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Sorry the finale is so late. What has it been, 3 weeks, 4 weeks? Anyway here is the final to PMTSF you've been waiting for, so let's get on with it......

RECAP FROM CHAPTER 7
After an expedition to the Frozen Caverns of the Icy Mountains, Mario & Co. find the last Star Key is located in space aboard the MKSS Mrk II, the Mushroom Kingdom's Official Space Station. However, the castle lost contact after a final message from the station's computer, Dais-E, shortly before Peach's recent kidnapping, and received a strange S.O.S. a little while later. After helping Smar T. retrieve stolen parts of his rocket, He allows Mario & Co. to go in his pace to find his missing brother. Arriving at the station, all Mario finds is a missing crew, a "few" "haywire" defense systems, and a confusing, almost maniacal, Dais-E. Following Dais-E's "directions" to the "crew", Mario & Co. learn from the three remaining members of the crew, Tar T., the commander and Smar T.'s older brother, Blas T., the engineer, and Russ T., a veteran Toad astronaut, that after a presumed bug in Dais-E's systems about hostile life-forms outside the station, her hostile analyzers were damaged, making her believe everyone who is on or comes on is a hostile, and she has captured the rest of the crew. Determining that the only way to stop Dais-E is to fix her, Mario & Co. exit the station to repair it, and encounter a huge swarm of Space Bloopers, the presumed hostile life-forms. In an attempt to repair Dais-E's main core, Mario & Co. are ripped out by the swarms leader, a huge blooper by the name of Blooperian, who possess the final Star Key which allows his kind to live in space, and once he learns that Mario intends to take it, battles him. After a tough battle, Blooperian reveals that that he was under the control of the same evil voice that brainwashed Petey Piranha and Miss Freezie, which convinced him to ignore the previous voice telling him to throw the key away, which Mario & Co. had mistaken to be Shadolance's voice. Meanwhile, our villain imprisons Peach in a pocket dimension made to resemble reality after he escapes, intending to leech her as a power source.

CHARACTERS
Mario - The Hero of our story who needs no introduction.
Party Members
Kammy Koopa - Bowser's Caretaker and Lead Minion who
teamed up with Mario to rescue Bowser, Peach, and Luigi.
Black NinjaKoopa - The Muscle of the Koopa Bros. and a
Master of the Ninja-Shot Throw. He teams up with Mario
after seeing he's not so bad after all
GoomBert - An Archaeologist/Map-Maker who decided to
assist Mario with his navigation skills after being rescued
from the belly of a giant Koopa made of sand.
Cocoaknow - The only Coco-Knight to believe Mario's Quest
after He accidentally destroys a Coco-knight statue who
helps Mario gain the Star Key on the Missing Island with
her trap sensing abilities and Trap Sprint. She is also considered
weird by the other Coco-Knights due to decision to wear
a cocoa bean instead of a coconut.
Jade Bulb-Ulb- The oldest living Bulb-Ulb, who protected the
Purple Star Key. That is until Petey Piranha stole it and became
corrupted, spewing her with so much poison that she lost her memory.
With Mario's help, she regained it and helped him reclaim the star key
to save Peach, Luigi and Bowser from the Evil King. Being the oldest
Bulb-Ulb, Jade has Abilities the others don't have, like using her vines
to distract enemies and move them away from her location.
McBoo - A Red Boo and former member of King Boo's division of the
Koopa Troop, the Boo Troop, along with his friends. After Mario rescues
all three of his friends from King Boo, McBoo lends Mario his ghostly
abilities, allowing Mario to save his brother and all the other captives,
plus get another Star Key.*
BumpTina - The daughter and only child of BumpTed, Bumpty Town's Mayor,
who is a skilled Ballerina and a bit of an adventurer. After Mario convinces her
father that she can come along with the expedition to the Frozen Caverns, he
gives him the responsibility of watching over her, and she lends her slide ability
to Mario to better move about the area.
Commander Tar T. - Commander in charge of the MKSS Mrk II, older brother to
Smar T. and one of the founding families of Toad Town, after ths station goes
haywire and Mario comes up to investigate it and gain the next Star Key, He
teams up with Mario to stop the malfunctioning defense intelligence Dais-E and
the crazy Blooper king Blooperian and gain the last Star Key. He makes use of
his Object Detector to locate hidden objects that one could not see with the naked eye.
  Lord Blumiere - Formerly known as the evil Count Bleck, Lord Blumiere and his love Lady
Timpani (Tippi) sacrificed themselves to save all worlds from destruction, and were reunited
together in the afterlife. He has now returned in order to stop his father, who had gone mad
after Lord Blumiere became Count Bleck. Now he races to tell Mario the truth about the Star
Keys and to stop him from unwittingly freeing his father!
  Princess Peach - The Monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom who is always kidnapped by Bowser.
Now she has discovered that her great ancestor fell in love with Shadolance's daughter,
and Count Bleck's Sister, who gave birth to the first royal Toadstool, making Shadolance
her great x21 Grandfather!
  Shadolance - The mysterious king of darkness who had kidnapped Luigi, Peach, and
Bowser for an unknown reason, with the only information being his name overheard
by the three captives from talk by his minions, right before their recapture. Peach has
now discovered that Shadolance is the former king of the Tribe of Darkness, as well as
Count Bleck's father, but that he had a daughter, who fell in love with one of her
ancestors, making Shadolance Peach's great x21 grandfather. and thanks to Count
Bleck, is now revealed to have orchestrated the capture in order to pressure Mario
into freeing him alongside the others, so that he could take control of, and destroy,
the Mushroom Kingdom.
Item - Abilities granted from said Item using Star Energy - Ability Cost
Fountain Water - Increases Star Energy by Five points to a single ten point Star Energy Container
Orange Star Key - Gives Mario a Toad army cover and backup for 2 turns - Cost: 1 Star Energy Container
Yellow Star Key - Can Allow Mario to Summon Sand Toads to increase the size of his Attacks (How high
the attack goes is up to to how good you can preform the summoning, Highest attack up is 50) - Cost:
1 Star Energy Container
Indigo Star Key - Allows Mario to cast a tidal wave and deal 20 damage to enemies (Every Mario gains
another Star Key the attack power is raised by 20 to a maximum of 100 damage) - Cost: 2 Star Energy
Containers
Purple Star Key - Mario plants a jade vine seed and uses the Purple Star Key to accelerate its growth to
trap the enemies in jade flowers emerging from the vine for 3 turns (If Mario can preform the
summoning to an excellent rank, the trap will last for 18 turns) - Cost: 3 Star Energy Containers
Green Star Key - Mario can summon a painting and use the Green Star Key to increase it and call out
lots of Boos, confusing enemy attacks for 5 turns (If Mario can increase it to an excellent rank, the
Boos can confuse the enemies for 15 turns or even scare them away) - Cost: 4 Star Energy Containers
Blue Star Key - Mario can summon as storm that can rain down huge icicles and hail that deals 15
damage to all enemies (If Mario can perform an excellent storm call, the attack power is raised to a
maximum 225) - Cost: 5 Star Energy Containers
Red Star Key - Allows Mario to rain down a series of stars that deal 70 damage (210 if excellent ranked)
- Cost: 6 Star Energy Containers

CHAPTER 7/8 TRANSITION
With Mario & Co. now possessing the Star Key, Blooperian and his Bloopers return safely back to his underwater kingdom, and Mario & Co. go back inside the station, completely forgetting the fact that Dais-E is still malfunctioning. After an internal monologue from Dais-E's central core about the fact that she intended to keep Mario & Co. and the rest of the crew alive as prisoners until the "crew" returned or official MKASA astronauts arrived to interrogate them as per her programming, but after they have destroyed so many defense systems and released the crew, she has restored to her secondary hostile directive, eliminate all hostile, and activates several weapons to kill Mario & Co. and Tar T., before she is shut down rather anti-climatically by Blas T., who still remains free, and he reboots her systems, restoring her to normal working. Dais-E realizes what she has done and apoligizes to the crew, downloading the latest software to carry voice-recognize to identify friendly individuals. With the MKSS Mrk II repaired, the crew begin to send off a report detailing the occurrences, and are about to go about their normal business, until Mario tells them about Princess Peach and Shadolance. Knowing that while the station is alright, and the rest of the kingdom is not, Tar T. decides to stay with Mario to rescue the Princess and save the day. Returning to the fountain with all the Star Keys, Mario & CO. are about to open it, when suddenly, a familiar warp appears and zaps the fountain away. Kammy, using her magic, determines that the fountain is still in the kingdom, but does not know where, forcing Mario & Co. to go to all the previous locations in the kingdom that they visited in each chapter, and when they find it in said locations, it disappears again, before eventually returning to it's original resting spot.

Before Mario walks up to it again and starts the whole chase over again, Tar T, suggests using his scanner to identify whats making the fountain move. Using his scanner, Mario & Co. find that is is a small power orb making it move, and trace the source to below the fountain. Deciding the only way to get below the fountain is to bring the force that is moving it up above it, Mario & Co. go talk to the only remaining Founding Family they have yet to talk to or interact with since they're adventure started, the mystical Dr. Toadley (who gives you odd troubles relating to each chapter you go through, but must be completed before you can continue on to Chapter 8, so you can do them in between chapter transitions or all at once in the Chapter 7 transition). After Completing his troubles, Dr. Toadley explains that the only way to get someone out from beneath the fountain is to either use the Star Keys, or use the magics of the fountain still on those who have been under it before, in this case, Bowser & Luigi. Luigi goes willingly, though for Bowser you have to give him a fire flower to restore his fire breath after being frozen by the Blue Star Key. After getting the two together, Mario & Co. are able to lift the force out of the fountain, revealing it to be Count Bleck! At first Mario and his confused company prepare to fight him, but Lord Blumiere (no longer Count Bleck) reveals he is a friend he has left the world of the dead for a mission, in this case stopping his father, King Shadolance! This shocks everyone (as the only people who knew King Shadolance is Lord Blumiere's father is himself, Peach, Shadolance, his minions, you (the reader), and me (the narrator)), and Lord Blumiere reveals that this has all been a trick so that his father could escape his prison.

Blumiere tells them the whole story, that instead of destroying the Tribe of Darkness like he thought when he became Count Bleck, The Dark Prognosticus instead froze them all, including his father, as it sensed that the entire reason Blumiere was doing this was because of the "death" of his love, the human Lady Tippani, yet it knew the she still lived, but with amnesia and in another form. Fearing that she would regain her memory and stop Blumiere from completing its mission, The Dark Prognisticus unleashed his father, no longer the man he once was, but instead a monster of pure shadow, onto the world alongside the transformed Tribe of Darkness. While Blumiere was planning reality's destruction and his father attempting it, his old Koopa Butler, Morton Koopa, his daughter, Darissa, a Toad Knight by the name of Sir Bri Toadstool, nicknamed Bri T., and two Knights from another world, stopped him, separated him from the power given to him by the Dark Prognisticus, and sealed him and his minions beneath the Under-gate, a large door leading to a separated piece of the Underwhere, with a fountain placed over the entrance and locked with seven Star Keys made of Fallen Stars and Rainbow magic, powerful magic of light. The knight brothers hid each Star Key in a secret location, and left a message which can only be heard once to who ever first finds it to either destroy it, or leave to a place impossible to reach, and left the world to return to their own. But they did not know that one of his dark minions was unsealed, and had made a magical map using the fountain water, corrupted by Shadolance's evil, to give to one to start the journey in the form of a treasure hunt, but was discovered by one of Morton's spies (he had mad his own kingdom you see), and had the map locked since it was impossible to destroy, and hoped none could find the map, or any of the keys. However, some did find the keys, but instead of listening to the message of the knights, they listen to the voice of Shadolance, who control over a fraction of the keys do to their Fallen Star heritage, since Fallen Stars contain a hint of shadow, which he can control. He convince them to keep the keys, o to use their power so that they would be easier to find by someone who could free him.

However, that did not happen until enough time had passed for his chains to weaken and his minions to possess and destroy his guards, taking their bodies as their own, then he used a small essence of himself to take Peach, Luigi, and Bowser, having heard of Mario, and knowing he would do anything to rescue them, and provided incentive for two rival kingdoms to work together. however, his evil voice could only overlap the message of the knights, which could only be heard by the first to pick it up, since they believed they would listen to them. So Shadolance had to keep his prisoners occupied instead of simply letting Mario get one and forcing him to get the rest. Once Mario would collect the Star Keys and opened the Under-gate, Shadolance would be free to complete the Dark Prognosticus' mission, but Blumiere could not let that happened, so he left the Overthere to stop his father once and for all. However, while telling Mario this fills in the blanks, it doesn't stop him from trying to rescue Peach, so Blumiere tells Mario there is a way to open the Under-gate, but keep Shadolance locked up long enough to rescue Peach, but to do so would require him to speak to the leaders of the Overthere, which he cannot do without being trapped in the Overthere forever, as one can leave there once for any unfinished business. Thinking E. Gadd might have a way, Mario & Co. return to Boo Woods to speak with him, and E. Gadd tells them that if they take his Medium-o-monitor up to a tall peak, they should get a connection with the Overthere. Knowing that the tallest point is Mt. Throne Mario & Co. return to the Icy Mountains to contact the Overthere. After another lengthy climb up Mt. Throne, Mario & Co. make contact with the Overthere, and Blumiere makes a request for all the souls of the Overthere to form the fabled spirit barrier, a barrier which could stop anything from passing until it is disbanded. They accept, on the condition that Mario shall not go to the Overthere when his game over comes, but instead the Underwhere in return for the spirit barrier, as Mario had already game overed once and had escaped the Underwhere, where he is supposed to lie for all eternity, to which Mario accepts to save the Princess. With the Spirit Barrier contingency in place, Mario & Co. use the Star Keys to open the fountain and so begins Chapter 8, 7 Lights at the Gate to Darkness, our big Finale!

CHAPTER 8: - 7 Lights at the Gate to Darkness
After using the Star Keys to unlock the fountain, it moves to reveal a spiral staircase slowly going down. Mario & Co. begin to walk it, and after a long walk down, arrive in the Underway, a series of passages connected to the Under-gate. Thankfully, said Under-gate isn't too far from the spiral staircase, so only a shot walk and Mario & Co. reach the Under-gate, ready to use the Star Keys to unlock and save Princess Peach and the world. Mario calls up the Star Keys, and places them in each lock of the Under-gate..................... but nothing happens. Blumiere reappears suddenly, surprising Mario & Co., inspects the Under-gate, and tells Mario that while the Star Keys can unlock the passage to the Underway, to unlock the Under-gate they must do something else. Blumiere suddenly remembers that while he was looking for a way out of the Underway to tell Mario of Shadolance's plot, he spotted several strange shrines resembling stars. Blumiere believes these to be what keeps the Under-gate from opening, so Mario must use the Star Keys to power the shrines and unlock the gate. So Mario & Co. venture into the tunnels of the Underway, and find the seven shrines co-responding to the colors of the Star Keys (while running into some of those game overed guards possessed by Shadolance's minions), activating them, and revealing the shrines as the actual Star Keys, with the Keys Mario possesses being only much smaller fragments separated to lock the fountain. With all the Shrine Star Keys unlocked, Mario & Co. go back to the Under-gate ready to open it, before Blumiere tells Mario that he has to place three markers so the souls of the Overthere can come and form the Spirit Barrier.

Doing so, Mario returns to the Under-gate a second time, and summons the Shrine Star Keys, each forming a small star shape light at each of the slots in the Under-gate, opening it slightly. Mario & Co. are about to enter, when, out of no where, a trap door opens beneath their feet, and sends them hurtling down. Getting up from the nasty fall, Mario now has lost half of his HP, and is about to leave to find a way out, but GoomBert hears a noise, so Mario & Co. go to inspect it, and are attacked by three gigantic Chain Chomps! QUE MINI-BOSSES!!!!!! After a tough fight (considering Mario only has half of his HP), Mario & Co. leave a find a way back up the tunnels of the Underway to the Under-gate a third and hopefully final time, entering it, with the spirit barrier closing behind them. Welcome to Shadolance's Prison home.

Now that they have entered the tunnels of Shadolance's prison, Blumiere decides it is best if they split up, therefore they could find Peach faster, and they can stay in contact with Blumiere's monocle, which he gives to Mario. Mario & Co. venture through the treacherous tunnels, encountering similar areas that Peach, Luigi, and Bowser explored, including the secret tunnel where Peach learned that she is a descendant of Shadolance's daughter, which Mario & Co. learn as well, shocking them. They also fight off more of Shadolance's minions lurking through the tunnel, but after facing a group of them, Black spots something. Mario picks it up, showing it to be some sort of upside down star, and Kammy attempts to use her magic to identify it, but it appears unrecognizable. Mario & Co. decide to take it anyway. Mario & Co. continue onward, finding a strange dark barrier which they cannot cross, so they attempt to turn back, but hear Peach's screams coming from behind the dark barrier, forcing them to try and find another way in. But before they leave, GoomBert spots another strange item, a crystal like stone, which Kammy's magic also cannot identify. Stranger and stranger. Anyway, Mario & Co. continue onward, reaching Peach, Luigi, and Bowser's old prison spot, and are about to go back to looking for another way past the dark barrier, when a new tunnel opens up, leading them an empty Toad Town.

Mario & Co. are at first confused, until Kammy reveals her magic still shows them as inside the tunnels of Shadolance's prison, and a sudden shift happens, changing Toad Town to a desolate, ruined, post-apocalyptic nightmare, before changing back to normal. Deciding they have to back, Mario & Co. discover the entrance has disappeared, forcing them to go the long way, gaining two more of those mysterious crystal stones, and they encounter more familiar, but empty, surroundings of previously visited locations. Eventually, Mario & Co. make it out, and discovering another crystal stone. They find themselves with Blumiere, who tells them he had pulled them from one of his father's fake realities (Which baffles Cocoaknow as they still have the two crystal stones they collected in there), and informs them that the dark barrier is down, and says, rather strangely, that they can know rescue Peach. Mario & Co. race back to the location of the dark barrier, finding a fifth crystal shard, and approach a familiar altar, with a black orb on it. Mario approaches it, and out comes Peach's voice telling him to beware.

Suddenly, Blumiere goes into full monologue mode and thanks Mario for freeing him from his prison. Mario & Co. are at first confused, before a second Blumiere appears and outs the other one as an impostor. The first Blumiere then reveals himself as none other than Shadolance, and Blumiere attempts to use his power to attack his father, but to no avail. Shadolance tells them that with Peach as a battery for his powers, until he can be rejoined with his original powers, and the Star Locks still on him, which he has learned how to use their power and their connection to the Star Keys, he is impervious to damage. But Kammy questions that though the Star Locks and Star Keys are made using fallen stars, he should only have a connection with them, not able to use their powers unless he possesses the Star Keys, which Shadolance lays credit to as the location of his prison. Shadolance explains one thing that the legend never told; He wasn't let out of the Dark Prognosticus in the past before Blumiere's defeat, he was let five years after his son's death. Shadolance explains that he could never just be held in a split-off of the Underwhere like the heroes believed, rather, those who trapped him used the Star Keys to form a gateway into the Dark Prognosticus itself, he just needed to wait until his time had come before he and his minions were let out again. Jade asks how he could have been imprisoned ages before all this happened, with Shadolance telling them that since the Dark Prognosticus is ancient itself, entering it or it's twin could allow one to exit at anytime throughout history, so a Spirit Barrier would have no effect on him leaving since his original defeat is a fixed point in the Dark Prognosticus pages of history.

But Blumiere rises up from the ground and says that if his defeat is fixed, then he should be defeated again and again throughout all of time. Shadolance says this is true, and had tried to change it by creating an avatar to try and fulfill it early, only for his avatar to fail in succeeding in the Dark Prognosticus' original form of destruction, but found that to fulfill in his mission, all it requires is one change, which has already been made, that one change being none other then Peach! Shadolance says that when he was first released the first few times, he destroyed his chains, escaped, reigned destruction, and was stopped by those five heroes, but until the last time, only four would remain after each defeat. Shadolance reveals his daughter would die every time, but Peach would still exist, as her ancestor would find another to start the Toadstool family, so the sixth time he was let out (that's right, he done this six times before this story started) Shadolance would do something different, he would let his daughter live and see what happens. And indeed, something did happen, instead of a normal Peach, a Peach was born with his blood running through her veins, allowing him to use her to increase his power for when he leaves and regains his old, allowing him to change history, and fulfill his mission. BumpTina speaks that Mario won't let him get away with this, but Shadolance tells Mario & Co. that they try, and fail each time, with Mario chasing after him alone, while his partners would be left behind, and after he is imprisoned, a piece of his power would transform Mario into his own minion, destined to create the map of the Star Keys!

Mario & Co. engage in a fight they believe they cannot win due to Shadolance's story alone, as Blumiere is till too weakened to fight, and it is tough since no matter how much damage you lay on him, he just absorbs it thanks to the Star Locks, and eventually (at 0 health!!), a cut-scene plays. Shadolance tells them they cannot win and leaves and heads off to the Under-gate, knowing Mario will follow. Mario, with the rest of his friends down, gets up and is ready to chase after Shadolance, when Kammy speaks and tells Mario not to go, knowing what will happen to him, but just before Mario can say he has to no matter what Shadolance says, a light shines from behind Mario, and the five crystal stones and the upside down star Mario & Co. previously collected appear and assemble into a Star, and for a second six Marios' appear, and then disappear, and two voices are heard, and Mario & Co. rise up, rejuvenated at full health and full FP. Before anyone has time to question what happened, Mario & Co. race to defeat Shadolance.

Shadolance still lies at the gate, with both him and Peach (still hoping Mario & Co. can win) wondering what is taking Mario so long before he, and his friends appear back at full strength, shocking Shadolance as this had not happened the last six times. Without anytime to question it, Shadolance reengages Mario & Co. in battle, and another turn of no damage on Shadolance, he laughs at Mario & Co. efforts, as even though they changed one event mysteriously, he is still going to win, until the Star Keys fly us and form seven lights, and Mario & Co. hear the voices of all that they've met in their journey, even Peach's from her pocket dimension, and Shadolance feels himself weakening as the Star Locks are broken off, and Mario's strange assembled blue star stone severs Shadolance from the power of the Dark Prognosticus, leaving him in his weaken form of imprisonment. Shadolance yells that this is not how it went before, there were those seven lights but Mario has never had that star stone before, but despite his weakening, Shadolance still feels strong enough, thanks to the pocket dimension Peach is in, to take down Mario & Co. once, and for all. While before he was weakened, he had 300 Hp which you couldn't touch, 15 normal attack power with a whopping 7 different attacks that are all powered up to take down a lot of HP, each a dark version of the Star Keys' abilities, and 5 defense points, Shadolance is still strong even weakened, with 150 HP, 15 normal attack power and 3 different attacks, and only one defense point, so it's a pretty hard fight, as he is able to hide himself from attacks for 5 turns, yet still attack Mario & Co., stop Mario or a partner from attacking for 3 turns, so there is a lot of partner switching (at least he can't do it so that there are two frozen characters on the stage at the same time, and his main attack always takes away 5 HP.

After a tough battle, Shadolance is defeated and Peach is freed. The portal to the past closes, finally stopping Shadolance's reign of terror. Before they leave, Shadolance questions how they could have regain their strength and weaken his through something he does not remember Mario having before, his Star Stone. Blumiere then reveals it to his father thanks to the one of the voices spoken after their first defeat; When Shadolance transformed the past six Marios' into his minions, he could not completely destroy their good spirits, so they followed him in the Dark Prognosticus and transformed themselves into simple stones that could form a star all together, waiting for a Mario to appear and gain them all, which would allow them to reform and reenter their past self and restore him and his friends strengths to fight Shadolance, as well as weaken Shadolance himself, enough to stop him and thus stop his cycle of destruction. Shadolance understands now., but also tells them that now, without his 'cycle of destruction', there is no need to assemble the Under-gate to the inside of the Dark Prognosticus, and thus it begins to crumble around them as Shadolance begins to turn into ash. Mario & Co., Blumiere, and Peach all race to the spiral stairs up to the fountain before the caverns crumble away entirely, but find no stairs. They figure out, it must have been one of the first things to be erased from time once Shadolance was defeated, trapping them there to die. But, before they begin to mourn their demise, the spirits of the spirit barrier appear, having not yet left, and, with Blumiere's help, they open a portal back to the Mushroom Kingdom, as the cavern crumbles, ending Shadolance once and for all.

EPILOGUE
Mario & Co., Blumiere, and Peach all arrive back in Toad Town, albeit with no Star Fountain anymore. Peach and Mario & Co. thank Blumiere for his help in stopping his father as Blumiere says goodbye as he returns with the other souls to the Overthere, with his true love waiting for him. Everyone in Toad Town (including Bowser and Luigi) crowds around, congratulating Mario for saving the princess and stopping her kidnapper (with most thinking it was Bowser again). Peach sends a message to the entire Mushroom Kingdom, and Bowser's kingdom, inviting them all to a real Founding Families Party after the last got interrupted. After the party, everything goes back to normal, Bowser kidnaps Peach, Mario rescues her and Luigi hangs around in the background. Mario's friends go to new, enriched lives; Black rejoins the Koopa Bros., treating him better this time, and they become heroes fighting for the Koopas. GoomBert goes back to working with Kolorado, though he doesn't like to admit it however, Kolorado gains a new found respect for GoomBert and follows his judgement more carefully. Cocoaknow goes back to her tribe on Volcano Island, as Bowser Jr. found a better amusement park to build on Koopa Spire in Dark Land, and, while the rest of her tribe enjoys the rides left behind, she becomes next in line to be chief. Jade regains her giant flower form and becomes the guardian of Windy Lake once again, forming a close relationship with the other Bulb-Ulb leaders and the Tree of Blossoming Flowers, plus she takes on a new apprentice to guardian in the form of Petey Piranha. McBoo goes back to his friends, fighting the Boo Troop and the evil King Boo in Boo Woods still, but this time they do it with the assistance of E. Gadd. BumpTina goes back to ballerina school, graduates, and, with the permission of her father, joins up with Kolorado's crew as a junior explorer. Tar T. returns to the MKSS Mrk II, exploring the galaxy, with a new astronaut cadet in tow (Smar T.). (Here's the epilogue for the two optinal partners, Reznob and Doopliguard, plus there's an alternate Chapter 8 picture with them into that i''ll post later; Reznob joins back up with his missing brothers, and decide to, instead of continuing working for Bowser, explore the world starting with their homeland, Dino Island. Doopliguard, with his mission complete tanks to Mario, joins the Mushroom Kingdom Royal Guard, eventuallt becoming Captain of the Guard, working closely with the princess.) Kammy goes back to work as usual, no question about that, though she does decide to go on another 'extended' vacation, this one lasting 4 years.

Of course all that happens after the party. Before the party, something strange happens. Mario stops in his tracks, and falls down. Peach runs to him, screaming his name, but it only gets fainter and fainter and soon, everything is black..........................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Mario wakes up in his own bed, no memory of what just happened. But then it all comes rushing back. Blumiere, the Star Keys, the six of him, Shadolance, but all he can make of it is a dream. Mario walks out to the kitchen and finds Luigi sitting there. Luigi is glad to see Mario is awake, and Mario tells him his crazy dream. Luigi is amazed by it, but tells Mario that there is no way that would ever happen, no matter how realistic it is, since there's no such thing as a Legend of the Star Fountain or a dark king of evil. Suddenly a familiar Mail Call is heard, and Luigi announces it is probably their invitations to the festival, ending the story with Luigi walking out and getting the mail.
THE END!

and so ends our story, stay tuned for the alternate Chapter 8 picture and the final 3 Boss tattles, including the Final Boss tattle, plus a special announcement before August ends and the next chapter of Paper Luigi. Make sure to post any questions below!

*P.S. the character with this * is not my own creation, he was created by McQueen-Mario on Fantendo as his main character for his fan-made series McBoo's Mansion. I just borrowed him and a few others for this story, but I suggest you check his work out, it's really good.

Description
Sorry the finale is so late. What has it been, 3 weeks, 4 weeks? Anyway here is the final to PMTSF you've been waiting for, so let's get on with it......

RECAP FROM CHAPTER 7
After an expedition to the Frozen Caverns of the Icy Mountains, Mario & Co. find the last Star Key is located in space aboard the MKSS Mrk II, the Mushroom Kingdom's Official Space Station. However, the castle lost contact after a final message from the station's computer, Dais-E, shortly before Peach's recent kidnapping, and received a strange S.O.S. a little while later. After helping Smar T. retrieve stolen parts of his rocket, He allows Mario & Co. to go in his pace to find his missing brother. Arriving at the station, all Mario finds is a missing crew, a "few" "haywire" defense systems, and a confusing, almost maniacal, Dais-E. Following Dais-E's "directions" to the "crew", Mario & Co. learn from the three remaining members of the crew, Tar T., the commander and Smar T.'s older brother, Blas T., the engineer, and Russ T., a veteran Toad astronaut, that after a presumed bug in Dais-E's systems about hostile life-forms outside the station, her hostile analyzers were damaged, making her believe everyone who is on or comes on is a hostile, and she has captured the rest of the crew. Determining that the only way to stop Dais-E is to fix her, Mario & Co. exit the station to repair it, and encounter a huge swarm of Space Bloopers, the presumed hostile life-forms. In an attempt to repair Dais-E's main core, Mario & Co. are ripped out by the swarms leader, a huge blooper by the name of Blooperian, who possess the final Star Key which allows his kind to live in space, and once he learns that Mario intends to take it, battles him. After a tough battle, Blooperian reveals that that he was under the control of the same evil voice that brainwashed Petey Piranha and Miss Freezie, which convinced him to ignore the previous voice telling him to throw the key away, which Mario & Co. had mistaken to be Shadolance's voice. Meanwhile, our villain imprisons Peach in a pocket dimension made to resemble reality after he escapes, intending to leech her as a power source.

CHARACTERS
Mario - The Hero of our story who needs no introduction.
Party Members
Kammy Koopa - Bowser's Caretaker and Lead Minion who
teamed up with Mario to rescue Bowser, Peach, and Luigi.
Black NinjaKoopa - The Muscle of the Koopa Bros. and a
Master of the Ninja-Shot Throw. He teams up with Mario
after seeing he's not so bad after all
GoomBert - An Archaeologist/Map-Maker who decided to
assist Mario with his navigation skills after being rescued
from the belly of a giant Koopa made of sand.
Cocoaknow - The only Coco-Knight to believe Mario's Quest
after He accidentally destroys a Coco-knight statue who
helps Mario gain the Star Key on the Missing Island with
her trap sensing abilities and Trap Sprint. She is also considered
weird by the other Coco-Knights due to decision to wear
a cocoa bean instead of a coconut.
Jade Bulb-Ulb- The oldest living Bulb-Ulb, who protected the
Purple Star Key. That is until Petey Piranha stole it and became
corrupted, spewing her with so much poison that she lost her memory.
With Mario's help, she regained it and helped him reclaim the star key
to save Peach, Luigi and Bowser from the Evil King. Being the oldest
Bulb-Ulb, Jade has Abilities the others don't have, like using her vines
to distract enemies and move them away from her location.
McBoo - A Red Boo and former member of King Boo's division of the
Koopa Troop, the Boo Troop, along with his friends. After Mario rescues
all three of his friends from King Boo, McBoo lends Mario his ghostly
abilities, allowing Mario to save his brother and all the other captives,
plus get another Star Key.*
BumpTina - The daughter and only child of BumpTed, Bumpty Town's Mayor,
who is a skilled Ballerina and a bit of an adventurer. After Mario convinces her
father that she can come along with the expedition to the Frozen Caverns, he
gives him the responsibility of watching over her, and she lends her slide ability
to Mario to better move about the area.
Commander Tar T. - Commander in charge of the MKSS Mrk II, older brother to
Smar T. and one of the founding families of Toad Town, after ths station goes
haywire and Mario comes up to investigate it and gain the next Star Key, He
teams up with Mario to stop the malfunctioning defense intelligence Dais-E and
the crazy Blooper king Blooperian and gain the last Star Key. He makes use of
his Object Detector to locate hidden objects that one could not see with the naked eye.
  Lord Blumiere - Formerly known as the evil Count Bleck, Lord Blumiere and his love Lady
Timpani (Tippi) sacrificed themselves to save all worlds from destruction, and were reunited
together in the afterlife. He has now returned in order to stop his father, who had gone mad
after Lord Blumiere became Count Bleck. Now he races to tell Mario the truth about the Star
Keys and to stop him from unwittingly freeing his father!
  Princess Peach - The Monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom who is always kidnapped by Bowser.
Now she has discovered that her great ancestor fell in love with Shadolance's daughter,
and Count Bleck's Sister, who gave birth to the first royal Toadstool, making Shadolance
her great x21 Grandfather!
  Shadolance - The mysterious king of darkness who had kidnapped Luigi, Peach, and
Bowser for an unknown reason, with the only information being his name overheard
by the three captives from talk by his minions, right before their recapture. Peach has
now discovered that Shadolance is the former king of the Tribe of Darkness, as well as
Count Bleck's father, but that he had a daughter, who fell in love with one of her
ancestors, making Shadolance Peach's great x21 grandfather. and thanks to Count
Bleck, is now revealed to have orchestrated the capture in order to pressure Mario
into freeing him alongside the others, so that he could take control of, and destroy,
the Mushroom Kingdom.
Item - Abilities granted from said Item using Star Energy - Ability Cost
Fountain Water - Increases Star Energy by Five points to a single ten point Star Energy Container
Orange Star Key - Gives Mario a Toad army cover and backup for 2 turns - Cost: 1 Star Energy Container
Yellow Star Key - Can Allow Mario to Summon Sand Toads to increase the size of his Attacks (How high
the attack goes is up to to how good you can preform the summoning, Highest attack up is 50) - Cost:
1 Star Energy Container
Indigo Star Key - Allows Mario to cast a tidal wave and deal 20 damage to enemies (Every Mario gains
another Star Key the attack power is raised by 20 to a maximum of 100 damage) - Cost: 2 Star Energy
Containers
Purple Star Key - Mario plants a jade vine seed and uses the Purple Star Key to accelerate its growth to
trap the enemies in jade flowers emerging from the vine for 3 turns (If Mario can preform the
summoning to an excellent rank, the trap will last for 18 turns) - Cost: 3 Star Energy Containers
Green Star Key - Mario can summon a painting and use the Green Star Key to increase it and call out
lots of Boos, confusing enemy attacks for 5 turns (If Mario can increase it to an excellent rank, the
Boos can confuse the enemies for 15 turns or even scare them away) - Cost: 4 Star Energy Containers
Blue Star Key - Mario can summon as storm that can rain down huge icicles and hail that deals 15
damage to all enemies (If Mario can perform an excellent storm call, the attack power is raised to a
maximum 225) - Cost: 5 Star Energy Containers
Red Star Key - Allows Mario to rain down a series of stars that deal 70 damage (210 if excellent ranked)
- Cost: 6 Star Energy Containers

CHAPTER 7/8 TRANSITION
With Mario & Co. now possessing the Star Key, Blooperian and his Bloopers return safely back to his underwater kingdom, and Mario & Co. go back inside the station, completely forgetting the fact that Dais-E is still malfunctioning. After an internal monologue from Dais-E's central core about the fact that she intended to keep Mario & Co. and the rest of the crew alive as prisoners until the "crew" returned or official MKASA astronauts arrived to interrogate them as per her programming, but after they have destroyed so many defense systems and released the crew, she has restored to her secondary hostile directive, eliminate all hostile, and activates several weapons to kill Mario & Co. and Tar T., before she is shut down rather anti-climatically by Blas T., who still remains free, and he reboots her systems, restoring her to normal working. Dais-E realizes what she has done and apoligizes to the crew, downloading the latest software to carry voice-recognize to identify friendly individuals. With the MKSS Mrk II repaired, the crew begin to send off a report detailing the occurrences, and are about to go about their normal business, until Mario tells them about Princess Peach and Shadolance. Knowing that while the station is alright, and the rest of the kingdom is not, Tar T. decides to stay with Mario to rescue the Princess and save the day. Returning to the fountain with all the Star Keys, Mario & CO. are about to open it, when suddenly, a familiar warp appears and zaps the fountain away. Kammy, using her magic, determines that the fountain is still in the kingdom, but does not know where, forcing Mario & Co. to go to all the previous locations in the kingdom that they visited in each chapter, and when they find it in said locations, it disappears again, before eventually returning to it's original resting spot.

Before Mario walks up to it again and starts the whole chase over again, Tar T, suggests using his scanner to identify whats making the fountain move. Using his scanner, Mario & Co. find that is is a small power orb making it move, and trace the source to below the fountain. Deciding the only way to get below the fountain is to bring the force that is moving it up above it, Mario & Co. go talk to the only remaining Founding Family they have yet to talk to or interact with since they're adventure started, the mystical Dr. Toadley (who gives you odd troubles relating to each chapter you go through, but must be completed before you can continue on to Chapter 8, so you can do them in between chapter transitions or all at once in the Chapter 7 transition). After Completing his troubles, Dr. Toadley explains that the only way to get someone out from beneath the fountain is to either use the Star Keys, or use the magics of the fountain still on those who have been under it before, in this case, Bowser & Luigi. Luigi goes willingly, though for Bowser you have to give him a fire flower to restore his fire breath after being frozen by the Blue Star Key. After getting the two together, Mario & Co. are able to lift the force out of the fountain, revealing it to be Count Bleck! At first Mario and his confused company prepare to fight him, but Lord Blumiere (no longer Count Bleck) reveals he is a friend he has left the world of the dead for a mission, in this case stopping his father, King Shadolance! This shocks everyone (as the only people who knew King Shadolance is Lord Blumiere's father is himself, Peach, Shadolance, his minions, you (the reader), and me (the narrator)), and Lord Blumiere reveals that this has all been a trick so that his father could escape his prison.

Blumiere tells them the whole story, that instead of destroying the Tribe of Darkness like he thought when he became Count Bleck, The Dark Prognosticus instead froze them all, including his father, as it sensed that the entire reason Blumiere was doing this was because of the "death" of his love, the human Lady Tippani, yet it knew the she still lived, but with amnesia and in another form. Fearing that she would regain her memory and stop Blumiere from completing its mission, The Dark Prognisticus unleashed his father, no longer the man he once was, but instead a monster of pure shadow, onto the world alongside the transformed Tribe of Darkness. While Blumiere was planning reality's destruction and his father attempting it, his old Koopa Butler, Morton Koopa, his daughter, Darissa, a Toad Knight by the name of Sir Bri Toadstool, nicknamed Bri T., and two Knights from another world, stopped him, separated him from the power given to him by the Dark Prognisticus, and sealed him and his minions beneath the Under-gate, a large door leading to a separated piece of the Underwhere, with a fountain placed over the entrance and locked with seven Star Keys made of Fallen Stars and Rainbow magic, powerful magic of light. The knight brothers hid each Star Key in a secret location, and left a message which can only be heard once to who ever first finds it to either destroy it, or leave to a place impossible to reach, and left the world to return to their own. But they did not know that one of his dark minions was unsealed, and had made a magical map using the fountain water, corrupted by Shadolance's evil, to give to one to start the journey in the form of a treasure hunt, but was discovered by one of Morton's spies (he had mad his own kingdom you see), and had the map locked since it was impossible to destroy, and hoped none could find the map, or any of the keys. However, some did find the keys, but instead of listening to the message of the knights, they listen to the voice of Shadolance, who control over a fraction of the keys do to their Fallen Star heritage, since Fallen Stars contain a hint of shadow, which he can control. He convince them to keep the keys, o to use their power so that they would be easier to find by someone who could free him.

However, that did not happen until enough time had passed for his chains to weaken and his minions to possess and destroy his guards, taking their bodies as their own, then he used a small essence of himself to take Peach, Luigi, and Bowser, having heard of Mario, and knowing he would do anything to rescue them, and provided incentive for two rival kingdoms to work together. however, his evil voice could only overlap the message of the knights, which could only be heard by the first to pick it up, since they believed they would listen to them. So Shadolance had to keep his prisoners occupied instead of simply letting Mario get one and forcing him to get the rest. Once Mario would collect the Star Keys and opened the Under-gate, Shadolance would be free to complete the Dark Prognosticus' mission, but Blumiere could not let that happened, so he left the Overthere to stop his father once and for all. However, while telling Mario this fills in the blanks, it doesn't stop him from trying to rescue Peach, so Blumiere tells Mario there is a way to open the Under-gate, but keep Shadolance locked up long enough to rescue Peach, but to do so would require him to speak to the leaders of the Overthere, which he cannot do without being trapped in the Overthere forever, as one can leave there once for any unfinished business. Thinking E. Gadd might have a way, Mario & Co. return to Boo Woods to speak with him, and E. Gadd tells them that if they take his Medium-o-monitor up to a tall peak, they should get a connection with the Overthere. Knowing that the tallest point is Mt. Throne Mario & Co. return to the Icy Mountains to contact the Overthere. After another lengthy climb up Mt. Throne, Mario & Co. make contact with the Overthere, and Blumiere makes a request for all the souls of the Overthere to form the fabled spirit barrier, a barrier which could stop anything from passing until it is disbanded. They accept, on the condition that Mario shall not go to the Overthere when his game over comes, but instead the Underwhere in return for the spirit barrier, as Mario had already game overed once and had escaped the Underwhere, where he is supposed to lie for all eternity, to which Mario accepts to save the Princess. With the Spirit Barrier contingency in place, Mario & Co. use the Star Keys to open the fountain and so begins Chapter 8, 7 Lights at the Gate to Darkness, our big Finale!

CHAPTER 8: - 7 Lights at the Gate to Darkness
After using the Star Keys to unlock the fountain, it moves to reveal a spiral staircase slowly going down. Mario & Co. begin to walk it, and after a long walk down, arrive in the Underway, a series of passages connected to the Under-gate. Thankfully, said Under-gate isn't too far from the spiral staircase, so only a shot walk and Mario & Co. reach the Under-gate, ready to use the Star Keys to unlock and save Princess Peach and the world. Mario calls up the Star Keys, and places them in each lock of the Under-gate..................... but nothing happens. Blumiere reappears suddenly, surprising Mario & Co., inspects the Under-gate, and tells Mario that while the Star Keys can unlock the passage to the Underway, to unlock the Under-gate they must do something else. Blumiere suddenly remembers that while he was looking for a way out of the Underway to tell Mario of Shadolance's plot, he spotted several strange shrines resembling stars. Blumiere believes these to be what keeps the Under-gate from opening, so Mario must use the Star Keys to power the shrines and unlock the gate. So Mario & Co. venture into the tunnels of the Underway, and find the seven shrines co-responding to the colors of the Star Keys (while running into some of those game overed guards possessed by Shadolance's minions), activating them, and revealing the shrines as the actual Star Keys, with the Keys Mario possesses being only much smaller fragments separated to lock the fountain. With all the Shrine Star Keys unlocked, Mario & Co. go back to the Under-gate ready to open it, before Blumiere tells Mario that he has to place three markers so the souls of the Overthere can come and form the Spirit Barrier.

Doing so, Mario returns to the Under-gate a second time, and summons the Shrine Star Keys, each forming a small star shape light at each of the slots in the Under-gate, opening it slightly. Mario & Co. are about to enter, when, out of no where, a trap door opens beneath their feet, and sends them hurtling down. Getting up from the nasty fall, Mario now has lost half of his HP, and is about to leave to find a way out, but GoomBert hears a noise, so Mario & Co. go to inspect it, and are attacked by three gigantic Chain Chomps! QUE MINI-BOSSES!!!!!! After a tough fight (considering Mario only has half of his HP), Mario & Co. leave a find a way back up the tunnels of the Underway to the Under-gate a third and hopefully final time, entering it, with the spirit barrier closing behind them. Welcome to Shadolance's Prison home.

Now that they have entered the tunnels of Shadolance's prison, Blumiere decides it is best if they split up, therefore they could find Peach faster, and they can stay in contact with Blumiere's monocle, which he gives to Mario. Mario & Co. venture through the treacherous tunnels, encountering similar areas that Peach, Luigi, and Bowser explored, including the secret tunnel where Peach learned that she is a descendant of Shadolance's daughter, which Mario & Co. learn as well, shocking them. They also fight off more of Shadolance's minions lurking through the tunnel, but after facing a group of them, Black spots something. Mario picks it up, showing it to be some sort of upside down star, and Kammy attempts to use her magic to identify it, but it appears unrecognizable. Mario & Co. decide to take it anyway. Mario & Co. continue onward, finding a strange dark barrier which they cannot cross, so they attempt to turn back, but hear Peach's screams coming from behind the dark barrier, forcing them to try and find another way in. But before they leave, GoomBert spots another strange item, a crystal like stone, which Kammy's magic also cannot identify. Stranger and stranger. Anyway, Mario & Co. continue onward, reaching Peach, Luigi, and Bowser's old prison spot, and are about to go back to looking for another way past the dark barrier, when a new tunnel opens up, leading them an empty Toad Town.

Mario & Co. are at first confused, until Kammy reveals her magic still shows them as inside the tunnels of Shadolance's prison, and a sudden shift happens, changing Toad Town to a desolate, ruined, post-apocalyptic nightmare, before changing back to normal. Deciding they have to back, Mario & Co. discover the entrance has disappeared, forcing them to go the long way, gaining two more of those mysterious crystal stones, and they encounter more familiar, but empty, surroundings of previously visited locations. Eventually, Mario & Co. make it out, and discovering another crystal stone. They find themselves with Blumiere, who tells them he had pulled them from one of his father's fake realities (Which baffles Cocoaknow as they still have the two crystal stones they collected in there), and informs them that the dark barrier is down, and says, rather strangely, that they can know rescue Peach. Mario & Co. race back to the location of the dark barrier, finding a fifth crystal shard, and approach a familiar altar, with a black orb on it. Mario approaches it, and out comes Peach's voice telling him to beware.

Suddenly, Blumiere goes into full monologue mode and thanks Mario for freeing him from his prison. Mario & Co. are at first confused, before a second Blumiere appears and outs the other one as an impostor. The first Blumiere then reveals himself as none other than Shadolance, and Blumiere attempts to use his power to attack his father, but to no avail. Shadolance tells them that with Peach as a battery for his powers, until he can be rejoined with his original powers, and the Star Locks still on him, which he has learned how to use their power and their connection to the Star Keys, he is impervious to damage. But Kammy questions that though the Star Locks and Star Keys are made using fallen stars, he should only have a connection with them, not able to use their powers unless he possesses the Star Keys, which Shadolance lays credit to as the location of his prison. Shadolance explains one thing that the legend never told; He wasn't let out of the Dark Prognosticus in the past before Blumiere's defeat, he was let five years after his son's death. Shadolance explains that he could never just be held in a split-off of the Underwhere like the heroes believed, rather, those who trapped him used the Star Keys to form a gateway into the Dark Prognosticus itself, he just needed to wait until his time had come before he and his minions were let out again. Jade asks how he could have been imprisoned ages before all this happened, with Shadolance telling them that since the Dark Prognosticus is ancient itself, entering it or it's twin could allow one to exit at anytime throughout history, so a Spirit Barrier would have no effect on him leaving since his original defeat is a fixed point in the Dark Prognosticus pages of history.

But Blumiere rises up from the ground and says that if his defeat is fixed, then he should be defeated again and again throughout all of time. Shadolance says this is true, and had tried to change it by creating an avatar to try and fulfill it early, only for his avatar to fail in succeeding in the Dark Prognosticus' original form of destruction, but found that to fulfill in his mission, all it requires is one change, which has already been made, that one change being none other then Peach! Shadolance says that when he was first released the first few times, he destroyed his chains, escaped, reigned destruction, and was stopped by those five heroes, but until the last time, only four would remain after each defeat. Shadolance reveals his daughter would die every time, but Peach would still exist, as her ancestor would find another to start the Toadstool family, so the sixth time he was let out (that's right, he done this six times before this story started) Shadolance would do something different, he would let his daughter live and see what happens. And indeed, something did happen, instead of a normal Peach, a Peach was born with his blood running through her veins, allowing him to use her to increase his power for when he leaves and regains his old, allowing him to change history, and fulfill his mission. BumpTina speaks that Mario won't let him get away with this, but Shadolance tells Mario & Co. that they try, and fail each time, with Mario chasing after him alone, while his partners would be left behind, and after he is imprisoned, a piece of his power would transform Mario into his own minion, destined to create the map of the Star Keys!

Mario & Co. engage in a fight they believe they cannot win due to Shadolance's story alone, as Blumiere is till too weakened to fight, and it is tough since no matter how much damage you lay on him, he just absorbs it thanks to the Star Locks, and eventually (at 0 health!!), a cut-scene plays. Shadolance tells them they cannot win and leaves and heads off to the Under-gate, knowing Mario will follow. Mario, with the rest of his friends down, gets up and is ready to chase after Shadolance, when Kammy speaks and tells Mario not to go, knowing what will happen to him, but just before Mario can say he has to no matter what Shadolance says, a light shines from behind Mario, and the five crystal stones and the upside down star Mario & Co. previously collected appear and assemble into a Star, and for a second six Marios' appear, and then disappear, and two voices are heard, and Mario & Co. rise up, rejuvenated at full health and full FP. Before anyone has time to question what happened, Mario & Co. race to defeat Shadolance.

Shadolance still lies at the gate, with both him and Peach (still hoping Mario & Co. can win) wondering what is taking Mario so long before he, and his friends appear back at full strength, shocking Shadolance as this had not happened the last six times. Without anytime to question it, Shadolance reengages Mario & Co. in battle, and another turn of no damage on Shadolance, he laughs at Mario & Co. efforts, as even though they changed one event mysteriously, he is still going to win, until the Star Keys fly us and form seven lights, and Mario & Co. hear the voices of all that they've met in their journey, even Peach's from her pocket dimension, and Shadolance feels himself weakening as the Star Locks are broken off, and Mario's strange assembled blue star stone severs Shadolance from the power of the Dark Prognosticus, leaving him in his weaken form of imprisonment. Shadolance yells that this is not how it went before, there were those seven lights but Mario has never had that star stone before, but despite his weakening, Shadolance still feels strong enough, thanks to the pocket dimension Peach is in, to take down Mario & Co. once, and for all. While before he was weakened, he had 300 Hp which you couldn't touch, 15 normal attack power with a whopping 7 different attacks that are all powered up to take down a lot of HP, each a dark version of the Star Keys' abilities, and 5 defense points, Shadolance is still strong even weakened, with 150 HP, 15 normal attack power and 3 different attacks, and only one defense point, so it's a pretty hard fight, as he is able to hide himself from attacks for 5 turns, yet still attack Mario & Co., stop Mario or a partner from attacking for 3 turns, so there is a lot of partner switching (at least he can't do it so that there are two frozen characters on the stage at the same time, and his main attack always takes away 5 HP.

After a tough battle, Shadolance is defeated and Peach is freed. The portal to the past closes, finally stopping Shadolance's reign of terror. Before they leave, Shadolance questions how they could have regain their strength and weaken his through something he does not remember Mario having before, his Star Stone. Blumiere then reveals it to his father thanks to the one of the voices spoken after their first defeat; When Shadolance transformed the past six Marios' into his minions, he could not completely destroy their good spirits, so they followed him in the Dark Prognosticus and transformed themselves into simple stones that could form a star all together, waiting for a Mario to appear and gain them all, which would allow them to reform and reenter their past self and restore him and his friends strengths to fight Shadolance, as well as weaken Shadolance himself, enough to stop him and thus stop his cycle of destruction. Shadolance understands now., but also tells them that now, without his 'cycle of destruction', there is no need to assemble the Under-gate to the inside of the Dark Prognosticus, and thus it begins to crumble around them as Shadolance begins to turn into ash. Mario & Co., Blumiere, and Peach all race to the spiral stairs up to the fountain before the caverns crumble away entirely, but find no stairs. They figure out, it must have been one of the first things to be erased from time once Shadolance was defeated, trapping them there to die. But, before they begin to mourn their demise, the spirits of the spirit barrier appear, having not yet left, and, with Blumiere's help, they open a portal back to the Mushroom Kingdom, as the cavern crumbles, ending Shadolance once and for all.

EPILOGUE
Mario & Co., Blumiere, and Peach all arrive back in Toad Town, albeit with no Star Fountain anymore. Peach and Mario & Co. thank Blumiere for his help in stopping his father as Blumiere says goodbye as he returns with the other souls to the Overthere, with his true love waiting for him. Everyone in Toad Town (including Bowser and Luigi) crowds around, congratulating Mario for saving the princess and stopping her kidnapper (with most thinking it was Bowser again). Peach sends a message to the entire Mushroom Kingdom, and Bowser's kingdom, inviting them all to a real Founding Families Party after the last got interrupted. After the party, everything goes back to normal, Bowser kidnaps Peach, Mario rescues her and Luigi hangs around in the background. Mario's friends go to new, enriched lives; Black rejoins the Koopa Bros., treating him better this time, and they become heroes fighting for the Koopas. GoomBert goes back to working with Kolorado, though he doesn't like to admit it however, Kolorado gains a new found respect for GoomBert and follows his judgement more carefully. Cocoaknow goes back to her tribe on Volcano Island, as Bowser Jr. found a better amusement park to build on Koopa Spire in Dark Land, and, while the rest of her tribe enjoys the rides left behind, she becomes next in line to be chief. Jade regains her giant flower form and becomes the guardian of Windy Lake once again, forming a close relationship with the other Bulb-Ulb leaders and the Tree of Blossoming Flowers, plus she takes on a new apprentice to guardian in the form of Petey Piranha. McBoo goes back to his friends, fighting the Boo Troop and the evil King Boo in Boo Woods still, but this time they do it with the assistance of E. Gadd. BumpTina goes back to ballerina school, graduates, and, with the permission of her father, joins up with Kolorado's crew as a junior explorer. Tar T. returns to the MKSS Mrk II, exploring the galaxy, with a new astronaut cadet in tow (Smar T.). (Here's the epilogue for the two optinal partners, Reznob and Doopliguard, plus there's an alternate Chapter 8 picture with them into that i''ll post later; Reznob joins back up with his missing brothers, and decide to, instead of continuing working for Bowser, explore the world starting with their homeland, Dino Island. Doopliguard, with his mission complete tanks to Mario, joins the Mushroom Kingdom Royal Guard, eventuallt becoming Captain of the Guard, working closely with the princess.) Kammy goes back to work as usual, no question about that, though she does decide to go on another 'extended' vacation, this one lasting 4 years.

Of course all that happens after the party. Before the party, something strange happens. Mario stops in his tracks, and falls down. Peach runs to him, screaming his name, but it only gets fainter and fainter and soon, everything is black..........................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Mario wakes up in his own bed, no memory of what just happened. But then it all comes rushing back. Blumiere, the Star Keys, the six of him, Shadolance, but all he can make of it is a dream. Mario walks out to the kitchen and finds Luigi sitting there. Luigi is glad to see Mario is awake, and Mario tells him his crazy dream. Luigi is amazed by it, but tells Mario that there is no way that would ever happen, no matter how realistic it is, since there's no such thing as a Legend of the Star Fountain or a dark king of evil. Suddenly a familiar Mail Call is heard, and Luigi announces it is probably their invitations to the festival, ending the story with Luigi walking out and getting the mail.
THE END!

and so ends our story, stay tuned for the alternate Chapter 8 picture and the final 3 Boss tattles, including the Final Boss tattle, plus a special announcement before August ends and the next chapter of Paper Luigi. Make sure to post any questions below!

*P.S. the character with this * is not my own creation, he was created by McQueen-Mario on Fantendo as his main character for his fan-made series McBoo's Mansion. I just borrowed him and a few others for this story, but I suggest you check his work out, it's really good.