Month: June 2025

The Doctor and her team were escorted to the cell. They met with Amy and her team there. “QUIT SHOVING!” argued Mario.

“Inside the cell! MOVE!” ordered the Dalek Escort.

“All right, all right!” snapped the Doctor. The instant all the prisoners were inside, the Dalek Escort activated the force-field keeping them inside.

“…I’m sorry, Doctor,” mumbled Amy.

“Don’t be silly, Amy,” soothed the Doctor. “I could hardly stand by and let them shoot you.” She looked to Wario and Waluigi. “I see you recovered from whatever made you pass out. I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. I’m the Doctor.”

“Wario,” replied Wario. “And this is Waluigi.”

“What were you doing in Sarasaland?” asked Daisy.

“A little…archaeology,” answered Wario with a greedy grin.

“Money,” grumbled the Doctor. “It’s always about money.”

“Money makes the world go round, Doctor!” snapped Wario.

“Not on my home planet, it doesn’t,” retorted the Doctor. “And it doesn’t make Skaro go round.”

“Skaro being…?” asked Waluigi.

“The Daleks’ home planet. Speaking of Skaro…GUARD! I want to speak to the Supreme!”

“Not yet,” replied the Guard. Everyone goggled at that. It didn’t speak in a barking tone like a Dalek usually does!

“…Erm, is something…?” asked the Doctor.

“Not yet, Doctor,” insisted the Guard. “Right now, my mission takes priority. This planet has something that will make the Daleks more powerful than ever and I have to stop it.”

“Stop it?” asked Amy. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“All will be revealed in due time,” said the Guard. It then looked down the corridor. “The Supreme’s coming.” It resumed its watch.

“I will speak with the prisoners!” barked the Dalek Supreme when it arrived. The Guard moved aside. “Doctor, you will assist us in harnessing the inherent stellar power the inhabitants of this people utilize!”

“Why would you need that?” asked the Doctor. “You have enough firepower to reduce this planet to rubble.”

“Not while 1-Up mushrooms exist here, Doctor,” replied Amy. “They can’t fully exterminate anyone.”

“1-Up mushrooms?” asked the Doctor.

“They’re green mushrooms that bring someone back to life after suffering fatal injuries,” replied Pauline.

“On top of that, we can breathe in space,” commented Mario.

“Too many chances for survival, as you can see, Doctor!” said the Dalek Supreme.

“All of those abilities come from the stellar power this sector of the universe and its people use, is that what your scientists discovered?” asked the Doctor.

“Correct!” confirmed the Dalek Supreme. “We shall master this power!”

“And put it to helping the other races, I hope against hope?”

“Daleks are the superior species! It is our destiny to destroy and enslave all inferiors! IT IS OUR RIGHT!”

“RIGHT?!” shouted the Doctor. “TO DESTROY INDISCRIMINATELY?! TO TAKE WHAT OTHERS HAVE LABORED OVER FOR CENTURIES?! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT AT ALL!”

“YOU WILL SHOW MORE RESPECT TO THE DALEKS!” The Dalek Supreme swiveled its eyestalk to the guard. “I must report to Skaro about our success! You will keep them here until I summon for the Doctor!”

“I obey!” replied the guard. The Dalek Supreme glided away.

“He’s counting his troops before they’re fully integrated with their casings,” muttered the Doctor.

“Doctor, how much research on 1-Ups do you think they stole?” asked Amy.

“That’s probably why they need me,” muttered the Doctor.

“That’s exactly why they need you, Doctor,” remarked the guard. “Their scientific division can’t fully make heads or tails of the notes, so they need you, much as it chafes them, to translate the notes.”

“…Are you sure you’re a Dalek?” the Doctor asked the guard.

“Not in the traditional sense,” said the guard. It rotated so that the Doctor could see its backside. On one of its back slats was the Greek letter Phi. The Doctor goggled as she quickly put two and two together.

“…You’re a-!”

“SSHSHSHSH!” hissed the guard. “Not yet! The other Daleks don’t know!”

“Doctor, what-?!” asked Pauline.

“I’ll explain later!” replied the Doctor.

On the bridge, the Dalek Supreme stood before the main screen. “Dalek Supreme on Colony Nokiko to Emperor on Skaro!” it said. A machine with a Dalek creature floating in a nutrient tank surrounded by large panels studded with sensor globes and a giant Dalek dome with lights and an eyestalk appeared. This was the Emperor Dalek in his stationary casing deep within the heart of the Dalek Capital City on Skaro.

“Report!” boomed the Emperor.

“The Doctor has been captured! Her TARDIS is in our possession!” reported the Dalek Supreme.

“Excellent! Status of 1-Up Mushroom research!”

“Research proceeds at unacceptable rate thanks to coding from inferior life forms! The Doctor will assist in decoding the research! Her companion has not consumed a 1-Up mushroom, so she will be used as a hostage to ensure the Doctor’s cooperation!”

“All is proceeding as planned! Status of the False Dalek Fleet!”

“False Dalek Fleet still maintaining its hold on several worlds! No incursion into this sector of space detected, but sensor sweeps are being conducted!”

“The use of 1-Up mushrooms will give us the power needed to finally crush the Daleks that profess that the Human Factor has cured them!” boomed the Emperor. “We shall use the power within the Power Stars, Power Moons, and Shine Sprites to utterly crush them! Bring the Doctor to me so I may tell her what is expected of her personally!”

“I obey!” replied the Dalek Supreme.

“Oooh! The pain!” wailed Wario, pulling that tired old routine. “Guard! Get help!” The guard shook its dome from side to side, as if in boredom.

“Put a sock in it, Wario!” complained Mario. “That’s the dumbest routine ever!”

“The Daleks usually kill the sick anyways,” muttered the Doctor. Just then, Amy and Luigi’s duplicates arrived.

“Doctor,” said Amy’s duplicate, “you will come with us.”

“Teatime already?” asked the Doctor.

“Move out of the cell!” ordered the guard as it lowered the forcefield and brandished its gunstick at everyone else.

“Where are you taking her?!” demanded Amy.

“We need her scientific knowledge,” replied Luigi’s duplicate. The Doctor stepped out of the cell and the duplicates led her away.

“…The more I see our twins, Amy,” shuddered Luigi, “the less I like us.”

“The less I like us too,” muttered Amy.

“All right, that’s enough,” said the guard as he lowered the force-field. “We have to cause some chaos here. You coming?”

The Doctor was brought to the bridge. The Dalek Emperor was still on the screen. “Doctor!” greeted the Emperor.

“Upgraded your throne, Your Majesty?” teased the Doctor.

“You will not mock the Emperor!” barked the Dalek Supreme.

“Her words are of no consequence!” replied the Emperor.

“So, tell me, Emperor,” said the Doctor, “why are you lot here?”

“We are engaged in a conflict with a faction of False Daleks!” explained the Emperor. “They took advantage of the aftermath of our conflict with Octus’ Daleks to strike Skaro and now we are at war with them!”

“And where did this faction of Renegade Daleks come from?”

“From YOU, Doctor!” That puzzled the Doctor.

“From me? I’m not Davros,” she said.

“In your early conflicts with us, you failed to distill the Dalek Factor, did you not?” asked the Emperor.

“Oh, I see!” recalled the Doctor. “You’re fighting and losing against Daleks with the Human Factor!”

“THAT IS A LIE!!” shouted the Emperor as he thrashed in his nutrient tank, practically frothing with rage.

“Do not lie!” barked the Dalek Supreme.

“Do not lie!” agreed the Communications Dalek.

“Do not lie!” supplied a Drone Dalek.

“We are making a series of strategic withdrawals,” explained the Emperor, “to selected strongpoints! We shall use this planet as a launch point of our final assault against the Humanized Daleks!”

“Emperor,” said the Doctor, “that’s the hollow rhetoric of a defeated dictator and I don’t much like your face either.”

“Your mockery will cease, Doctor, with this planet in time!” snapped the Emperor.

“What exactly do you need me for?”

“The knowledge concerning 1-Up mushrooms as well as Power Stars, Power Moons, and Shine Sprites is heavily coded! You will assist us in decoding the knowledge for our scientific division! You will then apply that knowledge so that only we can use the fungus as well as the Power Stars, Power Moons, and Shine Sprites!”

“And if I refuse, what will you do?” asked the Doctor. “Exterminate me? My friends?”

“Gallifrey is being rebuilt, correct?” asked the Emperor. The Doctor’s eyes bugged out.

“…How did you know?” she asked.

“The Time Lord known to us as the Master was not careful with broadcasting your quest for the Key to Time! We know you harbored Rassilon! We know she would rebuild Gallifrey if the mission was a success! Our temporal spies observed where and when Gallifrey was brought to! If you do not cooperate, then we shall make the destruction of the Time Lords total! We shall become the new Lords of Time!”

“WE SHALL BECOME THE NEW LORDS OF TIME!” cheered all the Daleks. “WE SHALL BECOME THE NEW LORDS OF TIME!”

“…Very well,” sighed the Doctor, hating that she had to prolong Gallifrey’s eventual agony.

The Doctor and her group arrived in Sarasaland once again, this time with better heat protection. “Right, I want to investigate this ziggurat that appeared out of nowhere,” declared the Doctor.

“What for?” asked Rosalina.

“Because this feels similar to the Daleks’ infiltration of Kar-Charrat,” explained the Doctor.

“Kar-Charrat? Did they discover the library there?”

“Yes, and it was lost in the confusion.”

“Blasted Daleks!” hissed Rosalina.

“Oh, blasted librarians too,” remarked the Doctor. “They kidnapped the native aquatic life-form and wiped their minds to become part of their new wetworks store.”

“What?! Elgen would-?!”

“He did, so I had to free them by allowing the library to be destroyed.” At that moment, they arrived at the ziggurat Amy and her group found. “Aha!”

“Doctor, it’s open!” yelped Mario.

“…From the inside,” remarked Rosalina.

“I noticed that,” said the Doctor. Her ears caught a familiar sound. “And THAT’S the pulsing noise you hear in all Dalek installations.”

“But it looks so old!” remarked Pauline.

“The Daleks have time corridor technology,” replied the Doctor. “It’s more than likely that they sent this thing and its occupant to the distant past.”

“Occupant?” asked Mario.

“This is actually a Dalek Deep Hibernation Unit. It’s designed to put a Dalek into a form of stasis for long-term missions. Usually waiting for a time-sensitive person to be discovered.”

“But what about the Dalek in my city?” asked Pauline.

“I have a theory, but I need to get inside,” replied the Doctor. “Come on!” The group entered the ziggurat. Rosalina whistled in amazement at all the equipment inside.

“Look at all this!” she said. “Hibernation equipment, nutrient feed, a short-range transmat! They packed a lot in here!” The Doctor checked the computers monitoring everything and pulled up mission logs.

“Aha!” she said. “Pauline, Mario, that Dalek spotted in New Donk City? It’s the same one as the occupant here! It used short-term time corridor technology to send itself and the equipment into Sarasaland’s far distant past to pick up a time sensitive for some reason.” She then found audio files and played them. The files were recordings of the arrival and departure noises of a TARDIS! “Aha! They were waiting for me! Now why would they need me, hm? And how would they lure me into their clutches?”

“…Doctor, what’s that pod?” asked Mario.

“Pod?” asked the Doctor. She looked to see Mario pointing at some sort of pod with a clear lid. She checked the files on that machine and gasped in horror. “A Dalek Duplication Pod! Oh no!”

“Doctor?” Rosalina sounded concerned now.

“It’s Amy and Luigi!” explained the Doctor. “I arrogantly assumed that the Daleks would be after me! But it’s Amy and Luigi! They’re Dalek Duplicates!”

“The Observatory!” realized Rosalina. She then tried to make contact. “Polari! Do not let Amy and Luigi near any computer systems! They are Dalek Duplicates! …Polari?! Polari, respond!” Nothing came. “…We’re too late!”

On the Observatory, Wario and Waluigi groaned as they woke up. Wario spoke in angry German before he sat up. “Who hit me?!” he demanded. “What was the number of that truck?!”

“Stop shouting!” complained Waluigi. “I’ve got a splitting headache!” He then looked at his surroundings. “…Hey, isn’t this that space chick’s home?”

“Hey, yeah, you’re right!” replied Wario. “…All this technology! …All that money!” His eyes were filled with greed!

“And it’s back to brass tacks,” muttered Waluigi. He then spotted someone in the doorway. “…Hey, look! It’s Greenie!” he laughed.

“Greenie? Luigi?!” yelped Wario. He turned around, then started laughing. “So, dumping that weed, huh? Dating the space babe?”

“You will follow me,” replied “Luigi” in uncharacteristic coldness.

“…I’m sorry, you seem to have forgotten THESE guns!” laughed Wario as he flexed. “Luigi” then pulled Wario’s arm behind his back and caused the fat Mario clone considerable pain.

“You will obey all instructions or you will suffer,” ordered “Luigi”.

“Hey! You can’t do that!” snarled Waluigi like a bully that had the tables turned.

“You will obey his instructions!” barked a Dalek that glided up to them. “Obey! Obey! OBEY!” Luigi frog-marched Wario to the observation deck with Waluigi herded there by the Dalek. The Dalek Supreme and “Amy” were overseeing the operation as Daleks swarmed the Observatory like locusts, herding the Lumas to the Terrace and surrounding the TARDIS.

“These two,” reported “Luigi” as he threw Wario at the Dalek Supreme’s travel skirt bumper, “were part of an expedition in Sarasaland. Their purpose is unexplained.”

“The Scout Dalek in the Hibernation Unit,” recalled “Amy”, “reported two intruders. We simply used them as part of the bait that lured the Doctor to Sarasaland. They were identified by Mario as Wario and Waluigi.”

“You will explain your purpose here!” the Dalek Supreme barked at the Wario Bros.

“We were recovering from that shot your friend gave us!” snapped Waluigi. “Those heroes let their bleeding hearts bring us here!”

“You will explain your purpose in Sarasaland!” continued the Dalek Supreme.

“Oh, we were looking to get a good tan and hot babes!” replied Wario, somewhat untruthfully.

“Answer the question,” ordered “Amy”. She slapped Wario hard, sending him skidding across the deck. “You will answer questions truthfully or you will suffer.”

“You’re not Sonic’s fangirl!” snarled Wario. “And I’ll bet that’s not the real Luigi!”

“These androids are products of superior Dalek duplication technology!” said the Dalek Supreme. “You will answer all questions directly and truthfully! What was your purpose in Sarasaland?!” Wario sighed as he ran out of options.

“We heard about the ziggurat and went to steal it so we could sell it,” he answered.

“Truthful response detected!” reported a Drone Dalek.

“How many are you?” continued the Dalek Supreme.

“Four,” answered Wario. “Me, Waluigi, and Dr. Crygor and Mona, my two employees. …They fled to get me help after your buddy knocked us out.”

“Truthful response detected!” reported the same Drone Dalek.

“These two are no threat to Dalek operations,” remarked Luigi’s duplicate. “They are valueless.”

“I must disagree,” replied Amy’s duplicate. “They may be used by Science Division to test the upper limits of a 1-Up mushroom’s resurrection abilities.”

“In due course!” said the Dalek Supreme. “There is another project that requires the Doctor’s cooperation! Your basis comes from a world that does not have 1-Up mushrooms! She will be the main catalyst to ensure the Doctor’s cooperation! Bring the Doctor’s companion here!”

“I obey,” replied Amy’s duplicate. She headed off to obey.

“Alert! Alert!” called a Dalek. “Our Deep Hibernation Unit is attempting to contact this observatory!”

“It is the Doctor! Allow her to communicate!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

“I obey!”

“Doctor, what ARE you doing?!” asked Pauline as the Doctor kicked the opened and scavenged control console.

“Modifying the computer!” replied the Doctor.

“With your feet?” quizzed Mario.

“There ARE a few universal truths, Mario,” chuckled Rosalina as she remembered her own maintenance of the Observatory. “One of them is that every computer needs a good kicking when you’re modifying it.”

“Hello, hello, hello!” the Doctor said into a communications channel. “Come in, please! Come in, Comet Observatory!” An image of the Dalek Supreme then filled the screen. “Ah, the Dalek Supreme himself! We should be honored, everyone. This planet is very high on the Dalek Emperor’s list of priorities. The Dalek Supreme’s doing his own dirty work.”

“I will speak only to the Doctor!” barked the Dalek Supreme.

“This is she,” replied the Doctor. “I call upon you to leave this planet and never return!”

“Terms unacceptable!” dismissed the Dalek Supreme. “These are the Daleks’ terms! You will surrender to us immediately! We have your TARDIS and your companions! The one identified as Amy Rose has not consumed any of the fungus known as 1-Up Mushrooms! If you do not surrender, she will be exterminated!” To prove its point, the Dalek Supreme moved aside to reveal Amy on her knees with her hands bound behind her and held in place by her duplicate as well as Luigi’s. The Dalek Supreme aimed its gunstick at Amy.

“Don’t listen to it, Doctor! Get away!” begged Amy.

“You have five rels to comply!” warned the Dalek Supreme. “Five!”

“Doctor, she’ll be killed!” Mario hissed in worry.

“Four!”

“It could be a bluff!” replied Rosalina. “It could be another duplicate!”

“Three!”

“What would they need another duplicate of Amy for?” muttered the Doctor. “…We’d best do as they say.”

“Two!”

“Can we trust them?!” asked Pauline.

“We can trust them to kill her if we don’t comply,” replied the Doctor.

“One!”

“We surrender!” called the Doctor.

“NO!” wailed Amy.

“You and your companions will step onto the transmat!” ordered the Dalek Supreme. “You will be brought to the ship! You are now a prisoner of the Daleks!”

“It seems that way,” sighed the Doctor. “Come on, everyone.” She brought everyone onto the transmat and they vanished.

“End communications channel!” the Dalek Supreme ordered the Dalek Communications Officer.

“I obey!” it replied. The screen switched off. The Dalek Supreme swiveled its eyestalk to the duplicates.

“Return the Doctor’s companion to the ship! She will serve as Science Division’s control group when they start their experiments!”

“We obey,” replied the duplicates as they roughly forced Amy to stand.

“Daleks,” muttered the Doctor. “Will I never be rid of them?! I went through an entire incarnation without fighting them!”

“You know what that robot is?” asked Pauline.

“Pauline, that thing is no mere robot,” corrected Rosalina. “It’s a life-form inside a tank that has only one goal in life; the extermination of all non-Daleks.

“They come from Skaro, a planet a few galaxies over,” said the Doctor. “…I really shouldn’t have let Amy and her group go down there. Rosalina, we need to find them.”

“This way,” directed Rosalina. “The Launch Star is still aimed at Sarasaland.” The group entered the Launch Star and spun. The group was launched towards Sarasaland as Amy’s group was.

Amy groaned as she woke up in her cell. Her leg was full of pins and needles. She tested whether or not she could stand on it and slowly walked around the cell. “Okay…now where…?” Memories flooded back. A silver Dalek paralyzed her, her friends brought her into the ziggurat, then they were teleported…where?

“Has your mobility been restored?” asked the Silver Dalek as it approached her cell.

“No thanks to you!” snapped Amy. “What do you need me alive for? Trying to use me as bait?”

“Your survival is necessary for the duplication process!” replied the Dalek. Amy got a better look at the Dalek. It didn’t have the slats around its midsection, its fender at the base of its travel skirt was huge, it had a pincer claw instead of a plunger, and it had a dish on the back of its midsection.

“What kind of Dalek are you? A scout model of some kind?”

“My mission is infiltration and reconnaissance!” replied the Dalek. “Your duplication is necessary for the mission to succeed!”

“You cloned me?” guessed Amy. “The Doctor can see through any copy.”

“Cloning was not necessary! Machines built in yours and Luigi’s respective images sufficed! And your duplicates need only a short time to complete their phase of the mission!”

“What are you talking about?” By now, Amy was worried. “What mission?! What have you done?!”

“You will be brought to the bridge!” barked the Scout Dalek as it used its pincer claw to pull a lever and deactivate the cell’s force field. “Exit the cell and move ahead of me! Move! MOVE!”

“I obey,” said Amy mockingly.

The Doctor and her group trekked through the sands of Sarasaland. “Oof! Good thing I brought my hat!” said Pauline.

“What are you talking about?” asked Rosalina as she floated over the sand. “The temperature’s fine.”

“Easy for YOU to say!” grumbled Mario. “You have magic going 24/7!”

“Doctor, shouldn’t we find cover?” asked Pauline. “Maybe wait until nightfall?”

“Nightfall would be too late!” retorted the Doctor. “If the Daleks are on this planet-!”

“Doctor, surely you exagge-!” Pauline was cut short when she saw Amy and Luigi passed out next to two men, one fat one in yellow, the other a skinny one in purple.

“Wario! Waluigi!” called Mario. He then spotted his brother. “LUIGI!” he yelped as he rushed up to Luigi.

“Amy! Are you all right?!” asked the Doctor as she checked the poor hedgehog over.

“D…Doctor!” gasped Amy.

“Amy, was it Daleks?!”

“T…Too…hot…!” panted Amy.

“Heat exhaustion!” muttered the Doctor.

“What about Peach and Daisy?! Where are they?!” asked Mario.

“If I had to hazard a guess, gone to Daisy’s home for help,” replied the Doctor. “We have to take them back! All four of them!”

“I’ll get us there!” called Rosalina as she pulled out her wand. She spun and everyone vanished in a flurry of sparkling stars.

On the bridge of the Dalek ship, the Gold Supreme Dalek looked over its bridge crew. One of the guards heard the door open and saw the Scout Dalek with its prisoners. “Halt!” barked the guard.

“Scout 4 reporting to Dalek Supreme with alien prisoners!” replied the Scout Dalek.

“Proceed!” directed the guard.

“Move! Move! MOVE!” ordered the Scout as it used its pincer claw to shove Daisy forward.

“STOP PUSHING!” shouted Daisy.

“Human Female will remain silent!” barked the Dalek Supreme.

“You’re part of the Supreme Council, aren’t you?” asked Amy.

“Correct!” replied the Dalek Supreme. “You are the Mobian that abandoned my predecessor to Octus and his false Daleks!”

“So you’re the new model of Goldie, huh?” chuckled Amy. “The Old Gold Supreme rushed forward while its gunstick was offline!”

“Do not contradict your masters! The function of non-Daleks is to obey or die!”

“D-D-DIE?!” squeaked Luigi.

“Why make copies of us in the first place?” asked Amy. “And why just me and Luigi?”

“The Princesses are needed in our ally’s castle!”

“Oh no, not Bowser!” complained Daisy.

“What did you lot falsely promise him?” asked Amy. All Daleks…hesitated at Amy’s question. “…Oh? …Oh! OOOOOOOOOH!” Amy started laughing. “Bowser has power over you! You shot one of his friends and he came back to life!”

“We…cannot account…for local resurrection fungus…” replied the Dalek Supreme.

“And you can’t use it, I’m guessing.”

“…Your theory…is correct…”

“So, Bowser destroyed a few of you in a rage when you attacked him and now you know what it’s like to be enslaved.”

“The positions will reverse to their proper order!” barked the Dalek Supreme. “The Comet Observatory will be brought under Dalek control! Its early warning system will be shut down and all knowledge about 1-Up Mushrooms will be added to Dalek data! The Daleks will use 1-Up Mushrooms to become immortal! The Rebel Daleks will fall!”

“So that’s why you cloned me and Amy!” realized Luigi. “You knew the Doctor and Mario would rescue us!”

“Correct! Your duplicates will shut down the Comet Observatory’s defenses! The Daleks will take control of the Observatory! We shall sweep away all rebellion! All matter shall succumb to the power of the Daleks!”

On the Comet Observatory, Amy and Luigi had regained consciousness while Wario and Waluigi were lying on the bed in the bedroom. “There,” said the Doctor. “Their body temperatures were about 41 degrees Celsius, but they only got hotter after the blunt force trauma to the head. They’ll just need to cool down and drink the water nearby. Now then, Amy, Luigi, what happened out there?”

“We were walking the deserts with the Princesses,” replied Amy. “Daisy was telling us about a ziggurat, but then these two attacked us. I knocked them out with my hammer, but…”

“We didn’t see Bowser’s Minions,” finished Luigi. “They attacked us and kidnapped the Princesses.”

“…Really?” asked the Doctor. “Bowser’s Minions? Or the Daleks?”

“…The what?” asked Luigi.

“Doctor, if the Daleks attacked us, we’d be dead,” remarked Amy.

“…Amy, I think you had better stay here with Luigi and our new friends,” suggested the Doctor.

“What about us?” asked Mario.

“We’re going to check out this ziggurat,” replied the Doctor.

“Not more desert trekking!” complained Pauline.

“I’ll keep us cool,” assured Rosalina. She waved her wand and an aura enveloped them. “There. We’ll be as comfortable in the desert as we are here. …Though I would recommend we still bring water.”

“All right, but no Launch Stars,” said the Doctor. “I’m still dizzy from when we last used it.”

“Doctor, you’re no fun,” teased Rosalina.

“Luigi, you and Amy are all right here, right?” asked Mario.

“Mario, honestly, we’re all better thanks to the Doctor,” soothed Luigi. “You don’t have to fuss. We’re safe, even with those two.”

“…All right, but you call the instant you’re in trouble, okay?” directed Mario.

“We will, Mario,” replied Amy. “No worries.”

“All right, let’s-a go!” Mario said to his team. Rosalina used her magic to teleport herself, Pauline, Mario, and the Doctor back to Sarasaland. Amy and Luigi stood outside the bedroom, then their faces went blank as they looked up as if hearing a voice.

“…We obey,” they said in a monotonous voice. They left the bedroom area and traveled up the Observatory into the Engine Room. They entered the room and spotted a Gearmo working.

“Hey! Wait a minute!” called the Gearmo. “No one’s allowed here without Rosalina’s permission-!” Amy simply twisted the Gearmo’s eyes in opposite directions and shut it down. Luigi approached a computer console and keyed in a command.

“Access denied,” said the computer.

“Emergency vocal override,” directed Luigi. “Passcode: Telescope.”

“Vocal override accepted,” replied the computer. “State sub-menu.”

“Sensor net.”

“Accepted. Voice confirmation required.” Amy looked up to receive her orders.

“…Voice synthesizer-” her voice then changed to Rosalina’s- “activated. Release blocks to sensor net control.”

“Thank you, Rosalina,” replied the computer. “Sensor net control: online.” Amy then keyed in a command. “Sensor net will deactivate. Are you sure?” asked the computer as it pulled up a selection screen. Amy selected “yes”. “Sensor net: deactivated.” Luigi looked up.

“Sensor net: disabled,” he reported. “Advise all battle commanders that they may begin their attack run.”

The Dalek Communications Officer received the report. “Duplicates report success!” it reported. “Comet Observatory Sensor Net is disabled! We may begin our attack run!”

“All battle commanders, report to assault decks!” ordered the Dalek Supreme. “All research concerning the fungus known as 1-Up mushrooms is to be collected! All findings to be reported to scientific division for analysis! This planet shall belong to the Daleks!”

The TARDIS drifted lazily through the Time Vortex as the Doctor and Amy were taking a well-deserved spa day. They were in a warm mud bath and sighing contentedly. “Does a TARDIS usually have a spa room?” asked Amy. “Not that I’m complaining, you understand.”

“Not really,” replied the Doctor. “A TARDIS is supposed to be used for temporal research. But, when a TARDIS lives long enough, it acquires rooms designed for creature comforts. The TARDIS is an old girl, mechanically speaking.”

“And still an awesome machine,” said Amy.

“She always has been,” agreed the Doctor. She then saw something near Amy. “What’s that stack of books there?”

“Oh, I found them in the library,” replied Amy. “A few romance novels. I’m a bit of a sucker for them still. I saw the library cards in them, so I’m guessing you borrowed them. I suppose the advantage of having a time machine is that, even if you forget them for a while, you’re never late with them.”

“That really depends on the library,” said the Doctor. “I once borrowed from the library of Kar-Charrat and, sadly, I couldn’t just arrive on the due date. …Pity the Daleks destroyed it.”

“Those monsters have something against books, huh?”

“Well, they have something against non-Daleks having any knowledge and given that the library of Kar-Charrat once housed the entire knowledge of the universe, the Daleks needed that knowledge for themselves to launch an assault on the universe. …Which library did you say the cards came from?”

“I’m not sure,” replied Amy. “It’s not any library card I recognize.”

“Well, I’ll just have a look, then,” said the Doctor. She washed the mud off her arms, then opened the cover of one of the books. Her eyes slowly widened, then she checked another one, then another, then the last. “…Oh no!” she groaned. “They’re from the Comet Observatory.” Amy goggled.

“The Comet Observatory? Rosalina’s home?” asked the hedgehog.

“You’ve been there?” quizzed the Doctor.

“I’ve made some friends there like I did on Hyrule,” explained Amy. “You borrowed from Rosalina’s library?”

“And, sadly, I can only land the TARDIS in the present day,” replied the Doctor. “These books are long overdue.”

“We better get there now, then,” said Amy.

Drifting in orbit around a blue and green planet, four ladies were having tea on a fantastic-looking observatory while two men were stargazing from the balcony. The ladies each wore dresses in different colors, one pink, one yellow, one sky-blue, and one red. The two men wore overalls and hats, one with red and an M on his hat, the other with green and an L on his. The men were the famous Super Mario Brothers, Mario and Luigi. The ladies were Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Princess Rosalina, and Mayor Pauline. “Boys!” called Peach. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”

“We’re good,” replied Mario. “Some of the stars formed new constellations and Luigi and I always liked tracing them.”

“You girls should try it,” offered Luigi.

“You know, I could make it a challenge, see if you can recognize the constellations from a new angle,” chuckled Rosalina. At that moment, a noise familiar to her filled the air inside the Observatory’s atmospheric shields. “…The TARDIS?” she muttered.

“Rosie, you know what that noise is?” asked Daisy.

“It heralds the arrival of a Time Lord,” replied Rosalina. “If it’s the same Time Lord I know…” She briefly looked around to see the TARDIS materializing at the launch pad off the Terrace. “Aha! The Doctor has arrived! I wonder if his ears shrank finally?” The doors opened and out stepped Amy and the Doctor. “Oh! Miss Rose!” greeted Rosalina.

“Amy!” called Peach.

“Hey, you look good!” observed Daisy. “Trying out being goth?”

“Just the clothes, Daisy,” replied Amy.

“It’s great to have you here, Amy!” called Mario.

“Nice to see you boys too, Mario and Luigi!” said Amy.

“What brings you here?” asked Luigi.

“Just a visit with old friends. The Doctor over there brought me here.”

“Hello!” called the Doctor.

“Ah, so you regenerated again,” observed Rosalina. “Pity. I rather like the leather.”

“I don’t know, I like the skirt I’ve got on,” replied the Doctor.

“Everyone, this is the Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet of Gallifrey,” introduced Rosalina. Everyone introduced themselves to the Doctor in short order. “Now, Doctor,” asked Rosalina, “what brings you back to the Comet Observatory? Social call?” The Doctor winced.

“Erm, I may have accidentally taken some of your books,” she explained. “Possibly for somewhat longer than I anticipated.”

“…Books? Missing from my library?” asked Rosalina, her eye twitching.

“Hoo boy,” gulped Mario.

“Let me see them!” hissed Rosalina. The Doctor surrendered the books.

“It must have been from when I was last here,” she explained. “A few reference books, just a bit of light reading.”

“Heavy reading, you mean,” remarked Amy. “Those novels got a bit…saucy at the end.”

“Thank you SO much for defending me, Amy,” muttered the Doctor, sarcasm heavy on her voice.

“So THAT’S where the Star-Crossed series went!” snapped Rosalina as she inspected the books. “Doctor, you have no idea how many times I turned the Observatory upside down! You’re lucky this is part of my private collection! …If you want to make it up to me, perhaps you can help us with something.”

“Miss Rosalina, are you sure?” asked Pauline.

“The Doctor is the expert on these matters,” replied Rosalina.

“…Oh, very well,” sighed the Doctor.

“I’m heading back to Sarasaland,” said Daisy.

“Mind if I come?” asked Amy.

“I-I want to come with!” stammered Luigi.

“Me too!” said Peach. “Mario? You want to come?”

“I think I’m gonna stay here and help brief the Doctor on our problem,” replied Mario.

“All right. Join us when you can!” called Peach. She and Daisy led Amy and Luigi to a Launch Star and they all spun inside it, then they were launched towards the planet below.

“…I still say your Launch Stars are inefficient,” muttered the Doctor. “Now, what seems to be the problem?”

“Well, several civilizations reported power loss at the same frequency,” explained Pauline. “We lose about 20 percent more moons than usual.”

“Moons?” asked the Doctor.

“Power Moons,” explained Rosalina. “Similar to the Power Stars that fuel the Observatory or Peach’s castle.”

“Ah. So, there’s a power loss crisis going across the globe?” the Doctor summarized.

“Yes,” replied Mario. “But I think I saw the culprit once.”

“Oh?” asked the Doctor.

“It was a robot talking to a Koopa. It said that it drained enough power from the Mushroom Kingdom for Bowser’s purposes. I already told Peach about it.”

“Ah, good,” said Rosalina.

“So it’s a Bowser scheme,” mused Pauline. “What would he want with Power Moons this time? That sham wedding went kaput.”

“And what did the robot look like?” asked Rosalina.

“Well, it looked like a salt-shaker for one thing,” replied Mario. “It had a plunger and a long whisk-.”

“What?!” asked the Doctor. “Did it have a camera eye on top of a dome?!”

“Y-Yeah!” gulped Mario. Rosalina dropped her wand in fear.

“…How did they get past my sensor net?!” she whispered.

“Why did I wear black here?!” complained Amy as she fanned herself as she and her team trekked through the Sarasaland Desert.

“Come on, guys!” called Daisy, wearing her new Oasis outfit. “The ziggurat’s over here!”

“You said it just rose out of the ground yesterday?” asked Peach as she wore her vacation outfit complete with floppy-brimmed sunhat.

“Yep! Over here!” The group approached what looked like a sandstone ziggurat. “If that’s breaking your brain, take a feel!” Peach approached it and felt the stonework…or what SHOULD be stonework.

“This…this is bizarre! It doesn’t feel like stone at all!” That was when she heard something!

“G-G-Girls!” stammered Luigi. “Th-Th-The door!” The door was opening from the inside!

“There’s something inside!” whispered Daisy. Amy looked deeper into the dark of the ziggurat’s entrance…then heard a noise, a rhythmic pulsing that she heard before. She thought for a few seconds, then her eyes widened with fear as her heart dropped to her stomach! She knew the sound! She heard it before!

“…Skaro!” she whispered.

“Amy?” asked Peach.

“Everyone, get out of here! That ziggurat’s not safe! MOVE!” called Amy. As she tried to herd everyone away at top speed, a crackling buzz filled the air! Amy collapsed in pain and grabbed her leg!

“AMY!” yelped Daisy as everyone ran to help her.

“M-My leg!” gasped Amy. “I can’t feel my leg!”

“Your condition is temporary!” came a familiar harsh, grating, metallic voice. Amy looked back to see who spoke. Exiting the ziggurat with the same ugly grace she saw on their homeworld was a silver Dalek! “Your leg will recover!” barked the Dalek. “Disobedience will result in permanent paralysis! Failure to obey past total paralysis will result in your extermination! Into the ziggurat!”

“If you think-!” argued Daisy.

“Move! Move! MOVE!” ordered the Dalek.

“Everyone, do as it says!” begged Amy. “Hopefully the Doctor will figure things out.”

“The Doctor will not save you, Amy Rose!” argued the Dalek as Daisy and Luigi helped Amy to her feet and carried her into the ziggurat with Peach behind them. “She will fail!”