The End of An Era

Trust Me

(Part two of the reconnaissance thing, here we go! Also 1k reads on Glitch High, I know I'm late but seriously, thank you!
Pre-releases edit: I am so sorry for update lacking, summer stuff got to me. I'll update more frequently when September rolls around!)

Meggy, Megan and Luigi made their way through the tunnel network, getting the directions needed to make their way into the Empire from a comm system within the cameras.

As they got closer to the lab's bunker, the dirt tunnels gradually got more crystalline the closer they got.

"It extends underground?!" Meggy whispered, frightened.

"Eugh, and to think today I wanted to go hiking..." Megan said, wanting to loosen her boots up because of the tight hallways.

"Andrew, you said that once we're in the borders, we'll be affected by partial crystallization, mind control and terrorism, right?" Luigi asked, fear getting the better of him.

"Huh? Oh, that... yeah, I didn't explain it properly. The partial crystallization process, I did explain but the other two I briefly did. The mind control is with the crystalline implants surgically attached beneath your epidermis interacting with the three big Phase Crystals. The terrorism is if you don't conform to the process and become, essentially, their slave. They have full authority to yank you from your home, shove you over to the castle and start the process of converting you to from a Mushroom Kingdom resident to a Crystal Empire subject." S explained over the comms, going over the three footages being sent by them.

"O-oh... I see." Luigi replied, still uneasy.

Megan tripped, her boots not being ideal for spelunking, and saw that the crystals had gotten more and more diverse, not just being the pink and blue quartz crystals but also some lapis lazuli, amethyst clusters, aquamarine gems and many others.

Meggy and Luigi also noticed them too, as they were helping Megan back up. "Dang, if these things weren't linked to an apocalypse, this would actually be really pretty..." Meggy exclaimed, in awe of her surroundings.

"Yeah, it really is pretty!" Tari said over the comms, looking at Andrew's laptop.

The dirt and crystal tunnels then stop gradually, becoming the concrete of the bunker. "So the border can grow gems through the dirt but not through concrete."

The trio slowly unlocked the hatch and poked their heads out slowly, peering over just enough to see people but others can't see them properly.

"It's quiet... too quiet." Meggy whispered, feeling restless.

"Keep it in your tentacles." Her human counterpart replied, knowing exactly how Meggy feels.

Luigi barely popped the hatch a millimeter further as it was yanked open and the three of them were pulled out of it.

"LUIGI-!" Luke screamed over the comms, concerned for his friend.

All the rest of the cast could do was watch as the three feeds showed Luigi being attacked by... something. Or rather... someone.