Not Everyone Sides With the Good Guys
Majin Magus
During Science, Kevin and Rachel had been assigned to work together on a project, but since everyone just relaxed, they did too. It was the last day of school before winter break, after all.
For the first few moments, they did their work in an awkward silence. Rachel knew Kevin liked her, and he knew she knew. After a few moments, however, Rachel became bored and started to draw on the back of her notebook. Kevin worked for a bit longer before he leaned over across the table to watch her.
"That's good," he remarked, looking at the chibis she had been drawing. They were comically whacking each other on the head and prancing around in a crazed manner, for some had their hair on fire.
Rachel sighed. She was used to praise for her drawings from everyone.
"No, they suck."
Kevin blinked. "No…they're really good. I couldn't do that."
Rachel stared into his eyes. "See, they suck because compared to what others can do. Great artists or manga writers, they're all better than me," she explained.
At that moment the bell rang, and everyone got up. Noise and babble immediately broke out and everyone slid out of the room. Rachel walked off to her locker by herself, as usual.
Kevin watched her go. His locker was about ten down from hers, so then he moved, walking slowly as he passed her. She was about Five feet Eight, and she was a bit above the other eighth-graders. Her eyes were (as usual with my fanfic chars) icy blue, and her hair was a brownish blonde.
Rachel knew Kevin was behind her. She pictured him. He was a few inches taller than her. His eyes were brown, and his hair was short and stuck out in the front. She slammed her locker shut and turned to the short, tiny windows next to her locker.
Thousands of tiny snowflakes drifted down from the gray sky. There was three inches of snow on the ground already, and more was gathering with every passing moment. A few small children were playing in their yarn across the street, having a snowball fight. Of course, their aim was terrible so it wasn't very entertaining.
Rachel sighed and stared at her reflection in the glass. Everything in life seemed so planned. As a child, you went to school and as an adult you worked. That was it. Boring.
That's why RPGs sell so well. People imagine themselves escaping into other worlds: other beautiful, glorious worlds where life has meaning and can be determined by each individual.
"Hey."
Rachel turned, jolted out of her thoughts. Kevin was behind her, grinning slightly. He had his book bag and coat, as did everyone else. After all, in five minutes, two weeks off of school would come.
"What?" she asked, opening her locker to grab her coat and book bag.
"Wanna walk home with me?" Kevin asked.
"Okay, whatever," Rachel replied, her voice muffled as she pulled her Starter jacket over her head. She put on her gloves, which were waterproof, perfect for snowball throwing.
Just then the bell rang. Every student in the school bustled to get out of the school as fast as possible. Shoulders brushed together as three people at a time tried to get down the narrow stairwell.
Once outside, Kevin had to jog a bit to keep up with Rachel's quick pace. As they walked in silence, snow fell from the sky, equally silent.
"Um…so…" Kevin ventured, trying to stir up a conversation.
Rachel glanced at him for a second, and then spoke. "Did you see, in History, how Justin put our teacher's name for one of the answers on the quiz?" she asked, "and how he got in big trouble for it?"
"Yeah, that was funny. Our teacher's a moron." Kevin laughed, remembering the moment.
As they fell silent again, they continued down the snow-covered sidewalk. Some kids ran down the street, pelting each other with snowballs. Something slipped out of one of their pockets, and fell onto a sewer grate. Oblivious to he just lost, the kid ran on with his friends.
"Hey!!" Rachel yelled. "You dropped something!" After all the kids did was keep running, she walked out to the sewer grate and picked up the thing. The object was a small key.
Kevin walked out to her in the middle street. "The kid'll probably come back for the key. Maybe we should just wait here," he suggested.
Rachel examined the key. "Nah, it's too small to be for a door. Must be for a diary or something. Let's just keep going."
She and Kevin began to walk away, but the grate beneath them opened up and they plunged into the sewers.
"What the…?" Rachel tried to yell, but she closed her mouth as she landed in the dirty sewer water. The water was rushing at a rapid rate, and she and Kevin were swept away in the water.
Kevin and Rachel were in water that was about seven feet deep, and the tunnel itself was ten feet in diameter. The water was rushing on at ten miles an hour.
"Just hang on!!" Kevin yelled, trying not to swallow any water. He threw his book bag and let Rachel catch the end of it while he held on also.
Rachel's mind seemed to be slowing everything down. Everything was kinda scary, but fun too. Like a vision in her mind, she knew the tunnel would split into two soon. If she let go, Kevin would be pushed to the right and her to left.
The girl locked her eyes with Kevin. The color seemed to grow more icy blue than just blue. "See you later," she muttered, letting go of the book bag. She was swept into the left tunnel and Kevin to the right.
And with that, and the exhaustion of trying to stay afloat, Rachel lost consciousness as she fell out as the pipeline ended.
*
Rachel woke to the voices of children snickering. Her head ached a bit, but she forced her eyes open. Someone above her murmured slightly. Rachel could've swore she had heard the voice before…
"A human," someone above her stated simply.
That voice! She remembered now…from a while ago. The old cartoon she used to watch. She opened her eyes fully.
Standing above her, evil grins on all their faces, were the seven Koopalings from the Super Mario Brothers games.
Rachel practically had to punch herself to keep from smiling with pure happiness. She could live here now. Life could have meaning. And, of course, being anywhere near one of the villains from her favorite games would be so cool.
"Why are you here?" one of them questioned. Rachel recognized him. He was Larry.
Rachel blinked. "I…I fell into the sewers back home, and then I blacked out," she answered, trying to keep the grin off of her face.
Ludwig stepped forward. "What should we do with her? Dad's not here right now…" he asked of his siblings. Rachel saw his wild blue hair and remembered playing Mario Brothers.
"Let's just take her back to the castle and wait for dad to get back!" Lemmy suggested, walking over to Ludwig's right side. His hair was still made up of multicolored strands, just as Rachel recalled.
Iggy jumped to Ludwig's left side. "Yeah! Dad'll know what to do. And it'll probably be fun, too!" he added, looking like he had just came out of the video game. All the other Koopalings looked the same too.
Ludwig, who seemed to be in charge at the moment, nodded. "Okay. We'll do that. Roy, make sure the girl doesn't escape."
Roy walked over to Rachel and she stood up, towering over him. "What's your name anyway?" he asked a bit gruffly.
Rachel hesitated. Her name was kind of, well, normal. She never really liked it that much. Maybe she could use a different name for a while, something more interesting. She thought of the little bit of Japanese she had learned. Wait, what was that name she had read in Everworld #9?
"Well?" Roy said.
Rachel looked at his sunglasses. "Uh, Miyuki. My name is Miyuki," she answered, remembering at just the right moment. She liked that Japanese name. But now was not the time. She stood up and started walking next to Roy in silence.
Rachel …uh…Miyuki… felt a bit out of place with coat on, so she pulled it off and stuffed the gloves in the sleeve. She was wearing blue jeans and a long black T-shirt. She looked down at her jeans and gym shoes as she trudged on. The jeans were torn at the left knee for some reason, and her gym shoes were soggy and muddy.
Kevin…where was he? Had only the pipe she had gone down been a warp pipe? Was he in a hydroelectric dam or …maybe… was he with Mario and Luigi? It really didn't matter, because she could be happy now. Hell, even they killed her; it would be very unique and sort of honorable.
She tried to look at the surroundings, but it just was a big grassy plain with a few item blocks scattered about. The only real geographical feature was the pipeline she had come through. It was sticking out of the ground, and it was a greenish color.
"Get in," Roy commanded, indicating a black pipe. All the other Koopalings had already jumped in. Miyuki stared for a moment, and then lowered herself into the pipe. She slide down, Roy inches behind her.
Miyuki could barely contain her excitement. Bowser's castle! That would be so cool. She wondered: would it be the castle from the cartoon? Or the one from Super Mario World? Or Mario 3? She would soon now. And oh! to meet Bowser.
*
As it turns out, the castle wasn't like any of those. It reminded her more of Magus's castle from the game Chrono Trigger than anything else. Around the castle patrolled Para-Koopas and Para-Goombas in the air and Goombas and other things on the ground. Also, in the night-black sky crackled bolts of lightning every few seconds.
As the Koopalings walked past the guards, Roy and Miyuki towards the back, every Goomba stopped to stare at the human. Miyuki knew the only humans they had seen were Mario and Luigi. Some stared in wonder; some in contempt.
"Cool," Miyuki murmured almost inaudibly. They walked down the main hallway towards giant double doors. These colossal gates could only be to Bowser's throne room.
Wendy turned around. "Our dad's back," she said, a grin on her face. She turned to her brothers.
"Which of you will come to see king dad with me?" she asked, her eyes roving from one to the next. They all averted their gazes from her in a bored fashion.
The female Koopaling's eyes narrowed. "Lazy brothers!" she hissed. She kicked Larry in the shin and dragged him into the throne room, glaring back at Miyuki for her to follow. It was rather awkward for a human of over five feet in height to obey a Koopaling with a height of about three feet, but Miyuki was determined to have an adventure.
"King Daaaaad!" Wendy cried into the giant hall. The walls were decorated with gold and jewels, and the floor lined with a plush violet carpet.
The throne itself was gigantic. The armrests were cushioned, and there was a tiny crown and other symbols chiseled into the wall behind the throne. Other details about the throne were impossible to get on the grounds that a huge turtle was currently occupying it.
Miyuki gasped out loud. Bowser. Her eyes traced his form from his flaming red hair to his giant, spiky shell to his clawed feet. He was so cool. The drawings and sketches of him she had seen weren't anything like the real Bowser. The drawings were accurate, yes, but seeing him was just so much better.
Bowser didn't even need to ask Wendy what she wanted. His fierce eyes immediately locked onto Miyuki. He absorbed the details of her form, and then directed his gaze to Wendy.
"Tell me everything," he said gruffly.
As Wendy launched into an account of what happened, Miyuki noticed that the voices of everyone here were just slightly warped of what they had been in the cartoons. A little deeper, a little sharper, but basically the same. One difference, thankfully, was that Bowser's voice was no longer grating like that of the cartoon. It was deeper and richer, much more charming and evil sounding.
Wendy stopped speaking and Bowser turned his head to look at Miyuki.
"Oh, and she just came here, so I don't think she's with Mario and Luigi," Wendy added, glancing at Miyuki.
Miyuki decided to seize an opportunity. She fell down onto one knee and looked up at Bowser, her bangs hanging down in her face. She was throwing all caution to the wind, acting on blind hope.
"King Bowser, I have heard of the Mario Brothers. But I would rather help you than help them." Miyuki closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Regardless of what the history that humans have here, I would rather collaborate with you than assist the Mario Brothers in any way."
The girl opened her eyes, and stared right at Bowser. A look of shock was spread across his face. Wendy and Larry appalled as well. Clearly no one ever thought a human would wish this. Miyuki smiled internally. Even if she died now, her wish had been granted; her dream was fulfilled.
"You…aren't going to side with Mario? With your own kind?" Bowser asked, choking out words from behind his gaping expression. Wendy and Larry stared, waiting for an answer.
Miyuki stood up straight, and held her head high. She swept back her blonde hair, which, by the way, hung one quarter down her torso, and turned her blue eyes to placid.
"No. Appearance means nothing to me. I will always side with you, no matter what the Mario Brothers say. I would rather see them fall than you and your own." Miyuki waited for a response, completely at peace within.
The other five Koopalings, who had clearly been eavesdropping, came running in and stood beside their father's throne. Ludwig stepped forward.
"Dad, let me see if she's telling the truth," he requested, taking out his wand. Bowser nodded and Ludwig shot a blast of sparkling energy out of his wand and it circled around Miyuki.
The sparkles disappeared and Ludwig verified that Miyuki's word was truth. Bowser turned to her again.
"What kind of help can you offer us?" Bowser asked.
"I can create plans without clichés and distract the Mario Brothers by going to them. When they're asking me stuff, you can march on in and I'll help you to defeat them," Miyuki said, clearly and without flaw.
Roy snorted. "And what special power do you have?" he asked sarcastically.
Miyuki turned to face him. "I'm not sure. I have always felt something in my veins, inside of me. I knew that someday it would be awakened, but I never knew what it was. If one of you could use your wands and check," she asked, half pleading. She did feel something in her, and she wanted to know what it was.
Lemmy raised his wand and sent a chain of yellow sparks at Miyuki. The sparks were absorbed into her, and she blinked.
"That should do it, if you really do have something inside of ya," Lemmy said to her.
Miyuki's eyes opened wide. Her veins burned. Her skin blazed. A fire that had long been burned within her, merely embers, burst into flames and obliterated the wall keeping the power in check.
The next thing the girl knew she was crying out with agony and pain. Miyuki let a roar of pain escape her mouth. The fire just awakened hurt. It hurt like hell.
All the koopas in the room were simply watching with surprise and shock as Miyuki collapsed onto the carpet. A few beads of sweat had formed on her brow, and she looked up at Bowser.
"Thank you," she muttered, pupils dilated. The girl then lost consciousness.
*
Miyuki woke up later. She was still where she had fallen, but there was no one in room.
The girl knelt on the carpet and looked at her hands. She held her right hand out away from her and tried to call up whatever was in her. A tiny ball of fire appeared in her palm, and she grinned.
Just then, a crash was heard outside of the room. Miyuki walked carefully to the door and peered out. There were the seven Koopalings, their backs to Miyuki, with Mario and Luigi in front of them.
"We know you are holding a girl captive. Let her go!" Mario yelled at the Koopalings. He looked the same as in the games but he wasn't as cool as Bowser.
Lemmy grinned. "Guess what? She wants to stay here! Ask any of us, or our dad! We all heard it." Mario scoffed at this claim.
Miyuki thought quickly to herself. She didn't want to just walk out of the room. Might as well use her new power to good use. She summoned up a blaze of fire and pushed it upon the door, yet being careful not to burn the fine wood.
Mario, Luigi, and all the Koopalings turned. Miyuki stepped out of the throne room, making the pupils and irises or her eyes disappear. Every eye opened wide as the girl held out her hands and made fire dance inside her palms. Sweat was running down her face also.
"Good God," Luigi muttered, seeing the raw power Miyuki was brandishing. Mario, however, was not to be intimidated.
"You shouldn't be here, girl. These Koopas are dangerous, come with us and be safe. We can return you to your home," he called to Miyuki.
Luigi nudged Mario. "Oh, yes, and we found another person, Kevin. You must be Rachel."
Miyuki's eyes burned. "My name is Miyuki!" she roared. She was controlling the fire so it didn't burn anyone, since it was simply for showmanship.
"And, I do want to stay here. I do not want to go back to my boring home, and I don't want to see that pathetic loser Kevin! I am Miyuki, and I'm staying here!!" Then she called a wall of fire and pushed the Mario Brothers out of the castle without harming them.
The Koopalings stared and Miyuki fell to her knees with the effort used on that fire show. Iggy glanced at Ludwig.
"She says she's gonna stay here, and we know she's telling the truth, but what if she changes her mind?" Iggy asked his smarter brother. Miyuki grinned as her breath came a bit raggedly.
Ludwig considered this. "Pity dad's never around when we need him. Maybe if she took an oath and we used our magic wands to seal it, yeah, then she'd work for us." He grinned.
Miyuki stood. "Very well. As soon as I take your oath, I'll go and distract the Mario Brothers," she said.
Something occurred to Larry. "What about that other human Mario was talking about?" he asked Miyuki.
Miyuki flinched. "I'll take care of that moron," she snapped to the youngest Koopaling.
*
Later, deep within Bowser's castle in Ludwig's laboratory, Miyuki, Ludwig, and Bowser stood.
"So, let me see if I can…" Ludwig muttered to himself, tapping some keys on a keyboard. His father, meanwhile, was looking at Miyuki a bit worriedly. He had just been coming down the hall to face off with Mario when he saw Miyuki blow them out of the castle.
The laboratory was huge with whirring gadgets and blinking lights all over the place. It was a like a stereotype of a mad scientist's lair. Then again, Ludwig was living out the stereotype from the Cartoon.
Ludwig turned to Miyuki and Bowser. "Okay, so here's the deal. If I try to encrypt a magic spell from my wand into Miyuki…well, there would be an explosion. Let's leave it at that."
"However, if I make the spell into a tangible thing, then I wouldn't have to toy with the destructive power within Miyuki. Leave, I need to work!" Ludwig snapped, ushering Miyuki and Bowser out of his laboratory.
Outside the laboratory, Bowser turned to Miyuki. He had a serious look on his face. Miyuki smiled openly. He was so cool. Everyone here was cool. So very, very cool.
"You can walk the castle freely, but don't think about leaving. I've given my minions orders to stop you if you think about leaving," Bowser growled while Miyuki nodded sincerely. The Koopa King then turned and walked off.
To Miyuki, this opportunity was great. She wanted to see every aspect of this castle. With a happy grin on her face, she walked off. She walked down some stairs and found herself in the dungeons.
"Hey, hey! Person, help me!" a voice called from her right. Miyuki blinked and turned. A toadstool, probably about the age of fifteen, stood in a damp cell. The dungeons were oddly deserted so Miyuki could get close to the cell door.
The mushroom, with bushy brown hair and the fungus on his head a brilliant red, smiled widely at Miyuki. She could see hope and happiness in his eyes. She also could tell that he was very miserable.
"Are you invisible to Koopas or what? How come you, a human, can get around the castle without being thrown into a cell?" he asked quickly, keeping his voice quiet.
"I'm not invisible. I am allied with Bowser and his kind. I possess great power, so they see an advantage in me," Miyuki explained, grinning slightly at the shocked look on the mushroom's face.
He seemed appalled. "But, but, but, they're…they're bad!" he cried.
"Ah, shut up!" a voice commanded from behind Miyuki. She turned and the mushroom craned his next to see.
Wendy stood there, a smirk on her face. The comically big spotted bow on her head swayed as she walked towards the cell. Miyuki stepped aside, allowing Wendy to pass. She then hit the mushroom, whose face was protruding from between the cell bars, with the back of her hand.
The female Koopaling turned to Miyuki. "What're you doing down here? Gonna betray us and free these people? They wouldn't get two feet out of this dungeon," Wendy said, her eyes narrowing.
Miyuki smiled. "Of course not. Ludwig has some work to do to ensure my helping you guys, but it's going to be a while. In the mean time, your father told me I could walk around. I wouldn't dream of leaving," she answered, completely honest.
The human girl in the mean time had sat down and was now idly drawing in the stone floor with another rock, like she down in her driveway long ago. She was doodling Vegita from Dragonball Z, and she put extra care into the detail of his face. Usually the face was too large or small, but now it was just right.
Wendy knelt down and watched for lack of anything else to do. She watched the determined, practiced movements of Miyuki's hand as she added detailed to Vegita.
"People like him are always so cool, so tough, so strong…" Miyuki muttered, looking at her finished drawing. She then turned her palms toward her head and unleashed a wave of fire on her blonde hair. Wendy jumped up in surprise.
After the wall of flame subsided, Miyuki stood, not even singed. Instead, her blonde hair was in the same position as Vegita's. With a grin, she used the firepower inside her to make her shine like a Super
Saiya-jin.
"This'd be so cool if I could keep this up. But I can't do this if I want to use all my powers." Her hair dropped back down and the glow faded. She sighed and put her hands in her jeans pockets.
Wendy considered for a moment. Should she be nice to this person? Well, she was bored, and Miyuki was going to help them defeat the Mario Brothers. But that would ruin her reputation; being nice…but maybe she could make sure Miyuki didn't tell anyone!
"It's your lucky day, human. I'll help you have a perfectly nasty image! Heh, you're fortunate I'm bored!" Wendy laughed; turning and leading the way back up the stairs, Miyuki smiling again behind her.
Instead of going to Wendy's room, as Miyuki had hoped, they went to a big, empty, stone room. The Koopaling drew out her wand and pointed it at Miyuki.
"Okay. What kind of hair style do you want?" Wendy snapped, trying to look annoyed and impatient as if Miyuki had talked her into this.
The girl thought for a moment. The design she had for that one Chibi she had made up a while back. Three spikes out to the side, then three more covering her left eye, and shoulder length hair.
"Like this!" Miyuki said, projecting the image in the air with fire. "Oh, and could you make it sky blue in color?" she asked, a sudden idea coming to her. Might as well do the thing right.
Wendy nodded and a wave of red light came out of the tip of her wand. Miyuki shut her eyes for the red light was very bright. It swirled around her head and absorbed into her hair. After a few seconds, her hair stood up like she had imagined. The human grinned.
To Miyuki's surprise, Wendy was smiling. "Hey, you look funny. Want to do some more?" she asked. The other girl nodded and projected a sword and sheath in the air.
A flare of silvery sparks appeared at her waist and dissolved leaving a sword in a golden sheath. Miyuki took it out and wasn't shocked to find she could handle it perfectly.
The two laughed at worked some more.
Soon, Miyuki's eyes were a sharper blue in color, she wore black leather gloves, she was a bit fitter, and her ears were pointed like an elf's. It was just like the stuff she used to draw back home.
Without a second thought on the matter, Miyuki could tell that she and Wendy had become friends. She wouldn't express this openly, for she was positive Wendy wouldn't like that. It was odd: Miyuki had a friend that was female. Actually, it wasn't. Wendy wasn't like anyone Miyuki had known before, but then again, no one she had known before was evil.
Wendy scanned Miyuki's new form. "Hmph. With all this new stuff and that power of yours you just got, I'm not sure if you'll be ready to face Mario," she thought aloud.
Miyuki took off her sword and its sheath and tossed it behind her. "How about some training then? I mean, if you have time now." The girl waited for Wendy's reply.
"Fine. Since you asked," Wendy sighed, taking back out her wand. With it, she shot a ring at Miyuki.
Instantly Miyuki's reflexes conjured a wave of flame that burned the ring to dust. Wendy sprang up behind her and a red and white ring bound Miyuki's arms to her side.
For a few moments Miyuki just struggled and Wendy looked on, gloating. Suddenly, however, a flush of red entered Miyuki's pale cheeks. With a bit of a yell, she burst the ring apart in a blaze of fire.
"Eesh!" Wendy cried. "If you could do that, why didn't you say so?"
Miyuki was panting slightly and rubbing her arms. "Kkk…ah, I didn't know I could do that. I guess it's like on TV back home…someone gets mad, they get stronger," she admitted. She was glad she could do something like this.
While Wendy laughed, Miyuki stared at her. She felt something…and it was just like the feeling she had inside of her before Lemmy let loose her firepower. Maybe…maybe the Koopalings each of held an elemental power? She couldn't release it, but maybe, someday, the right amount their of rage could.
"I think I should held back to Ludwig's lab. Maybe could you should show me the way?" Miyuki asked, regaining her composure and looking at Wendy.
Wendy nodded. "Sure. C'mon." She began to lead them down a hall and through a mixture of corridors. And after what seemed like an hour, they stood outside the door to the laboratory. They both walked in.
Ludwig turned to them from a wooden table. "Hey, where have you been? No matter, just wear this," he snapped, shoving something into Miyuki's hand.
"Okay, when you wear this ring, it will stop you from doing anything to help the Mario Brothers. If you ever take it off, I'll know." Ludwig smiled smugly at his creation.
The black ring, which Miyuki put onto her right ring finger after taking off her glove, was thick like a high school ring. Instead of a gem, however, there was a replica of Bowser's face. It was like the rock design on the cliff in front of Bowser's castle in Mario RPG.
Ludwig snatched up his wand and stood in the doorway. "Come one, both of you. We're leaving to attack the Mushroom Kingdom in a few minutes!" he barked, starting down the hallway.
"Attack?! Wait a second!" Miyuki yelled, rushing after Ludwig, Wendy following.
Miyuki stopped in front of the wild-haired Koopaling. "Hey, let me go into the Mushroom Kingdom and distract Peach and the Mario Brothers. Then, I'll find a way to send you a signal, and you can come in and take over," she explained quickly. How could they just attack straight out? It was so…cliché.
Ludwig stopped to think. "Yeah…that's a good idea! I'm going to have to say I thought of it, though," he murmured.
"No problem," Miyuki replied. "Could I have a black cloak?"
Wendy handed a silk cloak to Miyuki. The human girl nodded as Wendy pointed to a green pipe that would lead to Bandit Way. They exchanged smiles as Miyuki sat on the rim of the pipe, ready to slide in.
"Let's go tell dad the new plan," Ludwig said, nudging his sister. The two Koopalings watched as the human girl slid down the pipe and disappeared.
*
Miyuki flew out of the pipe at an incredible speed. She landed hard onto the grass, but quickly got up and pulled the hood of the cloak over her head. Thankfully it was night, so with this cloak she'd be practically unnoticeable so long as she kept her luminous hair out of sight.
"Okay, so if my memory serves, and if this is the same as the game, the town should be that way," she muttered to herself, beginning walk.
The girl trudged down the stone cobbled path she had just wandered onto. A mushroom person passed by her, and she noted that she was only a bit taller than him. After a few more minutes of walking, she emerged into the Mushroom Kingdom's central city.
Peach's castle was in the Northeast part of town, but Miyuki didn't want to go there just yet. She then noticed what had to be a café with glowing lights to the left of her. Grinning beneath a shadow cast on her face by her hood, she stepped into the café.
"Evening, stranger," the proprietor greeted. This was a homey, warm place, but she had no use for it. Miyuki returned the hello with a slight wave of her black-gloved hand. She chose a seat in the corner and watched the mushroom people chat, but she could feel them shooting sideways glances at her.
As Miyuki sat she stared straight ahead at nothing. Suddenly, she realized a tugging inside her cloak. She reached in the folds and drew out a large pouch with, judging by the weight, held about one hundred gold coins.
Looking out the window at the inn across the dusty road, Miyuki had an idea. "I'll just spend the night there, and I'll find a way to get in the castle tomorrow," she murmured, slipping out of the café.
"Cripes!" Miyuki gasped, seeing Mario and Luigi heading to the café. She hid around the corner, but her newer, more acute hearing was able to focus solely on what Mario and Luigi said inside the café. She gently pressed her left ear to the brick wall.
"Good evening!" she could hear Mario greet. She then faintly heard the scraping of chairs signifying that they had sat down at the counter.
"So, what's been going on while we were away?" Miyuki heard Luigi ask. "We've been in Nimbus Land all day."
There was a faraway sounding clearing of a throat, and then the bartender spoke. "Ah, not much. But for a few minutes, there was a customer in black in here. Sat in the corner, then left right before you came in."
Miyuki's heart leapt up into her mouth. The Mario Brothers would know she was here! She didn't want this, not yet!! Where was the way out of the city? But her ear, still pressed to the wall, kept her stationed.
"Really?" Mario asked.
"Yeah, they were real odd too. Didn't say anything. Then all of a sudden good up and left."
"Where'd this person sit?"
"There."
Miyuki could hear the two brothers getting up. Their footsteps grew louder until she was sure they were just opposite the wall. She could a hand touch the table, then a quiet, unsure mutter.
"What did you find, Mario?" the bartender called.
The plumber replied, "A long strand of hair. Wait…hmm, blue hair. I wonder…" Miyuki's heart tried to jump out of her mouth at that moment. She wasn't ready for the plan to go into action yet! No, no!
Get a grip on yourself, Miyuki! She thought. We can make this work.
Trying to glide across the ground like a specter, she turned toward the doors of the café. A mushroom inside pointed and everyone turned. She used a heat haze to open the doors, and beads of sweat lined her brow. Using her power was always hard.
"Hello, mushroom citizens, Mario, Luigi," Miyuki said. She pulled back the hood on her cloak, and let her spikes of sky blue hair quiver as she did so. She made her cold eyes flash for a second and then slightly turned her head to show her pointed ears.
Mario and Luigi looked ready to fight. "What do you want here?" Mario asked gruffly.
Miyuki suddenly used her own power to give herself a fever and then she collapsed. Blackness overtook her senses, but she lost consciousness while smiling mentally.
*
Instead of awaking on the same spot of which she had fallen, Miyuki opened her eyes to a beautiful and plush room. Rays of light streamed through a bay window. It seemed something for royalty. Wait…this must be Peach's castle!
"Interesting…" Miyuki muttered, sitting up on a comfy purple bed. She grabbed her cloak, which was hanging on a chair, and put it on, but left the hood down.
Just as Miyuki was about to open the door, it swung open, hitting her in the hand and head. She stumbled back, cursing under her breath. She looked up to see Peach peeking around the corner.
The princess seemed startled. "Oh, sorry! I didn't know you were up." The blonde-haired girl closed the door behind her and turned to look up and down Miyuki's form. Her eyes especially wavered at the sky blue spiked hair.
"Hey, so, how are you?" Peach asked in a friendly manner.
The ring underneath Miyuki's glove began to vibrate. "Fine," she muttered back. She couldn't be too nice. Then, she asked,
"Why?"
"Why? You were in Bowser's castle for a few days, you know. As soon as Mario got word of your being there, well, you know the rest," Peach said, smiling at Miyuki. "Aw, look what they did to your hair…"
Miyuki knew she couldn't be honest, so she nodded. "Yeah." Her ring buzzed and stung her a bit. She silently told it to stop, and it did.
"So, uh, where's…um…" she asked, trying not to scowl at the smiling Peach.
"Mario? Oh, he, Luigi, and that friend of yours, Kevin, went sightseeing. They'll be back in a few days. In the mean time, why don't you go around the city and try to make some friends?" the princess asked, and Miyuki stood up. "It may seem weird for them to leave you here, but you were out for a day. Mario thought Kevin should have some fun."
As the girl walked toward the door, she grabbed her sword and sheath from a rack on the wall. Snapping it back on around her waist, she walked down a spiral staircase and into a hallway.
Stopping under the doorway to the staircase, she looked around with a serious air. After a moment, she turned right and headed for the main entrance.
Just as she stepped outside, something hit her in the side of the head. She turned sharply and spied five mushroom kids laughing and pointing at her. Miyuki narrowed her eyes and picked up the Koopa Troopa shell that had hit her in the head.
"Hey, girl! Why don't you go home to your stupid other world? Or, hey, go live with Bowser!" the lead boy called between laughs. He had a green mushroom on his head and was about ten.
Miyuki's first intention was to whack the kid senseless, but that wouldn't be good. She made a mental note to hurt him later. At that moment, she took off her glove, took off the black ring, put it in her jeans pocket, and put back on the glove.
Instead of replying, Miyuki cupped her hands and put her the heel of her hands under her chin. Focusing on her power, she blew out of her mouth and a wild chain of fire blazed towards the kids. They shrieked but the fire stopped right before them.
"Hey! Don't tease us!" one of the two girls in the group yelled. She had a pink mushroom and probably was eight. Her round eyes glared at Miyuki.
The human girl grinned evilly and went inside the castle.
*
As Miyuki walked down to the dining hall later that evening, a piercing cry was heard to her right. She turned to see Kevin rushing to her. She noted that his clothes were torn and he had a few wounds on his face.
"Rachel, thank God you're alright!" Kevin cried, instantly embracing her. Miyuki's eyes opened in shock and she shoved him away.
"If you're going to talk to me at all, call me Miyuki." The girl looked up and down at Kevin, then she narrowed her eyes. A nasty grin played on her face.
"Aah…you wanna go back don't you? You want to go back to school and your friends…well, have fun, because my ride out of here is coming soon, and it's not heading back home." Miyuki twisted a finger in her spiky sky blue hair and ran her hand around her pointed left ear. "And, no, I haven't changed…you just never knew me."
With a final smirk and a flash of coldness in her eyes, Miyuki turned and headed to the dining hall for dinner, Kevin gaping at her as she walked.
*
It had been one week since Miyuki had woken up in Peach's castle. Since she had snapped at Kevin he avoided her. In once instance, he had seen her, then turned right around and rushed up some stairs. Miyuki found these diversionary tactics quite entertaining.
Miyuki knew that Bowser and his forces were itching to attack, so she'd have to distract the Mario Brothers tonight. There was where the problem lied, though. She couldn't make it too showy, or she'd be exhausted and would be unable to help with the fight.
A mushroom guard passed by her in the hall. "It's going to be a beautiful starry night tonight," she heard him mutter. Yes…beautiful. Helping Bowser win against the Mario Brothers…
The clock on the wall struck eleven.
"Now or never," Miyuki murmured, slipping out the door with her cloak on. She walked down the cobblestone path to the center of town. There, she pulled her hood down and let her sky blue shine luminously in the black night.
Raising her hands and pointing her palms to the starry sky, she took a deep breath. Suddenly, she blasted a chain of fire out of her hands and let it linger, many feet above Peach's castle, for a few moments. Then she stopped and hoped someone at Bowser's castle saw her signal.
For minutes she stood there, letting the wind ruffle her cloak and hair. Then, after about half an hour, she heard something distant…
"Oh, man, the Doomship," Miyuki whispered. She heard a bang…the castle door had been flung open. She could hear Mario and Luigi shouting. She didn't care…
The Doomship was just like the one in the SMB3 cartoons, but so much more detailed. Out of portholes poured hundreds of flying Koopas. Then, a rope dwindled down and the end was on the ground. Down the rope slid the seven Koopalings, each preparing their magic wands for a duel.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" boomed Bowser's voice over a loudspeaker. "PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE FINAL BATTLE, MARIO! BEFORE MORNING, THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM WILL BE MINE!"
Miyuki, a bit winded from the fire signal, smiled up at the Doomship. Then she turned her head to see not two Mario Brothers ready to fight, but Mario, Luigi, and five strong mushroom guards from the castle.
Wendy, the last down the rope, stopped at Miyuki's side. "You've done enough, you don't have to help now," she said, a little kindness showing in her voice.
And the battle began.
The Mario Brothers had taken to jumping on the flying Koopas, and the five mushroom guards were fending off the Koopalings. Peach was in a tower above the battle casting healing spells on the soldiers.
"Damn!" Miyuki yelled when she saw Lemmy stumble from a blow from a guard. Something held her back from helping. She couldn't tell what it was, but she seemed unable to help.
Finally, after excruciating long minutes of simply watching the battle, Miyuki gasped as each of the Koopalings were in turn knocked out. Mario walked over to her.
"I don't know why you helped them, but for whatever reason, we must treat you no different from them," he said, glaring at her. He had obtained a fire flower during the fight, and now pointed his finger her, ready to shoot out a fireball.
Miyuki's eyes burned with rage. She grabbed his hand and pushed it away. With her other hand she punched Mario in the face. He reeled back, rubbing his cheek.
The plumber turned to his friends. "Even though this is cruel, we must stop the Koopa threat once and for all." Luigi and the rest caught the drift. The Koopalings held the same fate as the flying Koopas that had fallen.
There was a loud roar from the sky and something fell from the Doomship.
Bowser.
There was rage in his eyes. He glared at Mario with hate. A low, vicious growl escaped between his bared teeth. For a split second his eyes roved from one of his children to the next.
"This has gone on for too long. You have stopped us at every turn, Mario. But know this," Bowser muttered, "I shall die before I let you kill my children."
For a long time the two archenemies just stared each other down, their eyes burning with uncontrolled hate. In the mean time, the Koopalings stirred, but they were wounded and slow.
In the blink of an eye Bowser and Mario both threw punches. Mario, however, had jumped up and then punched. Bowser staggered back. One of the Koopalings cried out in dismay.
Mario hit a block behind him and out popped an invincibility star. In a flash he was attacking Bowser, and because of his slow movements the Koopa King could do nothing against Mario's super powered abilities. All watched with either hopeful or angry eyes as the plumber weakened Bowser with every blow. It was vicious, not like the cartoony style Miyuki knew.
Finally, with a powerful punch from Mario, Bowser fell to the ground. The Koopa King was still conscious, but in a bad way. He groaned slightly, a drip of blood emerging from between his clenched teeth.
The glow around Mario faded, and he turned to Luigi and the mushroom guards. "We can't allow Bowser and his kind to endanger us anymore! We thought this was just a little skirmish, but we were actually fighting a war. We have one, let's end it now!" Mario proclaimed, the agreement of the others apparent in their cries of victory.
Still in his firepower mode, Mario pointed his finger at Bowser. Miyuki could see the fire coursing in him, gathering in his hand. His finger began to heat and burn. Meanwhile Bowser just gasped on the ground, severely wounded.
The fire within Miyuki turned to hate. "You bastard!!" she roared, and she began to throw a punch. At the last second, however, Mario was no longer standing.
Ludwig stood over him, his wand pointed to Mario's head. Miyuki sensed via her own power that the genius Koopaling's special ability had been released. Everyone must have a unique power in them, somewhere.
"You…you…" Ludwig growled. His words vibrated with hatred beyond hatred. "You shall die." The tip of his wand glowed and emitted sparks.
"Mario…noooooo!!!" Luigi cried, jumping toward his brother. With every ounce of strength he had, the green-wearing Mario Brother threw himself onto Ludwig. The deathblow Ludwig had meant for Mario instead sped off into the sky.
Miyuki looked around, and the Koopalings were fighting off more than one experienced mushroom guard each. They each blazed with hatred, and that raw emotion was more than enough fuel for their strength.
"What the hell?" a voice behind her exclaimed. Miyuki spun, ready to fight. She halted when she saw Kevin, but she still held her fists at the ready.
The boy looked at her with a stupefied expression on his face. "Waz goin' on?" he asked in a dumbfounded whisper. Blinking and rubbing his eyes a few times, he stared from each of the small battles to the next.
Then Miyuki turned. Each of the Koopalings were completely focused on their adversaries, and were obviously not going to stop fighting until they were victorious. It was completely unlike anything Miyuki ever imagined could come from such small creatures. But…just like when she saw a fight, not a brawl, a true fight, she was excited and invigorated.
"Why am I standing here?" Miyuki whispered to herself, her voice rising at every word. "I should be helping… I can fight… We can win!!" And with that, the girl flung herself into the fray. Kevin watched her go with a shocked expression on his face.
The first Koopaling Miyuki aided was Ludwig, who was fending off Mario and Luigi. With one eye on Miyuki, who had taken on Mario, Ludwig continued to fight with Luigi.
Mario was tough, but Miyuki's fighting spirit seemed to be supplied with endless energy. She blasted fire at the plumber, but she also used her fists to get in a few good hits to his face.
What seemed like hours later, the mushroom guards and Koopalings alike were both equally tired. Bowser's children seemed to be finding the extra power they needed to defeat the mushroom people, but with Miyuki breathing raggedly and only being able to send out little wisps of fire every so often, the fight just got harder and harder.
"Heh…heh…heh," Iggy laughed slowly. He was exhausted, but now all that remained of the Mushroom Kingdom's defense army was Mario and Luigi. The two plumbers were even more tired than all the Koopalings put together, and Peach was out cold from all the spells she had cast. Miyuki was down on one knee; sweat dripping out of every pore of her body.
Roy leaned on his wand in order to stand, and he grinned cockily. "Looks like you two have come to the end of the line…"
Larry smirked. "You're finally beat. Get ready for death," he called with his exhausted, raspy voice.
Over on the ground, Bowser smiled. "I had hoped I could kill those meddlesome brothers, but my children seem to be in a bit better condition now." He tried to stand, but found he was unable to.
With that, each of the Koopalings made their wands shine. All at once, seven rainbow sparks flew at the Mario Brothers. Again, the prismatic sparks soared. With every blow, the two plumbers came closer to death.
After issuing this painfully slow torture to their archenemies, the children of Bowser held their magic wands high. In each center globe grew a great ball of pure energy.
"DIE!" all seven of them yelled at once.
As what would be the final blow flew towards Mario and Luigi, time seemed to slow down almost to a halt. Every detail on the two brothers was visible. The sweat on their face from the rigorous battle, the wounds and bruises on their bodies from the brutal Koopalings, and on their faces it seemed very evident that every moment in their lives was flashing by.
Miyuki and Kevin stood, frozen and silent, as the seven Koopalings' wands pulled back. Both of the humans could see their shining, victorious smiles, and the proud look on Bowser's face.
In the few moments before the two brothers' demise, the energy balls exploded into a thousand shards and entered Mario and Luigi's bodies. It was as some vacuuming force had absorbed the pieces of pure energy.
Kevin let out a piercing cry and watched with wide eyes. Obviously he had seen violent things, movies, TV, etc., but he had never planned to see death in real life. Terror played blatantly on his face.
Miyuki was no sadist, but she couldn't help but grin slightly as the colors flew in front of her. She felt as if she was looking on as one of the Koopalings… What they had fought so hard for was finally realized.
And then, in a flash of bright light, the Mario Brothers fell to the ground, both of them dead. What had seemed like hours had only been a few moments.
"Oh, my God!!! Mario!! Luigi!!" a voice shouted out, grief laced in with fear. It was Peach, the only one who was conscious. She instantly leapt from the window of the castle and landed gracefully on the grass. She then began running towards the two fallen heroes.
While Peach knelt down by Mario and Luigi and wept, Kevin ambled over in a half-awake stupor. His jaw was slightly open, and his eyes were teary.
Meanwhile, the Koopalings were helped their father up. Then they used their wands to levitate back up to the Doomship. Miyuki jumped up to join them and they all watched, eerily solemn, as Peach and Kevin just stared, unbelieving, at the two corpses on the grass.
Peach glared up at the retreating Koopas and Miyuki while Kevin followed her gaze. "So help me, Bowser, I'll get you for this!! I swear…you'll pay!" she screamed up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyes red and bleary.
The wounded Koopa King, leaning on a few of children to stand, snickered. "Such talk from a princess who has just loss her main line of defense! And so cliché! Princess, I'm disappointed," he called down to her in his weary voice.
"You won't be disappointed when we storm your castle!" Peach cried, then she collapsed into tears and hugged her dead heroes.
Kevin stared up at Miyuki, who wore a cocky, smug grin as she and the Koopas disappeared into the Doomship. The airship blasted off into the distance, leaving the princess and Kevin behind.
**You can bet there'll be a sequel…whether you like it or not! Heh, I'm putting this on top priority. Nothing else is being worked on now, so you know.**
Disclaimer: I don't own Mario Brothers, the Everworld series, or any of the Koopas, Marios, or mushroom people. I also don't own Vegita or Dragonball Z. Everybody happy? Good. Now you read all this…get reviewing!