Super Mario Bros. 2 - Across the Galaxy

Chapter 23: Black Hole

A construction site in Brooklyn, New York - Earth, two years and a month ago

Mario sighed as he placed the last few blocks of bricks until he heard one of the other co-workers call out, "Hey, Mario! Luigi! The boss wants to talk to you!"

"Oh, no..." Luigi uttered. "What does Spike want now?"

In Spike's office, the two stepped in and Spike pulled out a beer. "Ah, Mario and Luigi." he opened the can and gulped it. "I need to tell you somethin'."

"Go ahead, boss." Mario groaned.

"Well, I've heard that you two haven't been putting your backs on this business. And also, I've been hearing rumors around the site that you've been slacking off even during break times."

"But...isn't break time for people who eat lunch?" Luigi asked.

"Yeah, it's for people who like to slack off!" Spike then smirked. "If you keep doing this, I'm gonna pull damages outta yer paychecks. And since I'm a nice guy, I'm gonna take a few bucks outta Luigi's paycheck."

Luigi was flabbergasted. "W-What?!? Y-Y-Y-You can't do that!!"

Spike only chuckled. "But I can! I don't even know why I even bother with people like you." he then looked at Mario and crumpled a stained napkin. "Good luck being successful with this idiot dragging you down!"

He tossed it at Luigi but Mario caught it in a split second before it hit him. "Say that again about my brother, and you'll regret it." Mario hissed.

Mario tossed the napkin back at Spike and the foreman growled. Spike stood up from his seat and said, "Watch it! If I were three times your size, I would be able to crush you in an instant! You'd look like a crushed potato if you think you can stand against me!"

Mario took off his hard hat and slammed it on the desk. "Y'know what?!? I quit! I'm done working with someone like you!!"

"WHAT?!?" Spike growled. "Fine! Quit! You'll be failures!!"

Mario stormed out of the office and Luigi took off his hard hat. "I'm sorry, Spike," Luigi uttered and set his hat on the desk. Spike only scoffed in anger and uttered, "At least I'll have Wario and Waluigi..."

Comet Observatory, Outer Space - Present Day

The heroes sighed and Daisy asked, "Where is that Emerald???"

Rosalina sighed. "I...I don't know..."

Rohan growled. "I don't know WHY we even bother collecting those Chaos Emeralds in the first place! Why do they even exist anyway?!?"

"Only the Gods know that..."

"Oh, the Gods! Is that your excuse for not telling us?!?"

"I agree with Rohan!" Sonic said. "We really should destroy these Emeralds while we're at it!"

"Enough!" Rosalina shouted. "We NEED the last Emerald and we're not destroying them unless you want our universe to be in jeopardy!"

"Hey, Mama?" Atlas asked.

"What is it, Atlas?" Rosalina turned to her son.

Atlas looked at Audrey who was smiling and giving him a thumbs-up as support. He looked at Rosalina and asked, "Is...Is what Discordia said at the cave true? Am I, not your son?"

Rosalina gasped. "Of course, you are! You came from an egg...but don't ask where the egg came from."

"Oh, for the love of..." Rohan facepalmed. "Stop freaking lying to him! Atlas, Rosie here ain't your mom!"

"What?" Atlas was flabbergasted.

"Yeah, your mom found you sixteen years ago floating in a space pod! She's NOT! EVEN! YOUR MOM!!!!"

Atlas turned to Rosalina. "So, it's true. I'm not your child, am I?"

Rosalina looked at the other heroes who were glaring at her with the intent of forcing her to reveal the truth. She sighed and replied, "Yes...You're adopted..." She then took Atlas' hands. "But you need to trust me for what I'm about to say..." She suddenly noticed something and exclaimed, "Oh, dear, a black hole!!"

The alarm of the Observatory sounded and the ship was being pulled into a gigantic black hole. The force field of the ship formed around the ship and Toad asked, "What the heck's happenin'?!?"

"If I can't get us out of here, we're going to be smashed to smithereens on the event horizon!" Rosalina replied.

She activated the thrusters of the Observatory but it kept getting pulled into the black hole. Rosalina exclaimed and said, "It's not enough power to resist the gravitational pull! I need to divert everything into the backup generators!"

"Why didn't you tell me?!?" Atlas asked angrily.

"Tell you what?!?"

"Why didn't you tell me that I was adopted?!?!"

"I was scared of telling you, okay?!?"

"You just didn't think I could handle it!"

"We'll discuss it later, now sit down."

"I don't want to discuss it later!"

"Atlas, sit," Rosalina said firmly.

Atlas sat down and uttered, "You can't talk to me like that...I'm not a Luma."

Rosalina heard that. "What did you say???"

"I SAID I'M NOT A LUMA!"

The demigoddess got angry and said, "That's right, Atlas! You're not! You're just a mistake in my life! If it weren't for you, I'd still be in a relationship with Syrup and I wouldn't be here on a wild goose chase for the Chaos Emeralds!"

Atlas was hurt by this and sat down. Audrey put a hand on his shoulder and Rosalina uttered, "It's not enough...We're going to die..."

Mario gasped in horror and Peach wrapped him in a hug. Everyone else excluding Rosalina, Atlas, Sonic, and Audrey wrapped him in a hug as well. Mario sighed and accepted it. If he was going to die, then he was going to die with his family. "I love you all so much..." he uttered.

"We love you too..." Peach whispered.

Sonic looked at the abyss and an idea sparked in that little head of his. He charged up his energy and jumped off the Observatory. In a split second, he immediately curled into a ball and spin-dashed into the side of the Observatory. With his speed, the Observatory began to move away from the black hole.

Rosalina noticed the anomy and gasped. "We're speeding up!" she said.

Mario noticed this and looked at where Sonic jumped. "Sonic! Great job!"

Yoshi sat down and Peach sighed in relief. Rosalina turned to Atlas and uttered, "Atlas...I'm sorry...I-"

"WATCH OUT!!!!!!!!" Everyone heard Peach scream.

The heroes suddenly noticed they were going too fast and heading toward the surface of a desert. Rosalina's eyes widened and she screamed, "BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!!"