As the Mario Bros., DK's, stone frog, and pups flew through the air toward space, Everest moved closer to Mario and asked him a quick question.

"Mario, who is this Kirby guy, exactly? Like, will he like us? Has he even seen pups?"

"I think-a so. He is a hero, after all; although it may-a take a little while for-a you to understand-a him, he's a baby." He told her.

"Uh-huh." She said, somewhat uneasy.

Suddenly, a large meteor sped toward Mario and made a direct hit.

"OUCH! Waaaaa!!!" Mario said as he fell from the sky, dragging the others with him.

CRASH!

When the pups looked up, they had no idea where they were, or what had happened to Mario and everyone else; except Luigi.

"You-hoo! Mario! Where are-a you!?" Luigi called out to his missing brother.

"Hey, Luigi! I found him, over here!" Chase barked from an alleyway.

There, upside down in a trashcan, was Mario, struggling to flip himself upright.

Luigi ran over and pulled his brother free. "Mario, are-a you O.K.?"

"I'm-a good! Where are-a we? And where are-a the others?"

"Look! There's Big Ben, we must be in London. (Gasp!) If it is, then me and Everest could get some fantastic new clothes! Yay! Yip! Yip!" Skye said, practically screaming and caused Marshall, Rocky, and Zuma to cover their ears.

"Oh, my. Exscuse me, sirs; but, do you need some assistance?" Asked a tall, lanky, blonde-haired man in a waistcoat and hat, and who just so happened to walk by at the time.

"Bark!" Barked the man's Dalmatian.

"Yes, we-a could use a bit of-a help. You see..." Mario was cut off by Zuma.

"We'wre lost, dude. So could you or this dog dude tell us how to get out of hewre, whewreever hewre is, exactly?" He asked.

"Did... did that dog just speak!? Oh! Goodness me, where are my manners? My name's Rodger, and this is Pongo. Please, you simply must come in and have a cup of tea to warm up with, our home is only a block or so down the lane here." He said, ignoring the fact of hearing a dog talk.

"Oh, well... um... I guess-a we'll have to find the-a others later." Mario whispered to the others.

Soon they all arrived at the small town house where the man lived.

"Here we are. Do come in and sit near the fire. I really don't know how you all were out in the snow and cold without coats or scarves."

He walked up the steps and unlocked the door.

"I also happened to notice that your dogs have peculiar tags." He said. "They have no name or address but a symbol of some sort. What are their names?"

"You just have to ask us, dude." Zuma said, and Rodger blinked a few times then looked at Mario.

"Um, eh-hem, I'm terribly sorry. It seems I missheard something, you did answer my question, didn't you, Mr. Mario?"

"No. I didn't answer-a your question."

"Oh, that's what I thought, I just-- what!? Then, then that means that the... the dog, he... he..." Rodger stammered over his words, so Rocky stepped up to him and set him straight.

"Sir, you indeed did hear a dog speak, we all can. Zuma spoke before, you just didn't realize it. Now I remember an offer of tea and warm fire-side, which would be most appreciated."

"Oh, certainly. It's just, I've never heard a dog speak. Nevermind, come in, come in."

Marshall walked next to Rocky and whispered in his ear.

"Rocky, I never knew that you could speak so, proper."

"Thanks, Marshall." Rocky said smiling.

And the group walked inside. Once Rodger's wife and maid were over the fact of talking dogs, the group chatted in the living room. Meanwhile, Pongo and his wife, Perdita, talked with the pups.

"So, do you live far from England?" Pongo asked.

"Well, yeah. Although this time we were looking for a friend, actually, a hero, when we crashed here." Chase said.

"Yeah, we wewre flying thwrough the air." Zuma nochalantly said.

"Oh that is quite nice... Wait a moment, flying? In an airplane, correct?" Asked Pongo.

"Nope. Just got launched out of a star thingy." Marshall said.

"You were flying... without an airplane? How... fascinating?" Perdita commented, exchanging baffled glances with her husband.

"My goodness, where are out manners, Perdy. Since the pets are having tea, may we offer you some biscuits?" Pongo asked.

"Pets? What pets? We are the pets." Rocky said, and looked at Zuma.

"Oh, no. You see, Rodger is my pet." Pongo explained.

"And Anita is mine." Perdita said.

The pups looked at each other.

"But... Ryder is our owner? Not the other way, is it?" Rubble pondered.

"My head huwrts." Zuma mumbled.

Suddenly, a knock came from the door.

"Oh, yes. Nanny, would you please get the door."

"Of course, sir." Said Nanny, who hurriedly opened the door and was greeted with unexpected visitors.

"Oh no! Not you blokes again!" Manny shouted.

Pongo and Perdita peered around the wall corner and gasped. "Horace and Jasper!" They said.

"Who's that?" Asked Rocky.

"Normally, a pair of Cruella de V'il's workers who aren't that bright; but this time they seem... more hostile." Perdita said.

"Perdy, I think we should take these nice pups eslewhere, hopefully their friends do the same. We're going to see Mickey Mouse." Pongo said, leading the way to the back door.

"I'll come too. You never know when a woman may have to step in." Perdita said.

"Guys, wait. Something looks off about those two men." Rocky said, and stared closely at Horace and Jasper.

All the dogs looked at them and saw nothing, but then Rocky pointed out that both men had solid red eyes. Then, Nanny turned around and had the same look on her face. It seemed to have spread just by looking at those eyes for too long.

"Mario! Luigi! Mr. and Mrs. Darling! Don't ask why, but run!" Chase shouted, and sped out the back door himself.

Once outside, the group may in the street to discuss what had just happened. However, the city had suddenly gotten very dismal and dull.

"Momma mia! What-a happened in-a there?" Mario asked.

"Sure beats me." Rodger said. "Horace and Jasper have cause trouble in the past, but never have they placed some sort of spell on anyone!"

A rumbling caught their attention as some things came charging up the road.

"Look! It's-a the DK's, and the Zuma frog. Why are they-a..."

Mario didn't finish. Behind thier fleeing friends, was a swarm of Alternexis' army; each was desperately trying to catch a hero.

"Hurry! Everyone follow Pongo and good luck, we must stay here." Rodger said.

"Awre you suwre, dude?" Zuma asked.

"Yes. Go, quickly, before you get caught."

And so the adventurers barely escaped yet another attack from Alternexis. Pongo's section of Disney Land was already corrupted, and they all hoped that this was not the case for too many other places.
___________________________________
To be continued...