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Description
Golden Spur Ranch
10:00 am

It was the aftermath of the Mouser Gang's attack on the town, and though it had taken a while, things had finally returned to normal. All of the Mousers were safely locked up in prison, the gold had been returned to Mustard Mines where it belonged, and it looked like everything would be just fine from here on out.

Except for one rather large detail.

"Sheriff! Whaddaya mean you're leavin'?" cried one of the townsfolk. He and most of the others were gathered around Mario's party, who had just made their final preparations to leave.

"You just left us to go to Mustard Mines, and look what happened!" the Toad who'd spoken went on. "And now yer tellin' us you gotta leave again? And ya don't even know how long?"

"Now, look here, everybody," Snatchel sighed. "I've decided that this Mario here is a right fine feller. And I couldn't call myself sheriff if I didn't help him out any way I can. He's in the middle of somethin' huge, somethin' that affects all of us."

It was painfully clear how much he didn't want to go. His loyalty to his town, and the need he felt to protect it, was unwavering. But he knew he didn't have a choice.

"Well, Mario, if you really are savin' the world," said Dusty, walking up to the plumber, "then you couldn't ask for a better partner than the sheriff here. He won't let ya down, no matter what happens."

"I know," Mario replied with a nod. "I'm lucky to have him. And so are all of you."

"But… now we ain't got a sheriff or a deputy," a female Bob-omb spoke up. "Who's gonna be runnin' the joint until you get back, Sheriff?"

"I'll tell ya who." Snatchel pointed directly at the gatekeeper. "He is."

Everyone turned to stare at the gatekeeper in confusion. His eyes bulged.

"What? Uh… why me?"

"'Cause yer a hard worker, and I know I can count on you." Snatchel put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let me down, partner."

The gatekeeper immediately straightened up dutifully. "Oh, I won't, Sheriff! I'll run this town so tight, you won't believe! If anybody stays out past curfew, I'll shoot 'em!"

Snatchel blinked. "Uh… that won't be necessary. Though I appreciate the gesture."

"Uh, I hate to interrupt," Mario cut in, "but we really do have to get back to Soluna Town as fast as we can. We've still got a lot of work left to do."

"Yeah, yeah… let's head out, everybody," the sheriff agreed, turning and walking back over to join Mario and the others. The five of them set off down the street as the townsfolk followed after them, waving and shouting a chorus of goodbyes.

"Y'know Snatchel, I'm not one to question your authority," Mario said in a low voice, "but was he really the best replacement you could think of?"

"Well to be honest, that wasn't the real reason I picked him," Snatchel replied, grinning sheepishly. "As I'm sure you saw, that feller ain't exactly too bright… I figure if he ever gets it in his head to stage a coup, it won't be much of a problem."

Mario smiled in amusement. "Now that I can agree with."

"Man, this place was the coolest," Hanner sighed wistfully, getting one last look around. "I'm really gonna miss it here."

"I'm not," Goomblaine muttered.

"We know, Goomblaine."

And so it was that Mario and friends' latest adventure drew to a close. They turned and bid farewell to the townsfolk, then finally reached the entrance to the town. Everyone behind them stood and watched loyally, joyfully cheering thank-yous and shouting goodbyes as the band of heroes rode off into the sunset… or more accurately, jumped back in the Warp Pipe.

––

––

Soluna Town
12:00 Noon

"Y'know, I ain't never been to this town before," Snatchel admitted, looking around. "But lookin' at it, it's a fine place, ain't it?"

"Yeah. It's just a good thing we're here and not in Rogueport. Something tells me you wouldn't like it there." Mario blinked. "Oh, Snatchel! Before I forget! We have to get you leveled up!"

"We gotta what?"

Mario pulled him down the street, over to the area in town where the Star Pedestal was located. When they got there, he pulled out the Luma that he'd been carrying with him this whole time. It looked especially relieved to finally be out of there, and it leapt up onto the pedestal and laughed joyfully as it gave Mario the same speech the other ones had. Mario nudged Snatchel forward, and he blinked in surprise as the Luma began twirling around and covered him in sparkles that gave off a bright flash.

Snatchel was upgraded to Super Rank! He can now use Roundup to pull an enemy to the front of the line, leaving it open to all attacks!

"Well, ain't that somethin'," he marveled, watching as a beam of light fell down on the Luma and it shot off into the sky. "You ain't got any more a' them star things, do ya Mario?"

"Now, don't be selfish. That's unbecoming of a sheriff," Hanner giggled.

After that, Mario wasted no time leading his team over to Rodolfo's house once again. As always, the Doogan was thrilled to see them, and to hear that they'd found yet another Sun Soul. After Mario had introduced everyone to his newest partner, he sat down by the coffee table next to Peach.

"So, Peach, any word on where the next Sun Soul is?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, actually, Mario," Peach said with a smile, "I think you want to ask Luigi about that."

Mario turned to his brother. "Oh, really?"

"Oh yeah! I found it out somehow, bro!" Luigi said excitedly, looking delighted to be useful. "It sounds like this one is called the Meridiem Soul."

"That's a very pretty name, don't you think, Mario?" Peach giggled.

"Well, yeah, I guess. But do you know where it is?"

"Oh, I sure do," said Luigi. "Actually, this one's in the middle of some kind of circus… uh, what was it called…"

"The Starshine Circus?" Peach cried, looking devastated. "Oh, but that was one of the places I wanted to visit more than anything! Mario, you're so lucky."

"Oh, Princess, such a filthy place full of roustabouts wouldn't be fit for one such as yourself anyway," Toadsworth said disapprovingly. "Those circus folk are so shady. They want nothing more than to swindle you out of your Coins."

"Well, be that as it may," Rodolfo spoke up, "if the next Sun Soul is indeed somewhere within that circus, Mario will have no choice but to risk it. Anyway, I'm sure it's nothing our mustachioed hero can't handle."

"Geez, you guys are talking about this like it's a bad thing," Hanner scoffed. "Come on! Circuses are always a total blast! And the Starshine Circus is one of the most famous ones in the world! It's practically a household name!"

"Oh, I always wanted to go to a circus!" Stubba cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. "This is gonna be so much fun! Mario, let's go right now!"

Mario sighed, putting a hand on the little Clubba. "Stubba, you need to calm down. We're not going anywhere until we find out more about this place. Rodolfo, where do we have to go to get there?"

"Well, Mario, the Starshine Circus is a traveling circus," the Doogan clarified. "If I'm not mistaken, they're currently touring through several large cities to the northeast of Soluna Town."

He took Mario's map and unfolded it, then pointed to the largely urbanized area in the northeast. "I would say your best bet, Mario, is to head to Nova City. The circus should be there right now, if not close by.

"And there is one other thing," he added, folding the map up and looking serious. "As unsavory as these circus performers may be, Mario, you must try to speak with as many as you can. Because the Sun Soul is hidden somewhere among them, there is a very good chance that its rightful owner is one of those very performers."

Snatchel looked confused. "What, y'all thinkin' our next Guardian is a carny?"

"Well, why not? It takes all sorts!" said Hanner. "Anyway, I just hope she's a girl. We need more girls on this team!"

"You're not exactly a paragon of femininity yourself, Hanner," Mario remarked.

"Hey, you take that back!" she snapped, whacking him with her hammer.

"Ahem… as I was saying," Rodolfo went on, "there's a road that leads right to Nova City from here. Soluna Town has a very famous trolley system that can take you right there. The station is in the north part of town."

"Sounds great," said Mario. "Thanks again, Rodolfo. We'll be back soon, with another new friend."

"Yeah, and lots of souvenirs!" Hanner gushed out.

"Not if I can help it," Goomblaine snapped, shoving her out the door. Mario awkwardly waved goodbye to the others before following them out.

––

Mario's party meandered over to the north part of town, and sure enough, there was a crowded trolley station waiting for them there. As they walked up and started nudging their way through the crowd, Mario saw that the trolley resting in the station was comprised of several ornately decorated, red-and-gold cars. It was quite a majestic sight.

"How come everybody's just standing around?" Stubba wondered, looking around at the others in the crowd. Most of them appeared to be muttering in agitation to themselves.

"I'm not sure," said Mario. "I hope nothing's wrong."

Deciding to investigate, he walked up onto the boarding platform and tapped the Toad conductor on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir – "

"Hello, hello!" the conductor cried, whirling around and looking flustered. "And welcome to the Soluna Town Trolley! At least I would be saying that, if the trolley were moving right now. Which it isn't."

Mario's heart sank. "It's not?"

"And here I thought we'd have it easy for once," Goomblaine muttered snidely.

"Why isn't it working?" Hanner asked in concern.

"If I knew that, I'd have it working by now, don't you think?" the conductor sighed. "I just don't understand… well, here, let me explain. Trolleys run on electricity, you know. And the electricity comes from here."

He pointed at a large fuse box that was resting on the wall. "I have the switch on and everything, but no matter what I do, this thing only seems to be running at… half capacity. I can't explain it."

"Half capacity, huh?" Mario sighed, already pretty sure he knew where this was going.

"Certainly not enough power to get this thing moving," the conductor groaned. "Our scheduled route to Nova City will have to be postponed… indefinitely! Oh, what did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Don't worry. It wasn't you," Mario assured him. "It was an insane evil lord of darkness who wants to destroy Daylight."

The conductor turned to him and blinked. "What?"

Mario had already led his partners away.

"All right, guys. I think this is a simple case of somebody in Nightside turning the fuse box off," he announced. "Let's head over there, and hopefully this will be as simple as flipping a switch."

"Yeah, it should be," said Snatchel. "Somethin' tells me it won't be."

"Yeah, you're right," Mario sighed.

Making sure none of the irritated members of the crowd noticed them, he led his partners over to a secluded area around the corner of the station. Glancing surreptitiously around, he finally pulled out the Aeon Hourglass and quickly flipped it over. As the sand fell through the glass, there was a brilliant glow, and the five of them vanished in a flash.

––

Soluna Town
12:00 Midnight

As the light faded away into darkness, Mario looked around and saw that the streets of Soluna Town were largely empty. He walked back around the corner and saw that the station was now completely deserted. He sighed in relief.

"This is weird," said Hanner as the others followed after him. "I'm so used to this place being all bright and lively."

"Who the heck would wanna make it so the trolley can't run?" Goomblaine griped as he trudged over to the fuse box. "Is this somebody's dumb idea of a joke?"

"You don't think somebody's… tryin' to sabotage us, do you?" Snatchel thought suspiciously.

"But then they'd have to know about the Sun Souls, and where we're trying to go," Mario replied, refuting the thought with a shake of us head. "I'm sure it's nothing. Anyway, it doesn't matter. They're not here now."

"Wee hee hee hee hee…" came a familiar voice from behind them. "Oh, are you so sure about that, Mario?"

Mario's heart almost jumped out of his chest. Panicking, he spun around to face the voice and found himself staring directly at…

"Kammy Koopa?" he cried. "What – what are you doing here?!"

"Who's this joker?" Goomblaine demanded.

Bowser's second-in-command was perched atop her broom, hovering several feet above the ground and sneering at them. As Goomblaine spoke, she swiveled her head around and glared at him.

"Hmph! You insolent child, show some respect to your elders!" she barked. "I am none other than the powerful and beautiful Kammy Koopa! And Mario! It seems you've walked right into my little trap!" she cackled.

"So, you turned off the fuse box," Mario growled. "So where's Bowser, huh? If I'm going to fight you two, let's just get it over with."

"Well, I'll have you know Bowser isn't here right now, you little wiseacre," Kammy snorted, folding her arms. "You really don't think someone as brilliant as me could have come up with this plan by myself?"

"Uh, Mario… what exactly is going on here?" Hanner cut in.

"Yeah, who's this Bowser fella?" asked Snatchel.

"I'll explain later, guys," Mario sighed. "We've got a fight on our hands right now."

"Wee hee hee hee… you little fools don't stand a chance against me!" Kammy declared. She waved her staff and launched a blinding magic spell at Mario and his partners. They all jumped out of the way just in time, and the spell blasted a large chunk out of the boarding platform, leaving it singed and smoking.

"Holy cow… she really means business!" Hanner fretted.

"I've beaten your boss so many times, you really think you're going to stop me?" Mario demanded. He leapt into the air and Spin Jumped on top of Kammy, knocking her off her broom and down to the ground.

"Mff… why you little!" she growled, struggling to her feet. She launched another spell at Mario, and this time he couldn't get away in time. He cried out as the blast hit him full force, sending him crashing into the wall.

"HEY! Leave Mario alone, you ugly old lady!" Stubba snapped, rushing up and whacking her over the head with his club. She grunted in pain as Stubba sent her collapsing to the floor, but she quickly regained control.

"Old?!" she demanded. "You little whippersnapper! Take this!"

She sent Stubba staggering away with a flick of her wrist, and was about to attack him with a spell when she was blindsided by a hammer that came flying out of nowhere and struck her in the head. Shrieking in fury, she spun around and sent the spell flying at Hanner instead. The Hammer Sis immediately ducked into her shell, spinning around and Superguarding the attack perfectly.

"Face it, Kammy! There's too many of us! You can't win!" Mario said sternly.

"Oh, really!" the Magikoopa sneered at him. "You underestimate my power, Mario! All of you, try this on for size!"

She raised both arms high up in the air, waving her staff threateningly – and suddenly, five enormous bolts of lightning came down from the sky, zapping Mario and each of his partners. They all screamed in pain and fell weakly to the ground as Kammy laughed sinisterly.

"So, that's what the receiving end of a Thunder Rage is like… not pleasant," Mario groaned.

Kammy took the moment to race back over to her broom, climbing on and rising high above their heads and out of range of their attacks. "Hee hee hee! Now now, Mario, you should never let your guard down around someone like me! Let that be a lesson to you… a lesson learned too late!"

With that, she began pelting them with a barrage of spells from her staff, cackling insanely as she fired again and again. Mario's team frantically scrambled around the boarding platform to avoid being hit.

"She's usin' us for target practice!" Goomblaine snarled in exasperation, ducking as a burst of color flew over his head. "I'm not goin' down to this freak!"

"Come down from there and face us!" Hanner shouted angrily, throwing a hammer at her but missing by a wide margin.

"Hmm, and why would I do that?" Kammy mocked. "I'm finally going to defeat that meddlesome Mario and his annoying friends of the week! Why would I ruin that by coming down there where you could – ACK!"

She cried out in shock as a lasso suddenly flew up and tightened around her broom handle, yanking her violently down and sending her crashing to the ground.

"Next time, maybe y'all should listen when we ask nicely!" laughed Snatchel, who had just shown what Roundup could do.

Kammy climbed to her feet again, looking dazed. "You little brats!" she spat. "I swear I won't lose to you!"

"I beg to differ!" Mario snapped, racing up and delivering a powerful blow with his hammer. Goomblaine followed up with a particularly violent Multibonk attack, and Kammy could only sustain a few hits before she let out a weak moan and toppled over onto the ground.

"Okay, Goomblaine, you can stop. She's down," Mario ordered. Goomblaine rolled his eyes and broke off his attack, but as he started to walk away, he quickly spun around and Headbonked her once more since he felt like it.

"Grr… very impressive, Mario," Kammy growled. "But you haven't heard the last of me! I will return, and so will Lord Bowser! You're not getting back home in one piece if I have something to say about it!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Mario said nonchalantly, waving her off as she struggled onto her broom and flew off in a seething fury.

Hanner folded her arms as she watched Kammy go. "So, you, uh… know her, huh Mario?"

"But if she's the one who turned the power off, does that mean she knows about the Sun Souls?" Stubba asked worriedly.

"If she does, that means Bowser does too. Which is just about the last thing I need right now," Mario muttered to himself. "I just wonder… what was she doing away from Bowser? She's always with him."

"Look, I dunno who the heck you're talking about," Goomblaine snapped. "Can we just fix the power or whatever and get outta here?"

"Sure, I suppose," Mario sighed. Bowser and Kammy being here in Chronoside was a complication he really didn't need… but he'd have to worry about that another day. He walked over to the fuse box and yanked it open, and saw that there was a large red switch in the "Off" position.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered, gripping the switch and pulling it up into the "On" position. He looked around, but there was no sign that he'd accomplished anything.

"Did it work?" asked Stubba.

"Only one way to find out," Mario decided. He pulled out the Aeon Hourglass, and his partners quickly crowded in close as he flipped it over, and all of them disappeared.

Unbeknownst to them, four people had been hiding in the shadows nearby and watching the whole thing.

"I'm disappointed in you, Kammy Koopa," Rizz snarled. "You had the element of surprise, and you let Mario walk all over you. Perhaps you're not as strong as you claim to be."

"I – I was outnumbered, that's all!" Kammy protested. "Give me another chance to fight him! I won't fail again!"

"You had better hope you don't," Rizz said sternly, with Sall and Bess snickering behind her. "If you want the honor of serving our lord and destroying Mario once and for all, there is no room for mistakes."

She turned away from the others, her eyes flashing. "And if King Shroude is to realize that I have found the one to guard his treasure," she growled to herself, "there won't be any mistakes. I'll see to that."

––

Soluna Town
12:00 Noon

Mario and the others appeared inside the station back in Dayside in a brilliant flash. Thankfully, no one in the crowd seemed to notice. They were all busy trying to tip the trolley over.

"WOULD YOU STOP THIS SENSELESS MOB MENTALITY?!" the conductor shrieked in horror, clutching his head. "THIS WON'T GET US TO NOVA CITY ANY FASTER!"

"But it makes us feel big!" a big burly Goomba shouted back. The rest of the crowd roared in agreement, then started pelting the conductor with a bunch of random tomatoes as the trolley swayed dangerously from side to side.

"Typical. I leave for ten minutes and this happens," Mario groaned.

The conductor scrambled to get away from the mob, then noticed Mario and grabbed his shoulders. "Sir! You've got to get away from here for your own safety! They've gone native, I tell you! I told them I couldn't get the trolley working and they just – "

"But the trolley is working now," the plumber cut in. "We fixed it. See for yourself."

The conductor stared at him, then walked over to the fuse box. He looked at it, and his eyes widened. After hastily pushing a few of the buttons, he drew back in astonishment.

"But – but it's running at full power!" he cried. "But how? How did you know how to fix it?"

Mario shrugged. "Oh, you know. Plumbing and electrical engineering… they're related fields."

"I wouldn't know. We ain't got either of those things at Golden Spur Ranch," said Snatchel.

"Too much info," Hanner muttered.

Not hearing any of that, the conductor raced back over to the crowd, who were now throwing rolls of toilet paper for some reason. "Everyone, listen!" he screamed. "The trolley's working again! If you would all just calm down and form an orderly line, we can get going to Nova City right now!"

When they heard that, the crowd immediately stopped what they were doing and glanced among each other. Then most of them started shrugging.

"Okay."

"Sounds good to me."

"Cool."

"It's like the weirdness just follows me wherever I go," Mario sighed.

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Stubba cheered, racing along after the others as they filed into one of the trolley cars along with everyone else. "We really did it! We're really going to the circus! This is so cool!"

Mario smiled. "Yep. This is gonna be a trip to remember, all right."

He and his partners crowded into the nearest car and sat down in a row as everyone else pushed and shoved their way in. After a few minutes when everyone had gotten inside, the conductor's voice suddenly came blaring over the intercom.

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Soluna Town Trolley! Our route to Nova City will be right on schedule! Local time is one o' clock pm – just like it always is! HA HA HA!"

Everyone in the car groaned loudly.

"I'm smackin' him when I see him," Goomblaine muttered.

"You have my permission," Mario agreed as the trolley began to move, slowly rolling out of the station and picking up speed. Stubba's tail wagged in excitement as he stood up in his seat and peered out the window, watching as Soluna Town passed them by and finally disappeared into the distance.

They were off to the Starshine Circus… where the next Guardian was waiting for them.

Description
Golden Spur Ranch
10:00 am

It was the aftermath of the Mouser Gang's attack on the town, and though it had taken a while, things had finally returned to normal. All of the Mousers were safely locked up in prison, the gold had been returned to Mustard Mines where it belonged, and it looked like everything would be just fine from here on out.

Except for one rather large detail.

"Sheriff! Whaddaya mean you're leavin'?" cried one of the townsfolk. He and most of the others were gathered around Mario's party, who had just made their final preparations to leave.

"You just left us to go to Mustard Mines, and look what happened!" the Toad who'd spoken went on. "And now yer tellin' us you gotta leave again? And ya don't even know how long?"

"Now, look here, everybody," Snatchel sighed. "I've decided that this Mario here is a right fine feller. And I couldn't call myself sheriff if I didn't help him out any way I can. He's in the middle of somethin' huge, somethin' that affects all of us."

It was painfully clear how much he didn't want to go. His loyalty to his town, and the need he felt to protect it, was unwavering. But he knew he didn't have a choice.

"Well, Mario, if you really are savin' the world," said Dusty, walking up to the plumber, "then you couldn't ask for a better partner than the sheriff here. He won't let ya down, no matter what happens."

"I know," Mario replied with a nod. "I'm lucky to have him. And so are all of you."

"But… now we ain't got a sheriff or a deputy," a female Bob-omb spoke up. "Who's gonna be runnin' the joint until you get back, Sheriff?"

"I'll tell ya who." Snatchel pointed directly at the gatekeeper. "He is."

Everyone turned to stare at the gatekeeper in confusion. His eyes bulged.

"What? Uh… why me?"

"'Cause yer a hard worker, and I know I can count on you." Snatchel put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let me down, partner."

The gatekeeper immediately straightened up dutifully. "Oh, I won't, Sheriff! I'll run this town so tight, you won't believe! If anybody stays out past curfew, I'll shoot 'em!"

Snatchel blinked. "Uh… that won't be necessary. Though I appreciate the gesture."

"Uh, I hate to interrupt," Mario cut in, "but we really do have to get back to Soluna Town as fast as we can. We've still got a lot of work left to do."

"Yeah, yeah… let's head out, everybody," the sheriff agreed, turning and walking back over to join Mario and the others. The five of them set off down the street as the townsfolk followed after them, waving and shouting a chorus of goodbyes.

"Y'know Snatchel, I'm not one to question your authority," Mario said in a low voice, "but was he really the best replacement you could think of?"

"Well to be honest, that wasn't the real reason I picked him," Snatchel replied, grinning sheepishly. "As I'm sure you saw, that feller ain't exactly too bright… I figure if he ever gets it in his head to stage a coup, it won't be much of a problem."

Mario smiled in amusement. "Now that I can agree with."

"Man, this place was the coolest," Hanner sighed wistfully, getting one last look around. "I'm really gonna miss it here."

"I'm not," Goomblaine muttered.

"We know, Goomblaine."

And so it was that Mario and friends' latest adventure drew to a close. They turned and bid farewell to the townsfolk, then finally reached the entrance to the town. Everyone behind them stood and watched loyally, joyfully cheering thank-yous and shouting goodbyes as the band of heroes rode off into the sunset… or more accurately, jumped back in the Warp Pipe.

––

––

Soluna Town
12:00 Noon

"Y'know, I ain't never been to this town before," Snatchel admitted, looking around. "But lookin' at it, it's a fine place, ain't it?"

"Yeah. It's just a good thing we're here and not in Rogueport. Something tells me you wouldn't like it there." Mario blinked. "Oh, Snatchel! Before I forget! We have to get you leveled up!"

"We gotta what?"

Mario pulled him down the street, over to the area in town where the Star Pedestal was located. When they got there, he pulled out the Luma that he'd been carrying with him this whole time. It looked especially relieved to finally be out of there, and it leapt up onto the pedestal and laughed joyfully as it gave Mario the same speech the other ones had. Mario nudged Snatchel forward, and he blinked in surprise as the Luma began twirling around and covered him in sparkles that gave off a bright flash.

Snatchel was upgraded to Super Rank! He can now use Roundup to pull an enemy to the front of the line, leaving it open to all attacks!

"Well, ain't that somethin'," he marveled, watching as a beam of light fell down on the Luma and it shot off into the sky. "You ain't got any more a' them star things, do ya Mario?"

"Now, don't be selfish. That's unbecoming of a sheriff," Hanner giggled.

After that, Mario wasted no time leading his team over to Rodolfo's house once again. As always, the Doogan was thrilled to see them, and to hear that they'd found yet another Sun Soul. After Mario had introduced everyone to his newest partner, he sat down by the coffee table next to Peach.

"So, Peach, any word on where the next Sun Soul is?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, actually, Mario," Peach said with a smile, "I think you want to ask Luigi about that."

Mario turned to his brother. "Oh, really?"

"Oh yeah! I found it out somehow, bro!" Luigi said excitedly, looking delighted to be useful. "It sounds like this one is called the Meridiem Soul."

"That's a very pretty name, don't you think, Mario?" Peach giggled.

"Well, yeah, I guess. But do you know where it is?"

"Oh, I sure do," said Luigi. "Actually, this one's in the middle of some kind of circus… uh, what was it called…"

"The Starshine Circus?" Peach cried, looking devastated. "Oh, but that was one of the places I wanted to visit more than anything! Mario, you're so lucky."

"Oh, Princess, such a filthy place full of roustabouts wouldn't be fit for one such as yourself anyway," Toadsworth said disapprovingly. "Those circus folk are so shady. They want nothing more than to swindle you out of your Coins."

"Well, be that as it may," Rodolfo spoke up, "if the next Sun Soul is indeed somewhere within that circus, Mario will have no choice but to risk it. Anyway, I'm sure it's nothing our mustachioed hero can't handle."

"Geez, you guys are talking about this like it's a bad thing," Hanner scoffed. "Come on! Circuses are always a total blast! And the Starshine Circus is one of the most famous ones in the world! It's practically a household name!"

"Oh, I always wanted to go to a circus!" Stubba cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. "This is gonna be so much fun! Mario, let's go right now!"

Mario sighed, putting a hand on the little Clubba. "Stubba, you need to calm down. We're not going anywhere until we find out more about this place. Rodolfo, where do we have to go to get there?"

"Well, Mario, the Starshine Circus is a traveling circus," the Doogan clarified. "If I'm not mistaken, they're currently touring through several large cities to the northeast of Soluna Town."

He took Mario's map and unfolded it, then pointed to the largely urbanized area in the northeast. "I would say your best bet, Mario, is to head to Nova City. The circus should be there right now, if not close by.

"And there is one other thing," he added, folding the map up and looking serious. "As unsavory as these circus performers may be, Mario, you must try to speak with as many as you can. Because the Sun Soul is hidden somewhere among them, there is a very good chance that its rightful owner is one of those very performers."

Snatchel looked confused. "What, y'all thinkin' our next Guardian is a carny?"

"Well, why not? It takes all sorts!" said Hanner. "Anyway, I just hope she's a girl. We need more girls on this team!"

"You're not exactly a paragon of femininity yourself, Hanner," Mario remarked.

"Hey, you take that back!" she snapped, whacking him with her hammer.

"Ahem… as I was saying," Rodolfo went on, "there's a road that leads right to Nova City from here. Soluna Town has a very famous trolley system that can take you right there. The station is in the north part of town."

"Sounds great," said Mario. "Thanks again, Rodolfo. We'll be back soon, with another new friend."

"Yeah, and lots of souvenirs!" Hanner gushed out.

"Not if I can help it," Goomblaine snapped, shoving her out the door. Mario awkwardly waved goodbye to the others before following them out.

––

Mario's party meandered over to the north part of town, and sure enough, there was a crowded trolley station waiting for them there. As they walked up and started nudging their way through the crowd, Mario saw that the trolley resting in the station was comprised of several ornately decorated, red-and-gold cars. It was quite a majestic sight.

"How come everybody's just standing around?" Stubba wondered, looking around at the others in the crowd. Most of them appeared to be muttering in agitation to themselves.

"I'm not sure," said Mario. "I hope nothing's wrong."

Deciding to investigate, he walked up onto the boarding platform and tapped the Toad conductor on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir – "

"Hello, hello!" the conductor cried, whirling around and looking flustered. "And welcome to the Soluna Town Trolley! At least I would be saying that, if the trolley were moving right now. Which it isn't."

Mario's heart sank. "It's not?"

"And here I thought we'd have it easy for once," Goomblaine muttered snidely.

"Why isn't it working?" Hanner asked in concern.

"If I knew that, I'd have it working by now, don't you think?" the conductor sighed. "I just don't understand… well, here, let me explain. Trolleys run on electricity, you know. And the electricity comes from here."

He pointed at a large fuse box that was resting on the wall. "I have the switch on and everything, but no matter what I do, this thing only seems to be running at… half capacity. I can't explain it."

"Half capacity, huh?" Mario sighed, already pretty sure he knew where this was going.

"Certainly not enough power to get this thing moving," the conductor groaned. "Our scheduled route to Nova City will have to be postponed… indefinitely! Oh, what did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Don't worry. It wasn't you," Mario assured him. "It was an insane evil lord of darkness who wants to destroy Daylight."

The conductor turned to him and blinked. "What?"

Mario had already led his partners away.

"All right, guys. I think this is a simple case of somebody in Nightside turning the fuse box off," he announced. "Let's head over there, and hopefully this will be as simple as flipping a switch."

"Yeah, it should be," said Snatchel. "Somethin' tells me it won't be."

"Yeah, you're right," Mario sighed.

Making sure none of the irritated members of the crowd noticed them, he led his partners over to a secluded area around the corner of the station. Glancing surreptitiously around, he finally pulled out the Aeon Hourglass and quickly flipped it over. As the sand fell through the glass, there was a brilliant glow, and the five of them vanished in a flash.

––

Soluna Town
12:00 Midnight

As the light faded away into darkness, Mario looked around and saw that the streets of Soluna Town were largely empty. He walked back around the corner and saw that the station was now completely deserted. He sighed in relief.

"This is weird," said Hanner as the others followed after him. "I'm so used to this place being all bright and lively."

"Who the heck would wanna make it so the trolley can't run?" Goomblaine griped as he trudged over to the fuse box. "Is this somebody's dumb idea of a joke?"

"You don't think somebody's… tryin' to sabotage us, do you?" Snatchel thought suspiciously.

"But then they'd have to know about the Sun Souls, and where we're trying to go," Mario replied, refuting the thought with a shake of us head. "I'm sure it's nothing. Anyway, it doesn't matter. They're not here now."

"Wee hee hee hee hee…" came a familiar voice from behind them. "Oh, are you so sure about that, Mario?"

Mario's heart almost jumped out of his chest. Panicking, he spun around to face the voice and found himself staring directly at…

"Kammy Koopa?" he cried. "What – what are you doing here?!"

"Who's this joker?" Goomblaine demanded.

Bowser's second-in-command was perched atop her broom, hovering several feet above the ground and sneering at them. As Goomblaine spoke, she swiveled her head around and glared at him.

"Hmph! You insolent child, show some respect to your elders!" she barked. "I am none other than the powerful and beautiful Kammy Koopa! And Mario! It seems you've walked right into my little trap!" she cackled.

"So, you turned off the fuse box," Mario growled. "So where's Bowser, huh? If I'm going to fight you two, let's just get it over with."

"Well, I'll have you know Bowser isn't here right now, you little wiseacre," Kammy snorted, folding her arms. "You really don't think someone as brilliant as me could have come up with this plan by myself?"

"Uh, Mario… what exactly is going on here?" Hanner cut in.

"Yeah, who's this Bowser fella?" asked Snatchel.

"I'll explain later, guys," Mario sighed. "We've got a fight on our hands right now."

"Wee hee hee hee… you little fools don't stand a chance against me!" Kammy declared. She waved her staff and launched a blinding magic spell at Mario and his partners. They all jumped out of the way just in time, and the spell blasted a large chunk out of the boarding platform, leaving it singed and smoking.

"Holy cow… she really means business!" Hanner fretted.

"I've beaten your boss so many times, you really think you're going to stop me?" Mario demanded. He leapt into the air and Spin Jumped on top of Kammy, knocking her off her broom and down to the ground.

"Mff… why you little!" she growled, struggling to her feet. She launched another spell at Mario, and this time he couldn't get away in time. He cried out as the blast hit him full force, sending him crashing into the wall.

"HEY! Leave Mario alone, you ugly old lady!" Stubba snapped, rushing up and whacking her over the head with his club. She grunted in pain as Stubba sent her collapsing to the floor, but she quickly regained control.

"Old?!" she demanded. "You little whippersnapper! Take this!"

She sent Stubba staggering away with a flick of her wrist, and was about to attack him with a spell when she was blindsided by a hammer that came flying out of nowhere and struck her in the head. Shrieking in fury, she spun around and sent the spell flying at Hanner instead. The Hammer Sis immediately ducked into her shell, spinning around and Superguarding the attack perfectly.

"Face it, Kammy! There's too many of us! You can't win!" Mario said sternly.

"Oh, really!" the Magikoopa sneered at him. "You underestimate my power, Mario! All of you, try this on for size!"

She raised both arms high up in the air, waving her staff threateningly – and suddenly, five enormous bolts of lightning came down from the sky, zapping Mario and each of his partners. They all screamed in pain and fell weakly to the ground as Kammy laughed sinisterly.

"So, that's what the receiving end of a Thunder Rage is like… not pleasant," Mario groaned.

Kammy took the moment to race back over to her broom, climbing on and rising high above their heads and out of range of their attacks. "Hee hee hee! Now now, Mario, you should never let your guard down around someone like me! Let that be a lesson to you… a lesson learned too late!"

With that, she began pelting them with a barrage of spells from her staff, cackling insanely as she fired again and again. Mario's team frantically scrambled around the boarding platform to avoid being hit.

"She's usin' us for target practice!" Goomblaine snarled in exasperation, ducking as a burst of color flew over his head. "I'm not goin' down to this freak!"

"Come down from there and face us!" Hanner shouted angrily, throwing a hammer at her but missing by a wide margin.

"Hmm, and why would I do that?" Kammy mocked. "I'm finally going to defeat that meddlesome Mario and his annoying friends of the week! Why would I ruin that by coming down there where you could – ACK!"

She cried out in shock as a lasso suddenly flew up and tightened around her broom handle, yanking her violently down and sending her crashing to the ground.

"Next time, maybe y'all should listen when we ask nicely!" laughed Snatchel, who had just shown what Roundup could do.

Kammy climbed to her feet again, looking dazed. "You little brats!" she spat. "I swear I won't lose to you!"

"I beg to differ!" Mario snapped, racing up and delivering a powerful blow with his hammer. Goomblaine followed up with a particularly violent Multibonk attack, and Kammy could only sustain a few hits before she let out a weak moan and toppled over onto the ground.

"Okay, Goomblaine, you can stop. She's down," Mario ordered. Goomblaine rolled his eyes and broke off his attack, but as he started to walk away, he quickly spun around and Headbonked her once more since he felt like it.

"Grr… very impressive, Mario," Kammy growled. "But you haven't heard the last of me! I will return, and so will Lord Bowser! You're not getting back home in one piece if I have something to say about it!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Mario said nonchalantly, waving her off as she struggled onto her broom and flew off in a seething fury.

Hanner folded her arms as she watched Kammy go. "So, you, uh… know her, huh Mario?"

"But if she's the one who turned the power off, does that mean she knows about the Sun Souls?" Stubba asked worriedly.

"If she does, that means Bowser does too. Which is just about the last thing I need right now," Mario muttered to himself. "I just wonder… what was she doing away from Bowser? She's always with him."

"Look, I dunno who the heck you're talking about," Goomblaine snapped. "Can we just fix the power or whatever and get outta here?"

"Sure, I suppose," Mario sighed. Bowser and Kammy being here in Chronoside was a complication he really didn't need… but he'd have to worry about that another day. He walked over to the fuse box and yanked it open, and saw that there was a large red switch in the "Off" position.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered, gripping the switch and pulling it up into the "On" position. He looked around, but there was no sign that he'd accomplished anything.

"Did it work?" asked Stubba.

"Only one way to find out," Mario decided. He pulled out the Aeon Hourglass, and his partners quickly crowded in close as he flipped it over, and all of them disappeared.

Unbeknownst to them, four people had been hiding in the shadows nearby and watching the whole thing.

"I'm disappointed in you, Kammy Koopa," Rizz snarled. "You had the element of surprise, and you let Mario walk all over you. Perhaps you're not as strong as you claim to be."

"I – I was outnumbered, that's all!" Kammy protested. "Give me another chance to fight him! I won't fail again!"

"You had better hope you don't," Rizz said sternly, with Sall and Bess snickering behind her. "If you want the honor of serving our lord and destroying Mario once and for all, there is no room for mistakes."

She turned away from the others, her eyes flashing. "And if King Shroude is to realize that I have found the one to guard his treasure," she growled to herself, "there won't be any mistakes. I'll see to that."

––

Soluna Town
12:00 Noon

Mario and the others appeared inside the station back in Dayside in a brilliant flash. Thankfully, no one in the crowd seemed to notice. They were all busy trying to tip the trolley over.

"WOULD YOU STOP THIS SENSELESS MOB MENTALITY?!" the conductor shrieked in horror, clutching his head. "THIS WON'T GET US TO NOVA CITY ANY FASTER!"

"But it makes us feel big!" a big burly Goomba shouted back. The rest of the crowd roared in agreement, then started pelting the conductor with a bunch of random tomatoes as the trolley swayed dangerously from side to side.

"Typical. I leave for ten minutes and this happens," Mario groaned.

The conductor scrambled to get away from the mob, then noticed Mario and grabbed his shoulders. "Sir! You've got to get away from here for your own safety! They've gone native, I tell you! I told them I couldn't get the trolley working and they just – "

"But the trolley is working now," the plumber cut in. "We fixed it. See for yourself."

The conductor stared at him, then walked over to the fuse box. He looked at it, and his eyes widened. After hastily pushing a few of the buttons, he drew back in astonishment.

"But – but it's running at full power!" he cried. "But how? How did you know how to fix it?"

Mario shrugged. "Oh, you know. Plumbing and electrical engineering… they're related fields."

"I wouldn't know. We ain't got either of those things at Golden Spur Ranch," said Snatchel.

"Too much info," Hanner muttered.

Not hearing any of that, the conductor raced back over to the crowd, who were now throwing rolls of toilet paper for some reason. "Everyone, listen!" he screamed. "The trolley's working again! If you would all just calm down and form an orderly line, we can get going to Nova City right now!"

When they heard that, the crowd immediately stopped what they were doing and glanced among each other. Then most of them started shrugging.

"Okay."

"Sounds good to me."

"Cool."

"It's like the weirdness just follows me wherever I go," Mario sighed.

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Stubba cheered, racing along after the others as they filed into one of the trolley cars along with everyone else. "We really did it! We're really going to the circus! This is so cool!"

Mario smiled. "Yep. This is gonna be a trip to remember, all right."

He and his partners crowded into the nearest car and sat down in a row as everyone else pushed and shoved their way in. After a few minutes when everyone had gotten inside, the conductor's voice suddenly came blaring over the intercom.

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Soluna Town Trolley! Our route to Nova City will be right on schedule! Local time is one o' clock pm – just like it always is! HA HA HA!"

Everyone in the car groaned loudly.

"I'm smackin' him when I see him," Goomblaine muttered.

"You have my permission," Mario agreed as the trolley began to move, slowly rolling out of the station and picking up speed. Stubba's tail wagged in excitement as he stood up in his seat and peered out the window, watching as Soluna Town passed them by and finally disappeared into the distance.

They were off to the Starshine Circus… where the next Guardian was waiting for them.