Beans, sleeping stars and dreams of world conquest. It's all a bit too familiar, isn't it? But it'll turn out okay.
It has to.
"Is it just me, or am I getting a sense of déjà vu?" Luigi asked, catching the attention of Mario and Starlow.
As Mario turned to face his brother, Starlow let out a short thoughtful hum before replying, "Well, a lot of areas in Bowser's body do look the same."
"Ah, no no, that's not what I meant," Luigi replied, nervously waving his hands out in front of him. "I meant...everything that's happening out there. A bean trying to awaken a star for its power and kidnapping Peach to do it..."
"Oh yeah!" Mario exclaimed with a snap of his fingers.
"Wait," Starlow interjected, "this kind of thing has happened before?"
Mario nodded, then gave a brief overview of his and Luigi's adventures in the Beanbean Kingdom — of the Beanstar, its wish-granting power, and Cackletta's ambition.
"Huh... That is weird. But if you defeated Cackletta, you'll definitely beat Fawful too!"
Mario confidently nodded. Luigi watched with apprehension for a second, then hurriedly joined his brother in the motion.
"Now come on! We've got to get going — if we don't heal Bowser's back, we're never going to be able to kick Fawful's butt!"
It had been easy.
Getting Bowser and his major forces out of his castle had been easy as pie, as had been taking control of it and renovating it as his theatre. Taking control of Peach's castle had been even easier. There was nothing a single Toad could have done to stop him, much less with Midbus with him. Why, it had practically been handed to him on a silver platter!
As he watched his machine drain Peach's power and transfer it to the Dark Star, he flexed his fingers again.
As soon as he had found out about the Dark Star, he knew it had to be his. A few extra steps had to be added into his plan, true, but it was sure to be worth it. The Mushroom Kingdom was a political powerhouse with connections to practically every other kingdom in the world — take it, and the whole world fell into his lap. And with the Dark Star, his victory was assured. There would be no resistance, just the sugary sweet sound of all bowing before him, absolutely powerless in the grinning face of absolute power.
He'd found something poetic about where the Dark Star had been sealed. To think that it had been slumbering not too far away while he had been selling badges for beans — both of them deep underground, lying in wait — got a chortle out of him. But unlike him, there was nothing the Dark Star could have done to drag itself back above ground, so Fawful was to be its saviour, the prince who gave true love's kiss. And soon, he was to be its executor when he claimed its power for himself.
That was the plan. That would be how it all played out. He'd gotten so far. Nothing could possibly stop him now. Surely not.
Surely not.
As he set up the power-draining machine in Peach's Castle, giving Midbus jobs he was certain he could understand, the echoes of nostalgia whispered in the back of his mind. He was on the precipice of awakening an earthbound star's power, he needed the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom to do so, and he'd do it all with his own inventions... He hadn't realised the similarities until that moment.
He'd dismissed the thought at first, but now that all he could do was watch and wait, it came crawling back, a mouth full of sharp teeth pulled into a wicked grin. Three Peach-bots for the real princess, infinite wishes for infinite power, the world within his grasp and all of it to lose. And he had to wait. He had to wait to see which block would be pulled from his tower of plans, to see if everything would come hammering down on his head and knock him into the dirt. He had to wait to see if history would repeat itself.
He flexed his fingers again. And then, they curled into a fist.
What was he thinking? He would be fine! Better than fine, even — he would be ruling the world soon! He'd come so much further, accomplished so much more, done so much better, all because he had the opportunity to watch someone else blunder at every step and go out in a blaze of indignity! It was a blessing in disguise!
Besides, the Dark Star wasn't woken by the sound of Peach's voice. And he'd been recognised as the mastermind at the helm of operations at every waking moment this time around, he'd made sure of it. Soon, the Dark Star's power would be his, and everything would finally be as it was always meant to. No one would stop him.
But he still looked over his shoulder.
Nothing. No one else had entered, and the door was still locked tight.
So he turned back to the Dark Star resting in place and watched as it stirred slightly from its slumber, trying to ignore the shadows of familiarity cast around him and the old tune circling in his mind.
She wouldn't have been able to come back from a second defeat anyway.