Friends
"WAAAAAHHHH!"
The Boos were everywhere, flying around her in a tight, fast circle. All around her was a horrible wall of glowing eyes and fanged mouths; their laughter echoed loudly in the cold, dark room. She screwed her eyes shut so as not to see them, and her screams blotted out their spine-chilling cries.
"EEEEEEEKKKKK!"
Mimi hated ghosts.
She wanted O'Chunks to come in like he had when she was younger, to pounce into her dark closet and bash up the monsters inside so she could sleep at night. She wanted Nastasia to come in, tuck her into bed and tell her softly, reassuringly, that there were no ghosts in Castle Bleck, and even if there were, nothing- even a ghost- in its right mind would dare cross her. She wanted Count Bleck to come in, to wave his shadowy hands and tell her strange stories until all thoughts of ghosts and monsters were gone from her mind and she drifted off into ethereal dreams.
But Count Bleck was gone now, gone forever, and she hadn't seen hide or hair of Nastasia and O'Chunks in hours.
She'd lost them when she'd wandered off, eagerly exploring the strange forest; lost them as she'd lost herself for a moment, enchanted by the sunset-colored world.
And then the forest had become dark, horribly, unspeakably dark- an unfamiliar darkness, unlike the darkness she'd grown up with in Castle Bleck. Hoarse sounds and growling had driven her on in fright, running as fast as she could, until she'd come to the towering steeple and hidden inside.
That's when the Boos had come.
She tried to leave, but whenever she did, they converged on the door and hissed in unison, causing her to recoil and break down into tears as they circled her mercilessly. Mimi knelt there on the floor, curled up in a tight little ball, hugging her knees and screaming for help. Somewhere nearby, she heard a loud BANG.
"WHAT'S WITH ALL THE RACKET, SLICK?!"
The Boos to her right turned and parted curiously; someone was standing in the open doorway at the end of the main corridor, although, with the world blurred by her tears, Mimi couldn't exactly make them out…except for a pair of fierce red eyes, shining in the darkness.
"I swear!" the someone continued, angrily storming towards them. "This happens every single time, slick! Man, you and your stupid haunting junk! You darn Boos are turning my 'Me Time' into 'Migraine Time'! Now shut it and go haunt in the basement or somethin'!"
"Make us!" one snapped, sticking out his bright red tongue.
The someone gave a frustrated shout, and with shocking suddenness, the someone was growing, thickening, growing bigger and bigger until his head was near the ceiling. It was some sort of blue monster, with a fringe of flaming orange hair and a purplish shell. It opened its mouth wide and advanced on the Boos.
"I smell delicious ghosts!" he rumbled.
They screamed bloody murder and hastily flew off in all directions- underground, through the ceiling, out the windows, out the front doors, through the walls- anywhere except towards the roaring creature. There was a small whirlwind of frantic white wisps that felt as cold as ice as they flew around and through Mimi, but soon, the hall was empty, leaving just her and the strange creature.
It stared at her for a moment, its red eyes blinking curiously. Then it spoke. "Hmmph." He made an annoyed noise. "Stupid Boos…I used to have some nice peace and quiet for my Me Time, ya know; had 'em all locked up tight. But I go upstairs for five dang minutes and somebody lets 'em all out…I tell ya, slick, they annoy the heck out of me, and I can't haven't been able to try and lock 'em up again, with all what's been goin' on…"
Mimi just stared back.
"What are you- Oh. Gimme a second, slick."
With a poof of purplish smoke, the monster dwindled again, shrinking and changing as he came closer, although his eyes stayed the same bright red.
"So, whatcha doin' here, slick?"
Standing before her was…another ghost.
"EEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Holy cow!" He jumped a mile. "What's with the waterworks? Simmer down an' stuff, slick!"
Mimi, gasping for breath, suddenly stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute…You're not a real ghost!"
The party-hat wearing, polka-dot-bow-tied, white-sheet-draped stranger glared poison at her. "What the- I've already had this stupid argument with the Boos, for Pete's sake! I am a real ghost! I can prove it!"
"Oh, yeah?" Angry, Mimi jumped up and grasped the sheet in her hands, ignoring the stranger's cries of protest. "Then-"
Her voice trailed off as the sheet fluttered to the ground.
Nothing. Nothing but a pair of red eyes and little orange feet.
"Cripes, slick! Gimme that back! It's cold in here!" The sheet was yanked out of her hands, and the stranger took shape again, reclaiming his bow tie and party hat. "Yeesh, first the Boos, then the screaming, now random chicks-"
He stopped abruptly as Mimi drew a shuddering breath, her eyes shining fearfully.
"Aw, man- come on, don't start crying again! Oh man…" The ghost looked around frantically. He stopped suddenly and muttered darkly to himself. "I am so going to kick myself for this later, slick…"
Poof! Mimi opened one eye, and then the other.
Now she was staring at…herself!
The other Mimi smiled at her and did a little pirouette. "Come on, slick! Don't worry, be happy- uh, turn that frown upside-down and stuff! See?"
Mimi found herself giggling…until she looked down at herself. Her entire body had turned a dark, shadowy purple.
The other Mimi stared at her expression for a few moments, and then mumbled, "Oops…I forgot about that. Hey, wait, don't-"
But Mimi's fright had gotten the best of her. With a wordless shriek of fright and rage, she felt the change starting- her body bursting and hurtling upwards toward the ceiling, then suddenly hanging limp as the monster's body grew in- spidery legs, a gaping mouth, a hoarse, growling voice.
"Mimimimimi…"
Poof! The other Mimi turned back into the ghost, who fell over with a shout.
"HOLY COW!"
She struck out with one of her legs, spiking it cleanly into the floor, but the ghost was already up and running, scrambling on his nub-arms and little feet to reach the other end of the door. She was faster, though; she leapt up on the ceiling and then crawled down the wall, settling on the door and hissing at him.
"AAAAH!" The ghost turned and stumbled on the steps of the church floor, tripping and falling until he rolled to the middle of the hall. He sat up and looked at her in horror.
Sitting there, cowering, his exit blocked by a monster…
He looked…
…Just like me.
In a flash, Mimi was back to normal, fidgeting uncomfortably, her eyes on the ground.
"…Um, sorry…"
"Sorry?! You just gave me five heart attacks and you're sorry?!" The ghost jumped up, fully enraged, waving his arms and yelling. "What was that all about, slick? You just walk into my place, stir up those Boos, ruin my Me Time, accuse me of being a fake ghost, tear off my sheet, turn into who-knows-what, chase me down the dang hall, and you're sorry?!"
Mimi bit her lip.
The ghost took a deep breath, rubbing his temples. "Okay…Fine. Apparently, you don't dig ghosts all that much, and I did forget to tell you what'd happen if I took on your form, so some of that is my fault- not as much as yours- but hey, what the heck. I'm sorry, slick."
Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Hey, I've got an idea of how you can make it up to me! Turn back into that thing!"
"Thing?"
"Yeah, that thing you just were!"
Mimi blinked, but nonetheless obliged.
"That is dang scary, slick," he said, both frightened and awestruck. "Now just hold that…thing form for a second for me, okay?"
His eyes flashed.
Poof!
Once again, Mimi was reduced to but a shadowy silhouette, and staring at a copy of herself- this time, her more monstrous form.
"Sweet, slick! I can scare those Boos off with this like nobody's business! …Why didn't you?"
"Why didn't you turn into something when I scared you?" Mimi countered, dwindling back into her usual form.
The ghost- for he had relinquished her image- did, and chuckled. "Touché. Good one, slick."
"Tee hee!"
There was a pause.
"So…who are you?" she wondered.
"Uh- can't tell you that, exactly, slick," the ghost said, looking away as though embarrassed. "Conflict of interests, ya see…"
"Okay, then. Uh, what are you? You don't look like any of those icky Boos."
"I'm a Duplighost," he said, raising his cloaked nub-arms slightly in some kind of explanatory gesture. "It's how I can transform and stuff, slick. Cool, right?"
"Yeah!" she chirped. "I can do that, too!"
"…I, uh, kinda saw that already, slick," he said, shuddering a bit. "Man, you sure freaked me out with that…But you don't look like a Duplighost to me."
Mimi raised an eyebrow at him as he circled her, murmuring to himself.
"In fact, ya sort of look like one of those Beanbean dudes…Man, the last one who came through was a total nut job…Took me forever to rebuild the Steeple after he was done with it, I swear, slick, him and his stupid mad scientist stuff…"
Oh, no, she realized, feeling herself break out in a cold sweat, he's going to ask…
"How can you transform if you're not a Duplighost, slick?"
Mimi swallowed hard.
Mimi was crying.
It was years and years ago- her earliest memory- far before she'd been taken in by Nastasia and the Count. She was sitting in the tall grass in one of the many plains surrounding Beanbean Castle Town; the kids would come out to play in the fields every day. But none of them would play with the poor, thin, dirty little orphan, leaving her to cry alone.
She saw them gathering around another little Beanish girl. She was pretty. Her hair was pulled back with a huge pink bow, and she was wearing a fluttery white dress.
She was pretty.
Maybe…if Mimi was pretty, too…
She spent all night making herself look as pretty as she could. She washed her face and her threadbare dress in the river, and put flowers in her hair.
But the next day, when she ran to meet them in the field, they still laughed and taunted and turned her away. The kids were scornful; they didn't like Mimi because she was poor and an orphan, but she didn't know that.
She'd burst into tears, and, crying louder and harder than ever, ran off into the deepest part of the darkest forest, until she finally collapsed by a small swamp, sobbing.
They don't like you…because you're not beautiful enough…
The voice was so soothing…It seemed to be coming from the swamp. Mimi crawled closer to it and stared into the murky depths.
Yes, you're pretty, dear…but only I can make you beautiful…
A face was forming- the most beautiful face she'd ever seen, all smooth skin and shining eyes and red lips…
She wanted so badly to be beautiful. If she was beautiful, she could have friends. If she was beautiful, she wouldn't be alone. She stretched out, touched her fingertips to the beautiful face, wishing with all of her might, and then-
She hissed at the intruders.
They had come into her swamp- her place, her place to hide so nobody would see the monster she'd become. Nobody could see her like this. Nobody.
The woman said nothing, just adjusted her glasses and surveyed the towering creature coolly. The larger man behind her just stared, looking shocked.
But the man at the front was the one who finally spoke.
"The poor child…murmured Count Bleck."
The woman raised a slender eyebrow. "Child?" "
"Yes…This place was written of in the Dark Prognosticus…The lair of a terrible monster, who will endow whoever releases it with a powerful ability."
Why were they talking as if she wasn't there? Mimi hissed again and started towards the intruders.
The larger man blocked her, but he needn't have. The speaker's words stopped her in her tracks.
"The monster has taken her, at both a great and terrible price. Poor child…he repeated sadly. How sad that such a sweet beauty had to suffer under such awesome and horrible power."
Mimi lowered herself on her spidery legs, captivated by his shadowy voice.
He was addressing her now. "Child…I can help you. I can return you to what you once were…said Count Bleck. I can restore you. Your beauty will once more be yours, and this power will remain under your control…Would you like that?"
She nodded. She wanted that. She wanted to go back to being her old self, even if she hadn't been beautiful. She wanted that so much…
"Very well, then…"
She gazed into the scepter, into the deep blue jewel. Her reflection had changed. No more was she a monster.
She was restored…
"Come, child," said the Count, and she followed him through the trees, leaving the place of horror behind forevermore.
"Wow…"
She couldn't believe she had told him. The only people who knew her story had been the Count, Nastasia, and O'Chunks (Dimentio had not been with them when they came upon her, and she'd never told him).
But now she'd just told this nameless ghost.
He had taken her up to the top of the steeple, which was slightly more comfortable than the rest of the haunted building; the belfry arch had been outfitted as a sort of game room.
He sat there on the floor (he had let her take the armchair while she told her story) and just stared at her.
"That's…that's deep, slick."
She nodded.
"…You're not too happy about that, are you?"
She shook her head.
"Then…why did you tell me?"
She paused. She thought back, back to her initial horror at seeing his true form, his ghostly image, and then remembered his shocked reaction to her monstrous visage…
"Because you're…just like me."
He blinked, but said nothing. They sat there in silence for a long time.
"So…where's your, uh, little family, anyway?"
"I got lost in the woods," she explained, "and I couldn't find them…"
"...You want me to help you find 'em again, slick?"
"No…It's too scary out there. I don't wanna go out again…"
The ghost stood up, took a deep breath, and offered his hand to her.
"Doopliss."
"Huh?"
"My name…it's Doopliss." The ghost looked around, as though afraid that someone might be listening. "But you can't tell nobody, ya hear?"
"Okay," she promised, and then, realizing she hadn't given him her name, she replied, "I'm Mimi."
"Mimi." He thought back to her laugh as she'd cornered him in the main hall. "Ha! Makes sense…So, Mimi, for once I've got some peace and quiet from those Boos…You wanna play a game or somethin'?"
"Okay!" she giggled as he handed her a controller.
"Cool! Today, it's not 'Me Time'- it's 'Mimi Time'! Ha!"
She laughed alongside him as he turned on the game.
"Mimi?"
"Lil' miss?"
Mimi paused the game and jumped up.
"Nastasia and O'Chunks!" she cried. "They found me!"
Far below, she could see two figures standing in the steeple courtyard, calling her name. It was them!
"Huh," he said, joining her at the arch. "I guess they finally found ya, Mimi…Ya want me to take you down?"
She thought, then shook her head. "No. O'Chunks knows I'm scared of ghosts, and he might pummel you before I could explain things, Doopliss."
"I'd like to see him try!"
She giggled.
He opened the hatch door that led to the stairs, but as she started her descent, he tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"Hey…Mimi…" He closed his eyes for a moment. "Come back sometime, okay?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Most people don't come around here, it being haunted and all, so…I don't get to play with others a lot, ya know? Nobody else is around here but those stupid Boos, and they're a cruddy bunch of backseat gamers."
She giggled again.
"It was nice, today…" he continued, smiling a bit. "I don't exactly have that many friends."
"…Friends?" she repeated.
"...Yeah."
He gave her hand a final squeeze.
"See ya, Mimi."
"Goodbye, Doopliss," she whispered, and then she skipped down the stairs, going to meet her guardians.
"Oh, Mimi, there you are!" Nastasia gave a relieved sigh. "I thought we'd never find you…"
"Lassie!" O'Chunks swept her into a big hug. "I was worried out a me head! Where were ye all this time?"
"I was…" Mimi turned and looked back at the top of the steeple.
A pair of red eyes twinkled down at her; a pale hand waved goodbye.
"I was…with a friend."
Yeah, so this idea came to me one night...
I was looking at a picture of Mimi, trying to figure out who she was and where she came from, and I noted that, with her green skin and all, she looked like she had come from Beanbean.
Two possible pairings flashed through my mind- Mimi/Peasley and Mimi/Fawful, but I didn't really like either one.
However, the thought of Fawful made me remember this awesome fanfiction called Sprechen Sie Engrish? (which I totally sugegst you read) where Fawful was going on a little 'adventure' with...
Doopliss.
Dooplis the shapeshifter.
Mimi meeting Doopliss...It was a perfect idea for a story!
I kinda see our favorite party-hat-wearing Duplighost and Mimi in more of a friend relationship, but the idea of Mimi having a little crush on him is pretty cute, ne?
X3
Oh, and in case you caught the cameo...Doopliss turned into the Invincible Clubba (from the first Paper Mario) a monster that ate Boos, to scare away the ghosts. XD And if you've read In Plain Sight, by selanpike, you'll know about the mad-scientist Bean-fiasco that Doopliss was refferring to.