[PolarStarQuote]

Well. This was rather upsetting. Samus was sat outside , On a Rusted Open Car, looking down at a Machine, Draped-semi up its eyes in Cloth, As Samus was looking to see the Mirage Portal, in the distance, Letting out loud constructive noises as the attack on the Sphere was A Bit Devestating. Ignoring the Snakeoid's and Giant babies, Thousands of enemies and attacks around Li caused a few losses and destructions...If the infected had attacked during that time, They would of been goners. Samus cant let that happen again. She would absolutely go through every measure possible to make sure that did not happen.

Samus awaited Mario and Schezso Wegey, Two good friends of hers to arrive and aide in this situation...She had to know exactly what caused the mirage portal to be so forward with its attacks. This was going to be a long day, she could tell...

[Rina]

Oof, the damage report was more devastating than he thought. It was bad enough he had a hard time warding off the monsters that got through, but seeing the actual scope of the damage stung a bit. Let's not lament on that flub-up of a performance. The grander problem is in need of investigation. Schezo made his way to the rendezvous point, meeting a familiar face on one of the old, beat-up vehicles.

"Glad to be working with you once more. It is a mystery as to why the portal decided to rebel... What could it be...?"

[Coolshaymin]

Mario walked to the intended destination, still getting E. Gadd to give him some easier way around, or at least find a supply of powerups that make travel easier. The location point of where they would need to meet up fortunately was not that far. The Mirage Portal caused quite a stir and Mario, as a leader and friend to many could not ignore when there is a mass attack like that from a seeming ally. Still, he wanted to know why it happened but also make sure another catastrophe like the last attack does not occur. They had their hands so full with the monsters that if another group attacked, they might of been overwhealmed. Him and Samus put a lot of effort into making sure civilians were all safe, but they could not save everyone. Sonic wasn't exactly any help either, but Mario wasn't expecting the rodent to be at this point. Any respect he had for the blue hedgehog has been lost at the moment.

Still, the Life Sphere still had him and Samus to do something and it's not like they were idle about Sonic's threat. The Mirage Portal Situation needed resolved quickly however because it put quite a hamper on their ability to handle threats when it could divide their attention at any moment. It being a harm to their unity was one of the biggest concerns for Mario.

"Hello, Samus, Schezo! Sorry it took me-a bit. I had to get some friends to handle-a plumbing in my stead. It should be in-a good hands though, don't-a worry. So, how's the plan?" Mario greeted as he looked around. Samus said they were having a newbie robot help them see Cresselia but she did not mention any names. He was curious, but he did not want to give away anything in case Cresselia was listening.

[PolarStarQuote]

Samus, Upon seeing Schezo Wegey, Gave a pleased smile as she hopped off the Car, Walking closer to greet him. "Mm, The Feelings shared Schezo...I have some Theories as to why, But i hardly have enough Water to hold them. Im hoping this is some kind of freak accident on Cressalia's part, And that we can work to prevent it in the future...If not, Then we may be in for a bit of direct conflict." Samus explained to Schezo her personal opinion of the subject. "And, knowing how the Mirage Portal works...Hm. It'll be hard if it does revolt. At worst, we'll need a way to jump out....Speaking of Jumping, Look who's here."


As she looked over to see Mario finally jumping in, as Samus nodded in affirmation to Mario's Presence. Looks like the gangs all here! "Shirking work to come to the mirage portal, huh? Didnt think id need to make a rule on that." Samus would say, Smiling in a bit of a tease for Mario's expense. "Kidding, Kidding...Im sure it will be fine. In any case, The Plan..." Samus said, Turning around to the Cloth-covered machine behind her...



Oh, Two Chaotic Looking robots. Samus plucked the small red Bomb-like Robot off the hand of the robot, raising a brow. "Thats...Weird. I dont remember bringing this." Samus would say, Setting Bomb aside as she took Heavy's Head off, Revealing the Inside of the heavy silver machine's body was hollowed out completely. "Schezo, Mario, Hop in. After your in, ill crawl in with you, And We'll activate the robot. I left enough machinery inside to give it the general idea of what to do to get into a mirage portal." Samus would say.

It was...Quite a snug fit to get inside. Once Schezo and Mario were inside, it was  kind of like sharing a tiny submarine together, Which was probably gonna be problematic once you realise Samus outranked them both with her 6 Foot Plus height. That was, until samus rolled up into her Morph-ball mode, and popped in onto the floor between Mario and Schezo. "Allright, Ill have to stay like this due to the Size of the machine...Just flick on the switch to the right, and we'll start moving."


On the right wall, there was a rather Done-up switch, Reading 'Activation' On it, Which was closest to Mario. Upon activation, the machine would pop its head on, Sealing the group in almost complete darkness, were it not for Samus's Glowing armor, As the Machine began waddling about...

And about...

...And About...

"...T-this may be taking longer than anticipated." Samus would say, as it seemed the group would be on a Waddling spree for a good 10 or So Minutes...










And then, there would be a sudden whooshing noise, as The Waddling of the Machine would suddenly stop, As Samus would give a sudden "Shh!" To alert Schezo and Mario to stay quiet...


Meanwhile, Outside of the Heavy Robot, The robot would be standing on a small spot of land, in the middle of a Pink-ish Void, In the face of something great before him..

"Greetings. I am Cressalia...And welcome, to the Mirage Portal."

[Rina]

"Greetings, Mario."

Schezo acknowledged his presence, turning over to Samus to listen in on the situation and the strange robot she has with her. And the stranger bot in its hand. So this robot is fitted to have the trio hide inside, huh? Schezo is a little aprehensive about it, but if this is part of her plan, he'll take her word for it.

...can they even fit in this? Two tall people and one that's quite large could be a bit of a snug fit- Wait, never mind. Morph Ball. Schezo's eyes widened with bafflement with her able to curl up in a form this compact. She's certainly full of surprises to the dark wizard... He climbed into the machine, even more baffled at the buttons and switches that line the walls, if not a tad overwhelmed by the amount of technology he's becoming exposed to. He listened on the intruction about the machine...

SLAM!

Absolute darkness... Almost. He could feel the strange robot waddle about. Slowly.

Very slowly.

"Are you sure you thought this through...? I know next to no-"

WOOSH.

Schezo silenced himself when it came to a halt, hearing a voice from outside. That voice...

...it was Cresselia.

[Coolshaymin]

"Well, I just thought this was a bit more-a urgent is all. The leaders can't just stand by while someone will just strike us down at any moment with large scale attacks.  Besides, it's not like Sonic is going to come to negotiate..." Mario replied while rubbing the back of his head with a hand. He knew Samus did not mean anything by it and considering the direness, he was pretty cheerful. Sonic was doing some crazy acts and the plumber knew the Bounty Hunter to know she was aware. Despite being in the hospital at the time, there was little doubt she was listening to the announcement when it aired. "Besides, Schezo is much better than that blue jerk anyhoo," Mario added jokingly as he looked towards Samus's plan.

... That thing looked awfully small to house them all considering they were pretty average... save for Samus who was pretty tall compared to him. Still, she is probably planning to use that Morph Ball trick to save space. Mario kind of wishes he had one of his shrinking power ups like the Mini Mushroom but he needed to find a decent supply to carry those around. His power ups were admittedly fairly limited these days. Regardless, Mario watched Schezo get in before climbing in himself, waiting for Samus to curl up and fit in there with him... Oh right, her Morph Ball did not have hands... Mario looked around, ah, there it is, the clearly labeled activation switch. Fortunately, despite his world not being that tech heavy, it was modern enough to figure these kinds of things out easily. He flipped the switch to get the robot moving...

...

... Moving pretty much being the key word because it was clearly not getting anywhere fast. Guess taking out all those parts really put a hamper on mobility... Unless this thing was designed to be this slow... Mario was getting a bit impatient, while not a speed demon like his blue rival, he was an athlete and being stuck in cramping positions for lengthy periods was about as enjoyable as anyone else putting themselves in these situations if not more so. Needless to say, Mario was a bit bored, deciding to start humming tunes he was most familiar with, starting with a Classic World 1-1 theme to occupy himself while they make their way to the Mirage Portal... Very slowly...

...

... Just as he was getting to Bob-Omb Battlefield, he shushed as Samus told him to. It looked like they made it to the Mirage Portal and Cresselia was doing her usual greetings. The plumber looked to his Bounty Hunter Leader friend for what the next step of her plan was. She did not really tell them what to do when they got this far, and as much as he would want to turn his cap around, grab Samus, and chuck her while calling "Samus! I choose-a you!", that may interfere with his comrade's plans. He was ready to follow her lead on whatever it took to deal with this situation.

[PolarStarQuote]

"Well, i don't know any other way to talk to Cressalia...Its not like Li has a Full Moon Island. Or, at least, that's where i heard Cresslia rests, from the Data Banks...I assume that, after this moves for a while, Cressalia will pick it up." Samus said, admitting her logic behind this strange method, as it seemed Samus was quite able to Speak in her Morph Ball mode, Before the sight of Cressalia caused Samus to swiftly use her Moon Jump to Jump out in her Morph-ball Form, Popping the top off of the Heavy Machine and Unfurling, Pointing at Cressalia.



"You!"



"Samus Aran? Why on earth...Were you doing something important, and i picked you up by accident? Please, allow me to put you back--"



"No, Cressalia, Were here for you! We want answers." Samus would yell, causing the Lunar pokemon to float back a bit, raising a brow. "I see...Very well? You know, you could always just go to Full moon island, Its right behind Pokemon Cove, on the other side of the sacred Swords Forest...Unless the Swords are a bit hard to talk too." Cressalia would of Said, Making Samus look like quite the boob before Schezo and Mario for her Dumb headed plan, when, really, It would of quickly been solved by searching.





"...R-right, Look, I want answers. Why did the Mirage Portal attack the Life Sphere, And what the hell are you planning?" Samus would demand, as Cressalia was definitely playing the confused look on her face. "A-attack? Why on earth would i attack the life sphere? And im certainly not planning anything! T-then again, there was that Raffina Mirage that escaped..." She would say, which, Definitely went noticed by Samus.



"So you ARE letting antagonistic forces out of the Mirage Portal to attack? Why, What reason?!" Samus would ask, Clearly angry at Cressalia...As it seemed that was just making Cressalia just as mad, Almost offended!



"How dare you! I open up this home for you to come and receive bountiful gifts, And you accuse me for attacking your home?? It was not me! I can promise you that!" Cressalia said, as Samus seemed to be standing her ground, looking over at Mario and Schezo for there weight in this conversation...

[Rina]

"!?"

Schezo backed up against the walls once Samus shot out of the robot and confronted Cresselia at blaster-point. Oh boy, this isn't going to go smoothly. Schezo listened in on the conversation, hearing that she's going REALLY aggressive with her logic. At least he's getting some inside info on the nature of the Mirage Portal. Maybe it'll-

No, it's going pretty forceful and one sided. Samus is being overly aggressive and someone needs to put some insight on this conversation before Cresselia DOES retaliate. Schezo's waiting for the right time to interject and play devil's advocate. He played patient and listened to both sides of the story...

Wait, 'Raffina Mirage'?

"Pardon, did you mention Raffina?"

Schezo poked out of the robot upon the mention, wanting to press for more information about this mirage. He's had some turbulent, deep involvement involving her, and the fact there's some hostile mirage version of her made him concerned. That was something he was (literally) locked out of the loop from, and he needed to know. He's had hearsay of mirages gaining sentience and leaving on their own accord, but what of this Raffina one?

"Could you tell me more about the Mirage Raffina? Surely there must be background as to why she escaped, if you claim that it wasn't your doing."

[Coolshaymin]

... Oh yeah, that made sense that there would be a spot Cresselia inhabited on Li outside the Mirage. The Mirage seemed a bit chaotic of a place to live. Regardless, the plumber listened to the conversation, waiting for a good spot to hop in and throw in his 2 coins.... Oh... Samus is getting very aggressive with Cresselia, that was not good at all. Honestly, he was starting to doubt they had any idea on how this place worked and if she was as in charge as they think... In either case, the plumber needed to once more be the intermediate in this arguement. A lot of times as leaders, Mario, as cheerful, confident and optimistic as he was, has had to be the voice of reason in debates. Samus was not bad with judgement, she just did not look at all the possibilities when a threat is present.

"Hold-a on! We might be jumping ahead of ourselves, Samus," Mario called out that it was time to stop as he jumped out of the robot and landed next to Samus, but kept his arms passive. "I think-a Cresselia is telling the truth. She's the Pokemon that gives-a good dreams, right? Why would she let bad dreams out? Especially in that number? Besides, she looks just-a confused as we are," Mario explained to Samus, trying to get the trigger happy Bounty Hunter to stand down for a moment.

"Cresselia, even if you-a didn't know, there was a portal that unleashed a bunch of monsters upon the Life Sphere and caused a large problem. That portal was without-a doubt the Mirage Portal. I'mma not saying you-a did it, but something happened. We just don't-a want it to happen again," the leader directed to the Full Moon Pokemon. "... And I'mma curious as well, I want to know about this escaped Mirage as well," he added, agreeing with Schezo that this info was fairly interesting to the situation.

[PolarStarQuote]

Samus took a deep breathe and sighed, nodding to Mario. "Your right...After that attack on the life sphere, ive been on edge. Sorry, Cressalia." Samus admitted, as Cressalia seemed to adjust herself. "Thats better. Very well." Cressalia nodded, seeming to accept samus's apology in stride. "I understand your Tenseiveness, Aran...Not even i can protect you from the bad dreams of your past that give you such paranoia. It is only right you not share a high opinion on me." Cressalia would say, as Samus seemed to stop to let her mind chew on cressalia's words for a moment, giving ample time for Cressalia to explain her case.

Cressalia first began With Schezo's case... "Do you recall the Mirage Portal of the Velvet Room, Ran by one Igor?" Cressalia would begin, reminding Mario and Schezo of the Velvet room Mira--...Well, Schezo of the velvet room mirage. Wario was the one there. "Raffina also entered this Mirage, as the mirage crafted a Demon in her Vauge image, Crafted from her most unruly aspects. Her Overzealous Pride, Her need to assert dominance, Her...Soul Sucking. That Shadow Raffina was supposed to just appear for her to get her item and then vanish. However, Raffina made a mistake, By telling her that the Shadow Raffina, a Reflection of her true self, was not her. This caused her to Rampage, and begin tearing apart the mirage portal. I was so close to destroying her, until suddenly...She vanished, in a Aura that was dark, yet...Familiar to me." Cressalia said, sighing.

"And now, I do not know where she is. If i ever find her, I will destroy her without second thought. She is nothing but a being created out of Malice and Pride." Cressalia firmly finished her explanation of Raffideux, Who was somewhere in Li, Doing unspeakable things... And then Finally, came the big question.


"As for why the Mirage portal attacked li...Your theories are as good as mine. The Mirage's of the Mirage portal are only powerful inside this realm. Even if such monsters were to escape, i have no doubt they would do little else but be a nuisance to you." She would say, as Samus stepped forward. "But they werent. They destroyed entire buildings and killed some people..." Samus would say, as Cressalia looked down, as if in shame.

"Mmm...I am afraid i have failed you all as master of this plane, If i do not have the answers to a sudden action's occurance." Cressalia would say sadly, as Samus took a deep sigh, walking over and petting Cressalia's....Body? I want to say Belly but, Pokemon Anatomy escapes me. "Dont be so hard on yourself. No one has all the answers. But, do you have anything at all that you could say as to why?"

"Well...Perhaps it could of been...Darkr--What...Is that?" Cressalia would ask, Motioning behind them as, Suddenly, The Heavy Robot they group came in, would have its head screwed back on by some...Unknown force? A Mass on neon blue electricity would circuit around its body, Making the Giant Metal creation stir to life, as a Electric Screen would appear around its head, Suddenly adorned by a Digitized Black Cloak....


The Taut, Short and Wide looking machine would stare at Cressalia, Samus, Schezo and Mario for a few seconds before the screen would flash with a symbol, as a Grating, Nasally sounding Roboticized voice would say...

^{"Installing...Installing....G@MER . EXE Intiated. W1Z4RD PaD.EXE Initiated. 8-BIT PARADISE LOADED. AWFULLY CHEESEY JOKES.PDF, NOT FOUND, CAUSE MY JOKES ARE TOP NOTCH. GAMER HUMOR JOKES.PDF, ADMITTEDLY PRETTY AWFUL, BUT IMMA STILL MAKE 'EM. G@MER ACTIVATED."}


And then, the Screen would Turn to a plain, Neon Blue, before revealing a Bright, Dagger toothed Grin, and a Pair of Spiral Glasses. This, was...G@MER.

"IIIIIIMMMMM BAAAAAACCCKK~!!! Hey There Jumpman, How's the brother? Know whats good to cheer up depressed plumbers? Drugshrooms! And uh....I dont know who you are, White hair, But you suuure look like your trying too hard to be cool! and Sammy! You are looking a whole lot better after having Black Shadow punch you a few bajillion times, Hows the Mother Complex by the way?" G@MER Would say, cackling as samus raised a brow, looking at this...strange machine.

"...He looks Familiar...I just cant put my--...Wait...Arnt you that AI that Dr. Zelwa tried to give us as a new Defence Drone?" Samus would ask, Ignoring G@MER's Taunts, as G@MER shrugged. "Kinda-sorta, She just uploaded my A.I to a Video Game Cartiridge and left me to die somewhere in the wastes since someone stole the blue prints for the ACTUAL robot i was gonna be put into. Buuut, Whaddya know, This machine works wonders for me already! Aint dat Coooool~?"

[Rina]

Schezo at least understood why Samus was on edge, considering her extended absence from important duties as one of the leaders. He didn't know how long, but the stories he heard from the townfolk gave him enough context to work with. So it all began with that mirage portal involving the Velvet Room. Or Velvet Prison, for that matter. Unfortunately, his entire experience with it was being locked up in his cell the entire time. A rather unfortunate circumstance to be in.

"I wish I could speak of my experiences of the Velvet Room further, but alas I was confined to one cell and was unable to learn of outside happenings."

At the very least, Cresselia explained the situation and the nature of this Mirage Raffina. According to her, this mirage manifested the rather ugly aspects of herself. Her Shadow. Learning the dark side of oneself is, a terrible experience, but it's hard truth. One that Raffina didn't take well. Rejecting those aspects may have made her an individual, but for all the very, very wrong reasons. So if rejecting her led to one thing, with the disaster following suit...does that mean...

"Hmm...I don't know how much this holds up, but is it possible that this rogue mirage is the cause the outbreak?"

Before he could continue brainstorming, the robot slammed down on him, forcing him back inside. Ow. And what is that weird synthetic voice? And the lights? Schezo honestly didn't know what was going on. Oh the woes of having a technologically stunted home world. After moments, the screen turned blue and took shape of someone's avatar. Oh boy, who is this now? As alien as this being is, he didn't take too kindly about that comment about himself.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm stronger than I appear to be!"

In his anger, he heard Samus call the face by name. Dr. who now? What can he do to someone that lacks a physical body...?

"Rrgh..."

[Coolshaymin]

Mario looked to Samus as Cresselia lamented the bounty hunter's past. She was right, the woman did have some serious darkness behind her and he can understand why she'd be so upset. He looked back to the Full Moon Pokemon as she began to discuss the origins of this Raffina Clone. Apparently she was born of the darkness inside her heart. It reminded him of his trip to the dark depths of Subcon but the plumber kept quiet as he listened to the tale. So, she was ordered to be erased but vanished into their world it would seem. They'll need to keep track of this fake duplication created by the Mirage then. She did not sound like any good at all, like a dark artifact of sorts.

The round leader looked up as the Legendary Pokemon began to suggest a potential culprit... Only to be distracted by something behind them. "Schezo!" Mario called as he was still inside the robot they came in when it put it's head back on. It booted up some new being as it formed a new attire and a nasally yet still robotic esque voice and... What did he just say about Luigi?! "Why you-!" Mario pulled out his hammed and looked like he was about to clobber this robot for making comments about his brother and his trauma. He began a run before skidding to a halt. Oh, right, Schezo was still in there, he could not risk blowing it up. The plumber was still very provoked, not in as pleasant a mood as before.

That is until Samus said something that reminded him of who this was. "Oh yeah... What was it's proposed name, again? L at mer? Later? Lamer? Blamer? Blatmer?... No, none of that sounds right..." Mario proposed as he lowered his hammer arm and rubbed his chin in thought with his other arm, struggling to remember what this guy was called. Mario, he literally had an executable for his name. "Um... L is real 2401?" The plumber added... Clearly getting more off as he went. What does that even mean, Mario?

[PolarStarQuote]

G@mer seemed quite upset as Mario's constant failure's to pronounce his name. Gamer simply pouted, His Wide Grin turning to a wide frown with dagger teeth on display. "Aww, C'mon man, I said my name in my whole intro thing and everything! Im G@mer! Pronounced Gamer, But spelled with a '@/At' Because...Well, Cause it looks cool~! Uhuhuh-- Yeah, Never mind!" The G@mer said, suddenly lifting his cloak, revealing the heavy's metal body. Grabbing the front of the Metal Man;s body and, Using a quick bit of Digitized Magic, Suddenly caused Schezo to go stumbling out as if the front of G@mer's body became mere Air.


"I was gonna do the whole "Dont attack me, cause your friend is trapped inside of me, Hohoho" Kinda Show? But honestly, That just felt weird! So, never mind, Mister White Hair can STAY out there! What a creeper, looking at my insides!" G@mer would say, clearly a machine off the deep end as he called Schezo the old Familiar insult, as Samus suddenly put on her Power Suit's Helmet, Aiming her Cannon at G@mer. "You werent allowed to exist because you were 90% Glitches and faulty insanity...Plus you tried to infect our coffee machine to spray water at us. You arnt really trustworthy. And your proving that now by attacking and threatening us!" Samus would say, as G@mer Chuckled.



"Yeah, But, I gotta do what i gotta do to get a body! Speaking of which, Thank you so much Miss Aran, For hollowing out this Mechanical Hunk of metal..It has battery power to match speeds with Knuckles, who can move as fast as Sonic, so, this thing has battery power enough to do anything of my powers!" G@mer said, as suddenly, a Screen of Light appeared before him, Creating a Light-made Keyboard before him. "So, Lets take it on a test run, Eh? Spell Type > Earth Manipulation > Ground > Delete!" G@mer would yell as he typed on the keyboard with massive claws made of Bright neon light from his cloak, as Samus Fired a Single Blast from her Blaster, Until suddenly, the groiund below everyone would Burst, Vanishing as Everyone, G@mer, Schezo, MArio and Samus would fall into the swirling void under them, as G@mer cackled with a loud "WOOOOOHOHOHoooooooooo..."


Cressalia, having the ability to float, just watched them float into the mirage portals below, sighing. "...Its going to be a long day..."

---

When The group would awake, a Sudden breath of fresh air would fill everyones lungs, as they awoke on a plain of Grass, Green and dark green filling the many plains, as Cliffs of Golden Rock would fill the world, surrounded in deep blue Water. Seems they found themselves in a Mirage of the Homeworld of Sonic. Green Hill Zone. Samus would groan, Sitting up as she looked around, In confusion..Seems they stumbled into a bit deeper than they expected.

[Rina]

Okay this is starting to get weird. Schezo was suddenly made hostage by this crazy program guy, and his name is...what? G-at-mer? Oh wait, just 'Gamer'. Okay. Wait a second...what's this pulling sensation he's feeling right now? Before Schezo could react...

"Guh!"

Schezo got SO rudely spat out by the robot! He tumbled before Samus and Mario, probably bowling them over as a result of this. So what, too good for hostages? Fine then. He got up and dusted himself off, turning towards the robot and readying-

Oh no he didn't. Did he just call him that?

"WHY YOU-! I'LL SILENCE YOU, YOU CONFOUNDED-"

Schezo was just about ready to blow in a fiery rage for that and send the guy down six feet under. He readied his magic to try and obliterate the thing...If he didn't send the trio down first, anyway. He felt the ground just glitch out of existence, falling down at what seems to be hours (hours long time!) until he hit the ground with a SPLAT. Guess the guy forgot his Nebula Mantle could break falls. It took him a while to regain his sight, but when he did, a rather green land appeared before his eyes. Where is this? It seems like he'd know it on his off-chance dimensional travel, but this particular part doesn't seem familiar.

"Ugh...what is that madman doing...?"

[Coolshaymin]

"Oh, right, Gamer, that was it," Mario replied cheerfully, seeming to forget the situation of an unwelcome and hostile intruder getting in on the talk when they were just getting to the bottom of matters with the Mirage. The plumber stepped back as the metallic fiend ejected Schezo from his body claiming the hostage situation to feel weird. "Are you-a sure about that? I thought-a Knuckles was considerably slower than-a Sonic... And that-a thing was really slow," the leader in red replied with a bit of confusion on if this Gamer guy even had his facts right. Regardless, Super Mario stood his ground ready as the rogue AI prepared an attack on the group... Wait, delete the ground? The plumber looked down in confusion for a moment. Did this place even have a floor to delete? And why was everybody else falling?... Oh... Mario, having a delayed reaction to gravity, fell into the Mirage, leaving Cresselia alone to contemplate what just happened.

The heroic plumber fell to the ground of what seemed to be a mirage, slowly getting up to notice they were in a territory he sort of recogonized. He's been to this place with Sonic before all the crazy stuff started going down and he... turned out how he is today.  "Mama Mia, we are-a in Green Hill Zone... Or at least-a Mirage of it. Does anyone-a see the crazy robot?" Mario asked as he looked around. They needed to take in that guy before he caused any more problems for them or the Life Sphere and find a way back home or to Cresselia, preferably.