"Mama Mia!" he cried. The bridge had suddenly changed into the castle basement!
Luigi's reaction was only a little slower. "Bro, we- just changed locations? How did we do that?"
Mario shook his head. It was beginning to make sense, and yet something still didn't sound right. Whoever was operating the ship was giving them all an illusion- but for what purpose? He glanced over at Luigi and Peach. They were both standing as if in a dream. Peach was talking and giggling as if she had no idea what was going on. Luigi, on the other hand, was standing with a terrified expression on his face.
"Look out!" he cried, and ducked as if to avoid something.
"What's the matter with them?" asked Yoshi, appearing suddenly.
Mario closed his eyes. There was absolutely no way Yoshi could have just appeared like that. However it was happening, they were all suffering under some kind of illusion. Peach was enjoying hers, Luigi was terrified of his, and Mario's was basically neutral. He remembered that he had wished Yoshi was around before boarding the ship. So that was it. The inhabitants of the ship could throw any illusion at you they wished, but they did so individually, and they based it off of your imagination. Peach had originally been in the courtyard, so it made sense to keep her there. He didn't know what Luigi had been thinking, but it obviously hadn't been pleasant.
Yoshi, or the illusion, interrupted his thoughts. "So you've figured it out, then."
Mario nodded.
"You won't say anything to me?"
"How can I," thought Mario, "When you don't exist?"
"Ah, but that's the ticket. I don't need you to talk when I can read your mind. Still, a conversation would be nice, but I suppose you don't say much, do you?"
"I'm not interested in conversing with a falsehood," thought Mario.
Suddenly Yoshi disappeared and King Bowser took his place. "So you won't talk to your friends", he roared. "Perhaps your archenemy?"
Luigi was still standing paralyzed with fear, Peach was also obviously still in her imaginary world.
"That's the key, then," he thought. "You can't complete the illusion unless you make somebody talk. Luigi has been fooled, Peach as well, and they've both said something. They might think they're alone, or with a group, doing anything, anywhere, and you can change it at will. We're still on your ship, regardless. So...what is it that you all want from us?"
"A smart man," Bowser said. "So you figured us out. Of course, that means you'll have to leave. We can't use people we can't fool." He then vanished, and Mario realized he was standing on the castle drawbridge.
"Master Mario!" called Toadsworth. "Where are your compatriots? What did you do, to leave them behind like that?"
Mario didn't answer. Toadsworth had never been so accusatory. "What's it to you what actions I take?" he thought.
Toadsworth paused. "Hmmm...so that didn't work either. What do you think will fool you?"
Mario tried very hard to think of nothing. A second later, he was in pitch black darkness. Mario had never been afraid of the dark, but this...well, this was black. He couldn't see his own hand, and for a moment he became a little nervous. A second later, however, he almost burst out laughing, but stopped himself to avoid letting any words come out. Of course! Luigi had equipped him with a Fire Flower in case of necessity. Why not light the way out? He blasted a few balls of light and watched as they bounded across the dark floor. As he watched he thought he vaguely saw the ship's bridge again. This was no time for games- he was thoroughly angry as he thought of Luigi and Peach both standing in illusionary universes. A second later, he blasted not a few balls of light, but a veritable miniature sun. Instantly the bridge was flooded with light. All the aliens were there, scrambling around as if to prevent something from breaking. "Too late!" one of them cried. Something on the west side of the bridge let out a massive display of sparks, and then, suddenly, everything became light again.
Luigi and Peach both started, as if woken from a daydream. "Mario?" called the Princess. "What happened?"
"You've ruined it!" cried a voice. Mario turned and saw a Shy Guy approaching with what appeared to be a laser gun and an angry stride. "How dare you?! It was so perfect, so complete..."
"And so wrong!" Luigi interrupted. He stepped in front of Mario and faced the Shy Guy, lightning flashing in his eyes. "If you know what's good for you," he said, "then you will stand where you are and not move a muscle."
The Shy Guy stopped. Although the mask made it difficult to read his emotion, it was obvious that he was at least hesitant to approach.
Peach walked to the Bros. "What...is this? How did it happen?"
"Illusions, Princess," Luigi said without moving his gaze from the Shy Guy. "Someone has been playing cat-and-mouse with our imaginations."
Suddenly Mario spin-jumped into the air and showered the console with a barrage of fire. No way was this ship taking off anywhere.
"Allow me to explain", said the Shy Guy. "My name is..."
"Irrelevant," Luigi interrupted. "I care precious little who you are. All we care about is why you're here and what you are doing. Why did you try to capture us in illusions?"
"I did not try," said the Shy Guy haughtily. "I succeeded, except in the case of the red-hatted one."
"You don't know his name?" asked Peach. "I thought everyone knew him".
Mario held up his hand. The villain didn't need to know his name. Under that mask he could be planning another assault- and Mario didn't know what he could do. It suddenly dawned on him that no aliens were on the bridge.
"You aren't a one-man crew," said Luigi, apparently thinking upon the same lines as his brother. "Where are the others we saw?"
"Products of illusion", replied the Shy Guy. "They were as fake as the individual realities you were in. Simply put, I wanted to appear formidable in power and numbers. Now, though, you have destroyed both." He said this in a choking, almost tearful way.
"Scrap the waterworks," said Luigi, "And start from the beginning. Why are you here?"
"I will begin my tale," said Shy Guy, "Since I have been beaten." He took a long breath and began...
Continued next week...
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