenage boy...'
'Why are you so afraid of him?'
'I'm not...'
And then the image faded away. "He's near." TMS looked up.
"Who's near?" Makina asked.
"Racku."
"The bad guy?"
"Er... yes."
"I love you, Smash." Gillian kissed the dragon, whose shape was currently human. Then she turned to face TMS. "I swear if you bring him back to me in pieces, I'll ship you in a paper bag to your kingdom in more shreds than anyone can readily count."
Smash chuckled at the look on TMS's face. "You'd really do that, eh?" he queried of the fire-red-haired Koopa girl.
"In a heartbeat. Be safe."
"Er... I can make no guarantees on either bringing Smash back in one piece or me being available for your shredding, Gill... but I'll try to do one or the other." TMS smiled finally.
***
"I'm sorry my darling... but I must rearrange this dimension." Racku kissed Peach. Then suddenly the entire dimension transformed into a beautiful cathedral.
Peach was kneeling in the habit of a nun. "May the lady protects us from the evil that will come, for I fear for the life of the divine angel housed here."
Racku stood up. He pulled back the hood of his monk outfit. Because of the form he had chosen, which was not human, he looked almost like a hunchback. "Sister Peach... you have done well in protecting me... I thank you."
***
"He's used his power again." TMS looked up. "And he's taken on an enlightened form... a holy form."
"Why's that a problem?" Dinogirl asked.
"Because the form has taken a liking to him and that means I can't kill him for the simple fact that it would make me a monster."
"Does it really matter anymore?" Mewd sighed. "We're here to protect the world... unless you kill him and become a monster, the world dies."
"You're right... very right..."
"I suppose I'd better go..." Gillian sighed, kissed Smash once more, and then left.
Part 8: Cathedral of the White-Winged Angel
TMS looked up to see the twinkling stars, another day passed. He sighed, ran his hands over his face and looked down. "So tired... but this isn't over yet..."
"The journey always seems long when the stakes are high." Mewd sat down beside the melancholy boy.
"I know... and I've dragged everyone into this..."
"Don't worry about us, this is fate."
"That's what I'm worried about."
"I'm sure we'll be fine."
"I don't know about that... we're not facing some deranged AKPR agent... we're facing a Starian War Hero with a criminal record. Worse, he's Kasara-Chiri."
"What's the difference? They're all against us… all want the world for themselves."
"You're right... but this time... it’s my battle. I've never had a true enemy before. I wish someone experienced was here to guide me... it feels like I'm being crushed by my destiny..."
"We all feel that way sometimes."
"It hurts though and I don't know how to stop it... it hurts here." He put his hand over his chest. "In my heart. It feels so heavy and cold when I think of what I must do."
"It's understandable... he's your uncle... I think deep inside you have forgiven him because you both want the same thing... a family."
"No... he wants blood and death... I just want peace."
"Alright then." Mewd stood
Bowser rushed in and pushed Mewd away. "So, boy," he said rather cheerfully. It was rather disturbing for him to be in such a mood around the boy ruler of the race he hated. "How close are we to the enemy?"
"I don't know... close? I can catch glimpses of where he is, nothing more." TMS sighed.
"Good! We'll set off tomorrow morning then, right?"
"Yeah..."
"I can hardly wait." Bowser's eyes glinted with a feverish demon delight.
TMS sighed and shook his head before getting up. 'I don't understand these Koopas... they're mostly selfish and greedy... once they talk themselves into something they can't be talked out of it easily... and they're so blood thirsty... am I that cold hearted? Would I kill?' He walked to his tent, settled down, and felt himself drift off into an uneasy sleep.
***
"Utuha... let me help you." Peach gently placed her hands on the monk robes. She felt, under her light touch, the full body armor hidden beneath the rough fibers. 'The blessed Armor of Light, the creator’s finest armor... may it aid him.'
Racku felt a tingling sensation as she said that name. He despised it, and loved it, hated it and needed it all at the same time. His inner conflicts were enough to drive a lesser man mad, but this was not what had made him what he was. It was the constant torture of one long dead that laced his dreams when he had dared close his eyes within the mask. 'Evil urchin... you had to haunt me long after I slipped the poison in your goblet... I was so tired of taking all the blame for your mistakes... when I thought I'd taken care of it... you made me this... now I will use the power you have given me to get you out of my mind! Curse-ed mother of mine, you will be gone! When the line ends, my torture ends... this boy is the last... ah... such a pity... poor Nathan... you wretched woman... why did you make me so good at my job?! I never wanted to hurt him! He was my brother! And my father... curse you to the underworld, evil sorceress of nightmares!'
Peach pulled the robes away to reveal a milky white armor and a pair of white wings. "How I wish I were in such favor with her Ladyship the creator... ah... to fly... to serve the goddess's every whim..."
"You wouldn't like it..."
***
"I've found it." TMS allowed his hand to hover over the surface of the watery bubble-like dome. It was the portal to Racku's dimension and it lay open.
"Smash!" Gillian cried out, leaping down from the trees.
"Gill! No!" TMS screamed.
That was how they entered the dimension. Gillian had landed in Smash's arms, setting him off balance and knocking everyone into the portal. TMS hadn't time to make sure it was safe.
* Gillian Koopa has joined TMS's party!*
***
"They're here," Racku sighed.
"Already?" Peach questioned.
"It was a girl... the last party member... a Koopa female... she knocked them in unprepared."
***
"Where are we?" Smash looked around, Gillian still in his arms.
"The Cathedral of the Black-Winged Angel. It's sacred ground." TMS scanned himself over. "I feel... strange..."
"You look strange." Dinogirl reassured that the boy wasn't going crazy. She laid her hands on TMS back and pressed hard. "It moves..."
"Ow... that hurts," TMS cried out.
Mewd tapped TMS's shoulder. "I thought so... you've got armor on under that Monk Robe."
"Monk Robe?!" TMS looked down and saw he was indeed wearing a monk robe. It pulled off to reveal glimmering black armor and something unexpected. Black wings. "I'm an... Angel..."
"I wouldn't say that... the Koopa religion states this clearly..." Bowser smiled evilly. "‘If thou wear the color black in mock of a holy form, thou art evil in guise and nothing more.' Welcome to the Koopa world, kid. You're just as sinful as anyone else." Then the evil glint returned. "So, kiddo... I don't have all day... where's this villain of yours?"
"He's in the Cathedral of the White-Winged Angel," TMS muttered in reply.
"Well, let's go."
"Hold it," a voice called from the dark. It sounded like a serpent for it began to make a hissing sounds soon after that was said. It stepped out of the shadows to reveal what seemed to be a twisted version of a Koopa. "I don't really belong here..." It whispered, "I'm not living... but I followed him here. You see... Racku was my son... I've seen what he's become... Chimu... you must kill him."
"No... no, no... no... I won't do that... what kind of mother would say that about her son, anyways?!" TMS backed away from the creature.
"The kind who was killed by him... he was a terror when he was young too."
"Don't listen to her!" a voice abruptly shouted. It was a beautiful young woman clothed in white. Her hair was blonde, her eyes a wonderful hazel. She had a face that radiated beauty, yet screamed at TMS that the features were familiar.
Then, suddenly, it hit him. He recalled the first time he'd gotten a good look at Racku's face. It was the same. The same slanted eyes, the same thin eyebrows, the same small slightly pointy nose. The only difference was the fact that she had those features set in a more feminine style.
"Begone wretched creatures!" the shadow that had suddenly been cast cried out, "The boy is now mine. I have been charged with him by Racku."
"You can't have him!" the white clothed woman put her arms about TMS. "You demented creature... you sadistic thing..."
"Take him Soralin... he's yours... you're such a darling man... I'm sure you know what to do with the boy..." the twisted Koopa smiled grimly.
"I swear you lay hand on him and I shall freeze the wretched underworld both of you come from for all eternity!"
"Try it, lady... Racku will not prevail in this battle! I, Odera, shall conquer all!"
"TMS. We're gonna have to team up with everyone in your party for this... Odera is a very powerful sorceress and I'm only a Guard Spirit..."
"Got it... you guys ready?" TMS drew his blade from the strange new side scabbard.
"Ready as we're gonna be." Smash growled as he slowly returned to his normal form.
"Ready." Makina held the sphere of light above her head.
"Let's go." Jon nodded.
Smoke and ash flared from Bowser's nostrils as he breathed out. He nodded his head as he inhaled air, ready to breathe fire. He gave a thumbs up signal.
"I will fight with all my strength." Gillian readied herself.
TMS was surprised as in a sudden burst his magic kicked in, as if on command. He could feel it pulsating through his veins. The power to summon fire.
"Power of ice, I summon you, make of me a warrior! Ka-riiiii!" Suddenly the lady in white was covered in icy armor not much different from Mewd's.
Then it leapt forth. It was a nimble lizard, obviously Soralin. "Lovely boy... you'll make such a play thing for me... are you a natural blonde?"
That was the final straw. TMS was furious. Fire flared up out of nowhere. The blade came down in the middle of Soralin's skull and didn't stop until it reached the floor.
"I should be doing that to you..." Odera grinned, "Splitting heirs is one of my bad habits."
"Clever pun, but it wasn't funny," TMS remarked.
In a flare of darkness her twisted form became one of slender beauty. A flare of fire red hair, the glimmer of haunting evil pale red eyes, a flash of moonlight pale skin and she was no longer what she had momentarily appeared to be.
"Can't fool me... you're ugly as sin under that exterior. Evil is the most hideous thing in the universe... thank the goddesses I'm not like you..." TMS laughed.
"You... you... CHILD!" Odera roared.
Without warning Bowser let out a firey breath, scorching the young woman. "Bwah ha ha ha... you like that?"
"Take this!" Makina hurled the sphere.
"You... you..."Odera uttered several curses at Bowser, holding her half burnt face.
"Chimu?" Yuku asked.
"Gotchya." TMS held his hands high and then held them straight out from his shoulders. He began to spin around. "Fire circle blaze!"
Yuku held her sword up. "Ice beam!"
Odera stood with her mouth gaping as the attacks hit her simultaneously. The extremes of an absolute zero attack and one as blazing hot as the sun would be too much for anything but a Kasara-Chiri to take, and it would leave a Kasara-Chiri weak. Her horrifying shriek echoed in the building and the pain was intensified for she had wronged on sacred ground. Holding her face with both her hands, she shouted, "I will be back!" She then ran away.
TMS turned to Yuku. "Now... who are you?"
"I'm your aunt... you wouldn't know me though." Yuku smiled.
"My... aunt?"
"Your mother's sister."
"My mother had no family."
"Well, I was... can you keep a secret?"
"Yeah, sure..."
"I'm also your great grand uncle's mother..."
"You mean that..." TMS was shocked.
"Mm-hm... The man you're fighting is your cousin and your uncle. Did you not know that the Kasara-Chiri's married into their own family?"
"My father... he..."
"He married from the second house. Besides... your genetics are only half Kasara-Chiri... the only royal blood in you is your mother's... you're Mushroomer royalty of the Kasara-Chiri type.... just as I am. The only full blooded Kasara-Chiri existing in this time period is Racku... he's half Starian royalty... half Mushroom royalty... both sides of the Kasara-Chiri. He has the strength of the first and the cunning of the second... the power of both..."
"How?" TMS fell to his knees, almost ready to begin sobbing.
"You descended from Nathan... he was the son of Odera and her former husband... there is one more Kasara-Chiri who is not my son, but is my Ara's... please... if you find him, help him... he has more to deal with than you do..." She leaned down and kissed TMS on the forehead before disappearing.
‘My aunt... how is this possible?'
***
‘He got rid of Soralin... and defeated my accursed mother.' Racku rubbed his chin. ‘Have I underestimated him?'
Peach's hand settled on Racku's shoulder. "My lord Utuha... we're soon to have visitors." Her fingers touched something metal and loose and she looked down. "What's this chain?"
"Don't touch it, please." Racku swiftly pulled it out from under her touch. The sun pendant at the end of it jangled against the metallic white armor. "It's more sacred than life to me."
Peach nodded understanding. She once had such a thing, but it had been lost.
"There is only one other anything like it..." He cradled the pendant in his hand. "The other is the star pendant of the second house... this is the sun pendant of the first."
***
"Wait..." TMS stopped the party's march toward the Cathedral of the White-Winged Angel.
"What?" Jon asked.
"This thing is choking me." TMS pulled the necklace off.
"It's beautiful," Dinogirl remarked.
"It's pure gold and a family heirloom." TMS held out his palm with the necklace in it. "See the star-shaped pendant? It signifies that-"
"You descend from Kasara-Chiri royalty of the Mushroom Kingdom." Bowser snorted at the look on TMS's face. "I'm not completely ignorant, Prince of Staria... and you do know that Racku is the King of Staria, don't you? That little star pendant won't save you."
"Well what're we all standing around for?!" TMS fumed and then continued the walk.