He felt as if he had awoken from a long troubled sleep, his eyes now feeling strangely as light as a feather.  A peaceful resonance covered the land around him, the very aura of this strange place soon washing over him with its soothing presence.  A dark land of nightly-blue hills, pockmarked by star shapes glowing brightly amongst the soil.  The stars above twinkled happily, at peace with the world below.
	"Where...what is this place?"
He was answered by no one, yet the stars around him twinkled with reverence, huge five-pointed shapes that glowed in several colours, from green to blue to yellow itself.  Passing over the small hillocks of this celestial land, Koopin began to see a light grow in the distance.  A single light shining upon the horizon, when all around him was nothing but purest night.  He stepped forwards with curiosity, a tingling in the back of his mind warning him to not falter.
In a shorter time than he expected, he found himself upon a familiar plateau, after having ascended a gradually larger hill that he did not even notice.  Higher above in the sky, seeing the glow of what he felt was the world itself beneath him, Koopin stood within the center of the dark-blue plateau, the stars shining far more closely to him than he could ever imagine.  A voice whispered to him at first, before growing in strength.
	"Koopin..."
	"Wha-...who's there?"
	"Koopin Kennidon."
	"Wh-where are you!?  Who is that?"
In the light of the dark mountaintop, seven stars beamed down upon him, their faces obscured by a brilliant light.  He knew what they were, as his knees turned weak with shock.
	"H-hoh my star spirits...."
	"Do not be afraid.  We have brought your spirit to the Star Road, to witness your potential."
	"M-my...potential?  Wh-what are you talking about, um...spirits?"
	"Since the beginning of this world, long have we gazed upon it to see many individuals with the capacity to carry even a fraction of our light.  Beacons of hope that shine throughout this kingdom and beyond."
	"Y-you mean like...like Mario, a-and Peach?"
	"Precisely.  They are the most powerful, and of course the most well-known of those who hold our light within them.  But there are many others throughout this world's history who can wield our light, from the most brilliant of stars to the smallest of flickers.  You...are one of them."
	"M-m-me!?  ...oh my gosh...I...i-i-is this really happening?  This all feels like a dream, why me!?  Am I dreaming?!"
	"Your spirit is among us for now, in order to speak with you as well as to test your abilities.  The one you spoke to, the great creature known as Blooshan, has used his power to bring you to us."
	"Wait, is he working for you?!  ...I never heard of the star spirits doing anything like that."
	"It was he who spoke to us.  He had seen you as one with the power to hold our light, even a small notion of it, within your heart."
	"My heart?  But...no, no I can't.  This doesn't feel...why me?  What's so special about me?"

The stars flickered softly with a humble glow, with Koopin being able to see directly into their light without being blinded.  It was a soothing light, and yet despite his own anxieties being overcome by such revelations, it calmed his soul as they continued to speak.
	"Your heart is of such purity that you have the will to never be tainted by darkness.  And with that will, that spirit which now stands before us, you have the power alone to wield the light of the stars, against all evils."
	"B-but I'm just a koopa!  Why not James, I mean he's way more powerful than me!"
	"Ah yes.  A strange individual he is.  But sadly...he lacks the potential."
	"What do you mean?"
	"Within James there lies a darkness that consumes him.  His heart is wracked with sorrow and ruin, and while his love for you may grow strong, he does not possess the ability to hold our light."
	"W-wait wait...what...darkness exactly?!"
	"We cannot say more, but we know he cannot wield our power.  We have seen his heart before, when he wished so dearly for your safety.  It is a dark heart, and one that is corrupted further than even he suspects.  Unlike yours, which is pure, strong and innocent."
	"I...wait, what do you mean his heart's corrupted?!"
	"You shall learn in time....and a part of you already knows the potential he has to create such terrible ruination upon others."
Koopin looked reluctant to answer, and said nothing else upon the matter.
	"I...I understand.  I know that he's not...the kindest person I know, but he's so powerful!"
	"His body is powerful, but his spirit has endured too many trials to be considered for this.  But your spirit, young and strong with hope, is why we brought you here."
	"W-wow...I...I don't know what to say.  I never thought that...th-that the star spirits would ever wanna speak to me.  ...what do I do?"
	"We must gauge your potential, in order to see how much of our light that you are capable of carrying."
	"But what IS this light?!  Is it like a power, a-a-a title, or something else?!"
	"You will know in time.  For now, it is merely to strengthen your spirit for whatever may come.  Now..."

They said nothing more as they began to twinkle in a particular rhythm, almost like morse code between each other.  With each twinkling of their lights, there came a beautiful little tinkle as if coming from the smallest bell.  Koopin could not help but smile at hearing it, as the light of the stars began to beam down onto the plateau.  Focusing upon a section directly in front of Koopin, a shower of white stars began to form, falling like the softest snow.
A shape soon began to form, like it was made of ice, transparent with only the slightest features upon presumably its face.  Koopin tried to make out what it was but the light upon it was too bright to see well.  He saw large clunky boots at the end of thin rickety legs, a body clothed within some sort of celestial cape that parted at the front, wrapping around the body with a jagged-looking collar.  The head was adorned with some sort of cap, and for all Koopin could see of it, it looked strangely like the image of a large wooden doll.
	"What...IS that?" he asked.
	"A form of a great warrior among us.  His memories and skill have been retained within this form, and though it may not be him truly before you...his memory will do as a fitting test."
	"I...I-i-i don't know who he is I...wh-what do I do?!"
	"You must battle him of course."
	"WHAT!?  B-but I'm not that strong, I can't-"
	"This is not a question of your body's strength Koopin.  This is about your spirit.  All we ask, is that you never give up, no matter how much you may wish it.  Remember your spirit's struggle to overcome your own body's weakness, like when you fought against Lee and Chan.  Did you not also struggle against Yoshitaka?"
	"W-w-well yeah but I-"
	"Then you must try.  Without your body's restraints, there is nothing holding you back."
With that understanding, Koopin slowly nodded, his anxiety still remaining as he gazed into the ghostly warrior before him.  He still couldn't see the vision as being anything other than a wooden doll the size of himself, who soon spoke with a perfect clarity inside his mind.
	"Are you prepared to test your spirit?"
	"...yes."
He had to take a deep breath before replying, wanting to not falter or look weak as he began to assume his fighting stance.
	"Who...are you?"
	"I serve...a higher authority."
The vision sweeped out its thin arm to one side, cape flowing within the breeze of Star Road as its eyes remained unmoving towards Koopin.  Somehow, despite there being no proclamation, Koopin knew the battle had begun.

He stepped towards the spirit fast, waiting for the first attack which came in the form of a rushing combo.  The star warrior pummelled into his guard with brutally-hard fists, knocking his hands away in the third blow before punching him twice in the face.  Koopin did not back off, knowing he already took the damage and readily reciprocated with his own combo.  One-two-three he went into the transparent face, only knowing where it was by the whitened outline of its body.
The two backed off, neither of them worse for wear before the spirit rushed him once again.  This time Koopin did not guard, instead waiting for the reaching punch before ducking beneath to sweep the leg, knocking his opponent down and backing away.  The spirit floated back up from the ground, strafing towards Koopin to deliver a blow from the side.  Despite Koopin's own attempts to dodge around it, he received a powerful series of slamming haymaker punches to the waist, followed by a final hammerfist to the face.
Spinning to the ground, he used the momentum of the blow to roll back into standing up, leaping out with a flying kick to get close before ending with a fierce roundhouse kick.  It was enough to surprise the star warrior, who took it somewhat on the chin and backed off with a clear sign of pain in its wordless motions.  Once more it charged again, sliding along the ground to kick out Koopin's legs, who quickly leapt over him before turning to deliver a powerful axe kick, straight down onto the ground.
The doll-like projection however dodged with incredible swiftness, floating onto its feet before kicking out behind like a mule, barely missing Koopin's belly when he tried to dodge back.  Circling around his foe with swift hops, he rushed in close to slam his knee straight into the gut, following up with a one-two punch across the cheeks.  The spirit responded with a violent triple-uppercut straight into Koopin's chest, almost as if a machine gun had gone off in its hand.

The koopa fell back and shuddered with an almost retching pain, whimpering as he breathed in deep before standing up fully once more.  When he felt the urge to keep fighting, somehow the pain went away faster than he expected it to, his fists clenched tight with what he imagined to be a surge of power.  His fear and anxiety was starting to falter, as he felt the adrenaline of the fight possess him.
The spirit's memory however soon did something bizarre.  It held one of its arms with the other hand around the wrist, before cocking it and aiming towards Koopin.  He barely dodged the sudden strafing fire of a dozen white pellets streaking across the plateau, sounding as if a dozen miniature bullet bills had popped out of its fist.
	"Wh-what the heck was that?!"
He received no reply, as the spirit readily fired again, shooting out more of its white bullets across the mountaintop and forcing Koopin to dodge.  He was panicking now, with no way of getting close to his enemy as he tried to think of a way to fight back.  But everytime he tried to run in close, the bullets would fly again, and he would be forced to dodge with even less success.  It was only a matter of time before he felt one blast of shots hit all over his body, crying out as he felt hot streaks of pain rivet across him.
Panting hard, he tried to resist the pain, standing up while clutching his wounded chest and arm.  The longer he stood tall, the quicker his pain went away, as he breathed deep once more to refocus his energy.  The spirit opposite him soon said:
	"Do not let fear weaken you."
	"Wha-what?"
	"It is fear that shall weaken you, and it is fear that shall delay your step.  Either stand against me defiant, or evade my actions to prepare another attack."
	"I-i can't dodge this forever, stop it and fight me up close!"
	"If you cannot overcome one attack then learn until you do!"

Another bullet barrage came towards Koopin, who desperately dodged and shrieked as two more hot strikes hit him in the legs, making him crumple and struggle to stand up.  He didn't know what they were, seeing the wounds on his body but nowhere near as bad as he expected them to be.  Whatever they were, he started to fear less, standing up once more with legs albeit rather shaky until the pain left him again.  The spirit fired once more.  Koopin did not dodge this time, stepping forwards with a defiant roar.
Somehow the white pellets shattered before reaching his body, a shimmering light appearing before Koopin in the shape of a star.  He was somewhat surprised, backing away slightly with shaky fists.  The spirit crossed its arms and nodded.
	"Wh-what...what happened?"
	"Your spirit has learned resolve," said the star warrior.  "Now face me once more."
With a surge of strength suddenly in him, Koopin ran forwards with utmost determination, crying out as he striked upon the spiritual foe.  Left and right across the face, slamming one fist across before elbowing powerfully into the sharp wooden-looking nose.  The slightest flicker showed pain within the celestial opponent, as Koopin managed to block one punch before punching out the shoulder and face once more.
The spirit backed off slightly, dodging a few punches before striking a one-two-uppercut like a boxer, smacking Koopin's jaw unexpectedly before taking him down with a brutal kneethrust to the gut.  The koopa shrieked and hiccuped from the pain, backing off while clutching his chest as he gritted his teeth.  He was not out yet.  He felt a strange resolve burn within him to not give up.  He didn't even know why he was here truly, or if any of this was real still.  But the star spirits were watching.  And he was most certainly not going to disappoint them.
Waiting for the spirit to charge him once again, Koopin ducked low and elbowed straight into the chest, slamming through to make the spirit slightly lurch before smacking his fist upwards straight into the chin like a lever being pulled.  He quickly followed this up by still keeping himself bent low, before rising upwards with a leaping uppercut, ferociously punching through the spirit's head and knocking it hard back onto the floor:
	"SHOOOOOOOORYUKEN!"
Panting from the exuberant energy of his powerful uppercut, Koopin rebalanced his legs and silently thanked James for showing him such an exaggerated move.  The spirit floated back onto its feet, nodding with approval.
	"Strong you are...but are you stronger than this?"

With one arm stretched out and a finger towards the heavens, the spirit focused an immense amount of energy into its hand.  It soon began to shake with a cosmic power, a brilliant golden light starting to spiral like a miniature galaxy on the top of its long finger.  Then it closed its fist to contain such power before shooting it out with twin palms open towards Koopin.  A shockingly blue beam came straight out of its hands, tearing through the plateau of Star Road with an earth-shattering screech of fury.
The koopa barely had time to dodge, feeling half of his body become trapped in the all-powerful light as he screamed with agony, feeling a powerful burning light burst from his body like an explosion.  He shuddered and almost collapsed, keeping on his feet as he stumbled into a strafing run around the spiritual opponent.  The more he focused on fighting his foe, the quicker the pain went away.  He was finally starting to understand what they meant by the strength of spirit without the weakness of his body.
The star warrior began firing its beam once more, as Koopin noticed that it needed time to recover its strength between firings.  Taking his chance when the next one blasted almost in front of him, he dodged towards the spirit.  With a roar of furious determination, he pummelled twice into the face before kicking both legs up into the air, a tremendous scissor-kick that delivered two more blows straight onto his foe's head.  He finished this off by using the momentum of his leap to spin round with a powerful roundhouse kick.
The celestial spirit spun hard onto the floor, but rolled back up with its own momentum before turning back towards Koopin.  Now it was going to get serious.  With another harness of tremendous star energy into its hand, it kept the power spinning on its finger this time as the power turned into a blinding amber discus.  Koopin had no idea what to expect, before it swung its hand out as if swinging a sword, the streaking amber light shooting straight towards him at the speed of light, with trails of its circular form chasing after it.

There was no way he could avoid such an attack, travelling far too fast for him to comprehend before it struck him fully.  Feeling as if his very soul had been cut clean through by a steel sword, Koopin could barely cry out before falling forwards in defeat.  Agony ran through his heart, as he shuddered and gasped with desperation to get back up again.  He felt the need to prove himself now turn stronger than ever before, fingers scraping against the dark stone plateau.
	"You have fought well," said the spiritual warrior.  "But do you think you are truly strong enough?"
	"A-a-aaagh...a-agh!  I...I-i-i...aaaah stars, AAAGH!"
The star warrior came forwards, stopping before Koopin's struggling form laid out upon the hill.  It waited for the koopa to struggle up onto his knees, pushing his arms up which burned furiously into his muscles.  He could only manage to raise his head up by the power of a pain-releasing scream, looking up at the stars with desperation.
	"Do you desire to be strong?"
	"Y-yes...yes I do!"
	"Do you desire to be stronger than anyone you have met?"
	"Yes!  Yes I need to, I need to be strong, I have to-"
	"Do you desire to be the strongest in the world?!"
	"H-huh!?"
	"Stronger than the king of the koopas?  Stronger than the legendary Mario?  ...stronger than the stars themselves?"
	"...w-wait...what are you saying?"
	"If you do not desire truly to be the strongest warrior, then you will surely fail in your quest.  You will fail to protect, and you will fail to prove yourself."
	"N-no, no wait a minute!  W-wait...I don't need to be the strongest...I...I don't need to."
	"Do you know that for certain?"
	"I...yes.  I managed to protect James once, back when I wasn't as strong...and even before that I did my best.  I...I couldn't even beat Yoshitaka, a-and he was REAL strong!  ...but...but I don't need to be the strongest.  I just have to be strong ENOUGH."
	"And how do you know that you will not fail if you do not strive to be the greatest?"
	"Because others can too!  Yoshitaka could, I-i bet James did too, we don't have to save the whole world like Mario did, he HAS to be the strongest so he can keep the world safe!  I just have to be strong enough, just enough to protect my friends, my family, and the one I love!  That's all I have to be!"
As he said this, a light began shining in his eyes, slowly whiting out his vision as the stars, the mountain, and the star warrior began to disappear.  Koopin could just barely make out its outline, but he could just about see the spirit crossing its arms, and nodding with a smile.  He felt himself try to smile back, as the world began to disappear from him with the sound of a vacuum.
The moment he reopened his eyes, he found himself staring at Blooshan, his radiant colossal form of white rubbery skin and black-masked eyes staring down upon him benevolently.  James was also nearby, cautiously looking at him.  He slowly got up, slightly woozy from a rather strange experience, the raptor holding him tight to make sure he didn't fall as he murmured:
	"Whuh...what happened?"
	"Your trial is complete," said Blooshan.  "Our meeting is now over."
	"H-huh?"
	"You were out of it for a while," said James, "looked like you fell asleep.  You okay now?"
	"I...I don't know.  My head...feels...my heart is aching."
	"The trial must have been rather taxing upon you.  You may return to your ship whenever you are ready."
	"Wh-whatcha mean?"
	"While you were out," said FG, "Blooshan here got all of his blooper buddies to go and fix up the ship for us.  They're all going at it with hammers and shit, it's weird but awesome."
	"R-really?!"
	"Did I not promise you that you and your friends would leave upon your ship?  It will take a few hours, but you would be surprised what my kind can learn with the right motivation."
	"Hhheheh...that's...awesome of you."
He slowly walked towards Blooshan and held one of his many large tentacles, nuzzling it weakly before looking up to him.
	"I...I never got to say this before but...thank you.  For saving me."
The creature merely smiled with his eyes, bowing humbly before letting Koopin leave.  James looked back behind him as he escorted him out of the underwater cave.  Blooshan gazed towards him in turn.  In the time that Koopin had been unconscious, they had learnt some interesting things about each other.  The look between them was filled with a myriad of sworn oaths and promises, the last they would ever see of each other again.

By the time they returned, night time had come, and not a moment too soon when the cold open air of the island breeze was not particularly comforting to the 2000 passengers and crew members now on board the S.S. Rosalina.  Despite some waterlogging damage, the army of bloopers had done enough work to at least render the ship afloat, but not seaworthy as of yet.  Tens of dozens of them all floated around the ship wreckage, along with the island shy guys wielding effective tools.  Yoshitaka remained as far away as possible from all this, quietly freaking out in the company of his loving wife.
Koopin's first order of business was to immediately embrace his family, hugging them both tightly with exhaustion clear on his eyes, from having to swim back as well as the mental fatigue he was experiencing already.  James, Shelldon and Klair helped him back on board, while the crew began to assist in repairs along with the bloopers and shy guys.  One shy guy offered a watermelon, which James took at last to receive a strange wink from him.  It would take at least a day or two to fix the entire ship, but at least the passengers could return to their rooms.
Despite the rather unfortunate diversion the ship had taken, activities soon began to resume back on board, the passengers taking the time to more greatly appreciate their loved ones beneath the moonlight.  Being in the middle of an almost-deserted island cove with one's dearest by their side, the pale moon shining down upon them and the clear unbroken sea, brought out many a poet within the ship's rooms.  James and Koopin were not such poets.
Most of the passengers who were not tired remained on the top deck, dancing or relaxing upon chairs as they gazed up at the moon.  To further settle down the mood, a barbershop quartet of four red-shelled koopas serenading throughout the night, standing upon a podium while in perfect harmony with each other.  Klair and Shelldon smiled up at them in their red-and-white suits as the couple danced the night away, the female koopa showing off what little waltz she could remember, impressing her husband nevertheless.
James however laid back next to Koopin, lying down on a quiet area of the top deck as the song and dance remained faint in their ears.  Staring up at the moon, they had their own questions to each other constantly circling around in their heads.  Eventually, after a strange silence of what felt like forever, Koopin broke through with a confession.
	"I became a tour guide because of him."
	"...huh?"

	"Blooshan.  ...because of him and...the fact that he saved me, I...I wanted to find him again.  I wanted to thank him, to meet him just once.  I became a tour guide just so I could travel the world and have a better chance of meeting him, wherever he would be."
	"Seriously?  ...I thought you just loved travelling."
	"I do!  But...that was my real reason.  I'm sorry for not telling you all this before."
	"No, no it's fine, you have your secrets and I have mine, you have a right to keep them secret from me."
	"Really?"
	"Just because we're together doesn't mean we have to share EVERYTHING.  We're both different people still, some things just can't be opened up so easily."
	"I guess...heh...must sound so stupid now, growing up to become a tour guide just to find a giant squid."
	"Hahahaha, believe me Koopin, I heard way more stupid stuff back home."
	"Heh, yeah?"
	"Yeah...I'll tell you once I remember any."
	"Haha, sure...James?"
	"Yeah?"
	"...you ever thought about having kids?"
	"...hate to break this to you Koopin but, you're gay, and I'm a guy."
	"I know that, I'm not SERIOUS about it you doofus!"
	"Hahahaha I know I know...so, okay, no I never have, why?"
	"Just curious, I was remembering the latest episode of Shell City before we left and this couple were planning to have kids...kinda made me wonder what we'd be like as dads."
	"Snrrk, oh god I'd make a terrible dad."
	"Why you say that?"
	"Well..."
James gently shifted himself to become more comfortable, feeling uncertain about his answer.
	"I haven't really had the best life.  Being an orphan, raised by a mobster, made a LOT of mistakes in the past alllll over the place, hurt a lot of people, sometimes on purpose...heh, man I'd make the worst dad."
	"I wouldn't say that."
	"Huh?"
Koopin slowly turned over towards his boyfriend.
	"You talk about all the bad stuff you been through, but you say it with a lot of regret.  You feel bad about that stuff, right?"
	"Course I do."
	"Well there ya go, that's something a dad should have if he wants to raise his son or daughter well.  A lot of life experience but also knowing what not to be proud of.  That way you can teach the same life lessons to YOUR kid and they don't turn out like you."
	"...huh, never thought of it that way...is your dad like that?"
	"Mmmnah, he's just an ordinary guy."
	"So...maybe a dad doesn't need to be like me then."
	"Yeah..."
Koopin slowly moved back onto his back, a question coming up in his brain once more.
	"You ever wonder what your dad was like?"
	"Sometimes...got no idea what my parents were like though, don't even know their names.  Never really bothered."
	"Why not?"
	"No reason to, they don't really define me, they're not a part of my life now so why should I worry about what they were?"
	"...I guess so.  ...you recognise any of those stars?"
	"Nope."
	"Ever...been on any of them?"
	"I have no idea."
	"Hmmm..."
	"You're asking an awful lot of questions, something up Koopin?"
	"Just bored."
	"...ehhh so am I...you wanna dance a li'l before we go to bed?"
	"...ahhhh sure, why not."
	"Your head okay?"
	"Oh sure, I'll be fine, come on, let's dance with my mom an' dad."
They both got up and began to dance away what little remained of the night, a gentle waltz within each other's arms.  The barbershop quartet sang on through the night, as the couples danced across the deck back and forth within slow, tender waltzes.  Heads laid upon shoulders, arms wrapped themselves around waists, lips would plant upon cheeks and other lips in the midst of soft turning bodies.  Despite the chaos that had transpired the day before, there were many who would not forget this wonderful trip.