As The Ranger was walking away, he felt a huge tremor coming from below his feet. "What the…" The Ranger thought as the vibrations became more and more violent, throwing him to the ground. Mario and Luigi, fully awake thanks to the power of the Grand Star, just looked at The Ranger in horror as The Ranger found himself not being able to get back up. The Ranger looked back up at them, realizing that they needed to get out of there and quick. "If only there was something that I could do for them." The ranger then looked over to the broken shell fragments that laid before the arena. In the distance The Ranger saw what appeared to be two big keys. "They must be for those cages that the princesses are trapped in." The Ranger ran with all his might, still feeling dizzy from the head attack that Bowser gave them, ran towards the area where the keys were located which were moving away from him ever so slightly no thanks to the vibrations coming from the arena.

Just as the keys were about to fall off the edge, The Ranger dived for them, grabbing the keys with his fingertips. "YES"! The Ranger exclaimed to himself as he managed to get back up. Then, another chilling fact came across: some of the arena platforms were breaking apart, falling into the clouds below. The only pieces that would be left would be the area inside the indentations. "Another one of Bowser's tricks…" The Ranger murmured as he contemplated what to do next. He looked over to where the Mario Brothers and the princesses, who would fall off to the clouds below unless they got out of here quick. The Ranger let out a small sigh, knowing in his heart what he had to do. "MARIO, LUIGI!" The Ranger yelled, tossing the keys to the Mario Brothers. They were able to catch them quite easily. "Get the princesses and yourselves outta here quick! There's no telling when the platforms could break apart."

The Mario Brothers quickly unlocked the princesses' cages. "But how are we supposed to leave when the platform is breaking apart quickly?" Mario thought as he looked back at the Grand Star, realizing that it could act as a huge platform, due to its massive size. "EVERYONE GET ON!" Mario yelled as both princesses and both brothers made it onto the Grand Star. "YOUR TURN RANGER!" The Ranger ran as fast as he could to the Grand Star, realizing that he had a limited amount of time left. With one more usable step left before the platform broke apart, The Ranger leaped as far as he could to make it to the Grand Star. However, the leap was too short, and soon realized that he was not going to make it. Mario then grabbed the Ranger's hand just in the nick of time before he would fall to his untimely death. "Got ya." Mario said as he pulled The Ranger up to the platform, allowing both of them to collectively breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness," The Ranger thought as he was able to sit on the Grand Star while the arena disappeared before them, the shape of a giant star being the only area of the platform left intact. "How did you know this thing was going to fly?" The Ranger asked, being able to relax for the first time in a while.

"I didn't." Mario replied as they made their way back to the portal.

Meanwhile, Bowser was falling tremendously, being in and out of consciousness enough to see that the arena platform was destroyed to his making, effectively ending his enemies one way or another. "Well if I went out, at least I went out with a bang." Bowser thought as he closed his eyes for what he thought was the last time, descending to the clouds below.

All of a sudden, a medium sized flying cruiser picked up Bowser's descent, waiting for him at the exact position for where we would crash into it. "And here's our fallen fool now." The figure thought as he braced himself for Bowser's impact on the car. He opened the cruiser window, and dragged Bowser into the backseat. The cruiser than drove into the distance as its destination was the Darklands.

The Mario Brothers, the princesses, and The Ranger all made it back to the front of the final Big Red Star door, relieved that their adventure was finally over. "WAHOO!" The Mario Brothers yelled as they both bro hugged each other, grateful that they had defeated their arch enemy for what seemed to be the last time with the help of The Ranger. "WE DID IT!" The princesses, ecstatic that the journey was over too, turned to face the respective hero that they loved. The Mario Brothers faced their respective princess, removing their caps and bowing down to the majestic beauty that they held. The princesses giggled as emitted a small playful smile in their direction.

Peach, knelt down to Mario's height making him blush, planted a kiss on his lips. Instead of the small hopeful kiss they shared back at the Sky Arena, this one was more passionate as they seemed to lock into the fervent feelings they had for each other. After what seemed like a few minutes, they held hands, looking deeply into each other as they began the birth of a new relationship between each other.

Meanwhile, Daisy pulled Luigi back up from his overalls. She then gently grabbed Luigi's neck with her hands and locked his lips with hers, with both of them showing the same emotion that Mario and Peach were showing. They then locked hands as they silently celebrated the birth of their own relationship.

The Ranger looked at both pairings, feeling happy for his newfound friends as well as awkward at the same time. "Hey love birds," The Ranger said, getting the heroes and princesses' attention. "We should probably go downstairs and alert everyone that you four are still alive." The Ranger chuckled a bit at that statement, realizing how silly it was to say that. With Luigi and Daisy holding hands as well as Mario and Peach holding hands, the five of them made it all the way down to the main hall.

Toadsworth, who had been enjoying his time off in the Isle of Delfino, finally saw the heroes, the princesses, and his first look at The Ranger. "Thank goodness all of you are alright." Toadsworth said as he rushed over to the group of five and gave Peach a hug, to which Peach returned the favor. "I was so worried about you. When I came back to Toadstool Castle, I saw the place in shambles and feared for the worst." He then turned to look at Mario and Luigi who looked wounded, but able to hold their own. "I'm glad, thought that Master Mario and Master Luigi were able to take care of things."

"Actually Toadsworth," Mario interjected, causing Toadsworth to raise an eyebrow of curiosity. "You have to give credit to another hero as well: The Ranger." The Ranger bowed down in front of Toadsworth, with Toadsworth doing the same thing. "Toadsworth is the Stewart to the Mushroom Kingdom."

"It's an honor to meet such a noble toad such as yourself." The ranger replied, reaching out to shake Toadsworth's hand.

"Believe me my friend." Toadsworth replied as he met the Ranger's hand giving him a firm handshake. "The pleasure is all mine to meet another hero of our great Mushroom Kingdom." He then looked over to Princess Daisy. "Erm and Sarasaland for that matter as well. Come we should prepare a heroic feast to our now three heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom." With that, Toadsworth took off to the kitchen along with the two princesses, who wanted to help Toadsworth prepare the feast.

This left Mario, Luigi, and The Ranger left in the main hall. They then decided to go to the lounge room to catch some much needed rest. "Wait," The Ranger said before they made their way to that particular room. "There's something that needs to be taken of." The other two agreed as they made their way to the bunker. "The Power Stars have to go in that chest over there." The Ranger pointed to the chest where the Power Stars were initially kept before being sucked back up by that large pipe. The three of them carried the Grand Star over to the chest. They dropped it in, where it suddenly broke apart into ninety Power Stars all at once, safe in the home they belonged in. "There, now we can relax."

The three of them went back to the lounge room, where they proceeded to relax and watch some TV while the feast was getting ready. "You know Mario Brothers," The Ranger began as they were watching a show involving a black, urban Chicago family and their interactions with a smart yet nerdy black teen. "I think the Princesses deserve credit for being heroes too. Without them, I don't think any of us would have escaped the fire arena before." The Mario Brothers agreed, as their thoughts were becoming fixated on the princesses and the food that was being cooked in the kitchen. "That food does smell good." The ranger thought as now he was starting to think about the food too. Trying to distract himself from the delicious smell, he tried to make more small talk with the Mario Brothers. "So you really love them don't you?"

"The princesses?" The Mario Brothers collectively asked, with The Ranger nodding his head. "Oh yea!"

"There's just something about Peach that I've grown to appreciate you know." Mario said, with the Ranger patiently listening and nodding his head whenever he agreed to his points. "She's not just beautiful, but she's smart, a caring person, athletic, and overall a great person to be around. Our personalities may not match all that much, but that's what makes it so fun to be around her. To be presented with that challenge."

"I agree with most of what Mario's been saying." Luigi interjected, showing his reasons for why he feels the way he does for Princess Daisy. "It's just that inexplicable feeling I get around her."

"You guys make great points." The Ranger replied, as he kept one eye on the screen and one on the Mario Brothers. "Heck there was one time when Bowser tried to set me up with one of them."

"He Did!" The Mario Brothers instantly responded, making them a little worried that The Ranger might try to steal at least one of the princesses away from her respective Mario Brother.

"Relax." The Ranger quickly said in order to calm the Mario Brothers down. "I won't be going after them. They're yours and yours alone. And anyone who has a problem with that." The Ranger then pointed to his bow and sword. "Will have to answer that to me. But yes, there was one time that Bowser believed I have the talent to try to charm one of the princesses away from you." The ranger went deep into his thoughts, remembering that pivotal moment.

Flashback 5 days ago

Bowser cleared his throat as he revealed what the last document contained. "The last photo is the princesses in question. Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Daisy of Sarasaland."

"Oh my," Jordan responded in a state of awe by the princesses' beauty. "They are beautiful. They must be lucky to inhibit such genes from their parents before."

"Well not only are they beautiful my friend but they are smart, witty, funny, nice, and athletic. Anything you would want in a woman." Bowser then gave the Ranger a playful smile, which caused him to hide his cheeks as they were flushing from the sincere attraction he had to them.

"Are you trying to set me up with them sir?" Jordan asked as Bowser just shrugged his shoulders.

"You're putting words into my mouth my friend." Bowser replied as he went back on track to talk about the mission.

End of Flashback

"Bowser would try to pull some stupid stunt like that." Mario said with both The Ranger and Luigi nodding in agreement. "So…is there anyone special in your life?" Mario asked with an awkward tone to that question.

"No, at least not yet." The Ranger replied, his mind now focused on the dream that he had a little while ago.

Meanwhile, The Ranger slipped into a dream landing him in a strange place. "Where the hell am I?" The Ranger thought as he got a bearing on his surroundings. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. The scenery was breathtaking as he appeared to be in a garden of sorts, surrounded by the frontier of space with the stars and the planets surrounding them. "I…" The Ranger was puzzled, trying to understand what happened as he was trying to remember what happened beforehand. "I was fighting Bowser and now I-"The Ranger's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he looked across his way to spot a beautiful woman looking at space too who was a few feet away from him.

The Ranger rushed up to her. The woman smiled at him, like she knew who he was. "Oh hello Jordan." The woman replied, making The Ranger come to a complete stop. He had just met this woman, in a dream no less, yet she knows who exactly he is. The Ranger was dumbfounded as the only mentioning of who he truly was based on all the criminals in Colorado that he fought, having known of The Ranger's persona for a good few months having stopped their operations for so long.

"How do you know my name?" The Ranger asked, still seeing that the woman was smiling at him.

"Oh you're so silly my special one." The woman replied, putting her hands around The Ranger, kissing his lips ever so passionately. The Ranger was taken aback, now really confused.

"And now she's kissing me…" The Ranger thought as he just let her continue. The woman just smiled at him lovingly, The Ranger still confused about the situation. "I'm your what?" The Ranger asked, this dream feeling too surreal. The woman just kissed his cheek.

"Your special one." The woman whispered into his ear. "Come let's lay down on the grass."

"Ok…" The Ranger replied, still questioning his presence here in the dream. The woman took his hand as they lay down on the grass at the garden. Then a bright flash of light hit The Ranger as he pulled himself out of unconsciousness, going back to the Sky Arena.

"I did find something interesting from the room before the final Big Red Star door though." The Ranger said as he tried to pull the paper out of his pocket that he had been clinging onto. "I suppose you two were at the same spot as well?" The Mario Brothers nodded, Mario even more so as he had some interesting news to share.

"Boy did we." Mario replied as he tried to pull a document out that he had been saving to read when the adventure was over. "Apparently we aren't the first humans to arrive at the Mushroom Kingdom."

"What do you mean?" The Ranger asked, his curiosity peaking up when that statement was ushered.

"Well-" Mario started but was interrupted by a servant of Toadstool Castle.

"DINNER'S READY!" Yelled the servant as he retreated back to the kitchen, making the final preparations to the dinner table before dinner was ready to be served.

"ALRIGHT TIME TO EAT!" The Mario Brothers yelled as they rushed to the kitchen. "RACE YA THERE BRO!" The Brothers said to each other as they raced to the dining table, leaving their friend to gracefully walk over there.

"Perhaps I'll share what I found another time." The Ranger thought as he put the piece of paper back in his pocket as he caught up with everyone as soon as they got to the kitchen.

The dinner table was setup with flowery decorations made to match the personalities of both Princess Daisy and Princess Peach. The sheet that was covering the table was orange-yellow colored with pink dollies resting on top of various cups, plates and napkins that were going to be used for each person sitting down. The dinner table was a medium sized rectangle with Daisy and Luigi sitting on one wider side and Mario and Peach sitting on the other wider side. The Ranger and Toadsworth sat across from each other on the narrow ends. The Toad servants then served the food in their directions with both Mario and Luigi serving themselves a big plate, as well as the princesses as the four haven't seen good food in a while and were starving. The Ranger had himself a medium sized portion while Toadsworth had himself a small portion.

"So Ranger." Toadsworth began as he began to take a small bite of his food. "Are you planning on going back to the real world? We sure could would be honored to have you become an honorary citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom." The Ranger took a bite of food, chewed it and swallowed it before answering to the question that was directed at him.

"I would love to become a citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom." The Ranger replied, enjoying the possibility of having the chance to enjoy life here, even if it would be awkward to get used to the new surroundings of the Mushroom Kingdom and the prevalent toad species that lived here. "I sure as hell won't be dating any toads though." The Ranger thought as he continued eating his food.

"Then it's settled then. Our new hero will become an official citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom…starting Now!" Toadsworth replied while Mario, Luigi, Daisy and Peach clapped for the honor bestowed upon the Ranger. The Ranger graciously waved his hand around, chuckling a bit to himself. After dinner was over, Toadsworth went over where exactly The Ranger wanted his house constructed . "So, where would you like your house built?" Toadsworth handed him a map, which pointed the whole schematic construction of the Mushroom Kingdom. The Ranger paused for a moment before finding a good place to settle.

"How about there." The Ranger replied as he pointed to an area that was in an area that up on the hills of Toadstool Castle. "I've always like the quiet serenity of the foothills above when I first visited this world." Toadsworth nodded as he put the map away and went off finding his servants in order to construct The Ranger's house. "Before I was a good guy in this world." The Ranger said sheepishly as he followed Toadsworth with some of the construction servants, who were ready to build his house for him.

In the meantime, the Mario Brothers split up and went with their respective princesses up to their rooms. Mario was standing over Peach's balcony feeling the calm wind that nature provided, allowing it to cool himself off. He then thought back to that world with the fire painting and how the climate there was so hot that Luigi had to help carry him over to the rest of the world before Luigi developed cramps of his own. Peach, in her room, was wearing a nightgown carrying the special gift she wanted to give to Mario in order to officially reveal her feelings to him. However, that point became rather mute when they confessed their love on the spot when death was knocking on Mario's door. She approached him rather sneak fully, and put her arms around his neck, starling Mario. "Gah." Mario murmured as he turned around to spot Peach, who was giggling from Mario's little antic. "Must've been out of it." Mario said sheepishly.

"You sure must be tired. After all that hard word in saving little old me." Peach wrapped Mario in a warm embrace. Mario put his hands around Peach in the same embrace.

"Eh it was nothing that me Mario couldn't have faced." Peach then raised an eyebrow in an "oh really" look, thinking that Mario should change his statement before revealing who helped both Mario Brothers. "With the help of The Ranger of course." Mario suddenly said, allowing Peach to return to the warm smile she had displayed earlier. They both let go as Peach was trying to reach for that special something that he wanted to give to Mario. Mario was curious as to what Peach was fidgeting around for. "You got a something for me?" Mario asked in a curious tone.

"It was something I wanted to give to you after our adventure ended, before I really wanted to reveal my feelings for you." Peach replied as she took out what looked like a wooden Mario doll holding a pink heart with the word Peach on it. Mario gently took it from her, smiling at the great craftsmanship it must have taken to make a thing such as this. "It took me about a month to make it. When I started to have some of these feelings initially come into contact. At first when I was making it, I thought the feelings would go away, but they didn't and now I'm starting to know why. Because someone like you would give up everything at a heartbeat, come down to the Mushroom Kingdom on your own power, and save some stranger like me. And now…" Peach gently kissed Mario on the forehead, making him smile dumbly. "I realize that it was a great decision to stay true to my feelings."

"I…I don't know what to say Peach." Mario replied, his eyes getting teary for the love being poured onto him all at once. "Other than." Mario grabbed Peach's neck softly and gave her a passionate kiss just as the full moon came into view, with the stars shining brightly just as that moment began. Mario then let go, with both of them smiling at each other, able to enjoy their first moments as couple.

"I love you." Both of them said to one another.

Meanwhile Daisy and Luigi decided to go over to the pool area. They sat down by the lounging chairs there as they walked over and viewed the stars together, hand in hand, smiling. "Aren't these stars beautiful Weegee." Daisy said admiring the sparkle that they had over the pool a few feet ahead of them.

"They're alright." Luigi said with Daisy giving a playful roll in her eyes. "The more beautiful star I see is the one I'm sitting next to." Luigi then kissed Daisy's gloved hand, making her tear up a bit before resting her head on Luigi's shoulder. With her other hand, she grabbed the special something that she wanted to give to Luigi. She then placed it on Luigi's torso to which he picked it up with his free hand. "What's this?" Luigi curiously asked it looked to be a wooden Luigi doll holding an orange heart with the word Daisy on it.

"It's something I wanted to give it to you after all this craziness happened." Daisy replied with a small smile. "I just wanted you to know how much you meant me ever since you came down from the Warp Pipe to rescue my behind." Both Daisy and Luigi laughed at the last part of that statement as Daisy continued. "It means the world to me that you wanted to do something so selfless, and over the past month I guess I grew to realize that somehow you and me could involve in this world of ours together." Luigi examined the gift Daisy made for him, before putting it in his pocket.

"I think you were right to say that." Luigi replied as both of them passionately kissed one another under the stars as the brightness of the stars illuminated the happy tears streaming down their faces, never wanting one the other one to let go of them. Eventually they had to in order to breathe, but they made it last as long as they wanted it to.

"I love you." They said to each other.

Meanwhile in the Darklands, Bowser finally awoke in what appeared to be his throne room. He was under a hospital room setting with IV fluid in his body making sure that he was pretty much alive. There was also the arrow in a table next to him, the poison long gone from it and entering Bowser's bloodstream. "What the." Bowser thought as he shifted upright from bed position, feeling too comfortable to leave. "But I remember." His thoughts were then interrupted as the figure, who Bowser recognized from before, entered the room.

"Glad to see you're alive." The figure said as he stood in the doorway, making sure his vitals were ok. Bowser rolled his eyes, thinking he was going to be chastised by the figure for failing in his deed to kill the Mario Brothers.

"Yeah glad to see you too I guess." Bowser replied as he checked around the room. "So are you going to yell at me for failing at my plot, like you said I would."

"Actually," The figure said as he approached Bowser trying to shake his hand. "You have furthered my agenda than you could possibly imagine. Now I know the players of the game, their weaknesses and their strengths. I wouldn't have known that if it weren't for your plot to end up flat in your face."

"Oh gee thanks." Bowser said, still shocked that he was still alive. "How in the world did I end up back at my castle anyway?"

"I carried you in my cruiser when you fell down that arena platform. I was surprised to image that the arrow inside you actually saved your life." Bowser's eyes widened at that remark. "Yeah seems that poison designed to humans is like a one up to you Koopas." His small smile changed into a serious face as he overlaid the next part of his plan. "Of course you do know that as of right now, I'm putting my own plan into action and I will need your help."

Bowser grumbled at that remark, but realized he had no choice. "He saved my life I guess." Bowser thought as he took a small sigh of annoyance that now he was the pawn. "What do you need me to do?"

The figure than took out a photograph of the flying ship that he saw, remembering what it looked like.

Flashback 2 days ago

The flying pirate ship looked like any normal pirate ship with a deck, a few floors to navigate through. Quarters for a good number of people to live on the ship. There was even a mess hall. The thing that was different, however, was the fact that the pirate ship had paddles and flying wings attached to each side of the ship, which was making it able to fly in this sky world. When they got onto the ship, they expected a Koopa ambush at any point, but there wasn't one as it looked like someone beat them to it. There were arrows everywhere, with dead Koopas sprawling all over the place.

The figure than put what seemed to be a blueprint in his pocket, revealing the bow and arrow that he had.

End of flashback

The figure smiled especially at the part where he killed off the Koopas secretly. "I want you to make this. In face make a lot of them because we aren't going after the Mushroom Kingdom my friend. We are going after something bigger." With that the figure departed to a different section of the castle, engaging in further steps to advance his plans.

"Wait." Bowser said making the figure stop and turn to face Bowser. "Just who exactly are you?" Bowser asked as he never got a nickname or an identity of the figure standing beside him, just knowing him as this secret ally of theirs.

The figure cleared his throat as he prepared to respond to that answer. "In reality we have silent guardians. They watch us, follow us and protect us from the unseen and the corrupt. Yet they are the harbinger of everything that is wrong within this universal society of ours. They call themselves Rangers." Bowser's eyes widened again remembering his dealing with The Ranger.

"No wonder why he wanted me to go after him to be my apprentice." Bowser thought, as that was his secret motive behind the first step in this whole ordeal in the first place.

"Then they are those," the figure continued. "Who find the garbage of this world. The people they pompously declare themselves the righteous when they are actually the guilty and hunt them down. I guess what you could call me Bowser, is The Hunter." The Hunter then shut the door behind him, allowing Bowser to get some rest to prepare for his own agena.