For a few suspended seconds it seemed the entire island was falling apart.

As if nature itself had decided to turn against them, grayed clouds tumbled over one another in a thick soup of impending danger overhead. They seemed to converge in a subtle vortex around the crater of the volcano above, which was now hidden amidst the stormy sky. At Corona Mountain's base, sitting on the edge of an unforgivingly large ocean, rustic rooftops and towers poked up from beneath the wide blue like weeds in a pond, remnants of a once-dry town; and between the sea and sky, silent and alone on a rooftop near the ever-towering Shine Gate, a tiny figure stood completely still, absorbing the sight like he was caught in a magnificent web.

It was as if in one great wave, land and sea had crashed together and now lay, in scattered disarray, on the shoreline.

Mario tried to catch a breath, which came out more as a sigh and gasp in succession. Clenching and unclenching his soaking gloves, he thought he wanted to say something but failed.

What... What??

   There was water... everywhere.

The machine on his shoulders suffered no such shock. "Delfino Plaza has recently experienced a waterfall-like deluge of rain in all areas," Fludd broadcasted calmly. "Residents are advised to seek shelter on rooftops to avoid the rising flood waters..."

Mario stared. Where vendors and tourists had once happily strolled along roadways thinking about their next trip to the beach, stray fish and wooden ferries now floated along gushing waterways, past front doorsteps and hanging awnings. He didn't even see the people, whose voices echoed from near and far in the aftermath of the disaster. They were there, but it was clearly the ocean's show now.

   Rising flood waters?

   Rubbing an arm across his eyes as if it would change the reality, Fludd's owner took a tiny step back and nearly tripped on the clay shingles. Forced to find firmer footing, Mario finally seemed to snap awake.

"...It's a little late for the warning, Fludd!" he cried. "How—When did this happen—??"

   "That warning was only issued from the tower moments ago," Fludd responded simply. "So it must be a recent development."

   "Is it really rising? Where is the water coming from??"

   "Now that's a question. It said there was a deluge, but that does not seem possible, given the water levels. And note how it is all moving downhill towards the ocean. I would estimate that it will go down to normal in a number of hours."

"Normal? How??" Mario spluttered.

"Because the entire ocean is not flooded, just the town is," Fludd explained. "The water must have been deposited from inland, which causes it to flow outward and merge with the sea line. It cannot be permanent. It seems that the dolphin is just taking a swim!"

   Mario gave a dry laugh. "That's all? You're not concerned??" he asked in amazement.

   "Oh, of course it is quite unusual," Fludd replied. "Delfino Plaza has not had significant flooding for over four decades! But I think you need not fear too much for the town's infrastructure. All the buildings are well-fortified for coastal living, and they have withstood the test of time," he said confidently. "The town will bounce back."

   Mario's eyes flitted here and there, trying to take in the whole town at once. "But what about the rest of the island? Are they flooded too?"

   "That is another good question," Fludd acknowledged. "I do not know. Although, everything was normal in Ricco Harbor."

   A flood... just in Delfino Plaza? Mario shook his head slowly, a thought coming to him. "Then that means... Junior must have done this! He said he was coming here!!" His heart picked up as he realized the gravity of the situation. How did he pull that off...?

   "I can't disagree with you, but I can't imagine how," Fludd responded as his owner at last set off, straddling the narrow roof. "This entire plaza is well saturated, and I'd presume it is beyond the magic paintbrush's abilities to cause destruction of this caliber."

"I don't see how anyone could cause it," the boy mumbled, more to himself. If you asked him, the ocean had seemingly outgrown its bowl and leaked onto shore, rapidly filling the roads with feet of crystalline water. Where he himself had once run through the quaint alleys among buildings, gushing rivers of fresh ocean flowed through the streets, bringing with them inevitably different traffic: schools of vibrant fish could even be seen with the naked eye from above, moseying down avenues. Running aimlessly for a moment along the rooftop's edge, Mario almost slipped and fell into a side street.

"It's so blue," he marveled for a moment, staring at the lightly turbulent waters below him. "And clear!"

Although he knew that the beaches were mostly freshwater, and although he'd seen for himself how clean the water could be, it didn't seem to hit home until he could see how it looked half-filling a city street during the daytime.

"We should inquire where the water came from," Fludd suggested from his back. "I am sure someone around here must know what is going on!"

Mario let out another breath and paused. "But what do we do, Fludd?" he asked at last. "I don't think you can clean up this!"

"I don't think diverting the flood waters is anything you should worry about," the machine answered. "Focus first on your mission."

Right. My mission. Of course. Glancing left and right quickly, Mario spotted a familiar structure not far away and bounded across the roof towards that.

The entire earth seemed to ring with the gentle but overshadowing sound of churning water rising up from every direction. Mario had dealt with fluctuating water levels before, but it had never felt as prominent as it did now.

"This is like... the worst plumbing accident in history," he remarked as a small attempt at a joke.

"At least the water is clean!" Fludd chirped, making Mario cough in agreement.

Across a short gap, beneath which a white boardwalk and clay house lay submerged, a green circular roof stood above the water, sporting a small fake palm tree atop it. Mario couldn't say he'd ever paid much notice to the roofing, but he did recognize the building: it was the boathouse run by those shine-hunting tanookis. He remembered them well enough... especially after spotting them perched atop the hut, pacing about like refugees.

   "The boathouse sank! Who could've imagined THAT!" the man exclaimed, staring down at the surging waters below as a pianta went floating by in an inflatable ring.

   "Now, I just don't care what happens! Wahaha!!" the pianta yelled over the din, starting to be carried off in an eddy around a building corner.

   From a neighboring rooftop, several feet higher up, a well-dressed pianta man in a fedora that had once been properly shaped called over to them. "Hey, do you folks need help? There's a boat coming around soon!"

   The tanooki looked up. "No, thank you! We're doing just fine... WHOA!" he screeched as a silvery trout leapt from the water mere inches from his face. Sheltering his son, he scooted back towards the tree in the center of the roof.

   "Hehe! Dad looks like he's having a lot of fun!" the kid shouted back.

   Suddenly the air seemed to fill with voices over the babbling rivers.

   "What a catastrophe! ...Although, it's kind of fun, too!" the fedora man chuckled to a pianta next to him, a tanned sailor who looked as if he'd gotten a workout today.

   "Well, as long as we can keep the boats running still, we should be good even in these conditions!" he replied cheerily. "LET'S MAKE ONE MORE SWEEP OF MARKET STREET!" he hollered, waving a brawny arm over his head.

   Mario, curious, looked around quickly and spotted one of those small ferries—maybe the fruit freighters?—circling around the nearby western bell tower. Ah, perfect. So they must have this well in hand then. Spinning around, he tried to focus again on his path: getting to look at that Shine Gate. Backing up a little, he shielded his eyes from habit (despite the lack of sun) and stared upwards at the monument that looked down unperturbed upon their predicament. The giant shine sprite around which all the others revolved was still what felt like miles above them, its face still obscured by a mess of black goop—Mario found it strange that goop was still a problem.

   Now that shine had been a stain and an annoyance in his life for long enough—but how could he clean that? His mind was just working out ways of climbing the tower—the flood waters weren't high enough to swim to that—when a faint voice from a nearby roof distracted him.

   "H-hey! Master Mustache!"

   Taken aback, Mario tore his eyes from the monument and blinked. Spinning in a small circle, he tried to place the source of the sound—

   "Over here! Quickly!"

   Now Mario spotted him: a pianta in a full suit and bowtie, up to his elbows in water on a lower-level balcony, waving a hand at him frantically. The place was situated near the base of the bell tower, only a couple of rooftops and power lines away. Taking the pianta's tone as an urgent cue, Mario sprang forward without question.

What had that man said a minute ago? The catastrophe was fun? Well, perhaps it was getting to be that way.

It almost felt like a giant game of 'the floor is lava'—albeit less deadly this time, Mario chuckled to himself. Getting to travel around town on rooftops only was bound to sound good in a journal entry. Not that Mario kept much of a journal.

"I actually kind of like this," Mario admitted, stepping out carelessly from a roof corner to the adjoining power line that would carry him across the street.

"Like what?" Fludd questioned, already fearing the answer.

"The flooded town, Fludd!" Mario replied like it was obvious. "Isn't this exciting? Just a little?"

"...That man needs your help."

Ever the spoil sport, Mario complained to himself as he tightroped quickly across the corner. Well, time to get involved. Stopping in place to bounce up and down a moment, he gathered his momentum and sprang from the rope, jumping down and landing with a hard splash right next to the yelling man.

"Oh! You came! Thank goodness, I knew you would," the pianta gushed, pushing up the leaves on his sagging head tree. "You must help!"

"What is it?" Mario asked, already in full help mode. Now, looking up at the pianta from where he stood on the low deck, the water was up to his chest and he realized that he couldn't look super promising.

The pianta pointed to the floor. "There's a bunch of people trapped down there in this warehouse!" he cried. "They're probably almost out of air by now! I tried to swim down and open the doors but it's a special hinge and I couldn't get it open! You have to do something!!"

Mario was way ahead of him. "Trapped?" Switching Fludd over to the squirt nozzle, then realizing that it probably wouldn't help him much underwater, he turned and dove straight over the railing, plunging himself into the undersea world of Delfino Plaza below.

Instantly it was like being in a weird dimensional dream. The familiar paths and buildings that he had once labored to clean with gallons of Fludd-power surrounded him, now encased in an airless cage of wild ocean water. Squinting through the deepening blue, he saw what looked like the doors of the Town Hall—with Bianco Square, and the lower base of the Grand Pianta Statue—not too far ahead.

It was washed clean—spotless, in fact...

"Mario! I believe you can use that turbo nozzle to bust down the doors," Fludd's sharp voice cut and reverberated with a strange gargle through the water around his head.

"Oh—!" Mario said in a wash of bubbles, remembered he wasn't wearing a helmet anymore, and quickly covered his mouth. Turning around to get a look at the doors in question, he kicked his legs to try to coax his weight downwards towards the pavement.

One thing he had to appreciate was how nice the water temperature was. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either—a pleasant blend.

Holding his breath, Mario scanned the warehouse quickly. He wasn't the worst at holding it, but he didn't have the biggest lungs on the planet and he knew it. Fortunately, plenty of time in the water had given him a lot of confidence.

Ignoring the rushing current passing by his head, Mario turned his attention on the door in question. Now he could see what the pianta had meant: it was like a set of wooden double barn doors, latched together firmly by a half-rusted lock.

Mario stared. How did...? He frowned. Doesn't matter. Heeding what Fludd had told him, he switched back to the turbo nozzle he'd been lucky to keep and eyed the doors critically for a moment. Does he really think I can bust this down?

It wouldn't hurt to try. Jealous of Fludd's ability to talk underwater, Mario lined himself up to hit the doors right above the lock.

It was then that he saw the movement within through the door slits. Oh mama, I hope this goes well.

Abruptly Fludd's voice rang through the water. "Attention citizens! We are going to break the doors down. Please wait carefully!"

Mario grinned. That's one way to do it. Grabbing Fludd's handles, he tried to position himself in the water satisfactorily and then paused anxiously. Let's hope I don't lose any eyes...

WHOOSH! In a torrent of bubbles and wood and competing currents, Mario was sent rocketing forward through the water like a torpedo locked on target. Only one second of charge on Rownie's turbine and he and Fludd went careening into the building with a subdued crash.

   Ow. For a split second a sharp pain coursed through the top of Mario's skull, probably the wood paneling snapping after connecting with his head. I guess it worked.

   Even after that passed, the aftereffects still had to be worried about: a fresh wave of trapped water swirled into his face from the opened room within, and it brought with it a wash of wooden beams, a few loose bricks, and what looked like several large spherical fruits amid a wave of dust.

   Trying to swat the murk from his face, Mario squinted and promptly plunged ahead, swimming inside to see what had happened. Dodging a falling piece of the doorway just in time, he came upon what was indeed a small room or shed—he didn't care which—into which had been huddled five wide-eyed piantas.

   Wishing he could say something (he had to keep reminding himself in the nick of time not to), Mario kicked down to their level and tried not to laugh at the outrageous looks of bewilderment on their already startled faces. They had all begun holding their breath, but it didn't appear they had been doing it long: Mario still spotted a few inches of air at the ceiling. Good thing we made it in time!

   "All right everyone, swim for the surface," Fludd instructed calmly, like an actual swim teacher. "Single file! Watch your head."

   To what must have been the piantas' confusion, the human smiled at this. All the more confusing to have a machine talk to you underwater! he thought.

   Waiting to make sure everyone got out, Mario hung back a moment by the wall to let everyone swim out the door. With the piantas quickly evacuated, he scanned the floor quickly for signs of anything valuable—like what, shine sprites??—before kicking after them.

   The group of liberated people had already begun climbing up top to the little balcony by the time Mario and Fludd breached the surface. Taking the well-dressed guy's hand one by one, everyone had soon been brought to a place of semi-dry, with Mario taking up the rear. Accepting the pianta's outstretched hand, he climbed back atop the little landing. It felt strange to be offered help, albeit something as simple as that. Usually Mario was the one offering help.

   "Oh my! We're saved!" a lady cried, sounding more horrified than relieved. "Oh, thank you!"

   "You probably saved our lives!" a man with a sopping straw hat beamed at him.

   "You're welcome," Mario replied graciously, only to find Fludd saying so in unison. Grinning at the water pack, he held back a laugh.

   "I thought we were goners," a guy replied, trying to hide his shivering by kicking up water at their feet. "But I guess we live to fight a few more minutes."

   "You're welcome," Mario and Fludd said in unison again. We're really getting the hang of this, aren't we.

   "Man, a flash flood... what a way to go!" another guy commented. "My horoscope sure was wrong..."

   "Those things are always wrong," the guy squeezing out his straw hat replied. "I can't say I enjoy all this craziness..."

   "No no no, we're not going to die!" the first woman scolded. "The water's not rising anymore! Can't you see?"

   "Did it cease coming from the mountain?" Straw Hat guy asked in interest, looking up towards the volcano.

   "I think so."

   Mario's ears may as well have perked up. "Mountain? Did you say it came out of the mountain??" he asked, sloshing forward.

   The nice lady glanced at him. "Yes, from what I could tell. The bottom of the mountain just opened up and—WHOOSH! Anyone not prepared ended up like we did. And until a few minutes ago, this water was quite hot! There was a lot of steam, but I guess it's cooled off now."

   "Hot?" Mario repeated uselessly. His brain was working things a mile a minute. The volcano... What is Junior up to in there?!

   "Who knew Corona Mountain was so full of water?" Straw Hat guy asked. "I mean I know we have hot springs at the base, but I wouldn't have expected... all this."

   "I guess we should be glad the water cleaned everything!" another lady spoke up now, being helped to her feet. "This has got to put an end to the island's pollution problems, right?"

   A few of the others snorted doubtfully. "This is just replacing the problem, if you ask me!" one scoffed.

   At the mention of this, Mario quickly extracted himself from the group before they could recognize him as someone other than their savior. Seeing as they were all safe and doing fine for the time being, he silently elected to go.

   Letting himself onto the adjacent rooftop, Mario was just looking for a clear path elsewhere when the well-dressed pianta man called him back.

   "Wait! You there, Master Mustache!"

   Stopping again in surprise, Mario turned to see the man now running up to him across the slanting roof. Waiting politely (and impatiently), he allowed the pianta to come over and catch his breath.

   "You... no," he coughed. "Your name. It's Mario, isn't it?" At the boy's nod, he straightened and took a deep breath. "I thought you were returning home to your own country with the children?"

   The what? Mario literally could not have been more confused. For a silent second that must have spoken volumes, his face cracked into a frown.

   The pianta guessed as much. "Oh, forgive me, I don't suppose we've properly met. I'm Dante," he smiled half-heartedly, offering a hand, "the mayor of Delfino Plaza."

   Mario was halfway to accepting the handshake when the words almost caused him to stutter. "Mayor?" he exclaimed before he could control it.

   Mayor Dante nodded with a sigh, shaking the human's hand quickly as if aware of his own repulsiveness. "I don't suppose you've a very high opinion of me, what with all that's transpired these last few days," he said.

   Mario looked at him skeptically for a moment. He was a rather ordinary-looking pianta, with yellow skin and a nicely trimmed graying mustache to go with the suit coat. Aside perhaps from the lapel pin of a gold dolphin that he now noticed attached to the mayor's collar, he wouldn't have guessed he was anyone officious.

   "I don't know what you mean," he said at last.

   "What, don't be modest! I'm talking about your trial! They put you on trial all without waiting for the prosecutors to put together a real case—

   "The prosecutors had plenty of evidence all lined up," the human informed.

   "Well sure, but it didn't directly pertain to you or the arrest! And they didn't give you or the defense any time to put together an argument—I know! And I'm sure you're thinking it must be all my fault." He put a hand to his head as if the thoughts had overwhelmed him.

   Mario blinked at him in surprise. "Ah, well... was it??"

   Now Mayor Dante whirled on him. "Oh no. I was informed later about the details of the case, but they moved it along so quickly I didn't get any say on how they dealt with the trial. I had already stated earlier that week that the vandal should be caught..." Here he suddenly turned and began to pace up towards the low apex of the roof. "But that was well before all this. I didn't think they did the right thing, you know. Putting you through all that."

   Mario just stood there in silent, wide-eyed surprise.

   "Look, Mario," Mayor Dante went on, turning back to him now with a pleading in his dark eyes. "We both know that wasn't a fair trial they gave you. And I guess you've chosen to stay and do community service, but, if I were you, I would've just left!"

   Now Mario was confused again. "Left? But... they said I couldn't leave!"

   Mayor Dante might as well have dropped a weight on his foot for how high he jumped. "What?? They—oh, this is horrible! Master Mustache—Mario. I'm so sorry about this, it wasn't meant to be like that—

   "What are you talking about?" Mario persisted, taking a step forward.

   "Goodness, what a help you've been! ...Oh, it's the court ruling. For a crime like the one you were charged with, you could either stay and do the community service—which is kind of preferred, but still—or you could just leave for a minimum of ten years. Honestly boy, with all the trouble you've been getting around here, I was surprised you didn't just take off. ...Of course, unless they didn't tell you. Which of course, is dishonest. A non-citizen can't be forced to stay, even for that."

   Mario tried to process all the information being hurled at him at once. He could have just left the island? Right away?

   What would have happened if he did that?? Junior... and Peach and everyone... would they have all left too?

   But another thought quickly crossed his mind that chased the others out. Hardening his brow, Mario looked up to the mayor and puffed his chest.

   "No, sir, I couldn't have left," he said matter-of-factly. "I didn't create this mess, but I believe it was created because of me. And so Fludd and me—that's this guy right here—we're the only ones fit to take care of that goop. We have to do it."

   Mayor Dante seemed impressed. "So you are the one who's been cleaning up the other places on the island," he remarked at length. "I thought, but I wasn't sure."

   The human just nodded, as if it was nothing big.

   "Well, I saw those children you traveled with," he said at last. "They're still around, waiting for you, I suppose."

   Now Mario had to laugh. "Oh, children? You mean toadstools," he chuckled. "They're not children. They're... we're all from the Mushroom Kingdom."

   "The Mushroom Kingdom?? Oh, how nice, I've always heard such great things about there! Was that the princess, then, at your trial?"

   Mario merely nodded.

   Mayor Dante looked more distraught than ever. "Oh, this is even worse!" he sighed. "Now this will surely put us in bad standing with the Mushroom Kingdom. And given all you've done for us, I don't even believe that you were responsible for the vandalism as it stands."

   Mario almost stopped breathing at the man's words. Him? Not responsible??

   Had the world finally started spinning in the right direction again?

   "You think I'm telling the truth?" Mario asked in amazement. "Why?"

   The mayor looked down at him and his gaze suddenly turned quite serious. "Well, for one because of the facts that don't really add up, but also because of your drive. You see, the trouble nowadays is that people aren't interested in the truth. They only want what looks or works out good for them... and they only learn to care when things inevitably go south."

   Mario was silent in thought as he absorbed this.

   "But you—well, you just told me yourself. You didn't want to leave even if you didn't do the crime, because you believed you're the person to fix the wrong. And that: that's what we need more of. People who don't point fingers, but actually get down and dirty. And if what I've been hearing from the other towns is any indication, you've been getting pretty dirty on our behalf... and I'd like to just thank you for it."

   The boy raised his eyebrows if they could go any higher.

   "Now I don't know for sure how to prove any of the facts of the case to the police," Mayor Dante said quickly. "Likely I can't ever get them to believe that you were innocent. Heck, even I don't know exactly how you're innocent. I just get a feeling something's missing. But... as long as I'm the mayor of Delfino Plaza, you'll always be welcome in my book." He offered the boy his hand again to shake.

   Slowly, a smile crept on to the human's face, as if he was thinking about it. Then, in one strong motion, he shook the mayor's hand.

   "Thanks, mayor. I really appreciate that. ...Thanks!" He almost seemed ready to laugh out loud.

   "Now, listen, son, because we're not out of this yet," Mayor Dante went on. "If you and your machine are still up for it, I really need your help."

   "More trapped citizens?" Mario asked urgently.

   "Oh no, not anymore," he replied. "But I mean this town in general. Just look at this state of affairs. A flash flood?? Right when it seemed our shine sprites were returning to boot? Why, it's horrible! At this rate,
our annual tourism rating will be a big, fat zero... This year will mark the end of our
decade-long five-star streak! Oh, how could this be? And it just had to happen while I was mayor! Why...?"

   Mario cast a comical gaze at him from one corner of his eye. "Now I don't think that's going to happen..."

   Mayor Dante wasn't listening anymore. "But, goodness me, this will never do! It's not the time or place for me to bellyache, is it!"

   Mario glanced around as if expecting someone else to answer.

   "Master Mustache! I will no longer entreat you as a volunteer! I beg you! Please turn Delfino Plaza back into the beautiful town it once was!"

   Another repressed grin. "Well, it sure feels nice to be asked rather than told," he answered at length. "But you don't have to ask. Like I said mayor, this is my fight."

   "Goodness me, you have my thanks! Please, for the sake of our ratings... No, for the safety of the town!" Mayor Dante corrected himself.

   Turning back to gaze up at the towering volcano, Mario squared his shoulders. "I think I know what I have to do," he said. "But I have a feeling that whoever's in that mountain isn't gonna be happy to see me."

   "Oh, you mustn't say such things! We're counting on you and that Fludd!" Dante chided.

   Mario nodded. "I think the water came from the base of the volcano, like those people said," he explained. "So if I'm gonna get in there, I just need to open the Shine Gate."

   "Be my guest, if you can," Dante replied. "But what exactly do you plan to do in there?"

   "It's a long story, and it has to do with my princess and another king and a big family problem," the boy replied wryly. "And too late, I'd like to apologize for all the trouble we brought your island."

   "Oh no, my boy—

   Suddenly a pianta lady walked up to them from behind and tapped the mayor on the shoulder. "Excuse me—

   "I'm terribly sorry, but the mayor simply isn't in a condition to speak with anyone right now," Mayor Dante told her in a clipped tone. "We ask for your understanding during this time of crisis." Then, turning back to the boy, he waved him off. Go, he mouthed.

Slowly cracking a smile, Mario nodded. "Thanks, mayor. I'll do my best."

Mayor Dante seemed to beam at the young man's energy as he watched him back up and sprint away diagonally across the town's skyline. "Yes! Good!" he shouted after him.

"Thank you, Super Mario!"

~

If Mario had ever wondered what the approximate capacity of Delfino Plaza's city limits was, it was now on display for all eyes to see as it sat scattered in restless bunches across the tops of buildings.

Like at the commencement of a great fireworks show, the air was alive and swirling with people's chatter from all sides as Mario near-sprinted across the Delfino roofs over the Town Hall. At this point, it all just felt like a big blur of noise: whether excited or panicked or anywhere in between was anyone's guess.

Hovering close under the domed arch atop the Town Hall, a couple stood observing the waters flow around the Grand Pianta Statue's base in the square below, where only the day before they had been sightseeing for the first time. The pianta lady crossed her arms.

"So, this is one of the 'shining eyes of Isle Delfino'?" she criticized aloud. Turning in a slow circle to squint up at the still-blackened face of the large shine sprite atop the Shine Gate, she snorted vehemently.

"I guess I just don't understand city life," her husband interrupted before she could say something more harsh. "Am I supposed to be soaking wet?"

A little further down the row of buildings, friends and acquaintances waved and motioned to each other to jump rooftops and get to higher ground. Here and there an occasional rescue was still underway, with late swimmers paddling up to be grabbed by people on overhangs.

"This is no good for my business! My durians are going to rot!" someone was hollering impatiently at the rapid floodwaters. Waving a fist, the pianta nudged the guy next to him.

"I wonder if all my watermelons washed away?" he remarked placidly. "That would be ironic."

Running with almost reckless abandon across the hard shingles and uneven slopes of upper Delfino Plaza, Mario observed the town take on this new kind of energy. It was no more than the typical energy, of course; but something still felt very different now.

Listening to the talk go in and out of both ears all around him, he dashed along the southern end of the plaza, heading across towards what he knew was Market Street. He figured that from there, he could take a left and follow the strip of buildings that would eventually wind him up back by the Shine Gate.

This was the interesting but handy layout of the town, he could see now: the buildings were almost all arranged in a closely-packed U formation around the dolphin's snout. Creating a barrier of sorts around the town perimeter, it protected the open port and canal in the center.

A lot of good that's doing now, he couldn't help the thought.

"I've never seen this many people on their roofs, not even for a Toad Town parade," Mario remarked at length to Fludd as he bounded along.

"Floods are a strange thing," Fludd acknowledged. "They take the norm and seem to flip it on its head. Of course, it is not terribly unusual here, but given the recent goop-related events, it is surprising that Junior would pull a trick like this."

"Oh, yeah," Mario realized, jumping down one foot first to a slightly lower roof. "Yeah, you're right! It's like those people were saying, this could almost undo all of his previous work!" For a second he almost dared to dream that all of his goop worries were actually over... until he spotted the dirty shine again high above.

"Ugh... we're gonna have to clean that, aren't we?" he muttered to himself.

Fludd, who apparently didn't hear him, changed the subject. "Well, it is good we came along when we did, at least for those people we rescued," he said.

"Sure," Mario chuckled, gazing over his shoulder down into Market Street. There was the familiar strip where he'd walked to leave the police station; there was the manhole—now far submerged—which he'd used to cut off Junior in a close chase for Buddy's egg. Staring straight downwards at the wavering street, Mario realized that how clear the water still was made it all the more surreal.

"Well, that mayor seemed like a pleasant character too, I presume?" the machine asked his opinion.

At this Mario's face split into a grin of relief. "Oh, Fludd, did you believe it? He didn't want them to condemn me! I knew there had to be someone who was still fair in this world!!"

"Point taken," Fludd noted. "Although, you are always pretty fair to me. Except when you get upset at those people who accused you."

His words caused the briefest falter in Mario's steps. He didn't like to hear that, of course: most of all because it was true.

"Yeah... yeah," he said at last, and perhaps it was precisely because he didn't know what to say. He'd been impatient and rebellious, sure. But he had always felt that it was fair in a way, because they were mistreating him for a misunderstanding—

But nothing, his own voice suddenly rose in his mind. There's a certain truth to things, and you know it, and Mayor Dante knows it. And all the rest doesn't really matter, because it's like you said: it was a misunderstanding. If all these people knew who was really responsible, it wouldn't be this way. So you just can't hold it against them... because they don't know.

The voice of reason spoke loudly at his heart, almost knocking him over for a moment at its clarity. They don't know, just like you didn't know about Junior.

Inadvertently, he let a small sigh escape him.

"Gosh! What a spectacle!" a loud voice abruptly rang out right over Mario's shoulder, yanking him out of his reflections. Finding that he had slowed to a near stop by the arch leading to the police station, he looked to see the pianta man who had spoken standing eagerly clinging to a weather vane.

"I'm just glad to be alive!" he said just as brightly, as if he were at a sporting event. Then, glancing over at Mario, he whispered, "Psst... where are the cameras?"

Mario, still too taken aback by his thoughts to properly answer him, just stared in slight confusion at the excited display, trying to figure out if he had met this guy before. Fortunately, Fludd took the conversation for him an instant later.

"I am sure they are around," the pump answered in a firmer tone than expected. "But this is certainly no game! Is excitement and spectacle all you think about?"

Mario, taken just as much by surprise as the other guy, kicked his feet into gear. "Um, sorry!" he said, trotting off. "Can't talk now!"

"Whoa, I remember you," the pianta said aloud to no one as he looked at the human now. "Water pump dude with the can-do attitude!"

Mario didn't look back though. He had to keep going and stay focused on his goal, his goal: get to that Shine Gate. It would all be fine if he could just open that Shine Gate... he had to keep telling himself that.

"Hey! Mario!"

Another one?? Internally distressed at the seemingly never ending disruptions to his island-saving plan, Mario turned around to find his latest fan or acquaintance or enemy or whatever. At any rate, whomever he was expecting was not a half dead, sunburned brown pianta man with clothes that could have passed for cleaning rags.

Then his brain connected the dots.

"...Arturo? Is that it?" Mario asked, incredulous in spite of himself. "From the tiny island??"

"Yup, it's me! I thought I might spot you here," the worn man replied with a simple grin.

Mario blinked in amazement, completely shocked to realize what this must mean. Arturo—he of course remembered his little encounter with the stranded pianta on the small islet off the east shore yesterday. If that was even yesterday, he thought absentmindedly. It seemed like merely one episode in a long chain of crash course events.

"So you remembered my name?" Mario realized, trying to be pleasant. This was obviously huge for him.

"Oh of course, I couldn't forget you," Arturo said quickly. "Or anyone who visits!"

He spent waaay too much time alone. "Remind me why you never hopped on one of the ferries that go around here," Mario said, framing it as a statement rather than a question.

"I'm afraid of boats," the pianta replied.

Right. "Right," he said aloud, as if to convince himself.

"Anyway, when all that water started pouring out of the volcano, I knew if I was lucky I could follow the current," Arturo went on, pointing to the invisible sweep of the ocean a ways off shore. "...And now here I am!"

Impressed, Mario took in the bedraggled appearance of the man he had seen all out by himself the day before and nodded approvingly. He didn't think Arturo looked like he would last a day in Delfino Plaza to be honest, but if he had managed to pull himself together for all this time (Mario doubted it was more than a few weeks), perhaps it would turn out fine.

"Well that's great! We're in a bit of a... situation right now, so I'm gonna have to run," he told him respectfully, backing away. "G-good luck! Buh bye!"

"Okay Mario! See you around!" Arturo called, waving cheerfully as if the town wasn't flooded and he had merely been over for a social call.

As Mario and Fludd continued anxiously along towards the base of the mountain, the flow of water continued ever-steadily from the same direction, moving outwards through the buildings until eventually meeting the proper shore beyond. Although it was cut and directed around structures in many places, Mario soon noticed that the water seemed to take this general direction. Looking ahead to the Shine Gate, he wondered why.

From here he still couldn't see the actual base of the volcano or the hot springs they boasted of, but he had to assume that the water was coming from somewhere behind there. At this point, though, it felt like a small lull had taken over the water and perhaps the levels were beginning to drop. What does that mean? he wondered.

As the minutes of the disaster continued to wear on, the overall attitude in the plaza seemed to be one of relief and annoyance. There seemed to be no one who had gotten out dry, no one who'd escaped without hassle. Weaving his way among random roof-sitters, Mario overheard a pair of grumpy sailors sitting back to back on the rooftop's edge, barking loudly to what must have been each other. He thought he had seen those guys around here before, but he wasn't sure.

"Don't get all high and mighty with me! You swim like a stone!" one yelled.

"Back off! I know for a fact that you can't swim a stroke, either!" Crossing his arms, the other glared out to the horizon and barked to anyone who would listen. "I tell you, I'm through with that guy for good!"

"I don't even want to hear what that idiot has to say!" the other replied indignantly, directing his statement to a woman with her child who were camped close by.

"Well... with any luck, no one will need to be swimming today anyway," she replied at last, looking uncomfortable.

Except me, Mario thought, listening to it all with passive determination as he moved along past them. Glancing up at the still-gray sky hovering oddly close above him, he suddenly felt that valuable time was wasting. Something was strange and he needed to get to the bottom of it...

Jerking his eyes to the white and gold towers above, Mario had just opened his mouth to ask Fludd about it when—

"HEY!! Slacker!"

Mario felt his gut turn icy. Oh sure, it had to be them!

Maybe they wouldn't be too mad this time. He hadn't seen them for a while, so maybe they had heard of his work and they would be—

"What, are you, thinking??" the orange-skinned policeman—the one who had pinched his wrist in the handcuffs, if Mario remembered rightly—was huffing towards him with the force of an actual tropical storm across the roof of the police station. Standing innocently still by the peak of the next roof, Mario stared and waited as the pianta and his stumbling counterpart made their way over from the neighboring building. As he was terrifyingly aware of the pianta-sized truncheons they were now carrying to direct roof traffic, Mario tried to make himself look as small as possible as they approached.

The angry pianta stomped to a halt just over Mario's head, practically leering down at him. "Is this your doing, too? Huh??" he panted, probably wishing he was more intimidating than he turned out to be. "Dumping goop, dumping water..."

"Just make up your mind!" the other policeman snapped, finally catching up to them after nearly falling over on the uneven shingles.

"No! This wasn't mine," Mario said quickly, in a tone that was not as polite as he'd hoped.

Apparently they didn't believe him. "Are you crazy? Did you honestly think that releasing the hot springs would fix all our problems?!" the angry man practically hollered back.

"No!!" the human argued, knowing he sounded like an eight year old.

"Well this is just a horrid mess! You know what this'll cost the town??" angry man yelled.

"And just where have you been all day??" the other added.

"I've been—taming wild animals!" Mario blurted, at a loss. Well you didn't ask me to report!

"Wild animals?? Was that before you decided to sink the dolphin?" angry man retorted.

"I didn't do this, how could I have—?!"

"It's a good thing everyone evacuated to their roofs!" calmer pianta put in. "That came without warning—could've been extremely dangerous!"

"You need to get permission before doing something absurd like that!" angry man shot back, baton getting dangerously close to the boy's head a couple of times.

Give me a BREAK. "I didn't break any barriers!! I just got here," Mario yapped back. "And besides, I have all the permission I need: Mayor Dante sent me to fix the town! So I need at that Shine Gate!"

For a couple of triumphant seconds the air seemed to hold semi-still as the policemen processed this claim. Then it resumed full-argument.

"The Shine Gate?? Why on earth would we—

"Now hang on a second, chompy," calmer man broke in, grabbing his co-worker's shoulder. "Maybe we should let him go. If he's wrong and he's lying, it could be catastrophically worse and we'd end up arresting him again anyway. So what's the harm?"

Angry man took a few more seconds to think about that. Then, in visible consternation, he turned back to glare at Mario.

"Alright slacker—overcompensater—whatever you are! Just don't think you can pull another fast one on us. If we ask Mayor Dante and he tells us something remotely contrary to your story, you can kiss your freedom goodbye real quick."

The other officer snickered a little. "The mayor though? He wasn't even involved directly with this case, and while I'm sure he's working towards all our safety, it's a bit of a stretch that he'd believe you."

The whole time he was talking Mario had been moving tauntingly towards the edge of the roof, where the canal and harbor was heavily overfilled with three times more water than usual. With the water level reaching up just feet below the ledge, it wasn't a tough jump at all.

Realizing suddenly that the cocky human was about to make an escape, angry man went rushing forward, only to stumble and pause to avoid rolling off the roof.

"H-hey! We're still watching you!" he yelled, but his voice had lost its edge. Mario grinned.

"Ciao!" With a tiny salute off the tip of his hat, the short, stubborn felon jumped from the roof edge, falling rather than leaping into the floodwaters below.

PLOOSH!

And he didn't come back up.

~

The whitewashed courtyard of Delfino Harbor was an entirely different story when covered with about four yards of water.

The familiar venue that Mario had crossed multiple times with his friends was now empty (unless the occasional passing school of fish counted), and the strangest thing of all, as he could now see from where he swam towards the floor, the fountain with its dolphin statue that stood by the dock was still running. At any rate, there was a jet stream coming out of it.

Kicking himself with a little difficulty downwards, Mario glanced at the stone dolphin head as he passed by, gliding over the large painted shine sprite insignia on the ground in front of the port. This was where he had stood when he released his shine sprites to the sky—and also where, on a normal day, boats were loaded and cycled in and out of the canal.

Swimming over the wooden boardwalk and into the actual harbor part, Mario felt his body seem to lose weight as he paddled out into open space. Pausing just a moment in indecision, he swirled around and tried to figure out where to go. Definitely not back to those officers.

Bubbles came forward to meet his face as a small group of colorful fish—maybe tangs—brushed past his side. Spotting the pillars of the Shine Gate's base up ahead, he sprang for that.

The Shine Gate, as he already knew, was built on and into the harbor and canal floor, with a small waterfall that flowed through its twin pillars from the springs that purportedly sat behind it. But now the waterfall had been obliterated—literally—by an entire volcanoful of water. Swimming up to the space between the towers, Mario patted his hat onto his head and gazed upwards.

"Mario," Fludd exclaimed suddenly. "I don't believe we can enter the gate from down here, but you can release the shines. If we do that the gate may open!"

Yes! Reminding himself not to talk, Mario quickly began digging in his overalls for the shine sprites he knew had been waiting in abundance for this moment. An unprecedented excitement began to grow in his stomach as he realized that this was the moment he had been waiting ages for. Finally, the Shine Gate!

...Assuming I don't drown. Glancing up at the surface, which was only a few yards away, he kept his mouth clamped shut and turned back to his task. All at once, the ancient golden treasures of the island people began to spring forth from his pockets like loose change, filling the water around him with an intense sound of rippling energy. He had never heard anything quite like it.

Whoa, he thought, blinking around at the bright lights shimmering off each surface. These guys have got to help chase the clouds away!

"Send them up the tower," Fludd instructed urgently over their silvery noise. "In the center."

Hurrying to do as he asked, Mario swished over onto his stomach and reached out for two of the nearest shines. Then, dolphin-kicking forward a bit, he took one shine and thrust it upwards towards the gate. As the shine went sparkling skyward, soon breaching the surface, the other dozen or so more, which had begun to swirl around him in a small circle, started to shimmer more.

Looking around in surprise, Mario watched for a moment in awe. Need to hurry up, his lungs suddenly reminded him. Straightening to a vertical position, he quickly kicked himself downwards a bit more so the shines gyrated above his head. Then he raised his arms and waited for the magic to happen.

One after one the shine sprites, now appearing almost as nothing more than gold orbs, brushed his hands, circling faster and faster. The water started to churn around him until for a moment he feared they might start a whirlpool.

But then, all in one second, it stopped. The shines nearly converged, almost touching in a giant ball of light that floated, half sinking, half hovering, to come rest between his upraised hands.

Mario grinned triumphantly, realizing he was in an incredible position of power. The moment was his!

Guarding the shining ball between his hands, he concentrated his focus on the tower directly above his head. Flutter-kicking his feet upwards to stay afloat, he almost began to fall backwards beneath the sudden weight of the shines. And... Go!

As if a giant marble released from a spring, the ball of shine sprites shot from his hands like magic, breaching the surface in instants and shooting for the tower high above out of sight.

Whoa! ...And with that, air. Wasting no time, Mario twisted his body around and paddled upwards, longing for a breath. His person felt strangely light and burden-free after the release of his hard-earned shines; the fruit of his two days of nonstop labor across the island. He hoped they were all worth it.

Bursting his head from the water with a well-deserved gasp, Mario instantly turned his thoughts to the Shine Gate. Well, that should have worked then; it was time to go!

But right away Fludd had news he did not want to hear. "Mario, I believe something is wrong with the Shine Gate," he spoke up uncertainly.

"What??" With a cough, his owner turned back to gaze up towards the giant shine sprite that comprised the center of the monument where the shines gathered. He could see them up there in great numbers now, dancing about high above... against the dark sky.

"It must be that graffiti on the giant shine," Fludd reasoned after a moment. "That's the only thing that could be keeping the gate from opening."

"The—? Doh! Well how do we get up there?" Mario asked in annoyance.

"Those rooftops right up there on the left side might make a good launchpad for us," Fludd responded. "Your rocket nozzle might make it up to the top from there."

"Uck. Alright, let's go," Mario said, inhaling another breath. Then, just as he was launching his head into the water to swim for it, a nearby voice cried out.

"Hey! Wanna lift?" A pianta sailor, at the wheel of one of those island ferries, was piloting his small vessel just feet away from where Mario was. Immediately grateful, the tiny human lunged for the edge.

"Sure, just drop me at that building," he pointed, pulling his dripping self aboard.

"Sure thing!"

Wedging himself into a corner with a load of crates, Mario grabbed onto a rail with one arm and let himself half-hang off the boat. The building was only seconds away, but because there were a number of opened umbrellas poking from the water around its entrance, the boat couldn't get too close. It took a second for Mario to realize that this was the very same restaurant where he had eaten yesterday, another million ages ago. A second later he saw its rustic sign, The Shine Shanty, hanging over the water level. Aw man... I hope it's still okay!

"That's fine, thanks!" he called to the sailor, who waved as Mario jumped off. Sliding back into the water, he rubbed a hand across his eyes and promptly breaststroked over to the umbrellas and climbed atop one.

"You know, if I ever said I wished this place was like Venice, I didn't mean it literally," Mario commented now, running along the wide umbrella and jumping over to the next one. It was surprisingly bouncy and gave him a lot of lift.

Fludd turned his head. "You never said that."

"Oh. Well I thought it." Bouncing off the last umbrella, Mario jumped for the roof of the store. Instead, he fell a bit short and landed on the large yellow awning that hung over the doors, billowing out in the changing winds. As soon as he hit it, the surface snapped back and sent him springing, and almost launching, several feet into the sky.

"Wowzer!" Mario yipped as the gravity came back to normal, sending him falling (and crashing) to the rooftop. Landing facedown on the clay slope, he wished for the first time that day that he'd worn a nose guard.

Or something, he thought, slowly sitting up and rubbing his face. Nothing out of shape.

"Mario, are you alright?" Fludd's expected response.

"Oh, my head..." He pushed up the brim of his cap. "I'm beat," he suddenly moaned, as if the words had forced themselves out. However, no sooner had they left his tired lungs that he looked up and spotted something most unexpected on the rooftop just strides away.

"Mario! Are you okay??"

   "Is it you??"

"You can't stop yet! Princess Peach is waiting!"

"What's happening?"

"Master Mario!" With a commanding shout, Peach's butler stepped forth from the oncoming crowd of chattering toadstools. Coming to stand right at the boy's knees (he was sitting on his feet), he threw down his small mushroom cane and looked anxiously into his wearied blue eyes.

   Mario had almost never been so glad to see him. "Toadsworth!" he cried, seizing the older man's arms like a lifeline and then dropping his head, as if it suddenly weighed too much. Panting a moment, the human just clung to him and fell speechless.

   "Master Mario!" Toadsworth repeated in alarm at this display. "Where have you been, my boy? Are you alright?"

   Nodding as best he could, Mario just drank in the air available to him, letting Toadsworth go.

   "We've been wondering about you all day!" Freddy spoke up pointedly. "We heard that something crazy recently happened in Bianco Hills so we assumed you'd gone there..."

   "I did," the young man breathed at last. "I... Oh, I've been here, there and everywhere," he sighed, looking around at each familiar and damp face. "I came here chasing that Junior only to find this! How long has this been going on? Are you alright?"

   "We're pretty good," Alexander offered enthusiastically. "I don't suppose the town is having a blast, but everyone seems okay."

   "I know, I already made the rounds," Mario panted.

   "We came here earlier today to drop off those shine sprites, like you told us," Benji said. "And we did, and everything. But then, just a little while ago, the town just exploded with water!"

   "It came from that direction!" Jonathan pointed at the mountain. "It was like a tidal wave from the sky!"

   "I thought it was a concentrated storm or something," Alexander put in. "But we saw it, and it was actually gushing out from behind the Shine Gate."

   "Master Mario, did you see that?" Toadsworth asked now. When the boy shook his head, he went on, "I don't know how he pulled it off, but shortly before the fountain of water came down, we saw Shadow Mario running around again! He was here not too long ago just around the Shine Gate."

   "So he was here! And you say the water came out of the volcano?" Mario asked.

   "Yes. And it seemed hot!" Toadsworth added. "Fortunately, it quickly cooled down. We saw you across the way when you jumped into the water there."

   Now Mario grinned sheepishly. "Did you see me talk to the policemen?"

   "Yeah, what did you say?" Freddy asked in interest.

   "I told 'em what I have to do now: open that Shine Gate and get into Corona Mountain."

   "And then what?" Oscar asked.

   "Stop Junior!" Mario replied. With a sigh, he got back to his feet. "Now I've just got to rocket myself up there to the top. Fludd says we need to clean that dirty shine sprite."

   Toadsworth was watching him with a careful expression. "So you have enough now? Are you going to be able to enter?" he asked, twiddling one end of his white mustache in concern.

   Subconsciously reminded of his own, Mario brought a hand to his water-soaked handlebars and felt a small boost to find it keeping good shape.

   "We'll find out," he replied pointedly, turning back to gaze up at the 'shining eye of Isle Delfino.' Almost directly above their heads, countless golden shapes revolved around the monument as if waiting for the right moment to do... something.

   Mario knew how this part went. It was a little different, although it felt the same every time it happened. It was the same every time he had to go teach someone a lesson; every time the world fell apart and he was left standing in the middle of it. This time was no different, even if he hadn't gone rushing out of his front door to serve justice this time.

   The point of no return.

   Summoning every scrap of strength into his sinews for the encounter—he had no idea how violent—which would come, Mario stretched out his arms and flexed his tired fingers.

   "Then you must go," Toadsworth said, not one to waste time. Stepping forward again, he took hold of Mario's elbow. "And please... bring back the princess safe."

   The boy turned and met the older man's dark eyes. However encouraging he'd meant to be, it turned out more desperate than he'd planned.

   "And yourself, of course," Toadsworth amended quickly. "We have no idea what that child is capable of." Pausing to glance up at his still-present water pack, he added, "Do try to take care of him, Fludd!"

   "At your service!" the machine piped up.

   Mario couldn't help a tiny grin. It seemed odd and pleasant to him, to be surrounded at that moment by so many friends.

   "Good luck, Mario," Alexander said. "Not that I think you need it!"

   "You got this!" Oscar cheered, pumping a tiny fist.

   "But be careful... please!" Benji added.

    "And get a picture of the kid for us!" Freddy put in, which earned him some glances from the group.

   Mario rolled his eyes. Then, getting down on one knee like he sometimes did when he talked to toadstools, he looked quickly between all the eager faces.

   "Alright, hold tight," he instructed. "Wait for me. With any luck this should all be over soon."  Standing upright on the uneven rooftop, he ignored the toadstools' nods and faced the mountain.

   Time to go. Taking a deep breath, Mario straightened his cap and briskly started forward without looking back. Perched on the rooftop behind him, the six toadstools watched him go with varying levels of anxiety, while behind them, the plaza still rang with the cries of a town after it's met with natural disaster. 

   Overhead, the volcano loomed like an impending fortress.