Fawful had noticed while they were scouring what would soon be Fawful World, that there was a clear pipe at the bottom, heading downwards to someplace else. It had hooked his attention, mostly for the possibility of people getting to him too easily, but also for a simple train of thought. If Turtle Breath had one mega fortress, wouldn't he have had at least a second? There was no way that it was just going to be one! And as it turned out, he was right! Grin and Fawful exited the pipe in the long corridor of another fortress, this one less carnival themed and more fire and brimstone, just like most other castles that had a shell and spikes at its head. Fawful and Grin looked at each other, both smugly grinning. "So! Whose in charge of here if we're up there?" Grin asked, looking around and finding a snazzy neon car that was just lying around. "For one, we will be destroying the pipe that is near our fortress, it is a sour lemon on our fruit salad of victory! Then, we will be moving everything of burning tackiness down here, a wall of fury!" Fawful said, as he climbed up onto the car and stood on it in a triumphant pose, in a similar vein to the two's first meeting. "Ehhhh, I don't think that'd work, everything all at the front and no protection at the back? I say we keep some obstacles on the sides of our little nation, move those little circus boss rings down to replace the castles, and make this castle part of the higher part. But of course it's up to you!" Grin moved towards the wheel, with Fawful wrapping his arm around him. "I am loving your thinking~" The car turned on, and zoomed off.

Rollarcoasters had nothing on the ride around town that Grin and Fawful were hav\ing, cruising around a fiery bumpy road, hopping through holes in walls and blasting at any logo that wasn't theirs. Who would stop them, it'd only take a little gas and poof! Their loyalty would make them want to be cannon fodder! Grin swiveled and turned wildly, his foot glued to the pedal and his eyes looking at the road only half of the time. "HAHAHA! I NEVER GOT A LICENSE!" Grin wailed, jumping over a lava bubbles that jumped from the heat, and spikes spinning and crushing anything near it. Fawful was holding on tight to the side of the car, observing all the obstacles and how he could improve them, while also getting his kicks out of how comically deadly all of it was. "I have doubts you will be needing a license after piloting flying boots and other machinery! It will just be burnt like the food left in an oven that is on fire! But what is not having heat? Our newest general of badness! Fawful is not knowing if you crave revenge, but fink rats of usefulness are having much rarity! So–" Before Fawful could finish his sentence, Grin stopped the car, doing a donut in his excitement before smashing down on the brakes. "NEW TEST SUBJECT! I'm in! If I wasn't already, eheheh!" Grin hopped out of the car as if nothing happened, while Fawful took a moment to quickly get his head to stop spinning.

With the force that could almost rival nature, the Pipe between the lower level and upper level of World B̶o̶w̶s̶e̶r̶ Fawful was destroyed. Instead, the lower level was set up with as many mechawfuls as they had produced to slowly move them into one floating island of a nation. Moving back up towards the newly almost completed Neo Fawful Castle, Grin kicks open the doors to the newly gothicized and fawfulized lab. On a giant dissection table held the chained beast of the Snowmads, now stripped of his helmet, armor and horn for the chains of science. Fawful looked on, you couldn't read any emotion off of him, which might just be scarier than if you could discern some glee or anger. Fawful simply stood in his lab coat, tightened his gloves, fixed his collar, and called for Grin as he got out a bone saw. Grin on the other hand was a different kind of scary, walking in with no goggles or gloves, and eyes that were as happy as a bride on their wedding. That same look however was the exact opposite of what you'd want to see as the latest project of a chimera making master. Grin skipped merrily along, pulling two hand buzzsaws from under his lab coat, before hopping into a spinning chair and scooting towards Fredrik. "So, is he the base of something new? Or the host of something deadly! AAAAAHAHAHAH!"

The answer would be both. Before any of this, during the Mushroom Kingdom conquest Fawful went on with Midbus, he had been wanting to test something. He had noticed on that and the previous journey, when a big fight would break out, one opponent when stressed enough would seem to get pumped up and invigorated more to fight, at the cost of their health to fight on. The testing had been in process for a little while, but no definitive answer had come to the tests, until now. Grin held a vial of the substance that was now deemed "Fury", due to its habit of infuriating the subject of its influence. The two tubes were attached to a tank that had been attached to Fredrik's back, as the second half of this experiment began. KAOS was lowered into the room and disassembled, with the organic host being disposed of in favor of its replacement, Fredrik. The metal plates and gizmos were removed and attached to Fredrik, forced on and sewed on like a doll being fitted with sharp piercing pins and shells of war. Everything was going according to plan, as Grin played with his new toy and fixed it up, hoping that he'd see it again in a worse condition so he could just do this all over again. Tubes were added to a tank on Fredrik's back, loaded with Fury and ready to be injected into Fredrik. Before everything was complete, and KAOS's helmet was planted onto Fredrik–

"Lord Fawful, you have a visitor" said Midbus calmly, as he walked in looking bruised and scratched and in pain, as he held a similarly beaten up Captain Syrup. Both had been in a bit of a kerfuffle, with Midbus being the victor. Syrup was put down, albeit handcuffed and being watched by Midbus so she couldn't try anything funny. Syrup took a good look at the hybrid of KAOS and Fredrik, not fully grasping what the chimera even was, and only seeing one of her rivals defeated and in the hands of someone else. "Oh how the mighty do fall, Oh ho ho! So you're those newbies back over at Nimbus! Been wondering what you were up to. Alright, let's make this quick, gimme a 50% of your cut and the Black Sugar Gang is all yours for whatever you're doing! I'm assuming it's something big anyway, and I don't mean to brag, but I'd say someone who had a genie under her control can handle big!" Grin looked at her in his creative mania, tempted to just nab her right now and make something else out of her, whatever that may be. Fawful however turned Grin's chair around with a gleeful look on his face. "A kingdom that is having its own riches and wealth that will all be belonging to us, and she wants the small portion we had taking? Such easiness to have new happy little workers on our side! Are you agreeing?" Fawful whispered to Grin, who looked back at Syrup again, who was still very tempted. Grin then realized however that he'd have more subjects if he just agreed and got the Black Sugar Gang at his disposal. Grin nodded, and Fawful turned to Syrup with a welcoming tone, "Get comfy, we are going to have much cooperation!"

"Dieter! Fawful calls you!" Fawful projected, adding the finishing touches to Fredrik, who was now up and walking around as the newest general in F.U.R.Y's ranks. Without a second of delay, Dieter teleported into the room in a small flash of neon light, making himself the star of the room for a moment. Grin was knocked off of his chair due to surprise, "Jeez! There could have been a warning at least!" Dieter laughed, teleporting right behind Grin and helping him up, "I do what I'm good at, you do... that'' Dieter replied, pointing at Kaos Fredrik. Grin stood on his chair so he could just barely make eye contact with Dieter, exchanging the same look Dieter had right back at him. "Actually, now that I think about it... How does your teleportation work? Is it in your blood? Or just a skill I could pry from you! Ehehe!" Dieter moved back slightly and chuckled nervously, "I'll just have one of the others deal with that! Bye for now!" Dieter left, teleporting away with Syrup so he could show her around. Grin sat patiently however, fully believing that one of the other BFF members would show up for him to study... to no avail. Fawful on the other hand laid the finishing touches on Kaos Fredrik, de-activating him to test him later. "Teleportation, Fawfs do you think we could figure that out?" Grin asked, with Fawful turning to him and replying coyly, "What, we are able to be creating mass machines and new species, but teleportation is when our menu ends? I have chortles!"

It only took all night and day and an extra 17 hours, but Neo Fawful World was complete! The castles had been redecorated inside and out into a full Fawful aesthetic, halls and halls of outré design, resembling that of a church bathed in a halloween feel. Stained glass windows would light up the hallways lit with fire of a bright blue shade, fitting the rain and lightning that had now formed outside. The shades of red, blue, silver and purple on the inside were complimented by the loud colorful neon lights of the outside, with it barely being changed aside from the giant Fawful logo that had been added. The second castle had been added on, the upper layer of Neo Fawful World a sprawling little metropolis, with the bottom layer revolving more around the military of F.U.R.Y and defense of the upper layer. For what it was worth, F.U.R.Y could have just stopped here if they wanted to, they had a giant castle and a militia to rule over... But that's not all they wanted, no no no. Fawful sat down on his newly installed throne, one of his very own, unstolen and original from the thrones he had sat on before. This one belonged all to him. Grin walked through the halls merrily, looking at the windows and occasionally seeing himself plastered on as a holy figure, banishing the light to reinstate the eternal winter of night. Finally, the credit he had worked for so dearly. Grin turned to see his throne next to Fawfuls, as well as Fawful seemingly hiding something under his own cloak. Of course, Grin just couldn't resist.

"Grinlee of Neo Fawful World! I am having most joy today! For we are planning an event that will be seen throughout the land! If there is one thing we cannot be having, it is imposter rulers snacking on a cake made by chefs of lunacy! This kitchen is ours for the baking, and what better way to make the message clear than your Day of Coronation!" Fawful exclaimed, as from out of his cloak he pulled a little crown, small enough to fit securely around Grin's root hair and complete the silver look. Grin's face was flooded by his blush, holding his hands out to put it on shakily, He slipped on his crown, feeling an immense wave of power flood over him in a figurative sense. Grin then looked up and saw a massive stained glass window that was placed in a way that you could only see it from the view of the thrones. It was in the style of a religious mural, as it depicted Grin reaching upwards, his cloak flowing open as it showed his old starbeans uniform, like a cocoon forming around a caterpillar to form a butterfly. Grin was reaching towards Fawful, who was in an outfit unseen by Grin. It was a dark blue cloak with lining and highlights at the edges, with a gray sharp collar almost forming a star. Red eyes completed the look as Fawful looked down at Grin, as if he was baptizing Grin into darkness. Surrounding Grin were all his creations, all the Fawfulized animals and creatures he made, as well as stars drenched in black above that, when viewed closer, were actually bombs detonating in the shape of cracked black stars. It struck Grin even more than the crown just had only seconds before. Fawful turned to Grin, not saying a word but clearly wondering what he thought.

"I'm Home"

Fawful got off his throne and held Grin's hand, motioning to an odd panel in the floor. Before Grin could properly examine it, two things caught his eye. For one, the roof of this floor seemed to open a bit, but just only the odd panel. Not only that, but every panel above after that began to open, all until a very slim amount of neon light was visible at the very top. This quickly put together in Grin's head that this was like the stage all the way back in Fawful's Beanbean location, a trap plate. The second thing was Fawful, as he seemed to be wearing his cloak rather loose. Grin didn't know what to think of this, but was still excited solely because he could launch himself high into the air again, especially with the new view of his kingdom. "After you!" Fawful said, with Grin instantly running and jumping up and down on the trap plate over and over, waiting for it to go off. Fawful smirked and walked on leisurely, before pressing the button he was holding inside his cloak for lift off. The plate sunk further and further into the ground, almost like it was caught in quicksand and wouldn't stop sinking. Until of course, it halted with a light creak. There was a moment of silence for just a brief second before

FWAKATA! Floors and floors and floors and floors zoomed by the two, Grin getting the fastest tour of his life of the entire tower, seeing rooms and rooms filled with many different people and things. Grin couldn't even properly see any of them either, it was just too fast, even if the actual flight was around 6 seconds of rising higher and higher. Eventually though, the top of the tower was reached, and the view was pure bliss. Grin could see everything from up here, from the grassy plains north of where he was looking, to the icy isles east, up to the cloudy islands north again, and the deserts south. It was as if the world itself had shrunk down, capturing as many biomes and climates as it could, all just a short pipe trip away. "It's like... the world's in a snowglobe... in the palm of our hands. Its beautiful" Grin spoke softly, the world below him being as if it were a beautiful garden that he tended to forever. Grin then turned around to see Fawful, wearing the pink romantic outfit straight out of his dreams, now standing in front of him with his hand out under the glistening moonlight. Suddenly, the rest of the tower that had once been shrouded in darkness, was bathed in shades of pink, purple and red light. "May Fawful be having this dance?" Fawful asked. He spoke in a nervous tone, twiddling with his fingers and shifting in and out of eye contact. Grin looked at Fawful, removed his cloak so he was just in his jumpsuit underneath, and began to dance with him.

Fawful and Grinlee. Skilled at many things, not limited to but including. Technology, forming plans, quick thinking, science in general, and much more. But one thing neither of them could do? Dance. Both of them had begun to dance, but were stumbling over each other's feet and moving at different paces. "I-is this how you're supposed to do this?" Grin stuttered, trying to follow Fawful's lead, which was fruitless due to Fawful trying to follow Grin's lead once they started. "I have hesitance! Fawful is lacking the rhythm needed for this! Eyahhah! B-but I won't have denial! It is fun!" Fawful stammered, unable to hold back his awkward laughter as they both aggressively failed at dancing. "Heheh! Hey! Watch this!" was exclaimed by Grin, before spinning himself out of Fawful's grasp, and trying to get Fawful to dip him. Instead of a scene straight out of a romantic movie, Fawful just tried to catch Grin and ended up making them both fall. With a loud thud, both Grin and Fawful laid next to each other, caught up like a knotted ball of yarn in a bin of knotted pants that were also tangled. The night should have been a failure, it would have been an embarrassing night for most other couples who had even an ounce of dance knowledge. But instead, Grin and Fawful just laughed it out, too busy having fun failing together to be flustered about their own shortcomings. The two just got up again and swayed side to side with each other for hours, neither side even thinking about letting the other go.

While the twin kings danced above their man-made heaven, Dieter had been preparing with the rest of BFF their latest assignment: Gather the Sprixie Princesses in one place and get rid of them. "How fun, put once again on deception duty. I wonder how easy it'll be this time around, maybe we wo–" Beef bluntly punched both Dieter and Kaley smack dab in the middle of their faces, shocking both of them heavily as they both cursed under their mouths. "WHAT WAS THAT!?" Screamed Dieter, as Kaley began to wipe tears. "WHY'D YOU PUNCH US? BEEF I CONFIDE IN YOU AND–" Kaley and Dieter were both quickly shushed by Beef, who looked around for a mirror to show their bruises. Both had been punched in such a way that it looked beast-like, leaving a nasty mark on them. Kaley didn't quite get what Beef was getting at, and was about to explode at him when Beef punched himself incredibly hard as well. The punch was so hard that it left a dent in Beef's blobby physique, leaving him to look like he was punched by the same monster that punched Kaley and Dieter. "Beef I don't know what's gotten into you but you can't go hurting us! That's what we do to other people!" Kaley bemoaned Beef, but Dieter understood exactly what Beef had in mind. "They'll trust us if we look like the victims, then lure them for Loser Fawful to do whatever he pleases with them! Great work Beef! Your nature to beat people for no reason has once again come in clutch! Geh heh heh! Come on BFFs! Let's move out!"

Now due to gravity, there sadly wasn't a trap plate in the middle of thin air to just send Fawful and Grin back down to the first floor. Instead, there was just one thing they could do, Fly! Specifically, fly towards the small ships that had the vague shape of a skull on them. Pirate ships, Black Sugar Gang ships. Ships that were sailing outwards. "Where are they leaving too? Fawful is having glasses and still I am blind to their destination!" Fawful thought out loud, puzzled as to where they were heading, as they sailed past any land that was in their Kingdom. "Hey! Let's find out! We can test teleportation on the way! I got an idea but I don't really know how it'll work!" Grin blurted out, not even waiting for a response as he grabbed a fawful copter and then activated his jet boots to fly down and follow Syrup. Fawful sighed but smiled, getting his hoverpad to follow behind slowly and catch up with Grin, who was spending more time falling and doing flips in the air than trying to catch up to Syrup. While flying towards and across the water, both Grin and Fawful noticed something that had rubbed them the wrong way. The black goop that had closed down the roads on the surface was here too, and in way larger and more concentrated doses. It seemed wherever they were now heading was the source of this mystery substance. And it seemed to be incredibly deadly, as just lightly touching the stuff had sent one of the ships into a spiral that caused it to brutally sink. While Grin brushed this off... the spikes in the goo put Fawful on edge.

"Noticed it too ey? I tell ya, the stuff ain't pretty, but anythin's better than a fat garlic lovin mustache man chasin you down for ya loot! Course that's real hyper specific, doubt either of you would know that '' Syrup joked, much to the stone faced eye twitch of Fawful. "You have no idea". Grin looked around the massive ship, the S.S Teacup. For a ship that was two times bigger that both the Flying Krock and the F.U.R.Y cruiser, it sure was primitive, or at least just not as advanced as the flying ships Grin had previously been on. He just had to hope Syrup really worked out and wasn't just the metaphorical anchor on this metaphorical ship, unlike the actual anchor on the actual ship he was sitting on right now. Suddenly, the ship came to a halt, and Grin was forced off the anchor so he wouldn't sink with it. "This seems like a good place to park it! Right dab smack in the middle of this body 'o water. Leave me here, I'll work somethin out here and before no time! The place'll be all yours for whatever you want, and mine for the treasure!" Syrup announced over the loudspeakers Fawful had installed, which was Grin's cue to see where they had landed. Grin flew up the stairs and got hit with a strong whiff of beach breeze and warm air, complimenting the tropical isles of

Lake Lapcat, a lake that was drenched in not just an eternal summer, not just a sprawling wildlife that all just so happened to be related to cats in one way or another, but also drenched in the strange black goopy substance, no doubt being or holding the source in its waters. There clearly seemed to be more of the lake in the distance, and not too far away too if they could just float over the ring of black goop that surrounded the actual lake, but that wasn't possible with the ships already here. Instead, the Black Sugar Gang would be spending most of their time guarding and patrolling the lake, keeping it under their control so F.U.R.Y could come back to it later and fully control the lake as well. Before Fawful and Grin made their leave however, both of them wanted to at least see the inner ring of Lake Lapcat. Sure it wouldn't be useful to them now, but it'd be better to be familiar with their beach home than figuring that out as they went along. The Actual Lake Lapcat was just as much of its own small scale world as the Sprixie Kingdom itself, it lacked deserts yes, but there was just as much lava and ice here as there was from where they came. Not to mention all the cat lighthouses that could easily be transformed into watchtowers and hideouts. A beach home and a deathzone, the best of both worlds. Now that their little excursion was completed, Grin was ready to test out a new method of transportation for F.U.R.Y. Grin held his fawful copter he had been holding onto, pulled out his ray gun, and screamed at the top of his lungs "POOF US!"

And poofed they were. Right to a mechawful in Fawful's Castle that had its antenna out and could transport the lightning between antennas, and by proxy Fawful and Grin with it, with some minor ash and soot from the shock of course. Fawful's hair was standing up due to the shock, and Fawful was impressed and shocked too. "I have surprise! Did you just know the thunder would be returning us to the mechawful? Is there limits being forced onto how much can be transported?" Fawful asked with glee, brushing his hair down with his hands while looking at the now fried mechawful with its still functioning antenna. Grin dropped the fawful copter, grabbed Fawful's shoulders, looked him straight in the eyes and gave him the completely smart and logical answer he came up with as to how this works. "I have no idea". Fawful looked blankly at Grin, before finally speaking again. "You have seriousness? You just electrocuted the copter with expectations of teleportation?" "Exactly that yes, word for word, just maybe take out expecting it because I fully thought it'd just fail! haha!" Grin's reply left Fawful dumbfounded, unsure of what to even say other than "You have craziness", which was then followed up by Fawful getting closer and smirking, holding Grin close. "But craziness is equal to genius too~"

It had been a long day, or at least getting electrocuted made it feel like that. While Fawful was up and working on perfecting the flawed method of teleportation that had just been discovered, Grin was getting some shut eye, as tomorrow would be the day the Sprixie Kingdom would truly become F.U.R.Y Kingdom. There was just one roadblock nagging Grin at the back of his head... Him.
Geno stood in front of Grin in his dream, there was no nightmarish chase or distorted version of him, it was Geno, plain and simple. He had appeared to him in his dreams, his wishes given form on another plan. "I just want to talk. I do not know where you are, I cannot harm you truly here, nor take you in. No, I can only talk, and that's all I want to do, Grinlee." Grin hadn't actually seen Geno yet, nor himself, his eyes remained closed. He didn't want to look at him, he just wanted to keep moving forward and crush his opposition... But what else could Grin do here? Grin sighed, took a deep breath and opened his eyes

Grin could barely recognize Geno, his voice was there but the thing that laid before him was not the lifelessly cold and intimidating puppet he had come to know. It was instead a small glistening bright sphere, an actual star sprite in front of Grin. There were no eyes or mouth that stared into his soul, but instead a warm ball of light. Grin then looked at himself, and he too did not resemble what he did in the real world. His upper body was a paper white, seeming almost just as bright as the star sprite in front of him. The area around both of them was an infinitely gray void, with nothing to do but follow through with Geno's request to talk. Grin's eyes and teeth were pure black, contrasting his upper white body, with said teeth being sharper than his real world teeth. His lower half however, was drenched in oozing darkness, pulsing and dripping off of him, trying to fully take him in. His hands and a bit of his shoulder were also covered in this dark embrace, with the parts of his body that were impacted most by his burns being simple holes that Grin could not feel. These things puzzled Grin, as he didn't understand what any of this meant, but he did understand that he wasn't going to get anywhere if he kept denying Geno. "Fine"

"Why? Why're you doing this? Going through with Fawful's schemes? I've done my research, I've learned what I can about you. You're hurt, and not in a way I think most would realize. Love is a strong thi–" Geno was cut off. "Then why try and stop me? I've found love, I'm following my dreams like anyone else!" Geno continued. "I understand, but your moonstruck daze has led to many in a similar pain as you. Some have lost their jobs, some worried for their loves, some stripped of it entirely, and it's because of this path you've chosen for yourself." Grin interrupted Geno again, yelling "AND HERE YOU ARE! Helping everyone and everything but ME! Ignored! Unloved! I might as well have been dead! And now the moment I dare even try to do something to feel alive, to feel like myself, you come and try to ruin it. Tell me, honestly, how can you possibly see this as anyone else's fault but yours?" Grin barked, his eyes feeling watery as the dark embrace sank slightly off of him. Geno couldn't maintain eye contact after that, floating a bit away for a moment before taking in a breath. "Grinlee, I do not know if you know this but... You aren't the only one. Some wishes are just unlucky, some cannot be granted due to their nature, and some just never make it to us. You aren't a special case, and some entire groups of people are isolated from making wishes from Star Road. You might know some of these people yourself, and I don't just mean your new associates. There might be one or two people in your life who just... never have had the joy of a wish come true before, that's an unfortunate truth."

Grin moved back in shock. He moved back and looked away, he was devastated. This couldn't be true! It couldn't! So there really was no reason for any of this!? Grin wasn't some random person shunned by the light above because of mysterious reasons, and he wasn't some freak who could never fit in. Could he have never given in? Could there have been a chance that maybe he'd of been better off without Fawful? Geno saw the horror in Grin's face and continued on. "But you know what happens to those people? Even if we personally can't reach them, they can always find happiness some other way! You don't have to be gifted wishes and have your every dream come true to have a good life, you just have to make the best of it! Your pain, everything you hated to do before Fawful, I know you could have made something better out of it. Maybe finish your degree yourself and build toys or become a mechanic. Maybe invest fully in the coffee chain and make a cozy shop of your own. Your skills at creating life might have served those sickly with a beautiful future. Those possibilities are still out there for you. I know you've done bad already, but I can still see the good in you. The mercy, the passion, the joy... The Love you deserve. Please, this is your last chance to turn back. I know you can do it" Geno then floated towards Grin on the floor, forming a body out of pure light to offer him a hand up. A star shaped halo shaped around Geno, and so too did it form around Grin, or maybe it just became visible and was there all along.

Grin looked up at Geno again, he looked down, and began to relive his memories again. He looked back on all the journey had brought him. He thought of the first weeks spent with "Foful", how despite his awful curse in a rotting body and nothing to his name, he still strode with confidence and will. He thought of the first temptations and the excitement of indulging in his darker desires, no matter how tame they were at first. He thought of how with Fawful he had someone to confide in with his thoughts, no matter how volatile. He didn't have to censor and pretend to be something he clearly wasn't, he could just be Grin. He thought of Midbus and his cold but dear care for Fawful and him, how he was willing to take beating after beating for the both of them. He thought of the joy of discovering himself in his work, like his explosive prowess or his ability to create life. He thought of his new home and all the Love he had experienced on this journey... And how he truly had no reason for any of this. How Geno, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, was right. He was never forced into any of this, not out of any sort of fate or being blackmailed, he just did it because he liked it. He did it because he just needed an excuse to be the awful person he was all along. How Fawful didn't transform him into someone new, he just revealed what was always there. There was a moment of silence, Grin's horrified face seemingly went numb, with Geno still standing there offering his mercy.

There was a loud intense slash, and a halo broke, as the light dimmed to nothingness. "The Love I deserve... hehehe. Oh how right you are! I have led others to pain, haven't I? And I was right too, only I aimed it at the wrong person. How could this be anyone else's fault but mine? I'm not the only one, no, and I won't be the only one in my great new world! I admit, there may have been other possibilities, I can't honestly believe I thought of myself as a tragedy, forced to become a monster. No, no it's not a tragedy at all. It's a triumph! Triumph over the light and into a place where only one shall rule! I've found my happiness, I found who I am, and all I see in you trying to give me false mercy is a fool blinded by light! Now Get! Out! Of! My! HEAD!" Grin's halo fell to the floor, as the dark embrace that had been at his torso finally consumed him. His holes and gashes had been filled with the darkness, and there was no turning back now. The grey void that held this battle of wills shifted, as Grin's head fully entered the darkness and became a nightmare not for Grin, but for Geno. Geno's light dimmed as he looked away from Grin, taking a shaky breath. "Then so be it. In the name of all that is good and just, Grinlee of the Beanbean Kingdom, you will be arrested under a higher authority". Geno would not be given the pleasure of a simple exit, as Grin viciously seized Geno and crushed this hallucinatory visitor out.

Grin woke up, feeling completely energized and full of life. Whoever he was before was now gone for good, replaced with the man who now laid in a bed he worked so hard to get.
Geno woke up with a jolt, he was utterly exhausted. Whoever Grin was before was now gone for good, replaced with a shadow of his former self that paraded proudly as a monster.
Grin didn't greet Fawful yet, walking instead to his lab and getting his gear and gunpowder. He knew clearly what was bound to happen next, and Grin couldn't wait for it.
Geno couldn't greet Mallow yet, instead making haste to the edge of the tent he was in to equip the Stella 023. He knew exactly what he needed to do, just wanting to be done with it.
Grin looked out on his army, elite and powerful and filled with the will of one strong leader. He had lost one too many times to take another loss, it was all or nothing now.
Geno looked out on his allies, some were ready for battle and some weren't, but they all were determined to all succeed. He couldn't let them get away again, it was all or nothing now.
Grin turned to Fawful and Midbus, who now stood beside him as they prepared to conquer the Sprixie Kingdom for themselves. The world was bound to be in their grasp
Geno looked down at a picture he had in his pockets. It held a picture of his family, one that he loved early. He cheered on his allies, prepared to keep the world out of Fawful's grasp.

The Koopa Troop had been in a bit of a rut for a while. After Bowser's last heist, he had decided to go on vacation and take a break from the whole evil king thing for a bit. There was a big issue however, and that was he hadn't returned for a while, and neither had his son. It wasn't uncommon for him to just do whatever he wanted after another humiliating loss, it just was a bit concerning was all, especially so for the koopa mage and adoptive father of the king, Kamek. Kamek wasn't usually one to worry intensely, but when it was his son and grandson on the line for this long it did put him slightly on edge, but not just him either. Aside from the entire Koopa Troop, Geno and Mallow had also been worried as well. Alongside the princess and the plumber, the Koopa King was part of Geno and Mallow's family, one that had faced an invasion of heavy machinery before the current disaster. While Mallow didn't think to fix two problems with one ask, Geno did. "Your conjuror, if you may recall, simply working with your highness led to saving the world's dreams. Not only can you trust me, but imagine how much faster searching for your son will be with a whole force." Kamek sighed and looked at Geno with a mixed look of irritation and sorrow. "You will find him, and not to take care of him or to do whatever else you have in mind. Of course, if you tried anything, his grumpiness would surely thrash you. .... He trusts you enough. Bring him home." Geno held Kamek's shoulder and nodded, leaving as he turned to the squad he had built up from a little convincing and friends in high places. "Let's take the fight straight to him"

With Dieter's smooth talking, Kaley's puppy dog eyes, and Beef giving BFF black eyes and sours, the Sprixie Princesses were none the wiser. They were very isolated from other people, with only a few visitors coming from the surface world recently. Despite the episode that had gone down a while back, the Sprixies were a very naive group, and had no trouble welcoming in BFF into one of their castles to take care of their wounds. Of course, this was all part of Fawful's master plan, as each member of BFF held a small power generator with an antenna. This would allow F.U.R.Y to pour into the castle by the dozens in secret before the big strike would fall. BFF worked in the dead of night, when no one was around to make them stay in bed due to their "injuries". Each of the generators were planted near an exit or door outside the castle, where in the morning it would be "mysteriously" blocked off or closed. There would be nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape to, prisoners in their own home. Night after night, mechawfuls and kremlings and snowmads poured into the castle, inside the walls, inside the floors, they'd be inside their pours if they could be. Finally, the last thing teleported into the castle was... a cake. After that, everything was set in motion! The next morning was about to be chaotic.