Hello everyone! Da second chapter here, with actual plot! Le gasp!
Disclaimer: I own Violet and Anne only. Sadly.
Violet panted as she ran down the slope, faster than any other Toad. They were all in a tight stream, heading for the same place - Mario's house. Violet was determined to get there first. Her friend was there. Her friend was kidnapped. That kept her going faster than everyone. It was personal.
Sadly, the time she had spent watching Anne gave her a huge disadvantage, and by the time she arrived at the fabled brothers' house, they were already leaving, mumbling something about finding Bowser.
"No!" Violet called after them. "It's not Bowser!" In his haste, the first toad must have only said that the princess was kidnapped, sending the Mario brother on the wrong trail. "Wait! Stop!" It was too late. They had already raced down the path to Bowser's castle. Panting heavily from her elongated sprint, the purple toad followed.
Anne blinked. What happened to her? Wait… Her eyes snapped open. She was floating in her box-thing above a small crowd of Bowser's minions. That was strange in itself. What was even stranger were the two red and green clad plumbers who were among the crowd staring right to the left of her. Turning her head slightly, she found herself looking at the princess. Of course, she thought dryly. Ignore the innocent, helpless civilian.
Finally the brothers seemed to notice her. They pointed in her direction, and their mouths moved, but no sound came out. Anne tilted her head to the side. Come to think of it, she couldn't hear anything. She screamed out, "Hello?" No response from anyone. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?" she bellowed.
This earned her sympathetic looks from Mario and Luigi. Anne realized that they thought she was screaming for help. When she took a small step back and kicked the wall of her box, however, their looks changed from sympathetic to slightly impressed. Anne couldn't help feeling a bit smug. That's right, she thought. I'm not a helpless princess.
Anne wasn't helpless, but she also wasn't stupid. She knew that she was in a lot of trouble. When Count Bleck knocked Mario out, her eyes widened ever so slightly. Crap. What did I just get myself into. She set her jaw, determined to at least not act scared. She had long ago promised herself that she would let nothing faze her. When all of Bowser's minions and Bowser himself got sucked into a void, she didn't flinch. She kept looking straight ahead, even as the world disappeared around her.
Anne blinked slowly awake. She was behind a thick crowd that seemed to be composed of Bowser's minions. Slightly confused, she elbowed her way to the front where she saw Peach and Bowser obviously about to get married. Now even more confused, she listened in to what Count Bleck was saying.
"Peach… Noble princess, pure of heart… Do you take Bowser to be your lawfully wedded husband 'til your games be over?"
Okay… that weirdo count was marrying them? Anne sensed something very wrong with this situation. As she pondered what Count Bleck could be up to, she watched as Princess Peach was forced into saying yes by that lady with the glasses. Now certain that something was wrong, Anne was not that surprised by the appearance of a large black heart that seemed to be pulsating with dark energy. She was surprised that when the heart appeared, she felt a million times more energetic and powerful.
She saw Luigi stepping forward and caught his eye. He nodded towards the heart. Anne nodded in reply. Both of them shot forward towards the altar at the same time. They both attacked the heart. Luigi shot backwards after contact with it but Anne actually succeeded in breaking the heart into many pieces that spread out as if in slow motion. In the middle was a small, heart shaped piece that seemed to be its core. Not exactly knowing why she did so, Anne grabbed the piece and stuffed it into her pocket. The heart then reformed, sending Anne flying back with a wave of energy.
If Count Bleck was surprised by this, he didn't show it. Instead he continued in his plan to open up a huge purple rift in the sky, an act that Anne only dimly registered. Her head was still pounding from the force of the energy that had slammed her against the wall. Blinking slowly, she watched as all of the people in the room dispersed, leaving her alone. She couldn't move, paralyzed by the attack she had just endured. As the woman with the glasses walked over, she realized hazily that she was in danger. It was the last thing Anne thought.
A flash of red light surrounded Anne, changing her appearance. Her t-shirt and jeans turned into a long-sleeved black shirt that stretched past her hips. There was crimson lace around the collar. Her black ponytail was hidden by a hood attached to the shirt, and her mouth was covered by a separate, ninja-mask type part of the garment. Her pants were now crimson leggings that fed into black boots. Her eyes briefly turned red, but returned to their original shade of purple after a few seconds.
The woman with glasses nodded in satisfaction as she watched the transformation, not worried at all about the eyes not changing color. In fact, it was very rare for her to be able to alter eye color even for a brief moment. It just proved that this girl had a strong mind. "Yeah, um, I'm Nastasia. Come with me… um…" she briefly checked her clipboard. "Dianne. We've got a little bit to, um, discuss, 'k?"
Dianne, as she was now known as, nodded. "Sure," she said mildly. She followed Nastasia out of the room, leaving all traces of her past behind.
"Count Bleck is pleased to announce that the grand plan has been set into motion!"
Three people, all with varying degrees of boredom on their faces, looked up.
"Well, golly Count. That's just great!" The least bored, Mimi, a young girl, spoke brightly. She smiled widely, obviously excited.
"'Ey, you did it, Count! I knew ya could, always!" O' Chunks, a large, burly warrior, looked a bit more bored, perhaps only because he was not currently beating something/someone up.
"Ahahaha… How wonderful…" The most bored, a floating magician, Dimentio, casually laughed.
Count Bleck's gaze swept all of his minions. "Yes, thank you all. Count Bleck wishes that Nastasia would come soon-" As soon as the words passed his mouth, the very person he called for appeared.
"Um, I'm here Count. Everything is accounted for." She mumbled something to the count, gesturing towards Dianne, and nodding at her clipboard.
"Count Bleck is pleased to announce more good news. We have a new minion among us," he started, gesturing for Dianne to continue.
With a small smile, Dianne spoke. "I'm Dianne, your best friend or-" her bright eyes suddenly darkened. "-your worst enemy." Her smile returned, and she chirped, "You choose!"
"Count Bleck thanks you. Mimi, show her to the empty room next to yours. She will stay there. That is all."
Mimi grinned. "Well, golly, Dianne, I'll be your neighbor! Here, come-" She was abruptly cut off by Dimentio.
"Silly Mimi, we will all be her neighbors."
Mimi shot Dimentio a dark look. "Oh, don't mind him. He's just a big meanie," she pouted, speaking to Dianne.
Dianne shrugged. "My room?" she prompted.
"Oh yes!" Mimi's bright mood reappeared. "This way," she called, leading Dianne away.
"I better welcome myself to the lass," O' Chunks announced, and with that, followed the two girls.
"Count Bleck urges you too, Dimentio, to welcome Dianne."
Dimentio smiled, as always. "Why of course, my dear count. In fact, I shall go right away. Ciao!" And with a magical ripple, he was gone.
Nastasia turned to Count Bleck. "Um, count, could I ask you something?"
"Of course,"
"Well, um, remind me again what was so important about that girl again,"
"She appeared in the la test prophecy, Count Bleck explains."
"Oh, um, thanks Count. I'll be going now."
Nastasia and Count Bleck left, leaving only an invisible voice. "Ahaha… I knew that girl was more than she seemed." A second ripple, and all was still.
Dun dun DUN! Okay, that's it. I tried to keep everyone in character, please tell me how I did. Thanks, and ciao!
